24 Hour Races ruin environment

[BrightYellow]

I just read this - what do you guys think about it?

"The 24 Hours of Moab Race course and surrounding lands in the Behind the Rocks area used to be a favorite for our clients, but we rarely ride there anymore. If we return with a repeat client, they get depressed. It is easy to see the damage progress. Certainly we have lost funds relating to our year round business due to the damage done, but that is not the point. The real victims are the coyotes, bobcats, foxes, and other nervous critters already shell shocked by cattle ranchers and noisy 4WD and motorcycle traffic. Frankly, all of us at Dreamride are mortified by the stupidity of people who patronize such 24 hour race events. These folks just don't see beyond some social subculture trip, . . . and that is no excuse. Mountain bikers manage to do more damage than any other group in just 24 hours and then come back again next year and make it worse. In 2001 the dust cloud kicked up by the 24 Hours of Moab Race went up to 7000 feet. The smoke from campfires drifted for miles as a huge a brown cloud. The promoters were seen shoveling sand off of the course, which smothers ajacent soil crusts. They built new trail and didn't use it. They made TWO roads where there used to be one. Environmental groups like the Sierra Club and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance used pictures of the event to paint us all as insensitive to wilderness concerns. And, then other users see the damage and pile on. The 24 Hour Race course is now used by ATV and 4WD tour companies because the policy of the BLM is that when one user gets to trash it, everybody should have a piece."

http://www.dreamride.com/24hrrace.html

[manual63]

Anyone one thing can damage the environment. Heck, they still find trash from woodstock. You get enough people in any one area and it can do a lot of damage. I think this guy has some valid concerns, but to say a 24 hour race held once a year does more damage than other vehicles with year around access is kind of reaching far.

I do think mountain biking can do a lot of damage. That is why it's nice to have IMBA and MORC. They work pretty hard to keep mountain biking from doing too much damage.

They key word here is balance (have you heard me say that before?). Having a balance that allows people to enjoy the environment, but in such a way that it does not do so much damage that nature can't heal itself.

I don't know enough about this 24 hour race or how it's held to have a direct opinion. But, just because I am a mountain biker, does not give me the right to overlook someones concerns. People want to be selfish and want to have the right to ride anywhere they choose or drive anythng they want (I had to add that) when, even know we are a free society, it is very destructive and selfish thinking. Basically, by cherishing America and it's freedoms, we are destroying it by not using common care and logic.

With this kind of thinking, someday we will have one big free market desert called America.

[Ish]

Originally posted by manual63
or drive anythng they want (I had to add that)

Sounds like this guy also has alot of issues with Jeep week also.......and for valid reasons.

http://www.dreamride.com/environment.html

[Trevize1138]

I've always gotten the impression that most people consider desert areas already "ruined" and therefore they don't feel as bad about trampling all over them. The inaccurate phrase "tree hugger" comes to mind as the epitome of what most environmentalists are concerned with: "Save the trees!"

Forests aren't the only ecologies worth preserving.

[noise_is_life]

Originally posted by Trevize1138
Forests aren't the only ecologies worth preserving.

From my experience, deserts are the more fragile and require more care than forests not less. I've seen the same behavior though, it was really disturbing in Death Valley to see areas of salt flats trashed from people doing donuts in their 4x4's.

[manual63]

But donuts in 4X4 are so fun. Turn right hit gas hard, turn left hit gas hard.......weeeeeee!

I would rather do the XX-Loop at Leb on my mountain bike or ride the skatepark on my BMX bike!

[noise_is_life]

Originally posted by manual63
But donuts in 4X4 are so fun. Turn right hit gas hard, turn left hit gas hard.......weeeeeee!

Well since it's fun, I guess it's ok then. :D

[ostertoaster85]

I don't know about the moab race but I know our afton race was not bad for the course. I have been doing tuesday night races there and have raced on the course both before and after the 24 hour race. The course was actually in better condition after the race than before. (This was probably because the 24 hour race forced maintenance to be done on the trails.)



I am now going to try to refute his argument.

It's fairly obvious what his thesis statement is; "24 hour races destroy trails." It's difficult, however, to find a argument for his thesis. For a large portion of the article he is just throwing out insults against the racers, race organizers and land managers.

Finally, however, he provides an argument for his thesis. Specifically, that:
1. Races creates a big dust cloud.
2. Races creates a big smoke cloud.
3. Races encourage motorized vehicles which destroy the trails.
4. Races destroys the cryptobiotic crust.

To refute him, I would say that:
1. A wind storm creates a bigger dust cloud.
2. A forest fire creates a bigger smoke cloud.
3. We are not trying to have motorized vehicles out there (we don't like them either).
4. The cryptobiotic crust, however, is a decent argument. I'm not sure how to refute that except to say that, from the tone of the entire article, the author is incredibly biased. This makes me suspicious of the accurcy of his data.

Thus, his thesis does not hold up and we must conclude that 24 are not the root of all evil.

[ostertoaster85]

To balance that out I should say that a 24 hour race does put a lot of wear on a trail and we need to be careful about what kind of course we do it on and how much traffic that course can withstand.

[SickBoy]

OK, seriously, this is a balance, people.

I think David made some good points, about dust clouds and fires and whatnot. I ask.... what harm does a dust cloud do? Adn why the crap does anyone care when there are thousands of cars filling our atmosphere with crap? Dust is dust and will settle eventually. The author of that articlue could do more good by driving a Honda insight gaselectric hybrid than wiping the 24 hours of Moab out of existence.

Humans will make impact on our surroundings. to think that we can avoid doing that is complete fallacy. If you want to avoid making ANY impact on the environment, how can you get out of bed in the morning? However I think that it doesn't give us license to seek and destroy. Preserve where you can and where it makes sense. Balance is they key. Sometimes I think that some people would shove a rock up their nose if some "authority" told them it had positive impact on the environment. Simple common sense goes a long way here.

[gopherhockey]

Originally posted by SickBoy
Sometimes I think that some people would shove a rock up their nose if some "authority" told them it had positive impact on the environment. Simple common sense goes a long way here.

Very well put. I think sometimes people just love to make issues out of every little thing and it just doesn't stop.

How about population... we are crowding our planet. We don't seem to be able to feed everyone. It always makes me think (as I drive to work in the morning in all that traffic) that its mostly stupid people populating our planet anyway. I could get on a rant, but I won't... peole will always find something wrong with what someone else is doing. (hey I'm guilty of it myself) - sometimes it seems the more fun the "thing" in question is, the more everyone has to over-analyze it...

24 hour races are fun. Build trails to best handle traffic and it will minimize the impact. Perhaps even take the time to do some pre and post race maintenance and clean-up and you'd never know there was a race.

If people don't like that, I say we go with the rock up the nose idea... ;)

[manual63]

After avoiding all the SUVs on the way to work and shaking all the rocks out of my nose I..............................:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[nord0306]

Originally posted by gopherhockey
How about population... we are crowding our planet. We don't seem to be able to feed everyone. It always makes me think (as I drive to work in the morning in all that traffic) that its mostly stupid people populating our planet anyway. I

evolution will take care of that problem if we stop sending them food
:crazy:

okay, I'm not that crazy, but hopefully you get the point. A friend and I have been recently discussing how the government is one big evolution stopper. Everything they do seems to halt the natural progression of nature (specifically human nature).