thebatesbristol – Member
Personally, I think to many people say there’s a place for them but in fact don’t ride any thing else.
My bugbear with centres is that (for me) I just find I’m riding with what the least fit, least skilled person in the group can cope with.
So in the end, I ride a TC, or ride alone. Weening people off of them seems impossible, but they mirror the homogenisation of every thing. Capitalism has been successful because of this
It seems like your complaint is more about peoples lifestyles choices and various social issues than the apparent horrors of trail centres…
My take is that TCs are there to provide convenience, and to serve as an introduction to a MTBing… Nobody is claiming they are the Epitome of the sport…
Some people try MTBing at a TC, they catch the bug and within a couple of years they’ll be planning epic adventures and riding all sorts of places on “Natural” terrain and man made trails.
Others will be content with that maintained, relatively safe TC 30 min’s from home a couple of times a week and never feel the need to branch out, the social side to it has as much, if not more importance for them, riding with friends, enjoying their company without it needing to be a competitive physical Challenge every time… are they really such terrible people for that?
It’s just cycling as a leisure activity not some grand political statement, there’s room in the world for various different takes on MTBing…