News

The US Forest Service (FS) has a significant Budget shortfall for fiscal year 2025. Based on this shortfall, they are eliminating ALL seasonal hiring across ALL Regions. Seasonal hiring is what the Red Rock Ranger District (RRRD) primarily relies upon to maintain our 400+ miles of trail as well as start the building of Phase I of the Red Rock Trails Access Plan (Bell Rock Singletrack Bypass, etc...). The RRRD had secured the funding to support this local hiring; however, the FS is not making exceptions for any regions, even if the funding was in place. We've outlined FOUR ways you can HELP

#1)  The VVCC Board sent a letter to state and national leaders on behalf of VVCC Members. Please send your own letter as a citizen and recreationist within the RRRD, as every letter makes a difference! Find the letter and instructions here.

#2)  For all of us that utilize the trails within the RRRD, we know the havoc the monsoon and the summer heat have on our trails. We need as many volunteers as we can get this year to maintain & build the new trails! If you're able, PLEASE, come out to as many trail work days as you can! RRRD trail work details here.

#3)  The Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund (SRRTF) is prepared to step up in a major way to work to fund the '24-'25 seasonal trail crew, as the RRRD had secured funding that is now unavailable to them. The SRRTF is also assisting with the task of lining up a Private Trail Builder to hire these seasonal workers, if RRRD can't! PLEASE give what you can to the SRRTF, as this expense is significant and unplanned!

#4) Share this with your friends, family and followers! We need to raise awareness about this critical issue both within our community and outside of it. Please, send letters, send money and volunteer along with us to maintain, upgrade and preserve our trails.s with your friends, family and followers! We need to raise awareness about this critical issue both within our community and outside of it. Please, send letters, send money and volunteer along with us to maintain, upgrade and preserve our trails. Thanks for reading & doing what you can!!

The Link below is the Letter sent by the Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition to the Forest Service leadership and elected officials in Arizona.

VVCC Letter to Forest Service - 091724.pdf

The Link below is a TEMPLATE letter that you can utilize to send individual letters or emails. Feel free to personalize your Letter. If you plan to email the Letter you can sign it and save it as a PDF, as the VVCC did above, or you can cut and paste the content of the Template below into an email message.

Template Forest Service Letter.docx

The email addresses are:

agsec@usda.gov, randy.moore@usda.gov, michiko.martin@usda.gov, 

aaron.w.mayville@usda.gov, alexander.schlueter@usda.gov, 

press@kelly.senate.gov, Jacob@markkelly.com, info@eliforarizona.com, 

RepElijahCrane@mail.house.gov, casework@kelly.senate.gov

You can cut and paste these emails into your email client and send them all at once or individually. If you want to mail physical letters, we've provided the physical addresses as well as Social Media addresses below.

If you want to save time mailing physical letters, we used docupost.com. You just need to upload the Template Letter in PDF format and here are the physical addresses below in a CVS file that you can upload.

Template Forest Service Letter.docx

Also, these are EASY forms to send the letters/notes to our elected officials:

Mark Kelly: form here and/or call 602-671-7901

Eli Crane: form here and/or call (202) 225-3361

We are told that reaching out to Elected Officials will have a significant impact.

Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack

U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250 

Forest Service Chief, Randy Moore

1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C.
20250-0003

Forest Supervisor for Region 3, Michiko Martin

333 Broadway SE
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Coconino Forest Supervisor, Aaron Mayville

1824 S. Thompson St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Red Rock District Ranger, Alex Schlueter

8375 State Route 179
Sedona, AZ 86351

US Senator, Mark Kelly

2201 E. Camelback Rd
Suite 115
Phoenix, AZ 85016

US Representative, Eli Crane

Washington DC Office
1229 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

If you prefer to post on X/Twitter.

@SenMarkKelly

@RepEliCrane

@SecVilsack

If you have any questions are need any assistance, please reach out to tracylynnrandall@gmail.com

 STRAVA

Strava uses location information to create maps of activities. Strava has privacy settings to help control who can see what information and where. 

There are three main Strava privacy controls in your Strava Privacy settings.

Strava profile - information like your name, location or photos you add.

Strava activities - activities like rides or hikes which may have maps created from GPS tracking.

