But hey, I’m not one to bang on about what I’ve done, much.

Edited

There was only the tiniest bit of irony in that comment.

I can see both sides of this argument. Firstly, I’m an active member of ride sheffield and I’m definitely not “one of the cool kids”. Getting involved with this kind of stuff is always a thankless task; in the past with trail building in Wharncliffe and now trying to work with Sheffield ROW team. Although we have succeeded in being consulted on ROW issues from now on, our views count for very little (read: nothing). The law gives us no rights in terms of how trails are built or surfaced and currently puts the views of all other trail users first. If the ROW improvement plan included proactive elements to improve things for mountain bikers (like the Lancs one appears to, according to the Tony Lund interview last month in ST) we may have some hope, but the next one won’t be drawn up until later this decade. All we can do is win the small arguments where we can and make bigger gains (like parkwood springs and Greno woods) where the land owner / manager is more supportive. What isn’t useful (although we all do it) is whining on a bike forum; it puts the back up of people who are giving up their time to sort this mess out and it doesn’t make things improve. You really are welcome to get involved in Ride Sheffield and we are an inclusive, friendly bunch.

FWIW (and AFAIK), SWT have stopped the proposed works on devils elbow as they were appalled at the improvements to houndkirk. that’s not to say works won’t take place, but they want them to be on their terms, not on the council’s.

…and Matt will be the first to say he’s not the greatest diplomat; but he is doing what he can and I can understand his frustration.

Frustrated or not it’s pretty bad form to get on your high horse about people not contributing when in fact they have.

FWIW I think anything about unifying the voice of MTBers is a good thing, and have been pretty impressed by RS’s contribution overall.

I’m still curious about what has happened to the loop that was going up on the other side of Rivelin though.

I decided yesterday that I wasn’t going to post any more to this thread but I’ve lapsed.

Ok, Pook, you’ve written a press release for a meeting 18 months ago and you’ve been to a couple of dig days for some stuff that is completely unrelated to the stuff we’re talking about. Not really that impressive a CV imo. I appreciate that you’re doing something but there is still far more that you could get involved in and much more local to the stuff you’ve been whining about.

Podge on the other hand has done bugger all as far as I can see apart from moan and whine at meetings and then throw his toys out of the pram when it was suggested that the website he made that was not asked for and not fit for what was required was taken back down.

The point that a lot of people seem to have missed about Ride Sheffield is not that it is a group set up for trail building and for creating new spots but more as a collective voice for us mountain bikers to speak to the powers that control the changing of the trails. We’re not all obsessed about being with the cool kids however flattered I am that you think that. The thing we all want is to avoid having the trails we ride ruined and that is what we are trying, sometimes in vain, to do. We are however finding ourselves coming up against a very very unhelpful ROW team at Sheffield City Council who are just not interested in listening to us and not only that have actually tried to blackmail us into withdrawing some of our objections. Nevertheless, we have now established some lines of communication that are reaping some rewards for everyone in the area.

As for Sheffield Wildlife Trust, they are not responsible for the changes to the ROW through their land as they don’t actually own the ROW. That is all down to the ROW team at the council and SWT have to just deal with it on the whole. They must also encourage access to their land but are up against the same troublesome ROW officers that Ride Sheffield are. The advantages of Greno Woods is that there are no real ROW in their and hence we are just able to ride bikes in the woods. This is something that SWT are very keen to encourage and therefore they are getting support from things like the Steel City Race.

And that really makes me want to get more involved now.

And 18 months ago? Funny it felt like only November.

Which bit is it that is making you less keen to get involved then?

And, ok, 6 months ago not 18, my mistake.

Pretty much every single bit of your attitude towards this thread Matt to be honest.

6 months ago? What the most recent big meeting? This thread has given you, Ride Sheffield whoever you are or you aren’t, the opportunity to explain fully and inclusively what is going on – allay concerns, discuss opportunities to get involved (as I have in the past). Instead, you’ve brought in personal attacks on people who have been actively involved in the past – regardless of howsoever you agree with what they’ve done or what their opinions were/are.

