Confessions of a faux mountain biker
Nope, that's not me. That's a real mountain biker.
It was on a rocky, somewhat steep uphill stretch that I finally gave up.
Woefully out of shape, dragging the group down and fed up with the weaknesses of a borrowed mountain bike, I dismounted and walked the bike to the top of the hill. The universal mountain bikers’ sign of surrender.
Two friends and I were on what would ordinarily be a pretty cool off-road bike ride at Roman Nose State Park. We were following horse trails in a semi-wooded patch of the park, navigating semi-rough terrain that had a few stumps and rocks as well as plenty of uphill and downhill stretches.
My friends, Jeff and Trent, had sweet rides. Both were on Cannondales. Jeff is all about outdoor sports. When he skis, he telemarks (a difficult style of downhill skiing) and does it on expert slopes. He runs. Hunts. Fishes. And he enjoys off-road biking.
Trent is much the same. Except his biking resume includes several years of competitive road and off-road racing.
Like I said, I was in pretty lousy shape, in terms of heart/lung conditioning. Sure, I could lift some weights. But that doesn’t do much good on a bike.
And then there was my bike. At the time, I didn’t own my own wheels, so I ended up borrowing some. I appreciated the thought, but this bike wasn’t the light-as-air, tough-as-nails specimen that my friends owned and cherished. It was more like something you’d buy on the cheap at Walmart. Or at a garage sale.
It was heavy. The gears slipped constantly. The seat was hard as a rock, and no matter how much I tightened it down, it kept slipping out of place.
Needless to say, I did not enjoy this experience as much as my friends. Which is too bad. There’s a lot to be said of enjoying the outdoors while pushing yourself physically. Lord knows, Trent had it down to an art — he could fly down a dirt path doing 40 mph and call the hair-raising experience fun.
I got to thinking about this as I contemplated my wife’s pending bike purchase. She’s set to compete in a sprint trialthlon in Austin on June 6. Her current wheels are not up to snuff, so we’re looking at getting her a new ride. She loves biking, and it seems to be a natural thing for the two of us to start doing together more often.
If I were to revisit that trip to Roman Nose, I’d like to have a bike that’s up to the task. I’m in much better shape now. And perhaps we might be able to find a way to retrace the path I tried to take on those horse trails, worry less about a crummy bike and relish the challenge of busting through the woods without having to stop, look down in defeat and walk my bike back to camp.
SPEAKING OF ROMAN NOSE, MOUNTAIN BIKING, ETC…
Just so happens that the state park near Watonga is having a bit of a shindig for mountain bikers on June 7, the Roman Nose Mountain Bike Festival. This is a big deal and is part of the 2009 Tour de Dirt. You can get more info on the race by checking out this Web site: http://www.tourdedirt.org/Flyer%20-%20Roman%20Nose%20Mtb%20Fest.pdf
Bob Doucette
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Comments
I appreciate the comments, and thanks for reading. I think it may boil down to trail management, and making sure bikers are responsible to stay on trails that are designated for bike use. I was hiking in New Mexico a couple of years ago and was amazed to see a couple of mountain bikers wheeling their way up the trail (albeit in a granny gear). But they stopped at the line where the wilderness area was designated. From there up, it was foot traffic only. Now I’m sure these dudes could have biked their way to the summit of the peak, but the rules didn’t allow it and they, being aware of that, rode only so high before heading down.
These are age-old questions of land use. I would think there’s room for compromise. The area where I biked was on horse trails, and we didn’t stray from those trails. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’ll bet you a Meers burger that the bulk of off-road bikers stay on trail and limit their environmental impact to designated trail areas.
You write as though mountain biking was a harmless activity that had no impact on the environment. Where have you been?!
Bicycles should not be allowed in any natural area. They are inanimate objects and have no rights. There is also no right to mountain bike. That was settled in federal court in 1994: http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/mtb10 . It’s dishonest of mountain bikers to say that they don’t have access to trails closed to bikes. They have EXACTLY the same access as everyone else — ON FOOT! Why isn’t that good enough for mountain bikers? They are all capable of walking….
A favorite myth of mountain bikers is that mountain biking is no more harmful to wildlife, people, and the environment than hiking, and that science supports that view. Of course, it’s not true. To settle the matter once and for all, I read all of the research they cited, and wrote a review of the research on mountain biking impacts (see http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/scb7 ). I found that of the seven studies they cited, (1) all were written by mountain bikers, and (2) in every case, the authors misinterpreted their own data, in order to come to the conclusion that they favored. They also studiously avoided mentioning another scientific study (Wisdom et al) which did not favor mountain biking, and came to the opposite conclusions.
Those were all experimental studies. Two other studies (by White et al and by Jeff Marion) used a survey design, which is inherently incapable of answering that question (comparing hiking with mountain biking). I only mention them because mountain bikers often cite them, but scientifically, they are worthless.
Mountain biking accelerates erosion, creates V-shaped ruts, kills small animals and plants on and next to the trail, drives wildlife and other trail users out of the
area, and (worst of all) teaches kids that the rough treatment of nature is okay (it’s NOT!). What’s good about THAT?
For more information: http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande/mtbfaq .