Seven years ago, in Issue #190 of Dirt Rag, I wrote an Access Action piece on Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in east county San Diego. At that time, we were celebrating the Poker Ride, a long-running annual fundraiser event put on by mountain bikers as a money-maker for the park. As a member of the (now-defunct) Mountain Bike Assistance Unit, we were celebrating our existence as one of the oldest volunteer mountain biking organizations in the country. Also, we were celebrating what was momentum towards increased access to more trails for mountain bikers, based on science.
Today, none of that exists. 2017 was the last year of the Poker Ride. I have the dark humor distinction of being the last/final coordinator of the event.
What happened? Politics. Remember when I wrote Mountain Biking is a Political Act? If not, you can read it here:
Mountain Biking is a Political Act
Mountain Biking is a Political Act Fully Rigid, 26 December 2020 We might not like it, but we cannot deny it any longer: Mountain biking is a political act. Every time we are on our bikes and setting out on a trail, unless you are on private land (though you can debate that, too, e.g. Jeffersonian democracy), you are engaging in politics. Whether the juri…
The Cuyamaca Rancho State Park MBAU, the Poker Ride, the efforts and enthusiasm around improved access at the park sounded/looked like this in 2016 (click the link to access the Dirt Rag article) :
https://jamesmurren.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/dr-190-mbau-page-1.pdf
We recently tried to bring back the Poker Ride for 2023. Tried is a bit of an understatement, or not the best assessment. What’s more apt is that the park made it very difficult to make the Poker Ride viable from a management perspective, meaning … events take time and money to make happen. We had the people and the energy to do it. Time? For such events, you make time. Money? If you have to pay to get access to representation above and beyond what others pay, you do not have equal access to being represented.
As I teach my students, if you want to understand what any administration’s political agenda is really about, look at the money flow. Don’t focus on rhetoric. Glossy websites and reports and brochures aren’t the agenda, either. Simply find the budget and map the money flow. Where does it go and who is getting it? That’s politics, along with those who don’t get access to the money flow and are fighting for representation.
Preach. So frustrating. Thank you for reporting.