I know there are responsible SXS owners out there I get that. I’m friends with a few owners that are great off road and I have met many responsible owners on the trail.
That said.. I agree those folks seem to be the minority. Many of the others have kicked the living shit out of Southern Idaho where I go to enjoy the outdoors and it makes me sad. I cringe every time I hear the herds of them coming down the trail.
What am I doing to make the situation better? Good question—not as much as I should 🫤 I do my best to educate the younger dirtbike riders in our group on the right and wrong when it comes to etiquette. Hopefully that makes a little bit of a difference as those kids get older. I dunno.
Happy to hear you are trying to work with the younger kids to introduce trail etiquette because I believe their parents think they know everything and are a little harder to get to listen to reason.
Case in point, last month we were on our annual Ouray/Silverton trip but this year our son and DIL came along with us in their Jeep. There was just the two vehicles this year as my wife and I opted not to host our annual gathering and just enjoy it with our kids.
As we were traveling the trails this year we seemed to notice even less people using hand signals than the previous years as it is something that obviously isn't taught, as well as who has right of way on a hill but that's a whole other topic. As we passed groups of SXS's I would hold up one finger representing there was one vehicle behind me and my son would hold closed fist representing he was the last in the group. Multiple, multiple, multiple times passing groups of SXS's around either blind corners or hills as I would hold up a finger most wouldn't even look at me and just keep driving. I stopped a couple to ask if they were alone or had people following them, especially in areas where I knew the trail either got narrow to one lane or would be getting tight like on a shelf road corner. Most would answer me when I stopped them to ask, that is IF they stopped. Most didn't even acknowledge me and kept driving and I would quickly find out there were more in their group.
One guy actually snapped at me when I stopped him and asked "are you alone or do you have others in your group?" He said "why the hell is that any of your business?"
Are you kidding me? Really? Do you not understand the environment that you are currently in and how low visibility is around blind turns?
On the last day as we were driving down from California Pass and into Animas Forks area there are a lot of turns and curves in the trail with taller foliage than up higher on the pass so it makes seeing around turns a bit more problematic. A SXS with two guys in the front and two kids in the back seat was approaching us so I pulled to the right side to let them pass. There was no grade so no one in particular had the right of way but I had a wide spot so I obliged. As they were approaching to my left I thought I caught a brief glimpse of something through the shrubs/trees but couldn't be sure. As they were passing me I tried to get him to stop so I could ask if there was anyone else in their group behind them but again, no acknowledgement at all and just drove right on past without a care in the world. I radioed to my son to hang back as I slowly crept up around the turn only to find his buddy waiting on his side of the trail. I told my son to continue to wait. as at this point I could see he was pulled off waiting for us. As I was driving past him he threw his hands up in a "what the hell???" type of gestures. Well that didn't sit well with me so I threw the Jeep into reverse and backed up rather abruptly to catch his attention. My wife was PISSED at me at this point because she thought I was going to start something.
When I caught up to him in reverse he was somewhat stunned and asked "hey, what the hell is your problem?" I tried to calmly (emphasis on tried, not succeeded) to explain that if he and his buddy would learn proper trail etiquette and hand communication skills it would alleviate all of the confusion and we can all enjoy the trails rather than you just giving a shit about yourself and thinking you're the only one on the trails.
I don't think I need to explain how the conversation went with the wife in the Jeep after that.
YEP! I was the asshole in the whole situation and she thought I was reverting back to my high school years of being a hot head and starting fights.
Did it push my button when he threw his hands up? You bet your ass it did. Was I ready to start a fight? No, I think I've matured (hope so anyways) since high school but I definitely wanted him to know that he was in the wrong and what he could do to improve the situation next time.
I get tired of these idiots buying a toy without any inclination of how to interact with others on the trails and especially, how to treat and preserve the trails. I partially blame the dealerships for not giving any kind of trail etiquette lesson or anything but I guess once they have their money they could care less about what the owners do from then on. My neighbor just bought a new side by side two years ago and he was asking me a few questions last year because he was seeing people on the trails using hand signals and he knew I took our Jeep off-road. I explained the hand signals as well as some general trail etiquette and when I asked him what they told him at the dealership, he said they never told them anything. Took the cashier's check handed them the keys and said "be safe and have fun." HOLY SHIT!!! I think there may be a missed opportunity for some training if these dealerships really care about the trails as much as they claim to.
Rant over.
Mike
