Ive had a couple of closish ones at Swinley and I only ever go there down the week when its pretty quiet, I think it gets very busy at weekends, most of the trails ride better in one direction but there are quite a few that get ridden both ways with blindish bends here and there.

How about a citizens arrest – tell him you are going to do it and then restrain with your mates if necessary. i would not bother with an actual fight – cleary they are just an violent individual anyway and probably enjoy fighting. I would not have let it pass without something non violent occuring.
i would be a bit peeved that my mates did not jump ojf their bikes and intimidate/square up to the guy react in some way. Shocked or not no one hits your mate without some form of [non violent] reaction.
Even Grum would have done that and then sung him a lullaby to quell his rage if required 😉

Many years ago when I was out on a Xmas party/p!ss up I stumbled into a bloke in a packed club.He spun around & punched me full on in the guts,luckily I saw it & tensed up just before he hit me.When he saw it had had no effect on me he looked a little stunned,I then grabbed hold of his hand shook it & said with a big smile on me face "& a merry Xmas to you too mate". I then went back to stand with the group of blokes I was out with(there were about 20 of us & he was out with his g/friend),told them what had happened & they turned to face him,cheered & raised their bottles to him.Funnily enough he left not long after that….
You don't always need to hit back to get revenge 8)
Personnally I'd have tried to dodge his punch as nothing upsets someone more than not being able to hit the person you wanna fight with,makes them think too…

>Even Grum would have done that and then sung him a lullaby to quell his rage if required

Or waved a copy of the Guardian at him in a non-threatening manner.

just had a look where Swinley is. Surely NDowns/Hombury is better for riding as its not too far away?

Or waved a copy of the Guardian at him in a non-threatening manner.

The funny thing is, I have been involved in the odd altercation – I'm not saying I wouldn't have done something physical in response, it just amuses me how people are basically telling off the OP for being soft.

I once squared up to a load of pissed up football goons on a train cos one of them groped my gf – didn't really think it through and was pretty scared afterwards but didn't even think about it at the time. Luckily one of the others wanted to defuse the situation.

It's very hard to say how you would respond in any particular situation in the heat of the moment, and unless you were there telling him he 'should have hit him' is pretty silly imo.

Even Grum would have done that and then sung him a lullaby to quell his rage if required

Don't think that would quell anyone's rage tbh – more likely to cause trouble.

There's loads of "natural" riding in that area but lots of people can't be @rsed getting a map out and exploring.

Surrey Hills are better riding and better trails but Swinley is good for a couple of hours once you know your way round it, not too hilly so ideal for SSers and you are pretty much always on singletrack as the trails all ling together really well, I can be there in about 20 minutes from home so go there quite a bit.
If I go to the Surrey Hills I always ride for 4 or 5 hours linking all the hills and major trails in a loop so takes a full day pretty much, I can do Swinley and back in a few hours total, prolly why its so popular.

If the op and mates had done this guy in and he'd taken it to the police, they would been easy to trace and (rightly) have been on for an assault charge. And no, not even one punch would have been allowed as self defence.

Doubt I'd have hit him back though it's always something you think about afterwards.

A lycra'd up bloke on an XC bike barged past me once at the jump gully and called me a F**king ****t (I was stationary in the 'que') then charged up the hill behind, presumably thinking that as I was on a 6" bike I wouldn't follow. I did, he tried to shake me for a couple of k's and eventually ran out of puff, at which point he stopped and apologised in between laboured breathing.

Thats my kind of revenge, BMX bandits style.

I've also had run ins with the blokes on MX bikes, to which I normally stand somewhere within sight and very obviously call the ranger on duty.

If the op and mates had done this guy in and he'd taken it to the police, they would been easy to trace and (rightly) have been on for an assault charge. And no, not even one punch would have been allowed as self defence.

are you sure that's correct?? Surely if someone hits you once and you hit them back then you can claim self defense?? Infact I think you can hit someone even if they havent hit you, if you believe they are about to attack you

Hitman – you are allowed to use reasonable force to defend yourself. If he has hit you then walked away how is hitting him defending yourself?

If you are in fear of a beating then you can use force yes – but not after the fact in retaliation

i am astounded by what some people on here say. That is all.

I'm 5'7" and never been attacked whist riding. On the other hand a mate called Rich, who is a strongman competitor and power lifter, was. I reckon sometimes they want to hit you if you're big, don't confuse with fat, to test themselves.
Hope you're ok though, Gee. How did the race go?

I am very amused by Cinnamon-girl's response and the extent to which she has missed the point. The attitude of some people is hilarious. I honestly think that the human race is starting to evolve backwards.

I was going very slowly as I know that trail (Seagull Run) has a lot of blind bends on it. I never blast down that one apart from in a race for that very reason. I usually try to avoid it… Guess I should have done yesterday too. You're right – your slow and my slow are probably two different things. I was riding behind someone today in Black Park who was going so slowly it was an effort for me not to fall off. Of course, I could have just barged past…

I'm betting that whatever speed I was going he was going about the same – hence neither of us were (badly) injured by the crash. If we'd have been hammering it we'd have been hurt/bikes damaged etc.

I really can't be arsed to spend my time sitting through hours of CCTV footage. I have far better things to be doing. What goes around comes around.

