Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Pilot Program: Tryon

This evening I attended a public workshop at Tryon Park held by the Monroe County Parks Department. Tryon Park is one of two parks in Monroe County that is part of a program to offer shared-use trails on Monroe County Parks. The other is the West Bay Park.
Currently, mountain biking (and muni?) are not legal in county parks.

It looked like about 30 people attended. Some mountain bikers and some hikers. Leaders and members of GROC and Tryon Bike demonstrated how many existing trails weren't designed to avoid erosion. By choosing smarter trail lines and by using better trail construction methods, erosion problems can be avoided. Switch-backs and grading will make more sustainable trails. And instead of straight, steep hills, we'll end up with more gradual and interesting trails.
In several locations at Tryon, new trails will be developed to bypass undesirable trails. Once in place, the old trails will be blocked and people will hopefully no longer use them.

I think many mountain bikers, and in some cases myself, actually like the steep, rocky, rooty, eroded downhills. But that's the compromise for having shared, sustainable, shared-use trails that are open to mountain biking.

Tryon Workshop - 2010-07-27

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