MTB in wilderness? Maybe the time is now?

[RachelV]

A co-worker of mine drove 13 hours to ride in the White Clouds right before that wilderness bill passed. He later learned they'd been out on their ride as the bill was being signed.
https://www.mtbproject.com/blog/674/racing-the-rule-makers-to-the-boulder-white-clouds

Coming at this from a Boulder perspective, where we have so many trails, most of which are still hiker-only, the constant pushback against mountain biking seems really unnecessary. Our shared trails are shared pretty successfully, and are FAR from the most beat up trails in our trail system. Local mountain bike groups just wrapped up a years-long battle to build a connector so you can get to the county properties up north without riding on the shoulder of a highway. I mean -- come on. What a waste of everyone's time and effort to turn such an obvious win into a multi-year ordeal. Of course, hikers will be welcome on the new trail, and if the rest of the Boulder trails are anything to go by, it will see a ton of traffic from all types of trail users.

 

[skibob]

@skibob I took a mt bike clinic a few weeks ago near Tahoe Donner and found some really nice trails that I had no idea were there.

Yep. I am still finding some of them! The one connecting Cold Stream Canyon to 89 is really fun. I swore a blood oath not to say online where the entrance is, or else a team of ninja will kill me. But I learned it from a N* ski instructor!

I live less than an hour from the birthplace of mountain biking and 2 miles from a Annadel St Park, which is so famous for its rocky technical trails that people travel here from all over just to ride it.

But I prefer to ride up in the Truckee Tahoe area .

 

[Mothertucker]

To be more accurate, substitute mechanical for motorized.(in the OP) These guys say it way better than I ever could. "...I... shall use the word wilderness to denote a region which contains no permanent inhabitants, possesses no possible conveyance by any mechanical means, and and is sufficiently spacious that a person in crossing it, must have the experience of sleeping out." Bob Marshall Co-founder Wilderness Society "In this day of man's increasingly mechanical approach to the outdoors, when thousands experience nature not for what it is through observation but as a playground, there aren't many places left where one is guaranteed one won't be run over by a jeep or snowmobile or mountain bike. Preserving those [Wilderness] areas-at the cost of a disgruntled few-seems worth the price," Dennis Coello The Complete Mountain Biker 1989

 

[scott43]

Of course, hikers will be welcome on the new trail, and if the rest of the Boulder trails are anything to go by, it will see a ton of traffic from all types of trail users.

See, part of the problem is that hikers don't really want to use mountain bike trails because of the conduct of some MTB'ers. It's a truth in all kinds of mult-use environments. It's like saying we'll build a highway and you're welcome to walk on it. Hikers think it's incompatible whether we do or not. There should be a line at some point where we say no mountain biking I think..along with dirt bikes or quads.

 

[RachelV]

See, part of the problem is that hikers don't really want to use mountain bike trails because of the conduct of some MTB'ers. It's a truth in all kinds of mult-use environments. It's like saying we'll build a highway and you're welcome to walk on it. Hikers think it's incompatible whether we do or not. There should be a line at some point where we say no mountain biking I think..along with dirt bikes or quads.

I get that. Plenty of trails around here don't allow bikes on certain days of the week, or alternate even / odd days. There are so many relatively easy ways to share trails between mtb'ers and hikers.

It does get more complicated when you start talking about motorized things, but geeeeenerally trails that are well-suited for quads etc are not trails that hikers and mtb'ers are the most psyched to use -- more dirt roads than trails.

 

[scott43]

I mean, look at the problems that come up when there is a de-facto "downhill" trail and another mtb'er has the temerity to ride UP that trail! And they're both mtb'ers. I've had arguments with people in bike parks on trails that are not marked as downhill only telling me I ruined their run. Seriously? The Go-Pro and Strava lap are ruined. Boo hoo. Now imagine a couple of poor hikers in that mix. It's not a good situation.

 

[Mike Thomas]

The obvious solution would be for hiking/ trail running/ dog walking folks to all team up. Form an advocacy group, get 501c status, get insurance and work with land managers to develop their very own trail networks. Of course, they will need to be 'multi-use', so they will need to be wide and built sustainable... develop enough cred with the land manager, after years and years of volunteer service on trails you don't actually want to use (but it will keep the land manger happy) and maybe 20% of the network can exclude bikes! Yay!!

 

[Tom K.]

I will say though that if new wilderness areas are designated where there is a history of bike use, bikes should probably be grandfathered along those corridors.

Bingo. And this is where we have been losing, big time, recently.

A co-worker of mine drove 13 hours to ride in the White Clouds right before that wilderness bill passed. He later learned they'd been out on their ride as the bill was being signed.

Personally, this is the one example that pushed me over the edge on this issue. Unforgivable.

 

[skibob]

What do you think this guy thinks of MTB in wilderness?

 

[Erik Timmerman]

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/banned-in-the-usa-part-3-2016.html

 

[skibob]

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/banned-in-the-usa-part-3-2016.html

Great reading while I eat lunch. Thanks.

 

[Josh Matta]

What do you think this guy thinks of MTB in wilderness?

They do not have wilderness designation in South Africa.