http://www.marinij.com/marinvoice/ci_5782489
To be honest, I saw at MTBR first...Kenneth Kelzer: Mountain biking a poor fit for a school sport
Kenneth Kelzer
Marin Independent Journal
Article Launched:04/29/2007 11:06:33 PM PDT
THE DEBATE and furor over mountain biking has come to a boil in Marin for many reasons. The conflict also has been building for years.
I am a 35-year resident and my wife and I hike on Marin trails almost every weekend. I ride a mountain bike three to four times a week for my aerobic exercise, but I ride only on paved streets and designated fire roads.
The letters and Marin Voice articles in the April 2 IJ should be a cause for alarm for all who love the beautiful open spaces of Marin. I am concerned when I read the following: that mountain biking has become a sport sponsored in our high schools; that almost all nine high schools in Marin have mountain bike teams; that the members of these teams are using public open space as practice grounds for their sport; that the spokespersons for these teams use the word "training" and do not use the word "competitive" in describing their activities; and that they are calling for the county Open Space District to provide additional trails for their sport.
All of these factors, together with the trail damage that adult bikers already have done, can only spell disaster for the beauty of our public lands in the long run. If this trend and attitude of entitlement is allowed to spread, it is only a matter of time before the trails and hillsides of Marin are scarred and violated even further than they are. Teen users are among the most courteous bikers on the trails, but what about the other bikers, including out-of-towners, who consistently abuse the trails?
We need to be realistic. We need to foresee what will happen if we allow this destructive combination of mixing competitive bike racing with public lands. We cannot allow it to continue.
I urge officials in all our public schools to eliminate mountain biking as a school-sponsored sport. They instead should promote activities that teach youth to tread lightly upon the earth and give it the respect it deserves.
In his April 2 letter, Dan Freeman, director of the Drake High mountain bike team, wrote that the "team's purpose is the safe, courteous and legal use of trails."
That is an inherent contradiction. If that is their purpose, why form a "team"? And why form a Norcal league with other schools who have "teams"? Teams compete. Competition stirs up adrenalin, which inevitably leads people to racing down trails as fast as they can to "win." Implicit in his thinking is the assumption that all this should be done on public lands. We absolutely should not, and cannot, allow this to happen.
Competitive mountain biking can be compared to race car driving. In a civilized world, we allow auto racing only on private property and on designated race tracks.
I began to hike the trails of Marin before the mountain bike existed. I know that over the past 20 years, many single-track trails and fire roads have been seriously eroded by bikes. The time has come for Marin residents who care about the environment to form a strong coalition to stop this destruction of public property. We need a coalition of hikers, equestrians, joggers, environmental leaders and public officials to put a stop to the destruction.
How to gain control over a situation that has gotten out of control is the big question. Marin supervisors should pass an ordinance that would fine illegal users of trails a minimum of $1,000 for the first offense, plus confiscation of their mountain bikes. That is a stiff penalty, but the situation is that serious.
"Access for all" is fine in theory. But it has not worked in the past and it will not work in the future. Mountain biking has become an adrenaline sport for many.
Idealistic talk about "compromise" and "working together" will not protect our public lands. Certain activities cannot be reconciled with one another.
The issue is not just that bikers and hikers don't mix. Mountain biking and protecting the environment do not mix, because biking cannot be supervised in the open spaces. And many bikers, with their bullying, aggressive and roughriding mentality, are incapable of supervising themselves. It is unfortunate that the destructive behavior of some bikers (I estimate about 40 percent) has ruined mountain biking for responsible bikers.
If our officials will not act to protect our land, then the citizen coalition that I propose, should, if necessary, bring a lawsuit against the Marin Open Space District. If successful, this would force the district to be in compliance with its own stated purpose and highest priority: the protection of our public land.
Kenneth Kelzer is a Novato resident.