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We got challenged for the first time climbing Yoghurt this afternoon. Nothing nasty - I said "Hello", old man said "this is a footpath", I said "Happy Christmas".
Pretty sure I've heard that the landowner has granted access rights, or at least permissive rights, for cyclists on the trail, which is marked as a footpath on the OS Map.
thanks
man said "this is a footpath"I said "Happy Christmas"
This is now going to be my default response to all trail confrontations, regardless of season.
AFAIK its a footpath.
Footpath, choose the right time of day and no one will know
I find a jovial "Happy Christmas" works well on miserable bus drivers too, but they're beyond hope mostly.
Shame, I thought that was one footpath I was riding legally.
I've been away from the Mendips for a few years now... where abouts is the Yoghurt trail?
Climb that used to be used in Cheddar Challenge
Anything related to Yeo Valley?
Behind it
Can anyone describe these to me via email?
Where do you wanna go, mail me
Unfortunately The Mendips is full of miserable walkers and horse riders.
As said before pick your time. I live in Axbridge and ride it every week. Evenings are the best time for going up or down......very fast 🙂 I can't remember the last time I saw a walker up there after 7pm.
Where are your fav descents? I like the ride down into Cheddar past the speedway, a little rocky but a good challenge... Rowberrow routes are fun when it's dry... The run from the trig point towards the two masts was also a favourite, not so keen now there's gravel for the first couple of hundred meters : / but still fun when dry...
What am I missing?
nickfry228 - Member
Unfortunately The Mendips is full of miserable walkers and horse riders.
Is it not the case the our lot now think they can ride anywhere and everywhere they like ❓ why do you need to ride on what is a footpath or is it just ignorance of what and where you can ride?
Being an old bloke who has been riding(and driving)I see a definite shift in attitude, arrogance and disregard for what is "legal" and what is not and more people "testing/pushing the boundaries"
The above could also be true of places such as the Lakes, Peaks etc.......
I blame youtube/Vimeo/Strava 😉
Omg there is so much more
Ygm!
The legality of riding a bike on a footpath is buried in a lot of essentially feudal law. Many old routes of access were placed in to footpaths as the owner did not want to have to manages the route for horses to go over. That bracket of either foot or hoof is no longer suitable for the uses that we have for them as cyclists. There have been a lot of decent articles ( http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/access-all-areas-a-rights-of-way-officers-view-part-1/ ) about it but riding just legal routes often depends on where you live.
I often find that an approach of stop and let walkers/riders through and a smile gets a good response. If you get a "You are not supposed to ride this." they get the response " Yes, silly isn't it." Smile and you are off. Most of the time I don't see anybody.
Just get out and ride wherever you fancy, but don't damage it and most people are just happy to see you out and about.
Trekster.
We all need to get along on the trails. I have been sworn at, gently cycling along bridle ways on the Quantocks by some walkers!
The "Yoghurt Trail" is the only way to get to the top from where I live avoiding some very dangerous roads (4 fatalities in the last year on one stretch alone).
I always make a point of stopping for horses, and always have a cordial greeting for everybody I see in the hills.
Unfortunately, there are some mtb'ers who give us a bad name, and there are some people who just want to moan.
A prime example was when I rode (perfectly legally in Scotland) Ben Nevis. 95% of the people thought what we were doing was fantastic, but the other 5% thought that we had no right to be there, very vocally! That 5% won't look back on the day thinking about how fantastic "The Ben" was, but about the stupid f*%king mountain bikers!
Sambuka.
The descent down by the stock car track is great! I just like getting out and having a blast. The "trail fairies" are fantastic and building new stuff all the time, so I don't think I have a favourite. I agree with you about the run down from Beacon Batch though. The gravel has taken a load of the fun out of it now 🙁