Silent Sports Sounds Off

David Vogt, the new deputy director of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and now an at-large Friends of the Badger State Trail Board member, has left some excellent comments on the Silent Sports messageboard.

The rallying of more than 100 bicyclists to elect him and two others to the Friends board last Tuesday in Belleville, he wrote, “was a beginning, not an end. The silent sports community must realize that activism and advocacy are integrally woven into their activities of choice. Like it or not, voting and advocacy are now just as important as base training and intervals.”

In a seperate post, Vogt wrote, “The BikeFed has never, nor will we ever, assemble our members for the purpose of taking over the governing board of a designated ATV trail with the intention of changing the trail’s primary intended use. Never. The ATV community cannot say the same.”

He rightly called ATV’ers trying to gain access to nonmotorized trails as “4-wheeled scavengers.” That’s exactly what the Wisconsin ATV Association is as it joins efforts to motorize the Badger, Eisenbahn, Gandy Dancer and other state rail-trails.

The BikeFed’s successful Friends of the Badger State Trail election campaign may be a sign of the “new direction” promised by the BikeFed’s board of directors after it fired executive director Dar Ward earlier this year – a move that surprised and troubled many of the organization’s rank-and-file members.

Moving forward, new hire Vogt and Jack Hirt, promoted to head the BikeFed, soon saw the need to defend the Badger State Trail with a large-scale, wheels-on-the-ground mobilization. And with a lot of help, they pulled it off.

Defending the integrity of rural biking and hiking trails and confronting the ATV threat to them is important for an organization that has been seen for too long, both fairly and unfairly, as an urban Madison- and Milwaukee-centric group. It’s called the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, after all. Taking stands like this one should win the BikeFed allies out here in the hinterland.

As Vogt says, we silent sports enthusiasts need to get involved and vocal if we want to continue to enjoy the activities we do.

– Joel Patenaude

Taking a page from the local motorsports lovers’ playbook, more than 100 bicyclists showed up at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Badger State Trail last night and swept three of their own into the open positions on the board.

The mobilization led by the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin – involving the Bombay Bicycle Club, Trek, Saris, REI and other big names in the state’s bike industry – increased the biking advocates on the board from one to three.

That still leaves the Friends group with a four-member majority which favors ATVing and snowmobiling on the rail-trail. The newly minted Friends group was packed with motorsports enthusiasts last January, prompting Tuesday night’s response from the bicycling community. While the entire trail is open to snowmobiles when the conditions are right, ATVs are only allowed winter use of the 11-mile stretch between Monroe and Monticello and only on a trial basis this year and next year.

Who uses the trail is determined by the Natural Resources Board and overseen by the DNR. The Friends group has input but no authority on the matter.

The new Friends board members had the support of most of the 149 people who paid $15 in membership dues Tuesday night for the privilige to vote. They now have a mandate to promote bicycling on the 40-mile trail. The surge in membership added $2,235 to the Friend’s coffers which had little more than $1,400 before the meeting.

Sharon Kaminecki, owner of the Earth Rider Bicycling Boutique and Hotel in Brodhead, is now vice president. Avid Monroe area cyclist Bernie Robertson was elected treasurer. And David Vogt, the new deputy director of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, won overwhelmingly one of two at-large seats.

Shortly before he was elected, Vogt told the crowd, “I am particularly interested in seeing the Badger State Trail’s northern connection to Madison completed.” That statement was greeted with considerable applause. The trail currently stretches from south of Paoli to the Illinois state line.

Rob O’Connell, vice president of the Wisconsin ATV Association, had a front-row seat at the meeting in the Belleville High School Auditorium. He had to be wondering how his side was so convincingly outplayed.

– Joel Patenaude

Group warm-up sessions precede the Berbee Derby (Photos by Joel P.)

Blame the tryptophan. I haven’t posted since before Thanksgiving, and I don’t have a better excuse. I will say now, however belatedly, I had a nice long weekend in the Madison/Mt. Horeb area, which saw its first semi-serious snowfall (and by that I mean barely an inch fell, and it was mostly gone 36 hours later) on Thanksgiving eve.

The snow relegated the rollerskis to the car, but at least the running shoes got some use.

Turkey Day dawned with pre-race jitters. For once the nervous Nellies were not my brother-in-law, Adam, and I. Rather, it was butterflies for my wife and sister, both of whom had trained to run the Berbee Derby as their first 10K. Starting and ending in Fitchburg, the road portion of the course was salted and clear, but the Capital City Trail (the second half of the route) remained icy, according to the announcers on site. With temps in the mid 20s and a chill wind blowing, it was sure to be a first time to remember for the girls.

Left to right, Dena (the author’s sister), her friend Liz and Noelle (the author’s spouse) displayed the right attitude at the race start.

