~calamity strange~

land of medicine buddha pulls the plug for mountain bikes.

yesterday delivered some very bad news to my mailbox.   



in soquel, california (a tiny township nestled up against santa cruz) there is a large sprawling section of private property of several hundred acres nestled up a quiet, lush canyon, at the end of a dead-end road- that backs up to nisene marks state park.  the property is home to Land of Medicine Buddha-a retreat center- complete with classes on buddhism, yoga, and peace-finding in the world, plus a bookstore, and some awe inspiring buddhist art, temples, and architecture. they also offer lodging and spiritual retreats. land of medicine buddha has long and interesting history.  i have been a patron of their center on many levels: taken classes, bought books, created extensive photography projects from their sights, brought school aged kids on field trips to expand their horizons, and two of my own kids attended the pre-school started by a previous owner of LMB that is now on the property.  in other words- i have a history with LMB, a well rounded view of their benefits, and not a single-minded experience of this place.  in addition to being a really neat place as a spiritual center-  it  is a virtual paradise of magnificent redwoods, and is home to a small network of trails that lead up to a ridge top and then drop down into a temperate rain forest.  it is stunning, peaceful, and a place that i have felt extraordinarily grateful to spend a great deal of time at- over the past ten years or more.  the owners of the property have been very generous to welcome anyone to enjoy their facilities and trails, they ask only that you be respectful of the obvious nature of a buddhist retreat center.

i have also had the luxury of living within five minutes of this property for close to ten years now-  and about that many years ago was introduced to the six mile loop that circumnavigates their property.  that trail, up until only a few years ago, was still relatively undiscovered, and mostly saw only hikers from the center, a few locals (hikers, dog-walkers/ trail runners) who knew about this fabulous secret, and the even fewer mountain bikers who rode it occasionally enough that the trail had stayed “single-track”  (which is mountain biking terminology- for “not much wider than the width of one bike”).  it was a very, well-guarded secret.



but, as happens with anything really, really good…  people started to talk about it…. especially mountain bikers.

i won’t bore you with a discourse on my own personal mountain biking style- but i will say one thing to help you understand why this is triple-extra-bad news for me.  i am a creature of habit.  i like routine. i like ritual- and because of that i have been riding that trail- almost exclusively- either as a loop, or as an access into, or out of nisene marks- but mostly just as quick-ish,  one+ hour morning ride…. for at least 80% of my bike riding…. for many, many years.  in addition, because of the time of day i ride: i rarely even see anyone else out there at all.   i have been riding that trail several days a week- almost every week- for years.

now, initially that might make it sound like i am part of the problem…  trust me- i am not.  because i cherish that part of my day, and because i have spent such a great deal of time there- i have felt a strong responsibility to that trail. i have also felt a little selfish about it, and honestly a little resentful as i have watched the increase in traffic on the trail, and the exponential damage the terrain has suffered as a result.  i have spent hours out there off-my-bike doing trail work.  filling in the giant mud bogs that just get worse from more traffic during wet months, digging drainage for water that can’t escape the trail, clearing downed trees, creating barriers to try to keep people ON the trail, instead of cutting new lines off the sides making the trail wider, and wider, and wider.  occasionally there is evidence that there are a couple of other concerned trail-users are doing similar work, but mostly, there is just more evidence of LOT’s of people riding bikes through there- that do nothing to help protect the trail.  that bums me out.

i am a thoughtful, courteous rider.  i slow down and/or get off the trail for hikers.  i talk nice, i smile, i am pleasant and gracious on that trail.  one.hundred.percent.of.the.time.   i have also seen hikers, who don’t look super happy to see me, and i have talked to plenty who have felt a little freaked out by the aggressive nature, and high speed of some of the riders on the trail.  (it has a really fabulous down hill component). about two months ago i was getting worried enough about this situation that i made a friendly little sign to put up at the top of of incline- where buddha trail meets the nisene marks access trail- that said “MTB’rs please respect the trail and slow down for hikers”  i go fast.  i see a hiker.  i slow down.  WAY down.  i know not everyone does that.   i do it, because i KNOW it is a privilege to be there.  i KNOW it is private property. i KNOW that at any moment if the meditating hikers (who are often paying money to stay there and hike in peace and quiet) complain about the bikes on the trail- all they have to do is say: “sorry, no bikes”. 

and two days ago they did.

