The health, wellness and safety of our mountain bike community and their loved ones is the most important thing to us. With Governor Wolf extending Stay-at-Home orders to Lehigh and Northampton counties in addition to Bucks, Montgomery and others in southeast PA already under travel restrictions, many more of us are affected. Out of caution, respect for those orders, and wanting to do everything we can to slow the spread of this virus, we’re encouraging everyone to severely restrict visits to our trail systems. Getting outside is crucial, and we all know the mental and health benefits of riding. Governor Wolf’s orders exclude going outside for hiking, walking, and running. But we’ve seen how crowded our trails and paths are during this time. Parking lots that often only have a few cars in them are now overwhelmed at times. We’ve seen high numbers of hikers, dog walkers, and runners on trails that have typically only been used by a few mountain bikers. The Appalachian trail has closed and many parks and trailheads have followed in order to limit contact. Reducing the spread of this virus is even more crucial now. The safest most responsible thing we can do is avoid crowded areas or gathering in groups of any size. Now's the time to embrace your inner lone-wolf.
We recommend avoiding trail systems while the Stay-at-Home orders are in place. If you do go, please avoid parking at trailheads or other areas with other vehicles. Go at times when you’re less likely to encounter other users and avoid riding in groups outside your household. Practice proper social distancing, save snot rockets for another time. Also, expect increased trail users, especially hikers, walkers, runners and new riders who may be in unfamiliar terrain. Ride with caution to avoid conflict situations and to limit risk of injury to your or someone else. Hospitals and health care providers are already feeling the burden of this; we don’t want to tax them with riding-related injuries.
Hopefully these restrictions will pass shortly and we'll all be riding our trails in huge groups again soon.