[monday morning rantette]

Or, indeed –

“Cycling – Time for Tighter Regulation?”

Of course, this is a rhetorical question, because I would like to see more open land access (in England and Wales) and less regulation…

…BUT – from the threads I see on here, I seriously wonder whether “we”* have the necesary level of responsibility to be given more “rights”.

I fear that knee-jerk legislators are more likely to tighten up cycling regs than to ease up 🙁

Threads on access and RLJing in particular have me scratching my head in wonderment – not necessarily from a right or wrong angle (although that does apply). It’s more to do with the shameless individualistc “I’ll do what I choose” attitude. Yesterday’s closed thread on the injured mtber and rights or wrongs of hooning down trails on public land was particularly depressing. If we* want to be taken seriously and treated as a responsible user group, then we blwdy well need to behave like it… 😡

[/monday morning rantette]

*we – whether we regard ourselves as a collective group or not (and I generally don’t), the general public and other user groups will / do see us in this way…

If we* want to be taken seriously and treated as a responsible user group, then we blwdy well need to behave like it

Exactly.

There’s a considerable minority of cyclists (and I’m referring to ‘active’ cyclists, i.e. those for whom cycling is a key hobby or passtime, not general punters on Halfords specials) who are keen to demand ‘access’ and ‘respect’ from others, when what they actually want is to be able to do what they bl00dy well please and for everyone else to let them.

It was pretty clear from that Leith Hill mega thread that there’ll always be people with a “I’ll do what i want” attitude regardless of regulation, laws, or indeed anything *we* do to try and discourage them short of blocking the trails and being confrontational.

OP absolutely spot on.

I’ll put the kettle on and make some fresh coffee. Sugar?

I just work on the fact that I’m a grumpy, anti-social ****, and thus go out of my way to avoid any kind of social interaction with the general public.

Its about where you do it though, innit? So stay out the busy ‘touristy’ areas (ie: the Lakes), unless riding at night. And stick to the post-industrial northern landscape, which isn’t deemed pretty enough for the National Trust to give a flying **** about, and the absence of cream teas keeps the red socks at bay. And Scotland of course. That just leaves Wales, but I consider annoying Welsh people as a sort of moral obligation, as its so readily and enthusiastically reciprocated. I wouldn’t know the etiquette about the south of Birmingham, as there’s nowt worth riding down there 😉

a considerable minority of cyclists … want is to be able to do what they bl00dy well please and for everyone else to let them.

The word ‘cyclists’ is redundant here. Some people are just that way out, be they cyclists or not.

Totally agree but it is not a new problem, just appears that way because there are more people riding bikes….
As an auld bloke who has been riding a few years I have seen it become a bigger issue especially at trail centres. I remember being at Coed y Brenin on the official opening day when Daffyd stood in front of everyone and his speech included the line which went along the lines of this is Wales and walkers are not allowed to walk on cycling trails..well!!! I was hooning down a trail only to be confronted by a family complete with “trail” dog running all over the place. With Nowhere to go on my right hand side and a big rock face on my left I managed to get stopped before collecting anyone. Took some doing with wet v-brakes!!! Quite a bit of discussion ensued back at the start area,didn’t bother me but those more used to the Welsh/English access laws were quite vociferous 😛

I’ll put the kettle on and make some fresh coffee. Sugar?

Good god no, what crap coffee are you having that you need to hide the taste with sugar. 😉

binners – not far off my own philosophy… 😉

I tend to ride alone – commuting, weekend fitness, ride “natural” trails, and because I’m in “post-industrial” South Wales, rarely get much of a problem.

But, I am just as likely to be walking through the local forest(s) with kids and or dogs as I am likely to be riding…

😆 @ binners

Down here in the crowded SE I’m expecting to see a lot more of this:

Crappy iPhone photo – the sign says “This chicane has been constructed to discourage cyclists from using this trail… We have recently had a number of complaints from walkers who have been subject to abusive behaviour from cyclists who were riding inconsiderately or aggressively. Please respect the Forest Code and fellow woodland visitors.” – yours etc Forestry Commission.

This is I suspect mostly down to the weekend warriors who don’t seem to know how to behave in the countryside and think they own the place. Our best hope for gaining wider access is to show that we’re responsible users of the countryside. Taking the odd cheeky trail at quiet times and respecting other users is fine, groups tearing round and ignoring RoW designations at weekends and bank holidays is going to spoil it for everyone.

The word ‘cyclists’ is redundant here. Some people are just that way out, be they cyclists or not.

The attitudes regarding rights of way at trail centres I find are exactly the same as drivers: If you’re slow, you should move out of the way, sharpish. And if you shouldn’t be there, then you should be shot.

It’s the impatience of inconsiderate people and nothing else. It doesn’t take much to slow down, hang back, give a smile, pass when you can and enjoy the rest of your day. In fact, you’ll feel better for it.

*awaits input from a representative of the bogtrotters*

In response to the OP, I couldn’t agree more. TJ and others blat on about cyclists needing more respect and protection on the roads and the evils of drivers then in the next sentence happily advocate disobeying the laws of the road (RLJ) if it is convenient to them.

We don’t have vast endless back country as they do in other countries, neither to we have a well thought out cycle infrastructure.

It’s about compromise on all sides.

I missed the access thread, I think I was busy watching Olympics.

Comprehensive review of PROWs required, imo.

Time for some wrist bands with ‘WWBD’ on them.

The sense of entitlement a lot of folks carry round in mountain biking is astounding.

“Yeah, those horses, bikes, tractors and 4 bys should all be banned and those ramblers moan about us and they should FTFO cos MTBs are scientifically physically incapable of doing any harm and now lets rag along these footpaths some more cos they should be ours anyway and then build a jump park in some private land and f*** the Forestry commission cos the last time the b******s went harvesting they ruined OUR trails man and someone build us some more trail centers and WTF OMG they’re charging for parking and then some slow guy got in my way and ruined my run and he like had V Brakes(!?!?) like he belongs there at all I mean WTF…”

This is I suspect mostly down to the weekend warriors who don’t seem to know how to behave in the countryside and think they own the place.

Does having a Job that means I can rarely ride during the week make me a “weekend warrior”
And if so, should I try to be less considerate to fit your description.

should I try to be less considerate to fit your description

No, you should try to be one of the weekend warriors who do know how to behave. 🙂