On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 22:34:19 -0600, Tom Sherman
<
[email protected]> wrote:
>[email protected] wrote:
>>> [...] Once again...are you
>> making up another lie...that I am a mt biker? Are you gonna pretend to
>> know this about me? Yeah...because that is what liars do! and you are
>> a first class **** and liar. Just for your info...I am not a Mt.
>> Biker[...]
>
>You should consider taking up riding a bicycle off road, since it is an
>enjoyable activity when done with some common sense.
No, it isn't! I tried it once. It was the most unpleasant time I have
ever spent in a park:
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/ebrpd16. You
have to be pretty damaged to enjoy mountain biking.
January 6, 2001
Board of Directors
East Bay Regional Park District
2950 Peralta Oaks Court
P.O. Box 5381
Oakland, California 94605-0381
Re: Mountain Bike Races in Briones Regional Park
Gentlepersons:
Any rational person would think it absurd that our parks --
created to preserve a bit of pristine nature to be enjoyed forever --
would be used as places to house cattle or hold mountain bike races.
But such a person could not be familiar with the East Bay Regional
Park District, where such abuses are the rule, rather than the
exception!
The last race was held last September 23. I visited the park
four days later, to document the damage that was done to the park. The
race course was twenty miles long, so I knew I couldn't possibly hike
it in a day. Consequently I borrowed a friend's mountain bike. It was
lucky that I did, because I discovered that, contrary to what the
mountain bikers claim, riding a bike off of paved roads is no fun at
all! I rode only on fire roads, but even there, I was continually
subject to violent jarring, due to the hoof- and tire-pocked
"washboard" surface of the road. (I know that there are bikes with a
so-called "suspension", but there is no way to make a ride like that
"smooth" or enjoyable.)
Not only was the ride physically very unpleasant, but having
to continually watch the trail and try to control the bike meant that
it was impossible to enjoy the scenery or listen to the subtle sounds
of nature. So much for the mountain bikers' claims that they use bikes
to "enjoy nature"! Not having my feet in contact with the ground
further alienated me from the delightful sensations that I usually
experience when I hike.
I saw the usual damage -- bikes being ridden off-trail (e.g. east of
the Abrigo Trail), trails getting rutted or torn into powder, skid
marks, and "moonscape" caused by the presence of cows and bikes during
wet conditions. Huge cracks cut through the surface of the road, where
upcoming rains would carry away large chunks of the road. It is
obvious that the erosion caused by bikes and cows will be extremely
expensive to repair, if it is even repairable (eroded and destroyed
soil is not coming back!)!
I parked the bike at the east end of the Bear Creek Trail and
hiked it and back, looking for bike tracks (it is part of the tiny
percentage of park trails off-limits to bikes). Luckily, there were
none. But I noticed that the feeling of ecstasy that I felt while
being in this wild area of the park was present on none of the other
trails. On the way back, I wanted to see if I could hike along the
creek, to see something even more natural. But (luckily for the
wildlife) it was impossible. However at one point on what must have
been a deer trail, a large buck flushed from the thick brush near the
creek. This was the only animal, other than a few birds, that I saw
during those several hours in the park! Obviously, there is too much
human- and cattle presence in the park, for wildlife to feel
comfortable there.
At one point (on the Deer Creek Trail?) I passed a small pond.
It was almost completely filled with cattails. There were no frogs or
other animals. And the entire surrounding bank was pockmarked by the
hoofprints of cattle, making the area very difficult to walk on.
Whatever nature had in mind for this pond certainly wasn't being
allowed to happen. Normally, I am very attracted to water, and feel
nothing but joy when I am around it. But here, I felt nothing but
sorrow and disgust.
Except for a few tiny spots that you haven't ruined, such as
the Bear Creek Trail, being in Briones is indistinguishable from being
on a ranch! There is no park there! It is completely dominated by man
and his domestic animals! The cows have destroyed vast areas of what
should be native flora and fauna. Their isobar-like trails dominate
all the hillsides. The vast majority of the native wildlife capable of
leaving have already left. Or died. A few animals able to "hold their
noses" and put up with the presence of a lot of people (such as deer)
are all that are left.
After 33 years of owning this land, you should have been able
to restore it to a semblance of its natural condition! Instead, it has
remained just as artificial, unattractive, and biologically
impoverished as every other place that is entirely dominated by
humans. Removing such obvious insults as cattle and mountain biking
should be easy. The hard part will be removing the huge network of
roads (I know -- you call them "trails"!), and the acres of exotic
plants and animals, that prevent this once-beautiful place from being
what it so desperately wants and needs to be.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Vandeman, Ph.D.
P.S. If you doubt the truth of what I am saying, just hike the Deer
Creek Trail, and then the Bear Creek Trail, and see if they feel
different to you!
References:
Foreman, Dave Confessions of an Eco-Warrior, New York: Harmony Books,
c. 1991
Knight, Richard L. and Kevin J. Gutzwiller, eds. Wildlife and
Recreationists. Covelo, California: Island Press, c.1995.
Liddle, Michael, Recreation Ecology. London: Chapman & Hall, c.1997.
Vandeman, Michael J.,
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande, especially "
The Effects of Mountain Biking on Wildlife and People -- Why Off-Road
Bicycling Should be Prohibited " and "Rethinking the Impacts of
Recreation".
--
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)
Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande