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Started noticing this a couple of years ago on my local trails (Newcastle/Gateshead area). Until today I'd never actually seen any riders, only the tracks left by the bikes. I take in lots of the local bridleways in the area and more and more I'm seeing evidence of illegal riding.
Today I came across a couple of people quite blatantly treating a nice little area of woodland as their own personal moto track and the trails are absolutely trashed. Really boiled my piss! I contacted the police for what it's worth but I'm aware the chances of them getting caught is slim.
Is anyone else noticing similar?
Any idea why it seems to becoming more prevalent? Less chance of getting caught maybe?
I plan on contacting the council tomorrow to see about getting the entrance to the woods restricted to make it much more difficult for them. Anyone had any experience and success contacting their council about similar problems?
No traffic cops. Where I live they use public roads never mind bridleways.
I always pray the nobbers will crash in a ball of flames.
Take their photos and watch their piss boil instead
Take their photos and watch their piss boil instead
I'd try not to do it in a way that gives away what you're doing. When the police do operations against these kind of people they turn up all kinds of stolen property, drugs and offensive weapons as a nice 'extra', as well as catching people wanted on recall to prison and assault, burglary etc suspects. Some might just be a powered equivalent of the respectable STW dwelling IT manager looking for something interesting to do at the weekend, but others are people who you don't really want to cross.
There's a group that regularly tear around Guisborough Forest. They are into allsorts of criminal activity; burglary, theft, drugs etc.
One lad in the town got fed up with it and (stupidly) threw a spade at one of the lads while he was tearing around his road at night and killed him. Absolutely the wrong thing to do but the police were doing absolutely nothing about the issue and it was disrupting the town so I can understand the lad's frustration.
I'm sure there's lots of respectable people into illegal off-road motorbiking, but in my (limited) experience its generally the scrotier edge of society taking part in such activities.
So I did what any sensible 40 something desk jockey should do - avoided confrontation, rang the police and whinged about it to the internet. To be honest the chances of having any kind of reasonable discussion seemed extremely unikely and I didn't want to spoil my one day off this week.
Bumped into a local dog walker and had a chat, the nearby residents are fed up and its starting to become a no-go area.
surreptitious take some photos and stick them up on local trees and obvious landmarks. Will increase awareness and you can remain anonymous, as others have said they might be people you don't want to mess with.
I thought there were loads of people doing this on my local trails but after a while I twigged that it was actually the same small group of people doing it often, rather than a lot of different people.
It can be a bit worrying when you hear them tearing down a trail after you but I ended up chatting to a couple of them a while ago and they seemed alright - definitely seemed like locals from the farms/villages rather than bike thieves or whatever.
Not saying it makes it OK and obviously can't comment on what it's like in your area.
I can whole heartedly agree having owned a dirt bike albeit in road going mode without knobblies that they are a bloody menace and do permanent damage.
try contacting is it tfr, the off road motorcycle community that apparently stick to legal riding for tips perhaps of how to prevent it re occurring.
You're right though dirtbikes seem to be owned by builders etc who are generally scrotes in their own right.
But to say that they should burn in a ball of flames is bit much tbh.
Nothing worse than the noise of a 2 stroke imo.
Just my thoughts rambling...
I thought there were loads of people doing this on my local trails but after a while I twigged that it was actually the same small group of people doing it often, rather than a lot of different people.
Very much this, around my way the police do respond. Bikes are confiscated and can be difficult to get back 😂😂
Local police having a clampdown on this at the mo, bikes getting seized.
Seems to be two types of people doing it. Scallies who just tear round anywhere ripping the ground up and trials riders who go to specific steep bits and ride them. The latter seem just like MTBers, slightly geeky middle aged men, and it's hard to get too vexed when they're just riding old slag heaps and that kind of thing.
Lee and Cragg quarry are ragged to bits because of them. No police or countryside rangers to deal with them.
