Advocacy is the effort required to keep trails open for bikes and to bring the pastime of mountain biking into equal status with traditional trail users. Without a strong voice, we would have very few trails to ride. We would never stand a chance for equal consideration on narrow trails and would never be considered an equal factor in the "MULTI" part of multi-user!
BTCEB has several projects on the front burner currently, and they're all hot! Each project represents a method that BTCEB employs for making advancements in the struggle for more access, more trails, and better relationships between trail users.

East Bay Area Trails Council (EBATC)

EBATC is a coalition group of bike, equestrian, and hiking groups that work together to resolve access issues, and to forge a unified force for trails and open spaces. BTCEB worked with EBATC to nominate trails for consideration in the 2005, 2006, & 2007 checklist process to open single track trails in East Bay Regional Park District. Finding a consensus between user groups as to what constitutes a "safe" multi-use trail or how a singletrack can be shared by all users is not easy work. It takes calm, committed, patient, advocates who are willing to listen, compromise when necessary, and remain firm about receiving equal treatment and access to trails. We're there and we work for your right to ride. Read Michael Kelly's report on why EBATC is so important.

Joaquin Miller Park Trail Maintenance

"The trails have never been in better shape in the twenty years I've been here." That's a direct quote by Park Supervisor Martin Mataresse! It is in no small part the ongoing, Trail Maintenance Program that has logged over 3,000 hours of volunteer labor by BTCEB trail workers, that is responsible for the good condition of the trails. There is always more to do, especially after rains, and in trouble spots that need regular maintenance. We take pride and set the example for all open space jurisdictions with the conflict and accident-free environment for multi-use on Joaquin Miller Park Master Plan currently in the works.

Dimond Canyon Trail

This singletrack is an excellent example of the old maxim "If you want to ride singletrack, build one!" We raised $2,500 each from Power Bar and California Trails & Greenways Foundation, and we built a fun and relatively easy to ride trail that puts in place the beginnings of a 15 mile singletrack network within the city limits of Oakland. We have almost 700 hours of volunteer labor so far, but needless to say, there's plenty more to do! We want to reroute the trail up by Monterey Blvd. and hope to work with the Friends of Sausal Creek on this project in 2008.