Another viewpoint from someone who has called Hartshorne my home park for 20-some years:
- Not everyone is a devotee to the "flow" thing. Yeah, the fast and swoopy parts are great, but I personally get more satisfaction from making a gnarly climb. I'm more into the "variety" thing, I guess.
- The climbs at Hartshorne aren't that difficult. I'm mid-50's and ride a fatbike fer crissakes. Most days I make 'em all. Ride more often and try harder.
- I understand the issue of sustainability, but sustainability is a relative term. I did trail maintenance back in the early 90s when Wally Tunison was the lead civilian. Some of those trails that we built back then have held up pretty well. Compare that to say, Allaire, where because of the soil, a trail might get pretty chewed up after 3-5 years. There are sidewalls on some trails at Allaire that are 4 feet high. None of the Hartshorne trails are currently that bad. (I know, the old 3 Hills trail was like that, if there are any other old timers here)
- The bigger issue at Hartshorne is the widening of some trails by people going around the hard parts. Maybe some parallel logs along the trail edges would help?
- I hate to say this, but most of the trails that have been closed were some of my favorites, and the new ones cut in the last half dozen years or so are just boring. The pitch is gone, and there's a consistent lack of all of the things that make a trail interesting to me: rocks, roots, logs, whoops, etc. This is not meant to be a knock on anyone who helped build them. I'm sure that they're that way for a reason.
Because of these things, I dread any large scale changes to the place. Please just wait 10 or 20 years until I'm dead or too old to ride there anymore. 😉
Cheers,
Pat
