Susie Murphy is the executive director of the San Diego Mountain Bike Association and is also a board member with the California Mountain Biking Coalition.
- What is the San Diego Mountain Bike Association’s mission, and how are you organized?
- When and why did the SDMBA get its start?
- How long have you been with the SDMBA, and how did you get involved?
- Did the recent boom in mountain bike participation translate into SDMBA membership growth?
- What are some of the most popular trails your group helps support?
- Are there many opportunities for new trail builds in and around San Diego?
- Several years ago the chapter was pretty vocal about the bikes in wilderness issue. Why is or was that so important in your area, and where are we now?
- Do you think protesting can be an effective tool for mountain bike advocates?
- What does the current discussion around e-bike trail access look like for SDMBA?
- What’s the biggest constraint SDMBA faces in carrying out and growing the mission? I
- How does SDMBA work with the newly formed CA Mountain Biking Coalition? Do you think legislative lobbying is an effective way to increase MTB access?
- What’s next for SDMBA?
Learn more about the San Diego Mountain Bike Association at sdmba.com and the California Mountain Bike Coalition at camtb.org.
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Several years ago I would have said the same about SDMBA. I was extremely angry at sweet singletrack being closed and nothing built legally. I had given up on the organization and was proud to ride every new ‘social’ trail. Something happened though. I started listening and asking questions by attending city and SDMBA meetings. I quickly learned the city had massive hurdles to overcome before any trail was built. This included years of study and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars to be spent. Why? If the city did not follow every step, the environmental organizations would pounce (lawsuits). Realize, environmental organizations do want ANY people on the land – “people” = ‘the problem’. Doing nothing was rewarded, but taking a risk and failing could cost bureaucrats their job. They wanted to make sure the people they worked with could be trusted – this is where SDMBA stepped in.
SDMBA started to embrace the long game and results started coming in – Ben listed many accomplishments. From what I’ve seen, all agencies hate change and risk. Getting the Sweetwater Bike Park built took several attempts – but it was finally done. Once proven a success, other cities stepped up for their own bike parks.
Next, San Diego must have a win for the DH community. This must happen. Hopefully, La Jolla Indian reservation will be that win. If successful, other cities will also want their own legal DH system. This is how it works. Prove a win first and others follow.
We’ve seen this in all the big trail systems. Downieville did not start with hundreds of miles of legal trails, nor did Tahoe or Santa Cruz. They were focused earlier. SDMBA is following a proven plan that works.
Over the last several years, I’ve also seen how difficult it is to work within the system. Sadly, our forests are not like those in other parts of the country. You cannot build a trail in one year – there are simply too many steps. However, it’s possible to build sweet, legal trail – but it takes a lot of work. SDMBA 7 years ago compared to today – many wins. What will San Diego be like 7 years from now? I expect we’ll see the types of success Sierra Buttes, TAMBA, and Santa Cruz are experiencing.
Today, I’m proud and grateful SDMBA represents us. What Susie and Ben do is incredibly difficult. One reader said they do it for fame and glory. That is untrue. They have been trolled online, on the trail, and ridiculed. This post is a perfect example. Think of it. They put everything they have into helping, but it’s never enough for the outspoken few. They believe and serve – that is their reward.
Several years ago, I was convinced the long game was stupid. I was pissed the city did not allow me to ride MY land! As a citizen – the land is ours! I applauded the trail builders who grabbed their Rogue Hoe for me to ride their sweet trail. Sadly, many were bulldozed a few years later. What SDMBA is doing is far more complicated. They sit in endless meetings, build relationships, file paperwork, and always follow up over too many years before digging starts. Worse, once they dig – it’s rarely good enough, is not long enough, and took too long to make. However, sweet, legal, trail is being built, mile by mile. That is the definition of a grind.
I expect fame and glory will be in 5-7 years. That is when the efforts of Susie and Ben should truly be seen. If SDMBA follows the other successful MTB organizations, we’ll have world-class trails by then – trails people around the country will travel to. It starts slowly though and requires people like SDMBA led by Susie and Ben to make it happen. Let’s stop eating our own and focus on working together. Together we can accomplish anything.
