I’ve been bothered by reports of asinine behaviour from three riders on WuTang on Wednesday afternoon. Riders were on DH bikes.
Hiker with a dog was walking at the top of WuTang. Riders didn’t provide proper caution when approaching and when the hiker asked them to slow down, they proceeded to yell obscenities; it sounds to me like this was a viscous verbal assault.
Firstly, there are only three authorized trails on Cypress; WuTang is not one of them. Hikers with dogs or young kids have equally as much right to be there (none) as you do. Riders need to be prepared to meet unexpected obstacles around the next turn - it might be a dog but it also might be a family sitting down in the middle of the trail. Foot traffic on Cypress is way up, especially on the trails above the first switchback. Your days of blindly flying down these trails on DH bikes are probably over unfortunately. The good news is that you can theoretically do that on the authorized trails
I understand what happens when riders on fast bikes come across people on foot with dogs, I’ve been on both sides of that equation dozens of times. But there is NEVER any reason to verbally assault someone for simply walking in the woods with their dog. Your asinine behaviour makes us all look bad. The woman you yelled at probably rides Cypress more than you three do, but had this been one of the (many) people who are currently writing letters to DWV and BPP about how now that mountain bikers have their own authorized area around Mystery that bikes should be prohibited from the rest of Cypress, they’d have written to the NorthShore News or the District about what horrible people us bikers are. You three made us all look bad on Wednesday - including the many people who are fighting for your ability to continue to ride these trails. You are not entitled to ride them- it’s a privilege.
Perhaps if you realized that you were not anonymous behind your full faces and goggles you would have thought twice about your behaviour.
Lessons for us all, please expect to come across hikers with dogs on Cypress (especially close to the first switchback), it’s a multiuse area and others have as much right to be there as you (again, nobody has any right to be there) and FFS don’t be a$$holes when you come across others
Many people are working hard to retain an ability to ride Cypress’ trails outside of those which are authorized. It’s important that we maintain a positive reputation amongst those who decide if we get to keep riding there or not. Let’s be positive contributors to the community as often as possible. Happy trails to all!
