Who's trail is it?

[bvibert]

I don't think this article is very well written, it comes off a like a rant to me. But, there's some good points made in it...

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Who-owns-a-trail-2013.html

 

[Nick]

I don't think this article is very well written, it comes off a like a rant to me. But, there's some good points made in it...

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Who-owns-a-trail-2013.html

Maybe I used to ride at a different time but the trails I always mountain biked were primarily hiking trails that mountain bikes took to. (Case Mt in CT, etc). So most of my riding was done on hiking trails. As far as I know there was no dedicated mountain bike maintenance team and as a result there weren't really specific MT bike features either (log rides, banked turns, or whatever).

The only trail maintenance I saw that I considered critical was erosion control and that was normally done by hikers on the trail or park officers at most places I used to ride.

My guess is that was more in the hayday of mountain biking and now mt bikers want trails that ride faster, with more features, to improve their ride, and in that case I can understand unsanctioned trail maintenance crews. It would seem stupid to me to have someone bitch about a "trail boss" who is only improving the riding conditions of a particular trail (or creating a brand new trail).

 

[bvibert]

Maybe I used to ride at a different time but the trails I always mountain biked were primarily hiking trails that mountain bikes took to. (Case Mt in CT, etc). So most of my riding was done on hiking trails. As far as I know there was no dedicated mountain bike maintenance team and as a result there weren't really specific MT bike features either (log rides, banked turns, or whatever).

The only trail maintenance I saw that I considered critical was erosion control and that was normally done by hikers on the trail or park officers at most places I used to ride.

My guess is that was more in the hayday of mountain biking and now mt bikers want trails that ride faster, with more features, to improve their ride, and in that case I can understand unsanctioned trail maintenance crews. It would seem stupid to me to have someone bitch about a "trail boss" who is only improving the riding conditions of a particular trail (or creating a brand new trail).

Most likely MTBers were doing more work behind the scenes than you realized. A lot of the trails that I ride on were built by MTBers, without necessarily being approved. There's been plenty of 'turf wars' as a result.

 

[Nick]

what kind of work? The trails at Case Mt. are pretty much all marked hiking paths and had been even prior to mountain bikers. I noticed drainage culverts but there was no bank turns, terrain features, etc. at the time.

Occasionally I would ride where I could tell dirt bikes rode as they had banked turns from the tire dig in / getting on the gas but that was about it.

I'm sure there ar emuch more mountain bike specific trails where that definitely is the case... places like the Kingdom Trails that are mountain bike specific, and other trails that are purpose built for mountain biking.

 

[bvibert]

what kind of work? The trails at Case Mt. are pretty much all marked hiking paths and had been even prior to mountain bikers. I noticed drainage culverts but there was no bank turns, terrain features, etc. at the time.

Occasionally I would ride where I could tell dirt bikes rode as they had banked turns from the tire dig in / getting on the gas but that was about it.

I'm sure there ar emuch more mountain bike specific trails where that definitely is the case... places like the Kingdom Trails that are mountain bike specific, and other trails that are purpose built for mountain biking.

Re-routes, armoring, drainage, side spurs, clearing blow downs, etc.. I know there's been some issues with MTBer performed work in recent years (I recall a small bridge was built that the land owner didn't approve of), and I get the impression that MTB trail gnomes are not anything new there. I've only ridden there a few times, and not back when you're talking about, so I could be way off base.

 

[o3jeff]

Back when you were here riding, mtb was just starting to take off. You need to come back and ride Case(even though I haven't ridden there in a good year). A lot of the trails and new trails have turned to mountain bike trails with banked turns, jumps, drops and rollers, switch backs and stunts. The main trail network started off as hiking trails but when I used to ride there a couple times a week a few years ago I rarely saw anyone hiking there, 90% of the people were biking.

 

[WoodCore]

Good reading, thanks for posting up Brian. From my perspective I agree with most of the points. There's nothing worse than having something you've worked very hard on be trashed/altered by others who have not even the slightest concept of what went into the building. Basically, if you didn't build it, don't mess with it! Best policy is to ask around and volunteer your help before just jumping in with both feet.

 

[Nick]

Back when you were here riding, mtb was just starting to take off. You need to come back and ride Case(even though I haven't ridden there in a good year). A lot of the trails and new trails have turned to mountain bike trails with banked turns, jumps, drops and rollers, switch backs and stunts. The main trail network started off as hiking trails but when I used to ride there a couple times a week a few years ago I rarely saw anyone hiking there, 90% of the people were biking.

That's kind of what I figured. None of that existed when I used to bike there (this is the mid / late 90's). It was purely hiking trails, going over everything that was already there.

 

[snoseek]

Around southern nh most of the trails are maintain and built by bikers and messed up by the equestrians