[Closed] Rant: 100's riders down a narrow bridleway

There aren't that many routes, two I think plus the road...

Its a public right of way so unless there are restrictions on use I dont suppose a lot can be done ,unless it`s a race

Going to wear the Peaks out at this rate.Two weeks ago i turned back at the start of Roych Clough 60 runners left and 200 bikers to come went else where.Busy place not quiet like the Cotswolds.

[old grandad voice] I've said it before, and will say it again; the Peak has become a trail centre in all but name and sees the same attitude from riders that trail centres see; I've come here so I'll ride it and sod the consequences.

It's a victim of its own success, and until mountain bikers rediscover the idea that one should leave nothing but tyre tracks, and if the weather is bad enough, don't actually go, the problem will continue.

Mountain bikers have a sense of entitlement which is beginning to cause problems..

[/old grandad voice]

Very good point.

The erosion in the peak is off the scale and has been as long as i can remember. Over use is a problem irrespective of what mode of transport you are on. Wouldn't it be nice if they closed some routes for a while and opened up alternatives. There are miles of it that have zero trails.

In the white peak it's the horses that have done the damage.

I've said it before and I'l say it again - the chute is a motorway now. It was mental down there today. They need to run huge events like that in summer (not that it would have helped this year)

Would opening up the footpaths help spread the load? Might help a bit, but I agree with the points above - riders, and organisers, need to exercise common sense about where and when to ride.

I've bonged on about it on here a bit today - but it was mad. Going down the chute from Mam Tor to Edale there were about 100 riders of mixed ability. The path might as well have been invisible - every single bit of landscape in a 10 metre width was trampled, skidded on or crushed. It was wreckage on a grand scale.

I feel hypocritical as I run the pootles, but at least when it's wet we choose hardpack trails - this was just bloody minded.

Flame me but if you can afford G4S staff you can pay someone with common sense.

Surely they used G4S precisely because they couldn't afford somebody with common sense?

Agree about the trail overuse though.

This is more like it, ban bikes from the Peak.

[img] [/img]

edit: diffusing 😉

Hope Valley and Ladybower are ruined and to busy 🙁

Marple, longnor and Hollinsclough seem to be the less explored areas by the masses for some reasons, there is plenty of places in the peaks off the main routes.

MoreCashThanDash - Member

Would opening up the footpaths help spread the load?

Absolutely... Restricting bike traffic overloads the trails that you're allowed to use. But proper right-to-roam isn't a fix unfortunately, knobbers will still ride down delicate trails when they're soaked and wreck them, even if there's drier, sustainable alternatives.

The (few) Peaks rights-of-way have always suffered, as there are so few compared to their usage - especially when compared to the sheer number of people living within a short distance. The Lakes also.

While I agree that running large organised events on already heavily used routes is a stupid idea that could have only been thought up by someone who doesn't care about locals an thinks that it's for charity so it doesn't matter I also think that as pook's official trail finder and Hora's younger sexier lookalike, there are 101 other routes you could have chosen today that hardly anyone ever uses.

I walked up a track the other week and didn't see a single tyre mark, admittedly it wasn't a bw, in fact it wasn't even a legal footpath but it does mean it's going to be quiet and in the spirit of adventure instead of the same old same old

Would opening up the footpaths help spread the load?

Just ride footpaths anyway - in 20 years I've never been stopped or challenged.

To be honest I've never understood why people get so excited over the peaks. There are loads of trails within 1/2 an hour of the area that offer the same challenge without the crowds.