Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site opus.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!hao!cires!nbires!opus!rcd 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.