To the 5 muppet riders I encountered this morning while running on the very narrow above FOOTPATH causing me to jump into the nettles to avoid being run down a few points,

1) Just because its got a downhill slope, a few roots & a couple of turns doesn’t make it a cycle path as you claimed, its a FOOTPATH.

2) Its a FOOTPATH that’s frequently used by family’s with young kids, especially on a Sunday.

3) Riding a FOOTPATH that’s frequented by families with children & has blind corners at the speed you where going is plain retarded.

4) A few miles up the road is some of the best riding in the south east of England, Winterfold, Holmbury, Pitch etc etc or maybe its to full on for you & you’re £5000 santa cruz’s…

5) The parting gesture of “**** you” screamed at the top of you’re voice at me was also enjoyed by the family with the 2 young kids that you’d also just scared into the nettles.

6) You truly are total, all the gear, no idea, selfish wan#ers !!!

Possibly true but perhaps they know how to punctuate, so are a step ahead of you already.
You must be truly raging to type that badly?

Now, I know I’m as much of a grammar Nazi as the next, but I don’t really think that this is the time or place to pick at someone’s spleling.

A valid rant, IMHO.

Can I clarify something? Was it a footpath?

Good rant.

There are prize plums in all walks of life.

TBF, whether or not it’s a footpath is pretty much irrelevant 😆

Agree with scotroutes, it’s all about being responsible and courteous. Rights of way are just Nazi bullshit.

There are a few bits off St Marthas which are very clearly used by bikes with little berms and mini jumps about. Where were you?

Sound good, where is it exactly?

idiots ride other marques of bicycle too surely?

Oh look, it’s another ‘so glad I live in Scotland’ thread 🙂

Not really. There are similar prats riding up here too. It’s just that there’s more countryside and fewer people so you’re less likely to bump into them.

zigzag69 – Member
Oh look, it’s another ‘so glad I live in Scotland’ thread

You have methods to deal with idiots who have no respect for others or just you have no problem zipping down any trail at whatever speed you want with no consideration for others?

Oh no we have plenty of inconsiderate eejits up here too. My point, and I think it was demonstrated by the OP is that a FOOTPATH does not equal a cycle path, and that therefore, behaviour and expectation is set because of this.

Up here, it’d just be a bunch of arseholes riding like dicks. Much simpler 🙂

Totally justified rant, particularly given their obnoxious reaction.

Sounds like its the path that runs down alongside white lane. Clearly those guys dont know where the good stuff is locally to Newlands as there are much much better options

It was the path alongside white lane, I was truly raging & also several pints down when I posted.

Valid rant IMO.

That sort of behaviour would be equally crap on a bridleway.

I ride FOOTPATHS, I also ride a Santa Cruz but I try always to be courteous and take care when passing pedestrians – I also run and hate the nettles 🙂

A fair rant. Props to Matt

Used to ride this very footpath, only after dark though.

Forcing folk into nettles and telling them to **** off is not on

Probably best I avoid the grammar debate 😉

That sort of behaviour would be equally crap on a bridleway.

Aye, rant worthy for sure but…. if you’ve never ever ridden on an FP you’re in a pretty small minority on here, so I’d stick to abusing them for their ****ish behaviour rather than bringing England’s anachronistic access laws into it.

The OP seems to have taken a wrong turn himself
Perhaps he should try http://www.moaningrunner.com

…and I hope he apologized when he jumped out of the way for his poor anticipation

In many ways the footpath is a complete red herring. Riding natural trails requires you to be prepared to stop within the distance you can see to be clear and safe.

Behaviour like this will only hinder our chances of Scottish style access laws.

Great rant though, I think the grammar issues helped communicate his concerns very effectively.

Nice to see that the OP has contributed nothing on here for over a year and then comes back just to have a rant!
(Totally justified rant BTW).

As we all know walkers and runners tend to have the brain capacity of a sheep when engaging in their favoured activities. This usually results in them suddenly and usually unnecessarily jumping off the trail without first looking to see what they’re jumping into.

Their lack of awareness of their surroundings and lack lack of ability to judge the speed, course and likely action of the bike means they usually get stung by nettles or similar. In turn they then blame the mountain bikers rather than their own panicked nature. Obscenities are usually exchanged and posts to internet forums are made.

No one is happy except the onlookers to the resulting internet forums posts who can sit and smile at the ranting and raving of someone who obviously has nothing better to do.

if you say so whatanobber

If you ride responsibly and are courteous to other users, the vast majority of other users will be fine with you being there – whether it is a footpath or not.

Anyone who starts to get a sweat on due to arcane access laws is the one with the problem in my view. They tend to be the type who go around the place looking to be offended and guess what, they often are.

No point in trying to reason with people like that, because they are inherently unreasonable.

Just get on with it, be nice to other folk, if someone ‘starts’ just ride off and ignore the twunt.

Totally agree with the OP and no the very path he is talking about. I lead a lot of local rides and would always choose to by pass that one for the very reasons he mentions. Also agree that its not really about it being a footpath or not, its just about common sense and respecting others.