well, in this particular community, there are no legal trails...yet. me and DH were part of a club, until the shop owner/president had his employees cut down 50 trees on a world class single track climb, then told us to shut the F*** up about it because it's more fun. their only purpose was to make it a faster downhill...which took a lot of the challenge out of it for the rest of us. that began a real silent war where only me and DH were speaking up and saying the club needs to set an example and get the word out about what trail ethics are, etc.... instead we got blackballed, nobody would ride with us, there were threats that if we were seen on a trail, either of us, we'd be beat up, if our car was seen at a trail head it would get wrecked, if our DOGS were seen on trail, they'd be KILLED. it was ugly. those of you who've read my weight loss posts might have guessed that's what started the depression that got the weight on there in the first place.

eventually, we got the word out that we wouldn't take it and too bad we're back riding. In the meantime, the goons built gazillions of badly constructed stunts, many from cut down live trees and spiked into live trees. we saw our favourite trails get completely ridden out in areas...anywhere they could shuttle to a high point and go down the trails are destroyed.

Last summer the ministry of forests did an assessment of the trail stunts, and removed the most dangerous ones - the ones that were likely to fall to pieces under an average rider....the bike shop owner/club president got all in a huff about it and there was a huge war of words in the paper. They kept claiming the gov't went all Nazi, etc....but the Ministry had tried to talk to the club for like ayear and a half!! jerks. Anyhooo....several stupid meetings later, a lot of difficulty getting the point across that an organization is actually necessary and the rules are there for good reason...they finally decided to make a society, and (guess what?) the guy that was number 2 in the previous club, one of the guys who was part of the threats and the blackballing and in whose dining room the yelling and accusations at us occured, is now the new president of the new club.

we have chosen to not be involved.

so, just as badly as all that, the same bike shop owner, actually brings people to town to ride at a place called Farwell Canyon (ever seen the hoodoos scene in Kranked II?). That is a very ecologically sensitive area, a big horn sheep range, protected grassland, etc....I have always refused to ride there. This dude has a 4:20 party there every year. Decline magazine wrote all about it.

anyway, if this sounds a bit like a rant, well, I guess it is. sorry about that. it's still a touchy subject. they've done sooooooooooo much damage to the trails, it's heartbreaking. I do hope the new "club" can actually accomplish something, though I have little hope.

Interestingly, the Ministry said they had no concern about the trails themselves, only the stunts. So those of us who don't care about riding stunts (everyone I ride with, and the group of riders who worked hardest and had the most resistance to setting up a society), really didn't need to be involved at all. the stuff we ride isn't in any immediate danger.

does that sound incredibly f***ed up? it is. but the riding here is amazing. forget anything you've ever read about riding in Williams Lake. The best trails are the ones with FLOW...and we have those!!! Fast, long, winding, beautiful trails! oh....I can't wait for the frost to be done so I can ride those beautiful trails without risking the damage that riding them while they're muddy causes....

hmmmm, can anyone here sense I may be a purist? or an idealist? yeah, can't help that either.

Namaste,
~T~