Just a quick PSA to anyone who rides these woods. The intermittent trail blocking and sabotage has ramped up again. The activity is particularly in the conifer plantation part of the woods. Up until now it has been dangerously placed logs and rocks on the ground. Inconvenient and dangerous enough, this has now been added to with a wire across the trail at chest height found on Sat 7th and a thin branch at head height found today, along with more logs on the ground than previously.

Firstly, if you do ride around here, be careful. The wire was only secured at one end according to the bloke who hit it, but worrying enough.

Secondly, we have a time bracket for this afternoon of between 2-30pm and 4-00pm, so if anyone was around at that time and saw anything, please reply on here if you want to. Chief suspect is a biggish bloke who wears a green paramedic fleece and has a collie dog. He has previous for assaulting cyclists (pushing them over when they have stopped to let him past) and setting traps.

Our group is considering investing in some kind of camera and/or attaching laminated notes to things we have moved stating what the consequences could be of an accident or him being caught in the act. A camera would probably just be smashed up, a notice might just provoke the bastard to do something worse. Reporting to the police is likely to result in nothing good for us riders, but might prompt more restrictions. Difficult to know what to do.

I don’t really know what we can do other than keep and eye out and maybe confront whoever is doing it if we catch them at it. Rest assured I always stop to clear stuff that has been put across tracks and try to throw it somewhere it cannot easily be retrieved, but the thing with woodland is that there are lots of logs and branches about.

Stay safe out there, clear anything you find

Thanks for the PSA. I have shared with the Charnwood MTB group on Facebook.

Get it reported ASAP
you don’t have to report it as a cyclist, a wire at chest height could do serious damage to a walker, jogger or a child playing in the woods

Quite, I ride there in the summer and will walk with the kids there all year round. Will keep an eye out!

The trouble with reporting it is that the landowner may well just say “It’s hassle I don’t need” and re-fence the area off. I don’t know the exact circumstances, but that trail takes advantage of a fence that either fell down or might have been pulled down. It is ‘cheeky’ by definition for walkers or bikes, so any attention placed on it may well lead to it being put out of bounds.

I am no expert, but in this sense I don’t want the idiot doing this to win by forcing the hand of the landowner to exclude everyone.

All I really want is for everyone to get along and us to be able to continue riding the woods as we have for decades.

Maybe catching him in the act, cornering him and giving him a good hiding would be best(!)

Makes a change from the LARPers…! 🙂

Seriously though, this is nasty stuff. Where’s the conifer bit in relation to the top carpark?

Ask Drac, but isn’t there rules about paramedics wearing uniform when not on the way too or from work? i.e. he is either breaching his contract, or he has that uniform when he shouldn’t have. That might be an alternative warning blow via your local ambulance service.

Not cool though – why do people think endangering peoples lives is a good way to have a discussion about access rights….!!?!

Up there most days, dog walking or riding, will keep an eye out – it is a veritable slop fest at the moment!

Strange – in 20+ years riding here, I’ve never had anything but cordial contact with folks, however I do make a point of chatting to people and riding sensibly when there are walkers about.

Its a really valuable local resource and it’d be very sad to lose it – the landowners seem to have a fairly laid back attitude to cyclists, although there has been police interest in MXers up there. Not sure who might have demolished the various ‘north shore’ constructions over the years!

Absolutely no justification for this type of vigilante action – ever!

Cheers Merlinman – a couple of our group are local enough to walk the woods regularly as well, so any traps should be cleared very quickly.

MX is (I am told) officially sanctioned in the lower woods, I imagine a few kids have thought the whole lot is fair game as a result, and ventured into the top woods – nothing particularly bad or destructive done from what I can see, though.

I too am always friendly to other users, the vast majority are friendly back, a few aren’t and that’s up to them.

The guy we think is behind the trapping is just some idiot with an axe to grind for some reason.

The landowner themselves may have taken down the north shore style stuff, though – leaving built features in place could be construed as actively inviting riding on their land, potentially putting them in the cart if someone hurts themselves and tries to sue – again, so I am told.

For this reason I generally against active building of trail features in there – in my opinion it brings potentially unwelcome attention with it.

I just hope no one gets properly hurt in the woods as a result of the actions of one or two morons.

The trouble with reporting it is that the landowner may well just say “It’s hassle I don’t need” and re-fence the area off. I don’t know the exact circumstances, but that trail takes advantage of a fence that either fell down or might have been pulled down. It is ‘cheeky’ by definition for walkers or bikes, so any attention placed on it may well lead to it being put out of bounds.

I am no expert, but in this sense I don’t want the idiot doing this to win by forcing the hand of the landowner to exclude everyone.

How would you feel if someone was seriously injured or even killed and you had known this was going on but hadn’t reported it all because you didnt want to risk restricting access
I know where my priorities would be

Want to buy Cademan woods?

http://assets.reapit.net/fsg/live/pdf.php?p=ADZ180073