Originally Posted by Flak

I attended my first CAMBA meeting yesterday, and after hearing the trials and tribulations they have to go through just to be allowed to put in some singletrack somewhere, you really learn to appreciate their efforts.

Its taken years of negotiating with the Cuyahoga National Park and Cleveland Metro Parks for them to even consider allowing mtn biking on their land, and this is just to start a dialog with these people. There are still no trails allowed but they are getting there. There is massive opposition from other advocacy groups like the horse riders and hikers. CAMBA has put in many man hours helping build other peoples trails that they aren’t even allowed to ride on, just to build some good will with these people and get rid of the stereotype that mtn bikers are punks that don’t respect the land or others.

How do you think they feel when after years of time, talk, and hard labour on the ground, they finally get permission to build a trail, only to have it modified by some guys who want something different, pissing off the land owners, drawing complaints from other users, and eventually getting the trail shut down?

Ofcourse they are going to dismantle things that would jeopardise their use of the land. It's got nothing to do with hate, its about them wanting to keep the trails they fought hard to get. They earned them, free riders should respect that.

Bottom line. You need permission from land owners to build a trail.