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Mountain B ik e

A c c es s Deb ated

at Oak M ount ain

by Ken McCoyEnvironmental problems promise to

be the hot political topic of the 19905,

and with the increase in pUblic apprecia-

tion of nature, new issues seem to cropup as quickly as others are laid to rest.

In Birmingham, as well as in other

parts of the country, a n ew problem that

threatens to pit nature-lover againstnaturalist is becoming an issue. On the

surface it seems to be a simple question

of whether a new breed of outdoor ac-tivity, mountain biking, should be al-lowed on the tIails of our state parks.

But upon closer inspection, one finds

that this question is rooted in the much

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Chattanooga Choo Choo?

With - a gush of steam and a spout of

black smoke, the age ofsteam trains willreturn to Birmingham this month. On

Saturday, March 31, and again on Sun-

day, April I, locomotive N o. 611 willchug its way to Chattanooga from Bir-

mingham with a load of excited pas-

sengers.

Choo, the Freight Depot and the many

interesting shops.

The J-type locomotive was built in theearly 19405, and the first of its kind

travelled over a million miles. It weighs

over 900,000 pounds and consumes six

and a half tons of coal per hour.The train will leave Birmingham at 7

am. will return around 8:30 p.m. All

profits of the trip will be used to build

and maintain the Heart of Dixie Rail-

road Museum in Calera, Alabama. Tick-

ets are S55 per person, and if purchased

in groups of 25 or more, will cost $50 per

person. To order, call 252-2716 or sendcheck or money order and SASE to

Steam Excursion, P.O. Box 254, Birmin-

gham, AL 35201.

Kid's Stuff , , " iO:mcerts . . , . , ,', 8Musicat theQubs ,1~ i'1Art s & Education " . 12Recreation &,Sports ,15

The annual e xcursion, sponsored by

the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in

cooperation with the Norfolk-Southern

Railroad, will depart from the site of the

old Birmingham Terminal Station at 2nd

Avenue and 26th Street North. Uponreaching Chattanooga, the train will lay

over for three hours while passengers

explore the historic Chattanooga Choo

Directories Cyclist on unauthorized BlueTrail at Oak Mountain.

Please Turn to "Bikes" Page 2NJg ht club s , , ,Restaurants

Southern Danceworks will huthe road to "The Big Easy"this spring. The

Southern Danceworks Professional Com-

pany has been invited to perform at the

..National DanceAssociarion Conference in

New Orleans. To kick off this toUT,the

company will be presenting a "Favoriles"

repertory concert on March 23rdand 24th

al Southern Danceworks SrudUJrrheatre.

Some of the pieces to beperformed are "The

Ball Dance, " "Not Built for Comfort" and

"Echo." Dancers will include Sylvia Toffe~Melanie Sokol, Anthony Longobardi,

Suzan ne T ichel~ Mary Foshee, Ginger

~an and Lyn Buchanan. Performances

will begin al 8p.m TU:kelsare $8 general

admission and $6for students and senior

citizens. Forreservations and information,

call 322-6483.

7/27/2019 BUMP Article_03/01/1990

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Fun&Stuff 2

-BIkes- from Pg. 1larger issue of how state and national, public lands

should be used and maintained.

Mountain biking isa relatively new sport, an offshoot

of the endurance or triathalon competitions that are so

popular, particu1arly in the western states. The bike is

designed for rigorous going, with large knobby tires,

straight handlebars and a rugged frame. The appeal of

the sport seems to be that one can enjoy the wonders

of nature while pitting one's denerity and strength

against anything from relatively easy to tortuous ter-

rain.The conflict arises when mountain bikers begin com-

peting with hikers and backpackers for use of trails onpublic lands.

At Oak Mountain State Park, officials were caught

somewhat unprepared for the surge of interest in thespon. After complaints about the mountain bikes

from hikers, park officials designated the park's Red:rrail as the only authorized trail for bicycles, leaving

~e park's other trails for use by hikers. This has

proven difficult to enforce, and hikers now complain

$it cyclists are using unauthorized tr ails.

