Mountain biking is not only dangerous to the riders themselves, but is also devastating to the trails and trail sides and destroys values that other users would enjoy.
“Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 20:56:14 -0800
Subject: The Hidden Costs of Mountain Biking A Trip Up Romero Canyon With
Native Plant Enthusiast Frank Sovich
From: Karen Sullivan
have you seen this?
http://www.independent.com/news/2008...untain-biking/
Thursday, May 8, 2008
by RAY FORD (CONTACT)
Frank Sovich loves hiking Romero Canyon and you can tell it as we walk
up the trail. We stop at one point to check out a cluster lupine along
the edge of the trail, perfectly placed to provide a dash of color to
the overwhelmingly green canopy that covers most of the skyline. The
joy on his face as he tells me about them says it all.
Frank is from Carpinteria but with no trail access there he spends
much of his time hiking Romero - often once or twice a week. "I've got
a thing for native plants," Frank explains, "and the canyon is a great
place to enjoy them. Over the course of the next hour we check out a
dozen or more other plant species including one of my favorites, the
Humboldt lily (Lilium humboldtii), a tall thin reed-like perennial
that grows to heights of 8 feet and produce clusters of the most
intensely brilliant orangish-yellow flowers, jewels of the canyon if
only for the few weeks when they are in blossom.
"I'm not quite sure why this year," Frank tells me, "but they've come
up in much larger number than I've seen in quite a while." At one
point just above one of the many creek crossings there is a small
pool, perfectly located about halfway up the canyon trail. We stop to
splash a bit of water on our faces, sit back enjoy the sound of a
nearby canyon wren and the small waterfall that cascades into the
pool. It is an idyllic moment, the kind that makes having such places
so close to Santa Barbara such a special treat.
Trailside plants are especially susceptible to damage by users. Frank
has added rocks along the edges of the lillies to discourage bikers
from hitting the plants. Click to enlarge photo Ray Ford
Trailside plants are especially susceptible to damage by users. Frank
has added rocks along the edges of the lillies to discourage bikers
from hitting the plants.
Then we are back on the trail again. A few minutes later Frank points
a long section by the side of the trail that is filled with several
dozen of the lilies. "Look closely," Frank shows me, "many of the
stems are broken in half. A few others are just plain crushed." It
becomes evident after a bit of looking about that the reason for the
damage is the increased use of the trail by mountain bikers who aren't
always good at staying on the trail.
As we continue up the trail Frank points out numerous places where the
trail is being widened as the bikers seek out new lines to follow.
"I've been hiking Romero since the early 1990s and regularly for the
past 4-5 years and I'm seeing more and more damage," Frank adds. "It
isn't just the impacts from the mountain biking but the rapidity of
the damage they are causing."
It has gotten to such a point that Sovich is now placing small rocks
along the sides of the trail where the lupine lilies and other fragile
canyon vegetation grows to help keep them from being run over. That
may save a few plants but he wonders what the canyon will look like
another ten years from now if the use increases.
Mountain bikes cause the trail to become grooved when they speed down
the trail and brake hard into the corners. Click to enlarge photo Ray
Ford
Mountain bikes cause the trail to become grooved when they speed down
the trail and brake hard into the corners.
The damage is especially evident where the trail gets steeper and
particularly where it is both steep and rocky - which is about 80% of
the trail. "Not only are some parts of the trail now 5-6 feet wide, in
many places the bikes are riding up on the side of the hills above the
trail, widening them even further," Frank adds. "Then there are the
impacts caused by over use of the brakes when the riders go so fast
down the trails. The trail getting more grooved and the tires are
knocking rocks down on the trail, making it especially difficult to
hike back down the trail without slipping all over the place."
This past March 22 marked the day Sovich decided he couldn't take it
anymore. Over the forty-five minutes that it usually takes him to hike
up the canyon with his dogs, 17 mountain bikers came by. "They were
all polite," he remembers, "and there wasn't a question of either me
or the dogs being in danger. It was what this kind of use was going to
do to the canyon over time.
This is an example of a spot along the trail where mountain bikes have
cut a new shortcut down a steep section. The branches have been put in
place to discourage continued use by bikers.
"I'm not normally very aggressive when it comes to standing up and
saying enough is enough, but that day that many mountain bikers coming
down the trail was a few too many. When I got home I took out a list
I'd gotten from one of the local trail groups of newspapers, agencies
and organizations and started writing to anyone and everyone."
While many trail user organizations, especially those committed to
keeping the trails open to mountain biking, were busy defending their
rights at the Task Force meetings set up to study user conflict issues
on the trails, Sovich was taking a different point of tack, choosing
to speak out for the protection of the trails themselves and the
canyon ecosystems rather than the users themselves.
Once the grooves begin developing the trail can break down quite
rapidly. Click to enlarge photo Ray Ford
Once the grooves begin developing the trail can break down quite rapidly.
"Is anyone out there talking about what the costs are for allowing
downhill use of the trails by mountain bikers?" he asked. "It isn't
just the damage to the plants or the trails, it's the increased cost
of maintenance, the added trail signage, the money we'll need to come
up with to rebuild the trails to accommodate mountain biking, the
impacts on other trail users rights, the difference it makes
psychologically when you add mechanized vehicles on the trail - these
are big costs.
"Does the community really understand how much it will really cost and
what the impacts will be if we don't close at least some of the trails
to mountain biking? If I were king for a day, I'd close the Romero
Canyon Trail for sure, especially since the old road provides a
perfectly great route for them to get up to the top of the mountains.
Mountain bikers have the capability of going off the two-foot wide
tread and often do as shown here where they've scarred the hillside
above the trail.
"Then I'd take a new look at how we define multi-use. For mechanized
uses such as mountain biking, generally the trails are open until
someone proves they shouldn't be. It ought to be the other way around:
the trails should be closed to those uses until it's proved they're
not only safe but the damage they cause can be dealt with.”
But Blackblade sees none of this. He is too busy looking at the latest numbers (statistics) to come out of some research agency about how safe mountain biking is compared to some other stupid sport. Numbers are all that matter to him. What of any of the finer things that only hikers and equestrians will notice? He cares not a wit at what may be beside the trail and what damage he may be doing to it. Hells Bells, he does not even SEE anything – except the trail itself as an obstacle course to be overcome.
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 injury themselves, I rejoice! If and when the manage to kill themselves, I say good riddance to bad rubbish! Death to mountain bikers!
“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