So gone over the stealth MTB park, that me & dozen or so mates, have been building for the last two years.. and one week into the Summer holidays its been discovered by the local Carrera Crew.
Red Bull Tins, Peperami Wrappers, and broadside skids everywhere.
So instead of finishing the berm I was building, felt I had to spend a hour litter picking instead...
Now this isn't my first build and once the Ritalin warriors move in, its usually the beginning of the end. Nitrous Cartridges and bonfires will appear within weeks ......& STRAVA
So do I
1.Cut my loses now, go Grizzly Adams & start again even further into the wilds.
2. Swap me mattock for a Litter Picker & Dustbin bags for the next 6 weeks, cause I certainly ain't building anything else till they go back to school
3. Get myself a walking stick and start getting proper sweary with the entitled gangsta sh*ts.
4. Look on misty eyed and be glad they are away from their playstations for a few hours. Sacrifice worth making
5. Preempt, Flatten everything, logs across the trails etc. and rebuild this Autumn, bigger stronger, faster..
Or have I missed something.
P.S. Land Owner is/was fairly happy with a verbal see-no-evil,no pallets, no tree cutting, get no insurance, kind of deal
Errmmmm.
Yes..
Find them when they are there, explain that they are welcome to use them but if any litter is dropped you'll just flatten them. Gives them a chance to do the right thing and if they don't you haven't lost anything. Worth a try.
If you're on good terms with the landowner it's worth a go.
Cheers Rob
Going with that, once I calm down.
Do what any gangster would do if a new crew started operating in their territory.
Do what any gangster would do if a new crew started operating in their territory.
You gotta light 'em up bro. Light 'em up!
Kids are sound. They just don't realise the impact their behaviour has in the wider sense. As above. speak to them. gain their respect* and educate them as to why not to leave litter.
*with a good attitude this part should be quite easy as you built the place and I presume. are probably decent rider.
I have to do exactly this every couple of years with the local teenagers at my local spot. this year I'd turn up in the evening to find they'd been building fires and leaving them burning (presumably to go home for tea). building jumps and berms blocking paths used by local dog walkers. digging and leaving daft holes to make their little kickers to no landing... bless! and as with your place littering everywhere.
it's just how teenage minds work. Don't get angry over it.
Educate them. With your mattock if needs be.
Find them and give them two options.
Either they spend time building...
Or you spend time flattening.
Perhaps they'll show more respect if they invest something in it.
Ritalin warriors
I'll be borrowing that one cheers. 🙂
They'll lose interest by late August so a month or so of forbearance and you'll get your trails back...
samunkim doesn't share gnar!
Scummy yoofs, littering is disgusting, espicially in the countryside.
Good luck trying to reason with them, I'd get a few of you together to do it, if it's just one of you you'll have trouble not coming across as a grumpy grandad and more people is a bit more threatening. Not that you intend to cause trouble but sometimes there's no harm in looking like you could. Good luck and let us know how you get on.
Standard - up in my local (Lordswood) we have them to contend with, the wannabe James Stewarts' on MX bikes (mostly stolen) and the non riding gangs of kids who just want to seem to steal stuff and burn things down.
I thought it may have calmed down this year as some fat oxygen thief (typical, salt of the earth, never hurt anyone type, who had a record as long as his arm) who was riding a stolen MX & did a spectacular job of hitting a tree at full pelt and killing himself - the Police took more of an interest in discouraging illegal activities, but it seems to have come back with a vengeance again 🙄
There is a well known, but slightly hidden area called the Workmans, which was always a few little jumps, some flowy corners & that's it - everyone rode it. Last summer, some of the above dickheads thought it would be great to spend weeks excavating the first roller, into the biggest, sh*ttest, un-rideable jump i've ever seen. It got repeatedly kicked down by other riders, including me, but they still persisted. They they used the local area I assume when building as a waste disposal site. There was rubbish everywhere. Filthy little sh*ts.
Thankfully the forestry found it, and flattened it a few weeks ago. Hopefully someone sensible will rebuild it back to what it was (wish I had the time).
I remember the day I stopped dropping litter as a secondary school pupil (yes, I'm ashamed that I once did it).
Out for a ride with 2 teachers, one permanent cycling enthusiast that had run the bike club at the school for ever, and one German on exchange riding a hybrid.
German teacher saw me dropping a sweet wrapper, and acted with a suitable level of disbelief/offence to shame me into never deliberately dropping anything else since. He had my respect as he was riding a bike.
So I think a calm word is the way to go. There was no threat of lack of riding after that in my case, just a very clear message that it was not OK to drop litter - which I'm sure other teachers and my parents had previously given me, but for some reason this one stuck.
Educate them. With your [s]mattock[/s] bombers if needs be.
FTFY
Bad news. One of your fellow builders directed us to this when I was back in the shire. Great fun. They'd grown a bit when I popped back the next time though!
Send Ed in to have a word. I expect you'd find a few more mysterious mounds of earth appearing afterwards.
@ chakaping
Grown even more now,(height & number) so make sure you get another visit in.
Number 5.
Barbed wire clothes lines?