'"We are currently in the process of trying to promul-

gate a regulation through the State Conservation

Department to make it a finable offense to ride(bicycles) on unauthorized trails," said Park Ranger

Bob Gallahar, "but it's a pretty long process. Right

now we are only able to give verbal warnings (to

violators)." .Carl Scardina, natural resource supervisor for

Alabama's state parks, said that lime is needed to

decide on a proper policy. "We don't have enensiveexperience with mountain bikes," he said. "We want

to assess the situation from personal experience rather

than from hearsay." Allowing the cyclists access to the

Red Trail is a way to study the effects of bikes on the

trails, he said. "Once we've done that, we can create a.

policy."But uncooperative cyclists could cause the problem

to be dealt with more abruptly. "People who abuse the

privilege could very well ruin it for everyone. They'recutting their own throats," Scardina said. "We are real

concerned about fads. Is the mountain bike here to

stay, or is it just another hula-hOOp? We have to do

what will benefit the most people for the longest periodoftime," he said.

"With the increased metropolitan sprawl, in the fu-. ture Oak Mountain may be the only place in the area

that you can go to see a forest We need to protect theresources," Scardina said.

Bill Harrington, spokesperson for the Southern Off-

Road Bicycle Association (SORBA), said, "We think

it's a usage problem rather than a mountain bike prob-

lem. What we have is a lot of people competing for a

limited resource." .Mountain bikers are dissatisfied with being restricted

to the Red Trail. "The Red Trail presents the least

amount ofchallenges to amountain biker," Harrington

said.

But hikers are angry at what they see as an intrusionby fast-moving vehicles on trails that were meant to be

travelled by fool.

"They are such a hazard that I don't think they shouldbe allowed in the park," said Les Miller, of the Vulcan

Trail Association. Hikers' complaints include being

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forced off t he narrow trails by fast-moVing cyclists,

damage to trails such as ruts and crumblingswitcJibacks

and the disruption of the natural setting by vehicu1aI>

(although non-motorized) traffic. The latter com~'

plaint maybe the true heart of the matter. Until recent-ly, exclusion of motorized vehicles from hiking and

wilderness areas in state and national parks was suffi-

cient to keep these areas clear of most evidence of

modern society. But with the enhanced design of

mountain bikes, even the most remote and ruggedareas can be reached by cyclists, and the rules don't

cover human powered vehicles.

The question of how much damage the bikes causeto trails is also a subject of debate. Harrington feels

that just as much damage is done to the trails by foottraffic as by bicycles. Miller feels otherwise. "rm out

there leading hikes two to four daYS,.aweek and I cansee the damage. They are a destruCtive force ou thetrails," he said.

"We haven't done a formal study, but we have lookedinformally at the problem," said Park Naturalist Bryan

Phillips. "We know that bikes have more impact on atrail with a grade because ifit is rutted it will erode. We

are allowing them to use the Red Trail because it isbestsuited for bikes. It's an old road bed," he said.

Although Harrington agrees that bikes are "not ap-propriate forall trails," he doesn't think they should be

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i

Left: Damage to Red T r ail by mountain bik es.

is authorized for use by cyclists.

Top: Group o f cyclists takes a break at jun ction o f O r angeand Blu e Trail s, both unauthoriud trails.

excluded entirely from the park. "I would rather see

(enforced fines) than no bicycles period," he said.

SORBA plans to provide a brochure to be handed out

at the park entrance which would inform cyclists of the

rules and proper courtesy 'practices for riding in the

park, he said. But he admits that there will always be

some people who are discourteous and unconscien-

tious.

Public 'land use policy has been a problem

throughout the history of the United States andprontises to become more problematic in the future.

"The answer is for all interested parties to worktogether," said Harrington.

"rd be happy to meet with interested parties at thepark," said Scardina. Anyone interested should writeto: 0UlScardina, Natural Resources Supervisor, AJab

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