Freeriding Flies in Florida

IMBA Trail News
Volume 17, Number 1
Spring 2004

Quiet Waters Park is located in southern Florida, near Deerfield Beach. Though there have been mountain bike trails in the park since the 1990s, park managers only recently agreed to devote space for more advanced, freeride-style trails. Club Mud, an IMBA-affilliated mountain bike group, secured approval and built the project. In this interview, Harvey Schneider, a Club Mud director, explains his club's success.

What does Club Mud's expert riding area look like?
Our expert riding area consists of numerous dirt jumps, elevated boardwalks and drops. It's a separated area in the middle of the trail system with one heavily-filtered entrance. It's completely sealed off with fencing made of natural deadfall.

How do you make sure that less-skilled riders don't hurt themselves on the stunts?
There's a 6' by 3' canvas banner sign at the entrance that states "Expert Riding Area. If in doubt, please stay out." We have about 20 signs posted throughout the area warning people of the dangers and assumed risk of riding there. It's very clear.

Were park managers instantly open to the idea of a freeride area?
The initial undertaking was actually a bit of a gamble. We submitted plans to the park and were given the go-ahead with no guarantees that they would ultimately approve it. Basically they wanted to see it built first. It took about eight months to complete and cost a few thousand dollars. We all held our breath for the final inspection, but we passed with flying colors and were commended for the quality of our construction.

It sounds like you had to have a lot of faith in your land manager and vice versa.
The process definitely requires trust from both sides and that takes time. Club Mud began with a few people simply maintaining trails in two different parks that were not being maintained. We've also appointed one liaison for each park whose job is to promptly respond to inquiries, requests or complaints from the parks and make sure that whatever concern the park manager is voicing is quickly addressed.

A lot of park managers are unfamiliar with the whole concept of freeriding. How did Club Mud go about convincing park managers that a technical skills area would be a good thing for their park?
All recreational activities on public land, from softball to rollerblading and everything in between, come with a degree of risk. It's simply a matter of establishing and abiding by reasonable guidelines. Mountain biking is a new territory for many land managers, so it's incumbent upon the local clubs to work with land managers to establish risk management policies regarding mountain biking and trail and structure building. We had already established strict design and construction guidelines for the area trails and the technical trail features. We assured the park managers that these construction guidelines would be strictly adhered to and that the freeride area would not be mistaken for part of the regular trails.

Most park managers are concerned about risk and liability. How did you persuade them that Club Mud had those issues adequately covered?
Four specific things were done to mitigate liability. We stipulated that the entrance would be built so that riders would have to carry their bike in to the area; we required that a fence be built around the area so that there was only one access point; we posted appropriate signage throughout the area; and we maintained strict guidelines for construction materials. All wood used in the construction, for instance, was pressure treated and everything was lag bolted together.

It sounds like your club did a lot of work to get approval. Was it worth it?
Definitely. Now that we've established our credibility, our plans are approved or rejected in advance. We currently have plans pending for a dual speed trials course and additional dirt jumps, as part of an Extreme Day event, and will soon be submitting plans for Phase Two of the