Comparing relative impacts of various trail user groups--No Surprise, Hikers and Equestrians Cause More Trail Damage than Mountain Bikers

On Sun, 18 May 2008 00:56:33 -0700, SMS
wrote:

M. Halliwell wrote:

Oh but Ed...don'tcha know that Mikey is the *only* expert on mountain
biking impacts...he has *no* peers so there can't be any peer reviews of
his work. (if you doubt this, then look at his past claims to this
newsgroup where he has stated this).

What's very telling is that after all these years of mountain biking
being in existence, there hasn't been a single study that has shown any
more impact from mountain bikes than from other trail users.

BS. See the Wisdom et al study cited in
http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/scb7.

Yeah,
you'll sometimes hear hikers complain about mountain bikers, but it's
only because they don't like other trail users, and they also complain
about equestrians (I know I do!). The difference is that horses really
do tear up trails, while mountain bikes have similar or less impact than
hikers. You know that if anyone had any proof that mountain bikes were
more destructive than other trail users that they'd have published some
sort of peer-reviewed study, but this hasn't happened.

BS. See above.
--
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