Shortcuts :(

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    • #214932

      Anyone have any suggestions outside of barbed wire to keep people from taking shortcuts and creating by passes on a trail?

    • #214933

      What about wooden posts or rails blocking the entrances to deter them? They may have to be quite large in some cases but, if it’s that important to keep them from doing it then so be it.

    • #214941

      How about “organic” barbed wire? You must have some badass native thorny plants in your area (buckthorn, honey locust, greenbriar, raspberries)?  Create a large pile of brush with aforementioned plants generously mixed in and pile (4-5ft high) across the offending shortcut. – All but the most determined will likely avoid such a painful mass of flora.

    • #214947

      Sticks and logs. Ever notice how even if a small stick is on the trail, (many) people will beat a path around it? Make the main path the easier choice, and most people will take it.

      Even better, sprinkle some pinestraw or leaves on the entrance and exit and most people won’t even know it was ever there.

    • #214948

      Also, dig up the track that has formed on a shortcut. That will encourage vegetation to grow. Then find a large bolder or log to roll into the entrance and exit.

    • #214950

      A bear. A large gnarly grizzly bear… With sharp teeth.

    • #214951

      All great suggestions. I love the organic barb idea. I wonder though, what is the purpose of the shortcuts? Do they fulfill some need? E.g. does one bypass or parallel a trail so deeply eroded it is like riding in a narrow channel? Does one allow one user to bypass another, or wait as one passes? They are made for a reason. Address the reason as well as the shortcut, or the blockade might just be torn down. Fill erosion channels, create strategically located bypass areas, add technical go-arounds for lesser abled riders. Of course, if there is no legitimate needed or compelling purpose, there is no need for this extra work.

    • #214957

      If you can get two or three guys to move a bunch of massive boulders into the path that can’t be moved by one person–that’ll do the trick.

    • #215024

      Perhaps some big logs or rocks as that’s what they are trying to avoid 😉

       

    • #215045

      Build an insane feature on the shortcut…make them earn it! 🙂

    • #215138

      I see occasional shortcuts on the trails I ride and I like the suggestion to find out the WHY people are taking one.

      There is one shortcut that I actually understand people taking.  The ‘standard’ way requires significant..as in FULL…shaving of speed.  Its a terrible corner design with a 75 degree (worse than hard left) FLAT turn and piled with loose sand and leaves.  It really is an injury trap for people unaware of it.  At best, it just really kills the trail’s flow for absolutely no technical challenge add.  The shortcut probably has saved a number of hard washouts.

      I understand (or hope anyway) that there’s a valid reason for the current design, but elsewhere on the trail, no other corner is built so ridiculously.

      Most of the time though, other shortcuts seem to be just an easy bypass from some feature (root, rock, narrow, etc).  I’m not as keen on promoting those types.

    • #215229

      If an area is to difficult for many riders to ride then there should be a bypass to the obstacle for safety reasons. If there is none then they will be soon enough even if riders are walking their bikes. if it is just to cut off time then we need to banish the law breakers. LOL

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