[Closed] Rushup edge resurfacing

@cruzcampo that's the one. Terrible.

Yes plan is to go to Chapelgate, I read that on a Facebook post somewhere
It's shorter than I thought then, less than 1km
£70,000 is around £70 per Lin m
That's a criminal price to be paying for those works
As a comparison we are currently getting tenders in for access roads to electricity pylons - 4.5m wide, 200 to 500mm deep type 1 (imported not recycled road planings) geogrid and this is fresh install not upgrading, with drainage channels etc in similar terrain between, so twice as much material and work involved for around £45-60 per Lin m okay our volumes are much greater but that is a construction to get massive plant like piling rigs down, not some horses and bikes

It'seems clever cleansing of mountain bikers. They show they care by allocating budget to cycling then flatten everything to stop the fun in the name of it being accessible to all cyclists knowing full well that the real MTB'ers will hate it and go elsewhere. The bobblehats win under the guise of cycling for everyone.

Can we just hold off with the negative comments regarding other user groups, we are in dialogue with several of them and they are as surprised and disappointed as we are with what is happening. Let's focus on challenging the arbitrary manner that DCC has gone about this process and some of the absurd notions in their rationale.

If we can get other usergroups onside rather than attacking them we will have more chance to stop them continuing past the small gate and also starting on other routes.

@SingletrackJenn - you have mail.

@Crazy-Legs - there's info on the PDMTB website.

@dannyh - unfortunately, I'm sure there will be other opportunities

I'm going on Monday. No bike. I'll walk up as I have my wee girl for the day.

Shocking stuff.

@dannyh - unfortunately, I'm sure there will be other opportunities

Yeah, but you never know. Some spiky young researcher might want a shot at a BAFTA!

Currently bombarding DCC Facebook page. Remember guys, we need to emphasize the £70,000 on there, that is what will piss off the tax payers of Derbyshire the most. Always get the figure £70,000 in the first few words, then it is visible without clicking 'see more'.

I've sent an email to the two DCC contacts as well. It really is time to be a pain in the ass.

Emailed the bods at DCC, copied in the local MP, local press etc. too.

Such a shame. 🙁

Can everyone also email these people:

Strategic director of economy, transport and environment
Mike Ashworth
email: mike.ashworth@derbyshire.gov.uk

Head of the council
anne.western@derbyshire.gov.uk

I think Peter White (who is in charge of this waste of money) is waging a campaign against us. He'll only be stopped from those above him.

I suggest we request that the money be diverted to better use: e.g. childrens' services

There's always the petition
http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/have_your_say/Petitions/guidelines/default.asp

Head of Council and local MP emailed asking for explanation as to why this is the best use of my council tax.

Anyone know how I do an FOI request? I live locally and I can not even change my windows with out getting permission so how they can do this with out consultation is shocking

Genuinely gutted, that was one of my favourite loops! Can't understand why grants are given for trail centres and trail destruction. Sad that more and more of my riding will be at trail centres now.

A bit of an aside, but I went into the Ladybower Bike Hire place (operated by PDNP) at the weekend to enquire about mountain bike hire for some friends who want to come biking with us. I was told in a very abrupt tone that the bikes were only for families and schools to cycle round the reservoir (despite being advertised as "mountain" bikes....) Seemed odd that they didn't want to capture that market but now I see the bigger picture - mountain bikers are not welcome in the Peaks! Feel sorry for palces like Eighteen.

It takes 5 days for them to publish it online. Too late for this work.

With six pages of replies it seems that a lot of people rode and enjoyed this bit of trail. It's always a shame when a bit of trail [i]goes [/i]but not having rode it and only going from footage and stills it looked pretty boring to me. Obviously it's more so now but have a look at this pic...

[img] [/img]

A few feet to the left of the path is a potentially much more interesting trail. If even half of you rode a new line you'd have a decent trail in no time (you could even put a few corners in 😀 ) You're on bikes made for it, so go carve yourselves a new one and ****'em

Email sent to the two 'higher-ups' mentioned above. Polite, but to the point.

Seriously guys, keep the pressure on, a few Facebook posts and an email or two every day for a week will start to become a serious pain in the arse if we all join in. You have to realize there will not be a eureka moment for these people. The only way they will register this is if we interrupt the quiet life they have mapped out for themselves.

Euro come on it[s]'s[/s] was a great bit of trail

Very sad 🙁

Seriously guys, keep the pressure on, a few Facebook posts and an email or two every day for a week will start to become a serious pain in the arse

Like Andy in Shawshank redemption. He gets his library doesn't he.

