Trail Conflicts
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 Problems, or Opportunities?
The sudden ringing of my phone startled me. I thought "how strange that sounds" as I looked over at my pack leaning against a large boulder next to Big Rock Creek. As sweat dripped from my forehead, I retreated back into the rhythm of striking blows. One smack after another echoed through the woods as pieces of Red Oak scattered amongst the ferns. The phone rang again and then quit, as I thought "now is NOT a good time," and returned to strike the final blow that would clear this dead obstacle from the newly cut trail which drops down the side of a small mountain.
As I packed up my gear and slung my bag over my left shoulder the phone rang again. "Okay, someone needs to talk," I thought. "He's out there right now. I'm just warning you. I can see his white truck on the gravel road," a familiar voice on the other end admonished.
 The white truck belonged to a local land surveyor who happened to own a small 200-foot swath of creek side at the bottom of this little mountain I was on. For the most part, our trails here (and I won't tell you exactly where "here" is) are in limbo. It's that state between not fully sanctioned, but not expressly forbidden either. The 8-mile network skirts a State Park, runs along public Gamelands, has tacit approval from a Homeowner's Association for a small section shared by hikers and dog lovers, and also happens (unbeknownst to us until recently) to run along a 200-foot piece of private land owned by a County Surveyor in a white truck.
Now, I don't recommend you build or manage trails in this fashion. That is a decision you will have to make for yourself. But there are probably thousands of trails out there which match this description and fall into the no-man's land of "limbo". If not intentionally, then some event like a land purchase can cause the status to become unclear.
I now had a critical decision to make. This man in the white truck was down at the bottom of this mountain with 100-feet of barbed wire, a post-hole digger and a deck of No Trespassing signs. He was enforcing his rights smack dab in the middle of our trail's critical access point. It was strategic ground which controlled access to the whole 8-mile loop and we "owned" it for the past three years. "What was he thinking? Doesn't he know we just want to ride and be left alone? Doesn't he know we put this trail along the creek side to minimize its impact? Heck, we even blocked off a motorcycle trail on his land to keep the Quads out. Here we're helping the guy and this is how he returns the favor? Besides, we were here first," I thought. Then the other side said "none of that matters because it's his land now, and that's where it ends."
So, I could choose to avoid him and ride around the barbed wire and posts, causing him to add more and more fence, piece by piece over the next several months or years. But the thought of looking over my shoulder seemed to run counter to the essence of riding. Besides, I imagined getting clotheslined one day by a newly, unannounced strand of barbed wire. It was settled. We must talk.
There really was no other option. Not talking frees up the imagination to fill in the voids with our fears. To me, he would always then be some a-hole in a white truck who hates Mountain Bikers and may try to kill me someday by stringing barbed wire along some obscure section of trail. And to him, I could be some punk, thrill-seeker chopping down trees and making noise in the woods who spits on people's property. Of course, this is the worst possible scenario, but even the worst outcome of a dialogue with this guy could not be that bad. Even if he turns out to be the monster I imagined, at least he would know after talking that Mountain Bikers are just thoughtful, intelligent people who like to ride in peace, be left alone, respect the land, enjoy the outdoors and contribute to the community. Even if he didn't change his mind after talking, I wouldn't be any worse off because it's his land and he's down there right now closing it off.
I was surprised he hadn't noticed my approach by now. I was deliberately trying to make noise so as not to startle him. You don't want to sneak up on some crotchety old dude out in the middle of the woods who's trying to stake a claim on his property, especially when you're on his property already. I was now ten feet away and he still had no clue I was there. "Boy, for someone so concerned about protecting his property, he sure doesn't seem very observant," I thought. I decided to break the ice immediately with a friendly wave and "Don't Shoot" request. After the introductions and talk about the weather, our conversation turned to the trails. Well, it turns out that he recently acquired more than this little 200-foot section of stream front. In fact, he could just about shut down our whole operation. I took the opportunity to talk about the fundamentals of trailbuilding (thanks to the IMBA) and the code of ethics followed by riders and trailbuilders everywhere. I talked about how we stay off of wet trails to mitigate erosion, how we go through painstaking efforts to armour creek crossings and put in switchbacks to keep erosion down, how we walk our bikes past horses and stop for hikers. Turns out this old guy is just interested in keeping the Quads and Dirtbikes from tearing through this small patch of land so that he can sell it to some guy who wants to build a house there. As for the other acreage he now owns, including about fifty percent of our 8-miles, he gave his tacit approval to ride there and even suggested where we could put our re-route which would now be necessary. I told him where I lived and asked him to please stop by if his situation ever changed or if the trails back there ever became a problem for him. He turned out to be a pretty cool old dude. I told him I'd keep an eye out for poachers on his land for him, since clearly I spent more time back there than he did.
 So, my advice is that if you ever have any problems with landowners, or if conflicts arise with trail use, confront it head-on and go directly to the source. Rumors and assumptions on both sides will get you clotheslined. Shed light on the situation and remember that you can be an ambassador for Mountain Biking. These conflicts are opportunities to show the world just how cool Mountain Bikers are. Besides, with the re-routes that we put in to get around the problem I described above, we now have an extra quarter-mile of singletrack and three brand new, kicking, technical creek crossings to play on. Problem, or opportunity?
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