Happy Trails for the Friendly City

This article originally appeared in the Daily News Record’s Rocktown Weekly on December 20, 2013

The new “Geronimo Trail”

Happy Trails for the Friendly City
By SARAH STACY
Daily News-Record
Though many individuals may cherish memories of riding bikes when they were younger, not all continued pedaling into adulthood. The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition is hoping to get people back on two wheels while providing more places to ride, such as Rocktown Trails in Hillandale Park.
“I think biking is important for a lot of reasons,” Kyle Lawrence, president of SVBC, said. “Bikes are a simple solution to a lot of problems, everything from obesity and health, to minimizing driving cars and [helping to solve] environmental problems.”
“And I think, most importantly, they build a better community,” he continued.
Lawrence explained that riding a bike puts the individual directly into his or her environment, where interaction with others is more likely to occur.
“You’re going to see more people, experience more things, get to know the city better,” Lawrence said of biking.
Thomas Jenkins, one of the founding members of SVBC and co-owner of Shenandoah Bicycle Company, agrees.
“When I ride down the street, and I see someone and they’re on a bike, we can stop and talk,” he said. “There’s so much more social interaction, [and] when you talk to people, you have a more involved community; you have a safer community.”
Recognizing a need
About six years ago, local cyclists saw a need to help build a stronger, more connected community through advocacy.
In response, the SVBC was created, merging a mountain bike club with a road bike club.
Today, the SVBC deals with “everything bike related in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County,” Lawrence explained. This includes advocacy efforts such as paving the way for more bike lanes and bike paths, providing information and education on biking, as well as organizing and holding events.
With more than 500 members, the SVBC continues to play a role in strengthening and expanding the local bike community.
One of the coalition’s most important tasks is addressing people’s reasons for not biking; one of which is not having safe, accessible locations to ride.
To provide additional riding opportunities, SVBC has worked extensively to build and maintain public trails, including Rocktown Trails in Hillandale Park.
Rocktown Trails began when the city acquired a portion of vacant land. Local cyclists hoped for mountain biking trails that would be easily accessible from city limits, providing a solution as to what to do with the property and how to stop the illegal activities the vacant land attracted.
Around the same time the SVBC was being organized, members of what would become the coalition presented a proposal to the Harrisonburg Department of Parks and Recreation that would turn that land into a recreational hub.
After approval, SVBC started construction on the 50 acres of land, which now hold about six miles of mountain bike trails.
Jenkins said the trails were built for mountain biking, but it’s been rewarding to see the uses outside of the sport.
With portions of trails designated to different experience levels, avid mountain bikers, runners and hikers have become regulars on the trail, as well as families with small children.
“It’s a little oasis right in town,” Jenkins explained, adding that it’s for everyone.
Adding a trail
Though Rocktown Trails provides recreational opportunities for everyone, there was no legal access to Hillandale Park from the surrounding homes in the Wyndham Woods neighborhood off Circle Drive.
The solution was to build a new trail, a project undertaken by the SVBC.
After consulting a map, members of the SVBC saw that there was a city-owned paper street — a street that’s on the map but was never developed — that could be used to grant access and provide a trail for people from the neighborhood to enter the park.
But neighbors didn’t want that street used for a trail, due largely to concerns about privacy. The SVBC worked in collaboration with the residents to create a plan that would allay those fears, eventually obtaining a land swap to put the trail in an acceptable location.
Through the help of numerous volunteers, the Geronimo Trail — which was named in honor of the cat of a neighbors who died during the project — was finally completed about a month ago, after a yearlong process of negotiations and construction.
Although the Geronimo Trail may be a small addition, being that it’s only about a 200-foot dirt path, it was quite a feat for the group.
“I’ve never seen so much work go into 200 feet of trail,” Jenkins said, “but I’ve never seen 200 feet of trail also mean so much.”
Jenkins said one of the most rewarding aspects was seeing those who were initially wary of the project join in to help with construction, and to witness the impact a small trail can have on a neighborhood.
“It’s a really cool example of how a short little trail can provide access for scores of houses and scores of families to a park facility,” Jenkins said.
Though the Geronimo Trail is a short, dirt path, Jenkins said it represents an important value of the biking community: connectivity.
By having this trail, residents from the neighborhood no longer have to drive to the park to gain legal access, as they can walk, run or bike there, and as a result, are more likely to meet their neighbors and create those relationships that help build a stronger community.
“I’m hearing how many people are using it [and] how many people are excited about it … so hopefully it will provide more opportunities … in the future,” Jenkins said, adding that those connecting paths are vital to getting people to use alternative modes of transportation.
Jenkins and Lawrence are excited about the SVBC’s future plans for additional trails in other local parks, and hope to see more individuals join the biking community.
“If you ride a bike, no matter what type of bike … you’re a cyclist,” Jenkins said, encouraging anyone who is interested to simply get back on a bike and ride.
And Rocktown Trails is a great place to start riding again, Jenkins added.
“Just go check them out,” he said of the trails. “I think people would be pleasantly surprised.”
For more information, or to become a member of the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, visit svbcoalition.org.