Anthony DeLorenzo wrote:
Hey Mike,

Wow, I just checked the archives. Your first anti-mountain bike
posting was August 31, 1996. You're coming up on 12 years now.
Congrats! Twelve years and tens of thousands of posts. Even though
mountain biking has continued to grow year after year, don't get
discouraged. Some would call that 12 years of futility, but I would
call it 12 years of fighting the good fight. Keep at it man!

What's helped mountain biking continue to grow is education and research
studies. Once it was determined that mountain biking had no more trail
impact than hiking, the debate changed from impact on the trails to
impact on other trail users. It's understandable that hikers are upset
by the few irresponsible mountain bikers, but conversely it's often the
hikers that are irresponsible as well, but hiking in large groups, and
leaving behind their litter.