Jan 1991
2
B.U.M.P. N E WS B.U . M.P., Birm ing ham Urb an Mou nt ain Ped aler s, m ee t s the firstWe dn esd ay of ea ch m ont h at 7 :0 0 p m at t h e Ho ov er Pu b lic Lib ra ry . Th e Ho over Pu b lic Lib ra r y is lo ca t e d at t h e in te r se c t io n o f Hw y 3 1 an d I 45 9 . Mem b e r sh ip is b y p ar t icip at ion in m ee t in g s, t rip s, an d rid es and is op en t o t h e g en er al p u b lic. On J anu ar y 12 t h, t went y cy clist s met at t he St . Marks Nalional Wild life Ref u g e. Th e Ref u g e is lo ca t e d o n t h e Gu lf of M e x ic o d ue so u t h of T a l l a h assee, Fl o r i d a an d con t a i ns am i xture o f coasta l ma r s h es, p i ne flat w oo ds, an d up lan d scru b hab ita ts. The m ar she s con ta in a ne tw ork of lev ee s t o con t rol t h e w at er lev els for m ig rat or y w at er fo w l. The refu g e is i s use d by a v ar ie t y of b ir d s, in clu d in g b al d ea g le s, an d is h ome t o num er ou s allig at or s. Needless t o say t h e scen er y is sp ec t ac u lar an d t h e re fu ge is a grea t p la ce to e n jo y cru isi ng a lo n g on a b ic y cl e. For t h e ac t u al ri d e, w e st ar t ed at t h e v isit or cen t er as b ri sk w in d s d ro v e t h e cl ou d s fr omt h e sk y . For m an y of us, t h is wa s t h e fir st sun sh in e w e h ad see n in w ee k s. Indeed t h e p re v io us d ay h ad st ar t ed with ad ow n p our in . T a H a h assee . For t h e fir st sev er al m iles w e alt emat ed rid in g on w oo d s ro ad s, levee t op s, and p av emen t before ar riv in g at t h e light h ouse on t h e g ulL w h ich wa s bu ilt in 1 8 4 6 . Th en af t er b ac kt ra ck in g a fe wm ile s... w e ro d e t o the b ac kside of t h e refu g e b ef or e re t urn in g t o t h e v isit or center. W ith t h e in cl u sio n of an o u t an d b a ck t o t h e Pinh o o k Riv e r...t h e ri d e w as a lm o st 3 0 m ile s lo n g . D e sp it e a cl os e call by on e riderwho almostranover an allig at or... 1 8 of t h e 20 rid er s co m p let ed t h e en t ire rid e. Th e casu alt ies w er e d ue to a so r e k nee an d a t e n d er r e ar e n d . On Sund ay , t he 1 3 t h, w e metat the h ead of the St. Ma rk s His toric Railr oad St ate Tr ail a f ew mit e s south of Ta llaha ss ee. Th e St . Ma r k s Tr ail isa p a v e d ... ei g h t fo ot w ide, t ra il t h at ex ten d s 1 6 m iles so u t h fro mTal lah as see t o St. Marks . Ad ja ce n t t o t h e t ra il ar e la n d s be lo n g in g to t h e Ap al ac h ico la Nalio n al Forest on w hich Fat of t h e Lan d, t h e Talla h assee m ou ntain b ic y cle cl u b , in co n ju nct io n w it h t h e For e st Ser · v ice is d ev elo p in g sin g le tra ck for m ou nt ain b icy cles. Th is w as ou r d es linat io n. Fift e en ri d e rs sh o w e d u p fo r t h e St . Mar k s sin g le t ra ck . Af t e r r id in g d own t h e p av ed tra il fo r a lit t le ov er a m ile ... t h e sin g le t ra ck t oo k of f t h ro u g h th e lon gle af pin e flat w oo ds . Surp rising ly, t he tra il w as ha rd pa ck ed , w ith v ery liu t e loose sand. D es p it e a Uo f the r ain o n Thu r sd a y and Frida y t h e trail w as d r y so the r idin g w as e x ce lle n t . Th e trailwas laid o ut b y cy clists and it re aD ysh ow ed . Lot s of t ig h t curv es , p le n t y of lo g s t o h op an d n u m er ous t re es t o sq u e ez e bet w e e n... p urefun! We sp lit int o t w o g ro u p s. Tho se ina hur ry t o re t urn to B' h am d id a Qu ic k 4 m il e lo op an d t h e r e st d id a lo nger 1 2 m il e lo op . Sin ce t h er e is p ro b ab ly at m os t 2 0 fe et o f el ev at io n d iff eren ce , it
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Transcript of Jan 1991
B.U.M.P. NEWS
B.U.M.P., Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers, meets the firstWednesdayof each month at 7:00pm at the Hoover Public Library. The Hoover PublicLibrary is located at the intersection of Hwy 31 and I 459. Membership is byparticipation in meetings, trips, and rides and is open to the general public.
