[Closed] Walkers on mountain bile trails

I have encountered walkers on follow the dog at Cannock... I stopped and explained that they were probably best to leave by the shortest route for their own safety as it was a dedicated bike trail. I got a similar response to you.

Do you ever ride on footpaths?

Knobbers aren't they? They have the whole sodding countryside they can walk on and they choose to hog the trails, Selfish.
Not all walkers are like this, obviously.

wait for them to give you a cheery hello, then give them the rambler stare in return

Do you ever ride on footpaths?

Yes, & if Im caught then Im in the wrong.

But for a walker to deliberately put themselves onto a mtb specific trail & ergo into danger & then act as if they are are the ones being wronged.

The arrogance & stupidity is beyond words.

My sympathies are with the OP.

The arrogance & stupidity is beyond words.

My sympathies are with the OP.

he's encountered walkers on a trail, not had his child mutilated by a dangerous dog FFS! 😆

Hang on a second yunki.

Hes been given sh1t by a walker on a trail made for mtbs yet somehow you sound like you sympathise with the walker?

Think about it - your hooning down a trail (made for mtbs) & then pop round a corner comes a walker & you ping off into the bushes (as a direct result of the that walkers presence). How are you going to feel?

I for one would be plenty p1ssed off about it.

You can laugh about it but I dont think its all that funny...the consequences could be very nasty indeed.

If you cant either live & let live or respect one anothers space then Ive little time for you. Not you personally but that attitude.

I nearly crashed into a walker on the North downhill at Whinlatter, he didn't see me coming because he was going in the same direction as me. When I confronted him he said he didn't think anyone would be using the trail that late in the day!!! 😕 😯

Is it OK for me to ride my unicycle on MTB trails?

Think about it - your hooning down a trail (made for mtbs) & then pop round a corner there's a unicyclist who's just fallen off on a tricky bit & you ping off into the bushes (as a direct result of the that unicyclists presence). How are you going to feel?

Or should you maybe back off a bit so that you can cope if you find something unexpected on the trail?

Not that I'm defending people walking on bike trails - they're fools - just a little concerned by the attitude which always seems to crop up on these threads that bike trails are for hooning down so fast that it's impossible to stop if you come across a rider down.

sorry Lebowski..

I was just poking a bit of light hearted fun at your comment on this dull Saturday afternoon.. sorry to have offended you, I can see that you take life very seriously indeed..

FWIW I imagine a glut of walkers getting similarly upset by the actions of MTBers on a weekly basis

Think about it - your hooning down a trail (made for mtbs) & then pop round a corner there's a unicyclist who's just fallen off on a tricky bit & you ping off into the bushes (as a direct result of the that unicyclists presence). How are you going to feel?

Acceptable risk plus the unicyclist has a right to be there.

The walker doesnt.

Note: Ill ride at the speed that I think is applicable for the conditions.

I was just poking a bit of light hearted fun at your comment on this dull Saturday afternoon.. sorry to have offended you, I can see that you take life very seriously indeed..

No worries SIr, Im bored sh1tless too. There are just some things I have little time for - deliberately endangering yourself & others is one of them. Its the height of bad manners!

We encountered militant ramblers at Gisburn a few months ago. Nearly hit them on the singletrack. We warned them they were on marked bike trails. they asserted their right to walk "wherever they like!"Debs came off after nearly hitting them - they were walking up the boards on the north shore section. After she binned it off the boards so as not to hit them, they carried on walking. Never even stopped to see if she was ok! I'm assured they received a well deserved volley of abuse for this. And she's from Wigan. She can swear, that girl

Harry it sounds like you started off by being a bit of a knob and got a cold reception, instead of just 'morning' which is what I would normally have done.

So what if it's a waymarked mtb trail? We are all people out enjoying the countryside and you go and give these people the wrong image of bikers as arrogant and shirty types.

Did they cause you to swerve and crash? Doesn't sound like it.

