RTC TrailBlog

In the past few months, we've been tracking some exciting developments in the California rail-trail community. Several high-profile projects are reaching and passing milestones this spring, with a pipeline of big projects under way that will help weave the state's trails together.

Along the Central Coast, Santa Cruz County has secured funding for a 32-mile rail line that has long been proposed as a rail-with-trail project. This project  could link in with the Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail to provide a 50-mile active transportation and recreation corridor along the scenic Monterey Bay.

In the Sierra foothills, Friends of the El Dorado Trail just reached a compromise with railroad enthusiasts that makes trail construction on the complete corridor from Placerville to Folsom feasible and brings us much closer to a trail from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe! Look for trail extensions coming soon.

In the great Central Valley, the city of Modesto is extending the Virginia Corridor with a half-mile of pathway that includes a bridge over a major street. Modesto is also working to acquire five miles of additional corridor length from Union Pacific that will allow the trail to be extended northward to Escalon.

In the North Coast region, a grassroots drive to turn the damaged Eel River section of the North Coast Railroad into a multi-use trail has gathered thousands of signatures in support and prompted the North Coast Railroad Authority board to begin discussing options for railbanking the line. A trail along the Eel River through the redwoods of California would be an excellent tourist attraction and amenity for the residents of Humboldt County.

To learn more about these and other rail-trail projects in California, contact Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) Western Regional Office at 415.814.1100.

Photos courtesy of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy: At left, Monterey Peninsula Recreational Trail; at right, Virginia Corridor.

For each issue of Rails to Trails, the official magazine of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, we invite our readers to submit a short essay in response to a specific question in our "Trail Tales" department. We then publish one of the responses in the next magazine issue.

For the Spring/Summer 2011 issue, we received our most responses yet to "Trail Tales," and we ended up choosing an inspiring story from Margaret M. Frey of Sun City, Ariz.. Enjoy her essay below!

What did you love most about cycling when you were a kid?

I dreamed of riding a bicycle as a child, but physical limitations from polio held me back. My brothers and sisters zoomed around on bikes, yet I could only watch. 

For a family of 14, our two to three bicycles were in high demand. However, one day I did pick up an old Schwinn that lay on its side. At 12 years old, I began my pursuit to ride. In those days, there was no such thing as adjusting seat height-and it was high. I wore a brace on my weakened right leg, so the effort would come from my left side.

I found a high spot in the yard which became my take-off point. The slight downhill grade proved helpful. I practiced and fell, got on again and fell. Day after day, I attempted to sail through the streets as others did. Then it happened! I was up! I stayed up!

At 20 years old, my first paycheck bought me a new Schwinn 10-speed. At 40, a Trek was my dream bike. At 60, I received a retirement gift of a Gary Fisher comfort bicycle and all the gear. My husband and I travel and camp. We have ridden many roads and trails throughout the Western states. The rail-trail movement has provided us grand opportunities for sharing and solitude.

We now live in Sun City, where bicycling is a means of transportation. We eliminated one car. My endurance for walking has decreased (a fold-up cane fits nicely on a bike), but my passion for cycling still grows. For that I am thankful. 

Photo: Courtesy of Margaret Frey.

By Ruby Brunk

As our nation warms to the environmental, health, safety and economic benefits of bicycling, more and more people are choosing to hop on a bike to get where they're going. But for those who don’t have cars and struggle to afford public transportation, biking is not a choice but a necessity.

A number of organizations exist with the purpose of assisting those who need it most with this mode of transportation.

Many groups that assist the homeless refer to those who need their services as "clients." The Community Bicycle Project in Goshen, Ind., bridges the gap between volunteer and client, requiring that clients work for an hour or more in the shop to get a bicycle. Many clients end up as long-term volunteers. Good Karma Bikes in San Jose, Calif., goes a step further with their Certified Bicycle Mechanic job skills training, a program for clients-turned-volunteers. Good Karma founder Jim Gardner counts the personal empowerment he sees in his clients when they learn how to fix something as his greatest reward.

In Portland, Ore., The Community Cycling Center’s Create a Commuter program uses the help of volunteers to provide fully outfitted commuter bikes and bike safety workshops to low-income adults. Wrench Raiders, also in Portland, brings its services directly to the homeless, setting up shop under bridges, and in the downtown area.

The Community Cycling Center maintains that "bicycles are a tool for empowerment and a vehicle for change." Indeed, these organizations are doing more than just providing bikes; they’re building community and empowering the individuals they serve.

Photo: Wrench Raiders at work, courtesy BikePortland.org

The Richmond Greenway in the San Francsico Bay Area is demonstrating how urban pathways can be multi-purpose--critical not only for transportation, but also as a place to treat storm runoff, prevent flooding of nearby properties, enhance habitat and provide green space. In addition to the community gardens Urban Tilth is building, The Watershed Project is constructing the Richmond Greenway Bioswale Project, located between 6th Street and 8th Street along the three-mile greenway. The bioswale was designed to serve as a demonstration project, showing how Low Impact Development (LID) management practices can be used to capture and treat stormwater using natural landscaping to model nature.

According to Matt Freiberg, the project manager:

"The bioswale is designed to capture and filter stormwater from the immediate neighborhood, reducing the impacts of urban runoff from the area. We amended the site's soil by replacing the dense clay soil with more pervious sandy soil to increase the lands capacity to absorb water. We also designed the channel to meander like a real river would. This provides a natural aesthetic that enhances the beauty of the site and slows water during large flow events, increasing the residence time of the water, allowing for greater filtration and infiltration of the water. Lastly, we incorporated native plants that attract beneficial insect and bird species as well as break up the soil allowing water to drain deeper into the soil. The overall design maximizes infiltration to keep water on site in the soil rather than flooding the site, and allows the soil bacteria opportunity to literally eat the organic pollutants that would normally run off into the bay."

