Learning from anti-mountain bikers to create better urban mountain biking proposals

This article is a lot longer than the average article.  This is due to the number of quotations contained within.    Its well worth the read and important for those wanting to create urban mountain biking experiences. -- City MTB

​On the About page for City MTB this description is given under the “What we promote” tab:

​We can do this while talking to our fellow citizens and finding how to make the best thing we can for everyone, even if we don't understand or agree with the activities those persons might enjoy.  Instead of thinking of that other user group as "those people", why not listen to them and use their concerns and opinions as a way to make your activity of choice that much better?

The fact is, however, there is a group of very dedicated people across the United States that view mountain biking as the devil and mountain bikers as “those people”.  It’s easy to dismiss them as Hateful Old Hikers.  These kinds of blanket dismissive attitudes aren’t respectful, nor are they helpful.  It also shows a real lack of wisdom to dismiss statements because of the person making the statements.  A broken clock is right twice a day after all.
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Let’s not fall into the trap that many anti-mountain bikers find themselves: hating the activity so much they dismiss facts that destroy their arguments.  We should have the wisdom to think critically about ourselves.  We need to understand and process people’s concerns.  That may mean we work to change a proposal or find a solution to a problem they have highlighted.

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