There have been lots of reports of traps being set lately, seems like more than normal perhaps with the sudden uptake of the daily excercise allowance. This time two culprits have been
caught in the act though, near Leyburn in North Yorkshire. It will be interesting to see what action, if any, the police take. The biker who took the video did very well; not sure I’d have managed to stay so calm.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_-XPmFH0tp/?igshid=1xgwx93lfdbm2&fbclid=IwAR1IgMmLhrf5UhcP56Nkgpq0eNx40Fjzzqeqt187EDtJhqGwGzgdMLHGvmA

Shocking.

We get exactly the same thing in our local woods. Cross old ladies laying traps.

Shame on them.

Yep, we have the mystery stick lady in our local woods.

Proper couple of ranty old gammons there 🙂

yup standard.

guy did a good job imo

He sounds like one of those angry cyclists we hear so much about in the papers, ranting and raving at defenceless old ladies just minding their own business.

What a couple of old battle axes

Calmer than I would have been.

I came across one of our local stickmen laying logs on a trail last year, recognised him from around town too. I may have implied that if I found sticks across the trail again I would insert them sideways up his rectum. Funnily enough no sticks have been laid since then.

But will anything actually come of it?

You would hope a visit from plod would do the trick, but they seem a vile old pair of witches, so maybe not.

I can mutter how awful those old ladies are but what will happen when I finally retire? When you retire, what will you do with all that spare time? Without realising it you will gravitate towards the daily mail, your blood pressure will subsequently go through the roof and will burn with a sense of injustice at minor things that others do that actually do no harm to others.

Have a thought for the old folk for they know not what they have become.

I wouldn’t expect the police to be interested, they are under resourced as it is, waste of time. Just clear the obstacles, give way to walkers, smile and say good afternoon.

What a couple of demented & bitter old dears…

Two prime cuts of screechy miserable North Yorkshire gammon right there.

Nice to see the comments on the dad’s Facebook post so positive towards the rider though. Very much doubt anything will happen to the two old battleaxes due to the current pressure on police resources but it would be nice to think that they’d get a quick visit and talking to from the plod.

Very much doubt anything will happen to the two old battleaxes due to the current pressure on police resources but it would be nice to think that they’d get a quick visit and talking to from the plod.

It might actually do them some good if they stopped. It looks like steep bank to the side on that vid. The kind of steep bank you could have quite a nasty fall down if you lost your footing manhandling a log across the trail….

We managed to get a local stickman dealt with. It had been going on for years on one particular bit of trail, more and more people started posting picture of the vandalism and eventually someone spotted him doing it.

Police “had a word” and the trails have been stick free since.

I didn’t watch it all but does he know who they are or know what vehicle they were in?

Are the Police happy for so much detail to be in the public domain before they’ve done their bit?

With my investigators head on and looking at this objectively but not in anyway defending people putting obstacles in the way!

1) Why were they putting logs on the track? Is this a footpath and they are fed up of cyclists using it?

2) Have people been stravering down it and nearly hitting walkers? Is this a segment and if so, what’s the fastest speed they’ve been doing?

3) Why does he have a saw and spade? Whats he been doing there? Especially if he doesn’t have the landowners permission? He says he has the owners permission at the quarry so why did he leave them there?

I’ve noticed people walking in places I’ve not seen people before. Lockdown means people are out walking locally. These two have probably not walked that route for years and are upset it doesn’t look like they remember it to be.

PS I thought he handled the situation very well.

^^^

I suspect you haven’t read the stuff on the Leyburn Residents page.

There’s a trail in Lordswood knows as ‘No Dabs’. Basically it’s a horrific collection of roots that weaves about next to a stream; the runoff into the stream from the bank has left the ‘trail’ looking like one of those mangrove swamps. It’s very hard to ride clean, can be almost trials type riding in places (hence the name).
Amusingly enough someone has recently started laying branches across it. I’m surprised anyone actually wants to walk along it to be honest, more surprised that they might be bothered about bikes on it and also at a loss as to how they think it will stop people riding it given that most of the roots are bigger than the sticks they are deploying!

I don’t agree with what they’re doing but I do understand it from their point of view as well. Putting other people in danger is never the answer though.

I do understand it from their point of view as well. 

Care to expand on that whilst I rustle up some Hob Nobs and a cuppa?

Care to expand on that whilst I rustle up some Hob Nobs and a cuppa?

It’s very easy to understand their point of view

:

He has the patience of a saint! His dad seems to have named and shamed which, if he’s right, is the best way to deal with them.

Whilst there are riders that do not show due consideration for walkers, I would suggest that most riders do. I would never defend reckless riding. With that in mind, there is clearly no moral equivalence between the annoyance that some walkers feel when having to share trail with bike riders and laying obstacles that could injure indiscriminately.

I didn’t watch it all but does he know who they are or know what vehicle they were in?

Their identities are known, from another post by the lad’s mum that I’ve seen shared on FB.

Are the Police happy for so much detail to be in the public domain before they’ve done their bit?

You’d need to ask them really.

Their point of view is easy to understand (2 legs good, 2 wheels baaaad)

Their lack of forethought about the potential consequences of their actions, not so much…

It’s very easy to understand their point of view

From my understanding it’s a long standing MTB trail on private land. So whilst the lad shouldn’t be there, it’s none of their business – so no, i don’t understand their point of view.

From my understanding it’s a long standing MTB trail on private land. So whilst the lad shouldn’t be there, it’s none of their business

And yet none of that matters to understand why locals might get annoyed.

I’m not saying I agree with them I’m just saying I can understand their point of view.

From my understanding it’s a long standing MTB trail on private land. So whilst the lad shouldn’t be there, it’s none of their business – so no, i don’t understand their point of view.