Ok, this is the last from me. It's late but can you complete this survey to show your support. Will help show how many people are upset. Yes, it's a bit bias, but hey, so are we!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HLP6YZC

Are the DCC trying to ruin the very park they are meant to be protecting? I can't see how any of the users would welcome this at all!! Too unstable for horses, horrible to walk on, too smooth and soft for 4x4's and MX bikes, useless for family cyclists and terrible for MTBers. The first decent spell of rain and it'll be a mess of rain gullies and pools. What goes through their minds!?!?

Won't be able to make the Monday protest mentioned above but if there's any more in the offering I'll do my best to try and make it.

I've only ridden that bit a few times but it always put a huge grin on my face. It was just so satisfying to go down. The fact that I'd seen horses and walkers enjoying it too just made it even better!!

Change.org is a great site for setting up a petition, very effective with mass of twitter traffic to boot. Im off to bed but if anyone's got a spare 10 minutes set one up :- )

Just a final note from me tonight to say a massive thanks to everyone who has taken the time and trouble to do something today - the groundswell of support makes getting sodden and muddy this morning to get some pics well worthwhile.

If we can keep up the momentum over the next week as DannyH suggests we may see some movement, but let's keep it polite and not berate any other user groups.

Didn't spot this threat until about an hour ago this is part of one of my regular rides absolutely gutted. I have posted on DCC FB and will try and get time off work on Monday to attend the picnic.

Morning!

I've had 148 replies so far!!! Thanks to everyone who has taken to time to reply to the survey, this sort of group action is really important and I'm glad all our anger and energies can be channelled into this. I will try to collate the answers later today to give you an idea of what it says. I will also email those who left their email address. I'm off to Wharncouver so will be later this afternoon.

I will bring the results to the PP Picnic on Monday. We already have Singletrack attending and hope to get more press involved by then. Thanks to the support from the Peak MTBers.

If people think they might attend on monday, could they FB message me and I'll send them my phone number.

Why not just wait for it to erode away again or do some heavy braking wont take long for it to be spread about the trail, friends with mxers ?

It's an interesting example of how the anti motorised off-roading policy pulls us into the crosshairs. Now motorised vehicles have been expelled from these trails, in the eyes of DCC, we are now the outliers in terms of legitimate trail use, and our wishes can be put in the margin and ignored.

Phil - the nature of the trail (bedrock) and the sheer quantity of shite dumped on it means that it will take a long time for the original surface to reappear. The best you can hope for is massive dangerous loose ruts, provided they don't stick water bars in.

Mr Pea and I are both planning to come to the picnic on Monday.

The DCC Facebook page is getting a lot of posts from pissed off people. Keep it up. Make sure the £70k figure and an email address is prominent if possible. We need to grab the attention of Derbyshire locals who pay council tax to fund this destruction.

Someone needs to go to the next meeting of the local access forum and show them why you're pissed with it.

They allow the public to address the group by prior arrangement

It's an interesting example of how the anti motorised off-roading policy pulls us into the crosshairs. Now motorised vehicles have been expelled from these trails, in the eyes of DCC, we are now the outliers in terms of legitimate trail use, and our wishes can be put in the margin and ignored.

If you read the link that someone posted earlier in the thread, the one to the policy document on Chapel Gate, which appears to also include the Rushup Edge track, there's some interesting stuff. They grade the track on various criteria including whether it's problematic for different user groups.

They actually say that the track in its pre-works form was dangerous for cyclists, or words to that effect, and that council observers had seen mountain bikers falling off. Thing is, organisations like DCC don't understand mountain biking. It's not that we're 'into the crosshairs', ironically they tend to think they're actually improving the trails for all users no matter how absurd that seems.

Think I'm nuts? A few years back, I attended a meeting, along with NBT, Nick Craig and a fella from Chase Trails, with the guys responsible for the Pennine Bridleway route on the campsite descent above Hayfield.

They'd smoothed everything out to make it safer - as they thought - but failed to understand that actually the work they'd done combined with an off-camber corner and a really badly positioned water bar meant they'd actually created a hazard.

They were amazed that we preferred the trail to be rough and narrow because they simply don't understand mountain biking. And I suspect DCC is much the same.

I'm not saying that makes a thoroughly depressing bit of trail sanitisation better in any way, but interpreting it as being some sort of mountain biking conspiracy isn't very helpful and, I suspect, will be baffling to the council. It makes a lot more sense to try and help them to understand how mountain bikers think, which is where the Peak mtb guys are coming from.

Just because something's obvious to us, doesn't mean it's obvious to DCC's highways people.

Have to disagree with BadlyWiredDog I'm afraid... it's not like this is the first trail DCC have sanitised; there's been an outcry from mountain bikers every time and they've carried on regardless. They know our feelings on the issue and they don't give a toss.

