So-called soft cycling is the practice of mountain biking safely while minimizing the impact of the cyclist on the trail, the local environment and on the experience of other trail users. Generally "soft cycling" practices fall into four main categories:
SHARING THE TRAILS SAFELY WITH OTHER USERS
VOLUNTEERING TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE TRAILS
For other trail riding information pertinent to San Francisco mountain biking, please also see the San Francisco Mountain Biking Primer.
Bad riders are the ones who threaten future trail access with disrespectful and distructive behavior. Follow soft riding rules and you'll help keep trails open for mountain biking. Soft cycling not only prevents erosion of trails and helps keep people safe, but also helps to preserve our right to use trails, and might even lead to the opening of more trails for our use!
When riding in San Francisco all of the trails that are needed, with only a few exceptions, have already been created. It is imperative that you not forge a new trail or ride across untracked terrain. In many places, especially in Golden Gate Park, it is not entirely clear which trails are open to biking and which are not. Regardless of what is open or closed, all the trails to provide even the most experienced rider a full and continuous ride already exist. Even though many of the trails could be improved and exist only because of historical foot traffic, you must not stray from the existing trail. Fixing existing trails which are poorly designed is a complex task. Creating a new trail is not a decision for a bicyclist to make on a whim. While a ride across untracked terrain might not seem to hurt anything, low-impact bikers don't do it. Stay off the trailside plants.
Nurture the trails that do exist and provide us with such riding pleasure. The most basic method of low impact mountain biking is to ride trails within your ability. When riding a trail which is too difficult, one is more likely to tear up the ground while braking or skidding down hills, on loose rocky terrain or around corners. Respect and treat the trail like the valuable treasure that it is. There are five main ways that novice riders or poorly skilled riders damage the trail:
-Riding through deep mud, causing ruts which act as erosion trenches. Low impact mountain bikers ride wet trails only if they know it will not cause cause permanent rutting. It is advisable to wait 48 hours after a rain in San Francisco to ride on dirt trails again. Two days after a rain, the ground is still spongy but not damaged by bike traffic. Most of the dirt trails in San Francisco were not built but were naturally made by foot traffic. These unplanned but well-defined historical trails often do not drain well due to incorrect "design". There are many places on the trails where puddles commonly form and even when 99% of the trail is dry, the puddles will be there. You must ride through the water pools (get fenders!) or walk bikes around. Avoid riding on the fragile edge of dirt trails in order to avoid puddles or sand. The wonderful thing about modern mountain bikes is that they are light! That means that they can be picked up and carried through deep mud. Don't let the inconvenience of stepping out of your clipless pedals and getting your cleats muddy keep you from walking your bike through deep mud. Low-impact riders are aware of the factors that contribute to erosion and modify their habits in response.
-Allowing the bike to run off the trail, causing erosion of the trail edge and therefore reducing the usable width of the trail. If you find that you are continually running off the trail, perhaps you should practice on wider trails or ride at slower speeds until you have better control over your bike. Everyone runs off the trail every once in a while, but please do not make a habit of it.
-Allowing the back tire to lock up when going downhill, causing the tire to dig into the trail. A sliding back tire is fairly useless in slowing you down and causes heavy erosion of the trail. Keep the back wheel turning! A rolling tire on a hard surface does not cause significant impact. But if the surface is not hard, or if the tire is not rolling, or if the tire runs off the trail, then damage will occur. It helps to keep your weight far back -- even behind the seat on steep downhills. If something is too steep for you to ride without sliding the tire, please get off and walk the bike down.
-Allowing the bike to slide around corners, causing lateral erosion of the trail. Sliding around corners has become an acquired skill for many riders, but it does cause a great deal of trail erosion. Riding a corner cleanly and without sliding is harder to do, but preserves the trail and demonstrates superior bike handling skills. Keep your speed down when approaching a turn and slow down gradually without skidding.
-Riding around natural barriers and water-bars, which widens the trail and contributes to erosion. Half the fun of riding singletracks is to succeed technically, to ride over roots and rocks and water bars. If you meet up with an obstacle that you cannot ride, please get off your bike and carry it over the obstacle rather than riding around it. If you want to ride on narrow singletracks, then please ride in such a way so as to keep them narrow. If you are not willing to keep singletracks narrow, please ride on dirt roads. Don't allow trails to grow wider; make it a game to stay directly in the center of the trail at all times. Note that there is a practical limitation to this. On more than one occasion in Golden Gate Park, natural treefall has completely blocked the mid-section of an important trail link. The park service does not cut the tree to open the trail and since it is not possible to climb over the treefall, the trail quickly (due to hikers and bikers) will be diverted around the obstacle.
Excellent articles about the impact on trails due to recreational and
mountain bike use:
Natural
Resource Impacts of Mountain Biking - A summary of scientific
studies that compare mountain biking to other forms of trail travel (2004).
Trail
Shock - Studies Weigh Mountain Biking and Hiking Impacts - New research
suggests that mountain bikes and boots leave equal wear and tear on trails.
Published on AMC Outdoors Magazine, April 2001
The
Science of Dirt - A summary of knowledge regarding erosion on trails.
by Gary Sprung
An Assessment
of Trails, Watercourses, Soils, and Redwood Forest Health in Joaquin Miller
Park, Oakland, California, with Recommendations for Management:
Share the Trails Safely With Other Users
Be extremely courteous to other trail users. Respect other trail users
and they'll return the favor. For many people, mountain biking on "trails"
in the city is a ludicrous concept. Most people on a stroll on a city
trail don't expect to be passed by a bicycle or confronted by bike coming
the other direction. Most people who don't ride bikes have no idea what
"on your left" means. If you say this it may actually cause them to move
to the left, causing an accident! Here are a few steps to follow when
passing another user: Greet the hiker - a simple "howdy" or "hi there!"
will do. If you have a bell, ring it once or twice when you are a reasonable
distance away to let them know of you are there. Slow down (!) to about
the same speed as the hiker. Failure to do so can cause them to panic
and consider writing a letter of complaint to whomever owns the land you
are riding on. If the trail is too narrow for both you and the hiker,
then you must stop and yield the trail to them. If they wave you on, you
may go ahead. You may wish to decline and insist that they pass and chat
about something you've observed as they go by. Our sport needs all the
friends it can get. If you are approaching from behind, and the hiker
appears confused and stops in the middle of the trail, then you should
stop and politely say something like "pardon me, may I pass on your left
?" Small children and elderly people may not know how to behave around
cyclists, so be polite!
Protect the Environment
Do not leave trash on the trail. In fact, be responsible for removing
trash on the trails. Take a day off from biking, grab a trash bag and
clean up your favorite trail. Or join one of our Trash
Clean Up outings. Don't do unauthorized trailwork other than trash
clean up.
It is especially important that when you perform repairs to your bike
while on the trail that you pick up all trash, broken parts and packaging.
It is also important that you not trample the surrounding groundcover
while performing the repairs. Be sure to find a spot with a durable surface
to perform the repairs where delicate plants and groundcover cannot be
harmed.
Volunteer Your Time to Sustainable Trail Building
Projects
Get involved in the local groups that work with land managers to improve
trails to minimize erosion. The true culprit of trail erosion is water.
Incorrect design which channels water along the trail instead of allowing
it to "sheet" off of the trail does the vast majority of trail
damage. Get involved and legally improve trails!