{"id":687,"date":"2010-07-30T16:15:08","date_gmt":"2010-07-31T00:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=687"},"modified":"2010-07-30T19:09:36","modified_gmt":"2010-07-31T03:09:36","slug":"san-marcos-its-not-a-fing-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mountainbikebill.com\/blog\/?p=687","title":{"rendered":"San Marcos – Its not a F$%)ing Trail!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tripe (noun)<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Lining of the stomach of a ruminant (especially a bovine) used as food.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. A slang term synonymous with rubbish, in the sense of something of little value<\/span>, or nonsense.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0(see also San Elijo Trails)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Definition #2 particularlythe “something of little value” is the theme of this rant.<\/p>\n

    So for the last week or so I have been investigating some of trails not to far from my hood.\u00a0 The San Elijo Hills area.\u00a0\u00a0 I was not expecting much and I was quite underwhelmed.\u00a0 More than just underwhelmed, I was pissed at what the developer was allowed to get away with calling trails.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

    The Gardens View Tripe – Are you f$%^ing kidding me!\u00a0 When two trucks can pass one another on it, it is not a trail.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a dirt road.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

    I laughed out loud at this sign.\u00a0 “Give Life A Chance”.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What the sign from the San Elijo Hills Development Company should say is “YOU need to give life a chance, because\u00a0WE have already bulldozed all the habitat in this area”<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

    Take a look at the crap they have on their website.\u00a0 18 miles of trails.\u00a0\u00a0 There is less than one mile of trail in this development.\u00a0\u00a0 There are\u00a0over 17 miles of Dirt Sidewalk Pathway Tripe throughout this development.\u00a0\u00a0 Try a little truth in advertising.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The Double Peak Tripe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The “trail” is the dirt sidewalk on the side of the pavement and then starts up the hill.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Where is the natural outdoor experience here?\u00a0 You have either pavement or a cement gutter on one side and a wooden rail fence to keep from even contacting nature on the other.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of this climb is compacted and absolutely smooth decomposed granite.\u00a0 It is a nearly sterile outdoor experience where you never escape development.\u00a0\u00a0 I have been on treadmills that were only slightly less interesting.\u00a0\u00a0 If you can drive\u00a0a Ferrari or a Prius on it, it is not a trail, it is TRIPE!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \"\"\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Do I even need to say it, “It is\u00a0not a F$%^ing Trail!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 TRIPE, TRIPE, TRIPE!\u00a0 This is part of the 18 miles that San Elijo is selling as an attraction.<\/p>\n

    \"\"\u00a0<\/p>\n

    The Lake San Marcos Tripe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 PAVED!\u00a0\u00a0 I will not buy any blabage about American Disabilites Act Access with this “trail”.\u00a0\u00a0 What this picture does not show is how stupidly steep this thing is.\u00a0 There is no Rascal, Humaround or any other battery powered mobility chair that is going to get up this thing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The city has a formula for how many miles of trail the community should have for its size and population.\u00a0\u00a0 The mileage of this tripe counts towards meeting that\u00a0trail requirement.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0\u00a0It could mean less funding for real trails in the future because the city already has\u00a0its mileage.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

    This is \u00a0part of the “Make A Wish Trail”.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I sure did make a wish.\u00a0 I wish there were more trails like this in the area.\u00a0\u00a0 This IS a trail.\u00a0 Part of it looks to be pre-developement but portions of it are obviously newer.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    This is\u00a0 the “Secret Trail”\u00a0 aka Trail 90.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While it is fairly short this is good stuff that not only offers a\u00a0high quality outdoor experience it is substainually less impacting on existing habitat.\u00a0 This is the best legal and sanctioned trail out here.\u00a0\u00a0 It is also a legacy trail from before the develeopment started.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    Okay so maybe I’m being rash and\u00a0a trail snob but this is some of the worst stuff I have seen in an urban area interfacing \u00a0to open space in San Diego County yet.\u00a0\u00a0 The dirt pathways have their place down between the homes, but running this crap all the way up into the open space is just dumb.\u00a0\u00a0 It does not meet the needs of the users who would venture up that far and it needlessly destroyed even more habitat by making the “trails”\u00a0 three to five\u00a0times wider than\u00a0they need to be.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Arrrrrrrgh, What a nearly complete failure on the part of\u00a0those charged with the oversight of this development.\u00a0\u00a0 I’m not sure if this failure is due to incompetence, ignorance, or just a simple lack of caring but it certainly did occur.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    You can download a map of all this Tripe <\/a>\u00a0here and go see for yourself.\u00a0\u00a0 While it\u00a0is a good workout it\u00a0is not a high quality outdoor experience.\u00a0\u00a0 If you disagree, you need to start looking for some new places to ride as you are missing out on the good stuff elsewhere in the county.<\/p>\n

    More Stuff Like This<\/h3><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Utah Weekend \u2013 Wire Mesa<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t A Coast-to-Coast Big Laguna Ride<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Utah Pages Added \u2013 Updated<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n<\/div>