Patrol History

Our History

The Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol has a long, rich history, and the Patrol we know today has gone through many rebirths. With changes in Patrol Directors have come changes in style and mission. But all directors and iterations of the Patrol had one thing in common - a desire to serve the trail community by riding our bikes!

The patrol can be traced back to the mid-90s, when the Boulder Offroad Alliance (now Boulder Mountainbike Alliance, BMA) had a small patrol arm. BOA's patrol members were trained as Boulder County park hosts. This important training taught the patrollers a lot about how to interact with other trail users and provide helpful information.  Sadly, the weekend-long training, plus necessary first aid and CPR certification, plus extensive service requirements kept the Patrol small, with only a tiny group of mountain bikers representing. Furthermore, we weren't really able to develop a self-sustaining community under the Boulder County park host umbrella.

Patrol Director Lee Duncan handed this situation off to incoming Patrol Director Jason Vogel in 2006, who decided to expand the patrol to around 20 members and concentrate the Patrol's efforts on the West Magnolia area near Nederland. This spaghetti network of trails would often result in people getting lost or turned around, and the USFS has been hurting for money in ways the city and county open space programs never have. Enter the Patrol to save the day! And so began the upswing in patrol service, membership, and a close knit relationships with Boulder County's land management agencies.

This patrol innovation was modeled off of the highly successful Front Range Mountain Bike Patrol led by Keith Clarke and Stu Miller in the Buffalo Creek area of the Pike National Forest. Patrollers rode West Mag on weekends and holidays from Memorial Day to Labor Day, when the most people were on the trails.  Patrollers would stay out all day and provide directions, hand out maps, and help people in need - the kinds of things we all do on a ride anyway.

Jason Vogel handed the patrol off to Matt Alford and became the assistant director to help Matt as necessary. Matt did a stellar job enhancing the patrol until he got a job offer in Steamboat - and we can certainly understand his decision to move to that little slice of heaven.

The patrol then expanded signficantly over three years under John Perry's leadership to include over 60 active patrollers and three land management agencies. Since 2008, the Patrol has partnered with three agencies, Boulder County Parks and Open Space, City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, and the US Forest Service Boulder Ranger District, to provide trail-side assistance to all trail users. As a result the Boulder Mountain Bike Patrol now covers a huge network of trails all over Boulder County. During his tenure as Director John also worked hard to obtain a number of pro-deals for patrollers.

Under BMBP Director Tom Woods in 2011, revenue sources for the Patrol were increased, and more pro deals were offered to patrollers.  Leadership and volunteer opportunities in the Patrol were expanded by sharing responsibilities and opportunities among more patrollers.  Administrative procedures and burdens for getting in patrol hours were streamlined and reduced.  The patrol’s administrative procedures were formalized and improved. And patrollers got their first official BMBP jerseys for use while patrolling.

Luckily for us all, a great slate of leaders continues to crop up to help lead the patrol, and this year we can thank David Stokes, Bruce Felper, and Mitch Smith for their service!

Patrol Directors and Major Milestones

Patrol Statistics