Email sent to both of above saying that they are driving us to other areas of the country.We are only 40 mins away but will have started to travel much further afield. Copied in a few local businesses and newspaper. When you add up how much 6 riders will spend on food etc in the area in one day. Made a point of saying that if it starts to hit local businesses bottom line maybe something will be done?.

@BWD - up until a few months ago I would have been right behind you - we have offered and tried to help them to understand mountain biking.

Over 6 months ago we invited DCC to come and meet with a group of MTB riders and discuss why they were doing what they doing, listen to our concerns and understand why we had an issue with it. Promised to give us dates, never did, stopped responding to emails.

In that period they have also failed to deliver on promises made when we met them in March: never consulted, ignored concerns re drainage bars, reversed agreement to preserve features on Long Causeway, and on it goes.

May I suggest that whilst all this nice attempt at communication was underway they merrily flattened a lot of well loved routes. We have moved beyond the point of trying to help them understand - we really need to shout now.

Are the DCC trying to ruin the very park they are meant to be protecting?

I don't know how the relationship works between PDNP and DCC but if anyone should be pressing DCC not to damage the natural environment and to maintain the "amenity value" of the area, it's PDNP. I think questions need to be asked of PDNP too. They might simply say "not our area of responsibility" but it is their business if the public's enjoyment of the environment is being impacted.

One of the big issues is how DCC continue to plough on (!) with these jobs without consultation despite previous objections. The only way we as MTBers are going to have any clout against large bodies like DCC is national representation (as with BMC or, dare I say it, the Ramblers). That in turn requires the establishment of local clubs which the national body represents, which of course requires club members. Now I'm not the club member type. I tend to plough my own furrow (which the DCC come along and fill in). I suspect that I might be typical.

The only other way to be heard is (seen) is through direct action in large numbers. I hope Monday's picnic is well attended though I'm sure a better turnout would be available at a weekend.

Anyway, for what it's worth I've added a like to the "Stop Ruining Our Trails In The Peaks" FB page and added comments to the DCC and PDNP FB pages.

Are they really afraid that mtbers would sue?
Every mtber I know that regularly rides natural trails in the Peaks, knows they have hazards such as drop offs, these are the very reason we ride them.
Yes riders fall off many times, some suffer injuries, some are lucky to ride away with a few bruises. It's the nature of our sport.
I've seen more incidents/accidents riding down Coldwell clough, the Hayfield campsite descent (as mentiond by BWD^^) and other more local trails that have been sanitised than before.

Just don't know what to say really. I see a bleak future for our sport and us being pushed onto manmade trail centres 🙄

I still think it's more likely that DCC has a culture of just bull-dozing on with stuff regardless of outside interests than them being anti-mountain biking per se. I guess that's something of a moot point in terms of consequence, but there you go. I'm not defending them, I'm just saying that I doubt we're being singled out for special treatment.

Roger, what do walking and equestrian groups make of this? I can't imagine surfaces like these are any more popular with walkers and horse riders than they are with us?

One slightly outside the box thing to do is to make them use up their repair budget so they have no money for this. How to do that? Report lots and lots of potholes in real roads.

Wouldn't help with stuff already ongoing, but might prevent any more.

Wasn't the recent work on the Roych done far more sympathetically than this piece of wanton vandalism? Why the difference in approaches?

As has been mentioned above, getting the views of other user groups would be good too.

Dear Anne Western,
I am sure you are aware by now of the anger among mountain bikers at the vandalism of the Rushup Edge bridleway, the latest in a series of thoroughly unsightly “improvements” to the historic old roads of the Peak District.
As a mountain biker I enjoy my visits to the Peak District, usually made once or twice a year. On May Bank Holiday I joined a group of friends at Edale Hostel, where we spent three nights, and we ate twice at the Cheshire Cheese Inn. Mountain biking is hungry and thirsty work and we spend our money in the local communities.
Sadly, someone in the Highways Department has an agenda to drive mountain biking from the Peak District. I want you to be aware that we will take our custom and money elsewhere, unless action is taken to stop this destruction of historic routes.
With Best Wishes
...

Also sent to Andrew Bingham MP and the Cheshire Cheese Inn

We may be kidding ourselves about our value to the Peaks tourist agency. I am fairly sure the DCC and PPPB would much prefer the hordes of grockles who spend loads in gift shops and cafes and whose only traffic demand is for more over priced carparks .

FOG,we can't just give up without a fight.

The Peak District pride themselves on being a great place for outdoor recreation. They won't easily be able to justify that if the council continue to turn old trails into modern pavements.

@al2000 - I am led to believe that the work on the Roych was done by a third party organisation and had additional funding. It really should be a benchmark of quality against the cut price approach we are currently witnessing.

