PegMonkey Bad Monkey!

Once upon a time there was a playground in western Maryland that could be enjoyed by all. It was wonderful place full of wilderness and adventure. It was a good place to ride your mountain bike, your dirt bike, your horse, your 4 wheeler or just hike by foot. It was a place where everybody got along and shared the trails. It was a great place to go and spend an entire Sunday just enjoying the natural beauty of the terrain and the well maintained trails through the wilderness.

Then something ugly happened to the trail. People who had been enjoying the play ground were no longer allowed to play there. The trail was taken away from those who had been enjoying it and maintaining it for decades. It was stolen from the many based upon some notion of being for the greater good. What once was a great place to play has been pronounced off limits to a majority of the people who kept it a great place to play.

The Highland Trail in Western Maryland has been taken over by a state driven by a communistic principle that the state knows what's best for it's citizens. Only a relatively small number of people who just happen to have political influence want the trail to be run by the state. The nay sayers will never be heard. The media shuts them out. After all, who will argue that the state hasn't "created" a wonderful bicycle trail. Those who saw the trail before the state took it over will argue, but nobody will listen to them.

There is very little difference between what the trail was before the state took it over and what the trail is now. The trail was perfectly rideable, with the exception of the 11 million dollar tunnel before the greedy state did the bidding of the few elite cyclists and entrepreneurs who think it will somehow bring business to this area in some sort of pathetic attempt to emulate the business success of the Ohiopyle area. I don't remember seeing any water in Frostburg to play in, do you? People tend to forget that the Ohiopyle area was known for it's water features way before the bicycle trail was put in.

If the citizens tax dollars were used to create the Highland Trail, then why aren't the citizens allowed to use thier trail? Off road riders and bicyclists shared the trail prior to the state stealing it, so why not after? Because to the state, the needs and wants of the elite influential few far outweigh the needs and wants of the common citizen.

There are many examples of railroad beds that have been converted to trails in the surrounding region and shared among all who use them in a harmonious fashion. The state simply chooses to ignore the idea that any local community is capable of maintaining such a trail. It would then, of course, be out of the direct control of the state who takes every opportunity to increase it's reach and "need" based on the cries of the few. The examples of trails in the surrounding areas are place where conservation is occuring naturally by those that use them thus disproving the grand notion that the state can do things better. The trail in question was far more natural before the state "conveserved" it than it was after. The elite don't want nature, they want nature in a bottle. They want clean sterilized well groomed nature. They want comforable smooth easy to ride on nature and will steal it from the many with little more conscience than the common thief.

I've invited people from the Highland Trails to take a look at local railroad beds that are used by the surrounding communities. None of them seem interested in seeing them. Perhaps it's because they don't really care about anything other than the money they and their friends will get out of the deal. Conservation is just a farce. The promise of increased economic prosperity is a lie. The only truth is that the state will waste our tax dollars on a project that benefits the few and steals the use of land from the many.

Is the trail a great place to exercise on a bicycle? Most likely. Is it smoother than it was? Yes. So who will use it? Not me. I used to use it all the time. I used to ride my dirt bike on it and my bicycle. Now I've been pushed out for the "greater good". Supposedly the greater good is a bunch of local businesses that think it will bring business to this area. Never mind the fact that the canal place renovation is failing miserably to attract the business it was supposed to. The Old Depot is a shining example of the failure of the state to force business to thrive in a location where it simply will not thrive. The thing is, the state doesn't care if the project is a success or not. The only thing driving these projects are the few elite who want to steal from others to support their little pet projects based on the false belief that they have a better idea of what the better good is. Never mind the basic premise of freedom that states that we each get to decide what is best for ourselves. The state will decide for you. It has decided that this playground is for bicycles, pedestrians and equines only.

Thank you ever so much for stealing my riding area and giving it the few. Everybody was welcome there before the state stole it. Now just the few are welcome there. It seems that very few actually learn from history.. either that, or they just have a very short memory.

Kiss your riding areas good bye.