Whoever said “don’t hate the player, hate the game” was inadvertently talking about Mountain Bike Advocacy. Susie has been fierce and earning every accolade for longer than I’ve known her, and I’ve been working closely with her for about six years now.
The bitter reality that new trail miles for *any* user in California haven’t markedly increased in the last *X* decades is not for lack of effort – I can assure you of that.
Take a look at the people we elect who make decisions about our lands and our tax dollars. How many of them ID as hikers, bikers, runners, or… anything remotely sporty healthy or outdoorsy at all? Not many. Want to guess why trail development is in the tank? @200Duece (BTW, it’s “deuce”) – I suggest taking the fire in your belly to the people who were elected to represent you. They are the common foe (in many cases) and Susie, SDMBA, and every single bike and trail nonprofit in CA could use that help. Not the angry words towards the player. Fix the game.
As an avid enduro trail rider, I very much appreciate the time and efforts of Susie, Ben, and the rest of the workers and volunteers at SDMBA. The challenges are many and complex, and not unique to the San Diego county mtn bike riding community. However, I see with my own eyes when I’m trying to expand my limited riding choices beyond the hand-full of trails that are worthy of a peddle up that there are not enough ‘fun’ trails in our county. Please Please Please do not put your valuable time towards building any more multi-use, family friendly “trails” that are nothing more than a wide walking path. It is not worth any time or resources to add to these trails just to pat yourselves on the back that you ‘added new trails’ to the trail system. I can guarantee you that neither me nor any of the people I ride with will ever visit these flat boring non-fun trails. Instead, we desperately need more gravity, flow, chunky, jumpy, fun trails that are actually worthy to ride. This is the reason and the answer to your question ‘why do we only have around 1700 members when there are 3 million+ people in the county’?
Mtn bikes keep getting better and far more capable, so why can’t our trail systems do the same? Come on, this is the time to make it happen! Otherwise, you are going to get left behind by other destinations! Rural Arkansas, really??
We in San Diego are lucky enough to have the best weather in North America, and plenty of riders wanting to get behind any organization who is effectively bringing results to the table. Do whatever it takes to add FUN trails to our county and no more BORING trails please!
SDMBA has some strengths. Drinking beer, sending mass emails, posting on instagram, holding meetings, getting stroller friendly connectors cut from new developments. That’s about it.
Sure it’s hard to get trails in California, and even harder in San Diego City. Not much land left and everyone has a voice. So this leads to the real question. If SDMBA fired their salaried team, switched their focus to actually getting real trails, they may get somewhere. Lands expensive but they allegedly pull in 300 – 400k a year. If they actually cared about trails, they could have saved up 1 – 2m and purchased 40 – 100 acres in East County and built a bike park/trail system. (look what Quick and Dirty did in 1 winter) Of course they would say no one would build the trails. They would be wrong. There’s over 100 miles of legit trails in San Diego, None of them built by SDMBA supporters. None of them are legal either.
Here’s my bet, SDMBA will send their crew up to Sea Otter. They will drink beer, hang out with fellow “advocates”. Have a good old time and SD County will not be any closer to getting legit trails then it was 10 years ago.
Yes, La Jolla is building a bike park, SDMBA can say what they want, guarantee that would have happened without their “support” and it probably would have ended up being a better trail system.
Oh well. Sucks for those who pay SDMBA and expect to get some results. Of course we all know most pay the membership to be part of that social circle and are perfectly content riding flat bike paths through San Diego County.
Enough shit talking, weather is great, time to go ride.
In all honestly, I was initially not going to comment on this podcast because I had not taken the time to listen. However, as a concerned local San Diego rider, I figured I should at least hear what was being said. After listening, I felt I needed to respond more now than I did before.
