What My Mother Would Tell Me About Riding The ATV Trails

What My Mother Would Tell Me About Riding The ATV Trails

I know riding ATV is all about having fun and just gunning around in your ATV in the wild and all that but as ATV enthusiasts, we have to think a little deeper into the sport. Yes, we’re in it for the fun but let’s just sit back and go back in time a little.

OK, you’ve just arrived at this ATV trail that you’ve been meaning to ride for a long time. It’s been ages you’ve taken the kids out on an outdoor trip like this and you can’t wait to whip out that ATV and just ride it out there with your friends. You unload and approach the ATV trail and you stop dead in your tracks! The stench. The rubbish. The total mess that the ATV trail is in greets your eyes. Man, what’s happened to the ATV trail?

The reason why the ATV trail’s been a mess, explains the wise old man with a week’s worth of stubble who is sitting on an old bench beside a rundown stall, because of irresponsible ATV riders who thinks nothing of helping maintain the ATV trails. These are bad apples that leave rubbish all over the ATV trails and cares for no one and nothing in this world except for having fun. Man, that stinks! The ATV trails are open to public and we should do everything within our power not to ruin it…not only for others who want to ride the ATV trail but also for yourself in case you want to come back for more fun!

So all that harping on about being friendly to our environment comes smashing down on you like a ton of bricks and sets your train of thought chugging nicely along. We, all of us, have a responsibility and stake in riding responsibly and ensuring safe riding and proper land use. What can and should you do to help maintain proper care of our ATV trails?

Go find out more information about the ATV trail….you’re going to be riding it, so, at least check out the place. It’s like you’re making a holiday trip to Gold Coast, Australia. Wouldn’t you log into www.tripadvisor.com or something and then read all the info you can get your hands on on the place? We’re using the same logic here. If you want to ride the ATV trail, find out more about the ATV trail. Get maps too if you can.

When I talk about ruining the ATV trail, I am also referring to noise pollution. Having a brand new engine fitted into your ATV is cool….noise pollution isn’t. Invest in a muffler that shuts out the noise as much as possible. Most ATVs these days are designed to be relatively quiet, anyway, but do what I do, get a good muffler. You don’t see the little rabbits scampering away whenever your ATV approaches their hideout but you know they are. And besides, rabbits are cute.

Riding responsibly also means riding along the marked ATV trails without veering off (the temptation is there, I admit) and also to respect and obey the closure signs. These signs are put up NOT for decoration purposes and they’re not teaching aid for kids, either. They are placed there on the ATV trail because of many reasons, like fire hazard, wild life, flora and fauna or maybe the ATV trail is just unsafe, you know. If there’s a gate or something and you have to open it to access a certain part of the ATV trail, close them after you’re done because you don’t want cows coming out of the gate and blocking the path. And I am going to mention the standard warning, as usual, which is to leave the ATV trail the way you found it. Don’t litter. In fact, if you see rubbish left behind by some irresponsible ATV riders, pick up the litter and carry it out with you.

And here’s another important thing I feel that I have to mention in this blog entry. And that is to give right of way to horses or hikers. I mean, sure, we’re having fun and all that but we’re not the only one, usually, riding the ATV trail. Other people have the right to ride the ATV trail as much as we do, particularly people on horses, joggers, hikers, etc. Oh, and wild animals too. Hey, it’s their home, after all.

Anyway, I am going to sign off now because I am starting to feel like my mother.

p.s. I love ya, mom.

 

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