*DISCLAIMER I realize that what I am about to post warrants some discretion, and could compromise my legal position. Having said that, I'm not interested in anything other than full honest and compliance with the law*
They took my bike, on new years eve, at about 11:00AM. Needless to say, I had a few to drink that night
The damage:
Confiscated bike, title (1385?, too lazy to look at the citation atm) for trespassing on federal property. The marines were polite and cordial, not really rude at all. There was a little bit of loud voiced, puffy-chested flexin' (as I like to call it), but that lasted all of 30s as they could tell I wouldn't be any trouble. The max fine is $500 with potential misdemeanor charge; I will not be able to retrieve the bike until the case is closed. I went to a SDMA meeting about the subject a couple of weeks back, and spoke personally with the CO of Miramar Air Base, SDMBA board of directors, a couple lawyers, and a few other riders. It sounds like if I at least show up to court, the judge will knock of any criminal charges, and lower the fine on a discretionary basis. We may get a lawyer to go in a represent a bunch of us in one fell swoop for a minimal fee.
My take:
I just think that it's a little unfortunate the way that everything happened. I completely understand the temporal and financial strain that it puts on the base when they need to shut down the firing range; that is probably hugely frustrating to the the CO. The boys need to work. As a matter of fact, the CO is a mountain biker himself, and chose to implement the bike confiscation policy after other less severe measures weren't working.
I am going to play the naive card here a little bit - I'm a competitive road and track cyclist, not much of a mountain biker. It was my third time in the area, the first two being led by groups of experienced mountain bikers. Of course I saw the signage; I'm not stupid or blind, but I followed them in and figured it wasn't of practical concern due to some sort of sheep or herd like psychology, like the hundreds of other riders who go through there each weekend. What happened is totally my fault, and I accept that. At this point my agenda is damage limitation (financial and criminal), and telling everyone I know in the community not to go there, although that word has clearly gotten out.
From a longer term perspective, it's tough because there are so many good trails that go through Sycamore Canyon and the surrounding areas - that are all private or military property. Even as you go north and east of the Santee Lakes, where the really good stuff is, the property is Pardee Homes and other developers property, not public land. The long and the short of it is that SDMBA doesn't want anyone riding north of the 52, period. They are working on getting easements and public trails set up, but that takes a while. It's such a shame because there are trails and riders who have been riding and maintaining trails out there for decades. Due to increased military security in these times, and increasing numbers of riders on the trail, the area is going to have to collect dust and the trails will deteriorate, unfortunately.
Although I'm not that huge into mtn biking, I may chose to become an SDMA member, donate and be a little active about establishing legal trail usage in the area going forward. This was the best place to ride mtb without driving to leave the greater San Diego area IMO, and I'm interested in helping establish safe and legal access for all.