Agenda Item # 11.1 - Mike Ogier | Received 09/12/2022CAUTION: This email originated from an External Source. Please use proper judgment and caution when opening
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From:Mike
To:City Clerk; All Council Members
Subject:EXTERNAL - Support for Adventure Park in Gilroy
Date:Monday, September 12, 2022 8:46:11 AM
To the Gilroy City Council Members and Clerk's Office,
My family of four lives in Gilroy and we are avid mountain bikers and outdoor enthusiasts. I strongly
support the proposed Mountain Bike/Adventure Park in Gilroy. This project will provide economic as well
as recreational benefits to the community. It will provided provide jobs, be an amazing resource for
mountain bikers and hikers from near and far, as well as the local composite high school mountain biking
team, address community recreation/fitness and well-being goals, and still maintain the environmental
integrity of the Hecker Pass Corridor.
I am involved with mountain biking advocacy groups such as Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship
(SCMTS) (formerly Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz, MBoSC) and the Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship
(SBTS) (in various volunteer capacities such as event support work and trail building crew leadership)
and have followed (and seen firsthand) the growth in popularity and impact of mountain biking on
communities and people. Biking provides a very healthy, fun and challenging activity for people young to
old and of various socio-economic backgrounds. It takes down barriers and bring people together sharing
a common passion. Bikers are very passionate about their sport and wanting to see it become accepted
and to bring benefit to the local communities. People are willing to travel to and spend their hard-earned
money at great riding destinations.
Mountain biking has been exploding in popularity in recent years, and especially so in our region that is
home to significant driving forces in the bike industry companies like Specialized Bicycles and Kali
helmets both headquartered in nearby Morgan Hill, as well as numerous major mountain bike and
component companies (HQ or US offices) just over the hill in Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Aptos areas
– e.g. Santa Cruz Bicycles, Ibis Bicycles, Fox, Bell/Giro, Praxxis Works, just to name a few. Plus the
massive yearly international bike event “The Sea Otter Classic” is held each year just down Hwy101 at
Laguna Seca Raceway. With this kind of industry presence and the high percentage of outdoor, active
population in this region a mountain bike park like this will get great exposure – people will come and visit
for sure!
The key to making it a success will fundamentally be the quality trails. Building high quality, sustainable
trails for varied user groups and skill levels will create a destination – a place people desire to ride, hike,
and travel to. Build it right and they will come… this is has been proven time and time again across the
country. There and numerous accounts of small towns that have lost their main industries (e.g. logging
for example) and have been resurrected almost completely due to mountain biking and trails. The trails
lure the people, and this leads to tourism and ultimately money pumping into the local economy in the
form of local businesses being supported, lodging and tax dollars, etc. Gilroy has a great resource (with
this mountainside property) and is positioned in the right place, and it’s the right time, to see major benefit
from this kind of project.
I have longingly looked at the whole mountain side from Gilroy Gardens to Gavilan and imagined how
amazing it would be to have local trails that are so close I could literally ride to them from town/home in a
matter of minutes – as an accessible off road trail network is one thing lacking in this particular area, thus
we have to always drive somewhere else and its often to Santa Cruz, South San Jose, Los Gatos,
Monterey, etc. A local, off-road trail network would make squeezing in a quick morning or evening
ride/hike a real reality for many of us, and would keep many of us local riders here in town more often.
Local trail accessibility is key, and many towns don’t have the great open space and mountain side
potential that Gilroy does - it just needs to be utilized in a thoughtful, responsible and sustainable way.
Looking down the road, I’ve read up some on the Santa Clara Country Trails master plan and looked into
the future pans for the “Bay Area Ridge Trail” (https://ridgetrail.org/). The Bay Area Ridge Trail is slated to
someday link Mt. Madonna park to Gavilan college via the ridgeline atop this same mountain range, and
ultimately circumnavigate the entire bay area region. At this time the extreme south end of the plan (which
reaches down to Gilroy) is yet to be completed – but with a project like the Adventure Park the popularity
may somehow also promote work to be fast-tracked for the Bay Area Ridge trail project too – who
knows…. I now envision that the Bay Area Ridge Trail could possibly be aligned to pass by or connect to
the proposed Adventure Park, thus creating an even larger and interconnected trail system. Likewise, I
have also read about local plans for access trails from the ridge down to town/neighborhoods (e.g. into
Eagle Ridge, etc), which would also make great additions and trail access points for the community. My
point is that the Adventure Park is a very crucial initial step, but there is longer term potential for even
more great things to happen farther down the road. All of these pieces could come together to have a
truly epic trail system right here in our town! With a proper lift accessed bike park and/or trail network in
Gilroy and the nearby established State and County parks like Mt. Madonna, Coyote Valley, Coyote
Ridge (coming soon), Harvey Bear, and Henry Coe also within reasonable driving distance there is
massive opportunity to ultimately brand and promote Gilroy as a year-round, adventure/outdoor
destination.
In addition to the sure economic benefits it would also be an amazing resource for avid mountain bikers
as well as the local NICA/NorCal MTB League composite high school mountain biking team (South
County Composite High School Mountain Bike Team ), and provide a way for people of all ages and skill
levels to get into the sport and progress their skills and to just be healthy. This park gives these groups an
opportunity to have a range of trail options to learn and practice on increasing the community’s active
participation – essentially getting people outdoors and being active. There is no other project like this in
the region whatsoever. This would be the first bike park of its kind in the Greater Bay Area and would
provide a user experience that now requires California mountain bikers to travel as far away as Tahoe,
Mammoth or Shasta. This presents a very unique opportunity for a mountain bike-oriented trail
experience.
South County CompositeHigh School Moun...
In conclusion, this project will provide economic as well as recreational benefits to the community while
providing jobs, be an amazing destination and resource for avid mountain bikers as well as the local
composite high school mountain biking team, hikers, and outdoor lovers. It helps address community
goals, and still maintain the environmental integrity of the Hecker Pass Corridor. Please approve this
amazing project and help Gilroy embrace and be part of all the great potential that biking, hiking, and
outdoor activities have to offer our community, and do it right here on our doorstep.
Sincerely,
Mike Ogier (and family)
Gilroy, CA