20 million people live in the greater LA metropolis and a half dozen #%&%#*(s Unfortunately the later showed up before and on Chimera race day and pulled race ribbons and rehung them on other trails. I discovered the first incidence two days before the race when I was assisting on a search and rescue for a missing biker. By luck I conducted the search on trails I had marked earlier in the week... and because I was carrying trail marking tape and flour (for arrows) I was able to fix the vandalism. On race day I had scouts go out prior to the lead runners to verify the marking was still intact. It was. However, between the time the scouts passed and the leaders arrived the marking had been vandalized again… de facto proof that the miscreants were bikers rather than ‘hikers’. Fabrice Hardel and Jesse had built substantial leads and because we publish detailed turn by turn instructions they ignored the ‘sham’ marking and took the correct trail. Unfortunately, a handful of runners didn’t refer to the turn by turns and spent about an hour wandering around in the wilderness before giving up and retiring from the race. In this case some of the local experienced runners knew the course and repaired the vandalism before the bulk of the field arrived. Our thanks to the locals who fixed the course marking at the expense of their own race… There were two additional incidences but they were discovered early and repaired before anyone was effected. What this does is illustrate the importance of a GPS, a turn sheet, and when possible, a map. Now that more ‘Gonzo’ riders are bringing the ‘street biking attitude’ to the trails there are more unpleasant encounters between hikers, bikers, and runners. Our advice to the runners is yield to the bikes (yes I know you have the right of way), don’t wear ear buds, and don’t try to be traffic directors… The bikers will eventually have to self police or they risk the same restrictions that have been implemented on the PCT and in some Colorado ski communities – “No Bike Trails”. We came across several trails closed to Mountain Bikes during TransRockies – the riders were very unhappy… they brought it on themselves.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 20:13:11 +0000
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