Share the Trail! Ethics. Yes ethics. Ethical use of the trail network is an important step in broadening the South Australian MTB Trail Network. It is something I am relying on the riders to help me with. When you are on the trail you represent all mountain bikers whether you like it or not. I cannot emphasize how important it is to respect other trail users. Hypothetically, if you are riding illegally, you are not supposed to be there and your mind set maybe that, "shoot I gotta get outta here man", but it is still essential that you be courteous and yield to your fellow trail users and say hello. Hello! It is so very important. The impression you have on the other trail users is always prescribed to the whole MTB community. So please, stop and be nice. I mean really, its pretty basic stuff and it should be intrinsic to all of us. Personally I have been conditioned into niceness from a very early age by my very English parents, which has often been my downfall. Oh yes, your petunias look lovely today. Yet I realise that most Australian humans are not conditioned to consider others and their needs, so it may be a real challenge for some of you. And then there's always the thought that nice guys finish last, which may be true to a degree. My advice is to create balance between niceness and assertiveness. Balance between, confidence and humility. As you may guess I am still working on this. Anyway, when I was younger, greener and not so hardened by this cruel world, I had a dream, a vision maybe, that all the worlds' problems could be fixed, that there would be peace on earth, if everyone were nice to each other. That was one of my more idealistic moments I must say, but it is true. Nice people don't bomb other people. And nice people don't scare the s*#t out of old ladies enjoying their afternoon bush walk, by riding past them at full pace and making them eat dust. Seriously, there is clearly a perception that mountain bikers will run walkers over with extreme prejudice. In fact, there is evidence to prove that the walkers who fear bike riders the most are the ones who have not yet met them on the trail (Cessford, 2002). This study was done on the Queen Charlotte Pass in NZ, which is a shared use trail that can take 3 days by bike or 5 days for walkers. New Zealand is progressive in terms of the their approach towards outdoor recreation, but the study does reflect some aspects of human nature that are relevant to South Australia. Once walkers meet off road cyclists, their perception can change immediately. You can do this for us in little old Adelaide and the regional areas. If you stop to say hello, share some niceness, then you are helping us to promote sustainable mountain bike riding in SA. Help me to help you and share the trail! Bowmanic Perception and Reality of Conflict: Walkers and Mountain Bikes on the Queen Charlotte Track in New Zealand, Cessford, G.R., 2002 |
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