Suffice it to say, they did fine, finishing the race at their respective paces. As their support crew and cheerleaders, we surprised them with words of encouragement hand-painted on our long-sleeve thermal underwear (pulled on over our coats, of course). They seemed pleased, both with their performances and our gesture.

And we were very proud of them.

Dena and Noelle had barely showered before they were scheming about running the 5K Jingle Bell Run in Madison in a couple weeks. Adam and I plan to run the Stevens Point YMCA Frostbite 10 Mile (there’s a five mile fun-run, too) a week earlier on Dec. 1.

Inspired by the ladies, Adam and I got out for a couple cold but invigorating runs over the weekend. And we, too, were thankful for the support of our families as we train and race year-round.

– Joel Patenaude

At the front of the 10K field, with less than a half mile to go, former UW-Madison runners Matthew Tegenkamp (735), Chris Solinsky (685) and their coach, Jerry Schumacher (641), were far and away in the lead. The 37-year-old Schumacher beat his young charges in 32:48, two seconds ahead of Tegenkamp, 25, and Solinsky, 22. (The top three were among 40 UW staff and alum who ran as “Team Lincoln’s Roadrunners” in memory of 4-month-old Lincoln Wilber, son of the UW’s assistant director of compliance, Benjy Wilber, and his wife, Erin. Lincoln died last September.)

While the trio led the team to victory, it wasn’t too difficult considering the talent they held in reserve. This year, Tegenkamp took ownership of the American 2-mile record (8:07) and finished fourth in the 5K at the 2007 World Outdoors Championships. Solinsky, whose 5K PR is 13:27.94, has five NCAA titles to his name. Tegenkamp and Solinsky – the first Badgers to run a sub 4-minute mile (they finished first and second in the same race) – graduated in 2005 and 2007 respectively and continue to train for the Olympics together in Madison under Schumacher’s direction.

Silent Sports columnist Tom Kaufman ran a very respectable 40:02 10k for third place in his age group.

I sent the following letter to Outdoors Unlimited, the monthly magazine of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, of which I’m a member. The letter appears in the November issue.

I just read the Supporter Spotlight press release “Nationwide offers tips on insuring ATVs” in the October issue, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the sad irony implicit in such damage insurance policies.

Last February, I received a similar notice from Allstate. The insurance company said it was giving “adrenaline junkies … a new reason to smile” by offering coverage to off-road vehicle owners, specifically “physical damage coverage.” Allstate promised to insure ORVs for “off-road hazards that could cause direct physical loss or damage. This includes theft, fire, collision, damage-in-transit and vandalism.”

Well, I had to ask for clarification. Was Allstate offering to cover the costs of property damage caused by ATV riders/policyholders? Was the company offering to pay restitution to property owners who suffer wetland damage, rutting and erosion issues due to illegal ATV riding by its customers? How about compensating resorts and public park managers for lost income when ATV engine noise, pollution and damage chase away the majority of outdoor recreationists who are hikers, bicyclists and birders?

Of course not, was Allstate’s reply. “No, we do not cover illegal operation of the vehicle,” I was told by a company spokesman.

But this begs the question: Who does pay for the increasing presence of ORVs on the landscape? Well, it’s not the owners of the machines. Private landowners and taxpayers are left to deal with the aftermath of this growing invasion.

“(ATV) riding is considered such a right that most states do not require ATV users to buy liability insurance for property damage or personal injury,” reports Paul R. Stephenson in his new book “Motorized Obsessions: Life, Liberty and the Small-Bore Engine.” He says only ATV owners in New York and Pennsylvania must carry liability insurance.

Yet the tide is rising against ATV riders who are failing to be held accountable for their trespassing and vandalism. In Maine, “landowners complained that irresponsible users had damaged their property and that they no longer wished to permit ATV users to have access to it, especially since no mitigation fund existed to facilitate repair of the damage,” according to Stephenson.

In my home state, the Wisconsin All-Terrain Vehicle Association has claimed to support creation of an ATV damage mitigation fund which would be funded with ATV registration fees and/or ATV gas taxes. But WATVA has simultaneously criticized an existing model fund, barely three years old, in neighboring Minnesota.

Until the so-called promoters of off-road motor sports – be they pressure groups like WATVA, insurance companies or ORV manufacturers – start “insuring” the public against the “wreakreation” that results, maybe OWAA ought to refrain from regurgitating press releases like that of Nationwide.

And if you thought ATV and hook-and-bullet enthusiasts were joined at the hip, think again. The report “Collision Course?: ORV Impacts on Hunting and Fishing,” recently released by the Izaak Walton League of America, includes many examples of conflict between these outdoor interests. The report can be downloaded here.

