As a photographer I have several secluded spots where I can get top-notch shots of these fine machines we love to ride.
Most of these places are within an hour or so of my home and there’s one in particular that has the most diverse terrain out of all of them, which I use for creek crossings, hill climbs and corner shots.
The trees seem to be green year round and the rocky creek bottoms always looked so natural, its great for capturing rustic and dramatic backdrops in my images.
A few weeks back I set out to get a project finished up and thought I’d head up to this particular location to knock this shoot right out.
I loaded up all of my gear and as always, grabbed a few trash bags as well. Lately I’d been seeing garbage lying around the “parking spot” and didn’t want to lose my right to work or play there. Being a responsible rider, I figured I’d just clean up what I could to keep us all out of trouble.
As I pulled onto the side road just off the highway I noticed a large truck parked in front of a newly installed gate crossing the entrance to where I usually park. I pulled to the side, hopped out of my truck and approached the driver to find out just what was up.
Turned out the truck belonged to the owner of property and I recognized his face immediately. He’d always been real easy going and let us ride on his property for the past few years without so much as a hint of opposition.
Sadly, he shook my hand and with a sigh and told me he finally had to close the property off completely because irresponsible users had been leaving so much trash around and destroying the property each time they rode there.
Here’s the deal folks, if you don’t take care of the ride areas you have and respect the land and the owners letting you ride there, we’ll all lose our riding privileges.
This is our responsibility as off-road enthusiast and its up to each individual to get on board. Don’t screw it up for everyone else because of your own selfishness.
