[Closed] Is 'irresponsible riding' something that only other people do?

I do, but then most of the trails i ride get seriously minimal use (sometimes i'll not use one for a couple of weeks and there will be no fresh tracks. At all.)

I also spend a few days a year maintaining sections of trails that do get damaged in bad weather or after heavy use. (Mostly the local trail centres.)

I ride all year on trails that I help to build and maintain.

That said, been at the trail centre this month after all that rain.

I think that, in general, riding irresponsibly 'to other users' (walkers, horse riders etc.) is far more of a threat to our sport than riding irresponsibly 'to the trails'

Mountain biking needs only one rule: Don't be a dick!

All trail users get a friendly hi, good afternoon/morning. Nothing to do with responsibility but everything to do with getting on with ones fellow humans. Best to focus on what's important, people not trails

I had a big barney on here with someone a few years back about riders damaging trails..
I was pretty sure that it was irresponsible to ride all year round with no consideration for conditions..

He changed my mind on the subject eventually

I am extra double friendly and courteous to other trail users though so will still probably be reincarnated as a drug fuelled orgasm or something equally as nice

I ride all year round on my local trails, seeing as i'm the only one who rides them and maintains them clear of fallen trees/undergrowth/briars etc i don't see the harm i'm doing.

It may be different if you live in an area where there are other bikers/users of the trails in question but where i live in a very rural/backwater area of Galloway it is not an issue for me to ride them all year round.

I'm considering getting fat bike as I think the wide low pressure tyres will do less damage to soft ground.

I do avoid some routes when the weather has been bad. Partially to not chew them up but mainly because it's not enjoyable to ride.

[quote=Mary Hinge ]I'm considering getting fat bike as I think the wide low pressure tyres will do less damage to soft ground.That was part of my initial reason for buying one. Indeed, fatbikes tend to smooth out some the ruts that skinny bikes make.

Thanks for the responses.

I also ride when it's muddy - but also avoid boggy trails for obvious reasons. I kind of think it's something that mostly takes care of itself.

I really can't remember personally seeing trail damage caused by MTBs (excluding events) that was a genuine problem - certainly compared to the way a horse or motorbike can ruin a trail for the rest of the season.

I really can't remember personally seeing trail damage caused by MTBs (excluding events) that was a genuine problem - certainly compared to the way a horse or motorbike can ruin a trail for the rest of the season.

That's also true IME, the worst they seem to do from their own point of view is make them more "challenging" for themselves, but motors in particular (horses to a lesser extent) can quickly put a trail beyond use for walkers and cyclists.

I really can't remember personally seeing trail damage caused by MTBs (excluding events) that was a genuine problem

Also the fireroad diversions that are open to bikes pedestrians and horses. A few thousand bike tyres can have quite a dramatic effect on hardpack when it's wet and of course everyone sees the results.

Not a problem for me or maybe for you but you can bet someone is thinking fricken bikes

yes

I rode down a perfectly ride-able bridleway last week, went back this weekend after a 100 cross country runners, rendering it all but impassable. Of course the walkers and horse riders had found an alternate path round the side. This issue is not limited to bikers.

mehhh, it's not like the Earth's going to wear away.

It's pretty much self-regulating IME.
No-one rides the moor tops when they're a bog-fest, because they're no fun at all like that.

I've not been up the Stoodley side of Hebden since Christmas, because the water won't have made the trails up there any better but it's scoured the green slime off the rocky stuff around Heptonstall, Slack, etc. quite nicely 🙂

There is a nice wood near me that gets a lot of foot traffic (mostly dog walkers) and a little bike traffic. I avoid after sustained rain as the top half is easily ruined if i go every week.

However with the very wet weather in autumn an open section got completely ruined by the walkers avoiding the very slippy mud covered track, so the open grass area has turned into a brown quagmire with no obvious track. Only now the sustained rain has washed the main track clear is it obvious where to walk/ride is the path clearing up.

So its not just cyclist that ruin things, but they can if they ride when not appropriate, such as the problem of the new 'line' cut in further down the hill by some local kids. Stripped back ferns, cut down bushes etc. so they can ride the 'loam' like the mags tell them is cool. Expecting the wrath of the walkers once they spot it.

I suppose the honest answer is that I only avoid a trail if I think the mud will be a pain to ride through

There might be places where i should think it through a bit more

At Woburn I do not care at all about the impact of my riding on the surface. I've never worried much as its a plantation but I though that Beech trees where more of a natural wood land. A few years back they clear felled a lovely area of beech (opposite the Church). The surface damage from the machines used was deeper and wider than the entire history of bike use at Woburn. There is no point in worrying about the odd scratch caused by a bike

But I am always cheery to other trail users whether walking the dog or on my bike

I've rode cannock for the last three weeks as the local stuff is absolutely shagged. I wish others would do this but they don't. Hey ho it'll all hopefully come back to where it was, nowt I can do about it apart from my bit...

The local trail that we tend to ride all year round is an old railway line, so there's not much to get wrecked. The local cheeky path has been churned up by some chump(s) on a quad and the extra loop we chuck in sometimes has been mullered by horses.

When do you decide to ride a trail or not???Summers can be very muddy but people will always ride that time of year.Look at the restrictions on the Ridgeway for Motors 1st October to April 30th March and April can be way dryer than so call summer months!!!!!!
Some of Forest Of Dean downhill trails are pretty wrecked this days.

