COMBA would like to express our thanks to the approximately 400 mountain bikers who attended last night's meeting of the Jefferson County Open Space Advisory Commission regarding Apex Park. It was truly one of the finest hours for Front Range mountain bikers. You should all be tremendously proud.

Everyone carried themselves with respect and class, sending a clear message to Jefferson County officials: Mountain bikers are an important constituency that cannot and should not be ignored. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Like many of you, COMBA board members are still scratching their heads at the outcome of the meeting, which went well past midnight. OSAC members did not formally vote on the proposed plan to restrict mountain bike travel on specific trails within Apex Park on an alternating-day schedule. However, Director Schell does not need the approval from OSAC to implement this plan.

It was clear, however, that a majority of members supported the proposed management plan in some form or another, but many of the members had different caveats for their support. Some said it was dependent upon building new trails first, some wanted "tweaks" to the plan, others would support it if it was a temporary solution and still others said their support was contingent upon making sure alternating days Apex did not conflict with alternating days for bicycles at Centennial Cone, another Jefferson County park.

Yes, it's muddled. While that is not what we wanted in terms of an outcome, there were some very positive signs to come out of the meeting. First, several of the members expressed the desire for mountain bike-friendly changes in the Apex plan, including new trails and directional downhill on Enchanted Forest. Second, almost every OSAC member spoke in support of purpose-built bicycle trails! This is huge change. We've been asking for it for years, but we have seen any acknowledgment of the need until now. That's major progress in the right direction.

COMBA will be reaching out to Jefferson County Open Space staff very quickly to get a sense of what happens next. We will report back to you as soon as we know more. The book clearly has not yet been written on the future of Apex Park, but the incredible display of unity and community on behalf of mountain bikers last night means that we will continue to have a say on how this thing turns out.

Obviously, our work as mountain bikers is not done. We hope you will continue to support COMBA as we push forward in our effort to build a strong mountain bike community that can effect change. You certainly proved last night that, working together, we can make a difference.