tsn73

You need to chill out then. What other people choose to carry should have no bearing on you whatsoever; what they choose not to carry is the only thing that might affect you. I’m a bit of a minimalist myself but it’s the guys who ride w/o a tube or pump or multi-tool and then want/need my help that affect my riding; not the dudes with a 12 lb pack even though they are doing a 1-hour loop.

@Kern1: So is that whole riding area at Paskapoo slopes done now? I grew up in Calgary and was contemplating a move back and was trying to figure out where in the city you could actually ride before work and that seemed like one of maybe 2 or 3 spots. As much as we bitch about the SoCal trail access issues, it's one of the few places I'm aware of where you can have a niche-type career in this massive economy down here and still have trails close enough to ride before or after work and even some very technical trails too; of course the good ones are all illegal but until about the last 8 months weren't being enforced too vigorously (Laguna beach area). Once you get used to riding 5-6x/week instead of per month it's really tough to leave, even despite the fact you have to be on-edge because you know you are poaching and could get caught.

I'm in Orange County and this is happening here too. We as mountain bikers lose out twice. As an example near my community, first we lost a bunch of trails that were there for years for the actual development but then second, in order to grant the developer the right to proceed then they had to designate land as "wilderness" that bikes aren't allowed on. There is even a 1/2 percent sales tax that goes to the OCTA that works the same way. In order to get approval to build new roads, they have to designate land as wilderness so they are using public money from the tax to buy up plots of land to develop as wilderness. Then, because their is such an anti-bike slant among the powers-that-be in these parts, the lands get opened up occasionally for docent-led hikes and horseback rides but no biking. I've only lived down here 5 years from coastal BC but it's been an amazing contrast in terms of trail access and attitudes towards mountain biking.