45 Bikes Confiscated by Military

@ rvoi you are correct they were on the east side of the base. And yes it is now a Marine Corps base. There is also plenty of signage along the route the riders were taking. I ride the area often but I access from a different spot that does not require trespassing on the base. There are a number of access points that avoid the base but they require a) a longer drive b) gasp some pavement riding or c) climbing over a ridgeline to start.

Regardless of how you get in, the trail system riders are trying to access is on private land and 100% illegally built. Some
riders may be ignorant of this but most are not. Riders in San Diego are so habituated to trespassing and riding illegal trails without consequence that no one pays any attention to signs. And when enforcement does step up they keep riding as per
usual, only to cry and moan how unjust it is when they get busted.

Don't feel sorry for these people. Many are so entitled that they will cut holes in fences, ride around barriers and vandalize signs. It is this sort of attitude that led to the marine enforcement to begin with. A small number of riders insists on riding further into the base along ridgeline fire roads that are within line of sight of a rifle range that is heavily used. Guess what… when
riders appear up there when the range is hot the training must be halted while the MPs chase after the riders.

While those who get caught are given a significant fine most of these will be reduced significantly or waived entirely in Federal Court. The marines have been citing riders for many years and issued a public warning they would begin confiscating bikes. While this sounds extreme riders will get their bikes back once they appear and pay whatever reduced fine they get off
with. Though I imagine they won’t get off so easy the second time….

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I used to ride there 25 years ago and there were already plenty of signs showing where you shouldn't be. Lots of small white signs in rows with terse threatening language. Nothing to physically stop you, but it's pretty obvious that you are getting really close to a military airstrip in this area. I used to love watching the touch and go practice right at the edge of the fence. Yes, there is a fence around the actual runway! When I saw jeeps, I rode like a banshee, took shortcuts and never had contact with the patrols. It is extremely easy to outrun a vehicle on a bike with all the intersecting narrow trails out there. The Navy ran the base back then, but I think it is run by the Marines now. Maybe they are finally cracking down? I would say the riders are clearly at fault for ignoring the posted signs and you would have to be blind and deaf to not see the base.

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if they were on federal land regulated by the nearest installation they may have needed the appropriate recreational pass for the area… i know they require them for hunting, fishing, and many other activities on a lot of installations for a small, annual fee

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Hmmm. There's some crap reporting going on there. The video mentions that they were surrounded and detained by military officers and that the riders were on federal land, but not that they were on a military base. The text report does though. Assuming the text is correct, that's one hell of a detail to leave out of the video. The video makes it seem like the military is acting inappropriately against it's civilian population, but they're obviously the folks who have jurisdiction on a military base.

Like Cam says in the footnote, there should absolutely be a minimum of some major signage before entering a military base on a trail, but realistically it should be fenced. Not too far from here the border with Mexico has been extensively fortified and militarised over the past 10-15 years, but they don't worry about having even a fence at a military base. Someone's asleep at the wheel.

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