"Blackblade" wrote in message ...
[...]

Edward Dolan wrote:

Only a fools do things that are risky. Hiking on a trail is
not risky whereas biking on a hiking trail is risky.

That's not what the media reports say Ed. People suffer serious injuries and fatalities whilst hiking. If you're that concerned about risk you should only be walking pavements ... hiking involves accepting a higher degree of risk than walking on a pavement. Therefore, by your own axiom, you are a fool.

A higher degree of risk still does not constitute any kind of serious risk – whereas biking on a hiking trail does.
[...]

But in order for you to do what you want to do, you distract
from the enjoyment of what others want to do. The conflict is inherent and is
never going to go away. It will have to be settled by raw politics. I believe I
belong to the stronger party and will prevail in the end.

Yes, you would prefer me not to be there on my bike. I get that. However, what you don't get is that, when we are discussing a shared resource, that one has to accept a reasonable compromise; you cannot have everything you want.

I'm sure you would prefer to have the trails entirely to yourself; but that's not feasible nor fair ... you are going to have to share.

Nope, you are going to have to get your own trails far from any hiking trails – preferably on another planet. I think the moon or Mars would suit you best.
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There is no such thing as a "right" to bike on a hiking
trail.

Yes, there is. In Scotland and several other countries, for example, Right to Roam legislation covers hiking and biking.

You are on the wrong side of history.

Hiking and biking don’t mix on the same trails. Your law is an Ass!

I have agreed that cyclists can have their own trails if
removed sufficiently from trails used by hikers. What you want is impossible
since it conflicts with what others want. And those who want to hike are by far
in the majority - always have been and always will be as long as we humans are
creatures who walk for locomotion.

What you want, Ed, is magnificent isolation. I'm sure you have the same visceral objection to trails crowded with picnic'ers. What you want is impossible given that resources are limited and the population is large; you are going to have to learn to share.

Bikers are a Johnny come lately to the feast of experiencing nature. They want to horn in on what they have not earned, either by dint of tradition or being welcomed. They are going to have to carve out a separate trail system for themselves. We hikers do not want bikers on our trails. We will not share what can’t be shared without destroying what we doing there in the first place. In fact, hikers will abandon any and all trails that bikers use. If I were young and wanted to hike I would now only go to the National Parks or the designated Wilderness Areas where bikes are banned from trails. Hikers cannot share what can’t be shared.

Mountain bikers are barbarians and have no right to be on any trail used by hikers – unless they want to get off their god damn ****ing bikes and walk like everyone else. When they crash and injure themselves, I rejoice! If and when they manage to kill themselves, I say good riddance to bad rubbish! Death to mountain biking!

“Tread softly! All the earth is holy ground.”
~ Christina Rossetti (Psalm 24),
from "A Later Life: A Double Sonnet of Sonnets"

Mountain bikes have wheels. Wheels are for roads.

Trails are for walking. What’s the matter? Can’t walk?

Ed Dolan the Great
aka
Saint Edward the Great