Sept. 19, 2014, 11:02 a.m. -  Cave Johnson

#!markdown I view it as irresponsible. People who 'over prepare' tend to be people who have seen some $&!* go down. I'm not talking about the people you see 2 km from the trailhead with enough kit to summit Everest, I'm talking about the ones out there that you know are carrying a first aid kit, a sharp knife, some duct tape or zip ties, and probably a shell or layer for when Mother Nature decides you need to be reminded of her awesome power. These are the people who can Macgyver their bike (or yours!!) back together with a stick and chewing gum after some sort of catastrophic failure. What she is doing is irresponsibe (IMO) because she is turning herself into a liability. If something goes wrong out there for her, and that can happen pretty quick, her chances of self rescue become pretty slim. So now she is a liabilty. I know if I came along and saw a rider down, with injury or mechanical, I personally feel I carry some sort of responsibility to render assistance. What about search and rescue? Who is going to pay for that when she doesn't report back after twelve hours because she taco'd a wheel and then got caught out for a night? All these are what if's and worse case scenario type stuff - but when you venture beyond your local, highly trafficed trails into deep, highly exposed backcountry terrain it becomes your duty to think about those things. Be a resource in the backcountry, not a liability. Just because you plan ahead to give yourself the best chance of survival if something goes down doesn't mean you aren't getting after it. It means you respect your environment and your own limitations.