I’ve been away from Bristol for 6 months and yesterday I went up to see what had happened to Ashton Court. Maybe it was the sun, maybe it was the fact there was nobody else there, but I thought it was all pretty good. Really enjoyed some of the red sections and think the guys have done a fantastic job with what they had to work with.

So, I just wanted to say thanks to all involved, it’s an ace trail.

Now I just need to get over to Leigh Woods tomorrow and see what’s happened in there…

It’s good there too – less BMXy, more open but fun at speed.

welcome back to Brizzle 🙂 If you like Ashton Court, you’ll love Leigh Woods 🙂 Have fun

Not sure about the less BMXee, I’m just building up a Sunn Bmix just for AC and LW……..

Tip: Don’t fall off at speed, that all weather surface is worse than tarmac for skin damage, it’s taken 5 weeks for my elbow to be scab free and I’m left with a little hole.

I’d liken it to falling of on pebble dash.

+ 50 acre is great and the off-piste Leigh Woods stuff also good. Even the Orchard trail is rideable – your tyres make a great crunching sound through the dried-out swamp.

Tip #2: Don’t fall off that contouring trail at the bottom of 50 acre: you will feel silly sitting in the undergrowth watching the group behind you go by.

And if you’re there first thing, watch out for stick man. He’s quite busy around Leigh (on the off piste stuff) putting a lot of trees (really!) across the tracks

Is that really him (stick man)? I was wondering whether the rangers were trying to discourage some of the tracks? The “sticked” paths I came across were the rubbish dump single track (opposite the North Road entrance to yer tiz and the singletrack leading away from the picnic bench.

I’ve noticed quite a few sticks across Yer Tiz of late, plus trees etc pulled across some of the off-piste stuff

I was wondering whether the rangers were trying to discourage

I don’t think the rangers would go around breaking growing trees to put them over the trails, I’m pretty sure they would use dead wood.

KINGTUT – Member
Tip: Don’t fall off at speed, that all weather surface is worse than tarmac for skin damage, it’s taken 5 weeks for my elbow to be scab free and I’m left with a little hole.

at least it was your elbow this time eh?

The face-braking incident provided a better aesthetic benefit than the elbow incident.

Indeed, I also have a small hole on the end of my nose from that previous incident as well, which the nurse gleefully told me I would as she stitched me up.

Can you squirt water out of it?

Is Stick Man the same as the chap who comes out and writes your car reg number down when parking in St Marys Road? Skinny, tall, grey beard, conspiracy theorist…! When I asked him why he was writing my number down, he told me “ask the police, all the going on’s around here”.

Anyone else come across him?!

If he is stick man then i know where he lives…….

Skinny, tall, grey beard

That’s the description of the chap I saw doing it a few years ago.

KINGTUT – I did look at a the trail and think it probably wouldn’t be the most fun surface to scrape my face along. A few of those rock gardens would be bad, bad places for a tumble too.

Looking forward to Leigh Woods now…

KINGTUT – I did look at a the trail and think it probably wouldn’t be the most fun surface to scrape my face along

It’s not..

All the local trails are great at the moment and the LW off piste and 50 Acre complement the ‘groomed’ trails nicely

Stick Man has been stupid busy of late. I do tend to ride very early. I have not met him but have spent many hours over the past few months clearing his handy work. Notaably from The Picnic Table & Rocky Horror. Thankfully he seems to be oblivious to Knicker Trail.

TBH it is a total pain but makes me even more determined to ride locally.

Ouch

Given the amount & weight of trees being put across the trails, I’d wager it’s not an old bloke doing it. We’ve been ranted at by a younger bloke with a springer for riding the set of trails that start near the beginning of Yer Tiz, crossing the footpaths a few times & can link up to eventually spit you out at the top of Rocky Horror (no idea if they have a name). I cleared quite a few blockages from there last night, including some where the pointy ends faced up the trail – very dangerous for anyone night riding.

They must be very bitter people. Not entirely sure what their issue is.

Here was me thinking he had blue blood.

If he is stick man then i know where he lives…….

He sounds like a candidate for having hundreds of large sticks piled up in front of his front door one night. Anyone got a transit van we can load up? 🙂

I’d just like to point out that I’m not stick man. Well. I am stick man but not the stick man you’re talking about. And I don’t have a grey beard. Thanks.

I have thought it must be more than one old guy. Last picnic table clearance was big job for me and my mate and we are not slight chaps :oops:.

