Kane County residents decry mountain biking

Having already killed a plan to build a Ravinia-like concert venue, a group of Kane County residents who want elected officials to maintain the pristine nature of Fabyan Woods Forest Preserve is now on the warpath against mountain biking. But enthusiasts of the sport seemed ready Tuesday to counter the notion that mountain biking is toxic to nature.

New mountain biking trails are part of a concept plan for the redevelopment of the 700-acre campus that the Settler’s Hill landfill and old county jail are part of. There is a stretch of Fabyan Woods on the east side of Route 25 that is mostly untouched wilderness. And a group of area residents wants to keep it that way.

Kathy Vale is a member of a group that’s advocating only passive recreational uses for the forest preserve. They’ve formed a website, ForLandsSake.org, to collect comments in support of their views. Members of the group provided the task force examining the concept plan with a printout containing nearly 50 comments about leaving the woods alone. They also had glossy handbills touting the proposed active uses as, “More traffic. More Congestion. More Noise. Less Nature.”

Vale said mountain bikers are already tearing up tree roots and disturbing the fauna in the east section of Fabyan Woods even though no biking is permitted there. She said an official trail that may attract as many as 2,000 bikers a day to the woods would permanently destroy the ecosystem that exists in the preserve.

“Can you imagine the impact?” Vale said. “This pristine forest is a gem. There are trails in other parts of the preserve that already exist for the bikers.”

Vale’s view of mountain biking runs counter to how Matt Knowles thinks of the sport. Knowles is an active mountain biker and is the co-owner of the All Spoked Up bike shop in Batavia.

“You’re thinking X Games,” Knowles said. “This is not what we’re about. We want to retain and maintain the feel of the woods exactly how it is. The thing is, if you tell mountain bikers that you can’t go there, then the element that you don’t want there is already there. But if you tell them they can be there, then they will listen to where they can go.”

Forest Preserve District President John Hoscheit said the portrayal of mountain biking being anti-nature isn’t fair. In fact, the district is already working with the Chicago Area Mountain Bikers group to bring a natural surface biking trail to Raceway Woods in Carpentersville. Hoscheit said once that trail is open, it could provide an example for whether or not such a trail would be a good fit for the east section of Fabyan Woods.

“We want to leave the woods as close to the condition that they are now as can be,” Hoscheit said. “But there is a benefit to putting a trail in an otherwise wooded area because it keeps people from making their own trail.”