……please accept my apologies.
We had cause to go to Matlock Bath on Saturday and I witnessed perhaps the most stupid, poor quality, thoughtless riding I’ve ever seen.
I ride into West London every day and there’s loads of motorcyclists riding very reasonably and considerately….. but oh my god. On the way into Matlock and around the area….. What a bunch of weapons grade bellends. And lots of them.
Once again, if you’ve seen this, we’re not all like that, but I apologise.

Nearest to death I’ve come on a motorbike was some **** power ranger on the wrong side of the road!

Sorry 🙁

Peter poddy

It’s just like cyclists and drivers, pedestrians and horse riders.

There’s some proper bell ends out there. They choose a variety of modes of transport and recreation.

I now expect a flaming.

It’s been like that for decades in and around Matlock Bath. Hardly a weekend goes by without the sound of sirens!

In the 70s my dad used go out with a local garage picking up bits of motorbike (and motorbikers) from all along the A6.

Strange isn’t it how we feel compelled to apologise for the actions of others when one can be considered one of their group *
Cyclists, British holidaymakers etc etc

Bell end road users isn’t just the domain of motorcyclists..
I ride them,I’ll be out on my old school XT600 later, although these days I prefer pedal power.
At the weekend I keep away from Rivi barn & Devils bridge,as the surrounding areas are full of wanabe TT racer weekend warriors.
It’s not just Matlock that suffers from them,tossers…

British holidaymakers voters etc etc

It’s never been any different

My local loop is through Ashbourne/Carsington (same problem)/Via Gellia aka Mugello and over to Dovedale. It used to be absolute carnage but the speed limits and heavy policing have calmed it down

There is a pub on a road not to far from Peebles that welcomes bikers.

Looks great fun in a sunny evening they’re all chatting drinking soft drinks in the car bike park (cars are turned onto the road)

All very well behaved it would appear but there is a contingent…

Wheelies, rediculous group overtakes before hard bends genuine 😯 moments aplenty.

I’d live a motorbike especially the old BSA across the road but some of these guys need a clip round the lughole and their toys taking away*

* As anyone does who flagrantly disregards other people’s safety.

Never had a motorbike, so feel free to Correct me, but I always thought the attraction was getting off the beaten track, a bit of exploring if you will.

However, most of the guys I know that ride do the same local roads all the time.

In saying that, the local roadie club is the exact same! 😯

A friend used to be an advanced police driver and motorbike rider. There’s a weekly meeting point for lots of bike riders at which either my mate or one of his colleagues would be in attendance (uniformed, marked vehicle or bike). One day one of the bikers asked him why they (the police) were “hassling” them. “Because” says my mate, “at least once a month I have to go and pick up the pieces of one of you lot that couldn’t control their bike. If you’re lucky I’ll get there before you die.”.

It’s just like cyclists and drivers, pedestrians and horse riders.

No this was a different. It wasn’t the odd one. There were dozens of them in convoy. All over the place.

We’ve just come back from the TT and it’s not like that on the Isle of Man. Sure, you ride fast over The Mountain, it’s one way for a week and there’s no speed limit. Everyone fills their boots. I did. But elsewhere on the Island there’s bikes everywhere and hardly anything to note. Same in London. LOADS of bikes. 99% sensible.

We’re looking at moving North and this was one very real reason we’re not moving to Matlock. I’d be embarrassed to own a motorbike and live there.

Apology accepted

One of them – a mid-fifties “inexperienced” motorcyclist – took himself out of the food chain on Sunday just up the road from me. I’d already ordered my Chinese takeaway from the next village, so a 10 minute round trip took me almost an hour.

I’d already opened a beer, cued up the TdF highlights and left the telly on pause.

As a result of this idiot’s inconsiderate, selfish behaviour, my Chinese wasn’t as hot as it should have been and my beer was flat.

Lol! Harsh!

Beware people – these ‘bellends’ are everywhere and not just on motorbikes.
I’ve only been to Matlock a couple of times on the bike and I thought it was shite. We did witness some bloke turn up in his car with the family, who changed into his leathers to walk around in. No boots helmet or gloves, just leathers and trainers. Epic…

Got buzzed the other week by three superbikes going far too fast and far too close to us on our roadbikes to have any margin for error
There wasn’t anyone coming the other way so there was absolutely no excuse at all. Bellends

However, they were the only motorbikers who were a problem that day and we saw a few. There’s always a subset of bellends out there

Derbyshire and the Peak in particular are a bit of magnet for leather coated turds at this time of year.