FOG - Member

We may be kidding ourselves about our value to the Peaks tourist agency. I am fairly sure the DCC and PPPB would much prefer the hordes of grockles who spend loads in gift shops and cafes and whose only traffic demand is for more over priced carparks

There was a study a few years ago that concluded cyclists tend to spend more than people travelling by car as they don't tend to carry much with them and buy en route.

It would be interesting to hear the viewpoint of the owners of cafes such as the Woodbine and Edale station as to what the affect of a lack of MTBers cash in their tills would be.

Over 6 months ago we invited DCC to come and meet with a group of MTB riders and discuss why they were doing what they doing, listen to our concerns and understand why we had an issue with it. Promised to give us dates, never did, stopped responding to emails.

In that period they have also failed to deliver on promises made when we met them in March: never consulted, ignored concerns re drainage bars, reversed agreement to preserve features on Long Causeway, and on it goes.

May I suggest that whilst all this nice attempt at communication was underway they merrily flattened a lot of well loved routes. We have moved beyond the point of trying to help them understand - we really need to shout now.

Roger, I feel your pain. We had a local guy (I think, unless it was a put-up job) who insisted on pressing our local (very anti-mtb) parks authority for legitimate use. The land agent from the park put up loads of encouraging "I'm a really cool guy and seeking to engage" bullshit on here. A few people got sucked in to emailing him and then guess what happened. Silence, followed by a load of cross-reading of forum activity on here, followed by a stake out and bust when they knew we were going to be riding. Since then, nothing. No more engagement. The message is clear.

These people think they are better than us. They think that their way is the only way. They will look you in the eye, spout mindless platitudes at you whilst promising the earth (to keep you quiet and get your tacit buy-in), then snidely stab you in the back without so much as a blush.

They are dishonest, arrogant and curmudgeonly fascists. They cannot stand anyone actually enjoying themselves in the countryside they think they own.

It is a 'them and us' situation I am afraid.

To hell with them.

Just back from a ride around Edale, I wanted to get one last blast at Rushup before it's lost forever. As it is currently, there is still a chance we can stop this madness and revert back to all its bedrock glory. The stones that have been dumped can still be removed and they are only in around 4 or 5 patches where the drops were. Unfortunately I'm out of the country as of Monday morning, otherwise I'd join the protest, but I hope it goes well and some awareness of the issues can be raised to local and national levels. Somebody needs to look into stuff like library closures, council cutbacks (specifically jobs) in Derbyshire over the past year or two to give any attending media some comparison of where this £70k could have gone.

Below are a few additional pics of the track's current state. You can see that some of the bedrock is still exposed and the real contrast between the natural rock (sandstone?) and the imported stuff. Not really sensitive to the local area, but not doubt there are plans to cover it all anyway! [sad face] If they end up topping and compacting with the same materials as Chapelgate, expect road planings, which is completely adverse to the natural rock in the area & looks shite. Not only that, for everyone who is suggesting that a couple of harsh winters will get rid of the material, I doubt it very much. Can't remember when Chapelgate was done (2-3 years ago??), but the surface is holding up very well. Only now is a small amount of erosion from weather (a water channel) starting to appear.

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

For the rest of my ride today I staged my own mini Kinder Tresspass as a disgruntled user. It happened that I was stopped at one point by the NP ranger and he quizzed me about whether I knew I shouldn't be up there on a bike. I responded by letting him know I was completely aware of the distinction between FPs & BWs. He came back and asked "so you're just choosing to ignore the rules?", to which I then replied "seen as my user group is being ignored by PDNP and DCC, absolutely" mentioning the work on Rushup, which he was fully aware of. I also said that there's probably going to be an increase of mountain bikers on FPs off the back of this situation. He didn't have much of a comeback to this, but I really hope that he has to pass on our conversation at the end of his shift.

Which got me thinking...is there any scope to use this a catalyst to start fighting access laws properly. We're currently on the losing side of pretty much every battle (bar some of the work Ride Sheff has done), we should up our ante and take the fight to them properly!

Well I've finally found time and emailed the various gonks at DCC to make my feelings known, for what it's worth. And I'm definitely going to be there on Monday. Might make a sign if I can figure out how to get one to fold up into my pack...

I was stopped at one point by the NP ranger and he quizzed me about whether I knew I shouldn't be up there on a bike. I responded by letting him know I was completely aware of the distinction between FPs + BWs. He came back and asked "so you're just choosing to ignore the rules?", to which I then replied "seen as my user group is being ignored by PDNP and DCC, absolutely"

Good stuff. Civil disobedience, perfectly civil by the sounds of it. 🙂