Ramblers

rockmonkeysc

There was one old bloke who I passed every morning, I would ring my bell and he would continue to walk along the middle of the cycle path with a dog either side. I used to get really frustrated and occasionally mutter something like ignorant old bastard. After nearly a year I spotted his hearing aid.

bob6397

Personally never had any issues at all - everyone is super friendly round here (though there is the odd road biker that doesn't wave back - never worked out why as they do if i'm out on my roadie.. ) Everyone holds a gate open if they've just gone through it so you don't have to get off, people wait on the other side if there's a narrow bit (usually after i've slowed down to let them through first though - if you show that you're willing to wait then people are more likely to wait for you - it shows that you know they are there and that you're not "one of them bikers"

I also believe that shouting "ding ding" with a smile on your face works a lot better than a bell any day

mattyfez

The vast majority of people I have no issues with, I do a lot of tow path/bridal way so a bell is essential, I ding my bell, nod/smile, say thanks and more often than not get a smile, or a 'no problem' back.

I did learn very quickly to realise some people don't hear me, due to ear phones or other reasons (mainly joggers this one, but can be anyone) so I'm very aware of that..

I have purchased a comedy horn also which makes a loud squeak like a dogs toy, as a back up if the bell isn't heard, had some laughs from people with that, and it's very effective in getting ducks to move out of the way, ducks I've found can be a real menace as they seem to have no sense of fear and you just don't know what they are going to do, stay put, change direction etc.

In terms of people I've had one or two issues with other bikers, not incidents as such but it did leave me thinking 'what a bunch of *****) both road bike and mountain bike types, but generally the types who clearly take themselves very seriously, lycra clad, colour coordinated, designer bike shades etc. Nothing major just rudeness, being slightly obnoxious with speed and road manner, or should that be track manner?
An observation I've made is that groups larger than 2 or 3 of these types seem to take on a kind of pack mentality, manners disappear and I can see how it would intimidate some people.

The only 2 real near crashes I've had have involved, you guessed it, our old favourite, the dog walker!
One time I almost went over the bars in a classic dog on one side, owner on the other, me in the middle, owner calls dog over to keep it 'safe' and BLAM, almost..
Annoyingly I'd dinged my bell with plenty of notice and dropped my speed as the couple walking the dog both turned around and made eye contact...the owner looked gobsmacked as my bike literally did a 30/40 degree front wheelie inches from his fluffy white terrier thing.. another few degrees and the bike would have been over and the dog would have been cut in half.

The second dog incident, was a group of 4 with again two very small dogs, again, bell, they all turned to look and held the dogs, great I thought. They looked 50+ old so I slowed right down to a point where I would need to dismount to go any slower. As I got to about 2 feet away from the group, one of them holding a dog decided to bend over, turn their back to me and step backwards into my path - very near miss, she looked fairly old and would have ben seriously injured had I hit her, luckily I was expecting something and was able to stop dead without contact.

I think it goes to show there is a percentage of all 'groups' who will have a sense of entitlement, be rude or clueless, or sometimes all 3!

itboffin

ramblers have never been a problem down here on the Wilts Hants border its the illegal off roading motorbikes that tear up the trails and paths, there all now so deeply rutted they've become unusable on foot or bike which is a terrible shame because the walks down here are amazing.

i would say however i'm really surprised that so many ramblers just drop rubbish, there's a public right of way through our family farm and its heart breaking to see so much rubbish just dumped, i mean FFS its in the middle of no where in a beautifully unspoilt bit of the the countryside which is clearly why people come to walk, then they drop rubbish ... er duh!

ilovedirt

Had a couple of ramblers have a good old moan at me today while on trails that are usually pretty quiet.
The usual "mountain bikers ruin our trails and make them boggy", "they're footpaths and you shouldn't be here" routine.
While they have a point on them being footpaths and mountain bikers not really supposed to be there, but I disagree with that fundamentally, why can't we share the same trails, as most mountain bikers ride fairly responsibly? If I can't see the trail ahead, I slow down, so as not to hit anyone.
MTBs cause less damage than most walkers
And as for the "you're ruining the landscape" argument, we were riding in the gwydyr forest - a landscape that is ENTIRELY artificial and man made, not to mention currently functioning as a commercial forest with areas constantly being felled...