– Joel Patenaude

Wisconsin State Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, wants to help the motorized recreation lobby take over the Governor’s State Trails Council.

Mursau has drafted a bill that would increase the nine-member advisory board to 11 by adding a representative for off-road 4×4 truck drivers and another for dirt bike riders. The council already includes two members who represent ATV’ers and snowmobilers, so the motorized block would be increased to four members.

The council also includes one member each for bicyclists, hikers, cross-country skiers, equestrians, water trails, the disabled and the Department of Transportation. That means the nonmotorized contingent numbers four, to which you might add Tom Huber, the DOT’s bicycling rep, or the newest member, Jim Joque, a snowshoer (and Silent Sports columnist) but formally a representative for the disabled, so he may need to act on behalf of those who require electric wheelchairs and ATVs to enjoy public trails.

The members representing nonmotorized interests have hardly acted as a militant bloc, however. While they get along better than a hiker and biker meeting in the woods might, they have to keep in mind a variety of potential recreational conflicts between their user groups, too.

Even with what looks on paper like a nonmotorized majority, the council has recently voted unanimously (or with one member dissenting) in support of the motorized crowd’s interests.

In October, for example, all but one of the council’s members voted to table a resolution opposing ATV trails in the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest. And in July 2006, the council voted unanimously in support of the DNR’s efforts to site one or more new motorized recreation parks.

But apparently this deference shown to a minority of trail users (and the most impactful and incompatible of users) is insufficient. Council member and Wisconsin ATV Association President Randy Harden suggested at a meeting last July that 4×4 truckers ought to be given “equal representation.”

Maybe what we ought to talk about is proportional representation. The fact remains that 85 percent of public land users in Wisconsin prefer nonmotorized activities, and bicyclists alone outnumber ATV’ers almost 10 to 1. Yet a lone road biker, not a mountain biker, sits on the State Trails Council.

For that matter, why doesn’t the State Trails Council have two cross-country skiers – one classic skier and one skate skier – since there are nearly twice as many of them in the state than there are off-road motorcyclists (474,000 to 245,000, according to the 2005-2010 Wisconsin Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan)? How about adding a trail runner, since there are 773,00 of those in Wisconsin compared to 736,000 off-road truckers? How about a canoeist and a kayaker?

I could go on like this, breaking down the groups and subgroups until every Wisconsin resident who ever leaves home gets an STC membership card.

The point is that the Wisconsin Off-Highway Vehicle Association and its member organizations want to pack the State Trails Council with motorheads, which would render the board useless and/or heading in the opposite direction of what most trail users want.

Other than serving to show how politically powerful WOHVA is compared to the more numerous but disparate “silent sporters” out there, adding more seats for an already noisy and bothersome constituency would not be productive.

– Joel Patenaude

In a column titled “ATVs, ’silent sports’ don’t belong together,” appearing today in the Appleton Post-Crescent, staff writer Bernie Petersen discusses the proposed New London to Seymour rail-trail.

“I favor reserving this trail for silent sports use for a couple of reasons: good planning and public safety, which go hand in hand,” he writes. “Professional planners often use the term ‘highest and best use’ in recommending for or against projects. To me, the highest and best use of this trail would be for silent sports because there would potentially be more users — and they’d be much more environmentally friendly. And they would provide at least as much of an economic boost to communities along the trail as ATV users.”

You can read the entire column here.

A discussion between ATV’ers and myself about who should use the trail can be read here.

Incidentally, Petersen low-balls the miles of ATV trails in Wisconsin. There are some 8,000 miles of legal ATV trails and routes on public property in this state and thousands more on private property where the majority of ATV’ers ride (and should ride, frankly).

– Joel Patenaude

In his story for The Mining Gazette titled “Bike-joring: The fun, dog-powered, carb-fueled sport,” Dan Schneider argues that biking while being pulled by dogs is a “true outdoor sport” because it is “fueled by carbohydrates only.”

The writer says he fell into bike-joring while hanging out with sled dog mushers last April. Rather than bemoan having to share the “rutted ATV trails” around Calumet, he points out his dogs love the puddles that have resulted.

And we learn a thing or two about sled-dog training:

“The mushers use ATVs for training runs when there isn’t enough snow to run a sled. A dozen sled dogs can pull a Polaris like a crate full of feathers.”

Consider me skeptical about that second point. I imagine someone else will read that and call in the Anti-Animal Cruelty Army.

– Joel Patenaude

The Midwest lost one of its top paddling instructors Monday with the death of “Rivermom” Marge Cline of Palatine, and more recently Cary, Illinois.

The editor of Chicago Whitewater Association newsletter for more than 28 years, Cline suffered a fatal heart attack. She was 66.

The Chicago Tribune published this obituary. And the CWA posted a tribute to Cline.