An environmentalist
looks at dirt bikers
PART IV: FABLES &FALLACIES:
OR,TALES OF A GIANT SANDBOX
This is the last of four columns
Cycle News has graciously offered
to publish so that I might share
with other re aders my reaction to
desert motorcycling. Th e columns
were induced by several racin g
t I attended this past winter.
even s .
The weekends included conversations with bikers and their families an d
a lot of traipsing around be tween races.
I'd like to summarize m y feelin gs by
pointing to so m e mis conceptions ORV
pe ople have about con serva tio ni sts.
Cycle News is filled with letters and
editorial comment these day s deploring
the poor image of the motorcyclist. The
impression appears to stem partly from
fact and partly from the mistaken belief .
that, because of the antics of a fe w ,
there's so mething inherently obnoxious
and irresponsible ab out all bike riders.
. Conservationists have an im age
problem, too - not only in dealing with
desert cyclists but with lumberjacks,
builders, public utilities, th e auto
industry and th e Army Corps of
Engineers, to name just a few. Here
again the bum profile is often the result
of misunderst an din g, usually as to the
c onserv ati o nists ' goals. I wan t to
co mment now on some fables abo u t
conservati on and dirt biking th at I've
he ard in camp and out on the trail.
First, there 's the "Nature will take
care of it" pitch. This is where bike
riders poin t to a heavily traveled race
course or sets of tracks lacing up a wa sh
and assure, "OK, so it looks bad now
but wait 't il ~; ne;