Angus Young

ilovedirt wrote:

MTBs cause less damage than most walkers

Really? How'd you work that one out, then?

stubs

https://www.imba.com/resources/research ... ain-biking

Angus Young

Ooo, look, mountain bike advocacy group finds that mountain bikes do less damage to trails than walkers. Now there's a shocker.

Lewis A

To be fair the imba didn't carry out the research..

Angus Young

Lewis A wrote:

To be fair the imba didn't carry out the research..

Do you really need research to tell you that barreling down a trail at 30mph with giant knobbly tyres scrabbling for every last ounce of grip is going to do more harm to the surface than someone strolling along at walking pace? Do you really think that if you put a hundred mountain bikes down a trail it's not going to look more worn that after a hundred ramblers?

Haven't read the piece yet (I'm working, will do later) but I'll make a guess that they're cherry picking to build a case.

I know we're on the mountain bike team here, but we've got to be realistic about this.

The Rookie

You only have to look at the way braking bumps develop at trail centres.....

Angus Young

The Rookie wrote:

You only have to look at the way braking bumps develop at trail centres.....

Or all the rubble that ends up in the bottom of a berm.

Lewis A

I'm not saying that Mountain bikers don't cause as much/more erosion, just that you shouldn't be too harsh on the imba, they do some good. I think a bigger problem is not waterproofing properly, or constructing trails well in the first place... It would be interesting to see a section of unsurfaced cycle path next to pavement though, but you would have to take numbers into account.

The Rookie

The point is these are natural trails, there is no waterproofing or construction, which is why they cut up under any slip condition. Slow rolling on a bike does little damage, any slip will often damage them quite quickly. Any meaningful review has to consider a wide range of surfaces from slate/rock (little damage) to soil with a gravel top (can be ruined very quickly).

BigJimmyB

RockmonkeySC wrote:

There was one old bloke who I passed every morning, I would ring my bell and he would continue to walk along the middle of the cycle path with a dog either side. I used to get really frustrated and occasionally mutter something like ignorant old bastard. After nearly a year I spotted his hearing aid.

I'd say the hearing aid either didn't work OR he really was just an ignorant old b4stard....

The Rookie

PARDON? Eh?........

BigJimmyB

Are you here all week....?

bompington

BigJimmyB wrote:

Are you here all week....?

Sorry, are you calling me a dear old freak?

ilovedirt

Angus Young wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

MTBs cause less damage than most walkers

Really? How'd you work that one out, then?

Okay, so a singular mtb VS singular walker, the mtb will cause more damage, but we know that's not the case on natural trails. There are considerably more walkers, and there always will be.
That said, a badly ridden mtb will cause damage, but for most of the trail where the mtb isn't braking heavily, you can barely tell they've been there. The problem is poor riders who ride down things with their wheels locked up all the way down, or inconsiderate riders who barrel down footpaths with no regard to other people's safety.

Just take a look at Snowdon, most of the damage there is from walkers. It's one of the most popular mountains for mountain biking, yet walkers cause most of the damage because MTBs are greatly outnumbered. To say that walkers cause no damage, as the chap having a go at me was trying to, is moronic.

peat

You're forgetting the common enemy here - Horses.

The state they leave shared trails in is appalling and far more widespread than the odd green-roader. (although I will admit that the latter can leaves trails unpassable by wheel, foot or hoof)

On-topic: I find that the vast majority of people i meet out on the trails to be friendly enough. I do find it odd when you get the one that refuses to acknowledge your existence, but hey ho.

homers_double

Google Mjvande if you want some serious onesided head in the sand type debate.

It might have been done here before but I'm not sure.

Angus Young

homers double wrote:

Google Mjvande if you want some serious onesided head in the sand type debate.

It might have been done here before but I'm not sure.

Didn't read it all but the basic thrust seems to be that we should have areas that at human free. Seems a pretty good idea to me. We break everything we play with, so why not. If your child broke every single thing they played with, you wouldn't just sit there and watch, you wouldn't just let them carry on, you'd do something about it. If we can't play nice, then why not.

homers_double

Oh it gets better than that if you get him going.

http://ukmb.net/forum/index.php?topic=21446.0

bompington

homers double wrote:

Oh it gets better than that if you get him going.

http://ukmb.net/forum/index.php?topic=21446.0

How's about a TLDR for those of us who aren't members of that forum?

homers_double

Anything and everything is bad.