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Our wildlands are not outdoor gymnasiums or amusement parks.
"Blackblade" wrote in message ...
Yes, we're doing different ... RECREATIONS ! Unless and until you can show that you NEED to be there this is axiomatically the case. Nature doesn't need you to appreciate it ... in fact, your appreciation creates erosion and disturbs nature ... you WANT to go there for your own purposes. Not all recreations are equal. Until this sinks into your bog of a brain, we are at an impasse. I have never said they are all equal. The impasse is because, despite your inability to prove it in any objective way, you insist on asserting that hiking is axiomatically a better recreation. It isn't .... that's just your opinion. I am asserting that they are different, so different in fact that they can't be done on the same trails. Indeed you are asserting it ... but you've never proved it because it's not the case. There are thousands of shared trails which work fine. Not all, but most. Your definition of 'not working' includes the fact of a bike simply being there so, axiomatically, your opinion of difference is extreme. It is never best use to permit cycling and hiking on the same trail. If you weren’t such a moron, you would understand that simple fact. You disturb and destroy what I am doing just as a motorcyclist would disturb and destroy what you are doing, although he is also doing what you are doing - engaging in a sport - but on a different level. I agree that, in your case, there is a degree of conflict. So, we need to find a compromise. As I've already said, I'm not at all averse to having some hiker only trails and some biker only trails. However, what I am vehemently against is your attempt to annexe the entire trails network for your recreation only. Bikers will have to get their own trails. That is the only compromise I am willing to make. There can be no sharing of trails. Walkers and morons on wheels do not mix. No, some trails will be shared and some will be hiker or biker only as suits local conditions. I don't care what compromises you are willing, or not willing, to make; your opinion counts for nothing because you are an extremist and I only ever negotiate with reasonable people. You only negotiate with people who are willing to meet you half way, even when half way is the wrong way. If it is simply a matter of opinions, then I AM asserting that my opinion is infinitely superior to yours and should be given preference due to its sanity and reasonableness. Checkmate! You seem to be assuming, in your usual hubristic fashion, that your pronouncements carry some weight and that I need to negotiate with you ! I don't. I don't care what you think because you are unreasonable and have shown youself, over and over again, to be a selfish and massively hubristic. As such, I will negotiate, if I need to do so, with the land managers. You can do whatever you wish ... I don't care because you don't own the trails and have no power to determine how they're used. The land managers will have to be educated. For the moment, they are almost as dumb as you are. All recreations are NOT equal. The expert on environmental impacts is Mr. Vandeman. I am the expert on what trails are for based on philosophical considerations. I have never said that all recreations are equal ... I think mountainbiking is a better recreation than hiking ... and, yes, I do engage in both. You keep opining that hiking is better but fail to understand that this is simply your opinion which, therefore, no one else is required to share. You are going to keep flailing around unless and until you accept that different people have different opinions and that, no, you are not axiomatically right anymore than anyone else is ether. I don't much care which is better - hiking or biking. But I am stating as clearly as I can that they are DIFFERENT! One is a sport and the other is an appreciation of nature. Like you, I do both. So, they are different. I agree. So what ? What are the logical implications thereof ? Given that they are both recreations undertaken by people for the purposes of enjoyment, rather than necessity, they have equal status in terms of rights to use a limited, publicly owned resource. So What ? So they CONFLICT - you dumb *******! What is there about conflict that you don't understand? I have already told you that not all recreations are equal, They most especially are not equal if they cannot be done together on the same trail. One has got to go. Elementary, my dear Watson! Again with the hubris. Given that a huge number of trails ARE shared I can dispose of your assertion in five seconds. In most locations it works fine. The conflict, for the most part, exists in your head ... a location I don't care about. There is just no way around the conflicts. Just as there is no way that motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles can be permitted on hiking trails --- because of the conflicts of both means and purpose which applies equally to bikes. Too