Talk:Trail riding

message: This page violates the Neutral Point of View.  It needs a considerable rewrite. -- Robert Merkel
It is also skewed towards bicycle and motorcycles. Environmentalists rarely have anything against horses. --Anders Törlind
Yes, this page was written with a strong agenda, and one with which I do not agree, having performed thousands of hours of trail planning, design, construction, and maintenance.  Actually, horses are almost as negatively-impacting on trails as are motorcycles.  Even mountain bikes negatively impact trails relevant to foot hiking.  Ideally, all these four trail types should be kept strictly separate, certainly at least because all three of the other uses make life 'miserable' for foot-hikers.  -- John Knouse
: Then why don't you do something about it Mr Know-it-all -Bennyboyz3000 18:32, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: Pulled this from the main article and putting it here for now.  Nothing bad about it, just my concern is that once we start naming specific trails, it will never end. (e.g. Appalachian trail, Continental Divide Trail, etc...)  Open to discussion, but putting it here for now so as not to "prime the pump" for more... Montanabw(talk) 23:59, 9 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  parking factoids for now 

message: Am I right in thinking that trail riding for mountain bikers normally refers to relatively short trails, whereas for equestrians it can include multi-day long distance trails and extended excursion. Also how long is the average mountain bike trail? My initial impression is that is there some difference in the usage of the term trail riding? And do mountain bikers follow long distance paths, backpack/camp?Rwood128 (talk) 01:17, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I would say that 'trail' is the prefered term for for all lengths and, perhaps confusingly, for pretty much all types of trail too. My local trail centre has a 'Family trail' (a flat 12 mile loop) and 'downhill trails' (short specialised runs) on the same site. Obscurasky (talk) 08:58, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: That is true (the overview definition). Keep in mind that this was originally an equestrian-focused article. ;-)   Montanabw(talk) 06:57, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

text: Speaking only from the horse side, a "trail ride" can be anything from a couple miles in an hour (common on some guest ranches) to a half day (very common) to full day and multi-day outings.  Here in the American West, while some trails are more suited to horses or mountain bikes, and in more populated areas they may be segregated to some degree (for safety, if nothing else) they technically use the same Forest Service trails in many places. A "bridle path" is a term confined mostly to short paths in the UK and to a lesser extent, eastern North America.  A bridle path is like trail riding light!   Montanabw(talk) 06:57, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

text: In the USA, I'd say no; it would be a huge difference, roads are not "trails" here (occasional historic naming notwithstanding) - and while you could trail ride on something other than a mountain bike here, you'd be a complete idiot with a death wish!  Montanabw(talk) 06:46, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

text: Nah, that's a road, in my view.  I know that people in the US will do multi-day bicycle trips, mostly on roads.  I really don't know much about mountain biking other than I'm too scared to do (1) and too lazy for  (3)!   In the USA, (2) would not be "trail" riding - roads - even gravel ones - aren't "trails"  - that said, our definition of "road" is pretty generous. Montanabw(talk) 07:07, 26 October 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: And if you want to really complicate matters,   there are places where they allow motorcycles to "trail ride" (at least out here in the west, and it's a very controversial issue).  I guess for me, pavement - or at least gravel to create an all-weather surface - is one way to distinguish between a trail and a road - certainly some very high traffic trails are also paved, and some roads open to motorized cars and trucks are not, (and we won't even start to discuss what a "jeep trail" is...)  OTOH, horses generally should not be ridden on pavement or heavy gravel, (with many exceptions of course, parades, working equines in cities like carriage or police horses, etc...) so maybe the way to structure this article is by mode of transport; horses, bicycles, etc., rather than type of trails?  Montanabw(talk) 05:29, 29 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mountain biking 

message: Is there some overlap between Cycle touring and trail riding? Also do you have to be on a mountain bike to trail ride?Rwood128 (talk) 21:40, 22 October 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: In the USA, I'd say no; it would be a huge difference, roads are not "trails" here (occasional historic naming notwithstanding) - and while you could trail ride on something other than a mountain bike here, you'd be a complete idiot with a death wish!  Montanabw(talk) 06:46, 23 October 2014 (UTC)

text: Nah, that's a road, in my view.  I know that people in the US will do multi-day bicycle trips, mostly on roads.  I really don't know much about mountain biking other than I'm too scared to do (1) and too lazy for  (3)!   In the USA, (2) would not be "trail" riding - roads - even gravel ones - aren't "trails"  - that said, our definition of "road" is pretty generous. Montanabw(talk) 07:07, 26 October 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: And if you want to really complicate matters,   there are places where they allow motorcycles to "trail ride" (at least out here in the west, and it's a very controversial issue).  I guess for me, pavement - or at least gravel to create an all-weather surface - is one way to distinguish between a trail and a road - certainly some very high traffic trails are also paved, and some roads open to motorized cars and trucks are not, (and we won't even start to discuss what a "jeep trail" is...)  OTOH, horses generally should not be ridden on pavement or heavy gravel, (with many exceptions of course, parades, working equines in cities like carriage or police horses, etc...) so maybe the way to structure this article is by mode of transport; horses, bicycles, etc., rather than type of trails?  Montanabw(talk) 05:29, 29 October 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cycle touring 

message: This article duplicates an existing article: Trail. The existing article is much better written, more comprehensive. I propose deleting this article, or merging the content where appropriate. Fluous (talk) 20:44, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: There is some overlap, but it's overstating it to say the two pages are duplicates. It should also be noted that there are over 40 other pages linking to this page, and almost all of those links relate specifically to the practice of 'trail riding', not actual 'trails'. Obscurasky (talk) 23:22, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: There's probably is too much emphasis on describing trails rather than discussing trail riding, but that can be remedied, so that a merge -- or deletion-- isn't really appropriate. But the criticism is useful.Rwood128 (talk) 23:33, 21 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed deletion/ partial merger with "Trail" 

message: Per the comments above, I took a whack at the article and tossed quite a bit of material about the individual trails.  I have no intent of "dissing" anyone's trail, but I think the specifics belong elsewhere.  Anyone wanting to keep material not mentioned in any other article can just copy from the old version prior to my edit today (Montanabw(talk)) and put it in whatever article they want.  I didn't do much with sourcing, this was more of a copyedit. Feel free to continue to make other improvements! Montanabw(talk) 22:30, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Article improvement