Out on the CX bike yesterday riding some local trails*. One area seems to have loads of Japanese Knotweed, and I’m bound to have ridden over/through the stuff.

How much do MTBers bother about the possible risk of spreading invasive species like these as a result of riding?

*fotopaths

No-one?

Think I’ll give it a dousing of glyophosphate and leave it to dry before washing off. Don’t want the bloody stuff in my garden/village..!

report the weed to the council too.

Given how invasive it is you probably cannot do much but what I do is avoid rinding in areas where this is any – I think cleaning your bike would work just as well you know as long as you are careful where the bits go

What would Ripley do?

TBH I’ve never seen the stuff and wouldn’t know what it was even if it slapped me in the face. Suppose if was going to slap me, it would have to be an OTB, unless it grows really high.
So is it like a triffid?

Don’t let things get out of control .

Probably best if you just burn your bike

fasthaggis no picture ?

Spray your bike with salt water ,or nuke from space ( it’s the only way to be sure)

Yep, going to have to modify the route to minimise contact, but I;ve still found a good cheeky/nightriding loop even skipping the worst bits.

It’s all private land, so I suspect it’s well known about.

I’m just going to wash the bike carefully, and avoid riding in the worst area in future.

Worse was the fact the brake blocks wore away completely, meaning I had to do the old school dragging-foot-and-aim-for-something-soft braking method….

Never really thought about this, but it’s probably a good idea.

Cue “What weedkiller for…” threads

trouble is, is there a good weed killer than will kill knot weed? (that you as a member of the public can buy)

Won’t knotweed save the planet? A fast growing carbon capture system that is responding to growing carbon dioxide levels by becoming more vigorous. Just need to lay the dead dry stuff down in landfills for a future coal supply.

spread by the relocation of roots so just make sure there is no root mass stuck to your tyres/ bike.

is there a good weed killer than will kill knot weed?

Glyphosate (Roundup) will do it. I have successfully killed small clumps of knotweed with stuff from B&Q. After it flowers at the start of autumn you need to spray loads of it repeatedly on the leaves for a couple of weeks so it takes it down into the roots and dies over winter. Anything growing nearby is toast.

Go and stand in the back garden with your bike, I’ll be along shortly

Worse was the fact the brake blocks wore away completely

Just throw the bike away, or sell to an antiques shop.

Surely you’d need to pick up a biggish piece of root on your tyre and then dump it somewhere else to spread the stuff?

Doesn’t sound very likely to me (especially on thin CX tyres) but I’m happy to be contradicted by someone who knows what they’re talking about 🙂

Lots of stuff grows in the gravel on which I wash my bikes. I’d change my route definitely!

Just throw the bike away, or sell to an antiques shop.

I (generally) like the old schoool cross approach of not using the brakes much. However, I did have to aim at a gate to stop myself on the last descent. It could have been a kid’s (goat) face you heartless people..!

I suspect it’s unlikely that I;ve enough of the stuff on the bike to cause a problem, but I wonder how much we think about what we’re spreading around by taking our bikes off road?

IIRC glyophosphate works by absorbtion via foliage, so I’m not sure it will be of any use sprayed on your bike.

Two minutes after a Binners flypast..

Take my breath away…..

unless there are obvious stalks of knotweed captured on your bike i highly doubt you’ll spread it to your land. Take it to the nearest jet wash and rinse it off – it’ll be fine.

As well as being absorbed by foliage, most weedkillers are systemic so wont’ work of the foliage is not still attached to the plant. And as I understand it, knotweed is pretty resistant anyway. If you have chunks of plant attached to your bike, take them off and burn them, otherwise don’t bother with the chemicals.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/wildlife/130079.aspx

Some really sensible Japanese knotweed advice here.
Knotweed seed is formed from hybrids (mostly with Russian vine) and doesn’t grow into viable seedlings. The only way you’re likely to spread it on your bike is by churning up the roots (rhizomes) and flinging bits of them off as you whiz through it. Pretty unlikely, so I’d not worry too much.
Unless you’re carrying clods of earth with rhizome fragments in your unlikely to bring any reproductive material home with you.

Banjo you have show far too much common sence and good advice in your last post, please edit it now to include some attempt of humor or a useless bit of advice

Thank you………