(6) The Untimely Death Of A Legend
(8) Groomers and Radio Beacons
Respect For The Trail
In the 25 years that I have been riding in Quebec I have always felt it my due
responsibility to try and leave the trail in the same condition as I found it so that other
riders can get the same amount of enjoyment as myself, By accelerating at a moderate
rate and not trenching coming out of every corner with the throttle pegged is a good start,
Lets face it nobody likes riding bumps, Don’t get me wrong I like to ride fast and have
had some close calls myself but I use speed when the trail allows it for the most part and
most importantly try to stay on my own side of the trail at all times, there are always the
unexpected corners that just come out of nowhere and you just can’t avoid going off, a
couple of those a winter are enough for me and are usually a wake up call to be a bit more
cautious, If you are finding yourself in this position on a daily basis then your days are
pretty much numbered, I see so many riders that ride fast but need to use the whole trail
in order to accommodate their speed, cutting off blind corners and riding down the
middle of the trail assuming that there is no one coming the other way and ride this way
100% of the time that they are on the trail, this is very dangerous and quite honestly is
frightening to me and always present in my mind while riding, I try to look through all
corners for oncoming traffic and stay tight to my side, I would like to be around to ride
for another 25 years.
When we started riding in the ST Zenon area in the late 70s there were very few riders
and it seemed to be relatively safe and we were a lot younger and a bit more reckless
ourselves, Today however it is a whole new ball game out there the number of riders in
that area has grown tremendously and with that the concern for safety on the trail is
magnified proportionally, Please ride safe and have as much fun as you can, this is a great
sport that you chose and Quebec is the best place in the world to ride.
David
