| So you're off on your
first mountain bike ride in...well, we won't go there.
Pretty much a Chain Reaction shop ride, with Bruno, Todd, Pat,
Jeff, Michael, Jarvis, Brian K & Mike J. Some of these
guy are not only pretty good riders (OK, just about everybody but Mike J is
a pretty good off-road cyclist!), but they're also pretty careful
to avoid dangerous confrontations with other cyclists and
hikers. And, since (to us) it seemed like we were riding in
an exceptionally-safe manner, we weren't too worried about the
infamous radar-gunning rangers that frequent the place.
We were wrong. About half an hour into our
ride we hit a wide-open spot where a twisty (low speed) descent
empties out onto a long straightaway. Visibility for
over a hundred yards, no obstacles, no people in sight, in short,
no dangers. Um... that's not quite right! Out of
nowhere, like a stalker who's suddenly decided to seize his prey,
pops Ranger Rick with his magic radar gun. Don't know if
we'd woken him up or what, but he claims he was so startled by our
"speed" that he couldn't get a read with his gun and
"estimated" Michael H's speed at 22mph. Yeah,
maybe, except that our group wasn't very spread out and I know my
speed was pretty pathetic!
So Ranger Rick proceeds to lecture Michael about
speeding, and how many hikers have complained about being run off
the trail by cyclists, and how cyclists have been yelling
four-letter epithets at them as well as giving them the
finger. Guilt by association, apparently. So we're
stuck there for what seems like forever, listening to Ranger Rick
give us "the talk" and even inspecting Michael's helmet
for an ANSI-approved sticker (apparently Ranger Rick hadn't heard
that ANSI has been superseded by the superior ASTM standard that's
now found on nearly all high-quality helmets). All total,
Ranger Rick wasted about 20 minutes of our time, eventually giving
Michael an official "warning" ticket (instead of a real
citation, which would have cost him from $80-200).
If the goal of the rangers is to enhance safety,
they're going about it the wrong way. Instead of hanging out
in one of the few open (and entirely safe) areas of the park,
looking for someone to (safely) maintain momentum for the next
rise, they ought to be in one of the more unsafe areas, where the
trail is narrow and twisty and altercations between cyclists and
hikers are more likely to occur (and with more dangerous
results). The problem with that, however, is that it
requires some intelligence on the part of the observer to note
that someone is actually riding in an unsafe manner, rather than
exceeding an arbitrary speed limit (and, in those areas, unsafe
riding would quite possibly occur well under the 15mph speed
limit!).
Instead, it appears more likely the true goal is
simply to harass cyclists and discourage them from using the
park. Even if this isn't the real intent, it's certainly the
effect. And, while it would be wonderful to get into an
honest dialogue with Ranger Rick (who, he says, is only doing his
job), you're well aware that he, not you, has the upper hand in
things, and if acting contrite will get you out of an $80-$200
ticket, you're not going to use that forum to educate him.
I could go on and on and on... who'd have
thought that I'd get so serious about a mountain biking
issue? But overall this whole thing only further affirms
something I've thought all along. Hikers and equestrians
control the vast majority of parks by specifically prohibiting
cyclists, no
iffs, ans or butts. Why can't there be something similar
favoring mountain bikers? In the region of Skeggs Point
(actually called El Corte Madera Open Space), there are many
places for hikers and equestrians, but just two places where
mountain bikers can legally ride (Skeggs and Higgins/Purissima).
If mountain bikers were a minority user of the trails, it would be
one thing, but the truth is there are very large numbers of people
enjoying our parks as cyclists. Just because they're
covering the terrain on two wheels instead of two feet shouldn't
automatically make them a lesser user.
Enough...for now. --Mike-- |
