To finish off a ride on the north side of Loch Ness i have to either cycle through a big gate (if open) or ride around the side of it by going off road over a hillock.I got back onto the road after dodging the gate and got asked to stop by some old guy driving a honda crv.i stopped and pulled out my earphones to hear him gargle on about me buggering up the estate. He ranted on for a few moments and i told him that ive ridden over the hills in this area for the past 20 years.. told him that ive lived here all my life and that my mountain bike has done nothing to his estate as i dont ride it much at all.

After that i rode down the canal and ended up at the upper locks and decided to ride over the bridge without crossing the road (heavy traffic) I rode approx 10ft behind a woman that started to glance around,then finally stopping to rant off in my face.I grinned and told her that i couldnt hear her.. and that i would have to turn the music off. She started shouting louder but at this point i managed to turn it off and listen to her. She went off on one about me not having a bell and that i shouldnt be riding in traffic with music,i told her i hadnt been on a road for the past hour.(at this point i`m picturing folk on stw getting this no bell grief down south and never coming across it up here!) so i told her i dont have a bell as i was riding my mountain bike off road and i STILL wouldnt be needing it to alert her as she has complete right of way crossing the bridge on the path.I then went on to say that i wasnt going to pass her as i knew i was in the wrong by being on the path in the first place.she butted in to say that she would have shared the path with me but she didnt know i was there as i hadnt alerted her with a bell,i said to her that i wouldnt dream of getting in her way on the path and that i planned to say nothing,keep pedalling (to keep the freehub quiet),keep a good distance and not hassle her as i was about to go back offroad as soon as i was over the bridge (about 100ft of path)
She really went off on one and said she had a reason to be like this.. “brittle bones” and stormed off with a quick glance to her right.. nearly walking under the wheel of a communter as she crossed the bridge. I dont even think she looked left.I looked at the cyclist and he wasnt too happy with her and he carried on, then she stopped about 2ft from the pavement on the other side of the road to turn around as i was pushing the earphones back in,to have another rant.. causing a car to slow down,indicated and move around her.

At this point i said to her to get off the freekin road and watch the kerb (she was backing into it) i said something like “get off the road,cars are having to indicate and drive around you.. and its you thats preaching to me about safety!” ..then rode off.

If she got hit,jeez it would have been carnage with her bones! I dont know if i should feel bad or not but i explained to her about not planning on passing her but she went off.

cmon then. slate me for riding paths! Oh,and the land was lord burtons estate. He has been known in the past to be a bit of an erse and i think it might have been him.Cant say for sure.

I was telling someone about this earlier and they knew someone that lived on the estate. They once heard that he employed SAS to lurk after dark to catch poachers.God knows if this is true or not.
I should know this,but what is the deal with riding on a so called “private estate”?
I bumped into the guy at the wrong place/wrong time but surely if i`m not blasting across his fields,hes barking up the wrong tree?

I was telling someone about this earlier and they knew someone that lived on the estate. They once heard that he employed SAS to lurk after dark to catch poachers.God knows if this is true or not.

Nah the SAS are easy to spot – they can’t even land in Africa without being lifted 😉

tl;dr – sorry 🙂

You can ride where you like in Scotland, assuming you’re not somewhere that has gotten an exemption from the Land Reform Act (usually things like golf courses where people pay for access, not shooting estates though). It is your responsibility not to cause any damage though. Some estate owners must hate it, but it’s your legal right 🙂

If you’re not riding close to his house or in his garden then there’s nothing he can do. He might scare some folks off with his rants and see that as a result but I would have listened to what he had to say and depending on his tone, either just nodded and give him 5 mins of my attention before ignoring what he said or told him to go take a flying one. I would have asked the old dear if she wanted a nice cup of tea and then rode off.

I know exactly what you’ve done wrong…you’ve skimped on your headphones haven’t you.

They’ll spoil your ride if you let em

You didn’t tell me about her before, I’d have pushed her in the canal with the eels

some people just like to grumble and complain, just like you like to go riding in the hills on your bicycle.
let them have their fun… then shove them in a ditch.

You have a right to responsible access on most land in Scotland (almost certainly including this). However he’s the land owner and almost certainly has a reasonable right to have a polite conversation with people on his land! These stories are always one sided, but assuming he was confrontational, obstructive, aggressive or in some way trying to prevent you from responsible access to the land you should let the local access officer at the council know (http://www.highland.gov.uk/leisureandtourism/what-to-see/countrysideaccess/Accesscontacts.htm) usually very approachable pragmatic people, and although with just hearsay to go on he’s unlikely to do much – if everyone ignores the issue he won’t even know if is there.

As for the old lady, you have a right to cycle on the tow path, however BW’s ask that you dismount your bike and push when crossing bridges etc. In reality nobody does this; and you can usually cross these safely without doing so provided you are patient and sensible. Unfortunately the old lady has no way of knowing if you are patient and sensible. The fact you’ve not got a bell, probably suggests to her you are not (IME they don’t make it impossible to ride an MTB on hills!). I’ve always found a simple “I’m sorry and I’m fine at your speed” sort of response suffices if I startle someone rather than getting into an argument [especially since you were technically in the wrong]. She might be the sort of barking old woman who likes wandering round shouting at people or she might have genuinely been alarmed by you.

I respond to tellings off with a “thank you, I didnt know golly gosh we’ll walk from here” and then cycle off.