[Geysers] Mountain Bikes on Nat'l Park trails

[Washington]

We mountain bike all of the time in the mountains and have spent 16 
years in Yellowstone (and I grew up in Livingston).

1   We have hiked in Yellowstone for all 16 years and once off the road 
by about 3 blocks, hikers are very few and far between.  We bike the 
mountains of Utah all of the time and liability has never been an 
issue.  It's only a bad mix in the "main" areas where there are many 
walkers - the trail between the Inn and Morning Glory Pool comes to 
mind, not the backcountry.

2   There will always be a few idiot hikers who bushwack wherever they 
want, too, and Andy and I have seen them.

3   Bikes do carve ruts but usually only in the spring or sometimes 
after a major rainstorm.  Most mountain bikers are pretty responsible 
now and understand that and don't use the trails at that time.  And bear 
bells can be attached to bicycles just like many of us use some sort of 
horn to warn of our approach.

4   Mountain bikers volunteer many, many hours repairing trails all over 
the nation.

5   In the big scheme of things, there won't be very many people who 
bring mountain bikes with them on vacation.

6   It would be wonderful to access more of Yellowstone one bikes.  And, 
this rule isn't specifically for just Yellowstone but for other parks, too.

Jane Washington





Udo Freund wrote:
> The Billings Gaz-bag  ... err, Gazette ...  has an article in today's 
> edition about rules changing for mountain bikes on trails.  URL: 
> http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/12/20/news/wyoming/20-bikes.txt 
>
> Comments anyone?
>
> I offer a few of my own.  1) Bikes in bear country are a bad mix and 
> resultant liability will be an issue.  Hikers and trail bikers are 
> almost as bad a mix.  Perhaps signed written waivers should be 
> required.  2) Keeping bikes on trails is similar to keeping vehicles 
> on designated roads.  There will always be a few idiots who will go 
> anywhere they want.  Of course they wouldn't care about any damage 
> they cause nor would they want to accept responsibility (liability 
> again) for that.  3) Bikes do carve ruts in trails so who will be 
> financially and physically responsible for trail upkeep?  As I 
> understand things, there are limited resources for hiking trails, 
> which probably require less maintenance.
>
> Udo
>
>
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