the thread?

Not sure what happened there but in summary.

Very steep descent on bridleway. Farmer puts metal 5 bar gate across the bottom hidden to move cattle. His precautions being to sit in the tractor on his mobile. The gate is hidden from the top by tree foliage. I descend and luckily am slow as the surface is rough. On the other side (this is a valley) the surface is smooth and most descend very fast (30mph).

I realise that I often ride with a view not to braking to a halt but with a view to controlling speed and avoiding ie cannot stop within the distance I can see.

What is the question here?

Temporary electric fences used to be a bit of an issue around here, particularly on night rides when the wire across the trail was practically invisible using a 20w halogen lamp.

I realise that I often ride with a view not to braking to a halt but with a view to controlling speed and avoiding ie cannot stop within the distance I can see.

We learned that lesson in the alps with a mate having a massive OTB superman moment after spotting what he thought was a gate far too late when riding down a farm track at a pretty decent pace. Also had the same thing in the Surrey Hills on more than one occasion.

Can I be the first to mention the faces of young humans, baby robins etc?

Replace gate with small child, sheep, dog, person and see if it makes sense

It’s horses and riders that worry me on blind corners.

Even if you do stop with plenty of time and aren’t going fast there’s no guarantee that the horse won’t do something silly.

Replace gate with small child

In my experience small children are not great at keeping a herd of cattle inside a field.

small children are not great at keepinga herd of cattle inside a field

You could try nailing a few together…

In my experience small children are not great at keeping a herd of cattle inside a field.

You have not seen farmers kids in action have you!

Is google translate broken?

I’m guessing your asking if you can blame the farmer for you running into a gate that’s not normally there.

If so, No its your fault for not looking where your going.

We’ve all done it, go barreling down a descent and can’t be 100% sure whats down there…
Only when the voices in your head start saying “what if” do you reign it in a bit.

wwaswas – Member
It’s horses and riders that worry me on blind corners.

Even if you do stop with plenty of time and aren’t going fast there’s no guarantee that the horse won’t do something silly.

I saw some horses way off and they were turning off the road in the opposite direction to where I was going, so I gave them loads of space and even stopped, waiting for them to go. They still spooked when one saw me.

It’s not a question merely a reflection on a near incident which made me realise the risks I was inadvertantly taking and the threat to kittens.

You could go head first into a cow’s arse next time.

Said the bloke who nearly had a close encounter with a red deer hind + calf.

Oh and I’ve riddent it every week for 2 years with no gates put across and I stopped in time.

Ask any knowledgeable motorbike rider about this, and you’ll always be told “to make sure you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear”…. Don’t see how this wouldn’t apply to a MTB too…

Oh and I’ve riddent it every week for 2 years with no gates put across

to make sure you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear

Just because it was clear last week, doesn’t mean it will be clear this week.

^ precisely. It made me think which is why I stated this:-

a near incident which made me realise the risks I was inadvertantly taking

I think you’ve answered your own non-question really. There was a lad locally who suffered life-changing injuries in a similar situation. It’s easy to get carried away with the freedom you feel while on a bike but you need to be sensible about it and prioritise your (and others) safety.

Ask any knowledgeable motorbike rider about this, and you’ll always be told “to make sure you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear”…. Don’t see how this wouldn’t apply to a MTB too…

It does, but they know that they don’t always do it, and we know that we don’t always do it.

As I was bombing down BWs and quiet roads at 5am the other day, fairly confident of no one else being around, I remembered you have to be able to stop in half the distance you can see (in case of oncoming car/rider travelling same speed as you)

Easy to get carried away. I was barelling down a trail I thought I knew well in Epping Forest last year, only to find that since I’d last ridden it two big drop offs had been dug, just round a blind corner. OTB and broken collarbone was the result. Lesson learnt the hard way! 😳

Or barelling down WibblyWobbly in BPW, remembering a root drop was somewhere but decided it must be on another trail, round the corner and there it is, caught me out and for some stupid reason decided to stop. No where near enough distance to stop, OTB superman style into drop, trip to Merthyr A&E 😀

Sometimes it’s better to just realise it’s too late and go for it. You might get away with it…

atlaz – Member
We learned that lesson in the alps with a mate having a massive OTB superman moment after spotting what he thought was a gate far too late when riding down a farm track at a pretty decent pace. Also had the same thing in the Surrey Hills on more than one occasion.

… turned out the gate in question was a swing barrier and had he blasted through it he’d be okay. Though as you know last year it was an electric fence and I just carried on with comedy results 😀

I nearly killed some fellow on the Surrey Hills a few weeks ago like this – had a bit of an off on a fairly steep corner as I was composing myself and trying to get going again he came round said corner, and all hell broke loose. He held it together though!

wordnumb – Member

Replace gate with small child

In my experience small children are not great at keeping a herd of cattle inside a field.

I’ve got a feeling that my kids would just talk the cows into submission.

Live by the gnar, die by the gnar.

I saw some horses way off and they were turning off the road in the opposite direction to where I was going, so I gave them loads of space and even stopped, waiting for them to go. They still spooked when one saw me.

In the interest of balance.

I was riding my horse along a narrow road that leads to both a bridleway, and a fast road descent (that I ride my road bike down), when several road bikes came down the hill at high speed straight towards me. My horse did not react at all, and the bikes passed safely to my right.

All I can say is, thank god I’m slow.

Nah, I was mincing like a trooper and nearly caused the accident! Being slow is no guarantee of salvation!