Thousands of miles of alpine singletrack in the west could be closed to bikers in the next few years. The problem is that a lot of trails that are opened to bikers right now are old game trails or Native American trails, and they were never designed for the rigors of cycling. Mountain bikers contest that they don’t cause more erosion than hikers or horseback riders, but they also cover more ground and there are a lot more of them. Though in their defense, bikes don’t take massive dumps in the middle of the trail like horses. The Continental Divide trail would be the biggest to get shutdown, and the move seems to be picking up momentum among public land guardians.

This is one of those cases where it’s easy to see both sides. They’re trying to protect the land in its most natural state, but cycling is healthy, fun, good for the environment, and hell-it’s National Park-that’s our land, too. Instead of complaining, the IMBA needs to figure out how to change the conversation from fighting shutdowns to making the trails more bike friendly.