On J anuary 12th, twenty cyclists met at the St. Marks Nalional Wildlife
Refuge. The Refuge is located on the Gulf of Mexico due south of Tallahassee, Florida and contains a mixture of coastal marshes, pineflatwoods, and upland scrub habitats. The marshes contain a networkof levees to control the water levels for migratory waterfowl. The refugeis is used by a variety of birds, including bald eagles, and is home tonumerous alligators. Needless to say the scenery is spectacular and therefuge is a great place to enjoy cruising along on a bicycle.
For the actual ride, we started at the visitor center as brisk winds drove theclouds fromthe sky. For many of us, this was the first sunshine we had seenin weeks. Indeed the previous day had started with a downpour in
. TaHahassee. For the first several miles we altemated riding on woods roads,
levee tops, and pavement before arriving at the lighthouse on the gulLwhich was built in 1846. Then after backtracking a few miles...we rode tothe backside of the refuge before returning to the visitor center. With theinclusion of an out and back to the Pinhook River...the ride was almost 30miles long. Despite a close call by one rider who almost ran over analligator...18 of the 20 riders completed the entire ride. The casualties weredue to a sore knee and a tender rear end.
On Sunday, the 13th, we met at the head of the St. Marks Historic RailroadState Trail a few mites south of Tallahassee. The St. Marks Trail is a paved ...eight foot wide, trail that extends 16 miles south fromTallahassee to St.Marks. Adjacent to the trail are lands belonging to the Apalachicola NalionalForest on which Fat of the Land, the Tallahassee mountain bicycle club,in conjunction with the Forest Ser·vice is developing single track for mountainbicycles. This was our deslination.
Fifteen riders showed up for the St. Marks single track. After riding down thepaved trail for a little over a mile...the single track took off throughthe longleaf pine flatwoods. Surprisingly, the trail was hardpacked, withvery liute loose sand. Despite aUof the rain on Thursday and Friday the trailwas dry so the riding was excellent. The trail was laid out by cyclists and itreaDyshowed. Lots of tight curves, plenty of logs to hop and numerous treesto squeeze between... pure fun! We split into two groups. Those in a hurryto return to B'ham did a Quick 4 mile loop and the rest did a longer 12 mileloop. Since there is probably at most 20 feet of elevation difference, it
makes for some fast riding for those of us accustomed climbing lots of hills.Even the longer loop took only about an hour to ride.
This past faiL 0 ak Mountain State Park formed a trail advisory comlJ 'tiUeeconsisting of two cyciists(Ken Hester and Bill Harringtont two hikers, andtwo equestrians. The current plan is to continue to completely segregatehorses and bicycles and to minimize shared trails between pedestrians andcyclists. Cyclists are stiUrestricted to the red traawhich is in reality an old
road. In its original formthe red trail relied on extensive ditching and culvertsto provide proper drainage and prevent erosion where it traverses the steepgrades up Oak Mountain. Unfortunately the trails' drainage structures havefilled in over the years and water now flows down the middle of the trailduring rains causing serious erosion on the steeper grades.
Since the park is committed to keeping the red trail open to pedestrian andbicycle traffic, B.U.M.P. proposed the red trail be regraded to restore asmuch of the original drainage strucutures as possible. In its current state, thetrail's problems cannot be corrected by volunteer manual labor. The parkaccepted this proposal and work has begun starting at the Peavine Fallsend. It is the park's intention to make the trail passable to four wheel drivevehicles to aid in search and rescue missions.
In conjunction with the restoration of the red traitto a four wheel drive road,B.U.M.P. is negotiating with the park to obtain access to single track withinthe park. The trail committee and the park are reviewing the situation andwe expect positive action will be taken in the near future.
At the J anuary meeting, we voted unanimously voted to accept the bylawsput forth by J ohn Hodgkins and committee. This means we wiDbeelecting officers at our February meeting. 0 ther items on the agenda forthe February meeting are planning rides for February and March andwatching a video of the Tallahasse trip.
For more info about B.U.M.P. call Bill Harrington at 939-1794 nights andweekends and 733-5587 weekdays.
