Shame on you, hippie for f**cking up UCSC's sign!Anyway, as a mountain biker, I'm not ashamed. I practice sustainable recreation and I know that the forest is a resilient ecosystem. Besides, the upper campus is hardly a wilderness area. The winter runoff from the roads and the parking lots are funneled into the creeks and cause more erosion in a good storm than thousands of bikes over several decades.
Debating about the impact on the forest becomes moot when UCSC implements their Long-Range Development Plan. The supreme irony is that the forest surrounding this gate will be completely developed with student housing and academic buildings by 2020 according to the UCSC plan (see Figure 20 p. 66). Most of this forest (and the trails) will be gone. Pipedream, Ridge Trail, Rock and Roll, Garden of Weeden, Geoff's trail, Swamp trail, Mr. Twisty, RV Park will be a memory.
Heed the words of Jim Morrison: "I wanna have my kicks before the whole sh**house goes up in flames". Get it while you can but be nice out there. Ride slow, say hello and smile like you love the forest. Because you do. You're a mountain biker.
2 comments:
yes...
everyone likes to blame the mountain bike
what a joker!
there are times when I am out riding my bike where there are signs that request such action not occur there
well...
there are people with leashless dogs who are the first to put me on trial
well...
they need to police themselves
I am exhibiting common sense and common courtesy
if they are car owners...
well... then they best look in the mirror again
I am bending a rule just as so many car drivers bend the rule of the Speed Limit
I am bending things within an excepted parameter
while they are not even considering such things
I balance the scales with trash pick up and rogue trail maintenance
what do these people do?
well... other than point the finger
Too funny. I went to UCSC many years ago and this was typical of students who had been brainwashed in a certain way. They should probably examine how their own college impacts the environment.
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