While a lot of cool and wonderful things were said about SDMBA and all of the work they are doing, I don’t feel any of that work is ever shared to the level it should be nor do I feel represented by them. Its probably also the reason that even with a “300-400% increase” in riders across the country, that local membership has not increased. Below I figured I might as well address what I noticed as member of SDMBA and other local rider groups on social media over the past couple of years plus general feedback I have received from both riding buddies and random riders on the trails I’ve chatted with.
1. When I was a member of SDMBA, all I got was an email about all of these “perks” and “discounts” and then a monthly email telling me about a bunch of stuff that basically doesn’t apply to me or really any of the other people I ride with. In a way its pretty much just SDMBA spam trying to raise money or push some partner. So, it begs the question, what are we REALLY getting with a membership?
Yes, the emails also have volunteer opportunities. However, said opportunities are usually in non-local place or some obscure section. Noble is a great trail, but when nearly every opportunity to work is only there, it’s not very motivating. What about regular maintenance on PQ, Black Mountain (other than Black Widow), or any of the more central riding areas that are frequented the most? If people saw you out working on those trails or saw they were closer, wouldn’t people be more inclined to show up and volunteer?
Also, I get the issue of not always digging on trails, but where are the organized trash clean ups? Why aren’t the group rides advertised more and done more often? I’m originally from the PNW and they’re literally running circles around us with this kind of stuff. Especially with regards to advocacy and local programs. Just today, saw Evergreen MTB is starting a Trail Ambassador program. The main goal is just to have people out connecting with riders and making sure everyone is having a “good time” riding in the most popular locations. Think about how that would increase membership!
2. Piggy backing off of the maintenance days in more central areas, why doesn’t SDMBA have more of an actual presence on the trails, at trailheads, and local rider events?? That’s great you go and pop your tents up every once in a while at a trailhead and hand out a few bells. However, that is only one aspect. Not only does that need to be done on a monthly or bi-monthly basis at multiple locations throughout the county, there also needs to be more from the ranking members of the organization. How can people connect with an organization if they don’t see them present in the very environment they are supposed to be advocating for? They’re literally getting paid to do this, so why aren’t we seeing more of them? Where are the membership dollars going otherwise? Why not pop up the tent at some of the non-sanctioned spots to show those riders you’re thinking of them and have your support too? If you can’t pop up a tent for “political” reasons, at least show up and hang out in the parking areas and talk to some of the riders there. This to me is the one of the main reasons the organization continues to struggle with membership. The progressive riders here DO NOT feel represented SDMBA in the slightest. You can see this in the sentiments expressed in the FB groups by local riders. SDMBA is viewed as a joke. Due to their own inaction, SDMBA is missing out on making a very important connection with the younger riders in the area that could carry the torch in the future. Let’s be honest, the bikes are way more capable today than when were kids riding. This means the kids are going to be starting to progress at earlier and earlier age.
I’m sure Trailfest and all of those long distance rides like Arch and Waffles are great, but where are the SDMBA sponsored rides/races for the more progressive and/or Enduro riders of SD? Are they to forever going to have to rely on organizations outside their home area to provide this type of community? Seems like this would be a no brainer and an easy way to attract people to the organization.
Another glaring example of the lack of presence was felt again this weekend during the Transcend MTB meetup at Vail Lake. I know that members of SDMBA are a member of pretty much every main Facebook rider group in the area with Transcend being the largest. You would think with as many riders that planned to and DID show up on Sunday, SDMBA would’ve at least made an attempt to come engage. Again, if you can’t have a tent at the very least show up and meet some of us. But no, not a single representative. This is also not the first time this has occurred. I’ve personally attended 3 of these meetups myself and never seen the first person there from SDMBA.
