Human nature though. Look at any large retail/housing development and see the various shortcuts folk make through bushes etc cause they can’t be arsed walking the length of themselves

That’s something different, the paths are poorly designed. You don’t walk around those places for the fun of it, you do it to get to the place you need to most quickly.

Could some of them be overtaking lines?

What, people broke down fences and removed blockages placed by the trailbuilders to keep people on the manmade trails before the trail centre? I’m not talking about corner cutting, I’m talking about destroying the work that’s done to prevent corner cutting and keep the trails in good order

Yes, just not on man-made trail centres as they didn’t exist then.

It doesn’t matter who or what made the trail, there will always be people who think they know better and try to ‘fix’ whatever is there as it makes it easier/quicker/better.

It also seriously winds me up, but there isn’t much you can do unless deploying very large and very heavy boulders to block the changes can be done (nearly never possible).

Not dull as the tossers blatting round the countryside with their heads down knocking over kids and being bloody rude to anyone who may slow them down a bit.

Did the red route for the first time in a while and didn’t notice any short cuts on the way down but there were a few going up that has been worn in

I never understand shortcuts, if your riding a trail then the longer the better.

Absolutely, takes me long enough to ride to to the top. I am not interested in bombing down a straight line trail.

Would seem to me the solution to this is to put logs on the straight line bits or dig some ditches/front wheel sized holes off the trail and put up some tape ?

Some more on berm baby berm too. Straaaavaaaaaaaaaa

why would you need a cheat line on BBB lol

DickBarton – Member

Yes, just not on man-made trail centres as they didn’t exist then.

It is a very different issue on manmade trails though, that’s kind of the point.

I did exacly what’s in mikewsmith’s video at that corner 😀

Except it was because my arms had stopped working after all the braking canyons all the way down and I’d given up all hope of ever stopping so just followed the local lad 😆

It is a very different issue on manmade trails though, that’s kind of the point.

I don’t think it is – have a good nosey at all the natural stuff you ride these days and think back to how it was when you first rode it…most have become motorways and straight-lined as it is ‘easier’/’quicker’ – the volume of riders has also increased – and with that comes a much wider range of skill – so the less skilled riders tend to miss corners and skid more and generally aren’t as confident on the trails that are pushing their abilities (everyone needs to push them often to improve).

The fact we now have designated areas for mountain bikes to ride ‘mountain bike’ trails, doesn’t remove the issue that riders will change the flow of a trail – it appears to be human nature.

Very few bikers genuinely sympathise with a trail builder – if they really did, they would give up some of their time and get involved – many people do (I’m one of them and I know many others), but in most cases, people just want to ride their bikes…so if someone spends time and effort building something, most riders will be happy to ride it – if it is too technical for them or what they think isn’t fast enough, they will modify the line – this happens at trail centres and natural trails all over.

I’m sure if more people did give up some of their time to get involved (even just once a year – it all helps) then they’d get an idea of what goes into the building part – it isn’t just people getting handed gloves and told to move rocks; nor is it sitting in an office drinking coffee and talking about new stuff – there is a huge amount of different jobs and stages that are done to get a trail on the ground…and for most, they are oblivious to the time and effort that is spent by the few.

See that berm gap at Les Gets, I was in one of those corners and the Kona youth DH team train all went over my head as I minced my way round.

I think this was pre-strava though.

I try and incorporate extra corners in my riding, they’re the best bit. Sorry you feel your hard work is being undone, that sucks. 😥

Went down Hush Hush today and that has some laughably bad lines. Not just cutting corners but cutting out multiple corners with straight lines down the hill. Pointless.

Even the new stuff over at inners has massive big straight lines appearing already missing out multiple corners

Steven, like you I helped out with the pie run building sessions (maybe got along for 5 or so – loved it, and was there for the “forsyths” session 😀 ).

I actually went down it today for the first time in an eternity (same problem as you – kids). Right at the start there is a straight line bit that I didn’t realise was a cut through until I was on top of it 😥 Later on the “impossible” tree route corner you can now go round the outside – suits me as I could never ride the corner! It is starting to feel more like a motorway though.

In my view a trail like that was only going to last so long with the sort of traffic Glentress gets. It’s a bit sad, but life goes on – just think about the thousands and thousands of people who have been down there and had enjoyment from it! We should be focusing on the positive rather than the negative – **** will be **** etc! 🙂