Marple/Mellor folk - anyone know a white Hilux?

I haven't met him, but I'd maybe go and have a look in the gated farmyard/group of houses further along that road, the one the bridleway runs through over towards the Mill Brow road. There's a guy who lives there who's a bit of a knob and has had a go at me twice (in the last decade) for riding perfectly legally and very slowly through the yard, he's responsible for the sign that says 'Cyclists Dismount'.

I had a chat with a woman - farmer - who also lives there a week or so back and they collectively seem have a bit of a hate thing with cyclists riding through based on an accident which almost - ie: didn't - happened about a decade ago. I kind of sympathise, I wouldn't want shouty mountain bikers riding past my house late at night either, but... anyway, we parted amicably enough after I pointed out that I can hardly be responsible for everyone who cycles like a knob.

I'd say there's a reasonable chance the Hilux is either from there or associated with them or maybe the other houses next door, there isn't much else it might be going to or from, the other option, I guess, is the farm further down. I ride through there a fair bit, will keep my eyes peeled. How old was the driver?

Get a gopro on the front (or similar).

Get it on video.

Report the dangerous driving to the rozzers

How old was the driver?

I didn't get a great look at them - too fast and I was trying not to to go under the wheels, definitely a man though wearing a polo shirt.

I agree probably someone from those houses/farm so I'll go back out that way one evening this week to look for the vehicle to get a reg.

Get a gopro on the front (or similar).

It's the best way to get evidence but I was trying to avoid it - it's a local route and I like to just hop on the bike. Will consider it for the next few rides though if I go that way

I agree probably someone from those houses/farm so I’ll go back out that way one evening this week to look for the vehicle to get a reg.

I suspect the problem you'll have is that even with a registration number, without video evidence or a witness, it's highly unlikely that the police will be able to do anything. Even with video footage, the best you usually get out of it - based on my partners commute cam experiences - is a warning letter to the driver / company.

It's easy for me to say, of course, but it sounds like maybe you've been a little unlucky to meet the same idiot, in the same place, twice. I'm not sure what you can do, even if you spot the car parked up, unless you genuinely want to have a 'polite conversation', which probably won't go well or are some sort of baseball bat wielding vigilante, which probably also won't end well.

You're understandably seething and looking for some sort of resolution, but unfortunately you're unlikely to get it. If it were me, I'd probably avoid that road for a while and maybe consider using a cam if you think it might happen again. The last time I had an unprovoked incident with a motorist from Glossop - I worked out who it was because the idiot had a sticker with his company name on the back of his car - it turned out that a mate who's a spark, had done some work for him and said he was a massive idiot. Anyway, I chalked it up to experience and was gratified to pass his car a couple of months later and see that the driver door was nicely stoved in and the mirror smashed and hanging from the stalk, I figured it was karma.

Sometimes there's not much you can do and while it's hard to accept that, it's just how it is.

Don't people put potatoes up exhaust pipes anymore?

unfortunately you’re unlikely to get it. If it were me, I’d probably avoid that road for a while

Thanks for the advice, it's probably what I'll do. I haven't ridden much lantern pike/hayfield way anyway so maybe it's a good reason to do so

it’s highly unlikely that the police will be able to do anything

FTFY.

Don’t people put potatoes up exhaust pipes anymore?

Sausages are the new potatoes.

Police will do sweet f'a. Time to go all-out Axel Foley on his tailpipe / set of Bombers through his windscreen / frozen sausages or my personal fave, forget about it and ride somewhere different for a while.

Time to go all-out Axel Foley on his tailpipe / set of Bombers through his windscreen / frozen sausages or my personal fave, forget about it and ride somewhere different for a while.

The problem with that, is the driver will never know why someone stuffed a sausage up his tailpipe, erm, and the average Hilux driver round here will simply treat it as a fortuitous free barbecue and carry on regardless.

It might be briefly satisfying I guess, but stay away for a while and leave retribution to karma is also my preferred 'solution'. I figure that angry, reckless people generally get what they deserve eventually. Or if you want to be more compassionate, lead a sad, miserable inner life.

Anyway, if nothing else, I shall watch out when next time around Mellor Church. It could, of course, have been the vicar... 😉

Another local, but usually not quite up that way, although a few weeks ago was CX'ing around the top of Mellor. Very limited number of properties up there !

We ride up that way a lot (at least twice a week).
The farmers who normally drive that type of vehicle seem to be fine around cyclists, but of course there will always be 'one' who thinks they own the road.

scary for you. I'll definitely keep my eyes open (we have a camera on our tandem).

Police will do sweet f’a.

Devil's advocate but what are they meant to do with no visual evidence, no reg number and no sight of the driver?

I meant to post the other day, but there is/was a white Hilux parked up at the farm courtyard end of the houses/farm buildings that the bridleway runs through, so it seems like a reasonable possibility that it is the one you encountered OP, which isn't any great surprise really given that the lane beyond the church. Obviously it might be a coincidence, but it seems reasonable that it may be the same car.

As several people have already said, there's not very much you can do without video evidence, but as I posted earlier, it's on one of my reguar cross bike routes and I've never encountered said Toyota, so I suspect you were just very unlucky to cross paths with it twice. The people who live there do seem to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about mountain bikers, so that would also fit in.

Anyway, I hope you're feeling a little less upset about the whole thing now and aren't too put off riding in the area. Obviously you can avoid the narrowest section of road by heading straight on at the left-hand, right-angled corner on the pleasant track that heads over towards the Shiloh Road end of the world.

ps: good job it wasn't an Isuzu D-Max eh, the perfect pick-up for running over off-roaders, or something like that 😉

Is that the  house marked as "Boden & Davis" on the map linked above where they fitted locking gates when they moved in 20 years ago to stop people coming through the pre-existing bridleway? The one where they got quite upset when the council told them they were not allowed to do that under any circumstances, and no, they weren't likely to succeed in getting it closed? That place?

That place?

Yep, the very same. They own the Texels in the nearby fields. I have a 'conversation' with them approximately every five years.