You'll be pleased to know the swelling has gone down now and I got 4th in Elite today, despite having a somewhat dead leg from the crash 😉

GB

Cool Gee….as you say, let it go, it's well out of order but no real harm done i guess and as i said earlier, he'll get his sometime no doubt…lets hope that when he does, it'll learn him with extra chilli on top and a real sense that he's a bad bad person who desrves to be beaten with an old rusty 991 chain and have worn spikey chainrings thrown at him whilst he's tied to a pole naked covered in Fanta standing on top of a wasps nest and……

I got 4th in Elite today, despite having a somewhat dead leg

I suppose that's why you didn't lap me!?

That'll be it 😉

It bloody hurt for the last 4 laps, every pedal stroke felt like someone was hitting me in the arse. Makes a change from it feeling like someone is hitting me in the face I suppose.

GB

The police now work with the "victims code" you are the victim which means that what you say goes. Far too many people are put off with silly reasons why this cant be investigated. Its a VAP (violence against the person) offense which ties in nicely with the governments key issue at the moment which is ASB (anti social behavior) I would say that if you put your foot down and demand the CCTV is at least checked, there will be little the police can do other than take on your request.
If they don't…complain. I agree that this shouldn't be allowed to happen.
It's "only" a common assault, which with a clean record assuming he admits it will be a caution. If however he goes round doing this on a saturday night pissed up( with a fuse as short as his, I suggest he does), there is a fair chance he will get his day in court.
If he can be identified on CCTV then your friends can make a statement. 4 V's 1 = CPS charge.

The Police NOW work with the victims code? Exactly what code did they use before? The offender is always right?

The victims code asks offender what THEY want to do about something, not what the police think SHOULD be done. In many cases, victims just want the offender spoken to, something the police would never do, they would arrest and go the whole hog, even if the victim didn't want this action taken (drunken night out, minor fight with friends for example).
This obviously doesnt apply to domestic violence where the victim is rarely able to make a free choice, so police do it for them.

thats mental, whas he a proper 'mtb'er? all kitted out, or just some random bloke going for tootle around? cant imagine a proper mtb'er being like that towards one of there own….

plus the fact you both crashed into each other, it was'nt as if he was stationary and you ran into him, both from what ive read were to blame/or not which ever way you look at it….

I can imagine the shock of being hit by a fellow mtb'er is a bit bemusing and i dunno if anyones initial reaction would be to hit back, regardless of whats being typed on here…..

Just seems a most bizarre experience, i'd just put it down to that, and try to forget about it as you are doing….not everyone's like him most mtb'ers are friendly, but theres always going to be a few cocks around, like there is in any sport…

Yep, well kitted out in riding gear (very bland colours) and a Giant full-sus bike – one of the Maestro ones.

Bizarre just about sums it up. The only other occasion I've known anything like this was 2 years ago at Mayhem, when confusion over bikes led to fisticuffs on the start line after the run.

GB

I think how one reacts is a personal thing, yes instinctively I would think fight back,but the reality is always different, I work in a job which requires enhanced CRB checks and its always at the back of my mind, 15 years ago a drink driver smashed into the back of my car at some traffic lights,he tried to leave the scene.i was 'over enthusiastic with my restraining' and ended up getting a caution for common assault, i live with the embarrassment of having to declare my conviction whenever i change jobs, so I avoid fights etc whenever possible….plus am crap at fighting……hopefully karma will come knocking for that idiot

bizarre indeed, makes it even worse imo he was a mtber, just cant picture that happening to me at all…..id be totally shell shocked..

he obviously thought you were to blame though, hence lashing out….even though from what you have said it was clearly just an accident…and both at fault….shame you and your mates didnt deck him in a way, but it wouldnt have gained anything….

perhaps he had a real off day and took it out on you….

sounds like a absolute wankstain either way….be worth following up with police if possible just to make sure the cock doesnt do it again in a hurry…

Probably not a popular (or enforceable) view, but I've always thought some of those Swinley trails should be one-way only. I still shudder at the memory of an MTBer's dog coming full on at me round a fast corner at Swinley. That one ended ok, but it just as easily could have ended very badly indeed.

Pedalhead – I've also thought that for a very long time. Problem is, unlike most trail centre trails, you could ride them in either direction. It's probably more dangerous to sign them as one-way, encourage people to really attack the trail and then have a collision between someone going the right way and someone going the wrong way. At least now, it encourages people to go slower and keep an eye out.

So today folks we have learned to avoid Swinley as its dull

and

If someone punches you- avoid upsetting them further and maybe defer to them.

Is there a link to the post, where the guy says he hit the victim

It was a joke.

Slightly OT- I dont get that (amateur races)- are you THAT bothered about your race position in a amateur race? Crackers. Hitting another cyclist over a bike mixup or getting in your way etc.

Nuts.

Hora – quite. It was a bit of a spectacle – and what a location to choose to do it! The guy's team got DQ'd. I didn't actually see it as I was long gone, but my team mates were in disbelief when I got back after the lap.

Hitman – you are allowed to use reasonable force to defend yourself. If he has hit you then walked away how is hitting him defending yourself?

TJ, I agree that you can't retaliate but the OP's post suggests that this didn't happen immediately and therefore it could have been seen as self defense
From OP's post:

He got up and unleashed a tirade of swearing, then hit me in the face. I was staggered by this reaction so didn't react. I tried to say that he can't go around behaving like this, to which he said "What you gonna do about it" and rode off.

Surely this comment particularly if delivered aggressively could be seen as evidence of an intention to continue with violence, and also that the person in question did not walk away/ride away as soon as they had delivered the punch?
Just a thought 🙂

Hope you're face is OK and you won't have to explain to your students why you look like you got into a fight :-). Sounds like it didn't slow you down much.