What are the Environmental effects of the Bike

As a general concept we think that bikes, no motorcicles, the onces powered by human force have little impact on our environment. Well, bikes that are running in our cities are inmensely beneffitial for our environment; in the other hand, off-roads, mountain bikes, downhill bikes are very destructive and impacting.

The problems occurs for several factors:

• Too many bikers per day or season: this does not allow the vegetation to heal and restore its conditions
• Lack or inexisting trail management: this increases the impact becuase trail become over used with huge impacts
• No trail rotation: this issue is related to the lack of trail management
• Little consideration of the type of vegetation: there are some ecosystems that more resistant that also heal rapidly, while for example in Ecuador, ecosystems at high altitudes take longer time to restore, if impact continues some type of vegetation do not grow back

Bikers mentalilty: this is the big issue, apparently some bikers have similar mentality that poeple that love 4WD (4×4) cars, where the enjoyment is based on how the car goes and successfully goes thru mud and hard conditions of the terrain.  So for these travelers “adventurers” basically the idea is to control nature, and that goes against of what the idea is when we plan a trip to the wild, we go to enjoy nature, enjoy the beauty and leave it in better conditions of the ones we found it.
If we have complained in the past that litter found in our trips to nature  is a terrible practice; and we argued that other campers, hiker, or bikers, destroy ecosystems.  Heavy biking and 4×4 cars  create even worst impact, it is more destructive.
If garabage and litter impacts nature
Erosion and ecosystem degration destroys even more.

The Consequences:

• Soil erosion: the lost of vegetation leaves the top soil exposed to wind and rain, creating a bad erosion, loose of top soil.
• Water contamination: too much sediments going to the rivers
• Ecosystem fragmentation: since vegetation provides habit and when this is gone ecosystems and microsystems are impacted.
• Significant lost of habit for sensitive species

Advice:

• Ask your tour guide to avoid creating unnecessary trails, opeing new trails …opens the door more destruction
• Ask your guide or plan for nature trip where the bike will stay most of the trip on designated trails
• Keep trails designated for bikers
• Trails shoudl be mantained to avoid erosion
• If the place has high demand, trails should be rotated, to allow nature to heal.