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From: lowell@fluke.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Mountain bikes and the environment
Message-ID: <762@vax1.fluke.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Oct-84 17:28:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: vax1.762
Posted: Thu Oct 11 17:28:22 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Oct-84 07:34:28 EDT
References: <173@oliveb.UUCP>, <1793@uw-june> <749@vax1.fluke.UUCP>
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Everett, WA
Lines: 50


My only experience with mountain bikes stems from a trip that my brother
and I took in September into the Pasayten Wilderness of north-central 
Washington.  We borrowed a pair of bikes and spent two days covering
about forty miles.  We carried overnight gear and technical rock climbing
equipment, since our goal was to climb a remote peak reached by the
US/Canada boundary trail.

Based on this trip, I feel that many of the fears expressed concerning
mountain bikes are unjustified.  People tend to overlook one basic fact,
which is that mountain bikes are muscle-powered.  

On flat trails, mountain bike tires roll smoothly, causing negligible
erosion, especially when compared to horses.  (Further, mountain bikes do
not leave smelly green droppings, or at least no more than hikers do.)
If the trail is muddy, a bike could do some damage, but only as long
as the biker insists on riding it.  We found that riding through mud is
about as much fun as hiking through mud, and a lot more work.  Any 
mountain biker who rides through every mud hole he finds is simply not 
going to get very far.  More likely, he will get off the bike, as necessary,
and walk it around.  When was the last time you saw a horse do this?

On steep trails, of course, erosion could occur.  But when the trail gets
steep enough that the back wheel starts spinning, the biker is expending
much more energy than he can possibly sustain.  Even pushing a bike up a
trail, especially a rocky one, can be back-breaking work, much harder than
hiking.  For this reason, steep trails are simply not attractive for biking.
The notion that bikes can climb steeper trails than people is nonsense.

Because it is so much more work, I doubt that mountain bikers would often 
cut new trails, either in high, gentle meadows, on steep hillsides, or in flat
forests.  Riding the trail is far easier.  For cross country travel, a mountain
bike is about as useful as a ball and chain.  True, some bikers may enjoy
the thrill or challenge of riding the most difficult terrain they can find, 
but with that attitude, they will burn themselves out before getting very
deep into the backcountry.

Probably the toughest issue surrounding mountain bikes is your perception 
of wilderness, and what does and does not belong there.  This question is
obviously a personal one.  A modern cross country ski incorporates just as
much high-tech as a mountain bike.  On our trip, my brother and I pedaled 
quietly and cheerfully, and the hikers we met responded in kind.  After
their initial surprise passed, these tired-footed hikers, by their questions 
and comments, seemed to say, "A bicycle, huh?  I wish I'd thought of that."


				Lowell Skoog
				John Fluke Mfg. Co. Inc.
				Everett, Washington
				!fluke!lowell