Rode telegraph this morning.
About to cross one of the fire roads some moron has put up their idea of a wood blockade. Just as I came round a corner I went into it almost flat out. Thankfully I didn’t comel off but got a nasty suprise.
Ruined my day and ride.
It was clearly there as a trap.
Wasn’t much left of it after I spread it about the hill.

thanks for taking care of it.. haven’t been around that part for ages but def not a good sign. Hope you are ok

Just as I came round a corner I went into it almost flat out.

Riders really need to be careful on Telegraph as there are many paths that cross it, so need to realise that they don’t have right-of-way.

Irrelevent of any wood blockings etc.

Was fine on Saturday afternoon, must have been late Saturday/early Sunday

About to cross one of the fire roads

I came round a corner I went into it almost flat out

you have my sympathy re: the trail blocking but crossing fire roads flat out sounds like a recipe for an accident at some point.

It’s quite common around the whole area to find branches dragged across trails. I’ve mostly found them over on Leith though.

There’s been a couple of serious accidents on telegraph due to people crossing fire roads flat out.
Best to take it easy on parts of that trail.

About to cross one of the fire roads
I came round a corner I went into it almost flat out

This is not smart.

Ruined my day and ride.

Would have ruined someone elses if they’d been walking across the exit and you went into them ‘almost flat out’

There’s been a couple of serious accidents on telegraph due to people crossing fire roads flat out

Have there? I was at a meeting a while back where this concern was raised but neither the ranger or Handa Bray (the landowner) had actually heard of any collisions at all?

+1, take it easy up there, kids, dogs, walker, horses use that area too. This is not a trail centre.

While we’re on it, Rookery descent needs proper care too, lots of people walk up that, sight lines on the bends can be very short.

I’m confused by the “came round a corner” + “flat out” + “cross one of the fire roads”. At what point on TR is there a proper corner before crossing either of the fire road?

I know it’s easy to exit a section at speed but it’s also pretty easy to see what’s coming up ahead.

Or are you referring to a fire road right down the bottom?

Sympathies for having to deal with trail sabotage, its shit when it happens

Answer; unless you’re at a trail centre on a built for MTB track, then you really shouldn’t be riding flat out.

OP – just exactly like driving on the road, you must be able to stop safely in the bit of trail you can see ahead of you. And; be ready to stop for reasons of courtesy as well as safety. Even dedicated trail centres are not closed race tracks, and Holmbury Hill definitely isn’t.

At what point on TR is there a proper corner before crossing either of the fire road?

I know it’s easy to exit a section at speed but it’s also pretty easy to see what’s coming up ahead.

Possibly “around a corner” is a touch of hyperbole. But it doesn’t matter.

There is at least one point where the fire road crosses the ST at right angles, the fire road is a little lower and also the boundary has vegetation it – the rider can see dead ahead but not the the sides of the FR at the junction. A walker on the FR, especially a child, could easily be obscured as they approach the junction.

Ah yes, I recall the exit you’re referring to re a child etc could be obscured. And that’s the reason we have to take responsibility and slow down.

yeah Op it’s all your fault for going to fast and it’s not the fault of the muppets who blocked the path with sticks at all.

Slightly feel for the OP too – they may have used some colourfull language but I’d feel pretty annoyed too.
I’ve not had any problems on Telegraph but have come across this on one or two other trails in the area and it is (a) clearly deliberate, and (b) v annoying. Jesses Garden is pretty much always blocked with branches which are a bit too big to jump.

yeah Op it’s all your fault for going to fast and it’s not the fault of the muppets who blocked the path with sticks at all.

It is also the fault of the previous rider that probably came out of there two fast and nearly hit someone, and then was discourteous about it, maybe even abusive. It was a person almost hit that probably decided to block the exit.

Well, ok. If all was well the op would have read “I came across a blocked trail, but it’s ok I just stopped, moved the sticks and went on my way”.

Blocking trails is annoying and potentially dangerous, but not as annoying and potentially dangerous as being unable and/or unprepared to stop.

yeah Op it’s all your fault for going to fast and it’s not the fault of the muppets who blocked the path with sticks at all.

Nobody said this.

Trail blockers, and people riding too fast to not see potential hazards, are both in the wrong and both could cause serious injury to others.

I can see how a collision could happen up there, sadly there probably is a case for a prominent feature to force riders to exit on to the fire road at a safe pace. It would probably spoil the flow but so it goes, it’s a shared access area.

(Not having a go at the OP at all).

It is also the fault of the previous rider that probably came out of there two fast and nearly hit someone, and then was discourteous about it, maybe even abusive. It was a person almost hit that probably decided to block the exit.

What brought you over from the Daily Mail website?

Perhaps this is a Strava problem?

Enjoy the flow of the trail, stop when you see an issue with the trail and clear off anything that needs clearing.

Always ride so you can stop in less than the distance you can see to be clear. People have as much right to ride bikes up as down, to walk or even ride horses.

hmmm, lets not start blaming strava, its the responsibility of the rider to be aware of the area and its users, about time people started accepting responsibility for their own action rather than blaming others

I thought telegraph was a straight line? 😕

Strictly speaking anyone has just as much right (no right at all?) to block a cheeky trail as we have to dig and sculpt a trail

Thanks for clearing it for other riders. if you catch someone booby trapping a trail, count to 10 before you kick them 😀 http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/road-rage

Drop Mark Beaumont, the Hurtwood Control’s ranger, a line via the contact page here.

As said above, bear in mind that the hills are shared use, and if you can’t see around a corner to stop in time, then don’t pile in at full chat. There are plenty of plonkers thinking they have a right to block trails that, in this case, are tolerated and even encouraged by the landowner.

It’s the same area as this thread refers to btw http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/holmbury-st-mary-tracks

That other thread refers to new trails put beyond use by the ranger.

OK, I didn’t know that was the ranger’s actions.

Perhaps some of you could set up selfrighteoussharedlanduseworld. It might suit you better. The op has posted about a trap set for bikers on a bike forum (yes that’s what it is) and you berate him for his speed. I despair.

It may well not be the Rangers’ actions.

Yoghurt pots / Parklife was closed for some pretty necessary work. The Ranger / Hurtwood also close stuff that has a negative impact on other users – but they do so obviously, explain why it’s been done and make sure any closure is signposted. They won’t drag a bundle of branches across the trail on a corner – and, in fact, they take a very dim view of Stickman’s antics.

Check in with Richard (see other thread) or follow the Ranger on Facebook here.

As said above, please, please report blocked trails to Mark Beaumont, the ranger. He can either explain why Hurtwood has blocked them, or, as is more often the case, make sure the rural Police Officer is informed.

The ranger posted that he had blocked some new trails recently, so I assumed it was those. See his post 15 January.

(Totally different to Telegraph – those sticks were not the ranger, and I was not saying that.)