bad you can’t grasp this most elementary rationale. Until you do, you might as well be whistling Dixie! You can do what you do in a million different places. I can only do what I do in a few rare places left on this earth where the natural scene has not been corrupted by mankind's constructions and practical usages. Ed, we are talking about trails ! They are man-made constructions to allow people to get to natural places but, in and of themselves, they are a corruption too. If you really cared about nature that much then you would eschew hiking too. No, that would be taking things too far. However, Mr. Vandeman might find some sense in that proposition. He cares more about the wildlife than you or I do. So, you just admitted that you don't want to give up hiking ... irrespective of the impact on nature ... because you enjoy it. Hiking with its trails has the least impact on nature of any of man's activities. Take only pictures, leave only footprints. The science suggests that mountainbiking and hiking have similar impacts. Unsurprising since the power is exactly the same ... one human. I very much doubt whether nature cares whether it's footprint or a tyre print. Same impact. Nope, not true because of mechanical advantage, but I leave the impact on trails to Mr. Vandeman who is the world expert on that issue. I have a mountain bike myself which I ride on the gravel roads here in Nobles County, Minnesota. The only extremist here is you. I didn't put the words in your mouth ... it was you who wrote that the presence of a mountainbike on a trail caused you "Mental Torture". It is "mental torture" and it would be for you too if you had a decent regard for nature relatively undisturbed by mankind. You're doing the exact same disturbing yourself ! "Hiking with its trails has the least impact on nature of any of man's activities. Take only pictures, leave only footprints." - Ed Dolan You can say the same thing again ... woop de do. Doesn't make it correct though. I call you an extremist because you are. You want to never have to share a trail with a mountainbiker. That's just not feasible. I'm not saying you have to share them all though ... because, unlike you, I'm not an extremist. I repeat myself endlessly on this, but you are the only extremist here with your rank disregard for the sacredness of trails. You are trespassing in my church. You are a desecrator and a barbarian. Your own grandfather would disown you! If it were your church then you'd have a point ... but it's not. You're trying to build your 'church' on public land. Trails are not sacred; most of them arose as transport in previous centuries. You've simply adopted them for your activity and are now objecting because others want to use them for different activities. I welcome others into my church provided they are willing to walk. All others can go to Hell! What bikers want to use nature for does not fall into my realm, nor does it fall into the realm of any other hikers. The origin of trails does not matter, They are now being preserved for hiking, the most human and simple of means of connecting with nature. You are a barbarian not to understand this. Ed, it's NOT your church to decide who to welcome and who to bar. We will never reach a solution on this because, as far as you're concerned, you own rights to public land which are not conferred on others. I assert no greater, or lesser, ownership than anyone else ... so I accept that what I want has to be a compromise with what others want. You think I'm a barbarian ? I don't care what you think. I think you're a selfish, hubristic and unreasonable sociopath. For the umpteenth time, who owns what is not relevant. Public lands with its trails must be managed for best use. Trails are indeed my church and the church of all hikers. It is not your church because you do not regard it as a church, but as a race track for your ****ing sport of mountain biking. You are even leading your own children to your ****ed-up sport. You will rue that if and when they are injured, paralyzed or killed. I have warned you. There are none so stupid as those who will not heed a warning. I must admit I am sociopath when it comes to mountain bikers on my trails. If looks could kill, they would all be dead and rotting in cemeteries. As a sign of my respect for mountain bikers who ride their bikes on trails I would **** on their graves. Mountain bikers are barbarians and have no right to be on any trail used by hikers – unless they want to get off their god damn ****ing bikes and walk like everyone else. When they crash and injure themselves, I rejoice! If and when they manage to kill themselves, I say good riddance to bad rubbish! Death to mountain biking! “Tread softly! All the earth is holy ground.” ~ Christina Rossetti (Psalm 24), from "A Later Life: A Double Sonnet of Sonnets" Mountain bikes have wheels. Wheels are for roads. Trails are for walking. What’s the matter? Can’t walk? Ed Dolan the Great aka Saint Edward the Great |
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