How Not To Give Mountain Bikers a Good Reputation

Colorado Springs, Garden of the Gods, Medicine Wheel, mountain biking | UltraRob | Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 4:33 pm

Photo courtesy of Allen Beauchamp

Other trail users don’t always welcome mountain bikers on the trails. We are fortunate that very few trails in the Colorado Springs area are closed to mountain bikes unlike some other areas. Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates has had a huge part in keeping it that way. If I remember my history correctly, Medicine Wheel was started nearly 20 years ago when most of the trails in Garden of the Gods were closed to mountain biking.

A few weeks ago I got the following message from Medicine Wheel

Recently, an off-duty city park ranger was hiking in Garden of the Gods Park in a relatively undeveloped area near Rampart Range Road and came across several individuals hacking away at trying to build a “radical downhill” trail. You know, the kind you might see at a ski area, with gap jumps, straight down the fall line, big rocks, etc. These people had no authorization, had chopped down trees, moved boulders, and had generally made a real mess of things. As most of you know, mountain biking in most of Garden of the Gods is specifically banned, so you probably couldn’t pick a worse place to build a renegade trail.

To make matters worse, when this ranger inquired as to what the “trail builders” were doing, they threatened to physically harm her. So, the police were called, the “trail builders” disappeared, and now the entire mountain biking community is left to clean up the mess.

Obviously this is not good for mountain biking. Medicine Wheel is having a work day this Saturday, May 7th to fix up the damage done by these mountain bikers. They are meeting at 8 AM in the upper parking lot at the Garden of the Gods Trading Post. The park is closed all day because of a running race and you can only enter via the Becker’s Lane entrance.

No experience is needed. Tools will be provided but bring sunscreen, snacks, water, long pants, gloves and sturdy shoes. Most of the work is on steep slopes with lots of cactus, yucca, scrub, loose rocks, etc. There is very little shade and it is expected to be warm, so please be prepared for the conditions. RSVP to jim@medwheel.org

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