Downhillers and litter... « Singletrack Forum

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Downhillers and litter...

42 posts & 37 voices | Started 1 year ago by grumm | Latest reply from robd

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grumm - Member

*warning* *potential massive generalisations ahead*

Was out tonight at a local DH spot - most of the hill is gorgeous and pristine, but the spot near the bottom with jumps etc is a bit of a tip - loads of empty bottles, energy drink cans and sweet wrappers etc

This is a spot not on the walking path so I can only assume it is bikers. It's not only a shame but it's pretty stupid as the trails are 'cheeky' but tolerated as I understand it - stuff like this isn't going to help. Probably will go back there with a bigger bag and take some of it away.

Don't think I've ever seen this much litter anywhere else I ride - is it a DH thing? Too rad and too busy shredding gnar to pick up their cans of Monster Energy?

Posted 1 year ago #
jam bo - Member

mostly kids. happens at a lot of DH spots.

Posted 1 year ago #
mtb_rob - Member

twunts

Posted 1 year ago #
davefarmer - Member

dont even get me started on gel wrappers/bar wrappers at trail centres.

You carried it in a Camelback, then ate it, now carry the empty wrapper home.

Posted 1 year ago #
dirtbiker100 - Member

yeah will be DH riders. sat at the beginning and end of the run having something to eat and drink. The younger average age combined with the fact that they're not constantly moving like xc/trail riders means litter is usually a problem at DH spots.

Posted 1 year ago #
angryratio - Member

Same near us..
tried to reason with a kid once and he just looked at me like i was funny in the head.

Did'nt give a toss yet he'd been one of several to have helped dig the trails.

Posted 1 year ago #
ahwiles - Member

i reckon it's mostly an age-group-thing (kids), rather than a cycling-sub-niche thing (darnillers).

still **** though.

when i'm in charge, littering = death penalty, don't think that i'm kidding.

Posted 1 year ago #
trailmonkey - Member

I'd imagine 20 XC riders make the same mess but spread it out over a wider area.

Posted 1 year ago #
mtb_rob - Member

A simple backcountry philosophy;

PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT

its not rocket science, just simple fu**** manners

Posted 1 year ago #
benji_allen - Member

Posted 1 year ago #
Dan - Member

not a downhiller thing, it is a people thing

Posted 1 year ago #
5lab - Member

I'd say its far more the dirt jumping crowd more than the downhill crowd. Average age of a downhiller seems to be early 20s - by that time people generally have some respect - however the average dirt jumper is a chunk younger - 15 or 16.

Go to a dh spot without a jumpspot, there's generally very little litter around. just one of those things

Posted 1 year ago #
Tiger6791 - Member

Same at Swinley.

Jump bits has loads of litter

XC has some (gel wrappers etc.) but not as much

I think it's an age thing

Posted 1 year ago #
MrNutt - Member

the ridgeway is awash with bloody kendle mint cake wrappers

Posted 1 year ago #
kimbers - Member

i noticed a fair bit round llandegla
enegy bar/ gel wrappers halfords inner tube packet etc
was spread out round the trail but no major hotspots

Posted 1 year ago #
yunki - Member

I'd say its far more the dirt jumping crowd more than the downhill crowd. Average age of a downhiller seems to be early 20s - by that time people generally have some respect - however the average dirt jumper is a chunk younger - 15 or 16.

+1
Absoulutely bang on where I am too.. The downhill lot are feckless goofballs but they pretty respectful... I've seen them kicking off about litter with the youfs on the dirtjumps..

Posted 1 year ago #
user-removed - Member

The local skate park next to the dry ski slope where I work PT is absolutely disgusting. Mostly very young lads - they buy bags of crap at Sainsburys and Macdonalds then just fling their rubbish all over the place, despite there being a bin every three metres (literally).

We're responsible for making sure the place is safe and upon inspection today, someone has taken it upon themselves to block up all the holes in the drains with nuts, bolts and washers. I suspect it is a local type who's absolutely sick of the mess. Without drainage, the bowls will very swiftly fill up with water - one was already half full of rainwater today.

If it was up to me, the place would be cleaned out once a month - perhaps they'd realise it's a good idea to use the bins when they're trying to skate / BMX through waist-deep rubbish.

Posted 1 year ago #
duir - Member

Pitfichie by any chance?

I am a downhiller but I am also a 37 year old mountain biker. In my experience a lot of downhillers have a lot of respect for where they ride and care about keeping the courses in good nick. Never in 20 years did I feel the urge to throw litter around a trail. They are either just thick and need educating or rich little idiots on expensive bikes they can't ride with zero respect for the place. I have taken home 2 full bags of litter this month and if I catch them I am going to help them to help me help themselves and give their parents a rigorous debrief.

Try not to pigeon hole "downhillers" too much. Most of them are just mountain bikers that also like to do some downhill on a big bike. In fact a lot of them are extremely fit xc riders too and will spank you up and down a mountain..........and take their litter home.

Posted 1 year ago #
freeridenick - Member

Tour riders lob bottles all over the place. The verges of france must be littered with plastic bottles are the race!

Posted 1 year ago #
Muddy@rseTony - Member

Nothing compared to the average car user unloading whilst moving or whilst waiting.

