Saved by a Motorcycle Group

[Trishmare7@aol.com]

Hello ridecampers,
     The following is a story sent to me by my friend Shannon Weston, who is 
a Michigan endurance rider, ride-manager for the Petosky Bear River Ride, and 
newsletter editor for GLDRA.  Her story  beautifully illustrates the need to 
get along with and find ways to co-operate and work with fellow trail users . 
. . whether they be equestrians, motorbike, hikers, or prefer to cover trail 
milage walking on thier hands with balloons tied to their toes.
     She's graciously given her permission for me to post this story here.
     
Trish & King David,
Grand Blanc, Michigan

Shannon's story:

Many of you wanted to know how the Bear River Ride went, so I'm sending 
this article that I wrote for the GLDRA newsletter to you all....it's a 
long story, so If you're not interested, hit delete now! If not, 
enjoy.......)


    This is a ride story.  Actually, it's more than just a ride story, it's a 
tale that has and could still affect every trail rider in Michigan.  It's 
the story of how this year the Bear River Ride was saved by a motorcycle 
group.
    Sound a little unlikely? Well, believe it.  If it weren't for the 
kindness 
and generosity if a dirtbike club, the Bear River ride that I co-manage 
with my sister, Jayna Steffel, would not have taken place this year. That's 
not an exaggeration, it's fact . Here's what happened.
    I admit it, it was my fault. I didn't apply for my DNR permit early 
enough, in spite of warnings from my trailboss Jim Yell that there were 
rumors of a dirtbike race happening on the same weekend as our ride, on the 
same ORV trails we use for our ride.  In my defense, when I called the DNR 
they didn't know anything about the motorcycle event (I apparently wasn't 
talking to the right people) and so I waited until mid-summer to apply for 
the trail permit. Big mistake.  I was about 5 months too late.
    I got a phone call a month before the ride date from the DNR. The message 
was simple: The Stump Jumpers (motorbike club) had already scheduled their 
race on that weekend, and of course they couldn't allow horses and 
motorbikes on the trail together.  That would never work and besides, it 
was too dangerous. So, they were very sorry but we wouldn't be able to have 
our event on that weekend. Could we change the date of our ride?
    Yeah, right.  You can imagine my panic!  Change the date? No way, we'd 
have to just cancel this year. I called up Jim and told him what the DNR 
had told me, and basically cried on his shoulder.  Jim is my hero - he 
never said "I told you so",  he just went to work making phone calls and 
making use of the neighborly connections that he's nurtured over the years. 
 In short order he'd contacted Mr. Rob Howry, leader of the "Stump Jumper" 
 motorbike group, who agreed to talk with us to see if something could be 
done to save our event.
    Rob Howry basically saved our butts.  He, along with Jim and myself, 
negotiated a tentative treaty with the DNR.  The DNR people were skeptical, 
but because of Rob's willingness to work with us they agreed to OK our ride 
permit on a few conditions, one of which was that we'd have to meet with 
Mr. Howry to figure out how we were going to keep the horses and bikes from 
colliding on the trail.  The rest of the conditions were straightforward 
and would be easily dealt with once we'd done the hard part - working out 
how we would safely share the trails with the motorcycles .
    On a Sunday morning in August, I met with Jim, Rob, Jayna and her husband 
Mark, Billy Bechek, and Jeff and Denise Phillips for a breakfast meeting in 
Indian River. Although I had gone to school with Rob, we were a year apart 
and I didn't remember him. I had expected ?well, I don't know what I 
expected he'd be like but I was pleased and surprised to meet a friendly, 
enthusiastic guy who was very interested in our sport and especially in how 
he could help us out.  He and Jim did most of the hashing out of details 
while Jay and I and the rest of us sat back and watched in awe as these two 
men went over the trail maps. They were so excited that when breakfast 
came, they just kept going, letting their  meal get cold while they worked! 
  I had done my best before this meeting to try to pinpoint where my riders 
would be at any given time on the trail, and approximately how long it 
would take to do each leg of the trail on horseback (no mean feat, I have 
to tell you?in fact, I think it's impossible).  Armed with my "timetables" 
these two guys, with a little input from the rest of us, were able to see 
what needed to be done.
    We left the meeting that morning simply floored by Rob's generosity and 
willingness to help.  As it turned out, there was little for us to do: 
figure out start times for our riders and re-route a few sections of trail. 
