[Closed] Leith Hill - MEGA - who knows about this?????

.and it's a large part of why I don't do much mountain biking any more,

And yet you're still on here....

[i]And yet you're still on here....[/i]

Keep your friends close, etc.

I'm in two minds about it. Mate's races are the kind of thing that mountain biking is about.

Is 75 people racing excessive? Yes
Was it sensible? No
Will it get mountain biking banned? No!
Could a walker have got hurt? Yeah, but unlikely.
Is geetee's arse crawling of anyone who builds a trail or owns a bike shop cringeworthy? Most definitely.

I think a group of 20 bombing it down there on a Sunday (which you see all the time) is more dangerous.

shame it wasn't scheduled for tonight, it's p***ing down, there'd have been a lot of soggy pre-shavers trying to look 18 in the pub

Digger90, advocating "a slap" is not very nice is it?

This is the National Trust we're talking about, who are gonna rush people 15 quid to see the 'free' Olympic road race on Box Hill. There are rights of way across the land which can't just be pulled out from under people's feet (or wheels, or hooves). Besides, the NT Ranger looked OK with it to me...

[img] [/img]

I can see how this started off as a nice idea - a [u]few[/u] mates having a very informal race on the quiet. Very slightly irresponsible but hey, as long as everyone's sensible and considerate, lots of fun and no harm done.

Then it gets popular, numbers rise, race numbers get printed, it gets plastered all over the web and it's bad news for all of us.

I'm all for pushing the boundaries on the access and trail building front but you've got to do it responsibly or you lose the moral high ground. That's bad for the cause, but more importantly it makes you a selfish twunt.

So it was the tattooed one who organised it for his groupies to race in?

What a shocka.

Fun? Yeah I'm sure it was.

Fickin stupid, selfish & irresponsible? Yeah without a doubt.

If this dumb, I'm alright jack attitude continues watch MTBS get kicked off the Surrey Hills. Maybe not this year or the year after but you can bet its going to get harder & harder to justify our inclusion in ROW discussions..

My my how Chinese whispers become Japanese shouts. Look back 12 months ago and read the threads. Deja vu. 75 Participants , slightly over exaggerated !! Plan a demonstration in Peaslake outside the tea shop, instead of going over and over the same points and views all agreeing and nit picking with each other whilst sitting at your desk sipping on a skinny latte..I dont really think anymore can be said that has not already been repeated 100 plus times.. Naming and shaming , finger pointing is all well and good but what will it achieve...
Oh and I only shave once a week but nobody thinks I am 18 when I buy a round in the Boozer... W..k..s

Chucker, no idea what you mean with your incoherent babble.

The point of posting here is so that people can be on record saying this is not good and nothing to do with them.

75 Participants , slightly over exaggerated !!

One guy who did it wrote 70, someone else who tweeted said up to 100 at the tower.

I dont really think anymore can be said that has not already been repeated 100 plus times.

It needs to be repeated to get through people's thick skulls. Just possibly a couple of people may think about it a bit then.

Next time you mince your way down Northern Monkey or ride round the jumps on flytipper just remember who built these trails....he has virtually single handedly made what Surrey Hills riding is today.

Oh I forgot, you all stay on rights of way the whole time..

LOL. Love this topic 🙂

Any decent campsites in the NorthDowns?

What, and that justifies organising events like this???

Credit where credit is due but if you're going to organise large participation events go through the right channels... This will grow as these things do and sooner or later it'll come to a head.

mattjg - "The point of posting here is so that people can be on record saying this is not good and nothing to do with them."

I would have thought that the point of posting on here was to express an opinion, be it for or against. There's a clue in the title - 'Forum'. This isn't Syria.

I'm not sure what worries me more. That the folks that 'organise' these events think that they have the right to do this, or that they know they don't have any right to but do it anyway.

Ignorance or arrogance? Either way it doesn't assist with relationships with the groups that allow us to use their land for our recreation.

Threads like this make me sad.

I want to be able to ride my bike on legal and illegal trailes for the forseeable future.

The way I can see myself doing this is avoiding conflict with other users of these trails and by not upsetting landowners.

Any effort I make is likely to be offset by the sort of riding this activity represents.

I do hope that in 20 years time these same riders aren't lookign at riding down fenced off bridleways because access for mtbers has been restricted so much.

The National Trust has huge resources - if they decide to assign 2 rangers for a year to finding and destroying any built mtb trails they will do so. A few blokes workign in their spare time cannot compete with this - the trails would be gone.

What, and that justifies organising events like this???

You know every bit of trail you've named has multiple other names to other riders. This alone says off-forums, many many other riders ride down there and whatever you say on a forum wont reach the riders who never touch a forum. Beleive me 100% of people who own a MR2 don't live on a MR2 owners club forum 😉

My point? Don't bother complaining about it.

Oil is residents main focus I bet at the moment.

@ Freeride Nick

Next time you mince your way down Northern Monkey or ride round the jumps on flytipper just remember who built these trails....he has virtually single handedly [s]made what Surrey Hills riding is today.[/s] aggravated more landowners than any other mountain biker in the SE.
Oh I forgot, you all stay on rights of way the whole time..

FTFY

Funny how some people equate "radness" with a right to do whatever the hell they like

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_trespass_of_Kinder_Scout

FFS
As I said before, I'm all for pushing the boundaries but you have to do it responsibly. This event has zero chance of improving access for biking. Quite the reverse.

