25 March » Observations, Advocacy »
Keeping the trails running, or Are mountain bikers really as lazy as it seems?
This is going to sound like a rant and, for all I know, it could be a very localized one because even though I am immersed in the local ’scene’ sometimes it’s hard for people to get a glimpse of the big picture when they’re so involved.
I live, work, and ride in southwestern BC, about an hour away from mountain biking’s version of the North Shore, and I’ve seen the trails morph from sketchy, hardcore paths into well travelled, rocked-in tracks over the past decade. Local advocacy groups like the NSMBA and FVMBA do their best to raise awareness about the sensitivity of the trail network — many of our trails are on fall lines and are susceptible to erosion if ridden in adverse conditions — and how important it is for riders to put some time back into the resource that they use.
BUT — and you had to know this was coming — even though these groups have done a heck of a lot in the communities of which they’re a part, it doesn’t seem to me that mountain bikers, the constituent members of these groups, are actually getting off their asses and helping the core component of the sport. Read the rest of this entry »