"Mike Vandeman" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
> On Sat, 25 Nov 2006 07:06:51 GMT, "Roberto Baggio"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Biking on-road is much more hazardous. Significantly more on-road
>>cyclists
>>are injured or killed each year than off-road cyclists.
>
> So what? Trails don't go to transportation destinations, so they are
> irrelevant. The only solution to the car problem is to get rid of the
> cars. DUH!
Who said anything about a car problem? DUH!
>>On-road cyclists require roads that are created by decimating tracts of
>>land. Paved roads will not recover for eons. Off-road tracks leave a
>>significantly smaller footprint and if not used, will completely recover
>>in
>>a very short time.
>
> That's a LIE, as you well know.
No, a lie is you stating that what I said is a lie.
I often go by trails that were once ridden and/or hiked on, but are now
closed. The closure has only been for maybe 4 or 5 years, and it is very
hard to find the trail was unless you knew about it when it was in use.
Take one of the local mountains - Seymour. It has approximately 25
kilometres of trails that can be used for biking (some are shared with trail
runners and hikers). Each trail averages 2 metres wide, but for arguments
sake, we'll say every one is 3 metres wide. Sample:
http://www.gutsploder.net/rides/Seymour/Pangor/c.jpg
Oh, and if you want to see what a tree from a "pristine, virgin" rainforest
looks like, here's an example:
http://www.gutsploder.net/rides/June31_03/15.jpg
Anyway, simple math shows that the area used by trails is approximately 0.75
square kilometres. Compare that to the road that goes up the mountain (goes
to the ski area, but is popular with road cyclists as it is a fairly long
and steep climb). It's 12 kilometres long and 14 metres wide. That's
approximately 1.7 square kilometres. The power line that crosses the
mountain? I don't know the exact numbers, but the swath cut out is very
wide (approximately 100 metres) and it is approximately 4 kilometres in
length. That's 0.4 square kilometres a Then there's the ski area at the
top; the amount of land used by it is something I don't know, but it is a
lot. Here's a link. The top right photograph is just a small part of the
ski resort. The bottom left is the road going up the mountain.
http://www.ehabweb.net/seymour.html
Now look at this picture:
http://www.penmachine.com/photoessays/2002_06_aerial/Images/1.jpg
Notice what is prevalent in the photo? Maybe something similar to where
you're viewing this from? But wait. Stare closely at the top third - the
part that is dark green. Look really hard. Harder. That's where the
biking/hiking trails are! See them? See even one trail?
Want to see what search and rescue spends their time doing? Have a look at
this page, and you'll get an idea of what they spend most of their time on;
it isn't mountain biking.
http://www.northshorerescue.com/task.html
Here's our provincial and local governments' stance on biking on said
mountain, with indications of what is and isn't illegal (these are facts -
you know - the type of things rational people use).
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/mtseymou.html (look under
Park Info)
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/parks/?id=108 (9th paragraph)
Keep criticizing what we should do - there's nothing bad happening in your
area. We lying mountain bikers are the only group of people that maintain
the trails; hikers, horse riders, and trail runners do very little, if
anything with regards to trail maintenance. We mountain bikers work with
local groups and governments on preserving the trails. We work on improving
the trails systems so that they are safer for everyone (not just bikers)
whether it be trail maintenance or signage. We have environmental engineers
assisting us (yes, unlike you, there are people who actually know what they
are talking about when it comes to environmental issues, and some of them
like to bike on the mountains).
Keep living life between your ears. Keep posting non-factual information,
lies, and rhetoric. Keep referencing yourself as an authority. Keep trying
to stir the **** in areas you know less than nothing about so that you can
justify your ineffectual existence. Your epitaph will read "I lied", and it
will be justified.
[email protected]...
