Local MP Ron Davies and cohorts have recently purchased an area we've been riding unbothered for the past 20yrs, and has taken to telling bikers they shouldn't be there. Still not sure if it'll be acceptable to tell him we're not actually cycling, but looking for badgers.

Quality 😆

Dunno, I live in Scotland 🙂

think ill feign innocence and lostness given my accent and the Movember man 'tache most folk tend to be shuffling away rather than towards me at the moment

Embrace the Mo "I'm sorry old boy, I simply haven't the foggiest what you mean, I simply had to pinch this boneshaker to get aaay from those insatiable convent girls…"

My other bike is a Jaaag

Simples!

Flutter eyelashes, some bottom lip trembling and a touch of "check out my ar$e" pelvic swivelling 🙂
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Of course those who ride with me know fine well this has no chance of working so it will be a case of "sorry I forgot my bifocals and where can I get a nice cup of tea?"

Been thinking about this recently, as my newly found wonder-trail is about 99 per cent cheeky (and that 90 minutes worth of riding!) First time I rode it I got asked "are you lost?" to which I simply replied "yes" and rode off.

🙂

Whilst riding with the Bogies over to Studley Pike we were challenged by a water authority person in a landrover who said. Do you know you shouldn't be riding here, to which someone answered Yes and i also know there's nothing you can do about it. At which point we rode off.

On another occasion whilst riding with B.A.D, we were challenged by a fell runner with a similar question, the response that time was, Its OK we won't be here for long.

Usually i ignore such questions as i don't feel they deserve a response.

I've never been stopped or caught but I have twice have people shout "Oi, this is a footpath" at me. I've replied with "Yes, I know" both times.

I was recently out with a group who were stopped on a fp by a couple of Peak District rangers. I wasn't at the front so don't know exactly what was said but I understand they claimed to be lost which, given where we were, was frankly ridiculous. I'm sure the rangers didn't believe it.

I don't think I'd claim to be lost if I wasn't. I personally don't think there's anything wrong with riding on footpaths. I think if I ever were stopped/caught I'd have the discussion and agree to disagree. Note that this would be a theoretical discussion unless I was talking to the landowner.

Whilst riding with the Bogies over to Studley Pike we were challenged by a water authority person in a landrover who said. Do you know you shouldn't be riding here, to which someone answered Yes and i also know there's nothing you can do about it. At which point we rode off.

Hmmm…

One person out walking his dog said "you can't ride here" to which I replied "I know but's a lovely evening to be out isn't it?" Seemed to break the ice as he agreed and then thanked me as I'd slowed down to pass them. BW's cross the area and I was just linking up two – TBH I think the local kids just blast past people and have been a nuisance so I avoid the area in dog walking time now.

Hey, we're in an over-regulated country and sometimes people just need to stand up and say "NO".

Yesterday I was reading in The Times about Brian Haw, a protestor who has been living in Parliament Square for more than 3,000 days. We need people like him, he feels so passionately about the Iraq war.

More of us should be protesting about every single triviality that affects us.

…sometimes people just need to stand up and say "NO".

Are you saying that you should stand up and say "no" to cyclists riding where they shouldn't be or are you saying that you should stand up and say "no" to people telling you that you shouldn't be riding where you shouldn't ought to be?!? 😀

I generally ask the complainant who they are; no-one has yet wanted to share this information so I generally just say "ah, nobody; just as I thought" before I carry on my way.

As trespass is not a crime, my response would be "sue me".

"Yesterday I was reading in The Times about Brian Haw, a protestor who has been living in Parliament Square for more than 3,000 days. We need people like him, he feels so passionately about the Iraq war"

He is quite, quite mental though. Nice enough chap but not all there.

yup, brian haw is a few soilders short of a platoon.

spoke to him for a few minutes once. the girlfriend had her photo taken with him (not her choice as such but there was some other equally odd woman pushing for it).

Here in OZ some authorities have a bit of clout!

