Article in August 2003 Bicycling magazine- lost trails

C

Cruz

Likes Dirt
In the August edition of Bicycling magazine from the USA is a 10 page article by Dan Koeppel on Marin County and Mt Tam, where there are about 197 miles of singletrack but only 22 miles open to bikes. And this is the fabled motherland of mtb.

A must read for riders interested in trail sharing, and trying to keep trails open or build new ones.

In 2001 the mtb representative to the Open Space and Trails Committee was caught building an illegal trail and was forced to resign his position. and was indicted and charged with damaging federal property, a felony. He faced a prison term of up to 5 years and financial penalties that could total $500,000 and he accepted a plea bargain and was convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to 3 years probation and a $34,000 fine.
The personal damage was considerable but the damage to mtb was massive. "If he couldn't be trusted in his position then how could any of them," said one of the mtbs critics.

Quite an eye opener and worth the read. If I can scan some of it I will place it here this weekend.

Is that okay with Ryan, Ty, Dom etc?
 
C

Cruz

Likes Dirt
In the August edition of Bicycling magazine from the USA is a 10 page article by Dan Koeppel on Marin County and Mt Tam, where there are about 197 miles of singletrack but only 22 miles open to bikes. And this is the fabled motherland of mtb.

A must read for riders interested in trail sharing, and trying to keep trails open or build new ones.

In 2001 the mtb representative to the Open Space and Trails Committee was caught building an illegal trail and was forced to resign his position. and was indicted and charged with damaging federal property, a felony. He faced a prison term of up to 5 years and financial penalties that could total $500,000 and he accepted a plea bargain and was convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to 3 years probation and a $34,000 fine.
The personal damage was considerable but the damage to mtb was massive. "If he couldn't be trusted in his position then how could any of them," said one of the mtbs critics.

Quite an eye opener and worth the read. If I can scan some of it I will place it here this weekend.

Is that okay with Ryan, Ty, Dom etc?
 
R

Rik

logged out
That's plain stupid, fair enough we all want to ride, but when you're in a position of power and represent a group, you definately don't go and break the rules you're meant to uphold.
Fucken clown. What was he thinking?
 
R

Rik

logged out
That's plain stupid, fair enough we all want to ride, but when you're in a position of power and represent a group, you definately don't go and break the rules you're meant to uphold.
Fucken clown. What was he thinking?
 
toodles

toodles

Wheel size expert
Rik said:
That's plain stupid, fair enough we all want to ride, but when you're in a position of power and represent a group, you definately don't go and break the rules you're meant to uphold.
Fucken clown. What was he thinking?
Click to expand...
Uh... here in Brissie we have a trail saviour of sorts that has managed to be done for the same thing. What I can't say for sure is whether or not she became involved in the "legit" access movement before or after being fined for building trails.
 
toodles

toodles

Wheel size expert
Rik said:
That's plain stupid, fair enough we all want to ride, but when you're in a position of power and represent a group, you definately don't go and break the rules you're meant to uphold.
Fucken clown. What was he thinking?
Click to expand...
Uh... here in Brissie we have a trail saviour of sorts that has managed to be done for the same thing. What I can't say for sure is whether or not she became involved in the "legit" access movement before or after being fined for building trails.
 
L

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
one other thing to think of, how often have you riden a trail only to find a sign at the exit end saying it is a closed trail.
or had a bunch of people go thru before you and remove the signs completly.
it happens, and it can be the wrong people who get busted because of it.
not saying that what happened here, just saying.
 
L

lupine128

Likes Bikes and Dirt
one other thing to think of, how often have you riden a trail only to find a sign at the exit end saying it is a closed trail.
or had a bunch of people go thru before you and remove the signs completly.
it happens, and it can be the wrong people who get busted because of it.
not saying that what happened here, just saying.
 
R

Rik

logged out
That's a good point, he may have been a scapegoat, but at the same time, getting caught building illegal trails whilst representing MTB'ers isnt the best way to get what we want.
 
R

Rik

logged out
That's a good point, he may have been a scapegoat, but at the same time, getting caught building illegal trails whilst representing MTB'ers isnt the best way to get what we want.
 
toodles

toodles

Wheel size expert
Cruz said:
Toodles, the person became involved in the legit side of it after the incident.
Click to expand...
Okly dokly. Bloody steep fine though.

Still, half the tracks I've been told to stay off don't have any signs except no horses or motorbikes. It's easy enough to get in trouble without knowing it. You don't need to be using a Bobcat in a Heritage-listed National park to be fined...

But yeah... being busted while representing MTBers makes us look so dodgy. No one could be that dumb which makes me wonder if it was fairplay by all involved...
 
toodles

toodles

Wheel size expert
Cruz said:
Toodles, the person became involved in the legit side of it after the incident.
Click to expand...
Okly dokly. Bloody steep fine though.

Still, half the tracks I've been told to stay off don't have any signs except no horses or motorbikes. It's easy enough to get in trouble without knowing it. You don't need to be using a Bobcat in a Heritage-listed National park to be fined...

But yeah... being busted while representing MTBers makes us look so dodgy. No one could be that dumb which makes me wonder if it was fairplay by all involved...
 
R

Rik

logged out
You know, I'd almost put money on something dodgy going on.
He was probably doing trail maintainence, knowing that whilst it was illegal, riders are still riding it, and he was probably doing something like making it less of an impact on the environment. But, who knows :?:
 
R

Rik

logged out
You know, I'd almost put money on something dodgy going on.
He was probably doing trail maintainence, knowing that whilst it was illegal, riders are still riding it, and he was probably doing something like making it less of an impact on the environment. But, who knows :?:
 
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