|   Of mountainbiking and flyfishing. A true story.... | fred³
Jul 14, 2002 7:30 AM | | or at least very little is fiction.
Tim, Lori and myself went to Bear Brook State Park yesterday. We rode some outstanding singletrack. Lots of fast whoop-de-doo sections. Lots of rocky-rooty sections that for a change Lori and I cleaned about 99 percent. Very satisfying. Temperatures in the 80's, sunny and not too humid. Dry trails and good attitudes made the 2+ hour excursion an excellent way to explore the out-of-doors.
There were two things that slowed us up. One was Tim cleaning a very steep rocky(babyheads plus) and rooty section. Once he reached the top he found he'd expended just a bit too much energy and dry heaved for about 5 minutes. Once I'd doused him with water and he'd had a chance for his stomach to settle he was good to go. The second thing was coming upon two flyfishermen in a very small pond. One was in the water in waders. The other was on the shore. He was a bit oversized, had a cane, a stool for sitting and looked rather disheveled. We waited about 50 yards away looking for the trail. I spotted it beyond the pond and to the right of the archery targets. The angler on land put his rod down and I led us towards the trail. As I was passing near the angler I asked if he'd had any luck. He said yes and then proceeded to lecture me about riding in the archery area. You see, part of the mtb trail goes through an archery range that has small trails leading off the main singletrack. Each is listed with a sign that it's an archery trail and no riding allowed(on the trails to the targets), but all the targets are situated so that all arrows are shot away from the trail. Park rules allow for riders to go through the area. Since I couldn't make him see this point he started to lecture me about the dangers of riding behind someone flyfishing. Now I've been flyfishing for the past 38+ years and being a considerate rider and knowledgeable angler I knew better than to get too close to his backcast, but there was just no way to convince this person(not through lack of trying though). He was bound and determined to convince the three of us that mtb'res were a terror in the area and to stupid to be allowed to ride any where in the park. Seeing that this was going nowhere and wanting to continue the ride we gave a curt(mostly me) goodbye(he was yelling after us long after we disappeared into the woods) and continued on our way.
There was still more than half the ride ahead of us and the riding just got better and better.
So there you have it. A short tale with a happy ending and proof that not all of the rednecks are down south or on the west coast. |
| Where I come from(NorCal) we are always willing to share..... | Battman42
Jul 14, 2002 7:56 AM | | We'll box 'em up and send 'em anywhere....
Thanks for the story.
When you encounter this kind of person on public land your way of handling it seems best....
I run into this sometimes also... I'm in the right, and it's posted that, way but some people get themselves in a knot anyway.....
I choose to let them see that I won't respond with anger over their problem with my freedom....
Tim |
| Ya shudda.............. | Mike T.
Jul 14, 2002 8:01 AM | | ....got Qwilter to throw the silly bugger in the pond. He needed to cool off. |
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