The Impact of Mountain Biking

This story map examines the impact of mountain biking on people, the environment, and the economy. Considered a "lifestyle sport," mountain biking is an increasing popular activity involving biking on trails that range from flat and smooth to steep and technical with roots, rocks, jumps, and wooden features. What makes mountain biking particularly interesting is that due to its individualistic attributes, people of almost all ages can mountain bike. Below are three research questions that will guide this story map.

Each question will be supported with evidence and case studies from communities in North America.

This story map will primarily focus on three themes of geography: movement, human-environment interaction, and place. These each reflect the research questions in terms of how people move due to mountain biking, how mountain biking has affected the environment, and how mountain biking can play a major role in the economy of a place. There are positives and negatives to mountain biking, each source listed below highlights the good and bad of mountain biking on communities and the environment. In brief, mountain biking brings a community together and can boost the economy of a place, but also cause environmental degradation.

Why focus on mountain biking in a geography class?

The reason I chose mountain biking as the topic of this project is due to my experience with the sport and my interest in how mountain biking affects the world around me. I began mountain biking five years ago after hundreds of trails were built around Seattle, WA, the area I grew up in. I was curious why it was so successful, and whether mountain biking impacts a city in ways that extend to its participants. In Geography 106, we look into how things are related: people, cultures, the environment; we also question why things are the way they are. I find mountain biking an excellent example of a western activity that shows things about people in the west.

• Land is an integral part of the experience
• Mountain Biking brings people together, is the source of tourism, and draws migration
• Mountain biking is a large pull force for people to migrate to cities with trails
• The mountain biking economy is large

Mountain Biking can tell us a lot about two themes of the course, movement and human-environment interaction. With movement, places with lots of mountain bike trails and a strong community are a strong pull force that lead people to move closer to area with mountain biking. Mountain biking is also the source of tourism, which causes the movement of people for weeks, weekends, or holidays, to visit another city and ride their trails. The result of this is a boom to the economies of places with mountain biking. Switching gears to human-environment interaction, being within nature is an integral part of mountain biking. Unfortunately, studies have shown mountain biking has negative impacts to the environment and causes erosion. On the contrary, other studies have shown mountain bikers care about the environment, and want to preserve it so it can be enjoyed. In sum, mountain biking positively affects places by causing movement and migration to the places with trails. With this in mind, mountain biking and the environment play hand in hand and can lead to environmental degradation if the environment is not cared for.

Mccormack, Karen M. “Inclusion and Identity in the Mountain Biking Community: Can Subcultural Identity and Inclusivity Coexist?” Sociology Of Sport Journal, vol. 34, no. 4, 2017, pp. 344–353.

What I learned:

Karen M. McCormack, sociologist at Wheaton College studies inclusion and identity within the mountain biking community in her paper "Inclusion and Identity in the Mountain Biking Community: Can Subcultural Identity and Inclusivity Coexist? McCormack comes to the conclusion that the mountain biking community is more inclusive to all ages and genders in comparison to other individualistic sports such as wind-surfing and skateboarding. Still, subcultural identity exists within mountain biking groups. These lifestyle sports all share activities that are relatively new, emphasize grassroots participation, require a commitment of time and money; emphasize the aesthetic and artistic elements of the sport; and are performed by individuals rather than teams.

What the study found unique to mountain biking was that biking communities were strong and welcoming to various ages and skill levels. Mountain biking also requires grassroots organizations to advocate for access to land and to recruit volunteer labor to build and maintain trails. One further unique aspect of mountain biking is the relative obscurity of most professional riders. Professional riders are not celebrities and they frequently ride with amateurs.

The study interviewed participants of mountain biking, and one participant responded that it doesn't matter what economic background someone comes from. In mountain biking, there will be doctors, lawyers, an account, and people who mow lawns, and nobody cares. McCormack says: "It's a very accepting group of people."

How this relates to the topic of the class:

McCormack's study highlights the community aspect of mountain biking but also touches on the environment and economy. Her study found that mountain biking brought people together to form a community, even from a variety of backgrounds. Mountain bikers build their own trails, relying on the geography and permission from the land owners to shape the trails. Economically, mountain bikes can be expensive, starting at $1500+, however participants say economic background of the rider does not matter. Trails are usually free to ride.

Lazenby, Oliver. “Mountain Bike Tourism: a Boon to Bellingham Economy? Advocacy Group's Survey Details Cyclists Spending Habits.” BBJToday, vol. 22, no. 9, 2014, p. 8.

What I learned:

Oliver Lazenby writes in The Bellingham Business Journal about how mountain biking has shaped the Bellingham economy in northwest Washington state. His primary argument is that mountain biking tourism is a major industry for Bellingham, and without it, companies would lose a large portion of their revenue. Lazenby points to three aspects of the mountain biking economy: tourism, businesses, and migration to Bellingham specifically for the mountain biking.

Lazenby conducted surveys to gauge what the effect mountain biking was on the economy. He found that as for tourism, 30 percent of mountain bikers in Bellingham are from out of the Whatcom County. Two-thirds of the out-of-town cyclists make more that $70,000 a year, and more than half reported spending a minimum of $40 each time they visited. Multiple international mountain biking companies are headquartered in Bellingham. Lazenby also found that local businesses reported they would notice if people stopped coming from out of town to mountain bike in Bellingham. Not only are businesses located in Bellingham because of the mountain biking, but people specifically move to Bellingham to live and work near mountain biking. These people are commonly affluent and boost the economy.

How this relates to the topic of the class:

Mountain biking plays a large factor in economies of cities and towns across the United States. Looking at Bellingham as a case study, Bellingham attracts tourists and residents to participate in the economy. Mountain biking is a specific pull factor that causes migration to the city. A key aspect of geography is understanding the why behind statistics, and for Bellingham, the reason people and companies move there is because of the mountain biking.

