Whoops! Mountain Bikers Ride into Grand Canyon
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 03. 9.07
There are times when the environment and biking are not happy bedfellows as three Californian mountain bikers recently discovered to their dismay. The trio, known as the ‘Riding the Spine’ team are pedalling from the Alaskan Arctic to the tip of South America by camping out and riding little used roads and trails. Their decision to ride the Grand Canyon from the north to south rim (and posting about it on their website) resulted in a couple of undercover federal agents tracking them down and serving them a summons. The verdict: donate $500 dollars to Grand Canyon Search & Rescue Fund, spend 2 days in jail, 5 years of unsupervised probation, and banned from all National Parks for 5 years, to boot. It is legal to pass through the Grand Canyon with your bike, if connecting trails. You just can’t ride it - you have to carry it. All the way. The National Parks law pertaining to biking in the GC says, “Rules like this are intended to ensure the safety of trail users, and in wilderness areas, to prevent environmental impact. Bikes can potentially damage the soil and cause erosion which has a lasting and negative impact on the environment.” ::Riding the Spine, via Knox News.
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Oh my good god. It has been proven that horses and similar pack animals cause as much, or more erosion that mountain bikes. Reason being that post holes from their hoofs create a condition which allows water to pool and create mud pits over time. This speeds the erosion process. Bikes have a much lighter footprint, by default. Also much less actual friction between the ground and contact point. Yes, breaking and steep climbing has full friction, but the bulk of riding is mid point. Horse foot falls are all friction. Simple physics.
Safety of the users? OK, so idiot hikers can go in woefully under equipped and necessitate rescue, morons can ride pack animals all over the place, dumping trash as they go, but people can't ride their bikes?
I have done some mountain biking on trails that were shared by both hikers and bikers. In all cases the trails we rode allowed for ample visibility and room for passing. Many of these Grand Canyon trails offer neither. Having hiked Bright Angel Trail, I can say first hand that what they do offer sharp is switchbacks and sudden drop offs with little room to pass.
I don't believe it's a question of wanting to keep the "bad bikers out." Allowing wheeled vehicles on this trail would be an invitation for serious injury.
What you failed to mention was that they also neglected to get the proper permits for camping or even accessing the trails they used. Rule are in place for a reason...simply following them would have made for a lot better outcome. Dont feel sorry them in the least.
I have done some mountain biking on trails that were shared by both hikers and bikers. In all cases the trails we rode allowed for ample visibility and room for passing. Many of these Grand Canyon trails offer neither. Having hiked Bright Angel Trail, I can say first hand that what they do offer sharp is switchbacks and sudden drop offs with little room to pass.
I don't believe it's a question of wanting to keep the "bad bikers out." Allowing wheeled vehicles on this trail would be an invitation for serious injury.
Llamas are great pack animals. They are designed for the mountainous andies, but their padded feet are lower impact than hoofed animals.
Even if people can hike or take animals, it doesn't mean we need to add bikes to the equation. That's like saying I can't recycle some of my plastic stuff so I won't recycle any of it. Wrong.
Besides, I think for once the government stepped in an did something right. I'm not sure if they deserved the punishment, but maybe they did that because bloggin about it encouraged others to do it. whatever. all in all...lets try to be green and be more aware. ok?
"Bikes can ... cause erosion which has a lasting and negative impact on the environment"
They are talking about the Grand Canyon, right?
"What you failed to mention was that they also neglected to get the proper permits for camping or even accessing the trails they used. Rule are in place for a reason...simply following them would have made for a lot better outcome. Dont feel sorry them in the least"
What?! Permits for camping, permits for trails, Rules, Rules, Rules....rules are not in place for any reason other than to limit access to the land for financial and political means. This is the GREAT outdoors, freedom to roam, ride, bike...without let nor hindrance. This land belongs to every human being and charging to access it is criminal. So what if bike trails get eroded? So what if people want to put themselves at risk and venture into these areas under prepared. Why not insist that people get 'blood insurance' like you do on a ski slope to get air lifted out if you have injuries. This is the Grand Canyon NP, not some bogmarsh in scotland.
Let's see, the Grand Canyon was formed by millions of years of what? Oh yeah, EROSION!
Humans are funny creatures
Mike, dude... the Grand Canyon gets MILLIONS of visitors each year. Unfortunately, without rules and limits we'd quickly have an eco-disaster on our hands.
This is particularly the case along the main trails, where most people go. And you have to take into account that dumb-asses aren't just endangering themselves; they can take out plenty of other folks on their way down.
The flip side: almost nobody uses the thousands of miles of back-country trails. I've been out in the Canyon when I was the only person hiking in a vast area. There's plenty of room for solitude if you want it.
if your dumb enough to ride your bike there then you should be aloud to because if your stupid ass falls nobody is going to miss you