12C
Wednesday, August 19, 1992
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Biking popularity climbs
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Riding bike trails is a favorite past time of many KU students. Some students now ride mountain bikes on campus because of the decay of Lawrence-area tr
Trails see mountain bike use increase
By Richard Mancinelli Special to the Kansan
A Friday morning of heavy rain turns into an afternoon of sunshine. Many students leave their classes to ride their mountain bicycles home, but some — "the real bikers" — hit the trails to kick up mud, just like in the magazines.
With the popularity of mountain bicycles constantly increasing, some important environmental, ethical and safety issues have caused serious debates between sellers, riders and non-riders in Lawrence and around the country. Much of the debate is centered on the trails.
Douglas County has only two trails open to the public, one by the Kansas River along the levee and one at Clinton Lake. The use of these trails among the steadily rising number of mountain bikers has caused friction among different types of users.
"Four or five years ago, mountain bikes really caught on. I remember when they were 10 to 15 percent of sales. Now they're at least 60 percent," says Chris Batte, salesman at Sunflower Bike Shop, 804 Massachusetts St.
Though there are diametrically opposed opinions among Lawrence mountain bikers and retailers about how, where and when to ride, one point is agreed upon: Cycling magazines are not helping to solve problems.
The magazines portray the 'way to get air and radical' image, said Lawrence native Mike Combes, sales manager at Rick's Bike Shop, 916 Massachusetts St.
"Most people don't take an ownership perspective," he said. "They're taking a 'somebody else is going to take care of it' perspective."
Geoff Davis, salesman at Sunflower and president of Mountain BIK Lawrence, said the magazines "put a muddy racer on the cover and an article about a race on pages one, two and three. It's hard to tell people how to ride when you're in a position of sales."
Karl Gridley, member of Mountain BIK Lawrence and creator of the private Hastie Hill Trails southwest of Lawrence, said, "You've just got to try and educate people. It's glorified in advertising."
The two biggest national mountain bike organizations, IMBA and NORBA, both have codes that most serious mountain bikers follow. However, riders that do not follow these guidelines negate most of the positive points earned by those riders who do, the locals agree.
Though the nachismo image portrayed in advertising is seen as negative by both environmentally concerned riders and competitively
minded riders, that is the extent of what they agree on.
Thrill seekers can have just as much fun on gravel as they do on the trails, Combeset said, thus giving the trails a chance to heal themselves. One incentive he mentioned, along with the adventures offered, is possibility of going up to 50 miles an hour, which would be impossible on the trails.
In the '70s the levee trail was used by motorcyclists, and in the '80s mountain bicycles began to take over, Combest said. He mentioned, for example, that the trail that had been about one foot wide but now was up to 15 feet wide in some areas.
He attributed the "growth" of the trail to groups and individuals that had disrupted the natural evolution by removing plants and logs and by riding after rains and riding yearround, which practices eliminate what he called the summer healing months.
"I don't ride the trails anymore; it is depressing to me. I don't see any pheasants or deer anymore," Combes said.
Davis, who has lived in Lawrence for five years, takes a different angle on the trails. He estimated that at least 50 to 75 people used the trails daily and that the number increases to 100 or more on weekends. Issues such as removing logs or poison ivy, for example, should not be governed so much by environmental issues as by
riding concerns.
"People say it used to be one foot wide, but it used to be a cycle trail for three-wheelers," he said. Davis and other Mountain BIK Lawrence members usually race on the weekends but help maintain the trails during the week.
'I've never seen anyone do the stuff we do,' he said in regard to trail maintenance. He has tried to increase awareness of trail etiquette by handing out flyers at the trails. He wants the team to put a sign at the entrance of the trails listing IMBA rules, to modify the levee trail and possibly to park benches and a garden.
Though the idea of holding a race may seem the worst thing for the trail, two were held on the levee trail, one Feb. 2 and another Feb. 29 and Mar. 1. Each involved approximately 140 people.
"Ultimately the decision to have a race is decided by the promoter and the land owner." Griddley said. Though it isn't always easy to know, Combsestre called it a necessary evil.
The idea of instituting a medicine wheel, which is organizing shops and riders to care for the trails, was mentioned at a Mountain BIK Lawrence meeting, but Davis said a lack of initiative prevented that from materialization point that mountain bikers are optimistic about is the coast-to-coast trail that is planned to come through Lawrence. The Clinton trail would become part of the new trail.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
A bikenjoen one of Lawrence's many trails. Two of the more frequented trails are located at Clinton Lake and the Levee, near the Second Street bridge.
Shops say bike riders need good etiquette
By Richard Mancinem Special to the Kansan
Irresponsible advertising and ignorance toward proper etiquette are two problems that Lawrence mountain bicycle sellers say they are trying to remedy.
"What we want to say is experience cycling, don't run it for everybody else," said Mike Combes, sales manager at Rick's Bike Shop, 916 Massachusetts St., bicycle rider and Lawrence native.
Combest thinks that people who go out to the Lawrence trails when the weeds are three feet tall, after it just rained or without safety equipment are causing trouble for themselves, the environment and other riders.
A main concern of his is the riders who do these things because, he says, it is they who disrupt the natural evolution of mountain bicycles a negative image.
He is adamant about the point of using the trails responsibly, not only for personal safety but also for the sake of the only two local public trails. One of the trails is on the levee along the Kansas River and the other is at Clinton Lake.
Combest doesn't place much blame on the individuals because he thinks the way the industry advertises is the main problem. A new 1993 Cannondale catalog that he singled out portrays various professional riders on Cannondale bicycles in the mud. This breaks the rules of one of the national mountain bicycle organizations that Cannondale supports. That organization, called International Mountain Bicycling Association, ironically, is mentioned on the back cover of the catalog.
Combat thinks people should not alter the trails; his idea of maintenance is leaving the trail alone.
He wants more bikers to use gravel roads and for riders not to leave a trace if they must use the trails.
Geoff Davis, salesman at Sunflower,
804 Massachusetts St., and president of
Mountain BIK Lawrence, agrees
with Combesb about the lack of
responsibility among riders and
about advertising by the industry.
"People need to be more responsible and wear helmets and gloves, to bring pumps and patch kits in their little bags under their seats, not cigarettes, perfume and joints," he said specifically about the Clinton trail.
His position as a salesman, mountain bike racer and Lawrence local puts him, like Combes, in an awkward position. After selling people a bicycle he gets them a license, tells them about the quick release for the wheels and the free equipment they may qualify for. By the time he gets to safety, he says, "They say, I just spent $400. Let me out of here."
But he disagrees with Combes's view of trail maintenance. Davis thinks that clearing poison ivy or removing a fallen tree doesn't disrupt a trail. Combes thinks a fallen tree is good because it acts as a speed bump, keeping the speed down and reducing the damage to the trail and the hazard to other riders.
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