Would genuinely like to ask them why they do it and what they hope to achieve

In the meantime I will enjoy the great trails and consider them a minor inconvenience. Hopefully that is all it will ever be. Fear it is an accident waiting to happen though.

We’ve been ranted at by a younger bloke with a springer

I encountered this guy a while back – stopped (as I always do with oncoming walkers) & said a cheery hello. He looked full of rage and (somewhat baffingly) replied that “it’s getting dark down there, you know”, before storming off.

Yes pal, I can handle the woods at dusk, even given your sabotage efforts. But for fug’s sake, stop using (& sometimes uporooting) live saplings! As protests go, it makes you look pretty dumb.

When you say “younger” bloke, how old is younger?
I met a woman about 50ish with a springer who had rather a lot to say about bikes, speed and children. You know, the usual argument.

After I argued for a while she harumphed and stormed off.

I enjoyed the baiting. 😀

He was probably late 40’s / 50’s. Tall and wirey but looked in reasonable shape, certainly strong enough to pile up what has been seen.

If it is him and someone can get a shot I will varify. Then we can hire a transit!

From what you said about his rant “its dark down there…” certainly sounds like the same chap.

Class A bell helment end.

Round up the mob, we got ourselves a lynching!

The guy that ranted at us was early 40s tops, about 5’8″, light brown hair (it was a while ago, i could be wrong).

He was a very angry man; surely there’s more serious things to increase your chance of a coronary over.

I speak to the FC about the trails fairly regularly, and to the best of my knowledge the powers that be have no issues with people riding stuff like Ridge, Picnic Bench and Knicker Trail. They wouldn’t want people building new stuff, or riding in areas like Paradise Bottom where there’s a history of conflict with walkers, but if they block a trail they do it properly (i.e. from the top, rather than half way down) and put up notices.

While we’re on the subject, I understand that there was a run-in between riders and local residents in Abbots Leigh this week, after a group decided to cycle through Abbots Pool via the footpath that runs past the houses at the top. The local residents have been really upset by this in the past, and there’s no justifiable reason to ride Abbots Pool when the FC are perfectly happy with us using Snake’s Well Wood (better known as Orchard/Jurassic Park) to get through to 50 Acre, so do the right thing please…

While we’re on the subject, I understand that there was a run-in between riders and local residents in Abbots Leigh this week, after a group decided to cycle through Abbots Pool via the footpath that runs past the houses at the top.

What are they upset about?

i have nothing to add to the discussions on stick men etc, other than to say that i’m moving to bristol in a month and i’m very excited 😀

Mr Agreeable can you point out that bit on a map – I’m still figuring out where all these names relate to trails etc! ta

What are they upset about?

In the past the concerns have centred around riders using the footpaths through Abbots Leigh. Some were getting really eroded and the wooden steps down to the car park were being trashed (although I’m doubtful this was due to MTBers). There have also been some near misses with riders taking the lines that come straight down the side of the valley.

So riding through there, via a footpath that goes right past a load of front doors, isn’t really going to help the situation much.

Neil, have a look here:

http://binged.it/HlHQh7

Basically if people stick to the tracks up through Snake’s Well/Yew Tree Plantation, there shouldn’t be any issues, and if anyone gives you any grief you can tell them to get knotted.

The footpath that caused the argy-bargy the other night isn’t marked on OS maps (I think it might be permissive) but it runs through the Eastern half of the wood and IIRC it’s quite clearly signed as a footpath.

So riding through there, via a footpath that goes right past a load of front doors, isn’t really going to help the situation much.

I agree. However, if we’re thinking of the same riders, it was at night, there were no walkers around, and it seems that one resident went over there looking for a confrontation.

I think we’re talking about the same group of people, and I’m not condoning the resident’s response – from what Hwe told me he sounds like an aggressive idiot.

However people should be aware that there is a history of riding over there being perceived as a problem, and it makes sense to take a diplomatic approach, particularly when there are perfectly adequate alternative routes available. In the past the local residents have kicked up quite a fuss, but the riders got the message to back off and things blew over.

he she sounds like an aggressive idiot

FTFY. A bat-crap insane woman at that, according to my wife, who was pushing her bike up the (possibly permissive) footpath before being grabbed & obstructed by her, whilst she ranted at her about using bright lights.

Tell wifey to aim for the throat next time. She does not have to tolerate being assaulted.