Sharing as an FYI
_6 Fat bikers went for a ride today at MSP. This is not a place for fat bikes as they destroy the XC grooming. Please respect our 4 nordic venues and enjoy biking throughout the rest of HRM, _
yikes, there is a big prohibition on the signboard there.I know most of the core guys here know that we can’t bike at MSP during winter, since we saw that signboard on our last ride last early december last year.
They should know the rules or someone should talk to that group nicely though.
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I know the big signboard is there, and that there are groomed trails. I also understood that there were still trails in MacDonald Sports Park that could be ridden in winter - as long as we stayed off the groomed stuff. No? I’ve only been there once (same ride @shadowfox70 mentioned), so I could be mistaken.
Personally if there is any “Do not ride during X sign” I stay out of the area completely. Not worth anyone in HRM having a reason to point fingers at the MTB community.
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If you groom it, they will come?
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Might be worth reaching out the Martock Nordic ski club going forward to see if there might be opportunities for collaboration. They are a organized group, that has been very good at raising funds to support their growing fleet of grooming equipment. As fat biking grows in popularity in HRM the potential for conflict is likely to also grow. Developing partnerships now, at the front end of this growing sport, could serve to reduce that risk and may also lead to opportunities for developing fat bike specific trail systems & the sharing of grooming equipment. The Martock Nordic Ski Club just this past December developed a 6 km snow shoe trail at Dollar Lake which could be used for fat biking once the trail is packed down. We could use more of this multi-sport sharing and less of the confrontational incidents like the recent at MSP. Just a thought and now to go enjoy all the fresh new snow.
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Sounds like a plan, you have my endorsement. Get on it and get back to us with any progress you make.
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@tbwron I think what @tossedsalad is suggesting is that no one is going to do it for you/us and that if you champion a cause in the name of mountain biking you will likely find support but maybe not so much help.
I had the same thought about the groomed nordic trails last year after the Martock Fat Bike demo day.
What ultimately needs to happen is a dedicated winter/fat bike trail group needs to be formed. That group should probably be a registered non-profit group and you might want affiliate with Bicycle Nova Scotia in some way but not entirely necessary in my opinion. BNS won’t do the advocacy for you but they will “support” your efforts, maybe @elleDEE or @tommyboy has some input? Then you can have some legitimacy when dealing with other groups. It would be a necessity if you ever planned to apply for grants to build or maintain trails.
Personally, I would try to follow the model of the River Valley Cycling, they’re doing an amazing job in Fredericton. I don’t think they are affiliated with the provincial body Velo NB in any way but I could be wrong.
I don’t own a fat bike but I would join a winter trail advocacy group if you formed one. Skinny tires can ride well groomed trails no problem.
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I’d be interested in something like this.
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