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Out early doors, just loving the frozen ground, I came across a gentleman who was interested in starting a discussion about 'our lot' causing erosion.
Reasoned arguments weren't getting me anywhere so I conceded a couple of points to placate him then hit him with the why are we arguing? We both love the outdoors point of view. I agreed it wasn't ideal to have bikes on woodland footpaths but that for me it was preferable to getting abuse on the roads and that I was considerate as possible and tended to ride ridiculously early to avoid conflicts (I rode 5-10am today). At this point he laughed and said guess you're trying to avoid having arguments! I think we parted on pretty good terms, and that just maybe he won't automatically regard all cyclists as the enemy from now on.
As a footnote to this story, later in the ride I saw a couple stop at the gate at the top of a rather tough hill (yet another footpath) and thought to myself; here we go again! When I wearily reached them they were full of admiration for the fact that I'd managed to ride all the way up, the rather elderly fella even offered to take my bike as I lifted it over the style. Better not, I said, hefting the Blue Pig (coated in frozen mud), it's pretty heavy.
It was a good day.
Excellent thread title, and good story. 🙂
Nice one & well done!
I remember being on the Helvellyn ridge which is a bridleway, with 3 other riders, only to be accosted by a red socked wearing gobshite in a group of around 12-15, remonstrating about how we shouldn't be allowed there.
My mate swore at her which was very unusual cos Merv never swore.
Gutted, I thought you'd nicked a pitbull.
I bet he doesn't stop horse riders and talk to them about erosion .....
Kind of pointless.
Just ignore them and carry on with your ride as usual.
I tend to avoid arguments by going straight to the sweary bit.
Actually he was happy to admit that horse hooves were definitely causing more damage than my tyres. It was quite a sensible discussion mainly. I was defending the fact that my 2.4” tyres at 15psi were exerting a similar footprint to his feet and he was countering with the fact that a wheel rut creates a groove which then holds water. This was the juncture where I said he may have a point and switched tack to “isn’t the forest lovely today?”
Kind of pointless.
Was it? Had a chat with a fellow human, got their point of view across to someone who started out a bit ignorant, left after laughing about it.
sound like a good confrontation to me.
Had similar with a couple of youngish walkers (well young for ramblers!) on Dartmoor a while ago.
Bloke was a bit shouty, 'Oi you shouldn't be here, you cause erosion.' etc.
I admitted that I was on a footpath, but that it linked up 2 bridleways, so what was I meant to do?
I then looked around and pointed out there were lots of footprints and quite a few hoof marks, but mine appeared to be the only tyre marks on the path.
At this point he started going on about red light jumpers(!), and in fact his wife stopped him saying something like 'now come on Jim, that's not at all relevant!'
I asked them if they knew about the Kinder Scout Trespass, and she'd heard of it but neither really knew the history and relevance to land access.
Ended up having quite an interesting discussion, and parted on (I think) good terms.
Better experience than the oaf who threw a dog poo bag at me earlier this month after I blew him a kiss 😘
I was once accosted by an elderly member of the red sock brigade whilst riding a footpath...
I was very pleasantly surprised when he offered to help me lift my bike over the stile...
Had a good chat with him him about the fells and the importance of getting out when you're feeling down. It was the highlight of my ride and really cheered me up.
Sadly it’s the thing that can’t happen when one of the protagonists is in a glazed box traveling at 50mph.
Was it?
From my experiences yes it is pointless.
Been riding MTB's since 86 and gone through just about every argument/discussion with people that are just looking for an argument and come to the conclusion that it's far better for everyone to just wish them a good day and carry on...
From my experiences yes it is pointless.
But I guess not from the op’s.
I’ve had a mixed bag myself, some great some frightening so I do see where you’re coming from.
a wheel rut creates a groove which then holds water.
As does a footprint and there's 1000s more of them.... When ever I get dragged onto this conversation by walkers I point out that walkers do the most damage on the countryside due to their numbers and access, then leave.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your walk/ride/day pik n mix.
😎
Is happy. I love when you connect with people
I remember crashing into another car in a funny country a long time ago now. I expected to get ripped as a foreigner but the other, older, guy got out if his car, looked at mine and told me to be more careful as I had way longer still to live. That's the attitude I want in life, not just to care about the effect on me. Other folks have loads to teach us
Tell them to google "the sedimentary cycle".... the whole landscape is eroding and they should be arguing with the frost, wind, rain and sun instead.
The Sedimentary Cycle.... new type of fat bike, its slow, but nothing stops it 😉
I was expecting a dead dog thread.
I was expecting a dead dog thread.
That've been a smidgen more interesting than the current thread.