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And another thing....the trail at swinley I was riding is graded "blue" which according to the FC,s definition is for intermediate cyclists with basic offload skills, I'm not sure small child with stabilisers on first ride falls into that definition. It is a problem with the surfaced type trail the FC seems to be producing, it encourages walkers, push chairs, dogs, small children to use them as we'll as proficient cyclists
..I reckon they should be a suitably graded 'obstacle' right at the start of the trails, like at morzine there was a severe black run that had a massive gap jump to get onto it. Maybe for a blue it could be roots or a small rock garden....
Tangent I know...
so what happens if you hit a fox or deer or small child on the blue run at swinley would you ask their parents for a new wheel?
if you are riding so fast you dont have time to slow for a dog that might perhaps be in your way, what would happen if it was a small child the other side of a berm or switchback?
maybe people should asses their surroundings better before getting into these situations.
many time have I come across animals, children etc on trails but have never hit one or caused an accident to avoid one (maybe i just ride too slowly..).
and I dont get upset that something / one has spoiled my Strava or whatever its called, just deal with it and carry on enjoying the rest of the trail.
think people need to realise that everyone will do their own thing so suck it up, dont let such petty things upset you and get on with it.
cookeaa - MemberGlad to have helped
🙄
In 10 or so years riding trail centres
Near misses with children = 0
Near misses with wildlife = 4 (deer, badger, squirrel and mouse)
Near misses with walkers = 1 (on the fastest part of the QE descent)
Near misses with dogs, mostly riders dogs = at least 20 or so, and getting worse, virtually every time I ride a trail centre now.
The difference between children and animals has been ignored several times. They behave differently on the trail and animals present much more of a risk.
The trail at swinley is designed to encourage more competent riders to go fast safely, before I did a strava run I did a loop at a slower pace to asses it. It is in my opinion a well built track that it is safe to go fast on, most parts are clearer visible up ahead so you can see slow moving people on the trail. What you can't see easily is the dog popping out from the side of your vision and across the trail.
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Wouldn't go trail centre but never had no probs ,
Would you say the same if it was my son?
On a green/blue route no
On a red/black yes.
Just as dogs shouldn't be on trail-centre trails at all, children (young) shouldn't be on red/black sections/routes.
My 7 year old nephew CAN ride, not just for his age but for someone a few years older. He would still be out of his depth on SOME red-routes and ALL black routes simply because he doesn't have the fear/awareness that comes with age and experience.
Message from my dog:
You may drive and Audi and ride an Orange 5 and get KOMs, but you are still slow and suck.
I am a rescue dog from Northern Canada and walking sucks. Running along behind a bike is ace.
If I poo in a field then it's just a drop in the cow poo ocean that is sprayed on the fields as fertilizer.
I see waaaaaay more bear poo on the trails around here.
I am lucky to be able to run in a land where people ride bikes fast and competently. I'm so happy that I don't live in the UK. Woof...
Do it.
My dog says, "You lot take cycling far too seriously".
Common theme in all of this seems to be the word "Swinley" - must be a right dobber magnet of a place 🙂
^ Yeah it reminds me of people sat in traffic moaning about all the traffic on the road. Go somewhere else!
Absolutely.
must be a right dobber magnet of a place
Blame the dog owners, why can't they take their dogs to the myriad of tax payer funded multi million pound purpose made facilities for them and their dogs; or just down to the local park where there is an area set aside for them to safely exercise their dogs seperate from the childrens play area.............
The anti-dog arguments could perhaps be better rephrased as "Please take your dog only when it's going to be quiet, i.e. not at weekends when the whole world and his [s]dog[/s]Orange 5 will be there, and pick up its poo."
However, I think there are some rabid anti-dog people on here who will surely disagree with me.
For the record, I went to Thetford on Thursday (without a dog, but with some friends) and we saw [b]no-one[/b]. So the whole "your hound might hit a cyclist" argument is bit thin and dog-eared.
irelanst - Memberwhy can't they take their dogs to the myriad of tax payer funded multi million pound purpose made facilities for them and their dogs; or just down to the local park where there is an area set aside for them to safely exercise their dogs seperate from the childrens play area
Because it's a lot of fun. Try it!
