| April 21, 2021
Cycle News Wheelspin
COLUMN
Advocacy, Not A-holery
By Keith Dowdle
The Oxford Dictionary defines advocacy as “Public support for or recommendations of a particular cause.”
The Urban Dictionary defines a-holery as “Actions or behavior consistent with being an a-hole.”
What’s the point? When we (motorcyclists) or our peers behave like a-holes, no one in the general public will ever advocate for us or be in favor of what we need. What do we need? Roads and trails open for use by motorcyclists.
Last weekend I witnessed an absolute case of a-holery by four of my fellow motorcyclists. I don’t know who they were or where they’re from, but everyone in the small rural community that I live in are, once again, talking about “a-holes on motorcycles.” Now, this is not a new gripe from this wonderful little community in the north Georgia mountains that I retired to (largely because of the fantastic riding opportunities in the area), but rather an ongoing outcry from locals who are sick and tired of being disrespected by dirt bike riders who ride on trails that are posted closed or across private land, and by loud-piped street bikes that rattle their windows when they go by their homes. What happened last weekend is just another example of how a few bad apples spoil the bunch.
So, here’s what I witnessed: In this small community there is no trash service. Every Saturday people take their trash to a “transfer station” where there’s a truck backed into a pit, and people toss their trash in it. The operator of the transfer station is there and collects a fee based on the amount of trash you dispose of. While I was there, along with probably five or six other locals, four dirt bikes came through the gate, toward where we were all standing and chatting (the transfer station ends up being the local chat station as well, and you’re lucky if you get away within a half hour, since everyone wants to talk for a bit). Anyway, as these four riders made their way toward us, I figured that they’d see that there’s nowhere to go and turn around, but the operator of the station knew exactly what was about to happen, and he started waving his arms and yelling for them to stop. But rather than stopping, two went on one side of him and two on the other as they proceeded to go through the transfer station and up a trail that is clearly closed. It has several large concrete K-rails and a sign stating No Motorized Vehicles. I was shocked and frankly very pissed off at what I had just witnessed. Once the dirt bikes had made their way out of sight, the locals all turned and looked at me because they know that I’m dirt bike rider myself. I apologized on my peers’ behalf, but my anger at these four irresponsible riders remained.
This wound cuts deep for me because, having made my living in the motorcycle industry, I’ve worked hard my entire life doing whatever I can to promote my passion for motorcycles to the non-riding public in a positive way. I’m no angel by any means—I go too fast and I’ve probably ridden more than one or two trails that are not legal for motorcycles, so I understand the desire that we all have and the frustration that we all face when trails and roads are closed to motorcycles. I also understand the arguments that those opposed to our presence offer up, especially after witnessing the incident at the transfer station.
All of this leads to the point that I want to make here, and that is that we need public support in order to get more trails open and to keep from having more roads closed to motorcyclists, but we’re never going to gain that support by acting like a-holes. What we need is advocacy. Out West groups like Stewards of the Sierra do a fantastic job in collaborating with local communities and other trail users to ensure that trails remain open for motorcyclists. Nationally, the Blue Ribbon Coalition advocates for OHV access in almost every state in the country. The AMA is currently working to ensure that the Recreational Trails Program Full Funding Act of 2021 gets passed into law. According to the AMA website, “This bill would increase RTP funding from $84 million to at least $250 million annually. These funds are used for trail construction, education and maintenance for motorized and non-motorized trail users.”
I encourage you to seek out and join a local trail advocacy organization in your area. As more and more people gravitate to wild places because of pandemics, overcrowding in cities and so on, motorcyclists and other motorized trail users will be more and more threatened with trail closures. So the next time you’re out riding, wave to people, talk to people, show your human side, and let people know that motorcyclists are good people. That’s the only way that we’ll be able to continue doing what we love in the places that we enjoy most. But whatever you do, don’t be an a-hole.CN