seruzawa

Horeses rip up backpacking trails worse than two-wheeled contraptions, at least on the trails I use.



At the two-wheelers don't leave aromatic presents either.

__________________
"Make no mistake, Communism lost a big argument - one we know today as the 20th century."

Abe_Froman

I have heard more and more about this bike/horse flap lately......I guess in Minnesota we don't have too many horses, especially in the metro are, so there isn't much of a problem. Oh and we don't have too many hills that allow you to get up to 45MPH either. Lame.



Since there are so many bikers, my guess here is that they are unable to mobilize enough of them to attend meetings, vote, etc....this is a shameless generalization, but the mountain bikers are consistently young people who tend only to care about what makes them feel good right now. Attending city council meetings and taking the time to vote usually aren't too high on the list of priorities, so it allows a handful of wealthy people who PAY ATTENTION to what's going on to force their madness on everyone else.



Why do you think candidates for public office are always harping about their opposition's penchant for raiding social security or denying free prescription drugs (or why is one candidate always denying this?) Because the grizzled frumps are easily scared that the rest of us will leave them out in the cold to die, and dammit, they vote. A good portion of young people don't have much faith that they'll ever see a dime from social security, so they might vote to bring that program behind the barn and kill it with an ax. Problem is, just like the bikers, they don't like to vote. No fun in that.

seruzawa

The only problem is that motorcycles are perfectly legal motor conveyances. I believe that such regulations should be unconstitutional under the principle of equal treatment under the law.



'Course there are plenty here who would ban SUVs. So I guess those particular motorcyclists

have no business complaining.

__________________
"Make no mistake, Communism lost a big argument - one we know today as the 20th century."

Abe_Froman

My sentiments exactly.



It is difficult for even the most conservative of us to not harbor some secret wish that another group of people could be forced to abstain from this or that practice. I think it takes real character to stand strong in your underlying principles and proclaim that people should be free to do what they want, even if you don't like what they're doing personally (within reason, of course. Let's keep the criminal code on the books.)



I had an argument with a liberal recently, concerning welfare, charity, being environmentally sound as possible, etc. etc....I finally got fed up and said "you know what? You're right about all those things. They're admirable causes. People should care more about the poor and try to use less gas. The difference between you and me is that I believe people should be left free to make those choices on their own. You think that they should be forced to be charitable environmentalists under threat of arrest." She said "well, it has to be that way or they wouldn't ever do it."

blackburd

I remember reading about a similar problem a few years ago in Cycle News (I think it was Cycle News). The real kicker to the story was when someone found out that Jeremy McGrath lived in this community. If I remember correctly, this community was located around a private lake which featured water skiing. Jeremy was asked how he could live in an area that banned motorcycles. His reply was something like "It's nice to not have to listen to the noise."

longride

"just like certain ski areas not allowing snowboarders, because a small number of them are rude and irresponsible."



Ahhhh, the good(or bad) old days of snowboarding! When I first started many years ago there were many so-called resorts that banned us outright. The ski snobs hated snowboarders with a passion. Again it was the rich azzholes defending their turf. Once the rich pr!cks kids began snowboarding, the resorts welcomed us with open arms. Parks were built and everything changed. Did snowboarders become less of a pariah in that time? Not likely. Only the fact that Rich_Joe_Skiier couldn't take his brats with him to the so-called resort, changed the attitude 180 and closed hills are basically a thing of the past. How things change when suddenly it was THEIR family banned, eh??

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I'm a knucklehead

Abe_Froman

While the idea of banning motorcycles is personally heart-breaking to me, and my other post notwithstanding-----I think that people in this country have freedom of association, and this gated community is a perfect example of that. While I think these people should show more character and allow others the freedom to drive 9and do) what they wish, they also have every right to attempt to band together and create whatever kind of private community they would like. It sounds as if every one of these residents moved in with the full knowledge that motorcycle riding is banned. While the underlying reasons are probably irrational (to wit: the idoit blue-haired lady described in the article) and non-sensical (there's probably a car or two in the neighborhood that makes more noise than some of the bikes) they still knew it, and they still signed the closing papers. Who's fault is that? Were they forced to move there? There wasn't a single other suitable housing situation they could have considered? A rule banning motorcycles would be a deal-breaker for me, no matter how sweet the deal was otherwise.

quickbrit

I'd be scared to have a neighbor riding through my subdivision who has a remarkable tendency to fall over all the time



"In the five months Woodrow has owned his $16,000 racing bike, which he rides to work each day, he said he's dropped the vehicle three times and damaged it trying to walk it out."

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Mike Emery

rsheidler

Very well said!



You and I have frequently been on the opposite sides of political debates here, but there is, in fact, a lot of common ground -- around the desire for freedom. You are exactly right that this is not a function of where one sits within the political spectrum.



It often seems to me that distinguishes the so called liberal and concervative wings of our political establishment is only a matter of which specific freedoms they want to trample on. In simplistic terms, the left wants to take away my guns, the right wants to take away my daughter's right to accurate birth control information in high school, or to chose to have an abortion because she didn't get that information (so far -- knock on wood -- this is hypothetical).



Freedom is supported much more as an abstract concept than as a reality. In reality, most of us are not really comfortable with it. If I find depiction of female nudity personally offensive, or demeaning to women, I don't want you to be allowed to read Playboy, if I find smoking to be disgusting, or think drinking is immoral or unhealthy, I want them banned. If I decide that rock climbing or hang gliding are dangerous activities, I want to ban them on public lands.



Unfortunately, as motorcyclists, we don't have any part of the political establishment who view us as part of their constituency so we gotta fight our own battles. Right now, the AMA is about the only group which can help us do that, and getting pissy over their stand on helmet laws or whatever just leaves us without any voice. This doesn't mean that we should not work within the AMA to change some of their policies.

seruzawa

Park City is another increasingly elitist enclave. You can hardly walk down the street without stepping in a puddle left over from all the bleeding hearts or tripping on a pile of granola. You can tell what many people there are thinking by simply tuning in NPR where they are told what to believe.



And to think I was offered one of those old houses on Park City's Main Street back in 1975 when it was a economic pesthole. $5000 would get you one of those old places. (Kicking self repeatedly.)

__________________
"Make no mistake, Communism lost a big argument - one we know today as the 20th century."