Column: Cycling through Mexican streets is enjoyable
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Phillip Barron OAXACA, MEXICO — After asking at a taller de bicicletas (a bike shop) |
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 (Bicicletas Pedro Martinez) |
His office is small, just big enough for a counter, ten bikes to hang tightly against the wall, and shelves for helmets and cycling shoes. A collection of cycling jerseys hangs overhead, and inside the glass case that forms the counter are cassettes, pedals, hubs, and derailleurs. What available wall space is left is covered in poster-sized photographs of Martinez himself competing in races. |
| While Sr. Martinez is busy arranging a hiking tour with customers, his nephew Roberto invites me in. In the best Spanish I can muster, we joke about the pain of a long climb, about reaching down to click into the next easiest gear only to realize that you’re already in it, and about the white-knuckles and big eyes of a sketchy descent. He tells me there is a 50 mile endurance mountain bike race on Sunday and invites me to race on a rented bike. I’m tempted but decline in favor of a ride through the streets of Oaxaca. |
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Sunday
morning, I arrange to take a bike for two hours and ask about the local mountain bike scene. Roberto charges me 50 pesos (about $5.00) for a nice bike (a Giant Rincon), a pump and spare tube, tire levers, a lock, and a helmet. |
 (Rincon in the Zócalo) |
| Leaving the shop, I ride down la calle Aldama and turn south on JP Garcia. Although the sidewalks are crowded, traffic flows swiftly in the streets. Oaxaca is, like most developed areas, an auto-centric place. But bicycles fit right in with traffic here, and I never feel threatened by the buses, trucks, and taxis swirling around me. In fact, as I get more comfortable with the new traffic patterns, I realize that drivers around me seem to be more aware and respectful of bicyclists than I am used to. |
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I decide to ride the road up Monte Alban, a tight, steep road that leads to Zapotec ruins dating back to 100 AD. It’s a grueling climb, but the views alone from the roadside make it worthwhile. Halfway up the road, I can see all of Oaxaca to the east. I snap a photograph in my mind and turn around. |
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Next I head
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| My two hours are coming to an end, so I turn back and begin riding southwest. On a bike, it’s easy to navigate a city laid out in perfect square blocks, and I make my way to the Zócalo and the adjacent Alameda de León. |
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The Zócalo
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Roberto welcomes Out of curiosity, I ask whether he rents |
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See the rest of my pictures from Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido here.
Column: Road rules apply to bikes as well as drivers
Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
July 28th, 2005
DURHAM — If le Tour de France inspired you to take a bike out for a spin, you’re not alone. The bike industry has reported sales booms in previous Julys… those when Lance won the Tour. This year’s race was just as inspiring, particularly in the mountain stages. It’s always impressive to watch riders climb a hill faster than I could cruise down it.
The hill on Mt. Sinai Road isn’t exactly Alpe d’ Huez, but if you ride with a pack of fellow cyclists like the those in the Durham Cycle Center’s weekly Tuesday ride, you might just feel like part of the peloton.
The biggest difference, however, between le Tour de France and your weekend tour of the Triangle will be traffic. Le Tour may be a tough bike ride, but for three weeks those riders don’t have to put up with motorists. Apart from the support wagons and motorcycle-mounted cameras, they have the roads entirely to themselves.
We, however, share the road. We share it with vehicles much heavier than our bikes, and we’re fairly vulnerable when out there riding. There are no race officials cordoning off the road ahead for us, so our personal safety is our own responsibility. Riding your bike on the road isn’t all that tricky, because most safety is just common sense.
Bicycles are classified by state and municipal laws as vehicles. This means two important things: first, their proper place is on the road. Second, bikes are subject to traffic laws just like any other vehicle. Plainly, to get from here to there on a bike, you should be riding on the road ? not on a sidewalk. In fact, Durham’s city ordinances require any cyclists older than 12 to ride in the road.
