For mother's day I went out for a walk with my mum, bro and girlfriend in an area that has heavy mountain bike use.
Walking up, I couldn't help but notice that the path we were on, a path I have ridden for years (and which has always been about 2m at it's widest) over winter has just got wider and wider, primarily around the puddles, but then, as we got higher up the hillside, around the rocks too.
The gravelly, gritstone, hard wearing main path, with its warts and all rocks poking through is now completely overshadowed by the trampled heather/peat smooth route down the side.
As we carried on, a group of about ten riders came down, completely avoiding what I know as the designated path, instead riding bunched up on the smooth peaty bit with all the skidding and sliding that riding too close and too fast entails.
What can be done to stop this? The next step is bound to be bikes being banned from the paths because of the damage they are causing.
Fences along the path? Strategically placed rocks? Printed notes at each end?