Never had an issue to be honest. I usually greet walkers with a cheery hello before they manage to say anything anyway.

There is one person around our area though who is proper hardcore militant. He/she builds walls across the paths in various locations and we have even seen wood and nail caltrops in the same area. Never come across the person, but the walls are still being put up. What I find ironic is that they add a little more of a challenge to the path, enhancing the riding. Also, they are actually removing the stones from a drystone wall in order to build them. Cocks.

daveatextremistsdotcouk – Member
If you really want an 'Oi, clear off' experience, try riding the Isle of Wight coastal path between Ventnor and Shanklin. As you pass by Luccombe village, there's a miserable old git who spends the entire day on his patio waiting for cyclists to pass by. If you reply with some f and c words, he'll try (and fail) to run after you.

The first house after you get through Luccombe that sells ice creams? Oh yes, i got both barrels from him this summer, he really is a charmer! Replied to him "seeing as you asked SO nicely" and walked for 10 yards then rode off. Even the people he was talking to were taken aback. It is fun though, espcially when you can see him go BRIGHT red and his veins start bulging on his forehead. Nobber.
Given the path is mostly broken up asphalt, i see little likelihood of any trail erosion occuring.

On another occasion whilst riding with B.A.D, we were challenged by a fell runner with a similar question, the response that time was, Its OK we won't be here for long.

Surprised fell runners comment! I do both and as a fell runner I have often ended up the wrong side of a wall/fence etc.

Dog walkers are the worst. I always try to be cheerful. Some guy stepped in front of me on Saturday because he said I shouldn't be on the path. Almost knocked me off. It was a bridleway as well!!

i like something along the lines of:

"hundreds of thousands of people are starving and made homeless due to violence and draught in countries like Sudan, Western Governments pursue immoral foreign policies and illegal wars – justified by a need to secure resources, the climate of the earth is changing through people's greed and thoughtlessness, "

…. you get the idea, add whatever you fancy …..

" and you're worrying about a guy on a bike riding along a path in the woods?"

if you don't like the international politics and climate change angle, there are plenty of others, …

btw i keep trying to log into the cheeky trails site, but it never works, i keep getting a new password through to my address to try to sort it, but none of them work…. am i gonna have to start a new address just to see what's in there?

and another ting:

i think i'm right in saying that on BW's we're supposed to give way to walkers. how does that work if we're coming up behind them?

you got to admit, that's a tricky one, ain't it?

i dont think there is any reason to be rude or a smart arse. i usually just say sorry and go on my way

btw i keep trying to log into the cheeky trails site, but it never works, i keep getting a new password through to my address to try to sort it, but none of them work…. am i gonna have to start a new address just to see what's in there?

Doesn't work for me either, apparently you have to be one of the special people.

i dont think there is any reason to be rude or a smart arse

true.

But equally I dont think there is any reason to say sorry either.

i dont think there is any reason to be rude or a smart arse. i usually just say sorry and go on my way

What are you saying sorry for?

Big Clever cheeky lite to subtly link a couple of bridleways following an old trackway is one thing but there are some who feel they have no reason to even bother to look at rights of ways on maps other than as a hint in unfamilar areas. This type of use is noticed and a number of proposals to build extensive promoted routes in the Welsh Mountains have been killed because of landowners real concerns that it will only lead to an invite to a sizeable number in the increase in trespass. Irrespective of the SFB law about the rights of land ownership in Norman Britain the law favours those with an acre or two.

Smug scottish correspondents should have noticed in the press a recent legal case where a landowner denied and then succesfully fought a court case thereby gaining the right in law to block horseriders from enjoying their Scottish rights where there reduce contributed to a potential degradation of ground conditions. Bad case law indeed if you are planning to wear some gnarly singletrack in on a Ben near you soon.

