Mr. b., a sart facebook post for you



Yup! Exactly! I have videos from 2 years ago that show the trail nice and clear. Now it's a big mess for over 2 miles, lined with tents and trash. Foul odor, **** on the trail, dog **** everywhere, loose dogs sleeping on the trail, bikes parked on the trail.

I'd feel for them if they were actually people who were down on their luck. But these are bullies, drug addicts, hookers, crack addicts etc. I recognize these personalities from Jr. high school. The kids that didn't want to follow rules, and were at that age already doing drugs and stabbing one another.

Sorry, I don't feel for these people when they shout things at passing cyclists, hassle people and **** all over the trail, and break bottles . Traveling through those camps is a **** shoot. They break bottles, kick dirt, rocks, sticks and whatever else they can find that may cause flats for passing cyclists.

One time before it was this bad, I was in the restroom while Gina was watching the bikes. A big dude that looked like the Indian from One Who Flew the Cuckoo's Nest had walked up and started hassling Gina. I guess he didn't expect that cyclists grew as big as he was ha ha!

I walked outside and saw what was going on and BLEW MY TOP! He didn't seem as brave when I jumped in his face. He sure was a whole lot braver when he was standing over poor little 5'3 Gina.

SO do I feel sorry for these losers, scumbags, drug addicts, bullies and punks? Hell no!

BTW, passing through the area, one smells plenty of drugs in the air. Lots of local thugs hanging out and the women I am sure are turning tricks inside the tents and underpasses.

Once I was riding alone thank goodness. Two men under an underpass in a deep passionate kiss stroking one another! Now is that a good thing to have out there when there are women and children using the trail?

BTW, local authorities have said that cyclists shouldn't use the path any longer and should find another place to ride. WTF! I used to see hundreds of cyclist out there every time I was on the trail. Now I see maybe 20.

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Last pic above, the image is the same section as this one. Getting worse every day!

This was a good day after authorities went through and cleaned up the area a bit. Now they are on both sides with trash and junk all over the trail like the images above.

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Last pic above, the image is the same section as this one. Getting worse every day!

This was a good day after authorities went through and cleaned up the area a bit. Now they are on both sides with trash and junk all over the trail like the images above.

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JH, I ran into a lady this evening that had some money. It was obvious. She was...refined. We chatted. The cashier had a horse ranch up on one of my training routes and stabled 30 Paso Fino nags. Big money. Nice house. Impressive barn. Miles of pricey horse fencing.

The refined lady was in line behind my wife and me. She used to own a stable full of pacers and trotters. Constantly trained and raced them. Live by a track near Cleveland. Cold territory, for sure.

Anyway, we were all talking about horses and the lady said they sold their place in a nice country setting 'burb' of Cleveland and bought the Paducah, Ky. race track.

"Nice!", I said to her.

Then she explained they sold the track and retired back up near their old community!

WHAT?!?!?!

Meh. I'll motor home it, but I won't be anywhere near a thermometer come December!
 
Mr. B., "Exactly!" is what I was thinking when I read that FB post. I thought of you and your posts on the SART trail and what you said about it. Deja Vu all over again!

Our rail trails are really nice. Only one has a sketchy section on it that runs through a ghetto. Go armed or go at your own risk. I avoid it and I would never take my wife on that section.
 
Luckily from where I took he pic of Gina and a couple others riding bikes, there is somewhat of a service road. 2 of the 3 sections that are littered with druggies have this little road so we take it now. But some of the low lives still break bottles on that section. So careful we go!

I'm really disliking the trail more and more. If it weren't for Gina, I probably wouldn't come myself. I just hate taking Gina on crowded California roads with all them crazy drivers.
 
This is where law enforcement has failed in their duties to keep areas clean and free of homeless people who have no right to be there. I've heard in that area, as well as other areas in Los Angeles where riders got attacked and had their bikes stolen, and those photos show a lot of bikes and bike parts which makes you wonder where they got some of them. I could also see in some of those videos people that appeared to be former convicts, not a good thing. I think I would be riding on surface streets and take the chances with cars rather than that mess.

