[Echihn]

Originally Posted by ruggedscotsman

wow. Its hard to believe that some people remain ignorant about global climate change.

There are glaciers around the world that have been documented, photographed and otherwise studied for more than a century. They have all showed massive decreases in volume over the last quarter century. Same with the polar ice caps. Deserts around the world are expanding at an ever increasing rate. Sea level is rising. Ocean salinity and temperature is changing. The concentrations of atmospheric gases are shifting. All of these things have been measured and proven. Its not opinion, these are verifiable facts.

Now, you can contest the degree to which humankind is responsible for these changes, fine. However to completely ignore that changes like this are taking place is very ignorant. Regardless of whether its 'our fault' or not, we will still have to adapt to the changes that take place.

And to those who say Mtbiking has no impact. Have you never seen a trail that had too much traffic in the early spring, when it was soft and muddy? Granted, its not like paving a hwy, but it does dramatically degrade the soil. Plants will not return that season. I'm NOT saying you should quit biking. Just do so responsibly!

you my friend have been watching too much msnbc. Haven't you been watching the news... all the information dealing with this warming has been falsified. Come on man you can't say something is going on when it is now known it is a scam. What are your personal experiences with nature. Do you farm? Do you ranch? Grow pot? Odds are, just like most hippies, the most they have ever done is raise a small garden in their back yard. Come out to the farm where hundreds of thousands of acres of food are grown by many farmers and you will quickly learn all about climate and patterns.

Your forgetting that 95+% of this world is unpopulated. General mis conception with people who grew up in the city, or live in the city, forget how much of empty space there really is in this country, let alone world. Our cities don't add up to enough to effect anything. The world goes through cycles and always has.

Once again, ALL the major supporting data of global warming is compromised. Myth busted.

[TxCyclist]

I don't think ALL information has been compromised.

I watched a special awhile back about the pan evaporation rate. It's a really basic test that has been performed for over a hundred years. Fairly interesting. I'm not a scientist so I have no opinion on the validity of man made global warming but at the same time I don't reject the notion either. Too much misinformation from both Left and Right news outlets.

Over the last 50 or so years, pan evaporation has been carefully monitored. For decades, nobody took much notice of the pan evaporation measurements. But in the 1990s scientists spotted something that at the time was considered very strange; the rate of evaporation was falling.[8] This trend has been observed all over the world except in a few places where it has increased.[9] [10] [11] [12]

As the global climate warms, all other things being equal, evaporation will increase and as a result, the hydrological cycle will accelerate [13]. The downward trend of pan evaporation has been linked to a phenomenon called global dimming.[14] [15]In 2005 Wild et al. and Pinker et al. found that the "dimming" trend had reversed since about 1990 [16]

[Farnsworth]

So if evaporation is slowing does that mean it's getting cooler?

[Cyclomatic]

We could just Cycle in Moderation. I take no pleasure in trampling virgin Forrest paths. Well maybe a little.

[salvage_bikes]

Don't feel bad, man! (hands you a friendly beer/soda/fancy water). Support IMBA and other environmentally conscious bicycling groups. Join a litter crew on your favorite trail or just bag a few hefty sacks worth yourself and start a regular group.

I ride in Dallas TX (DORBA) and I think the effect has been very POSITIVE. By catering to or at least enabling bicyclists to build trails in cooperation with cities, counties, and ranchers, we have allowed people to enjoy the land, socialize, and support conservation in a way. We have cleaned up some areas that were formerly just trash filled patches of forest between businesses, and made them attractive to city residents and visitors as an economical pastime. Now, instead of razing the trees and building a shopping center, there is a "reason" to leave the land concrete free!

I don't believe even bulldozed trails through a forest are going to stop animals from doing what they were doing, or kill moss and little insects on the ground. Here, the animals like our trails (most cut with chainsaws and weedwackers) for quick transportation. lol. The forest goes on as it was on either side of the 1 foot wide mtn bike path, even in the axle path of forestry service jeep roads.


photo of singletrack mtn bike path

Originally Posted by chh55

I have gone over completely to road biking, for several reasons but the main one was that I started to feel really guilty about mountainbiking. At the time of my decision I was living in a remote part of the Adirondacks and I was getting my feet back on the ground after 10 years in NYC. I started backpacking a lot and for anyone who knows about that area it is pretty amazing. In some of the more well traveled back country areas the trails were completely destroyed by MTBs. The tranquility and wildlife were also definitely affected by the "shredding" attitude of said bikers. The forest floor is a delicate structure of moss and small plants which is only now getting reestablished after the logging catastrophe of the 1800s. The bike tires rip through it and the ruts fill with water, the next pack comes through and avoids the ruts, making a new set... and so on. That area is especially sensitive but even in hardier areas the high speed riding scares wildlife and disturbs the peace so to say.
I am wondering what you folks think about this, how many ride in "designated areas". How many of you have similar concerns? How many of you want to burn a tire on my lawn?

[salvage_bikes]

On the trails here, if there is an erosion or puddling issue, often it can be alleviated by carting stones to place there, or digging an alternate spur route that goes around the flooded area. If it's just a ditch or creek crossing, mabye it can even be helped by wash boards (look like cyclocross barriers with rubber wipes on top). Slowing the water helps it run without eating the trail down into a rut.

My favorite local trail has eventually gotten some ruts and is not ridden as often as it used to be. The hikers have been glad to make up by walking the area and walking their dogs. They seem surprised to see bikes sometimes. I have done some things to help (cut down poison ivy, weed whacking, and branch trimming) and await group trail work days to fix the ruts. It is invigorating for me, a good social event.

Originally Posted by ruggedscotsman

Mud is a natural phenomenon. Yes. However, when you have a lot of traffic on a trail that is very muddy, the ruts get deeper and deeper creating small ponds or swamps. This forces many around the problem, which then widens the trail. If this practice happens season after season, you can end up with a trail that is +50ft wide. It may not happen everywhere due to the number of users, but many well managed trails do not open (or discourage use) during muddy seasons for this reason.

Any trail, no matter how well maintained or the size, has a negative effect on proximal biodiversity. I'm not saying we shouldn't be riding in the woods. However, as populations increase and we continue to pave over forested lands for suburban sprawl, there is less and less 'wilderness.' If we can responsibly manage our trail use in these settings, we will all be better off.

[CTD50]

Originally Posted by chh55

Besides getting their picture on a calender they (the beavers) have been mercilessly exploited, trapped in all posssible cruel manners for their fur. The human stopped being a natural animal when he and she got kicked out of the garden of eden. Take this verbatim if you are a biblical type or as an uncannily accurate parable of unparalleled foresight if you are more the atheistic type. When we started cultivating instead of hunting/gathering we put ourselves at odds with the rest of Nature and our "development" has without exception been at the cost of Nature. Nothing WE do is a benifit to Nature and the absolute best we can possibly do is try to minimize our negative impact. Humans are essentially a virus infecting the earth, sad but true. Sheeech, guess I came off a bit depresso preachy there.

I know I'M depressed. . . that anyone here would engage the Greenpeace manifesto. Geez, what a dark, snarled world you must live in.

I do agree that mankind has been a problem; stupidity always is, and all the intelligence in the world hasn't done a thing to stem the tide of stupid.

I told my sister once, in reply to her question: "Do you 'worship' the bike?" -- NO, I do not; but riding it has given me a chance to taste, see, and feel the world the Creator intended, instead of the mess mankind has made of it.

That said, not everything we do is negative to the almighty, pristine Nature. Yes, we're a bunch of screwups, but that doesn't mean the planet THAT WAS MADE FOR US TO LIVE ON is better off without us.