If you insist on being cheeky you may of course disregard the views of other users about the legitimacy of being there but anything less than courtesy to landowners simply hands reason for the next Tory government to introduce legislation making it easier for landowners to apply for blanket bylaws turning illegal access into a criminal offence.. one other good reason to disregard the anti broon tory boys here and keep the red flag flying.

Ignorance is by far the best answer.

gaining the right in law to block horseriders from enjoying their Scottish rights where there reduce contributed to a potential degradation of ground conditions.

it thought that related to two parallel tracks – one suitable for horses, one not? The right of way itself was not impaired.

I find this works best:

Rambler: It's illegal to ride on this footpath you know
me: Thats nothing, I murdered someone here last week

Just puff up the chest look at them with 'wired eyes' showing all the whites and if you are built like a brick out house nothing nrmally is said or needs to be said. 😆

daveatextremistsdotcouk – Member
If you really want an 'Oi, clear off' experience, try riding the Isle of Wight coastal path between Ventnor and Shanklin. As you pass by Luccombe village, there's a miserable old git who spends the entire day on his patio waiting for cyclists to pass by. If you reply with some f and c words, he'll try (and fail) to run after you.

bigyinn – Member

The first house after you get through Luccombe that sells ice creams? Oh yes, i got both barrels from him this summer, he really is a charmer! Replied to him "seeing as you asked SO nicely" and walked for 10 yards then rode off. Even the people he was talking to were taken aback. It is fun though, espcially when you can see him go BRIGHT red and his veins start bulging on his forehead. Nobber.
Given the path is mostly broken up asphalt, i see little likelihood of any trail erosion occuring.

I thoroughly recommend this experience to anyone doing a Wight trip. The bugger goes totally mental and has even been known to jump in his car and drive to the point where the path meets the road just to continue the verbals. Luckily he's too old to get physical.

It seems the whole village is at it. The path (wide enough for vehicle access by the way) goes past the back gardens of a load of houses and there's an old dear selling home made jam who will also have a shouting match.

Next time I'll say that the voices tell me to ride there.

I moved to Scotland.

Cheeky trails do not exist.

fetler: lol it's not like your bike is gonna do a sh1t and pollute the water course!

… a number of proposals to build extensive promoted routes in the Welsh Mountains have been killed because of landowners real concerns that it will only lead to an invite to a sizeable number in the increase in trespass.

Do you imagine the landowners were supportive of the schemes until they started to worry about a bit of cheekiness? Maybe they were just looking for the first convenient excuse?

If you insist on being cheeky you may of course disregard the views of other users about the legitimacy of being there but anything less than courtesy to landowners simply hands reason for the next Tory government to introduce legislation making it easier for landowners to apply for blanket bylaws turning illegal access into a criminal offence..

a) I try to be courteous to everyone in all situations. That includes both landowners and busybodies. AFAIK, my last interaction with a landowner while riding on a FP involved him pulling over in his Land Rover to let us past with a cheery wave and his son opening the gate for us at the bottom.
b) let them make it a criminal offence – it will be ignored from the start and in years to come we'll laugh about it like pregnant women peeing in policemen's helmets and shooting Welshmen with Chester's walls.

I first started out riding about 20 odd years ago on the a particularly remote stretch of the coast path on the north coast of Anglesey – 100% cheeky singletrack and great fun but I genuinely didn't realise I was doing anything wrong at the time – never really saw anyone else so it wasn't an issue (almost killed myself a few times mind!). Where I live now (Kent), there is a great but very underused right of way network – barely see anyone on the bridleways never mind the footpaths but here's loads of bits of bridleway that can only be linked up by going cheeky. Never had a problem round here.

Funnily enough, the only time I have ever been challenged was the other week in Ambleside – had just come off a particularly wet evening ride round Loughrigg and was desperate to get dry so took the short cut over the little bridge back into town. Met a couple of dog-walkers and got off the bike each time to let them past. Second guy complimented me on my lights but pointed out that I shouldn't be riding there – just feigned ignorance, thanked him for the advice and rode on.