The U.S. Forest Service will break ground literally and figuratively if a still-undefined downhill mountain-bike course northwest of Durango is constructed.
A draft environmental assessment is being written for the downhill course – the first ever for San Juan National Forest and one designed for a single group of sports enthusiasts: downhill mountain bikers.
The environmental assessment isn’t out yet, but at scoping sessions a year ago when the project was introduced to the public, some concerns came to light.
Among them: The Logchutes Downhill Mountain Bike Project sets a precedent; it favors a single group; it breaks with the unwritten share-the-trail philosophy; it promotes erosion; and it raises the question of who pays for construction, maintenance and liability insurance.
In recent weeks, there’s been talk that the Forest Service might shelve the project if Trails 2000 doesn’t back it fully. Trails 2000, formed in 1989, is a volunteer-supported nonprofit that builds and maintains trails. The organization provides 3,500 hours of volunteer labor to that end every year.
In addition to Logchutes, Trails 2000 has important mountain-bike projects in different stages of development at Chapman Hill and Horse Gulch.
Asked about the talk circulating regarding Logchutes, Columbine Ranger District supervisor Matt Janowiak last week said: “If their (Trails 2000) focus is elsewhere, we could set it aside.”
Mary Monroe, director of Trails 2000, wouldn’t set priorities. She said the organization has wide interests and pointed out that the Logchutes environmental assessment, which would define what the Forest Service has in mind, hasn’t been completed.
The Logchutes trail system along Junction Creek Road offers 12 miles of official U.S. Forest Service trails and a good number of unsanctioned trails. The system is popular with mountain bikers and hikers because it’s close-by, has interconnected trails and offers challenges for various skill levels. The area also is used by equestrian groups.
As originally proposed, about 3.5 miles of single-use, single-direction trails for downhill biking would be incorporated into the system. The attractions are a steep, winding course; high speed; obstacles and jumps to give riders “air time.”
Cliff Pinto, owner of Pedal the Peaks bike shop in Durango, said it’s high time a downhill course was developed.
“Logchutes would fill a huge void for Durango riders,” Pinto said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Many biking enthusiasts are living in the past, identifying with the legendary cross-country riders of the era, Pinto said. Meanwhile, in Moab, Utah, and Winter Park west of Denver, freeride and downhill mountain bike courses have been built to accommodate the fastest-growing segment of the mountain bike population, he said.
Reducing illegal trails
A single-use trail for downhill riding would free other trails for less adventurous riders and reduce the amount of illegal trails, Pinto said.
Illegal trails degrade the environment and are a nightmare for his agency, Janowiak said.
Scofflaws, for thrills, will build a fall-line trail, a straight down-the-mountain course, Janowiak said.
“Then all it takes is one flush of water picking up velocity to scour a channel,” Janowiak said. “The channel becomes a rut in which riders don’t want to catch their front wheel.”
So they move to another spot and begin a new fall line, with the same outcome, he said.
Linda Marigliano, who oversees wilderness, trails and recreation in the Jackson Hole, Wyo., area of the Bridger Teton National Forest, said Friday that rogue trails are a significant problem in national forests. She wouldn’t point the finger at any one group.
“There are pervasive impacts from all user groups,” Marigliano said. “We work with all users to close and revegetate illegal trails and build a sustainable system that works for all users.”
Trails 2000 has received two $15,000 grants – so far unspent – to develop a Logchutes downhill trail. The money comes from the Secure Rural Schools Act, federal compensation through the Forest Service for taxes local entities don’t collect on federal land. Twelve-member local resource advisory committees evaluate proposed uses.
In a Sept. 21, 2012, letter to Mark Stiles, supervisor of the San Juan National Forest, the forest advisory group for Southwest Colorado expressed concern about funding the Logchutes downhill course.
“Our concerns are based upon our understanding that the monies approved for this project were intended solely for multiple-use purposes rather than any specific type of trail use.”
Sharing the trails?
Outfitter Sandy Young was blunt.
In a letter to Cam Hooley, a Forest Service forester, Young said the downhill trail project is a power play.
“It’s ironic that from 1996 to 2002 the popular Share the Trails Triathlon was held in the Logchutes area to advocate multiple uses and safety awareness,” Young said. “What has changed? There is an empire builder in our midst, and that is Trails 2000.”
Larry Zauberis with Backcountry Horsemen worries about the impact of the trail on equestrians and others.
The proposed trail would encourage other special interests to request similar insularity, for example, off-road vehicle enthusiasts, he said.
“I believe this project would be better managed under a special-use permit similar to the management of a ski area,” Zauberis said.
Jan Holt, 65, who has hiked the Logchutes trail system for 15 years, says downhill bicyclists endanger other users.
“Around 1996, the rewards were great – shade, quiet, solitude and beautiful views – but then it became a downhill raceway,” Holt said. “Downhillers never go slow, seldom warn you, or if so, warn you when they’re on top of you and you have to jump for your life.”
New unofficial trails and their creators/users are popping up more frequently, Holt said.
“It makes getting away from them so one can relax more difficult,” Holt said. “I don’t feel that I have to confine myself to fewer and fewer areas.”
Dave Kelly with Gravity Logic, which designs and builds bicycle courses around the world, said a downhill mountain bike course can cost $30,000 to $50,000 a mile if it’s designed and built by professionals.
Volunteer labor cuts the costs significantly, Kelly said. But if Gravity Logic designs a course to be built by volunteers, it insists on supplying a manager who will get the project started and visit periodically until work is finished.
Bob Holmes, who developed the Trestle Bike Park at Winter Park Resort, was of a like mind on the cost of developing a downhill mountain bike course.
“You can build them for nothing, of course,” Holmes said. “But what quality do you get, how long will it last?”
A quality job will last for 10 years with minimum maintenance, Holmes said.
daler@durangoherald.com
Riding down a mountain at 50-plus mph
Great-grandpa riding his bone-jolting penny farthing wouldn’t recognize the mountain bikes used today for racing downhill.
Downhill bikes have 7 to 9 inches of “travel,” the word used to describe the amount of give in the forks that cushions the rider when absorbing bumps or making jumps. The bike also has rear-end suspension.
The price of downhill bikes starts at $3,800 to $4,200 and can run up to $8,000. Freeride bikes run from $2,200 to $6,000.
The forks of a downhill bike, which weighs from 36 to 42 pounds, are angled to maximize speed and maneuverability on the descent. They don’t do so well riding uphill, said Cliff Pinto, owner of Pedal the Peaks bike shop in Durango.
In the hands of professional mountain bikers, the downhill bikes are ridden at breakneck speed.
At the Sea Otter Classic this year, April 18-21 at Laguna Seca near Monterey, Calif., the top two men pros in the downhill finished in just over 2 minutes; the winning margin was one-hundredth of a second.
The speed is the equivalent of 54 mph.
The top six men finished the 1.8-mile downhill course in less than 2 minutes, one-tenth of a second.
The Sea Otter Classic, held annually since 1991, is considered the world’s largest cycling festival, attracting 10,000 pro and amateur riders in disciplines such as downhill, cross country, road, short track and dual slalom.
daler@durangoherald.com
