Re: Saved by a Motorcycle Group

["Duncan Fletcher" <dfletche@gte.net>]

First, let me congratulate Shannon on working with another user group. One
of the reasons Michigan DNR may have had misgivings was the postion taken by
the Equestrian Stakeholders group on the inability of horses to share trails
and the the need for extreme separation (as much as 3000 feet of clear
unobstructed view) between equestrians and other users apparently with (as I
understand it) the support of the Michigan endurance community. For details
of their proposal to Michigan DNR see Trailblazer Magazine (Spring/Summer,
page 10). For a critique of that bit of nonesense, see my response in
Trailblazer (Fall/Winter Special Edition, page 7).

Duncan Fletcher
dfletche@gte.net


----- Original Message -----
From: <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,
>