[Closed] 100% Dangerous Idiots

Disgusted

If i ever found someone planting those they'd get angle slammed onto a big pile of them. C***s. 👿

Surley there should be some DNA evidence on the...

Nah waste of cash and time for Coppers.

I know that the route is a footpath, but

Well keep off it then you idiot, then you have no problems. 👿

footpath or not that is a joke..... what next???

footpath or not that is a joke..... what next???

I don't know, people keeping to the paths they should be AND NOT ANNOYING THE PEOPLE WHO ARE USING IT CORRECTLY IN THE FIRST PLACE????????

Find a brain, use it. 😯

Well keep off it then you idiot, then you have no problems.

What about the runner that was mentioned? He wasnt on a bike but he certainly had a problem!

Get off your high horse 😛

Well keep off it then you idiot, then you have no problems

So it's ok if walkers/runners get nails through their foot then?

Not very nice but,
If you keep riding a footpath then what do u expect people taking offence to you being an ignorant C**k ignoring the law, an contiue riding the footpath to do?
I am not condoning this action but you must have really pissed off the red sock brigade. 😉

If bikes didn't use the footpath perhaps the nailed wood would not be there in the first place and the runner using the path legitimatly would be safe from harm? Just a thought...

I'm not defending riding on a footpath, but the real villain is whoever put the nails down. Two wrongs don't make a right, and I percieve the response to be completely disproportionate.

Not even worth the effort of arguing 😀 No one can say that wood with nails through is a legitimate response to people riding bikes. Same as people stringing fishing line between trees at head height, its ****ing horrible!!

To use a typical internet argument based on exageration:

Person A drops litter in public
Person B gets somewhat annoyed, pulls gun out pocket, shoots person A and someone else gets shot by accident in crossfire.

Who has committed the worst crime?

I've seen Stans demo video - tubeless, it's the future.

The person who gets shot in the crossfire whilst attempting to steal a car and gets mysteriously gunned down?? 😕

Are you not allowed to ride on footpaths?

What distinguishes a footpath from a cycle path from just a plain old path?

Who has committed the worst crime?

Person A of course 😉

Walkers got countryside access by mass tresspas actions, MTB'ers should do the same. I have absolutely no quarms about riding on footpaths in reasonable a manner.

Poppa, are you condoning dropping litter? Do you drop litter whilst riding on footpath.

OMG! Dogs don't stick to the stone flags - if my girlie stepped on that it would go straight in her paws.

[i]What distinguishes a footpath from a cycle path from just a plain old path? [/i]

The signpost pointing along it.
I've seen (and ridden on) "footpaths" which are actually tarmac'd access roads in the past - there's no logic as to the classification system and the rules that I go by are largely based on [url= http://www.cheekytrails.co.uk/ethics.htm ]THESE[/url]

I know the area very well. They guy who plants them is a grade A nut case. He has moved on from taking stones from the dry stone walls and building mini walls across the paths, to planting caltrops. He did this about 3 years ago over Spitlers edge also. His area of operations seems to be the paths over Redmond edge, Splitters Edge and Lead Mines.

Didnt know he was at it again though. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Lots of people posting that obviously don't know the area.

Good chunks of the Rivi / Darwen area are marked as footpaths on the map but actually concessionary bridleways on the ground / marked maps from the rangers(and in one case actually a designated cycle route).

In other cases they have long term industrial / vehicular / horse use but classified as footpath by some bright spark 30 years ago.

I don't personally ride that path very often (and it is a footpath). However even the county council wants bike and horse access on that route (there was a document about it on this link but unfortunately seems to have moved http://www.lancscc.gov.uk/environment/countryside/pdf/Bridlewaywp.pdf)

Thanks crazy legs...some good rules there.

Very thankful of our Access rights north or the border 🙂

I am in slight agreement here. Mass trespass won access rights for walkers. So far as they are being courteous to other users, why so angry about cyclists? Are there too many instances of walkers and cyclists clashing north of the border?

Well keep off it then you idiot, then you have no problems

AND NOT ANNOYING THE PEOPLE WHO ARE USING IT CORRECTLY IN THE FIRST PLACE

dogs, children and runners are all at risk from this action, and they will still be at risk long after the riders are gone and the undergrowth hides stray pieces of this weaponry.

There was a case a few years ago of an 'annoyed' person laying similar weaponry across legitimate trails in chopwell woods. he/she was 'annoyed' because he/she didn't feel these trails should be allowed as he/she walked her dogs / rode her horses in the woods, and bikers put them at risk .

mick_r - Member
Lots of people posting that obviously don't know [their arse from their elbow].

Well, that makes a f&*#ing change!

