With only a fast-approaching rattling noise from behind to warn me, I leapt off the trail to my right to avoid being struck by the mountain biker sailing by me. He was first in a group of what would be eight young adult riders who would go by in quick succession, none with warning bells.
Pleased to be uninjured this time, I continued on. This scare caused me to reflect on the ways mountain biking has changed since I used to ride area trails, some 15 years back. The equipment has advanced significantly, but the style of riding has changed as well, particularly on the downhill. Today’s riders skim the tops of the higher rocks and features and descend down the singletrack at breakneck speed. It’s impressive, but hugely unsafe for hikers.
This near-miss happened on the upper section of the Lemon Grove Loop Trail on Cerro San Luis. When SLO city administrators were designing trail rules for this trail and others some 20 years and longer ago, the average style of downhill riding was slow and methodical. It is entirely different today with riders cruising at speeds that were unimaginable when decisions were made to allow both mountain bikes and hiking on the same trails.
With the high number of older hikers, as well as young families and kids hiking the trails, an approaching tragedy is entirely foreseeable. The city must reevaluate the SLO greenbelt trails and decide which will be assigned for mountain biking and which to hiking.
Jim Slade
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Winning Images 2026.
