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Letter from Rochester

 The RBC had it's MTB ride scheduling meeting this weeekend. One of that dates we "penciled in" is a trip to Ithaca for a ride at Hammond Hill on July 7th. We have a member who visited there last year (I didn't get to go). Would anyone there like to be the "local host" for a joint ride there? Or, do you have any other suggestions for a joint ride?

 We typically ride "socially" on our MTB rides. Nobody is "race-training" and we typically stay together as a group. When we come to intersections or places where the route isn't absolutely clear, we stop and regroup and do a head count to prevent losing anyone on the trail due to breakdown, bonking, etc. Our groups are usually small (4 or 5 seems average). Our experience ranges from "woods virgins" to "old coots" and ages range from early 20s to mid-fifties and sometimes beyond. Some of us are currently racing or have raced in the past (my last race was '86), and some have no aspirations whatsoever. I should say most.

 Our schedule consists of a full range of ride styles: We have rail-trail rides, back dirt road rides, gentle woods roads rides, technical single track rides, serious hill climbs, weekend MTB events, and hopefully....... joint club rides!

 As cyclists in general, we all (road or off-road) have had the difficult job of fending off the negative images non-cyclists often have of us. You know.... those impressions people get when they see "those bikers" riding the wrong way in traffic, not stopping at lights or signs, coming out of a trail completely covered with mud, playing "hiker slalom" on single-track trails, etc.

 Regarding the off road issue, we need to be as responsive as we possibly can to land managers so that we can repair the damage to our image that the "Mountain Dew" style marketing departments, ESPN, Missy Giove, the Kamikaze Downhill, and the neighborhood kids with the new huffy have done to the sport.

 We have to accept the reality that our sport is very dependent on maintaining goodwill with public land managers. They are ultimately the ones who can enhance or destroy opportunities for recreational trail bicycling. They are the ones who typically control the large tracts of land that make a day in the woods so rewarding.

 Without them, we may be limited to going to those occasional ski slopes that "turn their heads" when mountain bikers ride those slopes. Or, those slopes that charge a fee for trail use. There are some nice places like that (Snoeshoe WV for example), but if that was all we had..........there wouldn't be enough to justify going out and buying new knobbies.

 I'll bet I'm "preachin' to the choir" here, right? Sorry.

 Anyhow, here's a place to pitch in:...... Pinnacle State Park is in Addison, just west of Corning, off route 417. The manager there is James Zimpfer 607-359-2767, Pinnacle State Park 1904 Pinnacle Rd., Addison NY 14801. If members of your club could contact him, he could detail his needs.I'll watch this listserve thru our club's (RBC) BBS, but private mail can be sent to me at:BrianM40@aol.com

 Tailwinds!

 Brian Managan (RBC) BrianM40@aol.com