Will they ride again?

January 19, 2018 9:37 PM

The Sedona 5's Excellent Adventure On the morning of November 19, 1995, a federal budget stalemate between President Clinton and the U.S. Congress had forced the national park system to shut down, and the entire Grand Canyon had been closed to visitors for the past five days.”
posted by RockyChrysler (13 comments total)

That was great! I can’t imagine how crazy one would have to be to bike down some of those trails, while stoned and hallucinating. I don’t know; I’m often annoyed by mountain bikers on trails, but the reasoning behind forbidding them kind of seems like a bunch of bs.

As to the post title, Gov Ducey has stated that the Grand Canyon will not close, regardless of whether or not there’s a government shutdown. If the federal government won’t pay for it, Arizona will.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:37 AM on January 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

Although this article is two decades old, some of the bike access issues are still around. This article discusses some of the trail maintenance work and other advocacy bikers engage in to try to maintain it open up access. It links to some research about impact, mentions “rogue users”, and it also clarifies that the Wilderness designation is one of the dividing lines between rideable and not.

Of course there’s another sort of ridability— is it a good idea to ride? No comment on that (especially with regard to the shrooms).
posted by nat at 3:53 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

(article is unreadable with good browser ad-blocking hygiene)

→ the reasoning behind forbidding them kind of seems like a bunch of bs.

As a former path-builder, erosion from bike skid trails will destroy a path in a season if not checked. Everything about path building is about shedding water off the side of a path. A skid trail is a mini stream guide along the path, which becomes a stream in heavy rainfall. Since most of the path surface is maintained manually, please excuse my lack of enthusiasm for your jollies at my expense.

I was never quite part of the hard-core "Think we should tell those bikers about the pry bar we left across the trail?" squad, but I have had to “share the trail” and up tools to a screamed coooooooooommmmmiiiiiinnnnnn thhhrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
posted by scruss at 6:15 AM on January 20, 2018 [11 favorites]

This was a really good read; thanks for posting it. I can understand the access frustration, especially for bikers who want to work in the system, but on balance, the whole thing feels like fodder for the bad decisions thread.
posted by joycehealy at 6:17 AM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I was ready to think they were trail-destroying jerks until the article said the mules do worse damage, and even so, bikes really chew up trails. I'm surprised the helicopter ride was only 1,022US; that may prove way too tempting for certain jerks with cash. That's a ride I'd love to take.
posted by theora55 at 6:30 AM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

So am I the only one who thinks these guys are all selfish idiots instead of civil disobedience/open access heroes?

Even if mules tear up the trail more than a mountain bike, there's still the issue of the speed the bikes go at and the nearly certain death if one of them wiped out and fell off the wrong part of the trail. Plus the fact "we know what we're doing" argument goes out the window when you find out they were on shrooms the whole time.
posted by thecjm at 6:51 AM on January 20, 2018 [18 favorites]

Fun fact: at least some of the bikes are still down in the Canyon, in the hands of the rangers.
posted by ph00dz at 6:57 AM on January 20, 2018 [4 favorites]

thecjm: "So am I the only one who thinks these guys are all selfish idiots instead of civil disobedience/open access heroes? "

Nope. Fuck these selfish assholes. They can't claim the ride was a civil disobedience/issue awareness thing because they had no intention of getting caught and weren't even aware Rangers were still on the job.
posted by Mitheral at 7:11 AM on January 20, 2018 [7 favorites]

It's possible to think access (to some trails) for mountain bikes should be improved, while also thinking these dudes were selfish assholes.

That's more or less where I'm at.
posted by nat at 12:15 PM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

Epic. At a certain age I would have done the same thing. Might even today. Ride because you can. No apologies.
posted by photoslob at 8:05 PM on January 20, 2018

For the record, mule trips in the canyon have been severely limited in recent years because of erosion issues. Only the upper two miles of the North Kaibab trail are permitted by mule.

Bikes are still prohibited in wilderness areas, although California Republican Tom McClintock is sponsoring a bill to rescind this restriction. McClintock is one of the most vocal Trump backers in the House.
posted by JackFlash at 9:09 PM on January 20, 2018 [2 favorites]

I’m well familiar with the Grand Canyon corridor trails. I did my first two night trip in October 2015. I’ve been back there five times since to camp below the rim. (Bright Angel and Indian Garden campgrounds are little slices of paradise.) These guys are not heroes. Yes, the mules do damage to the trails, but guess what? The trails are designed with that in mind and they are regularly maintained. South Kaibab trail is essentially a seven mile staircase and there is zero water or shade. Bright Angel trail is stairstepped on the upper portion and it is heavily traveled, particularly the first mile and a half (I know I’m also to the top when the crowds start getting thick.) North Kaibab is 14 miles long, with some stretches that are basically a ledge where there’s no way a bike and biker could pass each other. There’s no good way for bikes to coexist with the other trail users. Add in that the backcountry rangers already have their hands full with rescues, with dehydration, hyponatremia, rhabdo, injuries, etc. I can pretty well guarantee there would be multiple falls each year, some fatal.

I hate to see the way they dealt with the ranger and I know that the “8-10 armed rangers” on the helicopter is bullshit because there’s no way to fit them on the chopper. As I mentioned, rangers are busy rescuing people a lot of the time. Most of them are fully trained EMTs and a lot of them have seen people die. They are also incredibly approachable and great to talk to when they’ve got some time. You should hear some of their stories. Yes, they’re law enforcement. But only because they need to be to be able to do their jobs.
posted by azpenguin at 6:20 AM on January 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

I'm an avid cyclist, but I am not at all in favor of bikes in national parks. Maybe under a very few special circumstances it would be OK. But in general, just NO.

But then I also think those horse people should be required to carry pooper scoopers, in parks and on local community trails and streets.
posted by cccorlew at 9:26 AM on January 21, 2018 [2 favorites]