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Re: [RC] Sued for Speed - Karen SullivanI love this gal Kat!!! Again, voice of reason, all common sense. We are running in to this issue in my area in that a very small group of equestrian women and I have been, with county blessing, creating, and building quite a few miles of new trail. We are trying to be "environmentally" correct and stay out of fragile areas....not make it too steep, and also make big enough switchbacks....both to create a long-lasting trail and keep riders and other users out of mushy areas..it really had required seeing this area in the winter too....to see where the wet spots are. I personally feel some of the trails going in will be suitable for multi use....and some should be limited to horses and hikers.. I have also been researching the whole issue of single track, versus multi use trails...what I have found is that most Bay ARea regional parks, many county parks and Pt. Reyes national seashore have pretty stringent guidlines for what constitures multi use trails (which often have posted speed limits); or singletrack, which are closed to bikes. For reasons of trail damage, too high a speed and too many reported accidents. Criteria are based on soil composition, sightlines, grade, trail width, etc. This is a current issue dear to my heart, both becuase of the hard work in putting in local trails, and not wanting to see them trashed...but also in that I recently got dumped by an unexpected encounter with a bike on a very narrow single-track trail at Sly Park.....which I truly believe was not the bikers fault....not mine, as my horse is okay with bikes....but simply the fact that it was a bad mix of users on that trail... That said, I am a firm believer in multi-use trails whenever possible.....WITH speed limits. Also....horses and bikes on trails in dry weather do about the same damage, from what I have seen. Put both on muddy trails, and it's a disaster. Add in SPEED, such as bike races...and you can REALLY tear up a trail quickly. Who is going to repair the damage??? I see less and less $ for this. Just some thoughts....use common sense; don't bomb around blind corners! Karen ----- Original Message ----- From: "k s swigart" <katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "Ridecamp" <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 8:58 AM Subject: [RC] Sued for Speed Around here there ARE speed limits on many of the trails. They are mostly put in place to keep the bicycle speeds down, but they apply to all users. However, whether there are speed limits or not, we as trail users should be prudent in the way we approach blind corners (or rises) where we cannot see what may be coming the other way or may be on the trail ahead of us. This person was lucky that is was only a horse that died. Imagine the consequences if it had been a person. Babies in strollers are also trail users around here. I don't "truck down the trail" when I cannot see the trail to know that I am not going to run over or run into something. Personally, if I were a park ranger of a park that had lots of pleasure trail hikers and riders, I wouldn't allow an endurance ride to be held there (I wouldn't allow a bike race to be held there either), unless it were such a big park that the two sets of users were unlikely to be constantly encountering each other (e.g. I could, in essence, close some of the trails to the general public without generating complaint). kat Orange County, Calif. :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database: 269.7.6/815 - Release Date: 5/22/07 3:49 PM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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