The safest place to ride in the road is on the right hand side of the lane. Durham cyclist David Boynton describes his lane position as ?out in the road with the right side of the handlebar on the line.? Riding here allows cars the chance to pass when it’s clear and it also allows the rider some room to maneuver around potholes and lane debris.
Even though many new cyclists are uncomfortable turning their backs to the traffic, riding with the flow of traffic is far safer than riding against it. And with time, it’ll feel more natural.
Since most accidents (in cars or on bikes) happen at intersections, keep a careful eye out at stopsigns, traffic lights, and even driveways. Most accidents result when one person just doesn’t see the other. On your bike, ride predictably and try to be cognizant of how visible to others you are. Bright clothing or blinking lights may help.
Most of us cyclists are also drivers. So when you trade the handlebars for a steering wheel and you encounter a cyclist on the road, remember what it’s like to be that cyclist. Drivers interact with cyclists best when they treat the bike as just another vehicle on the road.
When passing a bicycle, it’s courteous to give the rider as wide a berth as you would a car. The NC DMV’s driver’s manual states that ?drivers wishing to pass a bicyclist may do so only when there is abundant clearance and no oncoming traffic is in the opposing lane. When passing a bicyclist, always remember the bicyclist is entitled to the use of the full lane.? So, even though a bike takes up less room than a car, the cyclist has a right to the lane and may need extra room to dodge a pothole.
Contrary to popular belief, the DMV does not recommend tapping your horn to alert the cyclist of your presence. As you approach a bike from behind, most cyclists are already aware that you’re there (even though they may not give any indication).
I’ve heard from more than one reader of this column that as drivers they are often frustrated when they encounter a group of bikers riding together and crowding the road. This happens more often on the rural roads surrounding the Triangle than the city streets. While there’s certainly a social component to any group ride, cyclists also ride in groups for better visibility and thus greater safety.
So if you encounter a peloton on 751 down by Lake Jordan, just be patient. They’ll soon fall in line on the right hand side of the road, and you’ll be on your way.
Column: Solstice night ride brings together diverse group
Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
July 14, 2005
DURHAM — Back in the winter, Curt and Judy Eshelman had an idea. They though it would be fun to celebrate the summer solstice with an organized cycling event. At night. A night ride in honor of the longest day of the year.
?They made one fatal error,? says friend and fellow cyclist Peter Anlyan. ?They put it out to the cycling community for opinions.?
It seems no one could agree on anything ? the time, the route, whether to make it a benefit ride. But Curt Eshelman is quick to point out that the idea ?died? for lack of consensus ? not a lack of interest.
A week before the solstice, Anlyan and the Eschelmans revived the idea, passed the word among friends, and gathered twenty or more riders at the American Tobacco Campus for a 17 mile ride.
As we head off around 8:30pm, the sun is setting and the riders are giddy. Not many have ever ridden their bikes at night before, and for a good number of the riders, this event is their first foray into group bike rides. Fitting that an ad-hoc event brings together such an unlikely group of people.
?Well, [it's my] first intentional night ride,? says Muriel Moody. There was that time, in the Peace Corps, in Madagascar, ?but that’s a long story.? Moody, a first year Duke Law School student getting a jump on her studies this summer, is excited to get tapped into the loacl cycling community.
For Tate Little, the solstice ride is also his first group ride in Durham. Little moved to Durham only two days before the summer solstice when his girlfriend, Roxanne Hall of Durham’s Habitat for Humanity, told him about the ride. Little and Hall are training for the local MS 150 ride in September. ?I’d just like to get in as many rides as I can,? says Little. ?This is a nice, safe ride.?
Hall says she can’t believe all the fireflies. It’s ?nice and cool. I’m really enjoying it. It’s a different experience. Durham by night.?
Rusty Miller, a cycling coach and ?ex-professional cyclist? joins the ride midway through it. On his way home from his own ride, he spots a pack of riders with lights. ?A night time ride on the Tobacco Trail… how could I say ‘no’??
Near the end of our route, we cross the bridge over Lakewood Avenue. Any hint of sunlight is gone; the sky is a deep blue-gray. Facing north, all you can see are the lights of Durham’s skyline and the blinking tail-lights of other cyclists.