Rob's group would do the majority of the changes in order to accommodate 
the horses. I couldn't believe that this guy was bending over backwards to 
help us; to be honest I had expected him to say, " I'm sorry, but this is a 
National event for us, and it's just not going to work out."  I even 
expected that there would be some kind of fight over who the trails belong 
to, and which group has the "right" to be there.   With competition and 
points on the line for both sides, I'd  had little hope that things would 
work out.  It's not surprising that we (the horsepeople) left that meeting 
whistling Dixie. Who would have thought that motorbike people and horse 
people could cooperate and share trails?
    With the DNR happy, we awaited our ride date with no small amount of 
butterflies.  Would my start times allow the horses to avoid the bikes? 
What about later in the day? Would the new trails do the trick?  What would 
happen when horses and bikes DID come together on the trail? (We knew this 
was unavoidable; we did all we could do but we knew it wasn't perfect).  I 
was a nervous wreck by Friday night!
    As it turned out, I had a lot more to worry about by the time the ride 
meeting got going.  One of my vets (Steve Halstead)  was still in Mount 
Pleasant with a dropped transmission, unsure when he'd be able to get to 
the ride. Would we be able to handle things with one vet and vet tech 
(myself) at the checkpoints?  If I was helping vet horses, I worried that I 
wouldn't be available for other stuff that came up.  A bear had been 
sighted only a mile from us, heading for camp. Probably wouldn't be any 
trouble but it was something else to worry about.  We were short a lot of 
volunteers including our husbands whom, for unavoidable reasons, couldn't 
be there for moral support OR physical labor.  There are so many things 
that go on behind the scenes at a ride, things you never see as a rider 
?..it's no wonder ride managers wonder why they do this year after year!
    At the ride meeting Friday night, we talked about the potential troubles 
on the trail, and being safe around the bikes.  Again, I was braced for 
opposition, this time from the riders. I really expected people to be angry 
or upset about it, but I wasn't prepared for the support from my riders. 
You guys truly are a special bunch of people, and you need no lectures from 
me about how we need to share the trails if we're to keep them.  I was 
relieved that nobody seemed mad; it was a weight off my shoulders. Thanks 
for being so cooperative, folks!
    In the end, the motorbike conflict was the least of my worries.  The ride 
went off without a hitch both Saturday and Sunday.  Every time I saw bikers 
they would wave, and Rob himself stopped at the Howard check on his bike to 
ask us how things were going. I heard from some riders that when 
encountered the motorbike people were polite and friendly, to the point of 
stalling their motorcycles to give the horses the right of way during their 
own race.  A few times riders and bikes scrambled to keep out of each 
other's way, both parties polite to a fault.  No one was hurt, and no one 
got angry.  Competitive riders who were held up for any length of time 
(sometimes 40 bikes would go by) were asked, on the honor system, to record 
how long they were detained and that time was given back to them at the end 
of the ride.  I believe no one abused this.
    I think that the motorbike people were as impressed with the riders as we 
were with them.  Several of the bikers stopped by our camp after their 
event, just to check us out and see what we were all about.  A few of them 
expressed an interest in trying the sport out, since they have horses, too. 
 All of the bikers were invited to our potluck but, much like us, they had 
much to do to prepare for the next day's race so they didn't join us.  The 
riders that rode the Bear were acting as ambassadors to the equine 
community, and they did the job admirably! There was an atmosphere of 
friendship, interest, and cooperation on both sides the entire weekend. I 
hope that, in spite of the two events going on at the same time,  my riders 
enjoyed themselves and had a successful ride.  All I received were 
favorable reports for which I'm thankful.
    If it weren't for the motorcycle group and their leader Rob Howry, this 
ride wouldn't have happened at all.  And because of these people, it 
happened safely.  I owe them my gratitude and respect, and I will view 
these people in a new light from now on.  Because of the success of our 
cooperative effort I now believe there is hope for all groups using trails 
in Michigan (and elsewhere). I believe that if two very different trail 
users can successfully share trails like we did, especially when in a 
competitive light, there is hope for trail preservation and sharing 
wherever people enjoy them.
                            Happy Trails,