3. Speaking of the FB groups, this is another area where SDMBA is severely lacking. Their online presence in those groups is basically next to nothing. Other than the occasional post from Susie, a rebuttal from another board member when something gets called out about SDMBA by normal group members, or some event to raise MORE money, we pretty much hear nothing about what SDMBA is doing for us. If you’re advocating and representing us, SHOW US!! There should at least be a weekly or bi-weekly run down that goes around all of the groups that show what they have been doing to help the community at large. Again, how do people connect with an organization they hardly know anything about?? Don’t think this works? Look at what Jeff Lanuzo of Transcend does every week on Tuesday and then look at how many people show up to the events. Little things like that go a long way with people.
This also goes for the website. If you go to their website right now, you would think the company is barely hanging on or no longer in business. The monthly meeting they push so hard for everyone to come to, is not that easy to find. For something so important, shouldn’t this be a permanent link on the homepage? In addition, the minutes from both meetings are all from last year and even then, 4 of them are missing from the Board Meeting. The Volunteer Opportunities page is significantly out of date, the news feed has nothing current, and the list keeps going. This page should be not only up to date but also well-informed resource for riders in the area plus visitors. The website isn’t even meeting the bare minimum.
4. I was happy to hear that SDMBA has made steps to become a 501.C4 non-profit but this begs the question; If we have been losing trails in San Diego since the 80s, why in the hell was this not done sooner?? Susie referenced the “environmental groups”. What she didn’t say was how they literally wipe the floor with us riders on a regular basis. Sierra Club, Democrats for Environmental Action, Equestrian riders, and multiple other groups have essentially adopted a hostile attitude toward mountain bikers. Yet we continue to deal with horse shit all over the trails and hoof marks permanently in the trails. While I fail to see how this affects the ecosystem any less than a mountain biker does, they still continue to get their way just like the other groups. That means that someone is allowing it to happen versus standing up to it.
Then we have the “we can’t build because its protected” thing or some other environmental excuse only to have it sold to the highest bidder 2-3 years later. This has happened more often than not here in San Diego, and it will continue to happen. PQ/Del Mar Preserve is a prime example. Less and less trails every few years. Fanita Ranch is another one that is coming up and again, it’ll slowly spread and take away more and more trails. Its great there is all these committees being created and legislation being passed, but to act globally you must first think locally. My concern is not with the rest of the state as most of it already has leaps and bounds better riding and representation than what we do as I’ve seen and experienced it firsthand. My concern is with the trails in the county where we all live and ride. What is being done on a local level to push back on this stuff?? When is enough, enough?
5. The last point of concern I have are the trails themselves. If you want people to believe in your cause, give them something to believe in. In Mountain Biking, trails are basically the essential element. However, if the local advocacy group that is supposed to be building the trails doesn’t appear to even push for any sort of progressive features to be added to even the expert rated trails, what is the whole point of progressing?? This also applies to the quality of the trails. If trails like Black Widow and bike parks like Greg Cox are the example that SDMBA wants to set, then we got problems. Also makes me much more happier Global Actions Sport is doing the actual building at the Indian Reservation and any of our local representation. There are literally local kids on IG that can probably build better than the people at SDMBA. For all the work and time that went in to build a trail like Black Widow, couldn’t it have been made to be more fun and less like all the other XC trails we have? Should have been called Daddy Long Pedal-Legs instead.
The point here is, like a lot of riders, I am wanting to know is when is SDMBA going to stop with “wait and see” approach and start ACTIVELY pushing for change? Keep us over informed on what is going on, stage large meetups or even a protest to get some attention, have an actual presence in the riding community, and give people a reason to show up and actually support the organization!
We have been hearing the same excuses for years now and the riders here are tired of it. If you need membership for change, then act like you give a crap about ALL OF THE RIDERS in SD and DO MORE to show them, not just the ones who ride the easy and intermediate stuff. If you need membership for change, come out and have a presence at ALL the places we ride. SDMBA should see by now that even with 300-400% increase, people aren’t going to just come to you. You have to give them a reason and so far, SDMBA is failing to give most of the riders in SD a reason to do so.
Please remove this article.
The work that The San Diego “Mountain” Bike Association is doin in San Diego is Laughable. I am a resident of San Marcos and along with a small group of local riders, we have done more to maintain local trails than the work SDMBA has done.
