To55ers at glentress yesterday

BurtonM

Did anybody else see the bunch of kids riding down spooky wood descent with there trakies bottoms tucked into socks and there air maxes and... wait for it... NO HELMETS?
One of them came off at the bottom i heard, idiots. No sympathy at all for them. There was this other guy with a dowhill rig, his mp3 player, everything under the sun except a helmet and asked me for a tool which i had in my bag but couldnt be bothered to give him it. Im not apologising if that person reads this post because your a nincompoop.
rant over

BorisSpencer

Have you read your own sig recently?

BurtonM

i know im going to have to do a very very long ride.

supersonic

Instead of forming an opinion based on looks, why not lend him that tool, have a chat and get to know them? Maybe they would appreciate the advice on helmets? They probably think the same of you and riders like you now.

Nik_B

or beat him to death with his own shoes!!!!

Oops...back to anger management for me

BurtonM

they did get some advice, it wasnt phrased as politely as it could have been, but it was given none the less

supersonic

Lol, it's just that I ride with tracksuit bottoms (comfortable!), tucked into my socks (so they don't get caught in the chain) and, ahem, Nike Air Max! I do tend to wear a helmet of course!

FSR Si

If its not compulsory to wear a lid then they did no wrong, also what has wearing trackie bottoms and trainers got to do with anything, what if they couldn't afford any other clothing? Or what if they just choose to wear that clothing because they like too, what business is it of yours anyway? You sound a bit of a snob if you ask me :roll:

MrRex

What a grumpy man BurtonM

Were your tyres 21 mm by any chance....? You sound like a roadie!! (I can say that because I'm a roadie).

Biking is too middle class anyway.... we need some chavs and they tend to be able to handle a stolen steel non-susser better than grumpy moany Whyte or Specialized enduro types anyway!

BurtonM

i never said there was anything wrong with wearing tracksuit bottoms or air maxes people, i wear tracksuits myself. It was by means of identification :S
they were just causing havoc on the trails, being a danger to themselves and others. If me and a group of riders didnt spot them, they would have been incorporated into the trail with my maxxis tyres tatooed into them. surely there should be measures to stop this ?

paul.skibum

Sounds to me like somebody got passed by people on lesser equipment than him!!!

cgarossi

I'm sure you had to be there.

Lets not pounce on him.

BurtonM

nahh they were just standing in the middle of the downhill towards the bottom. Normally im a courteous ( posh word for polite but i cant spell) person but they were really just taking the mick.
Im not a snob, i dont have the best gear because i simply cant afford it, i improvise and compromise. Im not the fittest and im not the best. But if im polite with people and theyre not polite back, in fact theyre just down right arrogant then i have every right to be annoyed. especially when they could have been knocked down, injured and maybes worse.

BurtonM

cgarossi wrote:

I'm sure you had to be there.

Lets not pounce on him.

you make it out as though im of the male gender ? just as well i am coz if i wasnt id be cheesed

cgarossi

I do give a silent 'tut' to people who don't wear helmets. My friend who likes to come mountain biking seems to insist on wearing track suit bottoms and a t-shirt, which is fair enough, but complains about having a sore back side after the ride.

Each to their own, but from what you desribe they seem to be just nob heads.

.blitz

There were some lads on jump bikes sessioning the err...jumps on section 8 of Follow The Dog the other night. Trackies, hoodies, trainers and maybe a couple of FFs between them.

One of them had a camcorder and was videoing his mates as they were getting air and all crossed up on the jumps.

For some reason he stopped filming as I rode past... :?

miss notax

I don't like to see people riding without helmets either, so I see where you're coming from.

Everyone is perfectly entitled to make their own mind up re the helmet / no helmet debate, but I don't want the responsibility of picking up bits of head and calling the paramedics if there's an accident..... :?

scotto

Not everyone wants to wear a helmet and that's a freedom we can all enjoy.

Sounds to me like you were having a bad day and started to enjoy looking down on others as a way of making yourself feel superior.

It's snobbery and the extreme use of sterotypical views like yours which further segregates sections of society from moving forward thus creating unity.

