From: Brent Bonwell [mailto:brent@bonwell.org]
Sent: Monday, June 26, 2017 8:07 AM
To: Wood, Kerry T -FS <kwood@fs.fed.us>
Subject: Fwd: Re: [NMCycling] Oso & Tree Spring Vandalism - REWARD

Carolyn,

The Bill Spring work is impressive- I don't make it down that way much with the loss of Canoncito access, but it looks good and hopefully we get access via Mud Spring before long.

It could be hikers- but the changes really feel like Strava lines to me- little climbing challenges have been removed and several rock gardens simplified.  I forwarded this to the Cibola Trail Rangers e-mail list as well and no one seems to think it's hikers.

Oh, and someone from the mtbr.com New Mexico forum has added $100 to the pot.

------ Original Message ------

From: "Carolyn Donnelly" <seadee43@yahoo.com>

To: "bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com" <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com>; "Marc Basiliere" <marc@bikefix.net>; "FooMTB-Group" <foomtb@yahoogroups.com>

Cc: "Eli Torgeson" <etorgeson@salud.unm.edu>; "Peter Doane" <peedeedoane@hotmail.com>

Sent: 6/25/2017 3:57:17 PM

Subject: Re: [NMCycling] Oso & Tree Spring Vandalism - REWARD

I haven't seen the Bill Spring / Oso Corridor work, but Faulty in the Cienega and Canoncito area is a complete reroute.  My guess is USFS got some money and was able to do the work via a contractor or maybe a YCC crew. 

 

What Marc describes sounds different. As a more frequent hiker than cyclist these days, I've seen a lot of ad hoc trail work, and often these people don't seem to understand how water works and are creating preferential flow paths that will speed up, not slow down, erosion. Anyway,  Marc, unless you're talking about really big boulders it seems like it could also be a hiker.

 

So if anyone out there is doing or knows someone who is doing ad hoc trail maintenance, please encourage them to stop, and suggest that they join one of the groups like Volunteers for the Outdoors who does the work correctly and has a plan for areas needing work.

 

Carolyn 

 

 

On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 3:36 PM, andrew.black via Bike-racers

<bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com> wrote:

I would suspect USFS. South Faulty has also been cleaned extensively and officially rerouted in a few places.  Yes, I found myself moving much faster in some sections. Not for Strava; for fun.

 

 

Maybe USFS has started to more actively maintain Sandia trails so that they appeal to a wider user group. If so, its having its intended effect:  we saw 10 equestrians on the Faulty/ Armijo loop last weekend and 15 hikers on the Bill Springs lead-in to the Oso/Faulty intersection. 

 

Maybe North Faulty is still wild.

 

Andrew

 

-------- Original message --------

From: Marc Basiliere via Bike-racers <bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com>

Date: 6/25/17 2:39 PM (GMT-07:00)

To: bike-racers@mailman.swcp.com, FooMTB-Group <foomtb@yahoogroups.com>

Subject: [NMCycling] Oso & Tree Spring Vandalism - REWARD

 

All,

 

Could everyone please keep an eye out for whoever it is that's removed dozens -if not hundreds- of rocks from Oso Corridor and Tree Spring trails since the beginning of this season?   I'm confident that it's not USFS work as they've just been leaving holes in the trail.  And there are far too many, far too conveniently-placed to be bears looking for grubs.  There's been a fresh round of sanitizing within the past two weeks, so it's an ongoing issue.  

 

I'm not sure if it's an effort to bring the trails down to their skill level or to improve their Strava standings, but either way the time and effort that went to degrading the trail while depriving the rest of us of long-standing challenges would have probably have been better spent on training.  The trails in the Sandias are challenging and technical and ought to be appreciated as such.  They're also heavily-traveled by hikers and equestrians and we, as the cycling community, do not need to see speeds and conflict increase for speed's sake (let alone an unearned win in an imaginary race).  

 

Rock removal and corner-cutting is annoying in the Foothills and lame in Otero- but really disappointing and unacceptable (to say nothing of illegal) in the Sandias.  And it needs to stop.  Seriously- I'm willing to give $500 to whoever turns the culprit(s) in to the Sandia Ranger District if it results in a fine.  Or maybe, if you know who's at fault, you just pull them aside and tell them to cut it out.  Thanks,

 

Marc

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