Apparently law enforcement is stepping up according to this article: http://www.ocregister.com/2017/02/0...ct-begins-homeless-encampments-start-to-move/ Is doing this enforcement inhumane? well is having a homeless gang that steal bikes and hurt innocent people inhumane? We need more large homeless shelters, but the problem is those begin to get torn up by the homeless, and murders and rapes are abundant in those places. So what's the answer to such a difficult problem. I think a lot of them are addicts and or have mental problems, and a lot of them are just down on their luck, some simply want to live off the radar; but for the addicts and mental problem people there needs to be help available that will help them to hopefully kick the habits, and provide medication for the mentally ill; there needs to be work programs available so they can at least find some sort of job that can provide income, at least for those who want to work. The housing thing like I said earlier I don't think having a large building turned into a large homeless apartment would work because so many of the same type of people crowded into one area just leads to problems, so what's need is small single dwelling homes scattered about that they can live in; problem with that is cost to taxpayers, and some neighborhoods may object to having a house or two in their neighborhood where people like that are living. With a lot of major cities teetering on the edge of bankruptcy there is no money to put into homeless housing. It's a very tough question with no real answers, homeless people have been around for thousands of years so I seriously doubt we're going to be able to end it or even reduce it significantly. If there was no more war in this world then the world would have money to deal with this situation effectively, but that's just a pipe dream that will never happen.
 
As far as stolen bikes? There was a section south of the camps that had a bicycle graveyard. I'd guess 150 bikes torn to pieces, frames, wheels, what have you. They cleaned up the mess then sure enough, 2 weeks later, there appears another 20 bicycles. Finally they got that cleaned up for good but now one of the tents at the Big A has about 50 bikes torn to pieces. Now how can somebody "find" that many bikes and authorities not do away with the problem?
 
The police where I live keep the bike paths clean of vagrants, every once in awhile I'll see one trying to sleep stealth in the thickets off the path but they're not there long before the routine police patrol runs them off. But our problem is nowhere near the magnitude of what Mr Beanz is seeing, mostly due to we just don't get that big of a homeless population due to our sucky weather vs there. We had about 6 or 7 years ago a female jogger was attacked on the trail and raped, it was after that the police decided to make a once a day patrol on a bicycle, but even before the patrols we never had any problems...till the rape.
 
But our problem is nowhere near the magnitude of what Mr Beanz is seeing,

Before all this mess started getting out of hand, there were the thugs in Santa Ana robbing cyclists. Hispanic gangs! :mad:

There was also a female jogger that fought off an attempted rape near Edna Park where we stop for a break.

But the thugs robbed a few people. Many of the cyclists were scared to pass through the area. I thought it was really funny, and this is the God's honest truth. A white cyclist stopped and waited for me to roll by. He said, "hope you don't mind that I ride with you but you're a big Hispanic!". :D

Luckily that stopped but I can't help but think that some of the same guys are mixed in with the homeless in their tents doing drugs and such.

Sad but sooner or later, a cyclist will get seriously hurt, or Angels fans will get robbed in the Big A parking lot as they are all dwelling along that fence (fire pic above).:(
 
Like I said before, if I lived there like I use to back in the 70's and 80's I would ride the streets like I use to in the 70's and 80's because the path wasn't there back then, and stay off that path today. I might know martial arts fairly well, but I'm old now, even when if I was young I wouldn't want to take on a gang of people or former prisoners...that's the stuff of movies where the martial arts expert takes on 50 people and kills them all, but in real life the martial arts expert quickly dies. No thanks, I would rather take my chances on the street! I know how to survive with cars.
 
Your post is definitely long but worth reading because I totally correlate with it.
 
I would much rather hang out with rule-breakers, druggies, homeless and thieves than the homophobic, racist, close-minded, upper-class establishment shills that have no solution to the cracks in their society than calling the police.
 
I would much rather hang out with rule-breakers, druggies, homeless and thieves than the homophobic, racist, close-minded, upper-class establishment shills that have no solution to the cracks in their society than calling the police.
You say that till they steal your low cost hot rod.

Seriously, when they cleaned up the mess, they found an underground cave by Anaheim Stadium with couple hundred bikes. Many low cost hot rods.
 
You say that till they steal your low cost hot rod.
You would be wrong again. The most expensive bike I ever owned, a high-end Santa Cruz Heckler was taken out of my garage in broad daylight. My take on it is that those who the society I am part of does not provide for, can not be faulted for providing for themselves. If there is rampant poverty in my society, if there is no place for some of my citizens but living under bridges or other primitive conditions, if there is not real healthcare for all, education for all, a free press for all, then that is my fault not the victims of an imperfect society. These are people to be pitied and helped, not to be further marginalized, terrorized and insulted by such small minds. I hope whoever took my Heckler got some good use out of it, or were able to sell it to buy something they needed, because I am not a fascist.
 
A bit different than SART. The trail rolls up and up. I almost think the riders on this trail, or upper section of the trail are some pretty serious riders . I don't see many unlike SART and the couple I do see are usually passing me flying uphill.
So you copy and paste my comments to make it look like you're posting when in fact you're here to promote spam.
 
Hey there! I understand your frustration. Building stamina and strength can be challenging. Here are a few tips: mix up your rides with intervals, incorporate strength training, and fuel your body properly. Keep pushing! ‍♂️