Swift - I can't speak for everyone in Scotland...but I've never had any clashes with walkers what-so-ever.

Other than maybe having to slow right down and them not hearing my polite calls to move, but even so most are very apologetic and swiftly locate to the side of the trail.

We're all just enjoying the outdoors with man-power.

The provision of a public footpath doesn't stop other rights from existing. To me, that looks like an old pack horse trail, so it is likely to have ancient horse rights, that will also apply to bikes.

Even if it doesn't, it's not a criminal offence to ride your bike on a public footpath. It is a criminal offence to lay traps for people.

Is there a gradual shift amongst "proper" MTBers (I don't want to get into an argument over that term, you know what I mean) about riding on FP though?

Guide books and route guides in magazines always urge us to keep it legal etc while (especially on this) there's often pics, comments etc about riding on FPs - you only have to look at simonfbarnes' pics for starters! Is there a sort of devil-may-care attitude of "I'll ride where I want" or is it a bit more circumspect ("I'll ride that FP when it's midweek and dry so as not to cut it up/annoy people").

I'm guessing there's very very few people on here who can honestly say that they never ever ride FPs...

Don't ride on that footpath?

Swift - Member

....Are there too many instances of walkers and cyclists clashing north of the border?

Very rare - I have had one on the nail trail.

There is a long standing tradition of using cycles to get to the more remote munros which helps and also less people use the paths. Both would tend to reduce conflict.

also I suspect Scottish riders are more courteous as well - it appears to me that a lot of the conflict in England goes both ways. Bikers are fed up with walkers so don't behave as courteously as they might.

I say please, thank you, lovely day, etc etc to almost every walker I pass. It helps I am sure.

conflict begets conflict, courtesy begets courtesy

it's not really fair to make a comparison with Scottish trails, the volume of traffic is so much lower that the likelihood of conflict is far lower

For someone to put them nails down mean there must be quite strong feeling against cyclists.

This guy has been doing it for years. I suspect he is probably some old retired lunatic as the amount of walls he knocks up over the trails must take ages to build.

Dont really bother me as I hate Spittlers / Redmonds edge anyway 😛

So if this fella is known are his shoes currently damp and smelling of urine?

it's not really fair to make a comparison with Scottish trails, the volume of traffic is so much lower that the likelihood of conflict is far lower

Don't be daft, there are plenty of places around here where path traffic is just as high as the footpaths I rode when I lived in England. Only been here a few years now but never had a conflict, usually get a good smile or encouragement, even from the red-sock brigade.

A child could step on that, impale themselves, it'll go septic and have to be amputated, then little Jimmy will only have one leg.

All because you rode your bike on a Footpath.

Dear Lord, won't anybody think of the children?!

miketually - Member

The provision of a public footpath doesn't stop other rights from existing. To me, that looks like an old pack horse trail, so it is likely to have ancient horse rights, that will also apply to bikes.

Even if it doesn't, it's not a criminal offence to ride your bike on a public footpath. It is a criminal offence to lay traps for people.

Bingo.

Aye - even in the pentlands conflict is rare and the paths there are heavily used.

I do believe its the two things - the tradition of cycle use to get to the mountains and a culture of politeness amongst the bikers

but the issues in England always crop up in extremely heavy traffic areas like the Rivy/Peaks/Lakes and whilst I'll admit there will be some areas in Scotland with these visitor numbers the PPM (persons per mile 🙂 ) of trail will be far lower.

the Peak District alone gets over 45 million day visits a year whereas Scotland gets around a quarter of that number of visits

[i]Is there a gradual shift amongst "proper" MTBers...about riding on FP though?[/i]
Nothing gradual, I've always done it.

I suspect Scottish riders are more courteous as well

I'm guessing there's very very few people on here who can honestly say that they never ever ride FPs...

[soapbox]
I assume I'll get flamed for having a "holier than thou" attitude, but I don't care. I never, ever, ride on footpaths and would never consider doing so. I remember getting abuse and threats riding in the Peaks 20 years ago on legitimate bridleways. Lots of walkers did not like the cyclists and I was determined never to antagonise them, as it would only make the situation worse.
There isn't, IMHO, ever a reason to ride on a footpath unless, maybe, you are lost and really don't know where you are or possibly a medical emergency (although the footpaths tend to be slower so this probably wouldn't happen anyway).
If in a few years time we have lots of sanctions and law changes which severly limit where we can ride in the UK, I hope you FP riders will be happy that you've done your part.
Riding along an illegal footpath (i.e. one that isn't a permissive bridleway as may the case in some places) is selfish, arrogant, disrespectful and self-defeating.
If you think a FP should be BW then lobby whoever you need to and go down the proper channels. The countryside isn't there just to serve you and your bike, it's for everyone.

