December 13, 2009
Update to this story and details on the public meeting held at REI on Monday, Dec. 14th located here
Loch Raven Reservoir is one of two major destination locations for mountain biking, hiking, fishing, and outdoor life in and around Baltimore City. There’s been a back-and-fourth going on for a couple months now regarding single track trail access at Loch Raven and it’s high time we put out a call-to-action for all mountain bikers. The situation is completely out of hand.
Roughly 10 years ago, Baltimore City enacted some laws that stated there was to be no single track use at Loch Raven. Due to a shortage of park rangers, these laws were never enforced. It seems that Baltimore City now has the resources to staff the park and rangers are now enforcing the law down to the letter. Mountain bikers are being ticketed, threatened to have their bikes confiscated, and even having their cars towed. All this and it isn’t even posted that we cannot ride there. We are all quite confused by this as we thought we had a good relationship with the land and rules regulating it. Many of us have even dedicated days of time to maintain trails in this area. No one’s ever said a word. Until now.
Mountain bikers are being ticketed, threatened to have their bikes confiscated, and even having their cars towed.
In a recent article in the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City has launched massive salvos at mountain bikers–seemingly out of no where. The action we have taken to date is to contact MORE and IMBA for help in advocating on our behalf. We feel that there are compromises that can be made and ways to build more sustainable trails that will not negatively affect the water supply that Loch Raven is tasked with supplying.
“This international organization [IMBA] doesn’t know a thing about Loch Raven. They don’t care about wildlife or sensitive plants, they just want to ride. If they were riding over George Washington’s grave, they wouldn’t care.” – Kurt Kocher, spokesman for Baltimore City Department of Public Works.
When I read the above quote, I was livid. I emailed Kurt immediately from my day job’s email account as to send a message that mountain bikers are responsible adults who have a stake in the city and the land. It was important that Mr. Kocher know we are not punks on bikes.
From: Mike
To: Kocher, Kurt
Sent: Thu Dec 10 10:21:57 2009
Subject: loch raven and mountain bikersDear Mr. Kurt Kocher –
Assuming the press got your quote right….Please do your research before you give quotes. Mountain bikers are some of the most earth-friendly people you will find. And IMBA….IMBA’s middle name is sustainable trail building. IMBA will do the right thing for the land before the rider. IMBA understands watersheds and is willing to reach out on our behalf to help this situation, not make it worse. Read up at imba.com.And that comment about mountain bikers riding over graves….was that necessary? Are you that frustrated? You sound like a crotchety old man from the 80’s trying to ban skate boarders from riding on sidewalks. Get with the times, get with the program and get in the know. Mountain bikers are smart, educated people. Most of which have plenty of disposable income at the ready. And we vote. Consistently.
On Dec 10, 2009, at 10:34 AM, Kocher, Kurt wrote:
I suggest you complain ton Candy Thomson [The Baltimore Sun reporter] about that as I have done. She should be ashamedOn Dec 11, 2009, at 9:34 AM, Mike wrote:
You’re blaming the reporter for your quote?On Dec 11, 2009, at 1:57 PM, Kocher, Kurt wrote:
Of course not. I stupidly said something that was phrased poorly. I said to her “that is not what I meant and please do not use that”. On rare occasions we all say things in a train of thought that come out dead wrong. I said lots of positive things to this reporter about mountain bikers and they were not reported. I apologize for my comment which was really way out of context and was truly not what I intended at all. Respectfully yours. Kurt.On Dec 11, 2009, at 2:30 PM, Mike wrote:
I appreciate your apology. You are always on record with the press so if you said it, you said it.
The mountain biking community is pretty upset by that article and quote. We work extremely hard as a group to take care of the lands we ride. Most of us donate our time to groups like IMBA.com and MORE-MTB.org in spending entire weekends maintaining trails responsibly – unpaid – and alongside the DNR and related Parks & Rec officials. It has been proven time and again that mountain bike tires do not erode the land when trails are built to be sustainable and are ridden in a responsible manner.
On some level, I appreciate you making those statements to the press as you have stirred the attention of us all. Our turn out to help spearhead this issue should be significant.
On Dec 11, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Mike wrote wrote:
Heck Michael I know that. Maybe if I got my mountain bike out (yep have one) and took time to enjoy that I wouldn’t err like that. Exercise clears the mind and I am swamped with cobwebs. The press can be brutal but she knew darn right well that that came out wrong and used it. Oh well. Thanks my friend.
I am guessing that Mr. Kurt Kocher has been getting bombarded with emails as his comments towards mountain bikers have very quickly changed.
While these old laws may have been put into place for good purpose, modern trail building practices may negate any negative impact single track at Loch Raven has. We want to be heard and we want to work with the City to come to a mutually agreeable resolution. The city is currently saying that trail access is not forbidden, however this “spin” refers to fire road access only.
A public meeting is being held tomorrow, Dec. 14 (7pm) at REI in Timonium, MD. Please be there if you can. To stay in the know, keep an eye on SaveTheRaven.com
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