I love skate skiing and fatbiking. I cant say that I am an expert at either, but I can say that I have met and made friends with wonderful people doing both. I think our focus should be on preserving this amazing resource we have the privilege of sharing. Here is what I will be sending to Mr. Neiss. Dear Mr. Neiss, I believe that the skiing community should work together with the biking community to improve and expand this wonderful resource we are fortunate enough to have right in our backyard. It is after all public land and land that was intended to be enjoyed by the public for recreational enjoyment. I have found fatbiking to be a great sport that is encouraging a whole new group of individuals to enjoy our winter season outdoors. I have been a skate skier for a number of years and am now also a fatbiker. I am somewhat baffled by the petition that some skiers are planning to put before you. In my fatbiking and skiing experience on the VASA trail system I have actually encountered more damage from deep ski blade grooves than from fat tires. I find that as long as my tire pressure is low and I don’t go out when the conditions are too warm, my footprint is not any worse on my fatbike than when I am on skis. In fact, for me personally, I think falling on my skis makes the most impact. I have also noticed that when conditions are warm and TART puts out a warning to stay off the trails more skiers disregard this warning that fatbikers. I, like many have heard the complaint from a few skiers that there is a danger of skier/fatbike collisions on the trail. In my experience both riding and skiing, I have never encountered any danger. In fact I find there is a greater danger of me colliding with a bike on the TART trail while running or walking in the summer, than I have ever encounter on the VASA trail during Winter. Most skiers can move much faster on their skis than I can on my fatbike and I think that is the case with most fatbikers, excluding a few elite riders. The worse skiing injury I know of this year happened at the VASA race and it was between two skiers not a skier and a fatbike. I have been fortunate enough to fatbike in Marquette (where they have a great shared use trail system), Grayling, and Mackinac Island and was well received by all of these communities. They all seem to see the value this sport has to offer and will continue to offer on tourism and winter enjoyment of their trail systems. It would be a shame to see these areas gain the benefits of this new sport while our own area misses out. The fact is that this sport attracts a younger and more diverse group than skiing does is a key factor in maintaining financial support for our trail system in the future. I love skiing, I really do and have spent many hours in pursuit of doing it well, but the fact remains that I have fallen due to ski tracks many times and am yet to fall due to a fat tire. I believe we need to stop and remember that we are all better and stronger as a group in defending our beautiful natural recourses than as divided individuals. Do we really want to be a community that puts up signs discriminating against one group over another? Both groups have such a strong commonality, in the love for the outdoors, physical fitness and winter. Let’s not make the mistake of focusing on the trees and in doing so lose the forest.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 02:53:33 +0000
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