Harry it sounds like you started off by being a bit of a knob

Were you there or are you making a judgement from about 200 miles away as your name would suggest?

I just told them that they were walking on designated bike trails and ended up getting a load of flak off them.

Hes been given sh1t by a walker on a trail made for mtbs yet somehow you sound like you sympathise with the walker?

Lets reverse the situation who do you sympathise with
And really calm down its a little light debate/discussion wher ehe rightly pointed out that the phrase though in glas houses .. FFS we ride footpaths everywhere - what exact rght would we have to then get uppity when walkers claim our bits?

It is starling piece of hypocrisy [ it part of the human condition and I apply it to all the users here walkers or MTB er [ yes i ride footpaths]

Its amusing to see us get all hollier than though whilst chuckling at the cheeky trails rule

Walking on a mtb trail is probably quite dangerous but do you think a walker has never been hit on a footpath by a bike?

Apparently we dont like them doing what we are happy to do

FFS now we are calling each other names I am oot
OP I dont think you would have been rude to them

Does everyone have to be so bloody grumpy?

They were only out looking for some "cheeky footpaths"

Can't see the issue, nobody got hurt.

They are probably on a Walking Boots forum complaining that some "Holier than thou Ankle Socker" gobbed off at them for walking a cheeky footpath even though there was no risk of anyone getting hurt.

I hit a jogger, jogging up the fort bill WC course, earphones in, looking at the ground at 2 in the afternoon.

I hit him so hard he fell to the ground and broke 3 teeth from the impact. I could possibly have avoided him by steering off course but I would have been in a real mess had I done so.

They are not being grumpy, they are just being more right than each other. Rather like the op's walkers.

Encountered a group of 8 french people walking up the fort bill downhill this summer, i nearly took out 3 of them. I tried to explain they shouldnt be there and how much danger they were in, all i got was blank stares and a merci

Pfft walkers, a few weeks back I met 2 horses being ridden the wrong way round the red/blue at kirrougtree - they had made a right state of the trail.

I wonder what the legal position is if you hit someone who is eg. jogging/riding a horse the wrong way round a waymarked trail?

Andy

Just be polite and move on, life's too short

You should ride within your limits and be able to stop for whatever's in the way. Yes, it's daft of them to do it, but if a someone wiped my kids out while they were riding their bikes on an mtb trail, because they were assuming they're able to ride flat out regardless, I'd be pretty annoyed. We ride footpaths and complain when walkers claim them as their own.
Live and let live - what yunki wrote

Lets reverse the situation who do you sympathise with
And really calm down its a little light debate/discussion wher ehe rightly pointed out that the phrase though in glas houses .. FFS we ride footpaths everywhere - what exact rght would we have to then get uppity when walkers claim our bits?

This is the thing.

Live & let live BUT some just cant.

Its a shame.

What was it Frank Zappa said: "Do what you want, do what you will - just dont spoil your neighbours thrill.." I could be wrong..

Its not holier than thou at all either. Its a case of being deliberately irresponsible, I'd be just as annoyed if someone went down Snowdon on a bank holiday August & ploughed through a load of walkers..

You should ride within your limits and be able to stop for whatever's in the way.

Agreed.

If it's a closed trail race, go for your it. If it's anywhere else, ride within limits which would allow you to avoid any unforeseen obstacle. Even at a trail centre. Many of them are in shared access areas, and it's quite possible that people would get lost, get it wrong etc. Just the same as any of us have "got lost" or "got it wrong a little" when we find ourselves on a footpath.

Reading threads like these makes me disgusted to call myself a mtb'er.

I would have greeted them, passed pleasantries and went on enjoying my ride.

It doesn't sound like the OP was overly rude. A pleasant "be aware" message would have been in their interests, especially if they were actually lost and didn't know what they could be facing.

Some of the other posters need to have a word with themselves though. That walker coming up the trail could be another, fallen rider. If you can't see far enough ahead to be able to stop for an obstruction then you are simply going too fast.