I ride like an absolute **** at times. Not so much off-road on the MTB but certainly on the road. I'll jump off roundabouts and speed bumps, use the pavement as and when it suits me, run red lights*, all as fast as I can. Mainly those days I'm on the commuter though which doesn't encourage much naughtiness other than running reds. Same on the motorbike too. I'll go flat out if the fit takes me although not when there's anyone around..... What's the point in having power and not using it?
That said, 99% of the time I'm Mr Steady Eddie. Because most of the time it's 'utility riding' and I've got loads of time. 🙂

*Why? Because I can. Simple.

This:

I do avoid some routes when the weather has been bad. Partially to not chew them up but mainly because it's not enjoyable to ride.

I live near Winchester and the horses do way more damage than we do as MTBers. there are a few bridleways we use all year around because they cope with the horse and bike traffic well, there's a few we avoid because the bridleways get widened and destroyed because they are so near various stables.

To be fair I've only had a bad exchange with a horse rider once in the last 5 years or so and that was when the rider insisted that we were on a footpath! She couldn't understand the main flaw in her argument of "you can't ride bikes on this track" 🙂

I ride as responsibly as most dog walkers pick up their dog's sheeite.

Provided you don't drag your wheels i.e. skid, you don't do any more damage to your average trail than walkers do and no matter what anyone says they outnumber bikes 20/1 at a minimum. Saying that there are sections of trails that I do avoid purely because they get so churned up and become impassable, subsequently they take longer to dry out.

In my experience it's not mud that's the problem, it's user conflict and riding in areas that have some sort of natural importance or protected status. Me and a local bike shop manager got called into a meeting with the local National Trust and Forestry Commission staff about a year ago because of the state of some of the local trails, including this one.

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It wouldn't normally be an issue (and that trail's been ridden by mountain bikers and used by walkers for years) but it's smack in the middle of a regionally important SSSI and the damage is obviously being caused by bikes.

I also ride when it's muddy - but also avoid boggy trails for obvious reasons. I kind of think it's something that mostly takes care of itself.

This.

I think it really depends on - among other things - the state of the trail, where it is, how well the trail drains, how established it is, whether it's maintained and how often it's used.

For instance, the armoured sections of Swinley take pounding regardless of conditions, but drain well, provide good riding and are looked after. I would actually head there to ride in foul weather purely because I am almost guaranteed semi-decent riding.

The local 'good' trails here on the IoW I'd advise leaving well alone until a let-up in the weather, purely because they drain like a sponge and are already well established, but risk damage and widening from further traffic. If there's any traffic on them I'd hope it's there to do some maintenance*. Conversely I would recommend seeking out fledgeling trails to help wear them in so they are obvious and established come spring.

I suppose ultimately it comes down to common sense, but that's not the easiest concept to explain to some people.

*But very much doubt it.

part of the problem for me is while it's quite easy to point and say "this track is ruined" when what is actually happening is "The track is covered in very obvious tyre tracks and is [b]a bit unsightly[/b]. Horses, walkers, bikes do equal amounts of "damage" but in very specific ways. narrow multi-user paths are going to look shit in the middle of winter, they'll pretty much always recover when they dry out.

they'll pretty much always recover when they dry out.

Yes and no.

The Lime Burner trail in Thetford used to be all unmarked singletrack, but since becoming marked has gone from being a sliver of trail to a bike motorway in places. This is due to volume/density of traffic on an easy-to-follow marked route, but also to Thetford's reputation of being a well-drained venue, which is due to its fragile sandy surface.

I agree with you to an extent, but I think one of the points here - and certainly one of my points above - is that getting similar traffic in winter to what would pass through in summer can severely damage trails that are not designed, developed or built with that volume of traffic in mind.

jekkyl - Member

mehhh, it's not like the Earth's going to wear away.

Agree.

When mankind has foxxed it all up and rendered itself extinct, the planet will heal itself.

"The track is covered in very obvious tyre tracks and is a bit unsightly. Horses, walkers, bikes do equal amounts of "damage"

No. They really don't. Whilst foot and bike damage is broadly equivalent, but manifested in different ways, horses and cows are by far and away much, much, much worse.

if walkers actually followed each other then the damage would be minimised but instead they generally spread out and make a big wide mess due to thinking the muddy bit in between all the other foot prints must be less muddy...but it isn't.

At least cyclists do tend to follow in each others tracks. Admittedly this can just lead to deeper and deeper grooves when it's really soft and probably shouldnt be ridden.

My approach is riding in really boggy slippery stuff is not fun and does damage so I plan routes over winter that avoid them as much as possible.

But I think the worst culprit this winter on the mendips was the contractors on blackdown who have destroyed the nice bridleway that ran from the Rowberrow warren up to (and over, but that bit was shit) the footpath heading east to trig point just so they could fill in the second part of that footpath with gravel but leave the first half untouched and it's still a big boggy mess.

Yeah. Between that, the felling in Rowberrow and the weather, I've hardly bothered since the start of November.

I'll stop when the hoardes of walkers, visitors and DofE stay away when it's rained alot.

A long thin line shouts alot louder than the quagmire 1-2metres wide around it. Do ramblers have the same conversations as this OP?

Soo many nice, friendly riders out there yet we have a sort of self loathing, apologetic syndrome at times.