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Outside Online has an interesting article about mountain bikers (and others) who are poaching trails on federal lands during the shutdown without fear of getting caught by rangers:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2381951/illegal-activity-national-parks
From the article:
“The mountain-biking access is so bad in Marin that the shutdown gives us a chance to ride trails we normally can’t get on,” says a source who didn’t want to be identified. “We’re not cutting new trails or riding steep trails that aren’t suited to bikes. We’re riding established trails that the equestrians and hikers refuse to share with us. It’s like looking at a bunch of untracked powder and not being able to ski it.”
While it sounds like these particular bikers aren’t causing any permanent damage, there are reports that illegal campers in Joshua Tree National Park were cutting down Joshua Trees and generally making a mess of the place.
What do you guys think? Seems like even if no physical damage occurs, this will damage bikers’ reputation among land managers and other trail users…
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I know this will shock those in Washington but the fact is that the sudden absence of a controlling entity will always bring out those that were controlled by it.
That being said, Marin has always been a toxic environment for mountain bikers. I don’t have much compassion for the county and would love to see about 500 miles of new trails in existence before this is over.
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No problem like that around here for Mountain Bike riding, but the CNM is getting more visitors/hikers I believe, not mountain biking in the CNM, but you never know.
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I don’t care if its MTBers or 3 headed aliens. If you don’t respect the land you use, it WILL go away.
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Since cycling causes no more impact than hiking and far less than equestrian use, this has nothing to do with “not respecting the land.”
It does indicate not respecting the law, which is a potential problem itself.
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The problem with breaking rules is the rule maker will enact more rules. We may not like the rules, and believe me, there are many I don’t like, but breaking them is not a way to negotiate changing them.
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The messed up thing is hikers are always on our trials regardless of shutdown. I wouldn’t want to ride a hiking trail, but wanted to point out the double standard. It really sucks to be on jump line and to have to worry about crashing into a family or a person walking a dog on the next turn.
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Shutdown or not, there always be idiots who leave trash behind, cut down trees etc. Seems like author slightly against mountain bikers in general but couldn’t agree more with this quote from that article
“Sometimes you just want to follow your wanderlust. Do that during the shutdown in a manner respectful of the ecosystem and a park’s regulations and nobody will really care.”
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Mountain bikers become the “whipping boy” again!
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