I went for a road ride on Saturday mid-day
had the camera but had a small window of opportunity and wanted to get my heart rate up
yet... I could not resist turning around to get a shot of these volunteers clearing this trail with that cool classic saw
so... I turned around
and to my surprise
I recognized Jason and Cassandra
small world... what are these two bicycle messengers doing volunteering doing trail work
cool!
snapped my shots and tried to get an idea of how these people felt about the trails of Rock Creek Park being opened to mountain biking
well... the conversation was side stepped
the answer translated to "no"
there was some deflection to Fort Dupont
and then some talk about "wilderness space"
well... I would love to take these guys biking on natural surface trails
so they can see what mountain biking is
and help them to understand that there is no issue with the co-existence of the various trail users
hikers-equestrians-trail runners-bird watchers-dog walkers-and cyclists can all share the space
I know... I have seen it
and really...
the risks?
it is clearly more risky to but a cyclist with a car
than to put a pedestrian with a cyclist
anyway... any how
I think that a glance a these posts will share some perspective that these men may not have considered
A LETTER TO THE FIRST LADY
A LETTER TO MICHELLE OBAMA
but really...
I think that Rock Creek Park is a park of the people of DC more than a bucket list destination
sure people will travel to the National Mall just as they would travel to Yellowstone or Yosemite
but Rock Creek Park is really a part of nature that is used and appreciated by the locals
there are some ideas of removing the car from the equation
offering natural surface trails away from cars so kids can ride bikes
and some other basic ideas
but... I think that the above links are a good place to start educating the ill informed
yes... not all change is good
but...
there can be change for the better