The impact of riding in the mud varies greatly depending on the soil.
There are places in the Bay Area where the trails are essentially two
feet deep in redwood duff. The mud's too soft and loose to hold any
form; the trails easily repair themselves as the trees drop more litter.
There are also places where the soil is bay mud that sticks and cakes
onto everything; riding on those can definitely cause damage. (There
are two mitigating factors: one, those trails are basically impossible
to ride when they're wet, so people don't, and two, most of that land
also allows cattle grazing, which has so much more impact it's not even
worth worrying about.)

The environmental impact of trail use, in most environments, is
generally overstated by alarmsts wanting to keep bikes off trails. All
trail use has some impact, but almost all major trail damage occurs from
natural processes of rain and erosion that we don't control or effect.
An exception is an environment like Moab, where we can damage the
cryptobiotic soil that forms the basis for the local ecosystem.

IMBA and its local affiliates are good organizations to get involved
with, for trail maintenance and advocacy. They work to extend
opportunities for off-road cycling (and are working right now with the
national park service on opening up some trails in national parks), and
do a lot of work to keep our existing trails available and fun. Keep
singletrack single.


--
tholub
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View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/75402


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