Cycle News

VOLUME 58 ISSUE 16 APRIL 20, 2021 P143 are posted closed or across private land, and by loud-piped street bikes that rattle their windows when they go by their homes. What happened last weekend is just another example of how a few bad apples spoil the bunch. So, here's what I witnessed: In this small community there is no trash service. Every Satur- day people take their trash to a "transfer station" where there's a truck backed into a pit, and people toss their trash in it. The operator of the transfer station is there and collects a fee based on the amount of trash you dispose of. While I was there, along with probably five or six other locals, four dirt bikes came through the gate, toward where we were all standing and chat- ting (the transfer station ends up being the local chat station as well, and you're lucky if you get away within a half hour, since everyone wants to talk for a bit). Anyway, as these four riders made their way toward us, I fig- ured that they'd see that there's nowhere to go and turn around, but the operator of the station knew exactly what was about to happen, and he started waving his arms and yelling for them to stop. But rather than stopping, two went on one side of him and two on the other as they proceeded to go through the transfer station and up a trail that is clearly closed. It has several large concrete K-rails and a sign stating No Motorized Vehicles. I was shocked and frankly very pissed off at what I had just wit- nessed. Once the dirt bikes had made their way out of sight, the locals all turned and looked at me because they know that I'm dirt bike rider myself. I apolo- gized on my peers' behalf, but my anger at these four irrespon- sible riders remained. This wound cuts deep for me because, having made my living in the motorcycle industry, I've worked hard my entire life doing whatever I can to promote my passion for motorcycles to the non-riding public in a positive way. I'm no angel by any means—I go too fast and I've probably ridden more than one or two trails that are not legal for motorcycles, so I understand the desire that we all have and the frustration that we all face when trails and roads are closed to motorcycles. I also understand the arguments that those op- posed to our presence offer up, especially after witnessing the incident at the transfer station. All of this leads to the point that I want to make here, and that is that we need public sup- port in order to get more trails open and to keep from having more roads closed to motor- cyclists, but we're never going to gain that support by acting like a-holes. What we need is advocacy. Out West groups like Stewards of the Sierra do a fantastic job in collaborating with local communities and other trail users to ensure that trails remain open for motorcyclists. Nation- ally, the Blue Ribbon Coalition advocates for OHV access in almost every state in the coun- try. The AMA is currently working to ensure that the Recreational Trails Program Full Funding Act of 2021 gets passed into law. According to the AMA website, "This bill would increase RTP funding from $84 million to at least $250 million annually. These funds are used for trail construction, education and maintenance for motorized and non-motorized trail users." I encourage you to seek out and join a local trail advocacy or- ganization in your area. As more and more people gravitate to wild places because of pandem- ics, overcrowding in cities and so on, motorcyclists and other motorized trail users will be more and more threatened with trail closures. So the next time you're out riding, wave to people, talk to people, show your human side, and let people know that motorcyclists are good people. That's the only way that we'll be able to continue doing what we love in the places that we enjoy most. But whatever you do, don't be an a-hole. CN

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