There are a few bits of GT and Inners that are shared use trails.

I've run into walkers on the 'Simon's Swamp' section at Gisburn before now, both times i've stopped and pointed out (politely) that they were on the wrong trails and putting themselves in danger from fast moving bikes on a one-way trail.
Both times the walkers were polite and admitted they were lost, trying to get to the Hall from the Crag.
Personally i don't think they were actually lost as the signposts are perfectly clear and make it ver obvious that it is a cycle-only trail, but i don't think they wanted to admit they thought they could walk it without risk to themselves of others.
Everyone was nice and friendly, but i do wonder how pleasant they would have been had they been hit by bikes heading down the berms on the other side of the swamp..

[i]I would have greeted them, passed pleasantries and went on enjoying my ride.[/i]

I hate hippies

The bare basics are its just plain unsafe to be walking on trails meant for riding ... sucks the OP gets abused for offering some advice on 'safety' not a lecture on rights of way.

Most ride on footpaths and I would assume that when you do you exercise the degree of caution required for the potential of slower moving walkers on the trail as you have made the assumption that there will be walkers on the paths ... when I ride dedicated mountain bike trails I am no way expecting people to be walking on them.

Again I don't think the issue is rights of way just safety ... what if it was a mountain biker riding the wrong way round a way marked trail .. he would get offered the same 'safety' advice.

Walkers can be testing - but horse riders are just kinda special ..

I had a puncture this afternoon. So kneeling on side of fire road pumping tyre up .... when an approaching woman on a horse shouted for me to stop pumping my tyre because it would scare her horse ...

If her horse is that sensitive. Then its best kept in a field out of the way I thinking.

Acceptable risk plus the unicyclist has a right to be there.

Screw that, it's a bike trail not a unicycle trail. Just take the standard issue Strava stance (plough through)

I came flying down 'Falla Brae' at Glentress this summer to find a chinese family walking up It 😆

I tried to explain it was a mtb trail only to be met with vacant stares.

[i]If her horse is that sensitive. Then its best kept in a field out of the way I thinking.

[/i]

Ever been kicked by a horse...

Just be polite and move on, life's too short

Preposterous

general good manners to be nice to walkers/other trail users be it footpath/bridleway/BOAT/road/canal - they genuinely might be lost or not know the consequences of their actions. if they are a bunch of nobs so be it, karma will hunt them don't and own them with bombers. much worse things happening in the world to worry about tbh

I've been lucky enough not to encounter walkers on any downward sections of trail. Normally I'll politely point out they're on an MTB dedicated trail and on the downhill sections they'll be putting themseleves in danger. If I'd been Binners friend however I would have gone nuts about the walkers on the boardwalk, it's very difficult to stop on parts of it and there's a couple of foot drop to the ground, plus Gisburn is one of the few trails where the signage actually prohibts walkers and horses from the trails.
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I do like it though when they ask what right I've got to tell them not to walk the trails I point out I built them 😈 (many sections go through dense woodland you wouldn't have been able to walk through before).

Most walkers though are just ignorant (i.e. they don't realise they're not supposed to be there rather than nasty), politely pointing out the issues gives them the chance to take it on board without feeling backed into a corner.

You've also got to be careful, many FC trails aren't dedicated to mountain bikes like Gisburn is and even then there's at least one section that follows the route of a ROW footpath for a couple of hundred metres so the walkers have every right to be there.

what it needs is to be tested in a legal sense

ie mtb rider ploughs over wooly sock wearer and see who's in the wrong

Unfortunately sounds like an accident waiting to happen so i dare say eventually it is going to happen

just a shame some poor sap might be the fall guy for the we own every inch of the countryside brigade

I was once mending a puncture by the side of the road. A horse came around the corner,saw me and went absolutely ballistic. No idea why.
Having said that on one of my Down hills they quite happily watch from their field while you belt past. I think having people on their back must scare them. Sorry to stray off topic. Ps the walkers were wrong.

