I used to be a mountain biker, and I never wore any goddamned spandex. But I’m more old school; full suspension bikes were just hitting the scene when I was at the peak of my powers. My weapon of choice was a rigid frame GT Tequesta.
Real mountain bikers don’t go full bore down paths that might have hikers. We don’t like getting other people’s blood on our bikes. 
To me enjoying th spring woods is something you do on foot. What erode the trails and destroy the serenity of the woods? Ride your bikes on bust highways-that way you can have some excitement (dodging 18 wheelers), and let us enjoy the woods in peace! To me mountain biking is the ultimate “fuck you” sport! (I am goiing to bomb down trails, and get the h*ll out of MY way!)
So, basically, your way is the only way to enjoy a public resource? It’s hard to take your point seriously, it’s practically a parody of an argument.
This fight is old and the only thing that works is communication and cooperation. There’s plenty of places to share and each side (there are more than two) must take some time to understand the other.
Mountain biking is fun, hiking is fun; I do both.
Pogo sticks are for people who don’t have enough mojo to take a magic carpet ride.
Well, that was your first mistake.
Stranger
To me, enjoying the spring woods is something you do on a bike.
Who says there’s any erosion taking place? Besides, aren’t TRAILS the product of erosion by definition?
Maybe you should just get a nature video, that way you get all that serenity from the comfort of your own home and you don’t have to buy expensive shoes, and you can let us enjoy the woods in peace!
To me, shrill-betty hikers are the ultimate fuck-you people! I am going to claim all this territory for myself, and you can go do whatever it is you do where I don’t have to look at you!
Dude, you ALMOST had a point until you posted your last post. Now you have nothing.
By the way, why did you type out “fuck” but self-censor “hell?”
Real old school = spandex. Sorry. I was more of a roadie before I picked up Mt Biking, and so my wardrobe is all Roadie stuff, still, after many years off road. Just bought a new, full-suspension bike w/ disk breaks last year and I’m loving it! Plus it’s got one more gear than my last bike had, which I call my “old man’s gear”. I try not to use it, but sometimes the old man needs it!!
I second the bell thing. I don’t understand why more people don’t use them.
The cyclist in question sounds like a jerk, but cyclist’s don’t have a monopoly on assholishness
A well designed and built trail won’t erode, either from hiking or mountain biking. But the trail does need to be built with a certain activity in mind. You can get erosion from mountain biking on trails that were designed for hiking; it happens frequently in areas that I build and maintain trails.
But, if a trail is designed for mountain biking or is a hiking trail that is well suited for mountain biking then erosion will be minimal.
How can you see anything while going down a trail at 30 mph? Of course, seeing is all in the mind. Only, i’d much rather be able to slow down and enjoy the woods.
Because my name isn’t “Fred”.
No, enjoying the spring woods is best done while quietly pedaling along. It’s much more fun and you get to see a lot more, usually including more wildlife. In fact, it would be much easier if the deer and bunnies would run when bikes come up, instead of standing in the trail and staring at you.
There are some assholes on MTBs. There are also asshole hikers, I’ve met them. Shall I consider you an asshole because you hike? If not, then please do me the same courtesy.
MTBs do less trail damage than horses and don’t spread disease the way they do - do you hate horses as well? Most erosion is caused by a badly designed or built trail system anyway.
My MTB club rescued a nearly unusable trail system at a local state park a few years back. It had been built for hikers, extremely poorly, and had eroded so badly that it was nearly impassable. We put in many, many hours to build 4 miles of trail, which is now enjoyed by many hikers and bikers. (That’s in addition to three other trails built and maintained by my bike club, all used by hikers and/or runners.) How much trail have YOU put in?
I always slow down or stop and say hi to hikers, and move off the trail if needed so we can pass safely (in whichever direction). The vast majority are very friendly, say hi back, and move over so I can ride by. (Hikers do have right-of-way, but it’s generally much easier for a hiker to give trail than for bikes; the nice, friendly hikers around here recognize that and work with us to make it all go smoothly.)
Then there are the assholes who glare, spit, throw things, and/or cuss us out. Please note that I’m way past “bombing trails”; too old, too fat, too out of shape.
So I pit hikers for being rude, obnoxious jerks who think that they should own the trails just because they’re so damn special. Sounds like you may be one of those, hmm?
Thats what many people attitude is. It’s a stupid one.
To be honest, who cares how you choose to enjoy the woods? People can enjoy the outdoors in lots of different ways and MTB is a very popular way to do so. Different squids for different kids, learn to share.
I wasn’t around for the birth of the sport, certainly. Maybe I’m more middle school. Anyway, the guys at my local bike shop were of the mindset that you should spend your money on your bike rather than your biking clothes. Spandex seemed like a waste to me unless you were actually trying to break into the racing scene.
Pogostick!? Ya pussy, I get around with only 1 stilt. ON YOUR LEFT!
I love reading ralph’s posts for reasons like that.
Because no matter how civilly you mean it, many take you ringing your bell as some sort of imperious and impatient order to get out of the way, and get shitty with you. You can’t win.
You should get those fixed. 
Sorry, it’s just that seeing ‘breaks’ for ‘brakes’ is fingernails on a blackboard for me.
Spandex on a mountain bike? Have these fools never been branch whipped? What protection does spandex offer?
How true, you really can’t win, if you do the “on your left or right” thing some people move in the announced direction.
For a while I had a squeak toy I mounted on my beater. At least people thought that was funny.