Great thread. Lot of good points/ mostly calm behavior on “both sides”. K- here are my bonafides. Hiking the Front Range since ’69, trail running ‘em since ’80, mtn biking ‘em since ’85. I’ve seen it all. Still do- heading out for UWC to LWC in a sec…
So here goes:
1) I agree w/ DStep (and others) - Middle Merrill/ Sunset needs a break from the shuttlers. Those trails are beat to sh*t.
2) Cowbells on DH’ers are cool. Their cow bells help make a huge difference (re; hikers).
3) DH’ers looking like Mad Max do alienate little old ladies and Sierra Clubbers
4) Crashing and getting helo- plucked out is not cool. Happened way too much in ’08. Makes mtn bikers above the radar
5) Riding fast and in a group trying to dice it up is the essence of testosterone. Nuthing funner. But max effort speed really does result in more rear-brake lock-ups, power slides and ends up with rutted trails. I’ve seen it on EVERY San Gab trail that sees lots of DH’ers.....
6) .....thus, Hard Tails and Little Old Lady riders who don’t lock up the rear brakes as much create less trail damage. we all - at times- gotta be a bit softer, slower in our approach
7) We are very lucky to have the San Gabs. I lived in GA for 10 years and the little puddles they call trails are sad fun compared to what we got…
OH- and Kudos to all you who have labored tools in hand doing trail work. Thanks a ton.