Map visibility - controls what location information appears on any maps.

Screenshots below of how to access your Privacy Controls and what your Privacy controls look like.

Suggestions:

1. Change your Profile Page to Followers.

2. Change your Activities to Followers in the Privacy Controls or you can do it as you upload each Activity.

3. Change your Map Visibility to hide a specific address (like your home) or the start/end of your rides. Or, you can completely hide your map.

4. Uncheck the Aggregate Data Usage to remove your maps from general usage.

Here is a good article with more details:

https://activeteams.co.uk/strava-privacy-guide

Highway 89A roadside cleanup at 8:00 am Thurs May 16 meeting at the turnoff from 89A at Oak Creek Valley Rd. Bring gloves. Bags and pickup tools will be provided.

REGIONAL PROGRAM MANAGER

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Reporting to and in partnership with the Executive Director (ED), the Regional Program Manager position will support Wheel Fun’ bike clubs and other regional program initiatives. A new position in the organization, the Regional Program Manager will have the opportunity to build the operations function.

Wheel Fun currently has the following regions:

• Northwest Arizona: Mohave County
• Southwest Arizona: La Paz and Yuma Counties
• North Central Arizona: Coconino and Yavapai Counties
• South Central Arizona: Gila, Maricopa and parts of Pima and Pinal Counties not included in the Southeast Region
• Northeast Arizona: Navajo and Apache Counties
• Southeast Arizona: Counties south of the Gila and east of the Santa Cruz Rivers including Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Santa Cruz and parts of Pima and Pinal Counties

Currently Wheel Fun has two openings for this position. One serving the North Central Region and the other serving Southeast Arizona Region.

RESPONSIBILITES

• Recruit coaches, and if requested by the coach, students, for Wheel Fun’s mountain bike clubs in the region.
• Develop and maintain relationships with Wheel Fun after-school coaches in the region.
• Regular contact with each coach to ensure that each club has consumables (lube, tubes and other consumables) and spare parts.
• Encourage coaches to obtain first aid/CPR certification, Ride Leader Certification through the Bike Instructor Certification Program (BICP) and BICP Level 1 Fundamental Skills Instructor Certification. All certifications are paid for by Wheel Fun.
• Teach coaches basic bike repair actions as appropriate.
• Repair, check and fix bikes as requested by coaches or, when required, take the bike to the local bike shop for repair as appropriate. Ensure coach is appraised of when bikes taken to the shop are expected to return.
• Maintain the Regional bike inventory.
• Move bikes where needed between schools as directed by the Executive Director.
• Organize and run local bike shop promotions with participating clubs.
• Be customer service orientated and personable as you are the face of Wheel Fun when on campus.
• Help recruit new clubs/schools into the program in conjunction with the regional Director(s)
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Skills

• Ability to manage his or her own time.
• Ability to prioritize.
• Good team player.
• Excited to be travelling.
• Able to problem solve and work in a fast-paced environment.
• The seasonal nature of this job means that there will be weeks when we will work longer hours with the opportunity to take additional days and hours off at other times.
• Flexible

Professional Qualifications

• Fixing and repairing bicycles.
• Want to help others get into outdoor adventure.
• Be able to clearly communicate and enforce policies, procedures, and program-specific goals.
• Work with minimal supervision – be autonomous, task-oriented, and self-starting.
• Provide excellent customer service.
• Ability and initiative to think critically and solve problems.
• Attention to detail and highly organized.
• Be comfortable upholding policies and guidelines.
• Previous bike shop and bike repair experience preferred.
• Prior experience in teaching biking or bike maintenance and repair is preferred.

Position Closing Date: May 28, 2024

Interested candidates should send their resume and a short cover letter to info.wheelfun@gmail.com.

Program Manager Position Description Final.pdf

Comments provided at the April 17th Budget meeting:

We are here today to speak in support of the new Program Manager position being added to the Public Works Department for a growing need for parking and trails management.

Why is the position important for Sedona and VVCC members?