Why? I don’t know. I can understand your frustration. I can’t understand your lack of ability to control that frustration and turn what in your mind is a negative slight on RS into a positive call to arms amongst the riding community who are discussing the very trails your concern yourself with on one of the most popular riding forums in the UK.

It’s all left something of a bitter taste in my mouth if I’m honest – but I’m more than happy to discuss this with you further should you so desire.

I guess what I’ve been trying to say but clearly not managing is that we are actually trying to do something about the situation and that we are actually making some progress albeit slowly and against some pretty well stacked opposition. There are things happening and a lot of it is necessarily behind the scenes but that is not down to R.S.

The thing is, there was no special entrance exam or needing to know the right person to get in to the Ride Sheffield committee, the only reason I am there is because I cared enough to stay late after the first meeting, put my name on the list of people who were happy to give a bit more and boom, there I am. You could have done that too but you didn’t. You still could if you’re bothered enough.

I’m just fed up seeing people moaning on an internet forum about the stuff that’s happening but not actually seeming to put much effort into trying to help further.

I’m also perfectly aware of the irony of me whining on an internet forum about people whining on an internet forum

We are however finding ourselves coming up against a very very unhelpful ROW team at Sheffield City Council who are just not interested in listening to us

well i suppose it is yorkshire and diplomacy on a public thread on a forum that generally sits high on google searches counts for nothing

as it says on website “what can ridesheffield” learn from the bmc
as someone who worked on access issues and other issues with the bmc for quite some time i’d say remember you represent a broad range of characters and you can choose to listen to see if some part of their viewpoint is valid – personally attacking anyone don’t help

and that you have to work a long time to change entrenched attitudes or find new solutions that all find to their liking or educate – may lose some battles along the way of winning the war – cliched but true

edit …and don’t forget that even if people aren’t helpful today – you’ll still be working with them in the future

but he made a video!! rofl

BTW Pook “to pook” is a common term on our rides – definition is to mess with furry animals 🙂

Your rides must be laugh a minute.

If your videos are owt to go by, far more of a laugh than yours!!

Matthew,

I don’t like what Sheffield council / Rights of way currently seem to be doing and neither do you. So we went to 2 meetings over a year ago, I didn’t like it and never went again. You did like it and still go.

Although we didn’t see eye about how things should be approached I still signed / emailed the Parkwood Springs “give us money” thing and I still support CTC & Singletraction. I could do more, I could do less.

My apparent moaning was aimed at SCC / RoW however you decided to attack me and Chris in person. Thats not really fair is it?

I kind of know and like a couple of the other RS members but you’ve done nothing to encourage me to give it another go, if anything you’ve given me another reason to not support them. Which oddly seemed to be the opposite of what you may have wanted.

and cruzheckler, go and bitch on your own thread, this is ours.

lol at diva podge

I’ve got the boa and glittery eye shadow… seems silly to waste it.

Private video though that one podge.

And Cruz? How are you wanting me to react? Be upset? Care? Tell me ‘cos I’ve no idea what rise you’re angling for.

its ok Chris, I pixelated you, no one’ll know.

That’s illegal in most European countries y’know.

This thread is a very good example of why ride Sheffield is both great and a bit bollocks. People passionate about riding in Sheffield but also bitching and no info on what is actually happening.

It should be a great thing, all of the sheffield mountain bikers together, bring represented. And that may be happening, but we don’t see it.

All we see from ride Sheffield is:
– a website that never gets updated
– a twitter account that may as well be someones personal account
– people hob nobing with the cool kids
– people arguing on the Internet

All of the “representing” stuff may be going on but it’s hidden. Why does the website not say “we tried to persuade them not to motorway xxx path but it going to happen so you may want to have a last ride”? Why do we only get limited info on your relationship with SWF on this thread instead of a post in the website explaining how Ride Sheffield are working with SWF? Show us what you are doing and more people will get involved. Otherwise you just look like it’s a small clique of people using an invented mandate to get themselves an invite to a party.

thank you jfletch, you’ve put that much better than I could.

you don’t fancy a job as my internet PA do you? it’d save me a shed load of hassle.