Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2004 10:12:11 -0800

A message from Ernie Crist

Subject: FW: mountain bikers

This is one typical complaint. There are plenty more available.

Dear Mr. Crist

Let me first apologize for phoning you home # at 5.30 pm I simply pulled your # from the internet.I certainly didn't want to disturb you may be you should post your email on the internet to avoid this from happening again I do like my privacy also sorry again.

My name is .......... Dempsey Road and I speak for most residents who reside on this street. (East of Mountain Highway towards Braemar).We bought our home to retire, to enjoy the mountain trails walk our dogs enjoy the tranquility, the flora and fauna but during the last 2 years this area has become a zoo like Disneyland. The district decided beautifully to make Coleman street and up restricted parking and what everyone here knew was that it simply moved the problem to our area. SUV's park all along both sides of the road, we see them changing clothing, urinate in the rhododendrons, empty beer cans all over, race down hill from upper Dempsey at neck breaking speeds down hill and it is just a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt or dies, such as cars backing out of drive ways, kids playing on the drive way and a ball goes on to the road and its business as usual, we have to get a few fatalities before the government takes action no matter how often they have been warned.

We wrote a letter to the North Shore News, to no avail, ( we knew they would not publish it as they are getting paid for advertising for the biking shops and with a $ 25 million bonanza annually to the North Shore as they report, ( North Shore News February 15 2004) little chance they will print residents concerns.

We have walked the Baden Powell trail for a decade, and nobody gives a damn about the erosion of the trails, the mountain bikes run the topsoil off, and the heavy rain water transforms the walking trials into muddy streams, tree roots are getting exposed, trees die and fall down. Biker enthusiasts are happily using chain saws higher up to fall trees to make jumping ramps, the sediments are rushing down and clogging culverts, resulting in excessive water in our back yards, fences shifting and its much more fun to bike through the bush, destroying new rejuvenating growth in fact to put it in simple terms they are destroying the ecosystem big time in the name of sport. I have already racked up large veterinary bills for glass cuts in my dogs pads, ( from discarded can tabs and broken bottles) which was once ( 3 years ago) a pristine forest. Constant advertising in the North Shore News portraying this area as the Mecca for mountain biking has pretty well destroyed our peaceful life in this area.

My wife and I have been faithfully breaking down the jumping ramps on the pedestrian trails, we have had to jump aside for foul mouthed bikers racing down the pedestrian trails, taking our dogs out of their way and now we walk with a baseball bat as we will take the law in our own hands to protect our dogs and ourselves. We fondly remember the wildlife we had around this area but they are all but gone now, chased away by this "sport" The North Shore News further advised of a Mountain Bike Festival spanning Capilano to Seymour during August this year, , let the thousands of bikers come and ruin our forest even more. Interesting to attend an open house in a Lynn Valley School where the District proudly showed plans of making parking spaces so that more bikers can ruin our forest ( last year) . Don't misunderstand me, I am not an environmental freak, we are middle aged people living peacefully paying a hefty property tax to get away from the crime, hassle etc from down town, to enjoy nature, which is rapidly being destroyed in the name of sport. Get these people off the North Shore and let them wreck the ecosystem in their own communities why ours??????

Mr Crist, I read your article and anything you can do to put an end to this destruction would be greatly appreciated.

Video of illegal North Shore trailbuilding: http://www.norco.com/extras/videogallery.php?id=48&NorcoRegionId=466cf89d954910147d96f416cc94d029 (click on Ryan Leech's video)