They advocate for multi use trails that neuter the definition of a single track trail. While they are a great support for kids riding bikes they haven’t built a single yard of new trail in San Diego County the last two decades. They do seem to help close a trail when a developer is ready to move forward with a project.
Promoting Susie and the SDMBA is unfortunately not helping the Mountain Bike cause in San Diego.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. Not sure if you listened to the interview but Susie talked a good bit about the many challenges of building new singletrack MTB trails in San Diego county. She also spoke about the small groups of local riders like the one you mention, and even unofficial trail builders who are contributing.
Of course no group or individual is perfect but we’ve been covering MTB advocacy long enough to know that it takes multiple groups working together to build and maintain trails, and that it’s never a simple task. Apparently it’s a thankless one as well.
That is one of the main problems with the SDMBA. They want to be held on a pedestal and applauded for the “work” they do. Again, after over 30 years of being an organization with only 1600 members of a County of 3.3 million people they come up well short of success for Mountain Biking.
Coverage that you provide in good intentions is unfortunately not helping the namesake of your publication in San Diego County.
They didn’t ask to be featured. We chose to reach out to them.
Mountain bike groups all over the country face the same issues. Still not convinced you even listened to the interview…
We also recently spoke with the decades-old New England Mountain Bike Association which has just 8,000 members in an area with a population over 13M. Those participation #s aren’t unusual and frankly, it makes me frustrated that more folks around the US aren’t supporting their local club. Besides, that’s the best way to get them to change or improve; join up and help make it a better club. Or start your own. Most of the work at clubs is done by volunteers, not paid staff.
Hey “200Cuece” I am not sure where you get your information, but either you have been getting bad info or your purposely spreading incorrect info. To your claim “haven’t built a single yard of new trail” in the last two decades is incorrect. Although we work often to formalize existing social trails or historic trails in San Diego County that aren’t considered “new” they do often insure they can never be closed and will exist forever. We also do build trails, I have been involved personally in construction of new trail in black mountain, pacific highlands ranch, Julian, Rockhouse in Chula Vista, Penasquitos Canyons etc. over the last couple of years.
I have also spent a lot of time working behind the scenes successfully and sometimes unsuccessfully to advocate for new trails, bike parks or existing trails with developers, public agencies and most recently Native American tribes. We recently successfully advocated and advised the La Jolla Indian Reservation on finding a contractor to build/design them a world class bike park for their adventure park near Palomar (which is currently under construction). As for our failures I recently failed to convince CNLM and The Escondido Creek Conservancy to add decades old trails to their legal trail networks. These specific trails were near one oak development (they recently took ownership of this property as result of mitigation from a development), but to be clear SDMBA offered them no assistance in closing them. If anything we explained the process would be difficult and sow division into the community (which both have turned out to be true with the trails still not successfully closed).
I have also spent a lot of time working with the City of San Marcos who currently only have a trail standard as 8-12 foot wide DG pathway. We were unable to convince them to modify this trail standard or add a standard for a singletrack trail at this time (does not mean we have stopped trying). We have also coached them on their bike park project at Bradly Park and partnered with the friends of San Marcos to make the project possible (going out to bid this year). Specifically we have spent a lot of time trying to convince them to build a progressive jumpline park rather than their originally desire for a pumptrack with a number of flat lines with prefabricated wooden features.
I have a feeling I know what trails your referring to that you have done work on. If it is the network or networks I am thinking of, they are not legal trails recognized by the City. SDMBA cannot work on unrecognized trails or just go out to build a trail wherever we desire. We are not only held to an incredibly high standard by our partner agencies, but are constantly watched and scrutinized by conservation groups that would like nothing better than to catch us doing an illegal activity.
I do not intend to have a back and forth on this message board, but I think its important to set the record straight. If you’re interested in having a further conversation about how we could help or you could help make your trails legal, you can contact me directly.
Ben Stone
Trails Coordinator
[email protected]