All good points.
The park managers have their objectives and the park users have theirs. In our case the objectives are better MTB trails.
But like anything in our lives there are conditions to getting what we want. We follow rules and abide by laws everyday. For one thing these land areas are "Country Parks". In most counties national park systems have very stick rules about usage and most certainly about MTBing. I have been involved advocacy for many years and I can tell you for sure it is not an instant or easy process to get trails open.
Government entities here, or anywhere else for that matter, aren't going to come running to mountain bikers asking us to let them open more trails. It is up to us to be proactive and work within the process. And the good news is, there is a process and success is possible. I for one can tell you it sure isn't easy but it is available.
Your right the park mangers do not know how to build sustainable mountain bike trails. They openly admit this. And outside the HKMBA they don't even have access to the information. So they are also in a quandary. But this quandary is our opportunity as we do know what a proper MTB trail is or have access to the experts who do.
16 years ago the HKMBA opened it's doors by a gentleman named Rick Barton Smith. At that time ALL trails in HK were illegal. He and his volunteers worked with AFCD and CEDD to get quite a few trails opened. He and his merry band worked quite hard to accomplish this but the point is Hong Kong went from Zero trials to many being opened. Now I will be the first to admit that what are called mountain bike trails here in HK is a bit sketchy. But the point is it did and can work. I think 16 years ago no one really understood the many implications of sustainable trails. The simple fact is without the work of people like yourself who have given selflessly for the good of all riders the sport of MTBing in HK would be non existent or certainly ALL underground.
At this juncture we have the ear of AFCD. They want our help, they want to alleviate the problems we all face. They have heard our explanations as to why the current trail system is not the most advantageous and I believe they sincerely want to do something about it.
But even in the best case it takes time. They must take into consideration such things as budget, other users views and wishes, flora, villages near by etc. In other words issues that would pertain to opening up any new trial in any public park in the civilized world.
Lets face it we live in a world of rules. The interest of the many out weighs the desires of a few. Do we just barrel through all obstacles when you are at work or driving your car on the road. Of course not. So instead of us complaining that the government should do something about our trails, instead I propose we take a constructive approach and see if we can make changes for the long term. If we put our collective energies into making something happen legally, something positive will occur.
I propose we give direct communication and proactive actions a try. They worked once and they can work again. If we move for conflict, it is conflict the government will give us and nothing will ever get done. Not to mention they have the law on their side.
If we approach them with respect and understanding and constructive solutions we will stand a much better chance of getting trails for ourselves and for riders after us.
If you would like to help HKMBA with this please feel free to jump on in. As for the time constraints we all have, well if we all give just a bit of our time “collectively” we can create positive change and the bottom line, get more trails.
“let us be a part of the solution not a part of the problem”
Thanks
Bob Smith