Nisene Mrks Bicycle Ban

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 06:15:46 GMT, [email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Just to keep abreas of matters MTB, here is the latest article:

http://tinyurl.com/3rpyd

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Cool.

Error: TinyURL redirects to a TinyURL.

And here's the real URL:

Just to keep abreast of matters MTB, here is the latest article:

http://tinyurl.com/5jcr6

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

Fritz said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just to keep abreas of matters MTB, here is the latest article:

http://tinyurl.com/3rpyd

Quoted message said:

Cool.

Error: TinyURL redirects to a TinyURL.

You can cut and paste the URL from the error page:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/January/23/local/stories/01local.htm

or

http://tinyurl.com/5jcr6

text begins:

Hot on the Trail of Illegal Bikers

Impending ban in Aptos state park
raises fears of more illegal trail use

By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

APTOS - Many mountain bikers would pay to do what State Parks ranger Mike
Selbo does for a living - cruise trails in the upper reaches of The Forest
of Nisene Marks State Park.

In search of other riders, Selbo's is the only bike legally allowed on the
hiking paths. He can issue warnings or citations to those on two wheels
instead of two feet.

James Thomson

(clip) He can issue warnings or citations to those on two wheels (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I guess things have really changed. My friends and I used to ride
motorcycles on those trails. The only concern the rangers seemed to have
was whether our barbecue was properly tended for safety. In fact, they
seemed to like our presence, because it meant the park was being used.

James Thomson said:

Fritz said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Forset of Nisene Marks is so lightly used, that I'm amazed that they
wouldn't want more people there. It was popular for a short time after
the 1989 quake, since the epicenter was in the park.

It's horses that cause the erosion, not bicycles. When I go hiking in
Fremont Older, the trail is a mess from the horses, but the bicycle
tracks don't make much of an impression.

Steven M. Scharf said:

Forest of Nisene Marks is so lightly used, that I'm amazed that they
wouldn't want more people there. It was popular for a short time
after the 1989 quake, since the epicenter was in the park.

Quoted message said:

It's horses that cause the erosion, not bicycles. When I go hiking
in Fremont Older, the trail is a mess from the horses, but the
bicycle tracks don't make much of an impression.

It's not about trail damage, the road from Buzzard Lagoon over Santa
Rosalia Mntn. (2629ft) to Aptos has such a reasonable gradient and
soil that road damage is not one of the concerns, although some
armchair gripers bring that up, having never been there.

http://tinyurl.com/4tff6

The red cursor is on the road.

The real problem is MTB riders who express their machismo in blasting
down this scenic road as if in a world championship race on a closed
course. My last two rides through there, one up and one down, both
involved head-on collisions with a descender who was out of control.
I was fortunate not to get hit. Both incidents collapsed wheels and
caused significant injury.

I and friends were not amused. Since I can do without that, I don't
see a need to ride there anymore although it would be nice once in
awhile. Other roads, such as Gazos Creek road between Big Basin
Redwood Park and the Pacific is far enough that the gonzo guys don't
rider there, it being too far from the car or even a reasonable return
by car to the starting point. To make up for that, its a beautiful
road in the redwoods that I formerly drove with the family before the
county decided not to maintain it and the park probably saw the SUV on
the horizon and were glad to close it. It's better as a road closed
to motor traffic.

Jobst Brandt
[email hidden]

<[email hidden]> wrote: (clip) The real problem is MTB
riders who express their machismo in blasting down this scenic road as if in
a world championship race on a closed course. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
In the early days of mountain biking, it was that kind of behavior that
almost got us banned from Mt Tam. Some enlightened riders with leadership
ability organized the Marin Bicycle Trails Council, and managed to keep a
wonderful riding area open.