Did some riding today.........

[gowen]

Well, I fired my KX to life today to get the dirt/rust off  . I rode it around and did some slides and wheelies. I decide to call my friends to do some drag racing. I call them and they tell me a rumor of the park being closed. So, I call the park and they closed. For good. 

I ask if there is any hope for a reopen and said no way in hell. Regulations closed it down and it will be sold off. That is the biggest riding area and the ONLY dirt drag strip here within' 100+ miles. I have no idea what I'm going to do now, I've lost about 20 riding areas here in the last few years. The city is growing and buying out ALL the land. There is actually no place to ride here within' 60 miles and now I have no time to ride because I can bearly dedicate even a day to ride.

The only place I have left is a small MX track not even close enough to throw a stone at and now no more trails. It's like losing a best friend, I don't even know what to do. 

[Timbowe]

Unfortunatly this world revolves more and more around money . Governments who dont want to fork out for anything at all make legislation which force these places to shut up. Also land is becoming more and more valuable. You should see where outfits down here will build now days. I've had some cool riding spots stolen as well. Its the next generation of riders that I feel sorry for. Political correctness also has a lot to answer for.

[metallicarebal]

It is not quite the same dillema but I am experiencing the same problem here in eastern PA. Only difference is everything out here is getting strip mined, it sux. There was a place about 5 miles from my house where everyone used to gather and climb these massive clay hills every sunday. Well, once I got my bike out this spring and went to have a look at them, I couldnt believe my eyes. Where there was once trees and exremely varied terrain, there was nothing left but a gigantic, flat feild of mud as far as you could see. There were 2 dozers pushing the last of the dirt till it was flat. I stopped and dismounted my bike, proceding to give the dozer operators the finger and hollering every word in the four letter book as loud as I could. Now I just wander if there is even going to be anywhere left to ride when my kid is finally old enough to experience the joy of riding, or is he just going to have to sit on his a$$ 24 hours a day and play video games and watch tv. 

[gowen]

I agree, we had a place here a few years back that was my riding heaven and everybodys within' 50sq miles, it had about 20 miles of trails each way  and 100s combined a track and a drag strip about 10 minutes from my house max. It was torn down for a new highway project which is now complete. I drive on it occasionally on my bikes (street) and try to find the trails through the woods on each side. Now this place is gone, there is absolutely nothing left around here. Bearly even a stretch of powerlines, but they aren't even a mile long and new development is now taking even those over. I just can't believe that this place is now gone. RIP to the last standing riding area around here.

[Danger4u2]

 We had a good riding area in Okla. City at Lake Draper. Known for B B and B, broken bikes and bones. Alot of tight wooded trails, some good open flat areas and a dirt road running through the middle of it that cars could also drive on. Not a good idea. The biggest problem was no designated area for beginners. You would have a mix of riders on nondirectional trails, some on big bikes hauling butt, meeting head on with very young kids on their first ride on their first bike. Not a good mix, what are the parents thinking?
I rode that place many times, I started riding there in 1976 on a Honda 90. It was a street bike with all of 3" of fork travel. It was free to ride back then. In the late 80's they started charging $2.00 a day or a 1 year pass for $25.00.
 All that went by the wayside to build a golf course. The new riding area is south of the lake and about 1/4 the size. It's $10.00 a day to ride, I don't know how much for a year pass. A friend told me the whole thing is maintained by volunteers. Pay money and keep up the trails myself? Pay and do all the work? No way! They did make an area for beginners, a low speed area kind of like a no wake area on the lake. I have not been back since the closing. It took about 10 months before the new area was open and people found new areas to ride. Not much turnout at the new riding area at the lake. People I have talked to that have ridden there said they won"t go back.
 Now everyone is riding the river where we ride. Until about a year and a half ago, we would be the only people riding the area I'm talking about. We made all the trails and tracks. No more peace and quite when we stopped to have a beer.
 After it's all said and done, I heard the golf course is lame.
Danger

[Paul]

I feel your pain, AZ was on a rampant land grab and a few smart OHV'ers got together (http://www.ridingarizona.com) and fought the man - err, woman in this case - Gov Napolitano. Point is, if you can find or start such a group in your area to work with the BLM and other state facilities, you may find that the State doesn't understand the impact of the OHV community. A case study was presented here in AZ that showed in black in white the OHV commuity injects ~ 1 billion dollars statewide (parts, sales, state land fees, local tracks, fuel, taxes, etc...) - into the AZ economy. This along with OHV'ers policing the riding areas and picking trash and other debris has lead to reversals of land closures in AZ and the same impact is being felt in the ISDRA (Glamis) in Southern California.

I don't want to sound like I have all the answers or that you're not doing anything about but if you're not protecting / fighting for your riding privilege then you will lose them. The tree hugging Eco-Nazis are real and they are motivated. Most aren't well informed - they don't need to be, no one is fighting them.

[gowen]

Paul, I was not aware that there were any wacko's here in NC. If I would have known, I have a few friends in law and would have had a chat with them. But, unfortunately, this was privately owned land that the gov. shut down. That really sucks, because that means my riding will go down from monthly/weekly riding to yearly riding. I don't even know if there is another dirt drag for 200-300 miles (VA?). It looks like I might have to throw in the towel for that too.