Sorry to admit this but during the 12 years when I was a motorbiker I used to go riding around the Dales and the Lakes with two buddies. It was always fast and one particular day we stopped at a pub in Kettlewell to slake our thirst and found ourselves sitting at a table looking at each other, when somebody said: “You know…. we’re going to have to wind our necks in or one of us is going to get killed at this rate”.

And we weren’t even riding fast bikes, just an MZ250 and a couple of Hondas around 500/650 cc.

Nowadays it’s ten times worse as folk of our generation have gone out and bought race-spec bikes then tuned them as well.

Wasn’t me, I was around North Yorkshire at the weekend. Whilst I do ride fast I stick the limits in the towns.
Lots of people around at the weekend driving/riding with their thumbs up their backsides and brain in neutral showing little regards to any other road users other than themselves. Way too many drivers on their phones to observe anything around them.
As for the group roadies who thought it was a good idea to overtake each other going up Sutton Bank, going onto the opposite side only to be met with an oncoming van then had to dive back onto their side of the road causing the others to brake bringing their group and all the traffic going uphill to sudden stop.

Sounds normal for a lot of bikers and car drivers not just those around Matlock.

There used to be a map derived from DoT data (think it was on the Guardian’s website) that listed every road accident over an 11 year period. The data was split in two ways: severity of injury, so Killed, seriously injured, minor injuries; primary vehicle: lorry, car, motorbike, cycle, pedestrian.

The roads between Ingleton and Hawes, Ribblehead and Settle and Sedbergh to Hawes were almost entirely motorbike accidents. There was one cyclist and that injury was caused by a motorbike rider losing it and side swiping the cyclist.

The Via Gellia has been closed for the last couple of weeks so the proportion bell ends who made it to Matlock Bath was probably higher than normal

The thing is, none of the riders I saw were going (what I’d call) that fast. Not much over any speed limit if at all.
They were just really really really bad riders. Silly overtakes, too close, poor machine control etc. I’ve seen riders (and been one…) going extremely rapidly indeed but you hardly notice them. That’s the way it’s done. Zoom. Gone.
And then there was the other extreme, a long queue of cars in Matlock, stationary, loads of room, and 2 blokes on new 1200GS BMWs sitting stationary in the traffic. I just don’t get it. These days I ride a motorbike because I have to. There’s no way I’d do my commute in a car. I don’t have a fast bike, I don’t ride quickly, but I reckon I’d have handed 75% of the riders I saw their asses on a plate pretty much anywhere. Maybe I just ride on my own too much. Dunno.

My house backs on to the A3, 3 motorcycle deaths and one serious injury in the last 4 months. Driving down the road and you pass 3 separate ‘shrines’ within 300 meters. Doesn’t stop them from treating it like a racetrack. That said, car drivers are just as bad – especially given the huge amount of cyclists in the area as we approach the Ride London. Bellends indeed.

23 yr old jailed for causing life changing injuries to a female cyclist near WCA’s house today. 90 in a 30. What a moron.
A few use the road past my flat ( 30 ) as a flat out acceleration zone and I am certain they hit 90 -100mph judging by noise.
Not enough Police out and about, so the chances of being seen being a bellend are minimal.

90 in a 30. What a moron.

Absolutely.

I’ll admit to doing some stoooopid speeds on motorbikes, but my golden rule has always been to do it for myself, where no-one is around, so if you do sling it down the road you’re not going to hurt anyone else.
It’s just showing off.
It’s also one of the reasons we sold our Ducati ST3s, in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t that fast but it’s like watering round a forest with a loaded gun: At some point you’ll pull the trigger. It’s soooooo easy.

We had cause to go to Matlock Bath on Saturday

You see what you did wrong don’t you, weekends and bank holidays it’s a no go zone (a friend lived in Matlock then moved to darley dale). Very few of the locals ride at weekends due to all the idiots about.

