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.

No, it doesn't constitute that high a risk ... but NEITHER DOES BIKING. That's the whole point. You're trying to use a method to show that biking is dangerous but what it also shows is that hiking is dangerous too. Which proves, given that we both agree that the real risk of hiking is low, that the method is FLAWED.

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.

Is this your attempt at humour ?

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!

So you say ... incessantly. Yet, lo and behold, the world carries on despite your foolish pronouncements.

I note that you fail to acknowledge that I disproved your point though ... there IS a right to bike in certain jurisdictions.

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.

There are only people Ed. And people own the trails, always have. What activity they wish to undertake is a separate matter. Bikers are not a different species.

They want to horn in on what they have not earned, either by dint of
tradition or being welcomed.

The public owns the resources ... and pay for it ... so we have most definitely earned it to exactly the same degree as you.

They are going to have to carve out a separate
trail system for themselves. We hikers do not want bikers on our trails.

I already disposed of your 'we hikers' assertion Ed. You do not speak for the vast majority of hikers. Your words and views are your own.

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.

Rewritten so as to be accurate ...

"I will not share what can't be shared without destroying what I am doing there in the first place. In fact, I 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. I won't share with bikers." - what Ed Dolan really meant

So, Ed, by all means abandon the trails ... I doubt, given your penchant for complete solitude, that anyone will mourn your departure.