As rider Matt DeMargel puts it, the solstice was the ?perfect night for it.?
Column: Could the Triangle be the next mountain biking mecca?
Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
June 9th, 2005
DURHAM — OK, OK, we don’t have the steep slopes or off-season ski resort infrastructure of British Columbia or West Virginia. Even in the state, we’re at a bit of a disadvantage. Western North Carolina already boasts the world-famous Tsali and Pisgah trail networks.
You might think it’s unlikely that folks will come to the Triangle just for some off-road action.
But, consider some other unlikely mountain bike destinations… the 33-mile Womble Trail in Hot Springs, Arkansas or the Alafia River trail network in Brandon, Florida. Both have earned the distinction “epic rides” by the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA), and neither is in an area known for its mountains.
The only thing the Triangle needs to compete with other metropolitan mountain biking hotspots is longer trails. Mountain bike community leaders hope the new Triangle Off-Road Cyclists (TORC) can make that happen. 
“We feel like a unified voice speaking for the area riders will stand a better chance to gain access to some of this land as well as be able to secure large enough grants to construct the trail,” says TORC board member Stewart Bryan. “Essentially we are trying to pool the talents and people [who] are working for public trail and use them more efficiently.”
With their sights set on Jordan Lake, Falls Lake and Chatham County, TORC is prioritizing gaining access to big tracts of land and building sustainable, environmentally responsible mountain bike trails.
Carter Worthington, North Carolina’s IMBA representative, is getting involved with TORC so that his “little girl will have a place to ride her bike in 20 years.”
“Right now, we’re losing trails faster than we’re gaining trails,” says Worthington, of Apex. “The legal trails have been successful; we have good relationships with the land managers and owners.”
But unofficial trails are “usually not sustainable. The land owners sell the land,” or the trails just aren’t designed well to begin with. Either way, mountain bikers lose out.
The Triangle currently boasts more than 80 miles of public singletrack – however, most of these trails come in sections fewer than 10 miles in length.
TORC is committed to establishing more legal mountain bike trails in the Triangle, trails to which it can preserve access and that will be longer than existing trail networks. One of TORC’s primary goals is “at least one permanent year round public singletrack trail system of around 40 miles with camping facilities,” Bryan said.
“Everything is in the early stages of a long process that requires a lot of patient work that many riders are not even aware is going on on their behalf,” says the Chapel Hill resident.
To kick things off right, the Triangle Cyclopaths, a local cycling team, are hosting a race to benefit TORC. On the night of June 18th, bike- and helmet-mounted halogens will “Light the Night” as racers compete in a night-time endurance mountain bike race at Umstead State Park.
Who knows? With the thousands of acres of protected natural lands surrounding Jordan and Falls Lake and the steadily growing mountain bike community, the Triangle may just play host to an epic ride someday.
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A TORC membership application is available at Trianglemtb.com.
Column: Combo bikes offer speed and comfort
The Herald Sun
May 26, 2005
DURHAM — May is National Bike Month, and last week was National Bike to Work Week. They probably schedule these celebrations for May because of the weather. I mean, how can you resist going for a ride when the highs are in the 70s and the mosquitoes aren’t out yet?
It makes sense, then, that May is also the time a lot of folks start dreaming of that new bike.
John Murray of Durham writes in to ask for a little advice on choosing his next bike. He says, “I am a 60 yr.old male in good health. I have a small amount of experience with a road bike (narrow tires, drop [sic] bars, 20 years ago) and when at the coast, I ride a fourteen year old Diamond Back Sorento.
I am looking to… lose weight, and improve my cardiovascular condition. I will be able to ride to work, 6.9 miles. I would like to get to the point of riding 20 to 30 miles on a Saturday morning without being completely wasted (this may be wishful thinking).
Should I go with a road bike, a mountain bike, or something in between?”
