DownHilling in Mitcham-Belair area
I learned recently that there are some "legal" MTB trails in the Mitcham council area. I wonder, tho, what proportion of MTBing in that area is "legal"..? I ask this question both for environmental reasons, but also in light of the ease with which DH riders can carry their machines so easily via the ( mostly free) train service, which I believe may contribute to the appeal of "illegal" riding , even as it facilitates legal bike activity. This is of course something difficult to quantify : illegal cyclists are highly mobile, carry no registration numbers on their bikes, and don't want to talk to officials. I am anticipating a flood of denial on this question, probably some personal abuse too <sigh> for even thinking about it. But anyway : what proportion of MTB/DH riding in Mitcham/Belair is "legal"..?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Michael G on -
The notion of legal and illegal MTB trails is a strange one. When it comes to walking on public land it seems that by default its legal but when it comes to MTBiking it is by default illegal. So the fact that there is illegal MTB activity doesn't mean there is automatically something inherently wrong with it, it is just that in some cases no one has got around to making it legal yet.
This I believe is the case in much of the Mitcham-Belair area at the moment. The council have recognised the existence and need for trails and is in the process of 'legalising' many of them. At the moment however the signage to identify both illegal and legal trails is fairly limited.
I ride the area regularly and try my best to stay legal but a lot of the time it is just not clear.
-
Permalink Reply by Doddsy on -
Could be easy to take your discussion the wrong way.
But instead of hurling abuse your way i'll just say they should be legal, Mountain biking advocates are a more passionate about trail maintenance than anyone i know. I'm not going to complain about people that walk their dogs and let them run around barking, chasing birds and crapping everywhere but the rules are outdated and ridiculous. The haters used to do things like label mtb's as dangerous and then do things like put fishing wire across trails.
The only thing they've been able to do to stop kids with bikes and shovels is to provide mountain bike trails and deal with it.
Craigburn farm is supposed to be a shared user trail.
-
Permalink Reply by Paul on -
Craigburn is a shared trail and if you read the map there you will see that horses have right of way over bikes and walkers.
Id like to know if there will be a maintenance budget for these new trails at Craigburn.
-
Permalink Reply by Doddsy on
-
Its interesting how horsies get preference.
I understand why horses have right of way (because they are harder to control).
Definitely old fashioned rules combined with a majority of non cyclists being in control.
-
Permalink Reply by Slammin on -
I think you'll find the share the trail triangle has been an international standard for a while now. Kinda makes sense too. As an MTB rider this is how I ride, funny though, I get alot of walkers scrambling to get out the way as I approach, yet I'm slowing down to yield to them. Its like a mexican stand off :))
-
Permalink Reply by Doddsy on
-
Yep, I agree, its not very often i smile and say g'day to walkers and don't get a smile back. Rarely do i see people on horses.
Think my last post wasn't interpreted the way i wanted.
I'm more or less talking about the fact that many trails allow horses and have done so for a very long time.
They aren't jolly swagmans anymore, just rich kids.
-
Permalink Reply by Erik Lock on -
I've come to this thread a bit late and will not address the question posed by Bicycle Fish re proportion of illegal vs legal DH riding in the Mitcham area.
The real issue is the trail that is used for the activity. The trail is the means by which the user access the natural environment, which is impacted by us being there. A trail that disturbs an area of high biodiversity value that is used by walkers or NIMBYS is just as damaging as a trail through the same area that is used by DH'ers. We should not judge the form of the user, but the trail that they are on.
THe SA walking community is blessed by a raft of concessions to enable unfettered access to the natural environment. For example the Native Vegetation Regulations, regulation 5(1)(u) allows for clearance of native vegetation for the purpose of establishing or maintaining a walking track expected to be used by pedestrians. Mount Osmond open space is laced by walking trails built by the Walking Trails Support Group... I take a quote from their website (http://www.walkingtrailssupportgroup.org.au/). Whilst I support some of their principles, I'm a little taken aback by their declaration that "Work with the landscape and don’t try to conquer it – people don’t need tracks, but the land does." WTS state that they have developed over 150km of walking track on public, leasehold and private land over the past 19 years. These trails, leagal or illegal impact the the land that they travel through.
With the greatest respect, Bycycle Fish, I suggest that you are barking up the wrong tree. (people in glass houses shouldn't throew stones?) Look a little deeper and you will find that the SA Mountain Bike Community are actively working to preserve and conserve the natural environment that we too, are passionate about.
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- Next ›
© 2012 Created by Gus K.
