Uneasy lies the truce between footfalls and wheels in the forest. Multitudes of narrow circles of rubber coated steel press harsh upon wet ground, forming grooves the rain cannot escape and making waterways of once sound walking paths. Slowly, those small streams erode the ground until the soil under walkers’ boots slips away to flood flatter tracks with wide, deep, muddy pools.
Only rarely speeding machinists signal their approach, startling meditative wanderers on foot, sometimes causing painful clashes. These wheelers travel often in bunches, loud their shouts to one another, startling wildlife and chasing away the spiritual aspect of the natural woodland.
But we tolerate their speed and their enthusiasm for the adrenalin rush of steep descents and twisting gyres over ground once reserved for four footed beasts. All we ask in return for our lack of blame and condemnation is a little fellow-feeling, a modicum of consideration, a friendly signal of their approach, so we may all share the joys of being in the trees.
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Some of my pictures appear in the Gallery.
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Stuart Aken 
Yes! Even on walking trails that are not anywhere near the forest, I’m startled by bikers who approach out of nowhere and with no warning!
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One or two here will call out when approaching, Barbara, but we rarely here a bell or any other mechanical warning. I think the men (it’s usually men) think it’s somehow not macho to use a bell!
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Lovely lines, Stuart!
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Thanks, Damyanti.
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They definitely need to use the trails designed for cycling (and their manners, too).
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Yes, Lynette. I’m afraid this is mostly a generational divide, although there are a few older cyclists out there. There is a dedicated area of the forest set aside for them, with well-prepared and maintained tracks, but many of them like to develop their own trails. Unfortunately, they show little awareness or concern for the environmental damage they do with their narrow wheels along tracks that are often steep and winding. One day, there’ll be a serious accident because of this lack of consideration. But we keep alert and step back off the paths at their approach.
And we don’t let them spoil our appreciation of this great natural asset.
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We frequently encounter them when we’re hiking in the hills around Penticton. They are moving at tremendous speeds and expect everyone to get out of the way for them. I can be stubborn about this and refuse to move off the trail for them (the trails we use are quite wide and there’s more than enough space for hikers if the cyclists go single file). They zoom along, sometimes three or four abreast and start ringing their bells if you don’t clear the trail. I refuse to. Go single file and go around me. My tax dollars pay for the trails too.
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Bells would be a real improvement here, Lynette. The men (usually they’re men) seem to think even owning a bell for their bike is some sign of weakness. I wish it was the law here to have such a warning device. But it’s their ‘gang’ culture that is the most disturbing aspect; strength in numbers, I suppose.
Only the main trails here are wide enough to allow passage. The tracks we use most of the time are barely wide enough in places for us to walk hand in hand, as we prefer, and we sometimes have to step off them to allow other walkers, or runners, to pass. I think the lack of consideration is a sign of the times: we have world leaders who display all the signs of narcissism and selfishness, so it’s hardly a surprise to find the sheep following the example of the shepherd.
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I like your analogy of the sheep and shepherd. I’m sure you have heard of the so-called Freedom Protests (a blogger friend calls them the Freedumb Protests) in this country. All these “leaders” were shuffling their feet and trying to think of ways they could use it to get re-elected. Meanwhile, buckets of US money and Americans coming here to shore up the illegal blockades these “protesters” started and a tremendous amount of financial harm occurring.
The latest polls show that 78% of Canadians want the police to deal effectively with this issue through arrests, removal of driver’s licenses, vehicle impoundment, etc. We didn’t even hear from our PM for FIVE days while people in Ottawa were being driven nuts (to say nothing of the aggressive, threatening behaviours they have had to deal with too) by these insurrectionists. They have been the equivalent of the greedy trail cyclists – totally self-centered.
Sorry for taking over your post with my rant, but you’re right, we have narcissistic leaders. And all narcissists can do is look like they can lead; they can’t actually carry it out.
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Never worry about commenting on here, Lynette. Your input is always welcome.
I had heard about the Freedumb Protests (I believe they relate to the need for mask wearing?). But, at present, we have enough to concern us here in the UK, with corruption, incompetence, cheating and lying so deeply embedded in our government that it appears to be accepted as normal by their supporters. Today’s leaders are seriously neglecting their voters in many places. It feels as though there is a worldwide rise in protest, some of it nonsensical but much based in rational concern at the many aspects of health, wealth, and the climate emergency. Now we have the internet it is possible to spread the word all over our planet and that is clearly starting to make a difference to the role of public protest, which is why our current government is doing its best to prevent future disagreement by trying to pass new legislation that will make effective protest impossible.
All we can do is raise awareness and try to galvanise opposition to the right-wing nationalism and desire for control of our daily lives, I guess.
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Thanks so much, Stuart. I have been following your situation. Maddening, I would say, but we’re not much better off here, and the opposition is not a choice at all.
Our “protest” movement is definitely non-sensical. Some of the “protesters” say that they want mask and vaccine mandates removed and others want to overthrow the federal government. So silly. In this country, health is a provincial jurisdiction; the federal government has no control over covid mandates. Yikes.
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Aye, Lynette, our ‘opposition’ is no opposition at all but a group of people continually at war with each other often over either irrelevant or superficial detail. They don’t appear to realise that a combined left wing approach would at least get the hard right out of power and then they could at least begin the process of restoring some social justice to replace the current rule of wealth and privilege. But, of course, a lot of that ineffective rhetoric is caused by poor education, which the Tory party have ensured keeps most of the population ignorant.
And, of course, all over the world there exist groups of dissatisfied people only too ready to join the ‘rent-a-mob’ brigade that can be encouraged to damage legitimate protest by acts of violence. Yikes indeed!
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The one difference that I can see is that here, the Tories have a lot of trouble getting elected at the federal level. They amalgamated with progressives and hardliners about 30 years ago, so they are frequently seen as too right-wing for Canadian tastes (it has often been said that the Liberals are the “natural ruling party”). The problem is that our minority liberal government, shored up by a more left-wing party, knows this and has become so entitled and complacent. At the same time, I’m not going to vote for someone else … I would dread having someone like your PM.
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Being ruled by a fool who gathers more fools about him is definitely NOT a recipe for happiness. I’d love to see us use a proper PR system of voting, which would result in a coalition government where decisions would take longer but would be more fully discussed. There are too many laws anyway, so a slower process would be an advantage to everyone except the lawyers!
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I agree about PR. Our PM was first elected on a platform in favour of PR. A few months into his mandate, he suddenly dropped it with little explanation other than to say that it could allow a fringe party to take control. My opinion is that he realised that PR can lead to a lot of minorities and felt threatened. Well, he’s wound up with that anyway, twice in a row.
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Doesn’t seem like too much to ask! I am sure some of the youngsters/oldsters will comply out of consideration, and unfortunately, some will never defer from their own personal enjoyment. One can only hope and tolerate.
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Aye, Brenda, there’s a wide gulf between the adrenalin junky and the meditative rambler.
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