Rattlesnake cheater lines blocked

As of this morning, the worst of the cheater lines on lower Rattlesnake in El Moro have been blocked.

I have no doubt that someone will eventually take the time to stop and get off their bike and open them back up again but hopefully some will stay in place long enough for the brush to grow in from the sides of the trail.

I have never heard of anyone trying to make a black diamond ski run easier by smoothing out moguls but when a trail gets a little tough, people have no problem just creating new trails around the hard parts.

Please remind other riders that the appropriate thing to do is change your skills to match the trail, not change the trail to match your skills.

Thanks

 

Bummer, now I have to make use of that pesky 6 inches of travel. I hate that.

 

or just walk down it, but that would take too much effort.

 

Not sure that blocking portions of a public trail is safe. I hope no one get hurt.

 

I remember when Rattlesnake was about 6" wide...

A "cheater line" diverts from or widens the original trail and should be blocked. Rangers in public parks block off unauthorized or new lines and trails all the time.

You don't block it by obstructing just the exit, you do it by blocking the approach so nobody acting responsible should have reason to get hurt.

 

I'm all for preserving great technical single track. Thanks because that' s what I prefer to ride. However, I think caution should be used when obstructing or modifying any portion of a trail.

 

Must've just happened 'cause I rode it Monday evening and it was all good. At least I can say I rode it - sounds like I'm walking it now!

 

Unless the trail needs some schweet jumps... ooops, did I just say that out loud.

 

Chopper, Thanks.
I was the guy you talked to on the Surly at the top of the trail today.
Just to let anyone that seems to have a problem with "blocking" the trail, the trail is still way wider than it should be and there are still cheater lines that you should not ride down. If you can't ride down the middle over the rocks in the short sections of tech, ride other trails until you build your skills a bit or else walk. Every time the park rangers see the trail getting widened, it is just more ammo for them to shut trails to mountain bikes. People like Chopper are doing all of us a service by blocking off (responsibly and safely) cheater lines.

 

People need to be aware that trails change. They change at the hands of people and they also change via erosion. One rock can change the line of a trail. One person hiking can change the line of a trail. With that in mind people should always ride in control and never be in a position where they cannot respond to changes in the trail without getting hurt.
This trail is identified as a single track trail. Some of sections that were worked on today were over 20 feet wide. I wonder how wide it would eventually get if we just let it go. I also wonder how wide it would get before the park management would finally decide that it was taking too much habitat and just close it.

 

I was kidding. Out of curiosity, do you have to get park approval to do trail work like this?

 

Yes you do. SHARE works with the Park Rangers on all activity done there at El Moro, Aliso, Whiting, LCWP and Santiago Oaks.

BTW Robin, thanks for the work you guys did.

 

To add to what Gene said, each park has their own set of rules and guidelines. For that reason SHARE has a park reprsentative for each park. That person is the main contact for their area and keeps track of who needs to be contacted and what the rules are. They also make arrangements for all the activities in their specific area.

With that in mind, we do not currently have representative for Chino Hills. There is a lot going there and we could really use some help.
Any volunteers?

 

Not sure that mountain biking is for you.

 

Just because of his concern for other trail users' safety, he's unsuited for mountain biking?:?:

 

fyi- rode w/ a guy yesterday that recently saw someone berming a trail with a shovel in el moro. if enough people change enough trails, the park will fight back at some point.

 

This was legal - these guys work with/are part of SHARE.

 

thanks, share.

they did some great work a few years ago on old emerald in lcwp.

 

i've only recently started riding el moro/lcwp/crystal cove so ive never seen rattlesnake prior to the widening of the trail.

what section is this in? is it the beginning of the rock garden?


thanks share for all your hard work.

 

I think the problem is bigger than folks simply creating cheater lines. At Sycamore Canyon, Riverside, some of the single-track has slowly been widened by cheater lines. But single-track also gets widened when ruts develop and riders go to the right and left to avoid getting sucked in. Single track is also widened when folks skid through the turns because that's the only way they know how to ride an un-bermed turned at speed.

You can educate folks all you want, but I think ultimately the solution is on-going trail maintenance........maintain the trails to eliminate ruts, to eliminate cheater lines and to keep the single-track skinny. I would even advocate putting up yellow-tape and sings indicating "re-vegetation" area on the sides of trails I think even novice riders would respect that......

But the problem is......what % of riders actually take time out to do trail maintenance.....

Mountain bikers are a competitive bunch, how about some place on STR where we could log in our trail maintenance hours for all to see, and then maybe we pitch in for a cool prize at the end of the year for the winner?? Peer pressure works wonders.