Adios to Los Padres Trail Riders
by Pat Fish
This week saw the sad last meeting of the Los Padres Trail Riders (LPTR), an organization founded in the 1940s and at one time consisting of over 300 members. Active in local trail projects and in the Fiesta Parade, the club functioned as a way for local equestrians to get acquainted and to group together for rides on local trails.
Local media reported that LPTR shut down because of poor membership numbers, but the real reason the organization voted to disband is because mountain bikers have taken over the trails, causing a situation so dangerous that horse people have been driven from the historic trails.
And as that danger increases even more people retire from riding.
People who may have been more willing to ride recklessly when younger find they become more cautious as they age, and as the cohort of people owning and riding horses and mules in Santa Barbara gets smaller, they are also getting older, more fragile, and prone to injury.
There is only one trail left in Santa Barbara County that does not allow bicycles: the Live Oak Trails adjacent to Lake Cachuma. The County Master Recreation Plan is proposing to allow electric bicycles on all trails, and the Trails Council and others are working to prevent this. In areas where e-bikes have been allowed they have caused many accidents.
The Board of Supervisors has it in its power to stop this, keep all the trails free of motorized vehicles and maintain Live Oak trails as equestrian only; equestrians have been giving testimony at meetings and trying to influence them for three years. A judge ruled against it, but they now seem set to spend significant tax money on a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under pressure from the extremely well-funded bicycle lobbies.
Allowing silent high speed electric bikes on trails will negatively impact the experience of horse riders and hikers, and we know from the conduct of the bikers in the center of Lower State Street how they are likely to behave in the wilderness. Mountain bikers who plunge down trails at top speed on their own leg power are frightening enough, but the numbers stand to increase exponentially when the equivalent of electric minibikes take over.
Families taking their children out to hike in the front country trails work hard to break the spell of the electronic devices. Sharing the trails is possible only when each type of user does so with courtesy and common sense. For equestrians, Live Oak remains the only place where a timid rider, someone with a new horse not used to trails, or elderly riders who want to get out for a calm stroll, can do so with the confidence that they will not risk their animal being spooked by what they have every right to perceive as a rapidly advancing predator.
There is a madness festering in the nation that demands equity and inclusion, and that is interpreted to mean if a person is not fit enough to hike a trail, they should be allowed to ride an electric bike on it. Even if doing so will negatively impact all other historic users.
The unique beauty of Santa Barbara, bracketed by ocean and mountain, allows our citizens multiple recreation options. Unfortunately, our government has forgotten that it works for us. Elected officials perform for their re-election campaign donors, they justify their huge salaries and pensions with busy-work that means realistic projects take years for approval.
If we lose access to a trail through development it is gone forever, and the higher the density of the housing in the city and the more aggravating they make the streets, the more people need to get out and breathe the fresh air of the coastline and mountains.
When my mule and I take a stroll around Lake Cachuma on the Live Oak Trails we both get healthy exercise and a calm connection to the natural world. When people hike up into the front country and achieve ocean views, they have the feeling of accomplishment through ascending to a different viewpoint. Trail use with awareness of all users and courtesy for their safety should not be difficult, especially not here in our little community on the edge of the continent.
We can do better.
Pat Fish is a UCSB graduate and internationally recognized tattoo artist. She established a MeetUp group for those equestrians interested in exploring the beauties of our 805 area trails.
When we refer to "Electric bicycles" we are usually making a category error. The proper category is actually "Electric motorcycle with pedals". The pedals of most electric bikes are unused, and serve as foot pegs. We don't allow motorcycles on hiking trails, but bolt some pedals to the frame, and electrify it; suddenly it's a bicycle????
CAB warned the public when the E bikes hit the streets. You see repeated violations of law by theses assisted bike riders. Where has been the Bike Guys now known as Move? Where are the objections to the lack of enforcement on streets of what amounts to mopeds traveling in excess of bike path speeds and such?
This issue of E bikes and bikes in general on the rural trails is a serious issue. Mountain bikes have been a serious issue of degradation of the environment (tearing out of vegetation and changing trails as a result). The Board of Supervisors hired a group at close to $1.0 million to review this issue and "active" transportation in the county. Supervisor Hartman promoted a group to review this issue and when they did not agree with the heavy trail use by bikes and motorcycles (gas or electric) the outcomes were quietly dismissed.
Los Padres Trail Riders were also hurt by the City of Santa Barbara closing of State St. that was a massive draw for equestrian groups that helped encourage LPTR. The historic use and protection of the trails is being destroyed by Sacramento demands for high density infill.
Look around you. Where is the demand that trails are protected from mechanical vehicles? The enforcement agencies know there is no support from elected officials and as a result are seldom around.
LPTR is not the canary in the mine, it is the hammer on what is becoming Mega-metropolis because of high density demands by Sacramento.
Now back to the dangerous e-bikes on city streets.