The project will include posting a number of interpretive signs, providing an opportunity for the public to learn about native plants, how a bioswale works and the site's history. The bioswale engages the community as the Watershed Project hosts monthly workdays where people can help continue to plant new native vegetation, weed invasive species, beautify the site and learn about the impact of this project and how similar projects can be replicated throughout the community. "We also want to engage the community so they feel a sense of ownership of the site and are motivated to become stewards of their community environment for years to come," says Freiberg. 

Photo: Volunteers plant native plants on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, courtesy The Watershed Project

This spring, Team RTC will once again be riding as part of Brita Climate Ride. The five-day, 300-mile bicycle journey from New York to Washington, D.C., raises money and awareness for sustainable energy solutions--including promoting bicycling as an important alternative mode of transportation.

For the third year, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) has been named a beneficiary of the event, meaning a portion of funds raised through Climate Ride will go directly to benefit our trail-building work. But the rules are a little different this year. Now, participants who sign up can directly choose the organization they wish to support with their fundraising dollars.

Two weeks ago, we heard from two women in Philadelphia--Steph Rio and Sara Lanious--who had signed up to ride and raise money for us. They hadn't heard of RTC before registering for Climate Ride, and they were looking for more background on our work. Honored that they chose us, we wanted to learn more about them and what attracted them to ride and help promote RTC. They're riding as a team, and together they make up the Pedal Pushers!

Steph Rio
I grew up in a suburb outside of Chicago. Biking has taken many forms for me throughout my life. I'm 26 now, and some of my earliest memories growing up were sitting in the seat of my parents' bikes as they rode on the Illinois Prairie Path, and picking up yellow smiley-face cookies as a treat from the local bakery. I went to the University of Vermont (UVM) and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. After that, I volunteered for AmeriCorps through a mentoring program in Steamboat Springs, Colo. While living in Vermont and Colorado, I discovered a new love of recreational mountain biking. Then, in 2008 I moved to Philadelphia to work with inner-city youth through Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA. I continue to tackle the challenges of city biking, which is a new adventure for me. My inspiration to participate in Climate Ride came from my college friend Emily, who completed the ride in 2009. After hearing Emily's amazing stories, I knew I had to get involved.

Sara Lanious
I'm a 28-year-old interior designer who has never taken on a 300-mile bike ride--or ever thought I would. I'm the youngest of four kids and grew up all over the world because my dad was an army officer who served from the time I was a toddler. I attended the University of Kansas, where I learned the importance of college basketball ... and also earned a BFA in Interior Design. I was looking for adventure and moved to Philadelphia after graduation to begin my career. Shortly after moving, I got rid of my trusty Ford Escort and invested in my first bike since I was 12; I've been living a carbon-reduced life for the last four years. It is glorious! My initial interest in Climate Ride was the physical challenge, being able to see the northeast countryside and have a good story to look back on.

***

We met at the end of 2010, and Steph was soon talking about doing Climate Ride. We both wanted to do something active, meaningful and fun with our time off work, so we decided to take the plunge and sign up for the ride as a team. We spent a good half-hour figuring out what our team name would be and finally decided on Pedal Pushers.

When you sign up for Climate Ride, you have the option to choose an organization for which to raise money. We felt it was important to choose an organization that was transparent about its mission and worked to support healthy living and awareness of the environment. Neither of us had ever heard of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), but we were impressed with their mission, and they've shown solid progress during their 25 years of work. 

So far, we are following the recommended training schedule that Climate Ride compiled on their website. It includes a variety of cardio, strength training and yoga. It's only the beginning of March and already we've seen a huge increase in gym activity (and soreness)! We are looking forward to the longer rides up to places like Valley Forge, which is part of Climate Rides route.

In order to participate, Pedal Pushers has to raise $4,800, which will be donated directly to RTC! Currently, we are hovering around 18 percent of our goal, which is really exciting. With the help of some local bars in Philly, Pedal Pushers will be hosting two events to raise money and awareness. We have also started a blog so supporters can follow our fundraising and training progress. We are three weeks into the training schedule and looking forward to those warmer days when we can ride the Schuylkill River Trail. It's our backyard trail, but we only recently discovered that it's a rail-trail!

We need the help of community members who already believe in the impact of RTC to build further awareness about their mission. Please consider supporting us in our efforts to raise $4,800 dollars to give this great organization!

To donate, please go to tinyurl.com/pedalpushers2011. And if you'd like more information on the Pedal Pushers and their fundraising efforts, keep up with our progress at pedalpushers2011.blogspot.com.

Photos courtesy of Sara Lanious and Steph Rio. 

What does your bicycle say about you? Does it reflect your personality or the way you live your life? Two South African bicycle enthusiasts, Stan Engelbrecht and Nic Grobler, may have some ideas about this form of expression. Englebrecht and Grobler are traveling around South Africa and photographing people with their bicycles as they go about their day-to-day lives. Bicycle Portraits invites viewers to observe moments in the lives and surroundings of South Africans, and to get to know a little bit about each person.

Englebrecht and Grobler’s ultimate goal of the Bicycle Portraits project is to bring awareness to the possibilities of using bicycles as a primary form of transportation. They noticed that their country lacks reliable public transportation, and while they had embraced bicycles as a solution to their own needs, others were not as enthusiastic. They plan to publish a book of their portraits and put a portion of the proceeds toward resources and training for underprivileged South Africans to have access to bicycles. They hope their efforts will empower their fellow citizens with reliable independent transportation.

Photos courtesy of Stan Engelbrecht and Nic Grobler

By Jeff Ciabotti, RTC