Bike Trail Ambassadors
 

A few months back my daughter and I were riding on the Pinellas Train in St Pete FL and I came across some of the volunteer Trail Rangers that ride the trail offering directions, trail assistance and aid to trail users. Since that time I have found that The Legacy Trail in Sarasota FL has the same type of volunteer program called The Legacy Trail Ambassadors. I was very impressed with both programs. With this being said I am very interested in forming a group of volunteers to ride trails here in Seminole county.
My question to the forum is this:

1. Do any of you have knowledge of such a group in the area that you live and ride?
2. Do you have any local web site for such a group in your area?
3. Do you know of a person that I could correspond with to seek help to move this program forward?
4. In your opinion does a volunteer program such as this have added value?
5. Do you have any suggestions that you can offer to strengthen my proposal to the local Parks and Recreation Dept.

I am cross posting this in the SE forum and general cycling forum

Thanks for any advise/help that you can offer.

Slo Spoke Jim

We have trail rangers here. They started a couple of years ago. I have never seen one, however. Their initial appeal was to teenagers, which, I think, kind of turned off their best source - all of the multitudes of retired folks who ride our trails. Very few teenagers do.

In any event, I sort of fulfill that role automatically whenever I ride. I always ask lost - looking folks if I can be of assistance, and have changed more than one flat tire.

I think it is a good idea if a place has lots of trails.

I know that Beverly is very active as a trail whatever in Ohio, where they have 100's of miles of trails.

Dnvrfox , thanks for the reply. The two groups that I mentioned all seemed to be of the age that they would qualify for the 50+ forum. I try to fulfill the role automatically as I pick up trash as I ride and deposit it in the nearest trash can. I always stop if I feel someone is in need. Perhaps I will hear from Beverly.

Thanks again,
Slo Spoke Jim

Is that like a hall monitor?

I suppose you could make that comparison.

Slo Spoke Jim

Just kidding around. :) It sounds like a very good thing to do. :thumb:

I was out in this bone-chilling weather....getting groceries, not riding:o

I've been a member of the Five Rivers MetroParks volunteer bike patrol group for six years. In addition to patrolling the trails we help with other area bike events such as kid's bike rodeos and the annual bike-to-work event. We have a few younger people in the group but the majority are retired.

We have a Saturday morning bike program called "Bike for the Health of It". It's held from April through October and we often have as many as 70 people participate. We try to teach riders trail etiquette, safe riding and simple bike maintenance.

We work with the park rangers and maintenance crews to report suspicious activity and anything on the trail that needs repaired. We carry radios to contact the rangers and go through yearly first aid/CPR training. We've had to use the training a few times, too.

In addition to the bike patrol Five Rivers also has hike, horse and mountain bike volunteers to help with other areas in the parks. We don't have a separate website for the patrols but here's the link to Five Rivers. The outdoors section might have some information on it.
www.metroparks.org

If you want additional info, just ask....

Posted some info in the General Discussion Forum.

Hi Beverly, thank you so much for taking time to responde to my post. Can I send you a PM tomorrow with some additional questions?

Slo Spoke Jim

Yes, of course...

Beverly, just sent you an e-mail...

Slo Spoke Jim

I would enjoy reading the answers posted right on this forum, which is what it is for. Is there any special reason you are turning this into a PM.

Seems a bit unfair - bringing up a subject and then excluding us??

No hidden agenda here, just thought (and for some reason don't know why) that would be a better way to go. I would be happy to share information with all on this board. I have e-mailed other trails and gotten answers from them, and I would be happy to post the answers that I recieved if people are interested. I hope that clears this up as my intention was not to exclude anyone.

Thanks
Slo Spoke Jim

I am interested and thanks for the response.
.

It's a very good idea. There aren't really bike trails where I live now, but there are hundreds of miles of unimproved, gravel forest roads, which I ride during good weather. (They become impassable in winter.) I rode many of the trails in the D.C. area before I retired since I didn't feel safe riding the roads there due to the volume of traffic and aggressive drivers. They could use a volunteer program like there since it's not uncommon to run into people who've lost their bearings or don't have a basic toolkit on their bike.

Hey nwmtnbkr, thanks for the encouragement. I have gotten several responses to me post, many of the with good links to organizations such as the one that I would like to see here in central FL. Some are in the southeast forum and some in the general forum. One person linked me to the W & OD trail in DC, that really sounded like a good trail to ride. Another link was to a MT-bike patrol. I will try to find it and post a link after dinner.

Thanks again
Slo Spoke Jim

Found it just before the wife called me for dinner..

www.imba.com/nmbp/

Below is the correspondence between Beverly and myself concerning the Bike Trail Ambassadors. I hope it will be of interest.

Hi Jim,

I saw the posting on 50+ about sharing this information. I have no objection to that but thought I would go ahead and answer your questions here. Feel free to post in on 50+, too.


1. How did your group get started? Did the county put a plan in motion or did someone such as yourself initiate the program?
Five Rivers MetroPark had the "Bike for the Health of It" program in the beginning. The idea of having people patrol the trail grew out of that program. I think it was an idea between the park and people who were leading the rides.

2. Do you have an operating budget?
The volunteer group doesn't have a budget but I'm sure the park does. They supply us with cycling jerseys, cycling jackets, first aid kits, radios and training. The first aid/CPR training is free to us. We've taken League of American Bicyclist training courses, too. We usually have a couple bike maintenance courses each year. The maintenance classes are taught my a couple members who have worked in bike shops.

3. How do you grow your membership?
When we need additional members the park advertises for volunteers on their website and in their quarterly publication. To become a member of the patrol groups you must go through an interview process and training.

4. Do you have any support from local police Dept's.? If so what type?
We work mainly with the ranger division of the park. At the beginning of a patrol ride we call the rangers to let them know where we will be riding in case there is something they might want us to check out. If we see anything suspicious or need their help we contact them immediately so they can respond.

5. Do you have any support from local communities that the trail passes through? If so what type?
Our radios and extra first aid supplies are kept in cabinets along the trails in several of the communities. All the cabinets are located inside fenced areas and we have keys to open the gates and access our cabinets.

6.Do any local bike stores give you any support? If so what type
Many of the bike shops give the volunteers a small discount on purchases. The Dayton Cycling Club provides us with tubes we use while on patrol. The tubes are free to trail riders who don't have one....and there are many new riders who don't carry a tube and pump :-) We usually have to change those flat tires, too.

7. What is the main objective of the Trail Ambassadors'? (Goodwill, trail maintenance, assist riders with maintenance, other)
Our main objective is to be ambassadors for the park. We have an extensive paved trail network in the area and we have many out-of-town riders who aren't familiar with the area. We carry maps of the trails for them, answer any questions they have and assist them in any way we can.

The rangers say we're an extra set of eyes and ears for them. We have no authority but we have the radios to call them if we see anything that requires their attention. We do remind park users of the rules when we see things such as dogs off leashes, etc. Most people are very cooperative and I've never encountered any problems.

8.Do you have a planned training program for new members?
Yes. In addition to the interview process they receive training on using the radios, first-aid/CPR and an overview of what is expected from the bike patrol volunteer. Our annual training meeting is coming up this month. The new members will receive about 8 hours of training. Prior members join them for the last 4 hours. The rangers provide most of the training. They want to be sure we know how to respond to different situations we might encounter on the trails.

I hope this has helped and wish you luck in getting a group started in your area.

Beverly