Good suggestion, let's do that:
Ginger, it's pretty clear you wanted to pick a fight with the club, and you successfully found one. It's unfortunate, but understandable, that this type of diatribe quickly escalates to personal attacks. Understandable, because so many people have struggled for many years to gain access to develop and promote mountain bike trails in this area, and attacks on those efforts are taken as personal attacks. Unfortunate, because rather than become another voice of support for the continued development of our sport, you have positioned yourself as longing for the return of poorly designed and maintained trails built without the support of public land managers.
If you spent the time to take a quick look at our forum threads, you would find that we have not been thrilled at the trail opening delays at SCP this year either. And you also would find that we've been working with the Rangers there to improve the situation, as well as improve our communication of trail status. Positive reinforcement from trail users outside of our club is very helpful to bring about this change; negative campaigning is not.
I think you've missed a critical point regarding Sugar Bottom. Yes, it's a bummer when the trails are closed due to conditions, and it's an inconvenience to call to find this status, but Sugar Bottom remains one of the best riding destinations in this area despite the large number of riders that use it precisely because they manage the trails. We expect the Quad Cities to soon be recognized as a first-class riding destination in this area because of our well designed, maintained, and managed mountain bike trails.
My suggestion: cool off, think about it, come help make a difference.
PM me anytime, or dropa dime: 781-1217.
Rg.