^^^^ do you own a glue factory? I think horses sense this kind of thing

[quote=compositepro ]what it needs is to be tested in a legal sense
ie mtb rider ploughs over wooly sock wearer and see who's in the wrong
Are you being serious?

Horses are odd creatures - but not as odd as the people sat atop them!

Once, round the back of Brown Wardle i had a rather imperious lady rider tap me on the helmet (fnar fnar) and demand "young man, is that a bridleway?" Her friends had the good grace to look embarrassed!

Right... I'm back from taking the kids swimming so I can wade in again.

I pointed out that they were on a designtaed MTB trail and mentioned that if they were to meet somebody coming down it they would be putting themselves and others at risk.

At this point I got all of the flak and then they marched up the next section of sign posted trail, that runs parallel to the footpath. One of them called my wife "rude" because she suggested that their actions would appear to be knowingly risking themselves and other users. The confronation started properly when one of them did the "Get a bell" routine, so I pointed at my bell (fnarr) and informed them that they had ignored it when I rang it.

There are about 3km of bridleway and footpath in Waterdale. 600m of it is designated bike trail and runs more or less parallel to the paths.

These pricks were going to walk where they wanted and didn't give a toss. No doubt, in their minds all cyclists are hooligans.

Later on in the ride we met another bunch on a bridlway that happens to be Sustrans 6. They were very nice. They stepped aside and we slowed so that they didn't get splashed.

I hope they didn't wander the wrong way up the red. There were a few DHers out today.

While I'm at it. I don't ride "cheeky" and I wouldn't do it leading 29 mates.

Did you shout "STRAVAAAAAA!" on approach? If not, your fault really

I do like it though when they ask what right I've got to tell them not to walk the trails I point out I built them (many sections go through dense woodland you wouldn't have been able to walk through before).

I have had that 🙁 It slightly irk's me as well 🙁

Especially when they claim they've walked for years with fido years, when I actually made this season.

Don't bother any more... just go and build more.

It ain't my land, but when I own my own wood I'll tell to **** OFF.

TBH lately I'm on the edge of being serious....maybe im getting old or going through a pedantic phase but have started seeing things from a different point of view. My reasoning for being that as some one posted above even on prohibited trails theres an attitude by some of "im going to walk where i like" Wonder if it will apear all over the walkers websites or forums (if they exist)that some walker has been prosecuted for wandering aimlessly on a prohibited trail and causing an off, i hazard they still wouldn't give a toss anyway...i dont think there will ever be any common ground sharing the countryside ...no matter what

Life innit! I think we've experienced all the permutations described. It's the classics that stick in your head, like the time at Dalbettie towards the end of the trail where the board walk joins a rock and hangs a left down a second wood section (name escapes me). We come rolling off the trail and onto the woodwork to find a couple having a picnic at the narrowest point. Or the lady casually walking her 5 puppies on the bottom rocky part of the 'beginning of the end' section at CyB. As has been said, whenever this happens I always stop and politely point out that the trail is used by mountain bikers and they are putting themselves and others at danger - this usually does the trick but you'll always get some people who won't or don't want to listen to you.

Don't let it ruin your day, the problem is theirs not yours.

Horses ... well yeah, if you ever ridden or worked with horses then you'd get it. They're animals, and can do unpredictable stuff, even in the hands of capable experienced riders. Just give them lots of warning and space, and if a rider asks you stop doing something that they think might spook the horse it's really no bother is it. Better that than the potential alternatives.

I walk on bike trails all the time, I call them "cheeky footpaths"

Reading threads like these makes me disgusted to call myself a mtb'er.

agreed, I read the OP, then went away for a bit, hoping when I came back the good people of STW would have pointed out that although perhaps a bit foolish, and very annoting, they were well within their rights to be there (unless private land where access forbidden) and that you should ALWAYS ride assuming that round the next blind corner is a fallen 5 year old in your way.