A colleague at work is a big biker and only goes to Matlock in the car, when on his bike he goes the other direction.

weekends and bank holidays it’s a no go zone

Yeah, you’re right there!
We had no choice really. We’re house hunting and we had a list of places/areas/towns to eliminate.

The Police work really hard to improve the riding around Matlock, but they can’t be everywhere all the time. Used to have a fully marked up Fireblade that they used to get bikers chatting in the car park.

Fewer bad crashes now than there used to be though.

Road around Beachy Head got resurfaced over winter and the “power rangers” have discovered it. Charging into corners hard on the brakes before wobbling round the apex at walking speed pathetically waving a knee at the tarmac before screaming off up the straight to repeat the same poor cornering at the next bend.

Also the number of riders I see failing to make progress through local traffic and just sit behind a car even when they have loads of room is disappointing, it’s like a lost art.

Here’s my thought on this…..

48 years old and been riding two wheels since I was 4 years old.

Bikes with engines can be great fun but it depends on what you want from them as a rider. I loved riding my so called ‘race rep’ style bikes but I admit to enjoying riding them fast and that’s what made me stop riding motorbikes. Track days are great but in the UK you are at the mercy of the weather.

Knee down on pubic roads may feel good but maybe I looked like the people you described above? I never thought I took risks but in the end I felt my time was better spent with my growing family.

Bikes and cars have generally got so much faster that our brains and roads just do not mix!

My current german diesel estate car is restricted to 155mph, does 0-60 in 5.4s and on a run averages over 50mpg so why would I want to ride a motorbike anymore? A quick bike will leave me for dead on a duel carriageway but on the back roads my nice comfy leather interior is a far nicer place to be and probably safer too?

I can take my mountain bike to a relatively safe environment and drive back home with nice heated seats feeling great that I have spent a few hours in the great outdoors without the risk of losing my licence. And my family can be with me.

One of them – a mid-fifties “inexperienced” motorcyclist – took himself out of the food chain on Sunday just up the road from me. I’d already ordered my Chinese takeaway from the next village, so a 10 minute round trip took me almost an hour.

I’d already opened a beer, cued up the TdF highlights and left the telly on pause.

As a result of this idiot’s inconsiderate, selfish behaviour, my Chinese wasn’t as hot as it should have been and my beer was flat.

Great comment and somewhat typical. My wife and FIL were first on scene on the way back from Grimsargh. Father in law pulled him out of the hedge and started CPR (ex paramedic), unfortunately he didn’t make it. A guy loses his life (Dave Bennett 53 from Bamber Bridge) and your whinging about your **** takeaway. Another vehicle was involved in the collision but lets not let that get in the way of a good troll, eh?

There are cocks in all vehicles, but there does seem to be a lot on motorbikes. I’ve seen them apexing corners with wheels on their side of the road but head well on the opposite side, ready to be hit by a lorry coming the other way. Even if no-one hits anyone it makes driving highly stressful for everyone else.

My doctor friend who worked in A&E for a while called them donor cyclists as they provided a steady stream of young healthy organs.

Driving in general does seem to be worse in the North of England though. I mean, the majority of people are similar but there are many more speeding arseholes around.

And illegal exhaust also should be an instant seize and crush. Inconsiderate noisy aholes racing around the ring road in the early morning and evenings.
Cue the wailing “noisy pipes save lives brigade.” If you didn’t ride like a massive bellend darting around then you are less likely to be knocked off.
I used to be one for 30 years, I’m glad I’ve grown up.

There is a gradual right turn by a shear rock face as you near Matlock Bath. It’s in shade by the rock face and trees and the road is usually damp. Catches out a lot of inexperienced bikers going too fast. Road goes from dry tarmac to wet slimy just as it curves round. Not much give in a rock face.

You realise god invented motorbikes to cull idiots?

I was told that when I was young, and every time I crashed it became a brain worm for a week or two. 🙂

(Still got a motorbike, but it hasn’t had much use lately)

Driving in general does seem to be worse in the North of England though. I mean, the majority of people are similar but there are many more speeding arseholes around.

That because the traffic actually moves as opposed to sitting still for ages.

That because the traffic actually moves as opposed to sitting still for ages

Does it bollocks.