Not to be paranoid or anything, but it seems like there are lots of people out there who don’t like mountain bikers–people who see us a lazy, dangerous, and dumb.
Of course, there are always a few bad apples to make it seem so. But I certainly don’t fit that label. (I’m not dangerous. The other two? Well….) I stop for hikers, I do my best not to rip up the trail. I say a cheerful Hello! to everyone I pass.
But sometimes, when hikers hear me rolling up to them (slowly, I swear) and they practically throw themselves into the brush, thinking I’m going to run them over.
Some dorks do try and run people off the trail, other bikers included. Maybe that’s why we have a bad rap. Nice going guys.
Last week, there was a major controversy in Boulder when a park ranger discovered a guy riding down an “illegal” trail on Flagstaff mountain. The video (see below), I love: how the ranger is inspecting a rock (Phew, it’s undisturbed!), picking up a large fallen branch to check for damage (it’s a dead branch, dude, don’t worry). The histrionics at play here are quite silly. And if Boulder ever relaxed some of its mountain biking restrictions–and maybe spent some time educating bikers on the rules of the trail–then stuff like this wouldn’t happen.
I mean, can’t we all just get along?
Rocky Mountain Biker 