On September 9th Jefferson County Open Space released its recommended plan for improving visitor experiences at Apex Park. The proposed plan would significantly restrict mountain bikers' use of Apex Park. At the heart of this proposal is the stated intention to "Eliminate 'downhill biking' (shuttling)" at Apex. To this end the Open Space staff are proposing barring bicycles from going downhill on Enchanted Forest and the lower reaches of the Apex Trail, forcing bikers to climb to the top of Apex Park and then forcing cyclists to climb again up Sluicebox to return to the lower trailhead.

Even though cyclists represent the largest usergroup at Apex Park, the only travel restrictions being imposed in this plan are against cyclists. By forcing uphill only cycling traffic at key points in Apex Park, the JCOS plan takes from cyclists one of the jewels of the JCOS park system, the Enchanted Forest downhill, and fundamentally alters mountain bikers' historical use patterns in the Park.

COMBA firmly believes that a plan, such as the one proposed by JCOS, that restricts access and penalizes only one user group is a major shift away Jefferson County Open Space's stated mission of retaining multiple uses on all trails. COMBA will oppose this plan as a threat to our access, not only at Apex Park, but as a threat to our access on all multi-use trails in the JCOS park system.

JCOS's main effort may be to eliminate "downhill biking", but they will dramatically changing the user experience for ALL cyclists with this plan. Whether a rider considers herself a cross-country rider, a freerider, or a downhiller -- when we turn our bicycles around at the top of Apex Park and point our bicycles downhill, we are all downhill cyclists. If we hope to defeat this plan we will need to organize and speak as ALL cyclists.

Please continue to watch www.comba.org for more information and COMBA's full rebuttal to the proposed Apex Park management plan.

The full text from the county's proposal can be found at: http://www.co.jefferson.co.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R37.htm