Seems to me what you really wanted to say is " there were some working class people on bikes out on my trail and I didn't like it "'.

Well you should take a good hard look at yourself, there's plenty of people out to slate and knock mountain bike riders without us arguing with ourselves.

el loco pollo

I think it's pretty selfish of people not to wear helmets when out on a shared trail. If they come off and have to have their brains scooped back into their heads and the trail closed while the paramedics do their thing, everyone else loses out.

Case in point: the ladder drops at Cwmcarn - because SO MANY PEOPLE ended up in ambulances because they tried them on unsuitable bikes and with unsuitable safety gear, they've now been removed, which ruins the fun for everyone else.

But then I guess it's an inherently dangerous sport - people are going to come off and hurt themselves.

Northwind

el loco pollo wrote:

Case in point: the ladder drops at Cwmcarn - because SO MANY PEOPLE ended up in ambulances because they tried them on unsuitable bikes and with unsuitable safety gear, they've now been removed, which ruins the fun for everyone else.

Bingo. The FC monitor accident statistics at glentress very closely, if too many people go out and pan their heads in on the jumps at spooky, sooner or later they'll be up there with a shovel knocking the tops off all the jumps. Before someone shouts "Nanny state" or "trail sanitation" it's nothing of the sort, it's what they have to do in order to reduce the risk of getting the nuts sued off them, it's pretty much this or no trail centres at all. Nobody likes boring trails less than Andy Wardman, man's a demon on a bike, but it's still his job to build and maintain safe trails and to protect his employers from a lawyerly shafting.

So, yeah, riding without a helmet at a trail centre is antisocial and could have a wider ranging impact, if they're unlucky enough to hurt themselves. Which TBH isn't actually all that likely.

passout

scotto wrote:

Not everyone wants to wear a helmet and that's a freedom we can all enjoy.

Sounds to me like you were having a bad day and started to enjoy looking down on others as a way of making yourself feel superior.

It's snobbery and the extreme use of sterotypical views like yours which further segregates sections of society from moving forward thus creating unity.

Seems to me what you really wanted to say is " there were some working class people on bikes out on my trail and I didn't like it "'.

Well you should take a good hard look at yourself, there's plenty of people out to slate and knock mountain bike riders without us arguing with ourselves.

I agree with some of what you say but not wearing a helmet is bl**dy stupid, whatever class you are!

schmako

supersonic wrote:

Lol, it's just that I ride with tracksuit bottoms (comfortable!), tucked into my socks (so they don't get caught in the chain) and, ahem, Nike Air Max! I do tend to wear a helmet of course!

Supersonic the mental chav :P

BurtonM

I completely disagree about the working class statement. The first thing you should aquire besides a bike is a helmet, they are lifesavers.
As for the not using a helmet, there is a big sign before you start the trails saying helmets must be worn etc other items of protection are advised. So yeah, in no way am i snobbish i just dont, along with millions of other people, want a saturdays riding to be spoilt by picking somebodys brains off the floor. I also dont want, along with millions of other people, trail centres to be shut or features removed (case in point : ladder drops). Not snobbish in the slightest.

NOTE TO ANYBODY WHO IS INTERESTED.
The tracksuit bottoms in socks, air maxes remark was by means of IDENTIFICATION. I agree that i might have came about a bit snobbish but it wasnt. Its exactly like me saying did you see the people in altura shorts, fox gloves and endura jersey and wait for it... NO HELMETS.

Nik_B

Chavs dress that way...how is that snobbish?

lawman

anyone who rides without a helmet cos "they're gay" is a twat. anyone who wears a helmet is sensible. if chavs want to look cool for all of 30 seconds before they come to grief on a trail thats fine by me as most have very few brain cells and the world would be a better place without thses antisocial yobos, who ruin our runs down our favourite trail by euither causing us to stop or by having tham closed because of too many accidents. i agree that every one has a right to enjoy mtb trails but like anything if you abuse them i believe your right to ride them should be taken away. plus most of these yobos are on stolen bikes thatwere taken from us good people and you'd be pretty pissed if a chav had an accident on your bike, on your favourite trail and then it was closed beacuse of that no brained imbosile.

f*** you a**holes who ruin the trails for everone else. you wanna ride the trail? wear the kit and be sensible :evil:

Chaz.Harding

.blitz wrote:

There were some lads on jump bikes sessioning the err...jumps on section 8 of Follow The Dog the other night. Trackies, hoodies, trainers and maybe a couple of FFs between them.

