Now i know this has come up before but today there was a lot of new posts and signage.

We got collared by one lady with dogs after riding up the trail next to the sunken path that leads to the moat,

it was almost like she had won the lottery and couldn’t wait to tell us what a bunch of complete toss pots we where,

people being knocked over by bikers, people being threatened by bikers and people being distracted from the daily mail by pictures that were not of cats or immigrants and bikers not giving advice on cancer or vitamins,

i think i may have also been to blame for the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in this lady’s eyes.

anyway,

has anybody heard anything official or otherwise, the signage seems to be on ‘Christine’ the ‘Moat’ ,’the run from the ‘Moat’ to ‘Christine’ and on ‘double step’,

have to say that the mud today was pretty bad and the trails are looking as heavily worn as they did last winter,

i’m not adverse when it comes to closing trails that are badly cut up but it would be nice to be informed of any action that Greensands are undertaking.

i feel without giving the riders good reason for closures, most will simply ignore the signs and this in turn provoke a stronger response from the dog walkers and haters alike,

i did speak with some other riders today and opinions seemed to indicate that some people have already decided that they will roam as and where they want,

In closing i would just remind some people that the land belongs to the Duke, he has as long as i remember been quite happy to let us play in his woods, i do worry being local to the area that in the future i may need to get the car out to go riding with my buddies.

Not noticed them the Moat side but have elsewhere, and a few bizarre gates in random places.

oh i forgot the random gates, now they aren’t to stop us as they have permit holders only written on them, these i don’t mind,

I don’t know if you could get a dog walkers fat hips through them?

Great, just built a bike as well.
Anyway I’ll have to go get a permit to ride there I’ll ask at the same time.
Any idea what both permits cost at the moment?

£20 i buy mine through cyclone mtb as it saves me the hassle, there is still plenty of trails open but it’s a bit busy up there at the minute

Not been there since November 2010 when I last rode an MTB.

I’ve only noticed the new gate near the end of the track heading along the golf course towards the church (past the nearly-always damp bit in the rhododendrons). The gate, quite brilliantly, has “permits only beyond this point”, on both sides of it.

I found it very damp, rather busy and a bit dispiriting today to be honest. There must have been a lot more rain there this week than in my neck of the woods.

Also, the ranger didn’t seem that impressed with the numpties who’d set up a tent and petrol-powered generator in the jump area and had the been camping there overnight!

Not been there since November 2010 when I last rode an MTB.

Not stalking you, but I though you’d ridden one on Friday!

Well yep Friday was my first time back on one. Prior I was a Buzzards regular and rode there shed loads.

Is this just another case of a few taking the mickey and the authorities flexing their muscles?

Was talking to a ranger last week. They are signing up the SSSI sites to keep bikes out.
He didn’t mention any other projects, but I have a pal who does volunteer work with the greensand trust. I’ll ask her if she’s heard anything.

Actually what’s closed, surely the legal stuff is open. A bridleway is open anyway and don’t our permits cover the permissive ones.
So are we talking about the closure of ‘cheeky trails’ and the man made timber rubbish that litters the countryside?

I’ve always thought that riders need to branch out a bit, rather than circulate their cars.
When you think about it you can almost link Wendover Woods to Chicksands. Certainly Aspley Woods to Chicksands and back is a great ride.

crotchrocket, I only know of one sssi and that’s right over by Stockgrove and we’ve steered well away since finding out.

Edit. So it does sound like a problem with bikers riding where they shouldn’t
When I took MBR around there I checked it out with the rangers prior to the ride, and they pointed out that most of the area was plantation and could be bulldozed at any time so biking wasn’t a big issue.

News on the camping: ranger not especially bothered about genny, but did advise campers that it’s not really allowed.

HTH

The SSSI signs are in the marshy bit that is the end of the trail that runs from horsebox carpark towards Aspley.

I tend to take in the quieter bits now, e.g. the bit that backs on to Woburn and works its way round to Lowes Wood.

There are 2 sssi that I’m aware off:
1. Beside empire strikes back (used to be called ‘Directors Cut)
2. Is newer: the pond with the steep little climb (which crossed a footpath) out on one side which continues onto Peacocks Pass.

too many different names, what is the SSSI on the side of empires ? surely not the single track that goes to the left of the empires entrance ? i think some call it ”self harm” ?

double step is the climb near the marsh/pond area at the end of the horsebox carpark as said above, this was the first part to get a new sign around 8 weeks ago.

can see the point in that being no go, newts i recon !!!,

what is the SSSI on the side of empires ?

The trail was shut a while ago (notices and reinstated fence), of the two ’empire’ starts you started on the left hand and then kept left further on. It had a little ladder drop thing into a ditch towards the end.

Last couple of weeks people have really widened out a chicken line to the left of the nice little root drop on that steep roll-in bit of empire strikes back. Saw a whole load of people standing round watching people go down it today and all the ones I saw seemed to take the lame line. 🙁

Woburn was slippier than a slippy thing today and everything is looking pretty cut up.

To be fair the amount of people up there seems to have just ballooned recently so these sort of closures are inevitable I suppose.

What are the dh trails like there at the minute? Was quite muddy in the week, thinking of going down tomorrow if it’s not too bad.