Of course, mountain bikers in the Northwest also ignore the wetness of the
trails. The rationalizations never cease....
Mike
From: [email hidden]
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 15:58:56 EST
Subject: [ROMP] Re: ROMP Digest, Vol 12, Issue 47
In a message dated 3/24/2005 12:05:56 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, Paul writes:
Please do not ride soggy trails. I am champing at the bit to go out and ride,
but it is still too wet. Everything will be saturated for at least a few days.
Please use good judgement. When going out, select routes that are known to drain
well and dry out first. Mountain bikes are tough on the trails when they are
wet.
Please give Fort Ord plenty of time to dry out before attempting pre-rides of
the Sea Otter. ROMP people and the BLM have done trail work out there which
would be damaged. Pass it along.
All --
Here's my evolving take on this:
Hundreds of cows wandering through a wet meadow will appear to tear it up
pretty bad -- until you get a few seasons under your belt, and recognize how
quickly nature repairs those sites. Remember that the reason the trail might be
(temporarily) ugly/muddy/sloppy/eroding is because it's a trail -- if the
trail was not there the disturbance would not be occurring. It's the fact of
the trail that establishes some inevitable erosion, not so much the use, or even
the amount of use. If our beloved agencies do the best job of
siting/designing/building the trails in the first place, we should hope that
their work stands up to use when wet. Understand I'm not advocating riding
officially closed trails, just speaking up for earth's resilience, and changing
the focus a little. Michael Vandeman, please note: don't bother responding;
life's too short...
Bern
===
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.)