Ive lost my only riding spot

jadamson

So been off the bike for a while due to many things but decided today would be a good day to venture into pretty much (unless you want to drive for ages) our only riding spot. Its only about a 10 minute ride away so ideal! so off went me and 2 fellow friends. It was a sunny day and the ground was dry so we thought we were in for a treat. about 5 minutes into the ride and we come across broken up twigs and logs all over the path

so not too bad, a bit slower but we can still ride over it.

shortly after we discover that the forestry commission has been hauling logs and have driven through the forest with a big heavy tractor completely destroying the whole forest!


these tractor tracks are literally all over the forest and even on the main footpaths! they have completely rendered the whole forest unrideable

we took loads of picture's because we couldn't really ride around anymore.

here's one showing the size of these tracks




Theres 32 other photos we took all around the forest if you are interested in having a look --> http://www.flickr.com/photos/47231823@N06/page1/

Im really not sure what to do at the moment, whether to send a complaint or something else. It doesn't just affect the mountain bikes because many dog walkers also liked going off the main paths.

your comments are appreciated.

stubs

Cripes thats some damage photo No3 looks about 2 foot deep. When the spring rains arrive those ruts are going to turn into rivers

Gutted for you lets hope they build a few replacement trails for you.

jadamson

this one is a whole 26" wheel deep -->

stubs

Buy a 29er and your problems are solved

jay12

damn, thats not by a tractor, must have been a tank

ask them WTF they have done that for

peter413

jay12 wrote:

damn, thats not by a tractor, must have been a tank

ask them WTF they have done that for

I second that!

Thats restricting access to anything never mind a mountain bike.

Not sure even a tank could get through that

cat_with_no_tail

Looks more like one of these:



We had one in the local plantation a month or so ago, absolutely ruined it!

They have promised that when they're done, they'll put everything back as it was, fill in some of the existing ruts caused by the enduro racing, and even stick a couple of small runs in for us too.

jadamson

Cat With No Tail
did you contact them about it then?

Im thinking about sending an email of complaint but Im not very good at writing angry letters anyone able to lend a hand?

It really annoyed me and my friends as it was really our only riding spot and we loved it, now its completely ruined, we spent ages riding around trying to find somewhere we could still ride but we would of been better not bothering.

Ok I accept that the forestry commission have to do some log haulage sometimes but please clean up after yourself! :evil: they left massive tank craters everywhere as you can see in the pics, left trees fallen over paths, logs/branches/bushes laying everywhere. it just makes a nice woods look ghastly :evil:

Ho hum

Blimey! That looks bad.

Maybe an email of complaint my not be the right tactic rather you should email asking them when they are going to put it back to the way it was before.

sniper68

Trouble is if is Forestry Commission land everything in it is theirs.Footpaths,Bridleways etc are only open to the public at the land owners descretion.
Forests have to be cut back from time to time and unfortunately this requires heavy plant which causes damage.

Northwind

Yup, no justification for a complaint IMO and it only puts people on edge. But, a nicely worded enquiry, expressing concern about the forestry ops and the damage, that could be worthwhile. FC does not react well to criticism tbh.

The bottom line is it's a tree factory, it might be pretty and fun to ride in but that's really a fortunate benefit you get from it. Forestry ops do a lot of short-term damage, a big skidder does more damage than a tank, cleaning up after them isn't really economic or justifiable in most cases.

cat_with_no_tail

jadamson wrote:

Cat With No Tail
did you contact them about it then?

Im thinking about sending an email of complaint but Im not very good at writing angry letters anyone able to lend a hand?

It really annoyed me and my friends as it was really our only riding spot and we loved it, now its completely ruined, we spent ages riding around trying to find somewhere we could still ride but we would of been better not bothering.

Ok I accept that the forestry commission have to do some log haulage sometimes but please clean up after yourself! :evil: they left massive tank craters everywhere as you can see in the pics, left trees fallen over paths, logs/branches/bushes laying everywhere. it just makes a nice woods look ghastly :evil:

No, there was no need. It's a small island, and the various clubs are all on pretty good terms with each other and with the DAFF (our version of the forestry commission). Someone from DAFF made a post about it on the local MTB site saying what was going on, when it'd be finished, and asking people to stay clear in working hours and not to mess with the signs and stuff. They're pretty good like that actually.

On a slight tangent, it's also nice when we need new trails building and we can post up on the Enduro site asking them to follow a trail we mark out which then clears it for us

lawman

some of my local trails have been ruined too, there was a sweet piece of singletrack that ace in summer and it has no been ruined

jadamson

lawman
I feel your pain, the singletrack in that woods was sweet especially in the summer. shame its now all gone

lawman

thankfully for me its only a small stretch and last summer we found an even better piece that we had just ridden past for years still bloody annoying tho as the ride can be only be done one way now rather than a variety of loops

elm37

Forestry Commission in growing trees and then cutting them down shocker!

bails87

ibbo68 wrote:

Trouble is if is Forestry Commission land everything in it is theirs.Footpaths,Bridleways etc are only open to the public at the land owners descretion.
Forests have to be cut back from time to time and unfortunately this requires heavy plant which causes damage.

