[Geysers] Mountian Bikes in Yellowstone : Commercially guided daytrips

[Paul Strasser]

I'm surprised by this discussion.  It sounds like some folks aren't aware
that there are indeed large commercial tours of Yellowstone and environs on
bicycles already.  I see their big trailers and vans (with sometimes a few
dozen bikes on top) at the Lower Hams many times during the course of my
visits.

I have yet to notice any significant negative environmental impact on the
upper basin from their presence.  Yeah, if there are fifteen identical red
bikes parked near Grotto it might mean I have to park my bike 20 feet
farther away, but I can live with that.  I have never seen one of these
bikes from a group on a boardwalk, and no doubt the concessionaires wouldn't
like that because maybe they'd know that the VC and rangers would get a call
that "bike(s) from the ABC Tour company just rode past Grand on the
boardwalk."

That's a quick way to have the NPS come down hard on a concessionaire.  In
my experience talking to the guides they are pretty good about keeping their
underlings behaving themselves.  In fact, some have come over to us and
asked about eruption times.

Yeah, I think the ethos of someone willing to bike through Yellowstone and
the Tetons is a bit different than some bozos who, in a group, want to get
liquored up and canoe in Lake Wassamatta.  To me the distinction isn't the
fact that there are twenty people in that group (thus affecting the
environment more than twenty individuals...), but that they're drunk,
stupid, and are willing to act like jackasses because they're surrounded by
jackasses.

The minute that I hear of someone offering beer instead of Dasani on their
bike tours of Yellowstone I'll get worried.  As of now I'm not. They're here
already, they seem to be okay.  Personally I wouldn't like to tour the parks
this way (roads are narrow, wild animals, weather, etc.) but these folks
aren't much of a pain at all.

Paul Strasser