Finding a bike that fits your riding style is tough. I can tick off some of the considerations you’ll want to keep in mind, but the absolute best advice I can give you is to go to a local bike shop, have them size you for a bike, and then test ride several. The only way to decide on a new bike is to get a feel for it.
It sounds like you want a bike on which you can put in some serious weekend mileage as well as commute to work. The difference between a mountain bike with road tires and a road bike (with even skinnier tires) is all about preference.
Traditionally, you ride in a more aggressive, aerodynamic posture on a road bike, whereas you sit more upright on a mountain bike. The bent-over, road riding position is harder on your back, neck, and wrists. The more upright mountain bike riding position is usually more comfortable.
Chris Hull of the Durham Cycle Center showed me a few bikes that help blur these traditional distinctions, bringing more comfort features to road bikes.
The Specialized Sequoia ($800) is what Hull calls a “comfort road bike.” It combines traditional road bike frame geometry with a suspension seat post, taller stem, and carbon fiber fork. The fork and seat post “help reduce road resonance,” says Hull, while the taller stem puts the rider in a more upright riding position. All this translates into a smooth, fast road bike that puts less strain on your back, neck, and wrists.
The Sirrus ($470), also from Specialized, uses a traditional mountain bike frame with flat handlebars, and trigger-style gear shifters, but uses narrow, light 700c road tires. This makes for a fun commuter bike that can zip around urban streets. The frame is strong enough to carry panniers and light enough to invite you to ride it just about anywhere.
Skinny road bike tires mean less rolling resistance. You can go faster and ride for longer stretches of time using less energy than you would on 2-inch wide tires. The skinny road bike tires, however, require the rider to use more skill and keep more focus on road conditions. A fatter mountain bike tire is a little more forgiving if you hit a pot hole or gravel. So, if you plan to ride dirt roads, you may want to look at something like the Trek 7200.
The 7200 ($390), compared with the Specialized bikes, is oriented more towards comfort. The rider sits in a very upright riding position atop a wide seat with a suspension seat post. Riser handlebars attach to an adjustable stem and a suspension fork. This bike is made to eat the bumps so that your arms and legs don’t have to.
The last bike Hull showed me is the Specialized Roubaix ($1,200 for ‘04 model). The Roubaix, he says, “is more performance oriented. It’s a race bike with some comfort features.” Someone with prior experience on a road bike would be comfortable on the Roubaix, Hull thinks. With a traditional road bike frame geometry, the Roubaix uses “resonance absorbing technology in the fork, seat post, and even seat stays” to make a comfortable ride that you “could bring to our Tuesday night rides,” referring to group road rides Cycle Center hosts every Tuesday night.
Infusing performance bikes with comfort technology is a new trend in bike manufacturing. It’s an exciting trend, says Hull. But new technology can’t (and doesn’t) replace a good old fashioned bike fitting. Hull says that when you’re looking for a new bike, whether at Cycle Center or anywhere else, bike shop employees should take the time to adjust the seat height and the handlebars to “make sure the bike fits you properly before your test ride.”
Column: Women’s biking group offers fun, support
Phillip Barron
The Herald-Sun
DURHAM — Susan Crosjean of Raleigh practices “popping” her front wheel off the ground again and again. Once she’s comfortable with the move, she aims her bike at a tightly packed row of logs, each 12 inches in diameter. Riding toward them, she gathers speed. She’s cheered on by her friends and encouraged by spotters, who are there just in case.
She lifts her front wheel, then the rear, and rolls gracefully over the stunt.
I ask later whether she’s ever cleared that stunt before. “Never,” she says, “but I don’t let anything stand in my way. I do it again and again until I get it.”
This is a typical evening for the women of GRID.
Just over a year old and more than 100 members deep, GRID — Girlz Riding in Dirt — is a Trianglewide, all-women’s mountain bike club. Last week, GRID founder Peggy Dodge let me tag along at Lake Crabtree County Park with 10 of the club’s members.
I’ve never ridden with a more excitable bunch. Riding through the woods, you’ll hear just as many “Yahoo!” shouts as supportive words. This group hits the trails to have fun.
