Parks Trails Coordinator Rocky Houston
— used the Summit to get some answers about
a trail building project he’s involved in.
(Photos © J. Maus)
One of the most important functions of the Oregon Bike Summit is an opportunity for advocates to meet with key partners and decision makers face-to-face.
Between workshop sessions, I noticed a lively discussion going on and I stuck around to see what it was about.
The meeting was between several mountain bike advocacy groups and Oregon State Parks’ trails czar Rocky Houston. The group was discussing their ongoing collaboration to build a mountain bike trail system in Stub Stewart State Park — the newly opened, 1,600 acre state park located 31 miles west of Portland.
for Oregon State Parks.
Around the table were Houston, Portland United Mountain Pedalers (PUMP) member Roger Louton, Joe Rykowski from the Westside Trail Federation, Steve Kruger with Stub Stewart State Park, and representatives from the Black Rock Mountain Bike Association.
Westside Trail Federation
PUMP’s Louton said that the ad hoc group has been exchanging emails for months, but they had some complicated issues that were tough to work out electronically.
After the meeting he told me, “It was great to get together, in person. In 20 minutes we got everbody on the same page, and I was able to get information straight from the source [State Parks’ Houston].”
Houston says the group is working out some permitting and trail construction issues as they embark on an ambitious plan to build a network of bike-only singletrack trails and a freeride/stunt biking park within Stub Stewart.
It’s these kind of moments, when advocates and decision-makers can connect and work through issues, that are the core mission of the Oregon Bike Summit.