[Closed] For those who ride the Hurtwood land on the Surrey hills...

Mr Woppit

In my opinion you are exaggerating the threat posed by the cheeky trails a tad.

When I spoke to him the Ranger came across as far more concerned with A) the ugly and eroded endings to trails on Pitch - particularly where they are very visible to everyone or potentially bring us and other users together at speed B) selfish riding on footpaths particularly the one at the bottom of BKB. These are things which cause far more grief than a few 'secret' trails that cause no real conflict with other users of the hills and that only a few riders know about. Yes, he'd rather they did it somewhere else and it was someone else's problem - but he'd much rather people didnt ride the footpath into Peaslake.

Fair enough (Puts away Angry Red-faced Colonel Moustache costume).

Mr Woppit:
Oh, and as far as Simon is concerned, the hills are not his personal "I'll do as I bl**dy please" playground just because he happens to own a local bike shop.

haighd2 - Member
dango - haha i thought so too, fair play if someones building bad stuff call them out about it. but at least hes trying.

Just got back from the hills, cold but not sloppy 🙂

Mr Woppit - so you have only ever ridden on Bridleways!!

As mountain bikers what we do is inherently selfish -
erosion
scare wildlife
litter (by some)
pollute

So best just to keep riding into the sunset and not worry about it to much 😛

I haven't the vaguest idea what you're talking about.

EDIT: Oh, I see. You're suggesting it's all a matter of degree... You may well be right, but as I have stood myself corrected, I think I'm now off of that particular argument with regard to my beloved Local Manor.

As to the sunset - sound advice, especially as mine is probably considerably closer than yours...

Toodle-pip!

but he'd much rather people didnt ride the footpath into Peaslake.

I seem to remember that that footpath isn't very clear though - isn't it a bit overgrown?

doubtful

TurnerGuy - Well it's now overgrown in the sense that the Ranger has cut down a holly bush to try stop people riding it - but nothing would get the chance to grow on it much, it's far too busy.

Even after he put some posts in which were too narrow to get most handlebars through people carried on riding it, then some people vandalised the posts.

It was far more of a PITA than going down the road but still it was ridden.

It's crap really isn't it?

If you are who I think you are, message me on FB sometime, hook up for a spin.

it ever gets to the stage of the Bray family (for instance) simply giving up the whole thing as a lost cause because of these selfish idiots, then I suppose we can all become ramblers, because that's going to be the only way we'll be granted access.

lets give the owners some credit im sure they dont think they could simply ban riders from thier land how would that work there would still be public rights of way. i cant see them going down that route thier sir name is Bray not Canute

winterfold- yes it is crap i know of the path in question and i dont know why anyone would bother riding down it.

Consider these as questions and not opinions as some of you are clearly better versed in the subject than me.

Is it just a simple case of overuse? the area has a reputation. it attracts people from all over and all skill levels. BKB has become an Acronym for a reason. There is some fantastic riding to be had all over Surrey, ok some of it might not be as "big" as some of the stuff on Hurtwood but if you look hard enough you can find sweet badger engineered singletrack only passable in the right season on land that the land owner might never know is being used for this purpose.

Do trail builders build "blue" stuff too? if so I applaud you as this may encourage new riders to learn their trade away from the bigger stuff, enthuse them about the sport and become better and have less impact. s

Some of the best trails out there are not the biggest, fastest etc. but they are the most flowing and rewarding trails that can flatter you if you get them right and teach you if you get them wrong.

<sits back and waits for the lecture> 😉

Blimey, now that it's been pointed out, this really is one of the most depressing threads going.

We're adults; we ride bicycles for recreation; we do it in the mud; whilst out there we're wearing, frankly, awful-looking clothes, what ever your 'discipline'; and then we argue about it on the internet.

I honestly despair for the human race sometimes. Get over yourselves, you lot (including me) and get a life. Ride your bike, worry not and take everything a bit less seriously.

These are your orders.

Yours faithfully,
Some anonymous pompus nob (sic) on the internet.

There are some brilliant trail builders about here - Tatto dave, Simon from Nirvana, Haighhd2, Roger - I salute you all

[b]Are you serious? Name one trail that goon was responsible for that's any good?[/b]

[b]I thought he just renamed over peoples trails or built sketchy as f*** stuff that had interior painted doors as part of the safety net to stop newbies falling into holes (Bury Hill)[/b]
[i]
Errrr... Windy Willows, Reformation, Grievous Angel, Foot and Mouth, Wave of Mutilation, Abba Zabba/Blind Terror, Hot Burrito, Becky's Bush.... shall I go on?

 

Yes, but it might be difficult getting you off from some remote area of pitch - maybe needing a helicopter like those seen on Swinley on a reasonably regular basis.

Surrey Hills is generally ridden by relatively local types who've moved up from tame places like Swinley. There are tourists who come for a day to try it out but they session Barry's and the like and can't find most the stuff on Pitch without a guide.

Been involved with a few recoveries from the hills now, and generally it's not too bad so long as you can direct the ambulance to one of the car parks. Good thing about Hurtwood is they are numbered. Leith is more tricky but they do have names. Usually they send the rapid response car, and they can assess the situation quickly, and deal with most of the typical stuff.

I still think what we need in this country is something like a national permit system with insurance built in. Landowners could opt into the scheme, we pay for the permit, which would absolve the landowner of any (or most) liability, the permit is an agreement that we take all the risks, and the insurance element would be to cover costs of recovery from private land and any potential disruption to the landowner.

Probably unworkable, but if we had something along these lines, more landowners would be happy for MTB activities, and the scheme could also be used to encourage and educate about responsible riding.

Anyway, what's going on here? Not sure why so much anger. Let's just get out there and ride, enjoy the hills, and work with the locals and landowners. Annoying each other and the locals is just going to result in being kicked off the land.