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Ride Spot to debut at Sea Otter Classic — Plus tips about sharing your favorite ride spots

Short link to this post: http://bit.ly/TipsRideSpot

“Hey, Dad. I can see just fine. I can see we’ll have far fewer carbon emissions when more people bike!”

Among launches to consumers scheduled to take place at the 29th Annual Sea Otter Classic, a Celebration of Cycling, is the Ride Spot app. Look for it at the People for Bikes exhibit (booth B1), in the 500+ vendor expo at Sea Otter Classic, April 11-14, 2019.

Readers of Outspokin‘ , the online magazine of the National Bicycle Dealers Association, got the alert about Ride Spot, which has been in beta testing, in an August 30, 2018 Outspokin‘ article (“Connect to Riders with Ride Spot”).

Chances are some of your favorite bicycle retailers throughout the U.S. (e.g., some of Monterey County’s local bike shops) along with other bicycling leaders (e.g., some of the Monterey County bike community leaders) participated in the beta testing phase.

Bicycling Monterey offered the following Monterey County input to People for Bikes, just as we would to anyone planning to share favorite bike routes and trails with others: Please preface each app screen (or website page) with a line about responsible riding, and link it to your own or another reputable website for educational resources.
Why? Sure, some people just don’t care. However, many people simply lack knowledge and need education so they can do the right thing—whether with regard to caring for the land, or to being respectful of other people and how they’re getting about.

Sharing your favorite ride spots

When recommending your favorite ride spots to others, even in online or in-person conversations, don’t assume they know how to give some love to those spots. Offer to help them find resources about the vicinity’s concerns.
Below are some examples about Monterey County concerns. (Note: All bit.ly links below go to other posts or pages of the Bicycling Monterey website.)
  • Whether biking the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail network (including the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail), biking city streets, or biking elsewhere, Bicycling Monterey offers guidance about sharing trails harmoniously, local sidewalk ordinances, and more in http://bit.ly/LawsSkillsSafety and elsewhere on bikemonterey.org.
  • Bicycling Monterey strives to educate about mountain biking concerns, e.g., see http://bit.ly/TeensBike (scroll down that post to “More resources for responsible mountain biking”). Bicycling Monterey refers to Monterey Off Road Cycling Association (MORCA) for mountain biking (MTB) guidance, e.g., in Bicycling Monterey’s 33-section directory, http://bit.ly/BikeMRYResources, found in this site’s Resources / Los Recursos section, http://bit.ly/ResourcesBikeMRY.
  • From Monterey County’s Toro Park (e.g., http://bit.ly/SharingParks) to Andrew Molera State Park (http://bit.ly/BikeBigSur), there’s controversy here when it comes to protecting the land, sharing trails with others, etc. It’s just one of many pieces that are challenging in welcoming visitors (as well as encouraging locals) to enjoy the great outdoors here.
  • From the start (since 2009), bikemonterey.org has strived to provide a warm welcome to bicycling visitors, along with encouraging more locals to bike too! See http://bit.ly/SustainMRY for an overview.
  • And of course, although it’s wet here today (recently we’ve had plenty of welcome rain), overtourism issues everywhere (e.g., http://bit.ly/BigSurOvertourism) include wildfires (http://bit.ly/BigSurTips). Fires are not a distant memory here.
  • And as Monterey County Weekly editor Sara Rubin said on Twitter on March 3, 2019: “Not-so-fun fact, courtesy Ventana Wilderness Alliance: as @forestservice fire-related expenditures go up, trail maintenance budget will shrink even more. In the absence of @forestservice backcountry rangers in Big Sur, Ventana Wilderness Alliance trains and deploys volunteer rangers, to the tune of a whopping 17,410 hours over 9 years.” (Keep an eye on the Weekly for coverage about that and other topics: http://www.montereycountyweekly.com.)
  • From Big Sur Kate to the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau, there are wide-ranging viewpoints about tourism. Again, Bicycling Monterey loves welcoming visitors who bike, and likes to make sure visitors (and locals) are aware of resources that help them be more welcome on Monterey County bikeways, from mountain bike trails to public streets and more.
  • Help get the word out about Monterey County bicycling resources, along with California bicycle laws. Grab items on the Bicycling Monterey page “Posters, fliers, logs, and more.”
And welcome to http://bit.ly/SeaOtterClassic! As usual, Monterey County’s special welcome mat will be out on SOC Opening Day, http://bit.ly/RedCarpetMRY. 

This post was published on 4 March 2019. One or more changes last made to this post on 15 April 2019.

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