Mattjg , reel your neck in .Cheezpleez thinks its so wrong but wants to protest by way of a naked mtb demonstration . Enough said ! Give it two weeks and you can moan about the inconvenience of all the roads being closed due a load of Lycra wearing gentlemen racing each other on our public highways. Bloody disgrace and how inconsiderate !

Cheezepleez, it seems like you're banging your head against a brick wall, why people can't see how wrong illegal racing on Leith Hill is, is quite simply beyond me - its just so obvious.

[b]freeridenick[/b] - Member
Next time you mince your way down Northern Monkey or ride round the jumps on flytipper just remember who built these trails....he has virtually single handedly made what Surrey Hills riding is today.

Oh I forgot, you all stay on rights of way the whole time..

FWIW I am not in favour of the huge dirt jumps which have been built over there recently.

I am certainly in the "mincing" league of riders but I'd hate to be left with ROW only and this event makes that a real possibility

Mattjg , reel your neck in

Why? What he said was based on facts from folk who were there...

Give it two weeks and you can moan about the inconvenience of all the roads being closed due a load of Lycra wearing gentlemen racing each other on our public highways. Bloody disgrace and how inconsiderate !

Dear god, are you that stupid? Sod off back to the classifieds, you're making a fool of yourself!

Play nicely.

😳

Chucker, not really sure what you're getting at but if you are reffering to the Olympic Road Race then you have a point. After all that has been planned and approved by all the relevant authorities, will be marshalled and have hugh resources to make sure the route stays clear and safe just like the Leith Hill mega - oh, hang on a minute !

Next time you mince your way down Northern Monkey or ride round the jumps on flytipper just remember who built these trails....he has virtually single handedly made what Surrey Hills riding is todaye.

What's that then? Hated by the people that live there or loved by the London fanboys who think its there own personal trail centre? Please kindly inform me.
All the supporters seem to forget that it is ALL technically private land and we are bloody lucky to be allowed to ride in this beautiful area at all.
ALL the trails started off as illegal and as such we'll always be fighting a losing battle. This event was idiotic to say the very least.

I understand some of you are feeling defensive. You've done something silly and now you're feeling a bit confused and guilty. It's quite natural to lash out under the circumstances but don't worry, it gets much easier to deal with your emotions when you grow up 😆

lol @ Cheespleez

😀

So is this hero that supposedly built ALL the trails around the Surrey Hills (s'funny because I recall riding nearly all those same trails as far back as 15yrs ago but without the 'rad' jumps in them.. Whoa!) also the Twunt who's been running van assisted illegal uplifts at Peaslake, further alienating MTBers from the local community?

London fanboys

Killer! 😀

Mattjg , reel your neck in

Lol I don't even know what that means.

[img] [/img]

All the trailbuilding activities so far have been pushing the boundaries of acceptance in the area but this event might push them too far.

Perhaps a good balance would have been if unofficial marshals had been organised to line the route and make sure no-one was going to be in harms way as the riders came hurtling down.

Whereas this would also be wrong it would at least have demonstrated some degree of responsibility to onlookers, plus help avoid a potential accident that could have really shut down the area.

It would actually be preferable if a more substantial network of trails were built in the area - promoted on the grounds of keeping the mountain bikes to known areas and allowing trails to be commissioned and decommissioned to allow trail recovery.

The issue after that would be working it so the landowners weren't liable for accidents on those trails - so they don't get sued like Swinley do.

van assisted illegal uplifts

I'm not entirely sure there's a law against uplifts. Or uplifts from Peaslake.

Here's me earlier, up on the hill sniffing for excessive trail wear and discarded race numbers.

[img] [/img]

atlaz - Member

van assisted illegal uplifts

I'm not entirely sure there's a law against uplifts. Or uplifts from Peaslake.

Maybe that should be immoral - not riding up a hill so you can come back down it - how lazy can you get?

van assisted illegal uplifts
I'm not entirely sure there's a law against uplifts. Or uplifts from Peaslake.

Maybe not illegal but motorised-assisted sport is against the Hurtwood's Byelaws, Regulations or Code of Conduct.

The point is valid - some Twunt has been organising van assisted uplifts from Peaslake. Is it the same goof-off involved in the Leith Hill 'MEGA'?

Digger90 - you obviously don't know your trails very well then. Nothing wrong with jumps, unless you can't jump 😛

I naturally want to agree that illegal races are a bad thing and cause conflict with other users for no reason.

Then the people condemning the races start using terrible arguments like :-
Its private land were lucky to be able to ride there !

Just p**s off the people are who own the land are lucky ! Why should a few privileged people person have access to the best countryside in the SE.
Luckily the owners of the Hurtwood werent that short sited and have opened up the land to everyone. Also I think alot of the land from the Tower down to Wolvens lane is NT Im sure many of us are national trust members.

Frankly this sort of attitude just makes me hope the racers decide to start a race in the posters back garden.

Who is this deity of the hills then? Dare no one whisper his name?!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelkirkman/5909413909/

Thing is.

He actually now has a dialogue with the Hurtwood ranger and has permission to fix up alot of the legacy trails. Rad lane etc are much improved because of his work - don't see many others out with shovels in hand eh njee...