We share the countryside with many other people, you should never expect to have the trails to yourself even on 'dedicated' bike trails and there will always be unexpected people/animals/debris, I share your annoyance OP, but some of the other comments on here are quite worrying if we (MTBers as a group) are ever to expect respect from other groups.

Going on the your description OP, it sounds like you were polite and respectful and that the walkers were being foolish and obnoxious, problem is there aint no law against being an obnoxious fool...

amedias+1

It's the classics that stick in your head

You've just reminded me of one from a few weeks ago...

We were out riding on the red routes at the local forest and we came across a poor woman with a dog who was by this point quite angry, because she had accidentally missed a turn and ended up on the bike trail, and for the last 10 minutes had been trying to get off it and work out where she was but every rider who had passed her before us (including a group of about 8 guys) had ripped past hurling abuse and shouting at her to get of the trail!

We pointed her in the direction of a shortcut and she was very grateful in the end, but shame it will probably be her interaction with the shouty group she tells people about...

Strava has a lot to answer for. I had a near perfect (for me) run down one of my favourites the other week ruined by a couple who had parked up a mile away from the road completely blocking the track and were having a snooze in the sun.

It took a while before I realised I should nip back to make sure they hadn't gassed themselves.

Is there a bar mounted sub machine for such occasions?
goes off to check on crc.

Some of the other posters need to have a word with themselves though. That walker coming up the trail could be another, fallen rider. If you can't see far enough ahead to be able to stop for an obstruction then you are simply going too fast.

Going down the WC course, yeah, I'm going to be going as fast as I possibly can. No such thing as too fast when I'm on my DH bike, just not fast enough.

ALWAYS ride assuming that round the next blind corner is a fallen 5 year old in your way.

I have to disagree there Im afraid. You should always remain under control but if I was riding THAT SLOW I'd never get anywhere!

ou should never expect to have the trails to yourself even on 'dedicated' bike trails and there will always be unexpected people/animals/debris,

Of course, but I think if you are on a bike specific trail then you have a reasonable right to expect to only find bikes on it. The same goes for footpaths, one would hope to find only walkers surely..

Bottom line is its all about consideration.

yeah, I'm going to be going as fast as I possibly can. No such thing as too fast when I'm on my DH bike, just not fast enough.

*Swoons*

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You're......amazing, dude!

Unsurprisingly, you mis-read it.

It was teh ironing? 😉

ALWAYS ride assuming that round the next blind corner is a fallen 5 year old in your way.

I have to disagree there Im afraid. You should always remain under control but if I was riding THAT SLOW I'd never get anywhere!

I never mentioned speed 😉 I just said ride assuming.. doesn't necessarily mean going at walking pace, but definitely means being in control and making sure you have good visibility of what is ahead.

Of course, but I think if you are on a bike specific trail then you have a reasonable right to expect to only find bikes on it.

Or perhaps people that are no longer attached to their bike? riders not confident enough to ride a section? Me and the other half unfortunately ended up helping scoop a poor girl into an ambulance from the bottom of red run descent 3 weeks ago after she went over the bars, broke both wrists and knocked herself out cold o the trail using her face as a brake.

It does happen.

You can reasonably expect whatever you want, doesn't mean your expectations are always right. *Most* dedicated bike trails are open and clear enough that your have plenty of forward visibility, truly blind corners are few and far between, but when they are there you have to exercise caution.

My scariest blind-corner moment was nearly parking my bike in the buttocks of a big brown wooly cow* at warp 9 on a night ride, proper quick moooonoeuvre required there to avoid a rather unpleasant decelerative event!

Bottom line is its all about consideration.

I 100% agree, from all sides.

*yes, this was on a trail centre red route, obviously the cow did not read the 'bikes only' sign

No ironing, but no puffing out of the chest either. my point was that when I go 'downhilling' I ride on the principle of trying to be faster, not to try and go slower hence as far as I am concerned I'm not going fast enough.

