So I was over to fight trail/Macintosh run on Sunday and saw two things that made stop and give a heavy sigh. Not that either one of these things are new to most of us but anyway. The first thing a noticed were the deep skinny tire ruts in the softer soil. Place rant about trail damage here. The second and perhaps more surprising thing were all the short cuts that now exist around features and to cut corners and smaller loops. Got to wonder if this stems more from the influx of walkers/hikers?
Too bad, but no shocker, especially shortcuts.
-insert srcastic tone here>
How dare the trail builders deliberately design and build a trail and then try and tell anyone how, where or when they should ride, walk or run on that trail.
Maybe if they had made the trail easier this wouldn’t happen… maybe they should have built go arounds at every bump and feature so that this wouldn’t happen in the first place.
-end sarcastic tone>
4 Likes
Meh, its just some ruts. Cheaterlines are a drag but you don’t have to take them if you don’t want to.
2 Likes
Yah I hear’s ya both. Like I said nothing new . I can remember discussions about this 20 years ago about stuff in wrandee’s. the more things change the more they remain the same.
That’s where all the KOM’s come from! 
3 Likes
Kings Of Masturbation
1 Like
I think with the development in the front section of fight trail, its really opened up to walkers, runners, etc, I have seen a huge increase in the number of non bike folks in there this year, and I suspect most of the little short cuts are those folks walking in between the larger corners.
I agree. For people walking the zig zag nature does not impress.
Pure gold.
A shame that this happens in an area where the focus was on building sustainable trail. 
If they don’t like the zig zag nature, then hike somewhere else.
You’ve met people right?
7 Likes
It happens everywhere, it’s called being selfish and it often goes hand in hand with being oblivious.
I would suggest that the majority who ride/walk/run/drive their fucking motos on any given trail, don’t put one second of thought toward the efforts of others or how their actions on the trails may affect someone else. It’s only about how they feel and what they are doing.
Easy with the curse words. This, although, beating a dead horse is a very important topic. I can forgive walkers for they know not what they do( except that one guy who has to walk his dog on the warmest day and bootholes the trail). Blasting a trail on the web lets Everyone know so Everone shows up. This causes premature erosion, trail conflict, ect.even among similar users as I ve experienced for decades. Hard on the head for those who spend bike time building.To be asked on a trail by a regular user what I m digging at, when I m smoothing what is obviously a jump, boggles my mind. Fight has to be dumded down because of popularity, insurance, skill level. Its the price for having a public bike park when those words have no meaning to those who alowed it to happen. If your really upset about how Fight is turning out, do what I do. Grab a couple of friends, go to a cool patch of woods, and start building. Just remember to leave the entrances unfinished at least till your satisfied. Soon as you open the gates the lips flap and the pissing contest starts. Great way to get skills on the bike and with the tools. Olde skool trail building helps keep the sport progressing hopefully without having freeriders jumping onto x/c c/x types, dog walkers, trail runners.kids. Like the man said, if you don t like the trail don t, insert activity here,. I don t go to the beach and bitch about waves and sand.
2 Likes
Personally it friggin grinds my gears when i go to a jump trail and get assaulted by gaps! Gosh darnit i came to this jump trail to ride my commuter oh frig shoot dang
1 Like
Here we go again…
just to be clear here. I am a huge fan of what is happening over in the mac/fight trail system. over the past year there has been 100’s of volunteer hours put in my all kind of folks and miles and miles of new trails have been created while some of the old stuff has seen major upgrades to make them safer and more sustainable. any trail that is built on the edge of a high density urban neighborhood is going to see a large amount of traffic and that is a good thing. people outside in nature instead of on the couch is a win. I was just a little disappointed to see so many little cheater lines/short cuts. just wanted to get people thinking about what if anything to do about them. as for the ruts? in a perfect word riders would say hey I am damaging the trail I should stop riding today. but we don’t live in a perfect world so I guess we will just work harder to make the trail better for the imperfect world we live in.
5 Likes
I don’t think there is much to do about the short cuts, as its likely walkers, rather than bikes that use them the most.
I’d be more concerned if things were changing on the main bloodline loop around the lake, I really hope that stays left as it is.
I, too, am a big fan of whats going on at Fight. Official trail is 20years late in my opinion. The high density neighborhood just means that I have to pick my timing, which means I ll probably ride it less. Fight is also good because of its popularity it will draw people away from some over crowded trail in other spots! the more trail the merrier! Its a great showcase trail, lots of ways to let the public see what we re (mtb types) are up to! More paint on the rocks would be nice and would keep the short cuts down by guiding the eyes to where the trail is.
1 Like
All the more reason to support more trails that go deeper into the system. Like the connector to the other section. Also more entrance options would help too.
Imagine if it wasn’t mostly granite.
More trails throughout HRM would help alleviate congestion.
2 Likes
Please no more paint on the rocks.
6 Likes