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Manly Daily Viewpoint 19/08/11
This is the viewpoint article in print. Its referring to trail bikes but shows a picture of a mountain bike 
http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/your-news/s...
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what a screw up that is ,and the bloke (kid) who wrote the letter is a complete goose!
From what I read here and in other forums I understand (and I could be wrong) that bike riders are passive when it comes to communicating with the authorities re trails, legal issues, etc.
I guess that if you're passive then you're likely to be forgotten, no?
The recent case where they are quite passive (again, based on what I read) is Mennai closure and the communications around it. MTBers do a good job in resolving it, but it seems like bikers are on the fence?
my 2c..
And on a more important issue - why the bloody hell must it rain every weekend?? Grrr...
The moto riders will still be in menai blissfully unaware that there is even an issue!
from what I have seen out at Kurri Kurri(home of Chad Reed),Weston & Cessnock, Moto riders will ride anywhere & anyway with a quote from Hawkeye "all gear no idea"
Its a shame they used a photo of a mountain bike rider. There is already enough confusion about what mountain biking is!!
Its sad that most cant tell the difference between a motor bike and a push bike....
Its a stupid story anyway, lets hope it doesnt get read by many people.
Motorbikes do no more damage than push bikes, the guys clearly an idiot and has no idea. Could you imagine the condition of Manly Dam if they let moto's go through there
...and imagine how much better condition Red Hill would be in!
Although the moto rider makes some good points about fairness for all users, mate, that's what fireroad is for! Stick to that where you can blast it in open spaces. Not on tight single trail where your rear wheel tears a rut in the trail.
I ride mountain bikes and dirt bikes (in fact I'm just getting a new one now after a few years off the bike). What the guy proposes is absolutely valid.
I am somewhat sad about the comments I read here. Dirt bikes can do more damage because they have more power, but that can be managed as can be seen in many places. Personally I try to steer clear of areas other people use, but as far as I am concerned it is a sport as any other sport and should be given a place where people can do it in the right circumstances. At the same time there are mountain bikers with little respect for the environment or other people.
There are many people who don't think highly of mountain bikers either, so dirt bike bashing coming from mountain bikers is a bit pathetic.
And yet again, c'mon ladies and gents, we are already a shunned user group by un informed people saying that we shouldn't be in the bush with our big tyres skidding all over the place. We should not be pointing the finger, but encouraging the opening of bush for other user groups. The dirt bike riders should also be allowed to enjoy getting amongst it in the bush. There is a place for them for sure! And it's not just fire roads, we don't like riding fire roads on mountain bikes, you think they'd enjoy it any better just because their bikes have a motor?
What's the saying? Can't see the forest for the trees
but given the amount a noise a single motorbike puts out is deafening. The sound of a motorbike projects for kilometres. I think you will find it hard to sell your story to anyone except yourselves. I think some consideration must be given to those families who live near or back onto bushland. Can you imagine the noise of 100+ motorbike riders in the Garigal national park.....not sure it would work.
Ive just got myself a great new leopard tank and im really keen to mix it up in the bush. I hear Red Hill is the place to go, lots of dirt and mud and no one gives a stuff. Maybe Oxford Falls? Theres a few jumps in there that somebody has built for my leopard tank. I might trash them but im sure somebody will come back and build them again after ive been through.
Extreme analogy I know but its horses for courses. If motor bikes want better access to areas on the beaches then THEY need to respect the areas that they are trashing now. Im sure there are motor bike riders that respect their environment but when you see idiots gouging scars into the landscape after rains and wrecking small structures purpose built for mountain bikes it leaves me scratching my head. You have to earn the respect of the other interest groups before anyone gives a stuff.
We are advertising this guys ridiculous comment.
Yes I agree everyone should be able to enjoy the bush, and the old unused firetrail at red hill should be dedicated to moto's and 4x4s as its perfect and not what walkers and mtbers want (but motos would have to be restricted from single trail)
However, he lost all credibility when he said "generally they are no more a pest (environmentally) than anyone else on two wheels",when I saw it in the paper I laughed!
This is not a motorbike forum and given that the motorbikes are destroying the single trail at red hill and oxford falls,no one should be advocating them on single trail.
If motorbikers want land access, use a motor bike forum and start a movement.
What was the sub-editor thinking? Has anyone asked the Daily why they put a pic of a mountain bike with that letter?
As to the guy who wrote the letter, he's got a valid point. Albeit a pipe dream with respect to the Northern Beaches, but still valid. There are plenty of moto riders out there who know how to ride with minimal damage and self police. Unfortunately there too many who don't! Many moons ago we used to ride our trials bikes down at Red hill. Bugger all damage and very little noise was the order of the day. Admittedly this was before many of the houses went in...
In my observation the f***wits who tear up the local trails are invariably on pit bikes and are more interested in doing doughys and rooster tails. When they grow up they'll be squids on sports bikes riding around in thongs, footy shorts and corona singlets.
As mentioned it's disappointing once again to see many rush to put down someone else's point of view that isn't micro-aligned with their own. :rolleyes:
While the author of the letter has a valid point about his group having valid needs, the assertion that moto's do no more damage than pedal bicycles is ... amusing.
While I'm sure that ridden responsibly their impact can be mitigated, I have to go by the evidence I've seen. And that is that they cause huge amounts of destruction. The new lead-in trail that has formed in recent weeks at the foot of Drop Zone at Red Hill has been eroded down to bedrock in no time at all and you could lose half a bendy bus in it, that much soil has been removed. Sure, a large chunk of that has probably been from water flow but you have to ask what started it.
I've also seen evidence at Kiwarrak on the eastern side of the freeway where, throwing up long rooster tails, it only takes one or two riders with poor throttle control climbing up a trail to break through the hard-pack surface and plough it up. It's bad enough that this makes the singletrail treacherous for cyclists to ride. Next time it rains, all that loosened topsoil ends up being carried off and dumped in the nearest creek.
It's what 40kW can do, versus the 0.3W most of us average.
Sorry, I find it difficult to have much sympathy for moto riders, especially when their behaviours make life so difficult for us.
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