Trails were built to be loved and shared. However, depending who built the trail, there are different styles of use for the person using it. Despite what seems to be a never-ending feud between hiker vs. mountain biker, I am more than happy to share the trail. It’s like anything else – display good manners, don’t piss people off. I slow down when I see hikers on the trail and let them know I’m coming (even though technically the hiker has the right of way… it usually works out that the hiker steps aside). On the flip side, it genuinely irritates me when hikers think they own the trail, won’t move even after you asked nicely, or simply give you dirty looks and act generally annoyed at your presence. Even if I pull over to let the hiker by, we still need to give each other room. And as we all know, the trails in Boulder are mainly for hikers, with mountain biking being forbidden on most trails in town. That came as a surprise to me when I first moved to Boulder because most of the trails in Albuquerque are multi-use trails.
Trails in other counties of the Front Range are a little more multi-use friendly. I did a tour of the Jefferson County Trails last weekend. I started thinking about things a little bit and realized that trails built by mountain bike associations (think IMBA, BMA, COMBA) are a little bit different than trails originally built for hikers. I’m stoked that the hikers share their trails with us, and they add some more challenge to the life of a mountain biker. Also, I know us mountain bikers wish that Wilderness Trails were open to bikes. Horses and people are allowed on them. We have a bad rap, and not like Ice Cube.
I have heard arguments for separate trails – bike ONLY trails, hike ONLY trails. They kind of do this already. For example, at Betasso Preserve, you’re not allowed to ride a bike on it on I think Wed and Saturday. At Apex and Enchanted Forest, it’s been changed so bikes are directional and also closed to bikes on certain days. Like I said, I don’t mind sharing the trail. I wish more of the hiking trails would open up to cyclists on certain days instead of hikers getting annoyed with mountain bikers and taking the few trails we have, and start to close them. If you’re going to shut down our trails on certain days, how about we get to ride some more of those hiking trails occasionally? How about a little give and take? We were taught to share in kindergarten, but when it comes to our trails, people can be over-zealous and self-righteous on BOTH sides of the spectrum. You can use my blue crayon if I can use your red crayon today, and maybe we’ll see a new perspective with our different colors.
The best thing would be for a hiker to ride a mountain bike on a multi-use trail, and for a mountain biker to go hiking on a busy multi-use trail so we can learn to be sympathetic and understanding towards one another. After all, we’re both out there because we love the same things.
This is a very sensitive issue. What are your thoughts? Arguments? Complaints? Lay ’em on me. This is going to be a bigger story than just a blog post, so all angles are appreciated.
