Disturbing (to me): the new sign on a trail into a wilderness area excludes motorized vehicles, "other users welcome".

[drdirtbag@mountains.social]

@wanderinghermit The sign sure seems to open it to bikes, which seems to be redefining how wilderness areas work. I personally think bikes should be allowed anywhere horses are, since they don't turn trails into trenches full of pulverized manure. I've seen trails in the northern Rockies that are open to bikes on certain days of the week, which seems sensible to me, but I don't know anything about whether the laws have changed to make that possible.

[guentherludwig@troet.cafe]

@wanderinghermit It looks as if they have given up trying to control and exclude mountain bikers.

<Irony>But maybe it's just illegal immigrants riding around on mountain bikes, and #ICE is now so successful that there is no longer any danger</Irony>

[hikingdude@mastodon.social]

@wanderinghermit ha! No mention of tanks!

[ericphelps@mastodon.social]

@wanderinghermit Any trail "activist" could have added that no bikes sticker to the bottom of the post. Do you have other examples of official forest service stickers to compare it against?

[wanderinghermit@mindly.social]

@ericphelps

It looks to me like the real thing, I've seen them at many other wilderness areas.

[matthewchat@mstdn.social]

@wanderinghermit the bike bros kind of ruin it for other cyclists. Aggressively pounding down trails as fast as you can go is a world of difference from recreational touring.

The only real difference between them and dirt bikes is the lesser power and noise pollution of their engines.

[kajord@hachyderm.io]

@MatthewChat @wanderinghermit and even the "lesser power" part of that is changing fast with unregulated e-bikes.

[wanderinghermit@mindly.social]

@kajord @MatthewChat

Absolutely do not want to be hiking along in a wilderness area and have a group of high powered e bikes come down the trail. I hike wilderness areas to get away from that shit.

[mlanger@mastodon.world]

@wanderinghermit @kajord @MatthewChat My understanding is that motorized vehicles are not allowed in a wilderness area.

[wanderinghermit@mindly.social]

@mlanger @kajord @MatthewChat

Yeah, and in nearly all wilderness areas that prohibition includes bicycles and, oddly enough, hang gliders.

[akkana@fosstodon.org]

@wanderinghermit @mlanger @kajord @MatthewChat To be a contrarian: I've never understood the logic of banning mountain bikes while allowing thousand-pound, unpredictable, sometimes poorly trained animals. Though I suspect it has a lot to do with the financial profile of equestrians.

Yes, there are poorly behaved mountain bikers, but there are also poorly behaved hikers and equestrians.

[wanderinghermit@mindly.social]

@akkana @mlanger @kajord @MatthewChat

I agree with you, there doesn't seem to be much logic. My personal preference is largely based on speed. Hikers and horses generally travel at about the same pace; I know horses can run fast but I've never seen one running on a forest trail.

Mountain bikers, however, tend to go fast down hills. And having to jump out of the way ruins my wilderness experience. Selfish of me.