Help Ban 4x4s on Stanage + the Roych

Yep leaves the cheeky for us riders … 😉

really, you post a pic of a bike more than hub deep? Do you really think that’s a great image to portray? Legal it may be, but see my post earlier about responsibility. ok, sometimes you have little choice other than to crack on and finish, but I’ve seen trail bikes spraying mud all over the place in places such as the packhorse trail outside of marsden – I personally wil only ride that trail on an MTB when it’s either bone dry or frozen solid yet that particular group of bikers were very insistent that it should be a road and thus they were perfectly within their rights to ride it no matter what. ****s

I’m interested that you regard the state of the Beast as a “problem”. How so? Walkers still happily walk up it. Riders still happily ride down it. Unless you want the whole of the Peak turning into a sanitised trail centre type place I don’t really understand your objection to the trails being in the state they are in. If you think the trails are a “problem” why not go and join all the fat blokes from Rotherham at Sherwood Pines?

I know you are a better rider than you are making out here, don’t try and paint the Peak as a place for families to take their kids on a 5 mile pootle, it’s an area of hilly, rugged countryside, not centreparks.

And I’d disagree that the damage is as quick as you make out. Stanage has been in a similar state for around 10 years. It’s not as different as you are suggesting. Have you seen what mountain bikes are doing to the trail from Whinstone Lee Tor to the Ladybower in that goes straight down the hill? You can see it from quite a way away now. That is damage. Widening a path is far worse than dislodging the odd rock on one that is already well defined.

And where are these 4x4s and bikes going to go when you ban them from here? To “destroy” the handful of trails left to them more?

And if Roych Clough is so “dangerous”, should we helicopter a blanket of hardcore over the Lakes of Snowdonia? I’m with Zokes on this- it’s not a manicured nature trail, it’s a National Park.

Sorry, are you asking me or hora or someone else? In the case that you’re speaking to me –

sonmeone else mentioned the beast – I simply responded. I enjoy riding it, but that doesn’t do anything to alter the fact that the trail is changing and becoming more eroded. As I said earlier, what we as MTBers enjoy and want doesn’t come into it, the authorities have a legal responsgbility that they are duty bound to uphold. Unless the law changes, then at some point – and it may be several years away – they will do some remedial work on The Beast. that may be sympathetic, or it may just be throwing loads of hardcore on it. It’ll depend on things like the money available and the people running the project

and yes, the trail at Whinstone Lee Torr is in a terrible state. Ideally, trails such as that would be rerouted to use a path that didn’t cause such damage, but rerouting trails is a massive legal task and as such is not likely to happen. Alternatively, if more trails were legally accessible to bikes, the number would be more spread out rather than concentrated on “honeypot” trails. Again though this is a massive task and one that’s very unlikely to happen

I’ve deliberately avoided opening this thread as i’m fully in favour of opening up more access rights to the countryside (thankfully i live in scotland) for everyone irrespective of how they wish to to travel whether that be 4×4, bike – enduro or cycle, horse, or on foot, and i thought this thread would be filled with the righteous outpouring of “not in my back yard” responses but i have to commend the vast majority of the posters on here for their considered and reasoned arguments regarding allowing more access for 4×4’s.

There’s no point in myself adding anything as now the thread has grown to 4 pages it has all been covered by previous posts, as a side note the only problem i have had in scotland regarding access rights has come from ignorant walkers/ramblers (pretty much all english) out in the Galloway hills who take offence at mtb’s on the trails and footpaths despite myself and others usually always yielding to them, when you point out the fact that Scotland has open land access rights and freedom to roam as long as you do not cause wilful damage this usually results in a barrage of “tutting, head shaking” and the occasional comment of “that would be changed if i had my way”, even had one old arse jabbing me in the chest with one of his walking poles whilst having a hairy fit shouting at me “you have no right to be here, vandalism…it’s just vandalism.

I’d welcome more 4×4’s, enduro bikes, trials bikes, mtbs etc..etc…the more the better and perhaps we could start to shove the ramblers lobby back into the corner they belong in.

Soma this what I dont ‘get’, all walkers that I meet seem to be cheery. Even the ones on footpaths when Im obviously in the wrong! You do slow right down to a crawl well before you reach them? I find this ‘yields/shows obvious respect. Whereas a fair few times Ive shouted THANK YOU you miserable **** to riders who wont even mutter thanks. These are the ones who get walkers backs up.

there is a different ‘headspace’ when walking in the country, mostly relaxed,at ease,getting away from all the hustle of life– last thing anyone want is a rude reminder of that

The inference was that there was that the organisation was demanding that bikes be banned,

😯
I think I would have said the ramblers association if I had meant them just like saying cyclist does not mean I am talking about CTC

The point was that other countryside users dont like us accessing the countryside on bikes. You can get bogged down on the term ramblers and wonder what it meant to imply [ nothing tbh, a walker someone who rambles] if you wish, saying walkers would have prevented this but does not alter the sentence. The ban thing seems to be you over egging the pudding again and taking an over rich interpretation of what i said

Some walkers moan about us was all i was saying
Believe what you want

Somewhere the ramblers have a thread asking them to protest at out rights

Of course i slow down to a crawl when i meet them, that’s a given surely?, you’d have to be a pretty ignorant fker to blast past them at speed or more often than not if i’m traversing a hillside or climbing i come to a complete stop and move myself and the bike off the path and allow them to pass at their own pace, usually accompanied with a cheery comment and chat for a minute regarding the weather/amount of climbing left etc before remounting and carrying on, i’ve never openly abused the ignorant few who’ve stood deliberately in the way either or those who’ve verbally berated me/us, when confrontations do occur i tend to offer them a card with my name and contact details/phone number etc and inform them that if they have a problem then they either contact the police or the local council rights of way officer who will put them right with regards to access laws in Scotland, at this they usually start muttering under their breath and you begin to realise that some arguments you will never win – bit like arguing on a web forum eh?, and the best response is a cheery “goodbye, enjoy yourselves folks” before continuing on your way.

Soma this what I dont ‘get’, all walkers that I meet seem to be cheery

I find the same when out on the motorbike. First off I rarely meet others on the byways. The vast majority (95% +) are polite friendly and courteous.

A lot of the focus of this thread is on the issue of erosion and damage. The main reason PDNPA is trying to totally ban motors from these two lanes is because it wants to preserve it’s perception of tranquility for walkers.

Levels of use of the routes, from PDNPA’s own figures, show that 80% of the motorised use occurs at the weekend. Exactly at the same time when most walkers use it. The routes are little used by anyone on weekdays.

Motor groups have suggested a ban during summer weekends only. PDNPA continue to pursue a total ban.

The only obvious conclusion to this is that PDNPA are bowing to pressure from local nimbys and an extremists element of walkers that think they own the countryside – hardly surprising when authority consistently bows to their wishes despite it being detrimental to all other users.