early last spring- some local down hill mountain bikers began building another trail up in those woods.  a super steep, fairly difficult trail- built especially for riders on big downhill bikes.  the trail is full of jumps and berms and drop-offs.  neat.  they built this trail on private property without any permission from anyone- and then proceeded to pretend it was some big secret.  getting to this trail required going up one of the two possible ways to get to the ‘top’ of the incline of the LMB loop trail.  i initially found out about it- simply because i could see the wear on the trail, and despite their efforts to hide the entrance at the top- the exit at the bottom was super obvious.  so, as a daily rider up there, i noticed it, and went into to investigate.  frankly- i was a little shocked.  i couldn’t believe someone would go to the extensive amount of work it took to build this trail into the side of a very steep ridge without any permission from the owner.  that trail is not for the type of cross-country riding i do.  it is for people on big-drop bikes, which often weigh 40 pounds of more.  so, when i started to see more and more guys pushing their bikes up the downhill of the LMB trail on a regular basis, there was no doubt that Berm Reynolds, as that trail had been named- was not a secret any longer.  i rode it a few times this summer, just to see how it was wearing, and how much traffic it was getting.  then- after a saturday mid-morning ride on LMB loop about three weeks ago- when i counted 16 people on the trail (which is a crazy-high number for that area in a one hour slice of time) many of whom were guys wearing full-body armor, pushing their bikes up hill- i decided to ride it again.  so the next weekday morning i went out and was astonished at the wear that trail had seen.  all it said to me was bad-news-  because it meant that trail was obviously getting a huge amount of traffic- which meant lower LMB (where one would encounter hikers and such) was getting a huge amount of traffic.  bummer. 

last but not least on my list of why this is such a giant bummer- is also one of the reasons i ride this trail so much.  in santa cruz county, there are lot’s of other mountain bike trails.  however, almost 100% of those trails do not allow dogs.  i have a dog.  i have a big, sweet, friendly dog- who has made friends with many of the regular ‘hiker-dogs’ out in LMB and who’s highlight of the day is when i start putting my ‘bike clothes’ on.  he knows we’re going to buddha.  this is such a huge bummer for us.

this is the email that was sent out via mountain bikers of santa cruz (bike club)

from the director of land of medicine buddha.



Land of Medicine Buddha Trails

“…  Bottom line: The Buddha trails are now unauthorized. Too many riders, too many large groups. The last straw was the night riding. This was a legal place to ride for locals under the condition that groups were small and respectful of the grounds and the Buddhist center. As a community we have abused this privilege so now it gets taken away from us. A victim of it’s own success….”

From: Denice Macy <denice@medicinebuddha.org>

Date: Sat, Nov 20, 2010 at 2:02 PM

Subject: Land of Medicine Buddha Trails

To All it May Concern;

We have become overrun by mountain bikers! Our trails are not intended as an access route to Nisene Marks State park. 

The last straw for us is the recent groups of night bicycle rides that violate our rules:

·         No public access  to our center after dusk

·         And no bicycles on our trails.

The bicyclist I have spoken to have for the most part been respectful that bicycles on mediation trails are and unwanted intrusion into the peace and quiet of our retreat center.

There are miles and miles of trails that bicyclists may use.

However we respectfully request that you  let people know that Land of Medicine Buddha is not open for trail riding.

Please let your association members know that this is private land. Bicycles are allowed and welcomed at our center. But not on trails.

We have posted these rules in the past, now it seems we need to get larger signs in hopes that our request will be respected. I would be happy to hear any suggestions you might have for helping us have a harmonious outcome to our request.

Warmly,

Denice Macy

Executive Director Land of Medicine Buddha

<span>No Bikes on LMB Trails Period.</span>

*Due overuse of our trails and concern for our retreatants*

Bicycles *are* allowed:

On paved roads

During daylight hours

of course, zee and i will figure out someplace else to ride.  i just needed to process my feelings about the situation.  of course, we can still hike there if we want, but for 100 pound dog that is used to getting to race me on my bike, my hiking turns out to be fairly less than exciting for him.

i am grateful to Land of Medicine Buddha for all the wonderful years of mountain biking i was able to enjoy while they extended their property to the use of us all. ♥



IF YOU WANT TO GET A GLIMPSE OF HOW MY BIG FRIENDLY BLACK DOG FEELS ABOUT BUDDHA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=193r0FHvv_4%EF%BB%BF