You missed the second line.

:

Ultimately its a long established trail [unless its actually purpose built and sanctioned and signposted as such it absolutely isn’t a MTB trail, it’s just a trail] and you’re they choose to use it is no one else’s business.

They don’t consider a pile of sticks to be dangerous, it’s not barbed wire at neck height, in their head it’s the same as a speed bump or chicane. They expect it to slow people down. Possibly ruin their fun but certainly not their lives or teeth, and in making it shower /less attractive to mtb it improves their enjoyment. It’s not significantly different to people building kickers and jumps on trails or straightening corners, improving sight lines etc. None of that is done to hurt anyone but it’s done to improve 1 person’s enjoyment at the detriment (or more to the point ignorance) of others.

Having finally had a chance to watch it, the lad handled it much better than the women.

If the issue is that some riders are hooning it riding dangerously on mixed use paths around walkers, I can see why walkers are concerned, but that doesn’t justify putting branches across the trails.

As a definite jeycore mince lite kind of rider anyway, I tend to only ride to the speed I can see to stop at safely, especially on mixed use tracks. I’ve never got upset by logs across trails. The use of the word “traps” made me assume that nails and wire were involved.

Loads of sticks and branches on the trails this morning. Dry calm weather, followed by strong winds so I don’t think stick man was out, but it shows that you do need to ride at a speed you can stop from. I’ve also seen a lot more walkers and dogs on the bike trails (actual signed, official trails) during lockdown. Luckily the trails are quite open so you can mostly see pretty far.

That said the kind of reckless behaviour shown by these ladies should be dealt with. I was struggling with sound but it seemed she was upset that her dog was endangered by cyclists but couldn’t join up the thinking that she was endangering others.

As a definite jeycore mince lite kind of rider anyway, I tend to only ride to the speed I can see to stop at safely, especially on mixed use tracks. I’ve never got upset by logs across trails. The use of the word “traps” made me assume that nails and wire were involved.

That’s why I was thinking. A few sticks put on a trail is no different to a branch falling from a tree and landing on the trail. Either increase speed and hop over it, ride around it or carry bike over it. Or do what I did last week and think I could hop over but catch back wheel at an angle and slide down and land on my side with both feet still clipped in. Luckily no one saw it so it didn’t happen.

slide down and land on my side with both feet still clipped in. Luckily no one saw it so it didn’t happen.

And luckily none of us have ever done this either so can’t imagine it.

Either increase speed and hop over it, ride around it or carry bike over it. Or do what I did last week and think I could hop over but catch back wheel at an angle and slide down and land on my side with both feet still clipped in.

That is worse than my technique so makes me feel better 🙂 See the branch, slam on the brakes, realise I can (and should) ride over it, go back, try again, no, not this time: too slow, one more go, gracelessly thud over it, check no one was looking.

I’m not saying I agree with them I’m just saying I can understand their point of view.

If someone is a horrible bastard they tend to do horrible bastard things?

yeah, “traps” is a bit OTT as a description. If it’s branches across the path, in a wood when you could have branches down across the path naturally, then you should be riding so you’re able to avoid or stop in time.

If they’re hidden, designed so they’re not visibly as dangerous as they are ( log with barbed wire, hole covered with leaves, plank under some dirt with nails sticking up, that’s a trap.

Logs across is either a bit of fun to hop, or annoying if you need to move them.

Edit: refresh page before typing a reply – mostly said already!

There’s a trail in Lordswood knows as ‘No Dabs’

Stick lady used to just focus on the Motorway trail (or starwars). I don’t bother riding down by the brook any more so didn’t know they had expanded their attempts.

That said more recently, someone had gone full crazy & done the same on Redundancy recently. Maybe gone a bit gammony over the number of new forest users (well, it’s great, I haven’t seem a ferral youth on a stolen MX bike for weeks now – too many other people up there!).

Rumour has it, its the people who live in the house at the start of the Motorway trail. Right opposite the enterence.

Branches do fall down in the wind but there’s no intent to injure from the wind. Difficult to compare the two.

The two ladies fall foul of Rule No.1, but I am not sure what the police can do. Is there a crime of ‘possibly causing harm by deliberate actions’ (or words to that effect).

I would also suggest that we have some access issues rumbling locally. We have had some trails discovered by the landowner. It seems as series of doubles leading to a 3m long / 2m tall double were not on his land when he last checked…

For the record, the trail was here 7 years ago when we arrived. It was also beautifully hidden until a youth this summer trimmed back a few bushes and branches, making the access blindingly obvious.

The adults and youths involved involved were spoken to by the landowner on site, who was happy for them to ride but not chop tree branches off or dig further. Frustratingly the riders involved argued they were allowed to dig and ride where the hell they liked, and continued to do so until the police arrived.

The same group is now digging at at least three other spots around Dunblane, at least one of which is owned by same landowner and is already sporting a set of duoubles…and the other a set of doubles which get bigger each week and multitude of small jumps and trails.

In the spirit of ‘I cannot change the world, I can only change myself’…

…It does raise the question of what constitutes Rule No.1 when trailbuilding and accessing.

The chap in the video, despite being calm and collected, did have a saw and spade on private land and was making ‘adjustments’ – perhaps without permission?
Are there just too many video’s online of “pro” riders cutting new lines, jibbing down newly felled trees or using old walls for bases…? Have we slipped into too active a trail building (not repairing) culture?

For the record, I don’t have the answer. I just know that those of us who trail build have some difficult judgements to make over what is or isn’t OK.

And for the record, I do hope the police have enough time to visit the two ladies involved and make them realise what the outcome of their actions could be.

Bensongd, couldn’t agree more, even if the “traps” laid were lame.