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From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn)
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Mountain Bikes & The Environment
Message-ID: <833@opus.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 28-Sep-84 01:39:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: opus.833
Posted: Fri Sep 28 01:39:53 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Sep-84 06:28:24 EDT
References: <173@oliveb.UUCP>
Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO
Lines: 25

The question--what about damage to trails, etc. from mountain bikes?

There are several issues tied up in this.  On one issue, I feel pretty
strongly--mountain bikes should stay the hell off tundra!  But, for that
matter, so should people for the most part.  Tundra is very easily damaged
and takes decades to recover (if it ever does) once the vegetation has been
damaged.  (For the lowlanders, I'm using "tundra" in reference to the low
vegetation which covers the ground above timberline.  It consists mostly of
short grasses and wildflowers.)

A second issue relates to mountain bikes making "new trails".  In general,
hikers tend to follow trails with reasonable slopes.  Mountain bikes can
climb pretty steep slopes with their stump-pulling low gears, and it may be
that the fun of climbing a very steep grade could win out over the "common
sense" of ascending at a more reasonable grade.  Result?  New trail blazed
at too steep an angle (and perhaps poorly chosen as well) becomes an
erosion problem.  Of course, a herd of stupid hikers can do the same thing;
it's only the novelty of mountain bikes that I think creates the potential
for a problem.

As far as the question of problems with taking mountain bikes over existing
trails, it seems doubtful but I'm only conjecturing on this one.
-- 
Dick Dunn	{hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd		(303)444-5710 x3086
   ...Never offend with style when you can offend with substance.