Symmonds, Mathew C., and William E. Hammitt. "Managing Recreational Trail Environments for Mountain Bike User Preferences." Environmental Management, vol. 25, no. 5, May 2000, pp. 549-64. SpringerLink, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s002679910043. 

What I learned:

Researchers Matthew Symmonds and William Hammitt in their study "Managing Recreational Trail Environments for Mountain Bike User Preferences," look into which types of trails riders prefer in comparison to their damage on the environment. They begin by explaining recreational carrying capacity, defined as the level of recreational use an area can withstand while providing a sustained quality of recreation. The rationale for their study was that there are few studies that have specifically focused on the social carrying capacity for mountain biking; however, there is a need to incorporate more social research into management decisions.

Symmonds and Hammitt's research first went into the difference in preferences between novices and experts. They first showed that novice bikers preferred smooth, open, or clear trails while expert riders showed preference for rougher tracks and more tolerance for carrying bikes across terrain not suitable for biking. Additionally, novice bikers’ reasons for recreational biking were exercise and personal fitness, whereas expert bikers sought ‘‘speed,’’ ‘‘excitement,’’ ‘‘technical challenge,’’ and training for competition. All groups (novice, intermediate, and expert) stated that they preferred native forest settings to plantation pine forests, open farmland, or man-made surfaces.

Touching more on the environmental side, the study focused on how mountain bikers are perceived to not have much concern for the environment. Symmonds and Hammitt refuted this claim with a national study showing that mountain bikers and their associations do stress substantial concern for the environment. The authors ultimately conclude that bikers in general enjoy the challenge of obstacles on the trail, such as bumps and jumps, gullies, roots, rocks, and surface water which are present due to erosion. Therefore, they ask: Should resource managers minimize erosion when mountain bikers state that most trail erosion factors add to the biking experiences?

How this relates to the topic of the class:

The research into mountain bikers and their relationship with the environment ties into the geography of the western world and has similarities with other perceptions about the environment and climate change. Part of the study was to see if A) mountain bikers cared about the environment, and B) whether the mountain bikers actually took action in environmental support of simply perceived themselves as being aware of the environment. The western world contributes to the devastation of environments and the emissions of greenhouse gases. Although people believe they care about the environment, do they actually take steps to help the planet survive? This source also refutes the other article's argument about how mountain bikers destroy forests.

Boozer, Benjamin B., and Mike Self. An Economic and Impact Analysis of the Coldwater Mountain Bike Trail. Center for Economic Development at Jacksonville State University, www.americantrails.org/files/pdf/Coldwater-Bike-Trail-economic.pdf. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.

What I learned:

Assistant Professor at Jacksonville State University, Dr. Benjamin B. Boozer, and Jacksonville State University Research Analyst Mr. Mike Self research the economic impact of mountain bike trails in “An Economic and Impact Analysis of the Coldwater Mountain Bike Trail.” They found that with almost all demographics, mountain biking has experienced strong growth both nationally and regionally in Alabama. The researchers surveyed 839 members of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA). What they found was that most members typically biked close to home but also were not adverse to longer, overnight trips with several other individuals.

From there, Dr. Boozer and Mr. Self calculated the economic impact of building a mountain bike trail for 50,000, 100,000, and 150,00 annual visitors. In their survey, 88% of respondents said they were interest in mountain biking on the Coldwater Mountain Biking Trail System. They also found an even distribution between those who bike alone and those who have one, two, or many companions. Of their respondents, 42.5% reported household incomes over $100,000 per year. In terms of economic opportunity for building the bike park, the paper reports an $138.49 average spending per day (including lodging) for mountain bikers visiting the area. In their final calcluations, the researchers found a $1,271,500 impact from a low 50,000 annual users; a $2,543,000 impact from a normal 100,000 annual users; and an impact of $3,814,500 from an optimistic 150,000 annual users.

How it relates to the class:

The paper primarily touches on the economic aspect of mountain biking, but also on the demographics of mountain bikers and how they relate to each other. Economically, the study found that mountain biking is boom to an economy where trails are located. A total of 42.5% of members within the biking club they surveyed reported more than $100,000 per year in household income. This means that mountain bikers have more discretionary income to spend when travelling to mountain bike. The researchers calculated that building a trail system would likely generate $2.5 million of economic growth due to the tourism. With geography, we study the way location, place, movement, human-environment interaction, and scale all affect the world we live in. From this source, we can conclude that in the United States mountain bikers have generally high incomes and are willing to travel. The movement of people and money will positively shape communities—specifically due to mountain biking.

Overall, I have learned that mountain biking is more than just an activity. Mountain biking can have major impacts on people, their movement, the economy, and the environment. In cities such as Bellingham, WA and Bentonville, AR; mountain biking brings in migrants and tourism. As a result, economies grow in these cities and people receive both the health benefits of physical activity and a sense of community. There are negatives to mountain biking however. Forest ecosystems can be hurt by the wear and tear of mountain biking and ruin tree saplings. There are certainly limits to how many mountain bikes a trail can handle.

With the theme of movement, mountain biking causes a pull force on migration because people are drawn towards places with mountain biking trails. With human-environment interaction, mountain biking brings people into nature, however mountain biking can hurt the environment. On the contrary, studies show that mountain bikers do care about the environment.

• Mountain biking is a western sport, and has generally upper and middle class people, however all age ranges can participate due to the wide variety of trail difficulties. What we can learn from mountain biking is that it is an increasingly popular sport and will have impacts on cities where the sport is prevalent, in both positive and negative ways. Ultimately, if there is land, and people want to bike, trails will be built. Communities should prepare for what happens next.