Bicycle riders are being excluded from most of the proposed trails in the Strategic Plan for the California Coastal Trail in Mendocino County. Access to trails along the coast is very much desired by local and visiting cyclists. Riding a bicycle is an enjoyable and healthy way to see the coast and brings many visitors to our area. Mountain bikes do not need a "class one bike path" to ride on. Cyclists can walk stairs, tight corners, and other obstacles so in reality no trail is unusable to them. The idea bicycles are more damaging to "sensitive natural resources" then hikers has not been backed up by scientific studies. "Access to trailheads and parking" is less important to cyclists then it is to hikers since riding to the trail is a possibility. Allowing bicycles on new trails should be open to review. "Land management agency policies" have been changed to allow cyclists in the past and should not be used to automatically exclude them. Bicycle riders have contributed their time and money to acquire right of ways and build trails on the coast but have not been included in forming policies for trails. Mendocino Coast Cyclists would like to help insure bicycling is included on the California Coastal Trail in Mendocino County.
Sincerely,
Chris Clutton
Past president Mendocino Coast Cyclists
