Mountain bikers, equestrians try to play nice on trails

Auburnjournal.com - Full Article

5/29/12

With a growing community of mountain bike riders, equestrians are trying to hold onto their trails

By Justin A. Lawson Journal Staff Writer

The scenic and challenging trails in the Auburn area have become a favorite for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. With the pleasant weather and the American River as a backdrop to many of the trails it’s easy to see why, but the swelling numbers of mountain bikers have forced a competition for trail time with equestrians.

“The mountain bike community is just growing and growing and they’re just riding out there on some of the horse trails and we encounter a lot of that,” said Joe Larkin, president of the Gold Country Endurance Riders.

On a busy weekend you can find a number of cars parked along the Foresthill Divide Loop with bike racks on the roof. While the trail is designated a multi-use trail, mountain bikers have basically taken over the trail, which was rated one of the top 5 rides in Northern California by Yahoo!.

The trails on the loop are narrow with several blind corners that are challenging for mountain bikers to avoid collisions and can easily spook unsuspecting horses...

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