So I normally get all ethical and environmentally conscious and try and avoid riding loamy woodsy cheeky singletrack trails in winter to avoid trashing them. Helped by living on the edge of the Peaks so I have plenty of rocky options to play on instead.
I went out with a group yesterday and a mate of a mate showed us some of his cheeky trails – Forestry Commission plantation, pretty damn steep and loose and drifty as anything – described as “EWS stuff” by the mate in question who has ridden (and done OK in) a few rounds of it. The trails seemed not to be so much built as ridden in, and every bike passage cut a bigger hole in the dirt. From the looks of the area, once one trail gets bollixed, a new one gets hacked out a few feet to the side of it.
Being possibly the only rider in the group who does the ethical thing* I got dropped like a stone and spent quite a lot of time mincing or surfing down the hill on my face – not the usual state of affairs, and I’m not impressed with myself for having let my skills slip so far.
So do I have a point by avoiding such trails, or should I just get on with carving public(ish) land to bits in pursuit of my hobby? When I was upright I was having a lot of fun, and compared to the damage done when the hill gets clear felled, the presence of a few tyre tracks is a very minor thing. However I still have an issue with the sustainability of such an approach.
Thoughts?
*that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!