Rules of the Trail...my own private list

A newspaper reporter contacted me for an article on trail etiquette,
and I threw the following together quickly to help him meet his
deadline. We really are starting to get a barney problem on our lower
trails, where the traffic's been increasing ever year. So here's my
email to the guy:

Dear D____, snip

If your schedule is real tight, here are the pressing
trail etiquette issues in the Boise foothills right
now:

1.Downhill riders must yield to uphill riders. Stop
at the edge of the trail and let the uphill rider
pass. As the yielding rider, don't ride off trail, but
stop, lean your bike out away from the trail, and you
may place the outside foot off-trail if it's a narrow
trail.

2. Mountainbikes yield to all other users. Slow down
or stop for pedestrians, slow down or stop for dogs,
horses, strollers, aliens, you name it, we slow down
or stop for everybody. A friendly greeting and
advance warning coming up behind other users is very
important, too.

3. STAY ON THE TRAIL. Don't cut switchbacks, don't
ride off the trail. Ride through the middle of mud
puddles, if any, so as not to widen the trail. Stay in
the middle of the trail if at all possible. This is
probably the biggest problem we see out there. That
and not yielding to uphill traffic and other users.

4. If the trails are soft from rain, DON'T RIDE THEM.
Our soil is not forgiving when it's soft and muddy
like east coast trails. Go home, go running, go
skiing, or sit on your couch, but if the trails are
too wet, stay off them.

5. Don't remove rocks from the trail. Hard to
believe, but folks have been caught doing this with
the excuse that they were making the trail "easier."
If you can't ride it, walk it. Don't ride around a
feature. Stop and carry your bike over it so that you
stay on the trail.

6. Don't lock up your tires and skid. This tears up
the trail and promotes erosion. Control your speed,
or learn to ride faster, but don't fly into corners
and then tear up the trail dragging a rear tire with
the brake on. These make "barney divots" that turn
good trails into miserable washboards over time.

7. If you ride with a dog, bring water, and pick up
after the beast. Always.

8. Always wear a helmet, and insist that other riders
do, too, especially your kids. One day I yelled
across a canyon telling a rider to wear a helmet.
Half an hour later I was patching up a deep bleeding
gash in his chin that could have been avoided with a
helmet. If a mountainbiker gets hurt on the trail, we
all suffer.

9. Pick up after yourself. No candy or power bar
wrappers, gu wrappers, kleenexes, you name it, just
pack it out. No big deal.

10. Be careful going downhill, especially around
blind corners. Slow down, announce yourself, or
you're likely to crash into someone coming up. Expect
lots of traffic on Hulls Gulch, up AND down.

11. Ride on marked trails only. Do not violate
private property postings. Do not make your own
trail. Do not ride on trails that are marked closed
to bikes. Close gates after you go through them.

12. If you ride alone, take a cell phone and make
sure somebody knows where you'll be riding.

13. Smile, wave, slow down, say howdy, have fun out
there, and don't be so arrogant and serious that you
can't yield to other users and riders.

snip

Paladin
accept no cheap, younger substitutes.

On Apr 3, 10:42 pm, "Paladin" wrote:
A newspaper reporter contacted me for an article on trail etiquette,
and I threw the following together quickly to help him meet his
deadline. We really are starting to get a barney problem on our lower
trails, where the traffic's been increasing ever year. So here's my
email to the guy:

Dear D____, snip

If your schedule is real tight, here are the pressing
trail etiquette issues in the Boise foothills right
now:

1.Downhill riders must yield to uphill riders. Stop
at the edge of the trail and let the uphill rider
pass. As the yielding rider, don't ride off trail, but
stop, lean your bike out away from the trail, and you
may place the outside foot off-trail if it's a narrow
trail.

2. Mountainbikes yield to all other users. Slow down
or stop for pedestrians, slow down or stop for dogs,
horses, strollers, aliens, you name it, we slow down
or stop for everybody. A friendly greeting and
advance warning coming up behind other users is very
important, too.

3. STAY ON THE TRAIL. Don't cut switchbacks, don't
ride off the trail. Ride through the middle of mud
puddles, if any, so as not to widen the trail. Stay in
the middle of the trail if at all possible. This is
probably the biggest problem we see out there. That
and not yielding to uphill traffic and other users.

4. If the trails are soft from rain, DON'T RIDE THEM.
Our soil is not forgiving when it's soft and muddy
like east coast trails. Go home, go running, go
skiing, or sit on your couch, but if the trails are
too wet, stay off them.

5. Don't remove rocks from the trail. Hard to
believe, but folks have been caught doing this with
the excuse that they were making the trail "easier."
If you can't ride it, walk it. Don't ride around a
feature. Stop and carry your bike over it so that you
stay on the trail.

6. Don't lock up your tires and skid. This tears up
the trail and promotes erosion. Control your speed,
or learn to ride faster, but don't fly into corners
and then tear up the trail dragging a rear tire with
the brake on. These make "barney divots" that turn
good trails into miserable washboards over time.

7. If you ride with a dog, bring water, and pick up
after the beast. Always.

8. Always wear a helmet, and insist that other riders
do, too, especially your kids. One day I yelled
across a canyon telling a rider to wear a helmet.
Half an hour later I was patching up a deep bleeding
gash in his chin that could have been avoided with a
helmet. If a mountainbiker gets hurt on the trail, we
all suffer.

9. Pick up after yourself. No candy or power bar
wrappers, gu wrappers, kleenexes, you name it, just
pack it out. No big deal.

10. Be careful going downhill, especially around
blind corners. Slow down, announce yourself, or
you're likely to crash into someone coming up. Expect
lots of traffic on Hulls Gulch, up AND down.

