Ferndale residents are pissed. A recent article in Mountain Bike Rider (UK) portrayed the village as a place “where everyone looked really unhealthy” and there was “litter cascading down the hill.” A BBC reporter went to Ferndale to see what residents thought about the article and it turns out they weren’t too stoked about it.
It’s really quite surprising how important mountain bike tourism has become in the past few years. If an article like this had been written 5 years ago, a. No one in Ferndale would have even read it and b. Even if they had they would have thought “Who gives a crap what mountain bikers think about our town.” But today small towns realize that mountain bikers have money to spend and we’re willing to travel to find the best dirt – hello eco-tourism, nice to meet ya!
Here in the US some of the best mountain biking can be found in formerly depressed regions like the southern Appalachians and western towns where mining operations dried up decades ago. Mountain biking can be a boon for these regions as riders come to eat, sleep, and repair their bikes while enjoying remote terrain that is mostly under-utilized by locals – a real win-win.
Here at singletracks you can help your mountain biking brothers and sisters find the best places to eat, sleep, and hang out near the best trails using our “Travel Info” feature. Just navigate to a trail listing and click the “Share travel tips” link on the left side of the page. Once tips have been added you’ll see a link to travel info just below the trail description beside the heading “Eat/Sleep/Do.” Check out these sample tips.
