recent comment<\/a> even alleged that CORBA is trying to take away our freedoms by doing trail work; \u201cCORBA is conspiring with the State to ruin a beautiful single track trail\u2014The Guadalasca.\u201d As I and several others said in recent blog responses, trails are dynamic, they need maintenance every so often. CORBA doesn’t decide what work needs to be done, but agrees that it does and feels that we should participate as advocates of shared open space trails.<\/p>\nMany times people making these comments start off by saying \u201cI have been riding these trails for several years\u2026\u201d If that were true, then they\u2019d know that trails return to a more natural, \u201cchallenging\u201d appearance after any kind of trail work. The Sulphur Springs Trail in Cheeseboro Canyon and Solstice Canyon Trail section of the Backbone Trail are two such trails that come to mind. Both were widened and smoothed over, and many people said they\u2019d be \u201cruined.\u201d Look at them now; they are as challenging and natural\u2014and fun\u2014as ever.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll admit, I am not always in favor of trails becoming less challenging, but at the same time, I have to balance it with the fact that I can ride the trail in the first place. Guadalasca (and other sections of the Backbone Trail) is open to bicycles thanks to the advocacy efforts of CORBA. Some people might say that even if it were closed, they\u2019d ride it. That\u2019s your personal choice, but I\u2019d like to think that as someone who enjoys the open space, you\u2019d like to do it without the cloud of breaking the rules hanging over your head. Just because you can break the rules, it doesn\u2019t mean you should.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an analogy I came up with while out riding (always good therapy): Let\u2019s say the agency that maintains the street you live on proclaimed that, due to budgetary constraints, they would only be able to do limited maintenance on the street. The street and sewer system falls into disrepair, so you and your neighbors put together a volunteer group to help the agency; you get trained in road and sewer repair, and enlist other neighbors to help. Still, the street becomes riddled with potholes and cracks because the agency just can\u2019t afford the materials and equipment to do the repairs. Soon, off-road vehicle owners start using your street to challenge their vehicles\u2019 capabilities because there’s nowhere else nearby they can do it, which make the street conditions worse. Not to mention these vehicles can go much faster than the passenger cars most of you and your neighbors are driving, making it unsafe for you and your neighbors to even drive down the street. You caution the off-roaders that they shouldn\u2019t drive their vehicles on your street, especially at high speeds, because it is creating an unsafe situation, but they still do because \u201cit\u2019s public and they have a right to drive there. And besides, we’re not going that fast.\u201d Finally, after several years, you and the agency start making repairs, but the off-roaders keep coming and start complaining that you are ruining their fun zone. They come to your volunteer maintenance days and complain you are making the street too smooth and it\u2019s no fun to drive there. They write letters to you saying you are trying to take away their freedoms. All because you are trying to do the right thing for your community.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s an idea: The next time you think someone is trying to take something away from you in your local riding area, ask yourself, \u201cwhat can I do to help improve the situation?\u201d That could mean getting more involved with your local community. Or it could mean going someplace where the trails are more challenging, where riding them at higher speeds does not impact the rest of the trail user community. Such places exist, whether it be a race or a bike park like Mammoth Mountain. Our local trails are for shared use by many different types of users, so you\u2019re just going to have to adjust your riding style accordingly. Kind of like on the street when driving your car or motorcycle; you may have a high-performance vehicle, but to drive it to its capabilities on public streets just wouldn\u2019t smart or safe. Just because you can break the rules, it doesn\u2019t mean you should.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Mark Langton Seems like every time there is maintenance on our local trails, we hear from some very passionate people within the mountain bike community: \u201cLeave the trails the way they are!\u201d Along with this we also get the usual \u201cHow can CORBA do this?\u201d A recent comment even alleged that CORBA is trying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,11,14,17],"tags":[342,39,60,346],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3285"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3298,"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3285\/revisions\/3298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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