[pct-l] bikes on the PCT

[abiegen at cox.net]

Friends,

First I will say that I won a mountain bike and I don't see a problem with mountain bikes being on designated trails. I will also say that I am firm in believing that the PCT is not an appropriate trail for mountain biking for a number of reasons.

Here is a link to a website that was put together in Santa Barbara to help people understand the mountain bike attempts to take over the trails in our front country. It has a lot of information about the culture, the damage that mountain bikes do to the trail and the techniques that mountain bikers use in their selfish take over.

www.safetrails.net

Use the menu banner at the top of the first part to navigate to more information.

Of special interest is the page on Your Rights. It contains the details of a legal called Marin vs. Babbit. Mountain bikers will tell you that Congress intended for mountain bikes to be allowed in Wilderness areas. This case proved that they don't have rights to every trail. It established that open trails for mountain bikes are a privilege that can be withheld or revoked at any time. 

I would suggest that we set up a petition on http://www.ipetitions.com/ to gather all the signatures of PCT trail users and trail lovers to:

1. Support the PCTA in its mission statement to preserve the trail for hikers and equestrian users. 
2. Urge the land managers to respect the historic usage of the PCT by hikers and equestrian users.
3. Urge that the trail not be opened to mechanical devices, whether motor driven or human propelled.

If you would like to be on a committee to help draft the petition of have any other focal points you feel should be added, please let me know.


Who these people are:

Mountain bikers try to pretend that they are just local guys and gals trying to have fun and enjoy nature. The truth is that the issue of trail usage is one that is a major source of conflict around the world. The mountain bikers are well organized and are trained in how to get what they want. The training and tools come from a group called IMBA, the International Mountain Bike Association. 

IMBA is a corporate entity set up as an educational organization and as such are tax free. In fact, they spend most of their time lobbying and should have their tax status investigated and revoked. IMBA is funded partially by its members but most of the money and drive comes from mountain bike manufacturers. The truth is that mountain bike production is in a decline and the industry is doing everything they can to prop themselves up. This includes pushing their way into the Olympics and getting access to more and more exciting trails. The goal is to get access to every trail. 

They will not settle for a few of their own MB designated trails; they want those and all the ones that hikers and equestrians currently use. The organization is so tight that you will see the same arguments, the same flawed "scientific" studies which were designed and run by mountain bikers, etc. used over and over again here in the west, in the east, in Australia, in New Zealand. They will produce petitions and get letters from all around the world to support opening small local trails that most of the petitioners and letter writers will never see. They will always introduce themselves as "I am a hiker, backpacker, equestrian, trail worker and a mountain biker and I believe that all trail users can get along." Many of them don't want to get along, they want you off the trail. Their aggressive behavior is not punished by the larger mountain biking group because the larger group knows that that aggression with force more users off the trail allowing the remaining mountain bikers to go as fast and as carelessly as they want. It works in their favor.


Here is an email that I originally sent only to Brick. Since I see other brave souls being open, I am now copying it to the whole list. I want you to know what these people are capable of and what can happen on "shared" trails. In Santa Barbara the shared trails have driven 99% of the equestrian trail users off the trail and have caused a large number of hikers to only use the one trail where mountain bikes are not allowed.

Hi Brick, 
 
I respect your opinion and of course this is your list. However I feel I have to 
make a few comments even though personally it would probably be better that I 
don't. 
 
This Zeb is of course a troll. He is spouting all the standard lines that the 
hard core mountain bikers spout, most of it not true. No, Congress was very 
specific that bikes are mechanical devises and that they don't belong in the 
wilderness. There was a case called Marin vs. Babbet that proved this.
MTBers often misrepresent this. 
 
"there are a few bad apples" - of course that is true, but my unfortunate 
experience has been that MTBers have more than their fair share and have a mob 
mentality of protecting those that are abusive. They will never turn one of 
their own in. Contrast that with our recent discussions on fires on the PCT and 
thru-hikers attitudes toward anyone who would start one. 
 
My experiences with Mountain bikers - 2012 section hike on the PCT near 
Wrightwood - while trying to get my umbrella adjusted a mountain biker comes 
screaming around a blind curve and almost hits me. He apologizes but as I hike 
up the switchback I over hear him talking to three of his MTBer friends that 
this is his 7th trip down this mountain and on one occasion he made it all the 
way down without having to stop or slow down. On the PCT. 
 
2008 - hiking out of Lake Morena with Piper, a local mountain biker has built a 
ramp right on the PCT. They dug a big hole and piled the dirt up on the other 
side to make a jump. I walked back and reported it to the rangers at the lake. 
At first one of them was sarcastic, "Oh yeah, we'll go get our guns and go after 
'em." When I mention that I am on the board of the local Sierra Club and a PCTA 
member and that I just thought they might want to know, they took it more 
seriously. 
 
We've had numerous problems here in Santa Barbara with MTBers. Two hikers were 
hit and slightly injured. Two mountain bikers killed themselves. A horse was 
killed and the woman and daughter that were riding it were thrown, though 
luckily not hurt. Each incident led to concerns about safety on the trails. 
The local MTB organization and bikers knew who caused the death of the horse 
but refused to tell police or the owner. Two mountain bikers working a trail illegally
started a fire that destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres of forest. The local
mountain bikers knew who they were and obstructed the investigation. The police 
were eventually able to figure out who they were. The pleaded to a minor charge
and got off with very light fines'

Two commissions were formed, one of which I sat on for three years, the other still 
limps along. The MTBers have successfully changed the focus from safety to trail 
maintenance and building. This has been going on for over ten years now and the 
trails are no safer.
 
The first woman who was injured spoke out about what happened and called for 
safety on the trails. For this she received threats of injury and death from 
MTBers around the world. This night have been ignored but the MTBers published 
her address on a couple of their blogs. We were able to track down some of the 
threats. Some people were stupid enough to send them from their work address; a 
group of young riders from Canada sent their threats from their school email 
addresses. When the school was notified, they were all forced to write apologies 
and were punished. 
 
I'm sad to see this discussion come to the PCT-L. It doesn't belong here and 
doesn't add to what we do. I will believe that the Forest Service is 
reconsidering their policy (which is law, no just policy) when I hear it from 
them. The MTBers  are like water to a boat. They will find any little crack to 
get in and are relentless. As one of the posters said, they will ride the PCT 
anyway even if it is illegal. They will lie and tell you that they already have 
permission or that permission is very close. 
 
I have about a hundred photos of the trail damage that they do. I have reams of 
pages of how they work around the world. There is a document called the Minority 
Report which very effectively addresses every one of their claims. But I won't 
post that here. I won't respond directly to them here. I only request that you 
block the trolls that will distract this list from what we do best. 
 
I also won't post this to the list because I already know that threats and 
intimidation will follow once the trolls post my email address to their blogs. 
Been there, seen that. This email is only for you