• Residents and tourists alike reside and visit Sedona due to the natural beauty.
• Few places have such incredible access to Trails from their front doors.
• Through the work and investment of volunteers, non-profits like VVCC & the Forest Service, a world-class Trail system of 425-miles has been built that residents and tourists enjoy.
• However, challenges have emerged, and we are here in Support of this Position.
• The city currently has limited or no representation at many of the meetings & working groups that focus on the Trails and connections resulting in delays. These delays result in Traffic & Safety issues, as the right trails & thoughtful trail connections can assist with our traffic problems & safety issues.
• The timing is right for this position, as many initiatives would benefit from having a person at the City focused on the Trails: 
• • Greater Sedona Recreation Collaborative
  • The Verde Front
  • Red Rock Ranger District Planning efforts
  • Tourisms Advisory Board
  • SIMs and the Shuttle
  • Cultural Park Master Planning

We spent some time searching for City’s with surrounding trail Networks.

Prescott, Hot Springs, AR, Boulder, Park City, Bonney Lake, WA, Breckenridge, Montrose, CO, Lake Tahoe, Jackson Hole all have FT City Trails positions

Please vote in support of this Program Manager, Sedona needs this position.

We encourage VVCC members to reach out to the Sedona City Council to express your support for the VVCC's position on adding a Program Manager position To the Public Works Department Budget for a growing need for parking and trails management , link here.

Construction on the Copper Chief Trail on the east face of Mingus Mountain in the Prescott National Forest slowed recently due to all the moisture on the saturated soil combined with the grind through some tough terrain, steep rock walls, bedrock and vegetation so thick we couldn't see more than 5 ft ahead of the machine. This was slow going at about 150ft per day. However the constructed trail is beautiful with changing views and surroundings at every turn.  

On April 9, 2024, youth conservation corps members from Conservation Legacy (AZCC) augmented the Copper Chief Trail machine construction. They’re working to finish almost 2 miles of new trail. Construction will continue until early May when the season wraps up. 

The VVCC and Verde Valley Trail Fund have applied for $270,000 in Recreational Trails Program and Heritage Fund Grants from Arizona State Parks & Trails for the 2024-2025 field season to finish (hopefully) the Copper Chief Trail and make good progress on the Quail Springs Trail which will connect the Copper Chief Trail to the Ogden Ranch Trailhead permitting a ~13 mile loop from that trailhead and completing the Blowout Wash Trail System.

The views from the Copper Chief Trail are amazing.

Jungle Before

Jungle After

Small Machine, Big Mountain

Drainage Before

Drainage After

Rock Face Before

Rock Face After

Steep Slide Slope Digging

Over 800 Verde Valley public school students are currently riding mountain bikes because of the efforts of Wheel Fun. You can help Wheel Fun increase to 1,000 plus students this fall by donating now. Wheel Fun will be adding new programs at Cottonwood Community and Dr. Daniel Bright Schools in Cottonwood this fall to go with its programming at the other 14 Verde Valley public schools. 

Donations to Wheel Fun earn you tax credits of up to $841 (joint filers) or $421(all other filing statuses) and donations made up through April 15th can be applied to your 2023 or 2024 tax return. That’s right, donate this month to Wheel Fun and Governor Katie Hobbs will send your donation right back to you. It’s one of life’s only freebies.

Thank you for your generosity and commitment to building a better Arizona for all. Together we can make a difference that creates the next generation of mountain bikers.

Click here to donate.

The City has agreed and will work with the Forest Service to utilize Forest Service style fencing to block access to the Forest, protecting Bottom Out, Outer Limits and the surrounding Forest from social paths developing from the Safe Place to Park to these nearby trails.

Additionally, due to the anticipated 3,000 gallons of potential graywater generated daily from showering, the City is working with the ADEQ to ensure that water does not impact the surrounding washes, specifically Bottom Out.

Finally, we raised concerns about trash during the meeting, as the Cultural Park TH is already one of the dirtier trail heads. The City indicated that they would ensure no environmental impact would occur due to this temporary usage of the property.

We encourage VVCC members to reach out to the Sedona City Council to express your support for the VVCC's position: support for the Forest Service style fencing protecting the nearby trails, concerns about the potential impact to Bottom Out and general concerns about trash at the Girdner TH and surrounding trails, link here.

We would also like to thank VVCC member and Sedona City Councilor Pete Furman for championing and supporting these efforts with the VVCC.

Letter to the City Council here.