[EDIT: and also there aren't any multi-million pound dog-walking facilities near me AFAIK].
EDIT: and also there aren't any multi-million pound dog-walking facilities near me AFAIK
I was being just a little sarcastic!
Just to add to the above: We never had a dog when we lived in England, we got one when we moved to Holland. We have taken her back with us a few times and to be honest the UK is pathetic when it comes to catering for dogs; hotels allowing dogs– no, restaurants – no, shops – no, dedicated free running trails – no, exercise areas – no, whingers–oh yes, plenty of them.
If we move back to the UK I would really find it difficult to provide the necessary environment for our dog.
Someone mentioned above “Either walk your dog or, if you have no time to look after it properly, get rid of it...” they frankly have no idea about the exercise requirements of a high energy breed, there is no way in this world that a ‘walk’ would be enough for my dog, she has to run, and she has to run for miles every day. I can manage a decent length run every other day but there is no way that I can run for the 10 miles plus a day that she needs (and certainly not at her speed)– she did 40km on Tuesday with me on the bike and by the time I got out of the shower she was sat there with a tennis ball for a game of fetch.
Irelanst: I wouldn't worry too much. The person making that argument was so inarticulate that s/he had to finish off their last sad and ill-informed little diatribe by calling me a prick - which tells you everything you need to know about them...
Irelanst: I wouldn't worry too much. The person making that argument was so inarticulate that s/he had to finish off their last sad and ill-informed little diatribe by calling me a prick - which tells you everything you need to know about them...
I think he may be frustrated by your "My dog is under control when I ride" delusion. Its not on a lead and having been a dog owner myself you and I both know that no matter how well trained the dog is, sometimes it will do whatever the hell it likes.
The person making that argument was so inarticulate that s/he had to finish off their last sad and ill-informed little diatribe by calling me a prick
I just read back through the thread and it didn't come across like that [i]at all[/i].. not even a little bit
I don't mind seeing dogs there, but I wouldn't take my dog to a trail centre.. Dogs [i]can[/i] be a right bloody nuisance, and as a dog owner I think you have to have the humility to accept that fact..
No dog friendly hotels you say?
http://www.britainsfinest.co.uk/hotels/search_results.cfm/searchclasscode/924
I think he may be more frustrated that his intellect ran out and he had to resort to puerile name calling. I'm not deluded about the dog - I accept that he could potentially be unpredictable - I was just making the point that if I chose to take him to Cannock on a wet Wednesday morning in February I don't think there's any harm being done. On top of which - he has never met me, never met my dog, and so the patronising suggestion that I only take the dog riding because I'm too ****less to walk him is fairly idiotic.
Yunki - I fully accept that dogs can be a nuisance - that's why you won't see me at a trail centre with mine this weekend. Just walking mine I get wound up by crap owners who don't give a damn what their animal gets up to. But I don't feel the need to take too seriously anyone who's only recourse in argument is petty insults.
But I don't feel the need to take too seriously anyone who's only recourse in argument is petty insults.
I don't mean to labour this point, but why not..?
It was far from the [i]only[/i] recourse, in fact apart from a rude word at the end the rest of the post was very coherent and raised some valid points..
erp..
I'm being awkward and it's past my bedtime 😳
Because it's like a child having a tantrum. I actually agree with some of what he's got to say - but if people can't keep cheap insults out of it then they're not worth talking to.
but if people can't keep cheap insults out of it then they're not worth talking to.
That's a pretty discriminative outlook..
Is that because you can't respect them or because you believe that they are unlikely to be able to conduct a rational discussion..?
Or do you take offence at the lack of decorum..?
I know this is a complete tangent, don't feel obliged to indulge me but it's a subject that I take a keen interest in..
Hang on a minute here, you call him puerile, idiotic and inarticulate yet you use the argument of petty name calling to justify trashing his comments? Make your mind up mate and maybe I will take you seriously, not that I think you'll care if I do or don't
Gnite.