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Freedom Riders The Movie
Can anyone here relate? 
Freedom Riders, a core group of riders who evolved to creating a precedent setting relationship with the Forest Service and in doing so created the first freeride specific trails on public lands in the lower 48.
Freedom Riders a look at the evolution of the sport, the progression of trail users, and an inside story of a group of riders that would never see their passion die.
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Great story, inspiring.
Good trails do not come without hard work.
great vid...don't miss the fake mullet hairdo...
http://nobmob.com/node/10054
far out man
But what's the message here?
Does one create a bunch of illegal trails and maintain them (even when authorities try to put a stop to them) in the hope that the authorities will eventually 'come around' and then the parties can move forward together?
that has been the case for so long all over the world, walkers and mountain bikers making or blazing informal trails (because land managers sometimes don’t understand their need), it spreads by word of mouth, becomes popular, eventually land managers realize the trail that has been used for ten years is not a formal trail so they either shut it down (quick fix) or consult the users to see if the trail can stay under certain conditions as they can see there is an honest need for such trails. Having said that, things are changing though, with Land managers all over becoming reasonable and realizing that mountain biking and walking can be successfully and sustainably be implemented into the land they manage, and it is in fact a great thing for the community as opposed to hiking, it gets people of all ages into the bush/natural environment and helps the next generation appreciate the need to look after our valuable land
As acceptance grows for walking and mountain biking with land managers, so will formal trails, and the need for informal trails will cease to exist.
Quite often trails of "non formal" status are often called informal by land managers, this is because in some les populated areas (generally rural areas of Australia), it would be a joke to call it illegal. People walk, bike, trail bike or 4X4 where and when they want. Don’t believe it, get a 4x4 and go outback
What happens when a walker/ hiker strays of the main trail and trail blazes a new trail to a water fall or they just want to get deeper into the bush or ravine?. This happens very often even locally with the net result being others walkers/hikers see it and get curious and follow to see where this new trail leads, yes its exiting and it eventually becomes a full blown trail of informal status. Sound familiar.
Generally speaking this would not usually be called illegal for walkers, so its unjust that illegal should be slapped on bikers when they use informal trails.
This is not to say riding informal/illegal trails at all right(we should all follow the law to a tee) im just saying its hypocritical to not police and nametag walkers as law breakers when they trail blaze, when at the same time bikers are policed and tagged as law breakers for using informal trails.