HMBA Alert: Increased Fees and Off Road Cycling Permit

[Raleighguy29]

I wouldn't call it a rich mans sport. But if we have to pay for a permit hikers and the such should also.


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[matt_laker]

Agree.  I also don't think the majority of us are on $5k bikes, either!  In fact, I started out on a 20+-year-old Giant Rincon rigid just three years ago---thankfully I got a "real" (modern) mountain bike a month later before I tackled anything harder than TRTP.  Took a few good spills prior to that though (one WASN'T the "disputed" A-frame feature though...I simply rode around because I knew it was above my skill & bike level at the time).

Sorry, got derailed a little there.   

[Nitainium]

Mountain biking is already a rich mans sport. I don't want to hear somebody on a $5k bike complaining about $20 trail fees. Buy the permit, shut up and ride your bike.

A rich mans sport?  Thanks for letting me know I was rich. My tax return failed to inform me. Woo Hoo on my way to buy a house on geist!! You are way off base with that one fella.

[Raleighguy29]

Mountain biking is already a rich mans sport. I don't want to hear somebody on a $5k bike complaining about $20 trail fees. Buy the permit, shut up and ride your bike.

I don't know who you ride with but most of the guys I ride with regularly are blue collar workers like myself. I have 2 kick ass bikes but I've worked hard put in over time so I can have them built the way I want them. The rich guys buy a $5-$8000 bike and never go anywhere but town run. The guys I ride with have $3000 or less bikes and ride real trails. We go to bcsp,vsp, rnp,vbr nebo hickory. The places most won't go.


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[Mattntp]

Compare the startup costs of mountain biking to soccer. All you need is a ball and some grass and twenty kids can play. Mountain biking-each kid needs a bike, helmet and transport at minimum. Throw in pedals, shoes, gloves, hydration, glasses etc...Sure it's not Poreche cup racing, but it ain't cheap.

[Adim_x]

This isn't an issue about our incomes or the choice of equipment we use.  It's about the fact our State Government underfunded the Parks System.  Sure, I can swing 20 bucks no problem, but really why should I have to.  I pay plenty of state and local tax.  Why is our money being mismanaged.  The State Park systems and local parks are the only reason I don't complain about my taxes.  It is one of the  few things that I really love about Indiana.  This is just a very frustrating situation. 

[DITCH]

Mattntp"Mountain biking is already a rich mans sport. I don't want to hear somebody on a $5k bike complaining about $20 trail fees. Buy the permit, shut up and ride your bike". . For your soul.

[Kswiss]

Compare the startup costs of mountain biking to soccer. All you need is a ball and some grass and twenty kids can play. Mountain biking-each kid needs a bike, helmet and transport at minimum. Throw in pedals, shoes, gloves, hydration, glasses etc...Sure it's not Poreche cup racing, but it ain't cheap.

To counter this, I am riding a bike from 1997 that I have paid $0 dollars for, have invested 60 on a helmet.  Cleats, Shin guards, and soccer ball would put me above that.   But that is not the issue, the issue at hand is an increased fee due to a choice made by our government.  We have a way to make our opinions known to the representatives that can change this and we are attempting to do so. 


Why should it not be just increased entrance fees all together?  Or a trail use fee?  Or increased boat launch fees. 


These additional fees will discourage some from riding at all, and may even lower the out of state tourism that come to the parks to ride on the awesome trail systems that we have developed.  I feel the brown county state park is a jewel that has been created and has drawn in lots of out of state residents to come that otherwise would not have been here.

[matt_laker]

The true effect might be next year's BCE #'s...how it affects attendance both for in-state and out-of-state attendees.  Maybe that's not a good measuring stick because most that attend likely would anyway, but it might be a decent gauge/barometer.

[Paul_Arlinghaus]

We do not feel that we would be able to (or should) pass on the permit fee to Epic attendees.  In the past we have made a donation to the Friends of BCSP and some years to the park from the extra camping income.  In the future, we will likely use the extra camping income (above what we pay the park for), to provide permits for anyone who doesn't have one. 


So the Park and the Friends of group will likely take the hit for permits at next year's Epic.

[ryantrek]

I see a lot of bickering about the topic at hand, and from both sides of the fence, the bickering is understandable. What everyone is failing to see is that this may be the end of state parks in our state if something isn't done! I use the state parks for more than just mountain biking as I am a father of 2 children that I want to experience life without electronics devices in their hands. My family hikes, bikes, and goes to the parks for playing and camping when possible. Sure, I would be really disappointed if I didn't get to ride at the state parks, but I would be more so if I didn't get to enjoy family time camping and hiking, and playing. Does it suck that we are going to have to pay to play? Yes. Does it suck even more that we're in this position because our local government has in a round about way deemed our state parks unimportant? Absolutely, seeing that they are a MAJOR portion of Indiana tourism, and our whole state will suffer without them. Will I do what I can do to attempt to keep our state parks alive? Yes. Does that mean that I'm going to be stuck paying extra for enjoyable times with my family and friends? Yup, but as it is, I try every time we camp, or stay at one of the inns, or are just there hiking for a day to utilize everything I can within the state park to help them stay afloat. (has anyone ever eaten the buffet at the Abe Martin Lodge? It's horrible, but it's my hard earned money spent in the park to try to help where I can) What I'm anticipating seeing as time goes on is the fact that they won't even offer yearly memberships any longer for the parks. They get 50 or 60 or whatever the new fee will be from families, then they come every weekend from April til November. They would have generated hundreds of dollars in entry fees, but instead have only managed to spend 50. They are less likely to camp, because they get in free every day, so it's no big deal, spend your weekend in brown county at a hotel, and just go to the park every day on the pass. That is the point where mountain biking at state parks is going to get expensive for us. 7 bucks a day to get into the park, plus another 5 a day for your offroad cycling permit. 12 bucks every time you go ride is going to get pretty pricey pretty fast.
 
I guess at the end of my rambling post, I will say, do what is in your power. Pay the prices to play, and write your government officials and let them know not that paying to mountain bike hurts you personally, but that their misconception of how important our state parks actually are is going to be harmful to our state's income over time. Explain in your writings that our main tourism in our state is our parks. And that taking funding from the state parks is going to be the death of our parks, and thus, a large portion of our tourism.

[DITCH]

I am so impressed by all the positive pros and cons on this subject. Keep talking. There are a lot of effects on the sport, a cost increase can have. In Medina and Strongsville, OH. Mountain Bike is being introduced as a High School Sport. Nice. Their cost to ride the trails is free. I always support the locals stores while I am there. Just one of my great experiences.

[dprimm]

Discussion here has been interesting. 


The persons to contact about the budget shortfall are your state representatives and senators.  you can find their contact information through the Find Your Legislator link.  Even better is to ask them about the budget shortfall in person when you see them.  Some actually go to town meetings to hear from voters. 

[s0ckeyeus]

I'll get in my trips this year. I don't know if I'll feel like driving up from KY and deal with the higher gate prices, higher camping fees, and user passes when we have free trails to ride down here. I bet there are plenty of people thinking the same thing.

Maybe all trails should be reclassified as beginner to sidestep the issue. 

[djkouza]

One thing that I'm curious is will the fee be per Bike/rider/park entrance.  The horse fees are per horse (but I assume that means per horse on the trail.)


My guess is it's per bike on the trail so 2 people go to park with 4 bikes, I'd guess the annual cost would be:
1 x annual pass $50 = $50
2 x off-road pass $20 = $40  (assuming you can move the pass between bikes)


And if we marked all trails beginner, we'd have to get rid of most of the technical parts, and BC would likely lose it's Epic status.