Up there today and that bit they have done above Ogbourne St.George with that grey compacted stone takes alot of the fun out of a ride.

Dont get me wrong the quality of the work is great but i thought the countryside was about dirt and grass!!.Still plenty of rough stuff but for how long??.

How much time, effort and money have you, personally, put into managing or helping to manage those trails?

I really resent the sense of entitlement expressed by mountain bikers, the idea that nothing should ever change, that the tracks and trails of the countryside are somehow there just for their use… 🙁

Blimey, Crikey. Bad day ?

Seemed a pretty innocent question to me. What’s the problem ?

I reckon he’s put in as much as most horse-riders and hikers than use it.

Because there have been a number of posts on the same kind of subject, all moaning about the way trails are treated from a minority user group, the majority of whom do nothing, nothing at all to contribute to the trail network.

It’s the sense of entitlement thing that annoys most; ‘I’ve spent £1000-2000 on a bike and I’ll ride it where I want and don’t dare change the trails I ride on…’

Not having any kind of bad day, just a personal point of annoyance.

The 4×4’s and tractors will soon sort it all out back to its usual foot deep ruttedness.

that grey compacted stone takes alot of the fun out of a ride.

There’s not that much fun to be had riding the Ridgeway whether its “improved” or not.

The ridgeway has been a transit route since the Neolithic. It’ll change and then change again. When I ride it I’m riding an ancient trackway, not singletrack and adjust my expectations accordingly.

I rode loads of it last night. Loved every single minute. The trick was to use the Cx bike.

That’s change for you. No one likes it. Lots of inertia but eventually it all settles down.

S**t happens.

Fwiw I’m not a big fan of “sanitisation” however well meant it is. We share the trails with plenty of other groups some of whom would like to we the countryside paved – others (horses – my own personal bugbear) completely shaft the trails I ride in the Chilterns, especially when it’s wet..

I’d rather it stayed as it is (I accept that this still requires ongoing maintenance).

We all pay for the maintenance through taxation, which give us all the right to moan a bot.

If you (Crikey) do more than most to maintain trails then I genuinely salute you but you have to accept that for better or worse you’re in the minority.

Firstly i was not on a MTB i was a motorbike.Secondly i have helped build quite a few trails in the local woods for MTBers in my own time.Then have to patch them up when people ride them in such crap conditions but we dont mind we just get on with it.
Dont you think there is enough tarmac in the countryside as it is without adding more.Horse riders hate the stuff etc.So who is the council doing it for???.