Errr, no.

But the trails the OP is talking about might not even be PROWs, they might just be 'trails' that have, until now, been left alone by the landowners (FC).

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Is this Lordswood? If so, I've been meaning to explore up there since last summer. If so, weren't the jumps flattened there last year also?

The only other places I know of in our area are:-
Itchen Valley Country Park (off Allington Lane)
Victoria Country Park (fun section in woods that comes out by the cemetary)
Mayfield Park (near Woolston)
Riverside walk which leads to the old Cutbush Lane (Woodmill/Mansbridge)

Holly Hill Woodland Park (near Sarisbury) looks interesting, but yet to go there either

UncleMonty

They've just done the same thing in my local woods, I went walking with the kids last Sunday and it just looks a mess everywhere, I guess it's better to do it now than the summer though.

In our woods they have a tractor/crawler type thing with very wide stubby tyres, I'm amazed at where some of the tracks go though, down slopes so steep that I'd think twice about going down.

Mr bump

If you google 'Forwarder' im pretty sure you will find what has cused the ruts.

.blitz

The FC are farmers and they farm trees. They plant them, grow them and cut them down again. Some great trails have been lost on Cannock Chase but others take their place.

alexh1981

Granted they can do what they like, but consideration for the surrounding environment should be included in that thought process.

They could think twice before using plant like that on such soft soils, wait a month or two and minimise the damage, not as if the crop will go off is it?. The construction industry wont carry on working when the ground is like that, mainly due to the mess it makes and the fact they will have to dig out the rutted material.

Its not only that but those ruts could well restrict their own movement, its just poor management.

That will take some time to heal.

Northwind

alexh1981 wrote:

Granted they can do what they like, but consideration for the surrounding environment should be included in that thought process.

Next you should tell the local farmers to plant trees instead of cereals because cereals aren't as nice to look at or as fun to ride through

Forestry ops are full time work, the hardware and crew will be off doing something else in a few weeks so it's not a simple case of doing it later.

tsenior

" I accept that the forestry commission have to do some log haulage sometimes "

LOL, you reckon? :roll:

.blitz

Some parts of Cannock Chase look as though they've been nuked after the FC fellas have been at work, esp. this year when we had so much snow.

Credit to them though, they flatten the fireroads when they're done and after a month or two you'd never know they'd been there (apart from the lack of trees and cheeky trails).

Pufftmw

Same has been happening over in Thetford Forest

Start of the Red Trail has been flattened and is inaccesible and there is a bit at the start of the Black that is like the Somme! Couple of other places too...

However, can't beat a Mini HyMac when it comes to making trails in any terrain Below is the result on a steep slope (over a 1:1 ) when the ESB came to update electricity poles on my hills in Ireland! What would take me days with a chainsaw and a spade can be done in minutes with one of them and will be my first purchase when it comes to putting in a trail



8)

Pufftmw

Oh

The hills normally look like this!!!

jadamson

Pufftmw wrote:

Same has been happening over in Thetford Forest

Start of the Red Trail has been flattened and is inaccesible and there is a bit at the start of the Black that is like the Somme! Couple of other places too...

However, can't beat a Mini HyMac when it comes to making trails in any terrain Below is the result on a steep slope (over a 1:1 ) when the ESB came to update electricity poles on my hills in Ireland! What would take me days with a chainsaw and a spade can be done in minutes with one of them and will be my first purchase when it comes to putting in a trail

8)

whats this mymac you speak of? and a link?

ive decided to see it positively. ive been down there since and i recon with some smoothing out and maybe a few jumps some of the tracks could turn into some sweet trails and even some dual slalom it will just be a lot of effort and a lot of convincing friends to come and help!

joshtp

jadamson wrote:

Pufftmw wrote:

Same has been happening over in Thetford Forest

Start of the Red Trail has been flattened and is inaccesible and there is a bit at the start of the Black that is like the Somme! Couple of other places too...

However, can't beat a Mini HyMac when it comes to making trails in any terrain Below is the result on a steep slope (over a 1:1 ) when the ESB came to update electricity poles on my hills in Ireland! What would take me days with a chainsaw and a spade can be done in minutes with one of them and will be my first purchase when it comes to putting in a trail

8)

whats this mymac you speak of? and a link?

ive decided to see it positively. ive been down there since and i recon with some smoothing out and maybe a few jumps some of the tracks could turn into some sweet trails and even some dual slalom it will just be a lot of effort and a lot of convincing friends to come and help!

some drainage, a few berms, the odd jump, a bit of smoothing, and youv got yourslef a lovely Duel track, dont moan!