Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

I too enjoy hiking and because this area is so close to home my family will hike here on occasion. The worst part of hiking there is the off-leash dogs, not the interactions with cyclist.
— January 27, 2018 7:47 p.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

I have just come to the realization that "mjvande" is Mike Vandeman. Note this comment from the MTBR forums: "Hi Mjvande aka Mike. hope you are well. Mike is a well known American mountain bike hater, that spends his time regularly trolling any news about mountain bikers. If you google him you will find that according to the internet he has been arrested and tried in the US for attacking mountain bikers with saws. He has no idea of where this event took place or on what type of trail were ridden and has no understanding of UK access laws as apposed to US access law. Mike also has injunction preventing him from placing comments on many mountain bike forums and news posts in the US hence the reason he trolls Uk posts." http://forums.mtbr.com/california-norcal/whatever… I would like to Suggest to the SD reader that his posts be carefully monitored as he is not from San Diego and thus has not local knowledge of Calavera, Carlsbad or other San Diego Trails.
— January 26, 2018 12:07 p.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

If you think Mountain Bikers don't care about anything but shredding every nature area, you know nothing about mountain bikers. The one day that Fish n Game approved a trail work day at Calavera a number of years ago, Hundreds of Mountain Bikers came out and worked side by side with the Game Warden. SDMBA was out there with a tent, water, etc. Very few if any other user groups came out to dig and move rocks. It was a great example of all the good Mountain Bikers can and will do to help create a multi-use trail system in the park.
— January 26, 2018 11:44 a.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

It is a great reason as to why it should stay as an Park with recreation opportunities. No matter what Fish n Game does, people will go into Calavera and explore, on foot, on horse back or on bikes. Best to work with the existing trail user groups and make legit manged trails. Total closure has not worked in the past, it will never work.
— January 26, 2018 11:40 a.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

Sorry but Calavera has existed as a recreation, farming and mining area for nearly 100 years. It has been well over 100 years since it was a "habitat".
— January 25, 2018 12:09 p.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

You do realize MTB's are only one part of a huuuge user group in Calavera that includes horseback riding, Dog walking, Trail running, gangs tagging large rusting metal tanks and old cement and wooden structures and local homeowners out for evening strolls while drinking wine and smoking Cigars.... All are things I have witnessed regularly in the last year.
— January 25, 2018 12:08 p.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

*“Go back on Google Earth and look at what it looked like ten years ago to what it looks like today: 50 miles of illegal trails have been cut through that sensitive habitat. We’re not talking about a little bit of impact, we’re really talking about tremendous impact. You look at those aerial maps and you can see the vegetation might be 20 percent left of what was there. The extent of ground cover is dramatically reduced, so all of the biological resources have been greatly impacted,” she said.* Ummmm no. This is very wrong. Go back 30 years ago and look at all the off-roading and dirt bikes using the area. Go back 50 years and look at all the Farming that used to be in the area, you can still see tons of left over Cement Pads, Piping and old structures from when the entire area was a big farm. In some places there is big rusting pipes. Go back 80 years and look at the Rock Quarry, with heavy machinery mining away rock from the Volcano. **Calavera has not been "pristine" since before the area was originally settled hundreds of years ago.** Trying to pretend that in the last 10 years a few trails(no where near 50 miles worth) has ruined some sort of pristine environment is a complete lie. Diane Nygaard is not being truthful with her comments. For anyone to even imagine that the area is some sort of sensitive habitat is a joke. Everything in a 360 degree view has been bulldozed in the name of progress. No one called "sensitive habitat" back then. No one seemed to care that this supposed "sensitive habitat" was lost when the Sage Creek High School came in and bull dozed the homes of Coyotes, Rabbits, Mice and a few hiking and biking trails..... If there money for the City behind the destruction of open spaces, the city will allow it. The coastal sage that permeates the Southern Coasts of California is one of the hardiest plants in existence. It can withstand drought very well and is difficult to kill. The animals that live in this area have co-existed with human presence for hundreds of years and their numbers have not diminished, but rather they have flourished. I ride my bike out there once a week and have done so for the last 10 years. I see wildlife in droves, the very wet season we had last winter has really helped to increase the population, there is a healthy and very large pack of Coyotes that live in one of the canyons. I regularly see snakes, rabbits, kangaroo mice, road runners, gnatcatchers, Red Tail Hawks and other wildlife on my weekly rides. Frankly, the Habitat and trail systems would be just fine if Fish n Game just stepped aside and let SDMBA take over stewardship of the trail network.
— January 24, 2018 9:22 a.m.

Mountain-bikers don't want illegal trails either

Well said. Management by total a total closing of land that has been used by the public for decades is not ever going to work. Just 2 weeks ago I was chatting with a woman riding a horse out near the cement pad. This was shortly after the rain we had and the sheer weight of the horse was causing damage to the trails that were soft from the rain. To put ALL the blame on the MTB user group is a major fallacy. I have encountered people out on a stroll through the dry brush drinking wine and smoking cigars.... I am not joking. Major fire hazard and people out for a stroll walking around with hot embers dropping off their lit cigar. If Fish n Game does not want to manage the land, then they need to give up ownership of it to someone who will manage it. Closing it off and telling the users to be happy knowing there is a nature preserve there is never going to work.
— January 24, 2018 9:08 a.m.

San Diego pit bull owners and their detractors

Banning any Breed of Dog is a terrible idea, it is akin to Genocide.
— April 27, 2015 10:38 a.m.

San Diego pit bull owners and their detractors

Dogs off-leash is one of the biggest problems I have ever personally encountered. My wife was attacked by a NON-Pit Bull that was off-leash. My dogs, both pits and both on leash did what they could to protect her. The owner of the Off-Leash dog tried to put all the blame on our "misbehaved" dogs..... Not all humans are qualified to own dogs.
— April 27, 2015 10:26 a.m.