Experience levels among GRID’s members run the gamut, from newbies to racers.
Right now, “GRID primarily caters to the less-experienced crowd and intermediate riders,” Dodge says. “Let’s face it, for a beginning rider the trail can be very pushy and intimidating.” Membership benefits include “no-drop rides, weekly mailings, bike maintenance and skills clinics, group trips and a great time! It’s very social.”
Lisa Schell of Cary adds another benefit: “It’s nice to be around people who understand it’s OK to have three bikes.”
Encouraging riders like Crosjean to improve their skills in a noncompetitive, friendly, confidence-building environment is exactly what GRID specializes in.
Many of GRID’s riders started mountain biking within the last three years and choose to ride with the club to develop technique. Paula Frost of Holly Springs sports the new woman-specific Specialized Stumpjumper. “Peggy got me into mountain biking,” she says. “She’s very positive; a good teacher.” Three years and four bikes later, Frost says she’s riding ’til she’s 50.
“What? I’m not stopping at 50,” shouts Schell.
Amaris Guardiola, a hard-tail rider from Graham, has been mountain biking since 1996. Echoing a sentiment I heard repeatedly that evening, Guardiola says she used to ride alone, but started riding with GRID for the companionship.
“Everyone’s just so encouraging,” she said.
Schell says her riding improved after her first GRID ride. She raises her voice to announce, “Hey Peggy! Two days in a row, I didn’t fall!”
Yeah… I was the only one who tumbled on the trail Tuesday night.
The guys can join in the fun on any of GRID’s co-ed rides, but Dodge keeps the club focused on women. “I actually established GRID for selfish reasons… I wanted to ride with other women and not just the boys who were so much stronger and more skilled than me,” she told me ahead of time. “Women are more cautious while men approach their riding more aggressively, facing the consequences later.”
If I’d listened, maybe I wouldn’t have ended up face down on a switchback.
Dodge would also like to see GRID expand by developing a team component to the club, “to have an individual who can establish a race program and build membership by recruiting more advanced riders.”
Back at the trailhead, we stand around swapping stories, discussing the benefits of clipless pedals and bashguards, and sharing riding techniques. Just like any other group bike ride, the conversation inevitably turns to pizza. The camaraderie never stops.
Column: Have no fear, cyclists, Officer BMX is on the job
The Herald-Sun
April 27, 2005
DURHAM — Riding along the American Tobacco Trail on my way home from work, I come up behind another bicyclist. I slow down to say hello, as I always do.
My fellow biker assertively tells me to slow down, to pull over and that he is a cop.
“Of course, Officer,” I say, unlocking my shoe from the pedal and squeezing the brakes a little harder. When we both stop conveniently at an intersection, I look more closely at the arresting officer: a young boy, no more than 9 years old.
“I read in the paper that the Durham police are putting more cops on bikes this year,” I say.
Reading either the skeptical look on my face or my willingness to play along, he shows off his radio, which validates his ability to protect and serve. It’s the hand-held mouthpiece to a CB radio with its coiled wire tied to the handlebars of his BMX bike.
“Seen any trouble on your ride today?” he asks me.
“No, not yet, but I could use some help crossing this intersection.” Riding his own bike nearby, the cop’s older brother — I mean superior officer — smiles at the two of us.
Like cops in the movies do, Officer BMX is eyeballing me — with a squint no less. Kids are fascinated by gadgets, and he’s taking in the utilitarian nature of my gear: shoes that lock into the pedals, a rubber band around my right ankle to keep my pants cuffs out of the greasy crank, a rack holding my sandals and blinking tail light, a brightly colored shoulder bag with reflective tape and most importantly, my helmet.
Officer BMX happily complies, escorting me through the intersection once he determines the coast is clear.
“Did you respond to any calls today, any trouble in the neighborhood?” I ask him.
“Yeah, a girl had a bike accident earlier. I had to help her fix her bike. It’s been quiet since then,” he replied.
On the other side of the road, I thank him for helping me across the street and for keeping this route safe for me and for other cyclists.