[/soapbox]

If in a few years time we have lots of sanctions and law changes which severly limit where we can ride in the UK, I hope you FP riders will be happy that you've done your part.

Remind me how the footpaths came into being in the first place?

Riding along an illegal footpath (i.e. one that isn't a permissive bridleway as may the case in some places) is selfish, arrogant, disrespectful and self-defeating.

There's no such thing as an "illegal footpath". A footpath protects walkers' rights to access that route; it does not make it illegal to ride a bike there.

Stay on the road.

Keep clear of the moors.

Beware the moon, lads.

I was block and harassed on Cavedale not so long back. I just shrugged at them, said nothing and carried on. I was in the right but what would I gain by becoming shouty etc?

I have (rarely) ridden on footpath's. If someone objected or I could see a situation developing I'd LEAVE THAT FOOTPATH WELL ALONE.

Simples.

I do a lot of riding up rivvi and would love to catch these doing this sort of stuff. If its not nails then just where the stone path starts they push the grass over and put rocks down in the hope you will come off. There is a difference between not liking people sharing these locations on bikes and potentially injuring people an their livelyhoods etc.

They put stones across the bit at the start of where you go over to great hill and turn left to lead miners aswell. Some miserable fekkers about.

an "illegal to ride on" footpath as oppossed to a "legal to ride on footpath" which a permissive bridleway following the same line as a FP would be.

What a load of crap the English law is! A throw back to feudal w*nkers who had nothing better to do than annoy the oiks! I love that in Scotland I can go where I want when I want and noone can say nything about it. All this searching out paths, and "ooohh can I ride there or can I not?" would put you off biking completely!

I know the area very well. They guy who plants them is a grade A nut case.

May I ask why no action has been taken against him, either by reporting him to the rangers or directly having a word?

an "illegal to ride on" footpath as oppossed to a "legal to ride on footpath" which a permissive bridleway following the same line as a FP would be.

But it's [i]not[/i] illegal to ride a bike on a footpath.

[i]"If you think a FP should be BW then lobby whoever you need to and go down the proper channels."[/i]

Does this work ?
Can you give some examples of footpaths that have been changed to bridleways in this way ?

May I ask why no action has been taken against him

To the best of my knowledge, no-one does know who he is, but his actions are known. The Caltrop thing cropped up about 3 years ago and it was investigated, might have been the runner incident that Footstomper mentioned.

As for access on the footpaths. I don't give a toss what anyone says, I'll ride them as I see fit and have done since 1985.

Del - Member

"I suspect Scottish riders are more courteous as well"

do wind your neck in.
would you describe those you rode with on the quantocks as discourteous types, or are we 'south westerners' excluded?

Not meant like that at all. A decent bunch you all were. apologies if it sounded like that. Some even on this thread

However there are often discussions of conflict between walkers and MTBers on here where the MTBers appear to have been discourteous at best.

So what if its not technically "illegal" (yes I know it would be a civil matter), the blatant disregard for rights of way access will still have the same effect down the line.

Can you give some examples of footpaths that have been changed to bridleways in this way ?

Militant Graham, send me an e-mail, I've got some stuff for you on this
point

This whole thread is very amusing given the [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/what-to-shout-at-pedestrians ]what to shout at pedestrians[/url] thread here. Some people her are blatantly contradicting their own posts on that thread.

Some people here are blatantly contradicting their own posts on that thread.

Makes a change eh 😆

However there are often discussions [s]of conflict between walkers and MTBers[/s] on here where the MTBers appear to have been discourteous at best.

If you judged the courtesy of MTBers by threads here you'd get a very negative opinion of 'us' 🙄

If that is aimed at me its a very different situation and I shout to warn them not to abuse them. Someone steps out in front of me - "Look out" loudly. A walker on a path infront of me "ding ding" "May I squeeze past please?" - "thank you"

However don't let the truth get in the way of your stalking of me you sad pair. Jeezo your lives must be dull

All this fuss when clearly a proper ard northern fell runner has left his running sandals at the side of the trail 🙄

(edit; oops, did I interrupt a tiff!)

TJ, why do always assume that anyone makes a slightly sarcastic remark is 'stalking you' ?

As for a [i]dull life[/i], well you're either being gratuitously insulting (which from a zen-master of politeness and professional cheek-turner isn't really 'on message') and/or making assumptions (and posting them) on something about which you know nothing.

So what is it Jeremy, insult or ignorance ❓

So what if its not technically "illegal" (yes I know it would be a civil matter), the blatant disregard for rights of way access will still have the same effect down the line.