Absolutely agree with Cha****ng. There are the green lane bods, usually on big thumpers, who are a good bunch. Stopped and chatted to them up by cragg quarry a while back and they’re a good bunch.
Then you’ve got the scotes absolutely trashing the trails on (probably stolen) crossers. Great little trails like Waugh’s Well are now just 2 foot deep trenches where these bell ends have been ripping through them. It’s also led to some great trails round here having fences built across them by the landowners to restrict access to everyone. Cheers for that lads!
The police are taking it seriously though as they’re a bloody menace! They’ve been up on the tops on trail bikes complete with blues and twos, and have been pulling them and seizing bikes. Good to see
There’s been a little bit of this up near Steep (Petersfield area) in the South Downs.. thing is there are still RUPPs (or what ever they’re called) and loads of bridleways linking them together, so they just ride along em’.
If I’m honest about it, I am less bothered by this than the loonies who ride thier motorbikes on the A32/239 like it’s an extended course of the IoM, and they’re out for best PBs...
I agree though, there is nothing like the sound of a ring-dinger on full chat.
The police are taking it seriously though as they’re a bloody menace! They’ve been up on the tops on trail bikes complete with blues and twos, and have been pulling them and seizing bikes. Good to see
Didn't know that-they used to do it years ago but didn't know it had restarted.
I had a RTA with one of these unlicensed/unregistered/uninsured scrotes whilst in my van on a local road. Guy stunk of weed, brand new shiny 'crosser, guy had absolutely knackered gear. His mate turned up wanting to remove the bike and fix my van before police arrived
Rider got 6 points and decent fine, lost his job I heard.
His solicitor then persued me for a £25k personnel injury claim which my insurance arnt contesting due to historic case law.
His solicitor then persued me for a £25k personnel injury claim which my insurance arnt contesting due to historic case law.
Once he’s got his money, sue him back for whiplash injuries, and psychological damage (I’m sure you have flashbacks all the time...)
Merseyside police have had the npas bobby copter up a few times over the weekend, to catch them, if theyre not insured or licenced to anyone theyre crushed every few months, huge waste, pity somebody a landowner cannot set up a local area to train and inspire the people who own them to ride properly and legally with training into how to fix the things, just like trail centres started all those years ago, remember we where once banned from national trust and Forestry commision land.
A lot of it is about lack of provision, we build skate parks and trail centres that are free to use yet make no provision for trial (not trail riding that's the TRF) or motocross riders.
Trouble with MX provision is insurance, as it's up there with Northshore Mtb in terms of likelihood/severity of any spannering if it all goes wrong, and as evidenced by RustyNissanPrairie, crosser numpties aren't so much the litigous type, more the money-grubbing-scumbag type.
Crosser non-numpties already go to tracks for their fun...
Agree it does attract a certain individual, but lack of provision is still an issue.
As an old skater I always wear a helmet yet most kids in most skate parks don't and I have seen some very nasty accidents and insurance never gets brought up?
Came across an unregistered bike last month. There was about 15 of us ready to descent a local bridleway, and one of the lads went ahead to let any walkers know there were 15 bikes on the way down. Just as we were setting off, we heard the bike and stopped. Low and behold, youngish lad on a cross bike, no plates. Got a few 'looks' from us. Could have been very messy if we'd set off.
There are a lot of "cheap" bikes avaliable now. If you have nothing to loose its cheap fun, same as people driving cars with no MOT/TAX/Insurance with multiple bans. A lot of people dont really think/care about their impact on others, just look at many drivers etc.
If you have a house, job etc the consequences can have repercussions.
Dirt bikes are great fun, just limited places you can use them.
Bob Macgregor Trials Academy is cheap and fun in Scotland
If you don't have a field don't buy a cow.
I live in the midst of a network of green lanes in Surrey, and they are well used by 4x4s and trail riders. Once in a while some riders venture off piste but the numbers are certainly no more than they were a few years back and generally they realise they could be regarded as antisocial so are on the whole considerate of other people. Mountain bikers on the other hand...