As I click into my pedals and begin to pull away, I think he might ride with me. Instead, he turns around and rides back through the intersection. I guess he can’t stray too far from home, I mean, outside his jurisdiction.
Column: An inconsistent road is no road at all
Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
April 7, 2005
DURHAM — Imagine driving along when without signage, without warning, and without anywhere else to go, your lane ends. You stop, baffled, climb out of your car and look around. About 50 yards ahead you see where the road continues. Between here and there is an unpaved, patchy mix of grass, gravel, mounds of unused asphalt, and murky puddles from last night’s rain. Even if you wanted to drive through this gap in the road, you’re not sure you should since the ground is also littered with rusty car parts left by the last person who tried to traverse the stretch.
A motorist would immediately report the gap in the road to the local public works department. Such a gap would fail every known traffic engineering standard. Really, it’s a lawsuit waiting to be filed.
Cyclists, however, know this scenario all too well. One minute we’re riding comfortably on the 3 ft. shoulder of a wide outer lane. The next minute, we have to make a split-second decision: we can stop, jump off a six-inch ledge into the sandy grass just off the road (which is also usually filled with broken glass and empty fast-food bags), or suddenly merge with the automobile traffic.
Riding a bike in traffic isn’t necessarily dangerous. Merging with automobile traffic without warning, however, is pretty scary.
The inconsistency of the shoulder, the width of pavement just outside the line marking the limit of the lane, is just one of the reasons why state law says that cyclists should ride in the travel lane, as part of traffic. Under state law, a bicycle is considered a vehicle, just like any car, motorcycle, or truck. Not only do bicyclists have the right to ride in traffic, it’s also the safest place on the road to ride. Sometimes, though, uncooperative or unaware motorists or even just a steady stream of automobile traffic can marginalize bikers, pushing us to the shoulder.
Relegated to the margins of the roads, we often ride in that inconsistent, crumbling, glass-strewn space that may end abruptly. When the shoulder extends a foot or more in width, a cyclist can be tricked into thinking that the shoulder is a safe place to ride.
Old Erwin Rd. and Ephesus Church Rd. are case studies in varying shoulder widths and bottle-necking narrow bridges. At times, a cyclist can ride down Erwin on a width of pavement wide enough to be a bike lane. At the bottom of a hill, the “lane” may end without warning.
Roads with inconsistent shoulders are dangerous in their deception. They appear to offer bicyclists space to ride. On your bicycle, that car-free zone just outside the outer lane entices you. Then, you’re forced to think quickly about how best to avoid an accident. Neither merging nor stopping are ideal.
What would be ideal? What if civil engineers and transportation planners thought about bicycles with every road designed and built? What if bike lanes on urban streets and wide outer lanes on rural roads were the rule rather than the exception? Then the problem of the inconsistent shoulder would be a thing of the past.
We don’t accept this kind of dangerous inconsistency for our automobiles. Why do we accept it for our bikes?
Column: Try out new bikes at Durham, Carrboro centers
The Herald-Sun
March 24, 2005
DURHAM — Picture yourself riding a Six-13 — the bike so light, Cannondale claims they had to “add weights to the frame just to make it UCI-legal.” A plush blend of carbon fiber (hence the six – check your periodic table of elements) and aluminum (the thirteen) not your style? Then how about taking a spin on the Prophet – Mountain Biking Magazine’s pick for Bike of the Year?
Next week, you’ll get your chance.
Cannondale is touring the country, showing off its latest technology by bringing it with them. On Thursday, March 31st, Cannondale will be at the Durham Cycle Center with a full fleet of Six-13s and Prophets. Guaranteed, they’ll have one that’s your size. They’ll be back in the area, at the Clean Machine in Carrboro, on Sunday, April 3rd, to let you test ride the Prophets on some Orange County singletrack.
Demo tours offer you the chance to take one of these beauties for a “longer test ride than on an in-store bike” says Brian Bergeler, store manager at Durham Cycle Center. He adds that Cannondale’s visit promises to bring together some top-of-the-line “bikes that aren’t normally found in great quantities anywhere.”
