Knob Magazine

Apparently my travel plans to Flagstaff are well timed to get one last ride in on Secret Trail. As part of the Forest Valley Restoration Project one of Flag’s most unique rides is being “re-routed” to an already existing trail. Forest service doublespeak aside, the reaction to the decision in Flagstaff has riders screaming bloody trail closure.

While I love the Flag bike scene, good judgment isn’t one of its hallmarks. Take this recent post on drunk cyclist for instance that envisions the closure of secret trail as part of an environmental conspiracy dead set on the eradication of motorized recreation. In this specific iteration, he argues, the Mexican Spotted Owl is the Trojan horse ready to bring the mountain bike castle crashing to the ground.

In the grand scheme of political bad ideas, coming down on the against a spotted owl ranks just below wearing a red armband to a production of Anne Frank. Neither environmentalism or motorcyclists is the enemy here, the enemy is ignorance or at the very least apathy

Several comments about the trail closure seem to focus on three things, first apparent futility of closing a trail when a road runs directly through the same habitat, second, there are not user issues associated with the particular part of trail, so why close it, and third, the suspicious similarity of the protected habitat to such a classic Flagstaff trail. As for the first, a quick read of the plan reveals the plan originally included a closure of Freidlein Prairie Road, that was defeated by other “mechanical” users, not the forest service, during the review period. Moreover, the decision to get rid of the trail was less due to user conflict, that use in general.

As for the conspicuous similarity between the protected area and the trail it may have something to do with the mere 300 or so acres of old growth forest the Fort Valley area. Of course the only way one would have known that Secret ran though such a unique environ would have to, I dunno, ride the trail.