35 Replies to “Rocky Mountain Sigh”

  1. A personal shot?

    I wrote:

    “Who is being snobby Francisco?”

    Because I read the article and wasn’t sure what you were implying.

  2. The overriding message of the article seems to be “Only my way is the correct way to use the park”

    I guess they couldn’t find any racists to claim that the parks are exclusionary to go along with the Pros and Antis

    1. That is always the case. The only good cottage is the one that’s here. Same with hikers, acreages, housing developments or any change

  3. In my opinion the people writing the complaints are being snobs.

    If it’s hiking only, okay fine. But from an “environmental” prospective, if you’re going to allow horses then you may as well open it up to everything. E-bikes, quads, side by sides, snowmobiles, etc.

    1. Horses chew up trails like a rototiller. Literally. Ten horses go by and the ground looks like it was tilled.

      Bikes are nothing in comparison. E-bikes are exactly the same as bikes for trail wear. Same tire size, same weight.

      Snobs, pure and simple. Nature for me but none for thee.

      1. but suddenly every fat old lady with corns can be way back where shanks mare was the only way a few years back. my recent forays on the trails in Jaspar saw mostly orientals and germans, way more than canajuns.

  4. E Bikes?
    Where is my turbo charged Track Chair?
    Figure one could pull the disabled card,I’m handicapped,as in dislike walking, and ride in comfort roughshod over all other park users..

    If I could ever be bothered to stop in the National Parks again..
    Maybe after the Nation of Buffalo boots the New Chinese Owners out and reclaims these national treasure ..For our Liberal Comrades have probably sold them right out from under us..In one of those 72 secret Laws.

  5. If snobby means OUTLAWING ebikes in the high country … then slap my ass and call me snobby. There is a time and a place for everything … and the wilderness is no place for ebikes screaming down the trails. Plenty of other places for that.

    Rocky Mountain Sigh? Good one, Francisco … very Kate-like

  6. They already allow bikes, so they’re not worried about wheels damaging trails.

    E-bikes are used largely by the oldsters who cannot pedal all the way around trail loops. They are less likely to go off-trail than regular mountain bikes are. So, regular bikes do more damage.

    When I encounter bikes and e-bikes, the e-bikes tend to be moving slower. (SEE oldsters riding.)

    It is the normal backpacking-yuppie snobbery to keep trails to themselves as much as possible.

    1. You’re wrong. These things are everywhere, and young people are on them. More than 50% of the people on Calgary pathways are riding motorized vehicles. Some of these behemoths have wheels as wide as motorcycles, barely need to be pedaled and go 35kmh. The people on them are a menace. One took me and my friend out 3 weeks back. I am no cycling snob… I don’t like bike lanes and am fine with cars, but I hate these effing things. Pathway locusts is what I call them.

      1. What he said^ (mostly)!

        But I like e-bikes. In fact, we intend to get a couple. But sidewalks, paths shared w pedestrians and nature trails are no place for them, especially given how fast they can go.

  7. I’m a biking enthusiast in my mid sixties and it’s kind of nice to know e-bikes are waiting for me when it starts becoming a slog. I meet them on paved trails all the time, can’t say I’ve encountered any idiots.
    That said: If the bitching gets too much it’ll give the gov’t ideas about a potential new revenue streams via licensing, plates, insurance, helmets etc. – Oh, it’ll be a cornucopia of Canadiana bureaucratic goodness.

    I biked in Amsterdam once and only once. Motorized scooters/Mopeds/Vespas, whatever you want to call them, share the same lanes as bicyclists. You should try that on for size. When you hear a beep beep from behind …you best get the hell out of their way.

  8. As a daily user of a dog off-leash 6 km trail in suburban Vancouver, I must say that I have a problem with speeding e-bikes in multi-use trails. In my long experience with this and other shared trails in the lower mainland, people on bikes used to be a lot more considerate than they are today, and the advent of e-bikes brought in an yet even less considerate sub-group. They don’t announce their presence, neither with a ringer nor with the polite “on your left”; they weave around parents with strollers; they complain about the off-leash dog… on an off-leash trail! My dog is a border collie/hangin’ tree cow dog (https://www.hangintreecowdog.net) cross. It has a herding instinct that, when triggered, makes recalling very, very difficult (and my dog has an awesome recall). I always make a point to recall and leash the dog when a hear or see a bike approaching. But fast moving e-bikes are easy to miss (when approaching from behind), and I had to manage two e-big chasing episodes this week. I’m in contact with a city councilor in order to find ways to increase everybody’s awareness to this issue.

    I have no problems with e-bikes on trails (urban or back-country), but I have an issue with inconsiderate bikers in general.

  9. E bikes and tout le gang of battery trannies (transportation devices, heh) aren’t leaving soon.
    They’re growing in use in the city like crazy.
    These may become the only allowed type of personal vehicle in urban areas once Gang Green is finally able to bring down their car hammer.
    As long as respect is foremost, I don’t give a shit where they’re used. Ride/operate like an asshole, get fed to the bears (not the big hairy gay dudes, heh).

  10. My 82 yo father has an e-bike which allows him to keep going out with his group of oldsters, since he slowed down a bit due to age and a certain period of government mandated inactivity.

    What’s that isim called again where the fit people want to be the only ones allowed to participate in certain activities?

    1. I am a long time bicyclist for pleasure, exercise and commuting to work but my 73 year old knees are not what they used to be. I recently bought an electric assist bicycle so I could continue bicycling. Last weekend I did a 33 km loop with my legs working continuously but not stressed by the grind of climbing the hills. The knees felt much better after the ride and I still felt like I had a workout. E bikes are a godsend to seniors who want to continue to get out and exercise. I hope that the grinches don’t ruin it with licencing and insurance requirements. There is nothing like the sight of people enjoying themselves to bring out the “Karens”.