The current rights of way laws came about due to a mass trespass.

A new bridleway can be 'created' by riding a visible track for 25(?) years without anyone attempting to make it known that the landowner objects. Riding a public footpath would/could have the same effect.

TJ - understood, thankyou. 😉

on another point i'm not sure that i accept we shouldn't ride footpaths. as has been mentioned, walkers got their right of access through methods that were contrary to the law, and another example that might be worth considering is the problem of access for kayakers. the BCU have long preached an approach of appeasement wrt anglers and landowners, which in many cases has left them with very little access to some rivers, and only now that they are taking a more, shall we say, proactive stance are they seeing headway being made.

Ohh the irony.

😯 I never thought my thread would start a discussion about the rights and wrongs of where to ride, I was just trying to warn people against injuring themselves.
Whether we are right or wrong for using said footpath, we or anyone else should not have some nutcase put our lives in danger because they do not agree with people riding along on what they probably think is their own private walkway.

Crazylegs definition +1

i'm not sure that i accept we shouldn't ride footpaths

Indeed. It could be said that we owe it to future generations to ride footpaths, and other not-bridleways, now, so future generations can have their access rights protected.

As an example, our local council were going to build a bike path along a council-owned field that separated a housing estate from a river. As part of this, they were going make the 'spurs' coming off this path and into the housing estate pedestrian-only, with gates to enforce this. When I pointed out that I'd regularly ridden my bike down these access paths since the estate was built 27 years ago, so could apply to have them designated as bridleways, they changed their plans.

I never thought my thread would start a discussion about the rights and wrongs of where to ride

New around here? 🙂

[i]A new bridleway can be 'created' by riding a visible track for 25(?) years without anyone attempting to make it known that the landowner objects[/i]

Is that right ?
I've been riding the footpath along the River Severn near where I live for almost that long. How do I go about getting it upgraded to a Bridleway ?

Is that right ?
I've been riding the footpath along the River Severn near where I live for almost that long. How do I go about getting it upgraded to a Bridleway ?

Speak to your local ROW officer. Get in touch with your local IMBA and CTC rep too

Is that right ?
I've been riding the footpath along the River Severn near where I live for almost that long. How do I go about getting it upgraded to a Bridleway ?

Contact the council ROW department.

"In England and Wales, a footpath, bridleway or restricted byway may be expressly dedicated by the owner as a public right of way. Furthermore, unchallenged use by the public, as of right, for at least 20 years, may give rise to a presumption of dedication under Section 31 of the Highways Act 1980. A presumption of dedication may arise under common law after any appropriate period of time." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_of_way_in_England_and_Wales#Creation_of_new_public_rights_of_way

Basically, if the owner of the land hasn't ever challenged access, by erecting signs for example, it is presumed that they wish to dedicate the path.

You sometimes see signs stating that although access isn't being prevented by the landowner this does not constitute a dedication. We have these locally on a well-used path through the local hospital, and on some cyclepaths on council land (those are usually to stop horses riding them).

The Wirral Way last year, almost box full of Tacks spread on the sustrans trails, repeated punctures by cyclists and i believe some damaged dogs.

Year before somebody putting down poisoned meat forr the dogs, killed a few i believe.

A trail in the clwyds, always seems to have various braches across the trail usually on a corner.

I blame the squirrels.

A wise man, who has an arse photo fetish, once told me that "As for 'legality', the common law allows one to go where one wishes so long as there is no criminal intent or breaking in, and most land 'ownership' is the result of theft from the common wealth by the enclosures (or former robber barons) so I'd not take the protests of landowners too seriously, never mind that the nail setter is a 3rd party with no rights in the matter."

Anyway,

We'll keep our eyes peeled and give him a good ****ting if we see him.

vandalism & putting people at risk of serious injury, I hope I would have the foresight to get my phone out and take some pictures of the culprits if I came across anything the OP showed.

Is TJ telling us all how we all ought to behave when we come across walker's, very presumptuous to think a lot of mtbers are guilty of abuse to walkers, in my experience its to the contrary, walker being rude and abusive to mtbers and on bridleways or designated mtb trails in trails centres.

I am often shocked my their behaviour I am just wide mouthed and aghast, I point out the dangers rather than give them a mouthful, its dog walkers who don't keep any control over there pets that will get a telling off.

robdob seems very angry, has someone stolen his red socks?

We'll keep our eyes peeled and give him a good ****ting if we see him

😆

I've often wondered about organizing a two wheeled mass tresspass. Same place as the original, get the press involved, and campaign for the scottish system to be introduced here.

robdob seems very angry, has someone stolen his red socks?

i think he sound like a cock.