Coulda been my bro! Was one of the guys riding a white Cove Sanchez, with Pikes? Skinny, tall, long hair, and probably wearing a beanie...?

Either way, he doesn't wear a helmet, because he can't afford it. He got th bike at a mega low price from a friend. Still don't know how he paid him :?

Either way, it's up to the rider what they want to wear. If you start trying to dictate what can / can't be done, you sound like Hitler...

Chaz.Harding

passout wrote:

I agree with some of what you say but not wearing a helmet is bl**dy stupid, whatever class you are!

Ok, so I'm a working-class guy. I'm in the Army, and for my ride into work, I DONT wear a helmet :shock:

It's MY choice. Call it stupid, but I look stupid wearing it, for the 5 minute ride. And yes, looks ARE important. If I look like a tool, I'll get treated as one by my seniors / superiors. Which inturn, GREATLY lessens my chance of promotion. Like it or not.

Because I'm a adult, I can risk-assess the ride, and I deem it safe enough to not wear a helmet. Hope that's alrite with you helmet-Nazis! :shock:

robinta

I think people who choose not to wear helmets are stupid and i'm sure it once looked 'cool' to not wear a seat belt or motorbike crash helmet. It is however only my opinion and is personal choice. I do however think dedicated trail centres should make helmet wearing compulsory, on black or red routes - albeit hard to enforce. I would also get p@ssed off with a group of knobs across the trail - no matter how they were dressed !

BurtonM

it wasnt the dressing i was bothered about, i stated that it was by means of identificatioin.
they were all older than me (im 17). they stood in the middle of the trail, i asked politely. I EVEN RANG MY 5HITTY LITTLE BELL. They didnt move. They basically middled fingered me and carried on going as they pleased. i should have mowed the little gits over really. its just bad manners really, thats all it boils down to. if i was going to use another regions trail centres (which i was) i would give 100 % respect (which i do).
i dont drop litter, i move out of the way when somebody better wants to pass, i often stop to help, i am always polite. now im not perfect but i have mannors. So do 99.9 percent of the people i meet. theres just that minority that let it down.

grumsta

anyone who rides without a helmet cos "they're gay" is a fool. anyone who wears a helmet is sensible.

What about people who ride aggressively/go big on jumps etc? Are they taking unnecessary risks and therefore incredibly selfish? Or are they just having fun on their bikes.

if chavs want to look cool for all of 30 seconds before they come to grief on a trail thats fine by me as most have very few brain cells and the world would be a better place without thses antisocial yobos

World would be a better place without snobbish attitudes like this.

it wasnt the dressing i was bothered about, i stated that it was by means of identificatioin.

Funny how your original post didn't mention anything about their behaviour then, only what they were wearing.

Northwind

I do sort of agree with the helmet nazis, but then I remember that I've actually never had a pushbike crash in which my head touched the ground. Funny old thing, heads, they're armoured, articulated and in a well defended location- most of your reflexes in a crash are to protect the head, to the extent of breaking arms and collarbones to protect it.

Now knees... knees are fragile, exposed and weight bearing, and after hands they're the location mountain bikers injure the most. But there are relatively few kneepad nazis. You're much more likely to suffer a crippling knee or hand injury than a crippling brain injury, we're talking orders of magnitude here.

Obviously I'm not advocating not wearing a helmet, or for that matter wearing a helmet. But I think people who're rabidly pro helmet should probably take that good thought and run with it, see where it takes them. All the arguments that apply for helmet use apply to other parts, and while you'd generally prefer to have a crippled knee than a crippled brain, given the choice I think I'd have neither