The Prophet, with five inches of travel in the fork and the rear swing-arm, is the current pinnacle of full-suspension technology. It’s “super plush” says Matthew Lee, Carrboro resident and member of the Cannondale Mountain Bike Team. And at just under 28 lbs, the Prophet is “a lot lighter than other 5-inch travel bikes.”
The Six-13 is the bike of choice for the 2005 Lampre-Caffita team, a professional road racing team in the European circuit. The Six-13 combines aluminum downtube and chainstays with carbon fiber top tube and seatstays. The result is a rigid powertrain with a more humane, more comfortable seat.
Cannondale has long been the most innovative of the major bike manufacturers. They made their name establishing aluminum as a reliable frame material in the late 1980s. The single-pivot rear suspension design pioneered in their “Super V” model is one of the the most unique and most mimicked frame designs ever. Named for the unusual V shape to the frame, these are the beefy-but-light bikes that both the Duke and Durham Police Department’s Bike Units rely on. Advanced as the Super V was, Lee says the Prophet is a tremendous improvement.
Lee will be riding a Cannondale this summer, when he rides in the Great Divide Race for his second time. The GDR is a 2500 mile mountain bike race from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide. Lee did well last year; this year he’s out for a record.
But you don’t need to be a pro to visit with the Cannondale representatives next week. A longer test ride on these Ferraris of the cycling world gives you more of a feel for the bike in case you want to take one home with you. For most of us, Cannondale’s visit is a chance to throttle some of the nicest bikes in the industry. For free.
Column: Wait for bike trails to dry completely before riding
The Herald-Sun
Mar 9, 2005
DURHAM — If he sees one or two fresh sets of tire tracks on a wet, muddy trail, Stewart Bryan of the Durham-Orange Mountain Bike Organization gets frustrated. Three or four sets and he’s angry.
“Five or more,” Bryan jokes, “and I heat up the branding iron.”
As DOMBO’s trail construction coordinator, Bryan knows that even the best-designed trails are more delicate when wet. Keeping the flow of a well-designed trail depends on riders respecting the trail by taking a minimal-impact approach to their rides.
But recently, conscientious mountain bikers have noticed more and more ruts in the trails. Whether this is due to inexperience or to riders who just aren’t watching the weather, the local mountain bike community is now paying more attention to this issue.
The International Mountain Bike Association recommends waiting at least 24 hours for every inch of rain before hitting your local trails.
But these are just rough guidelines, since drying times might be longer depending on other factors. Freezing temperatures, for example, can extend a trail’s drying time to a week or more.
It’s taken many years of volunteer organizing and thousands of hours in meetings with politicians and land managers for mountain bikers to shake loose the “Mountain Dew” image of the sport’s youth. Repainting our bikes (and ourselves) with mud “reinforces the negative stereotype that we are destructive and unconcerned for the environment,” Bryan said.
That’s why DOMBO is more than a mountain bike club — it’s an environmental organization “dedicated to building and maintaining low-impact sustainable” trails.
Triangle cyclists bent on proving that you don’t need mountains for mountain biking still have to admit that trails in the area don’t have the benefit of steep slopes. As a result, water drains more slowly from local trails than from trails in the western part of the state. Each rut carved into a trail is a pocket where rainwater pools, and every puddle extends the drying time of the trail.
Since fewer than half of the trails in the area are managed by park officials, mountain bikers need to develop their own awareness of trail conditions. If the dirt singletrack is too wet to ride, cyclists can still ride their knobby tires on the gravel trails in Duke Forest or at Umstead State Park.
There’s always asphalt too. Yes, some mountain bikers are also roadies. “Better yet,” says Bryan, “take up another form of recreation like weight training, yoga, or table tennis, and watch [your] riding improve.”
So, the next time you’re tempted to steal a few laps in or soon after a rain and you come out muddy on the other end, remember that you’re sharing this trail with others, including your future self.
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