At least DH riders don't p155 in an empty bottle whilst riding and then throw said bottle to the side of the trail! Does seem that narrow neck bottles are more popular with the car driving/passenger practitioners of this form of littering.

Posted 1 year ago #
Tracker1972 - Member

freeridenick - Member
Tour riders lob bottles all over the place. The verges of france must be littered with plastic bottles are the race!

Apart from the hundreds of thousands of fans who snap up any kind of souvenir, for themselves or eBay, the TdF employs a clean up crew who follow every day and scour the countryside to clean it up. OK, nobody is going to collect their gel wrappers but even they are encouraged (fines for persistent litterers, don't include the bottles though) to carry out their gel/bar/food wrappers.

On the Eurosport coverage they were repeatedly slagging off club riders as well as the pro's who didn't do it and you could see many of the pro's putting wrappers back in pockets (sometimes very obviously as they were on camera, but at least the did it).
So they are trying to clean up that aspect of the sport as well, no pun intended

Posted 1 year ago #
MrSmith - Member

"Tour riders lob bottles all over the place. The verges of france must be littered with plastic bottles are the race! "

if there are fans nearby they pick them up. a lot of the tour teams use bottles that are 100% biodegradable within a year.

Posted 1 year ago #
freeridenick - Member

fair dos with a clean up crew and biodegradable bottles.

Posted 1 year ago #
Muddy@rseTony - Member

if there are fans nearby they pick them up. a lot of the tour teams use bottles that are 100% biodegradable within a year.

I was referring to the clear bottles with yellow fluid which appear along the verges of almost every highway. Generally made to contain Pepsi or other dark coloured drinks but reused by people who cannot/will not stop to relieve their bladder whilst in a car.

The M25 is bad as is most underpasses I've walked along, especially if there are traffic lights.

Posted 1 year ago #
djaustin - Member

Leave nothing but tyre prints. And that goes for my dog too! (pawprints). I tend to think it is down to bin availability rather than age. At least Swinley has some bin bags taped to trees at the Gulley. I often pick up other peoples' bottles, especially the really day-glow green ones.

Posted 1 year ago #
ex-pat - Member

Think the point here is that it's not cyclists that are the problem, it's folks who happen to spend recreation time on a bike. If you get my drift.

Posted 1 year ago #
tron - Member

The jumps at Sherwood Pines are ridiculous. Space raider & monster munch wrappers everywhere. Despite there being a bin installed!

Posted 1 year ago #
grumm - Member

At another spot I have been to round here there is a little sign saying 'respect the place and take litter home or we will lose it' kind of thing. I wonder if something similar is in order.

Not pitfichie btw.

Posted 1 year ago #
Mintyjim - Member

Same at the top of the Cwmcarn DH track, I normally cycle to the top so I'm alone and when I get and see all the empty bottles that the lazy, ucking unts have left it really boils my piss.
Occasionally when I go walking I take a bag and collect all the bottles I come across, you can normally fill a bag in about 15min. Sad.

I don't get it. The countryside is beautiful so why on earth leave your rubbish behind??

Posted 1 year ago #
poppa - Member

There were unofficial dirt jumps on FC land near me that got flattened more or less solely because of litter.

Posted 1 year ago #
Nick_Christy - Member

if there are fans nearby they pick them up. a lot of the tour teams use bottles that are 100% biodegradable within a year.

good so the bottles look shit for a year then

the bottles in the dh section might also biodegrade in a year, but you pick it up before

i ride dh and im 25. i dont throw shit everywhere. i see gel wrapper where my trail crosses other trails. It happens also from people walking their dogs and shitting on trails.

I think its just people need to think a little more instead of thinking someone else will do it.

I know when im riding i would never stop to pick up a bottle or packet. But we have cleaners in the bike parks so hard to know if i would in a natural enviroment.

Posted 1 year ago #
buzz-lightyear - Member

Some people are ignorant.

Fin.

Posted 1 year ago #
thomthumb - Member

south downs way is covered in gel wrappers.

that's not downhillers.

Posted 1 year ago #
missingfrontallobe - Member

It's an age thing, they'll be waiting for mummy or daddy to tidy it up.

Similar to the local playing fields, after juniors match the area is littered with energy drink bottles, & associated crap (since when has a king sized mars bar been a suitable food pre, during, or post exercise?).

On the trail I use the excuse for food (proper food usually, not energy stuff) as an excuse to stop, wouldn't dream of riding on and trying to stuff rubbish back in a camelbak or jersey pocket. I need my 15 minutes recovery!

[EDIT] re pee filled bottles on motorway hardshoulders, someone from a manchester university (MMU I think) did a thesis on hardshoulder debris a couple of years ago, sad bastard even ended up getting married at Kuntsford services!

Posted 1 year ago #
scruff - Member

Its the same at our local DH tracks, gets much worse at school hols. We do litter picks every now and then, pain in the arse. If I see anyone drop litter I do have a quiet word. there have been some take it home signs put up, seems to work (a bit).

I dont think its fair to label dirtjumpers as the culprit. My local BMX / DJ spot (hugely fantastic scuplted perfection which is famous but also secret) is totally pristine, litter simply isnt tolerated, they've built special firepits to burn anything which gets left. I imagine anyone not playing by the rules is forcibly ejected and banned.

Posted 1 year ago #