Silly Moab
I enjoy your magazine. I was, however, disappointed in Phil Howell's editorial on Moab (Aug. '07). I understand his frustration, and many of his points are well-taken, but we all need to remember that the Red Rock 4-Wheelers does an excellent job of working with local, state, and federal officials in an effort to keep the Moab trails open year-round for everyone's use. I think it is very little to ask that unless you are a paying participant at the Easter Safari that you stay away that week and allow the club to have exclusive use of the trails to put on its event.
I have been to the Easter Safari twice and plan to go in 2008. I enjoy the town and the event, but I did find that too many nonpaying people show up and seem purposely to try to disrupt the organized trail rides. This creates difficulties for the organizers who, by the way, are volunteers. I do agree that if you are a paying participant in Moab the police should be more understanding and allow nonconforming rigs to ride the roads to the trails and to get around town to the motels and restaurants.
I was in Las Cruces in early 2007 and in 2006 and I saw a large number of people on the trails who were not paying participants. Here again we have a local club doing a great job of keeping the trails open for all of us, and a few noncaring and nonthinking people take advantage of these volunteers' efforts just to save a few dollars. I also notice that many of those who elect not to be part of the group are the ones who leave trash all over the place for others to deal with. I suggest that we all do our part to promote clubs like the ones in Moab and New Mexico that do so much for off-road enthusiasts.
I like your idea of promoting Monticello as another area to go wheeling, and I hope a local club will take on this as a challenge to help all of us have more places to ride. You might also consider Harlan, Kentucky. We went there to ride a couple of years ago and were warmly welcomed to town by the mayor who came by the motel to tell us how to get maps of the area and give us phone numbers to call to get other information. The people in the town are friendly, and there are enough places to eat and stay to accommodate small groups. If you are going to promote the newer areas to ride, Harlan, Kentucky, should be on your list.
Another place that has local and regional clubs doing a great job is Tellico. They put on a great ride in October of every year, but they too are plagued with nonpaying people showing up and taking advantage of a group of volunteers who work tirelessly to help keep the trails clean and open for all of us. At this event, you can see fresh litter and beer and soda cans left on every trail. As the organized events and leaders of those trail rides pay close attention to their groups' actions, we can be sure the nonpaying groups are the ones making the mess.
I like to go and ride with a few friends, but I also go with organized events. I enjoy both, but I would not go ride in an area that had an organized event that week or weekend and not pay my fair share. There are too many weeks in the year to pick one that interferes with an organized event if I do not wish to be a part of that event. If we all do not act more responsibly and help others who are trying to do the right thing, we will wake up one morning and find the only places to ride are on private property at the invitation of the owner or in private, ride-for-a-fee parks.