I realize Royal Calkins mountain bike piece (Trail Mix) is about the state of local land access; about each side of a story; and perhaps mostly about a confused and slowed County bureaucracy, but the big picture has to win out here.
The bill H.R.1349 has been introduced to allow bikes in Wilderness Areas. Unlike our National Parks, the intent of the Wilderness areas is that people, under their own power, should have access. The National Parks allow cars and RV’s on paved roads that have decimated the landscape, changed the course of run-off and polluted the air, never mind contributed to our reliance on foreign fossil fuels — an immediate threat to National Security for you patriots out there. They’ve essentially left their homes (that once looked like a National Park) to go wreck a designated National Park. If they had to get there under their own power, the Parks would be nearly empty.
What we’ve allowed cars to do to our landscape gives us absolutely no wiggle room in opposing bikes anytime, anywhere. None.
Bikers, skiers, kayakers, hikers, horseback riders all use equipment that harnesses human power – just giving them something to push off of. People who drive cars should quit pushing them around.
Get out of your car and come talk to me about how bikes erode the landscape. And while I’m at it, those of you who like to use statistics to prove a point, wear a helmet. Most head injuries occur while riding in a car. Put a helmet on that illogical noggin of yours.
Joy Colangelo
Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove
