On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:27:07 -0500, "S Curtiss"
wrote:


"Mike Vandeman" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 8 Dec 2006 23:37:29 -0500, "S Curtiss"
wrote:
Yeah, by taking trails away from the majority, and giving them over
to
exclusive use by a minority: mountain bikers.
Exaggeration. Sensationalism. Fabrication. Show us where cyclists have
"exclusive use" of the public trail system.

It's a proposal.
It's an OPINION. Please explain how interest in the outdoors (including
hiking) continues to GROW if off-road cyclists are chasing everyone
away.

It isn't. It's decreasing. National parks are losing visitors.
I didn't say National Parks. I said the OUTDOORS. Can't you read? National
Parks are brcoming difficult to visit (higher gas prices) while interest
in
other options are becoming more available.
Numbers are also fluctuating but not so drastically as being claimed.
While
they do show a trend lending to an overall decline, the factors involved
do
not include off-road cycling chasing people out

You are lying again. I have seen numerous parks where hikers &
equestrians were driven out by the presence of mountain bikers.

Anecdotal and meaningless.

BS. Anecdotal evidence was enough to win the 1994 federal lawsuit
against IMBA and close trails to bikes.

Your opinions automatically suspect cycling with
total disregard to any other factors.

(most National Parks do not
allow off-road cycling). It is the more local and available public access
land that is attracting people with a wide variety of outdoor options.
Your attempt to throw cycling under the bus as a cause for National Parks'
decline is simply a stupid gesture of impotence.

It hasn't happened, luckily. But every hiking trail
with lots of mountain bikers on it will eventually drive away all the
hikers.
OPINION. It is easy to say sensational things in attempts to sway
emotion
and public attention. Fortunately, it also easy to locate the TRUTH
about
outdoor cooperation and safety.


===
I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to
humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8
years fighting auto dependence and road construction.)

Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of!

http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande