Re: Mt bikes on trails

[Linda Cowles <linda_cowles@mentorg.com>]

Hi Connie,

connie B Berto wrote:
> 
> Linda, I hadn't responded to recent posts on mt bikes but I really have
> to speak up now because only half of the situation is being aired.  We've
> lived in Marin County (CA) for 40+ years; this is where the mt. bike was
> invented.  All mt. bikers wanted to come to our county to ride dirt on
> "the mountain,"  which is Mt. Tamalpais.  They came (and still come) with
>  widely varying levels of skill,  didn't know the rules or agency
> regulations and didn't care
>
>    Part of the confusion is the definition of "trail," which is almost
> NEVER done when discussing the sharing of trails.  ....

You bring up *many* excellent points, the primary one being what
constitutes a bike trail, horse trail or hiking trail. I agree that many
trails should have restricted use, and that unrestricted use can lead to
serious problems.

Most of the parks I mentioned have resolved most trail conflict
problems, and most of them are also not high-use parks like you have in
Marin. I've noticed less consideration in Pt Reyes than in any of the
other parks I've ridden in, but again, never personally had a problem.
My horses are bike-broke, so I may be overlooking incidents that what
would endanger someone else. 

Just because I support multi-use trails and cooperation with other users
doesn't mean I think that all of us belong on every trail. One local
park will be allowing cyclists on fire roads, and I don't agree with
access on some of these roads, primarily because it's too easy to zoom
down the long hills, and this park is on the edge of suburbia....
Congestion really has it's drawbacks, kids on bikes with no brakes and
no brains being one of them. 

My trails at Coe are similar to those at Mt Tam, however the riders here
are considerate. Is it proximity? I guess so. When I ride at Wilder
Ranch and Gray Whale, there are many cyclists, many young college age
folks, many fancy bikes... but the consideration, for me, has still been
there. 

Maybe I'm just lucky. 

  - Linda