  11. One of the biggest pandemics going with no sign of letting up is age discrimination. E-bikes help less capable folk handle uneven terrain way more manageably. If the concern is tire damage to trails that are already open to pedal only bikes that’s quite a lame excuse. An excuse created to exclude others from enjoying the same access ‘cuz TOO MUCH TRAFFIC. That’s what the real reason is if it’s boiled down. So maintain the bike access trails accordingly. If people are coming to visit Parks to bike / e-bike surely that’s not a bad thing. Just plan and budget for it.

  12. How about the trucker who rolled into the ditch westbound at bottom of hill coming into Field on Sunday?

  13. I tried to keep an open mind on this – after all it’s allowing people to go places they wouldn’t otherwise – but it’s just too much like having a small motorbike on the trail with you, just with an electric engine. And, pace some of the above commenters, no they do not go slower than regular bikes, and no, they are not more considerately piloted, quite the opposite. Perhaps with better trail etiquette it can work, but as of now, I want them gone.

    1. Ha, yeah. Just think about how dirt bikers feel about your slow bicycle @$$ on the trail ahead of them. You’re like a traffic cone, nothing but in the way. I used to go -blasting- past guys like you on my dirtbike back in the day, before Karen closed every off-road riding trail from here to Kenora. No point in having a dirtbike now, nowhere fun to ride. Thanks, Karen.

      And you know what? People walking the trail -hate- you. Because you go whipping by them, no warning, treating them like traffic cones.

      Maybe you should think about that progression before Karen decides you should walk.

      1. Gee, I wonder why all those off-road trails got closed? Could it possible be possibly be people like you? All your fellow no-longer riders thank you for your efforts.

    1. Jesús Adrián Romero – Popurri (Video Oficial) – #SoplandoVida

      I had to actually translate this…

      So. No promise on the translator used…

      Video

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FWlfUoDvdIo

      What would be of me if you
      hadn’t reached me?
      Where would it be today if you hadn’t forgiven me?
      I would have a vacuum in my heart
      I’ll wander without direction or path
      If it weren’t by your grace and for your love
      If it weren’t by your grace and for your love

      It would be like an injured bird
      That dies on the ground
      It would be like a deer that brams
      By water in a desert
      If it weren’t by your grace and for your love
      If it weren’t by your grace and for your love

      If I decided to deny my faith
      And never trust him again
      I have nowhere to go
      I have nowhere to go

      If it will despise in my heart
      The Holy Grace that saved me
      I have nowhere to go
      I have nowhere to go

      I am convinced that without your love
      My strength would end
      And without you my thirsty heart dies, dries

      Near you I want to be
      I don’t want to get away from your presence
      Near you, Jesus, I want to be
      I don’t want to get away from your presence

      Immerse me in the river of your spirit
      – Jesus Adrian Romero

      With empty hands I come to you
      I have nothing to give you
      There is nothing value in me
      I can’t impress you

      I can give you my heart
      But it is broken
      Receive, my good shepherd
      You can restore it

      Sing it with me

      I put my life at your service, sir
      It won’t be much, but I deliver it today
      And if my hands are empty today they are
      You can fill them with your great power and love
      Use my hands, sir
      Use my hands, sir
      Use my hands, sir

      If you ask me what gift I want
      What is this special day prefer
      No one knows me like you, teacher
      Not my thoughts can hide you

      And in the depths of my heart
      There is a great yearning, there is a great passion
      I want this day to enjoy your presence, nothing more
      And my wishes to be able to contemplate come true

      I want to talk
      I want to lose myself in your look
      And forget who I am
      And lose my humanity in you, Lord

      This special day
      It’s the only thing I want
      It’s the only thing I long for, my Jesus

      Because they don’t stand up to sing this song
      Let’s tell God that we are thirsty for him
      Thirst for your presence

      Tired of the road
      Thirsty for you
      A desert I crossed
      Without forces I have been
      I come to you

      I fought like a soldier
      And sometimes I suffered
      And although the fight I have won
      My armor I’ve worn out
      I come to you

      Immerse me in the river of your spirit
      I need to refresh this dry heart thirsty for you
      Immerse me in the river of your spirit
      I need to refresh this dry heart thirsty for you

      Tired of the road
      Thirsty for you (that your voice is heard)
      A desert I crossed
      Without forces I have been
      I come to you

      I fought like a soldier
      And sometimes I suffered
      And although the fight I have won
      My armor I’ve worn out
      I come to you
      (Cancela to him)

      Immerse me in the river of your spirit
      I need to refresh this dry heart thirsty for you
      Immerse me in the river of your spirit
      I need to refresh this dry heart thirsty for you

      Immerse me
      Immerse me
      Immerse me
      Immerse me in the river of your spirit

      Immerse me in your presence
      Immerse me
      Immerse me

      1. Sorry man, but please can you please cool it with those type of posts. I’m glad you’ve found meaning and faith. But Faith, like sexual orientation and many other things folks feel compelled to parade, is actually best kept personal. Thanks and best regards. Ok, now cue vicious, unchristian hate-filled responses.

        1. You were allowed to post here by the graciousness of the host…

          Dont dirty this lively environment with your dislikes of other posters…

          You can challenge them in what they said…

          No one cares…

          Say something real like about the people you love and what experiences you are experiencing using your free will to the context of what our awesomeness gets posted here…

          Connect…

          That’s what SDA is all about…

          I go for the top…

          And I shall do the same here as you did…

          Post freely…

  14. Oi just scroll on by….no time for a full flipping novel. Take that elsewhere please.

  15. Out of shape people cruising out into the backcountry with a limited supply of power: what could possibly go wrong?

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