Poison Oak Productions has produced an excellent documentary called Singletrack MINDS that takes a look at trail access issues in Marin County, California, the birthplace of mountain biking. I had a chance to watch the film last night and I have to admit, it left me feeling frustrated and a little sad.
Trail access often becomes an emotional debate between various trail users and this film seems to do a good job at presenting both sides of the argument. The filmmakers included local land managers, hiking and biking club leaders, and even a trippy Gary Fisher to round out the film’s commentary, and this definitely gives the film an authenticity that is tough to ignore.
For me, the timing of this film couldn’t be any better. Just this past week singletracks found itself lampooned on an anti-mountain bike blog called Trail Killers for “illegal trail descriptions.” Trail access has been an issue since the early days of mountain biking but clearly it is a debate that continues to rage for many people. With that in mind, I plan on posting about trail access problems and solutions here over the next couple weeks covering the following topics:
- Trail user conflicts
- Erosion and trail damage
- Illegal mountain bike trails
It’s time that mountain bikers, hikers, and equestrians stop pointing the finger at one another and start working together to make trail use more enjoyable for everyone. Stay tuned for more on this topic from singletracks.com.
You can watch a trailer for the documentary and order your copy of Singletrack MINDS from Poison Oak Productions at their website.
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