This was a main topic of discussion last week while the Trail Nation crew was completing our television shoot in Moab, Utah. You see, at Trail Nation we want to cover every aspect of trail recreation at each destination we visit. For example, while we were in Moab, we went mountain biking on the Slick Rock Trail, drove Jeeps up the Moab Rim Trail, hiked in search of dinosaur tracks, dinosaur bones and Indian petroglyphs out near the Monitor and Merrimac Trail, dirt biked the Fins N’ Things Trail, jet-boated and kayaked the Colorado River, rappelled and hiked out of Negro Bill’s Canyon, rode ATVs on the Kane Creek Trail, rock-crawled UTVs up Prichett Canyon…and so much more!
These are all activities that I thoroughly enjoy, though I’ll readily admit I’m a better dirt biker/ATV rider than I am a mountain biker. I’m working on that, though, and I’ve got total admiration for the mountain biker who can complete any one of the trails I listed above. You guys rock…literally!
So why is it that there’s so much infighting amongst trail user groups? Why is it that some of us find it so easy to scorn an entire group of trail users (whether it be mountain bikers, ATVers, hikers, or any other discipline) based on the actions of a small, abusive minority?
Here are a few examples-
A few weeks ago I was at an off-road motorcycle club meeting here in Phoenix. This is a highly respectable club that organizes family fun rides, dual sport poker runs and competitive racing events. Its members also participate frequently in trail maintenance projects throughout the state of Arizona, and work closely with state and federal land agencies when help is needed. It’s a club for motorcyclists, not ATVers, which is all good and fine.
But I was seriously put off during this meeting when one of the scheduled speakers, a person I have a lot of admiration for because of the selfless time he donates toward preserving Arizona’s motorized trails, began to bash ATV riders. Actually, the exact term he used was “quad-tards.” So now he’s insulted ATV riders and anyone in the room who has a loved one who is learning disabled. Several found it funny and just had to add to the joke. They referred to ATVs as “couches” even though their own dirt bikes provide 3 to 5 more inches of suspension travel than the best stock ATV suspensions. All of their criticism was based on a few experiences, including the helmetless ATV moron illegally riding on their single track trails, and the attention seeker in the staging area/trail parking lot that just had to show everyone how fast he could whip his sport quad around in circles (a.k.a. donuts). They didn’t see the angry group of ATVers that had rocks thrown all over their trucks, and they turned a blind eye when a dirt bike rider pulled off a 40mph wheelie right through the center of the posted 15mph trail staging area. These latter two individuals define the term “Squid.” They ruin the fun for all of us, and they come in all types – dirt bikers, ATVers, mountain bikers, hikers, and so on. I’ll admit motorized users have more than their fair share of squids, but it’s aggravating for all of us.
I have another friend named Sue who is an avid hiker. She despises mountain bike riders, especially the ones who ride the South Mountain trails on the southern edge of Phoenix. She had a run in with a few down-hill mountain bikers who came by her so fast she didn’t have time to get out of the way. She was knocked down on her stomach as the two bikers blew past her, out of control. The leader, responsible for knocking her down, never stopped to see if she was ok. The second rider screeched to a halt to avoid crashing, looked back to see her getting up and then continued on without asking if she was ok or giving so much as an apology. Her entire view of mountain bikers is now based on these two irresponsible squids.
I was giving this topic a lot of thought over that 5-day trip to Moab. Just a few weeks earlier, a proposal drawn up by a New York congressman was defeated that would have banned mountain bikes and motorized vehicles from 9.4 million acres in Utah – including Moab! This is just one more example of how one or two corrupt individuals can ruin the fun for a whole lot of people. It’s also another good example of why we all need to work together.
So is it asking too much for all of us to try to tolerate each other? Is it possible that we can come together as one group of trail users, dedicated to educating those that just don’t know better, while respecting each other’s space?
I had almost given up on the idea of trying to accommodate all trail users with articles and news here on the Trail Nation website – not because I wanted to, but because I was beginning to believe it wasn’t possible. I sat there with a dozen of my good friends, all of us lined up on 4x4 ATVs waiting to tackle the next obstacle on Moab’s Cliff Hanger Trail, when a mountain biker in his 50s chugged up the hill along side of us. He looked over at us, raised a fist in the air an exclaimed, “We’re living the dream boys!”
This might just work after all!
Jeff Henson
Trail Nation Senior Editor