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  1. Pirate Trails

    Read this, and understand!!! Another eye opener for me at the conference was the attitude towards “illegal” trail building. I sat in on a discussion regarding illegal trails. This was sad for me. My take is that our segment of the sport has come about because of these few individuals who chose to build these “illegal” trails. Many of our trail systems we now have access too started out as pirate renegade trails blazed with beer and buds. Peoples hard earned dollars and countless hours going into the trees was labeled as near criminal by an official Shawn Gurney from the City of Surrey. While some see these people as a liability of our sport I see them as an asset. One of the best parts about our sport is that you can just grab your bike and ride. You don't have to buy a pass, you don't have to drive anywhere you can just pick up and go. However most of the just pick up and go type trails are deemed illegal. Most of the people making these trails that so many enjoy, if caught, could face hefty fines. Why do they do it? Because they love to ride. They love to watch others ride their creations, because there are simply not enough trails out there for the number of riders riding trails. What ever their reason I hope they never stop. If it weren't for pirate trails, we wouldn't have the trails we have today.

    Posted By:
    NastyNick
    Posted
    3/19/2008 11:34

  2. re: Pirate Trails

    What conference are you referencing?
    And as far as pirate trails are concerned, I think they are a catch 22. They can be fun to ride and sometimes are well built and thought out.
    But a few pirate trails in an existing legitimate network could put the whole system at risk of governmental scrutiny. This we do not want or need. Trust me, it is not an easy negotiation to get permission from the Forced Circus to build new exciting "legit" trails.
    But you are correct in that the whole Phil's complex did start out as a pirate trail system.

    Keep the rubber side down
    sam pinner

    Posted By:
    sampinner
    Posted
    3/27/2008 8:01

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