11. Ride on marked trails only. Do not violate
private property postings. Do not make your own
trail. Do not ride on trails that are marked closed
to bikes. Close gates after you go through them.

12. If you ride alone, take a cell phone and make
sure somebody knows where you'll be riding.

13. Smile, wave, slow down, say howdy, have fun out
there, and don't be so arrogant and serious that you
can't yield to other users and riders.

snip

Paladin
accept no cheap, younger substitutes.


Paladin,
totally agree with all points and wish more people would heed your
advice.
jv
Common sense is useless if not practiced.

Paladin said the following on 04/04/2007 06:42:
A newspaper reporter contacted me for an article on trail etiquette,
and I threw the following together quickly to help him meet his
deadline. We really are starting to get a barney problem on our lower
trails, where the traffic's been increasing ever year. So here's my
email to the guy:

Snipped

That advice should be clearly published in the UK as well, and all
MTB'ers made to sign up to accept those terms :-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

On Apr 4, 1:42 am, "Paladin" wrote:
Dear D____, snip

Very nice list. But...

8. Always wear a helmet, and insist that other riders
do, too, especially your kids. One day I yelled
across a canyon telling a rider to wear a helmet.
Half an hour later I was patching up a deep bleeding
gash in his chin that could have been avoided with a
helmet.

How exactly would a helmet have prevented a chin injury? You guys must
wear yours a little differently up in Idaho...

CC

"Corvus Corvax" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 4, 1:42 am, "Paladin" wrote:
Dear D____, snip

Very nice list. But...

8. Always wear a helmet, and insist that other riders
do, too, especially your kids. One day I yelled
across a canyon telling a rider to wear a helmet.
Half an hour later I was patching up a deep bleeding
gash in his chin that could have been avoided with a
helmet.

How exactly would a helmet have prevented a chin injury? You guys must
wear yours a little differently up in Idaho...

CC


That one spiked my curiosity as well.
JP

Corvus Corvax wrote:
On Apr 4, 1:42 am, "Paladin" wrote:
Dear D____, snip

Very nice list. But...

8. Always wear a helmet, and insist that other riders
do, too, especially your kids. One day I yelled
across a canyon telling a rider to wear a helmet.
Half an hour later I was patching up a deep bleeding
gash in his chin that could have been avoided with a
helmet.

How exactly would a helmet have prevented a chin injury? You guys must
wear yours a little differently up in Idaho...

CC


Full face helmet I suspect and not one of those buckets we normally wear.

On Apr 4, 6:15 am, "Corvus Corvax" wrote:
On Apr 4, 1:42 am, "Paladin" wrote:

Dear D____, snip

Very nice list. But...

8. Always wear a helmet, and insist that other riders
do, too, especially your kids. One day I yelled
across a canyon telling a rider to wear a helmet.
Half an hour later I was patching up a deep bleeding
gash in his chin that could have been avoided with a
helmet.

How exactly would a helmet have prevented a chin injury? You guys must
wear yours a little differently up in Idaho...

CC

You know how it is, you can't please everybody...

This was a wierd , and it looked to me (who showed up slightly
later) and to those who were with the guy when it happened, that based
on the shape of the rock he fell into, even the small lip of an
overhanging helmet would have protected him from getting cut open.
Pretty ironic that 5 or 10 minutes before his crash I was
"encouraging" him to get a helmet.

I've lightened up a bit on yelling at adults, somewhat adopting my
friend's philosophy of letting idiots be idiots, and that life has a
way of culling the foolish ones out of the herd...

as ever
El Paladino

"Paladin" wrote in message
oups.com...

7. If you ride with a dog, bring water, and pick up
after the beast. Always.

Great points, and mostly common sense to anyone who rides without too much
attitude. My only question is about #7. While I love dogs, I have yet to
see one that doesn't get into the spirit of the ride and dash ahead/behind
to chase or greet other trail users. I've had some pretty aggressive
animals come up on me when both biking and hiking, and I wish those folks
would leave their critters at home.

On Apr 4, 2:57 pm, "Mamba" wrote:
Great points, and mostly common sense to anyone who rides without too much
attitude. My only question is about #7. While I love dogs, I have yet to
see one that doesn't get into the spirit of the ride and dash ahead/behind
to chase or greet other trail users. I've had some pretty aggressive
animals come up on me when both biking and hiking, and I wish those folks
would leave their critters at home.


I love it when someone brings a smart, friendly dog along on a ride.
Granted there are some dogs that are not ready for this sort of
outing, but when properly trained/reasonably intelligent Fido tags
along he/she can make a great addition to a ride. The dogs I've
encounter so far have had enough sense not to get underwheel, which
may be a factor. My dog spent puppyhood following me and my bikes all
over, and was always friendly and out of the way. My next dog will
def. be of the breed/build that she can come along on my rides as well.

On Apr 4, 12:57 pm, "Mamba" wrote:
"Paladin" wrote in message

oups.com...

7. If you ride with a dog, bring water, and pick up
after the beast. Always.

Great points, and mostly common sense to anyone who rides without too much
attitude. My only question is about #7. While I love dogs, I have yet to
see one that doesn't get into the spirit of the ride and dash ahead/behind
to chase or greet other trail users. I've had some pretty aggressive
animals come up on me when both biking and hiking, and I wish those folks
would leave their critters at home.


Dogs are a huge part of the riding scene around here, and most gals
who run the trails will bring one or more, and most hikers usually
have at least one with them. I don't know if my friend Alex would
know how to ride his bike without his dog Molly along. My point
presumes that the owner can control his dog, (I know, not always the
case) but he must also provide water and pick up after the dog.

CDB