Not cool...

Not sure whether someone tore down the closure notice or not....but it was posted on the gate at the bottom of Maple Springs as well as the gate at 4 Corners.

Yes, alot of people are knowingly poaching it....but there is no enforcement...so little chance of getting caught.

It does suck.
 
What's closed, just maple springs?
Didn't see anything on the link to indicate such.

And they couldn't catch Tinker anyways, so a moot point!
 
Danimal said:
What's closed, just maple springs?
Didn't see anything on the link to indicate such.

And they couldn't catch Tinker anyways, so a moot point!
Click to expand...

Maple Springs is closed to all users to 4 Corners. Motorway is Closed to all users. Main Divide is closed from Bedford Motorway to Eagle Rd to all users.

Closure is in effect until Sept. 30, 2015 due to Silverado Fire last Sept.
 
Sorry, but I have to say I don't see anything wrong here. Yes, the road (Maple Springs from gate and Pain Divide to Beek's Place) is closed, but this guy never left the fire road according to his Strava route map. The slight deviations I noticed in just two places are likely from the inherent weirdness of the app. Or Garmin.

So this person could not have caused any damage to fragile ecosystems, because he was riding on a dirt/rock/pea gravel/I-have-to-walk-this-crap fire road all the way through.

Had he left the established roads there would have been cause to complain - heck, he didn't even go down Motorway.

This is exactly why these closures get ignored. Anyone can see that riding these fire roads causes no damage, so people ride it.
 
I think part of the subtext is that this is Tinker doing it. Lots and lots of people follow him, and he's an OC legacy (from what I can gather). Good examples and all of that.
 
I must be old fashioned on this one. Any intrusion into a damaged ecosystem introduces the possibility of further damage. There are plenty of places to ride that weren't wiped clean by fire last year.


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Cougar said:
I think part of the subtext is that this is Tinker doing it. Lots and lots of people follow him, and he's an OC legacy (from what I can gather). Good examples and all of that.
Click to expand...

Hah! Interestingly (or not), I didn't even catch the whiff of the idea that this was THE Tinker...and even if it were Tinker, my comment above stands.
 
Some people will ignore closures....they feel they are above it....that is doesn't apply to them....or the think, "screw they man, I'm gonna ride anyway".

While you may not agree with the closure....at the end of the day, IT IS CLOSED....to everyone. Sure Tinker stayed on the Main Divide....but we all know others have been riding the Motorway. I am sure if you look up the segments for Motorway, you will see quite a bit of activity on it.

By closing the Main Divide in that area, it may not be to prevent damage to the burn area directly.....but what it does do, is give people access to Motorway which was completely burned by the fire. If you give a bunch of people access to the top of a closed trail, you are just tempting people to ride it.

It does suck that someone as well known as Tinker has chosen to ignore the closure and ride through.....kind of shows disrespect to some of the trails that allows him to make a living riding his bike.

Like Steve said, there are more than enough other trails to ride, to get in your training rides in. I'd like to ride up there just as much as the next guy, but I'll wait til it is actually open to do so.
 
skyungjae said:
Why are people recording data on closed trails? It simply draws unwanted attention.
Click to expand...

26 people have posted this year so far:

Screenshot (27).png
 
Is there ample signage? I got caught in a closed area once but I had no idea it was closed because there was no sign on the trail I entered the area on.
 
cranky said:
Is there ample signage? I got caught in a closed area once but I had no idea it was closed because there was no sign on the trail I entered the area on.
Click to expand...

Valid question... I know that there are signs at Four Corners and at the entrance to Maple Springs... At least there were when I took a road spin a couple months ago.
 
Signage is always there, except when people "relocate" it until the Forest Service Personnel put it back.
 
I find it hard to believe that anybody that would be doing that route doesn't know it's closed. I bet a lot of the people riding those trails are training for CC/VQ, and they for damn sure know it's closed.

But it's especially egregious when some well known and respected poaches closed trails. And pretty stupid of people who put their sponsors/team in their Strava handle to do so. I wonder how some of those sponsors would feel if people called and told them they don't think poaching trails is cool and they shouldn't condone it?

It doesn't really matter if you think the closure is warranted or not. The fact is the forest service has closed that area to the public to aid in the restoration of habitat. Is it really that hard to respect that? So you can't climb Maple Springs... climb Harding or Blackstar. Do a Harding/HJ loop instead of Blackstar/Motorway.

(This is not to say that there is never a time for poaching. Where I live,Rancho Mission Viejo has attempted to close some trails that they do not have the authority to close, nor good reason to do so. They will be ridden.)
 
Slap me hard if you want to...
Golden Eagle was within a closed forestry section for about a year. The signs were up "near" the trailhead but not at the trailhead. The fire came nowhere near the trail, not even within sight.

I rode the trail anyway several times and I personally never saw a Ranger. I have associates that have gone up to ride it and they were turned away by two Rangers, one arguing with the other to go ahead and let them ride it. The other stating but the closure is the closure (which technically and morally, he's right).

I'm not going to ask anyone to justify the reasoning. Sometimes the Forestry close a blanket amount of acreage to make it easier to manage (not sure if that's the case related to this Post.).

I also ride SOT on a regular basis...

Breaking the law? Yeah, I guess I am. I also drive over the speed limit . . . often.

When you just stop and look at the facts, especially in today's society, Tinker has made a huge bonehead move, he is a large representative of the cycling community (as we all are) and as someone mentioned he represents major industry leaders in the cycling community.
There could be huge consequences for him and sponsors. Especially as a target of special interest groups looking for examples to make of people in cycling to justify their outrageous unaccountable perspective of our raping and pillaging we do of local communities (oh, and the trails they live near).

This coming to light tells me two things. One we shouldn't do it. and Two, if you are going to do it, don't advertise it! (but we shouldn't do it...)
 
Lest those who don't know me misunderstand, I personally won't ride a closed route. However, I totally understand why some do.

All I've read so far in this thread (and previous ones like it) is that there is the POSSIBILITY that someone MIGHT choose to ride down a trail that will damage a fragile ecosystem recovering from the fire. And all I've ever said is "then punish those who do, not those of us who don't."

Riding a 20 foot wide fire road will do no damage at all to any ecosystem. Heck, it might provide nourishment to the native fauna (think hungry kitty-cats). But riding on that road...or even down an established trail like Silverado Motorway...will do absolutely zero damage to recovering flora.

My point is that people know this. They won't do any harm on an established trail. Those who will ride off the established trails will do so no matter where they are, and they are the ones who should be punished for damaging the ecosystem.

As Mikie said above, if the closure makes no sense people will ignore it.

Sure, closing the trail/road makes life easier for the Forest Service...but they don't exist to make their own tasks easier, but rather to preserve access and enjoyment of the national forests. I'm a government employee myself, and the thing I hate most is to hear a typical bureaucrat say "let's impose this regulation. It will make our job easier." Screw that. That's not why we have a job.

Drop the hammer on the individual actually causing harm. The Forest Service's greatest ally is the average mountain biker, IF they don't do stupid, unreasonable closures.
 
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