Solved...

[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRKhACRD5vTgd99kUfkDdxSKB6A02kpGw8EYdvRPT30-pgpMXnIKw [/img]

I seem to always come across walkers at CYB once an old couple picking mushrooms whilst standing in the middle of the single track and they had the cheek to tell me off when I rounded the bend and had to brake hard and swerve around them, I was so gob smacked I just rode off muttering.

Second time on the Dragons Back some nutter was on the second bit of single track with a metal detector knelt down digging up the trail again I was so shocked I was speechless, it was only when I finished the section that I was fuming and felt like going back.

Third time a few weks ago two women were walking their dogs up a knarly steep part of the beginning of the end section just after the road crossing again I was dumbfounded.

Must find my voice in future and point out the error of their ways 🙄

My scariest blind-corner moment was nearly parking my bike in the buttocks of a big brown wooly cow* at warp 9 on a night ride, proper quick moooonoeuvre required there to avoid a rather unpleasant decelerative event!

You made your choice, you took your chances, you ended up in a cows arse.

I made my choice to ride as quickly as I could down Fort William, a jogger made a choice to jog up it, with his iPod on whilst staring at his feet.

He broke 3 teeth and I ripped my knee pad.

Maybe we should start a campaign to get some real Mountain "Bile" Trails? Then walkers who hate bikes, and bikers who won't slow down, and arrogant horse riders and green laners could all run into each other on them and shout abuse. Leaving everyone else who can get along normally to enjoy the rest of the countryside.

Must find my voice in future and point out the error of their ways

Ironic given your user name 🙂

[quote=pleaderwilliams ]Maybe we should start a campaign to get some real Mountain Bile Trails? Then walkers who hate bikes, and bikers who won't slow down, and arrogant horse riders and green laners could all run into each other on them and shout abuse.
Isn't that called England?

Ironic given your user name

Need an Audience 😆

you ended up in a cows arse.

If you read my post you'll find that actually I [b]didn't[/b] end up in the cows arse.

And experiences like that have taught me to be a bit more careful on blind corners.

Leaving everyone else who can get along normally to enjoy the rest of the countryside.

Sounds terribly dull.

If you read my post you'll find that actually I didn't end up in the cows arse.

I know but where's the fun in that.

It's not an issue of who was where, let people go where they want, within reason, cheeky trails, cheeky footpaths, whatever. The issue is about conduct and attitude. That is where the walkers the OP encountered, and various others mentioned in this thread, failed.

I was surprised when I got flagged down by a couple walking a dog on a byway. After having taken my gloves off, unzipped my jacket, and switched off my iPod. I got asked, quite politely....

" We walk our dog here regularly off the lead, so if he ever starts to chase and bark at you, which he is likely to do, could you stop so we can get him under control and don't loose him...blah blah"

I politely said "yeah" and pelted off as quick as I could, thinking FFS what am I a part time dog warden. Generally speaking i hate dogs, probably compounded by a particularly nasty bite in the leg a few years ago when out jogging. Apparently that was "my fault as my 'running' had proved the dog". Did't sue, wished I had!

What is the staus of the way marked mtb trail - in Surrey the way marked trails are all bridleways ?

The walkers we encountered walking the wrong way up the Gisburn singletrack were being deliberately bloody-minded! Why? Who knows? They were rude and totally confrontational when we politely pointed out they were putting themselves at risk. We went on to ride the red, debs did the blue. I met her in the car park, bruised and covered in shit after going off the boards, after losing the front, braking hard to try and avoid them, and falling off fairly spectacularly! She was lucky she wasn't seriously hurt! And yet they didn't even stop to see if she was ok? Despite the fact they were clearly in the wrong!

There's only one conclusion you can draw from this. These people are selfish inconsiderate morons! And what they deserve is to be wiped out by a storm trooper on a Demo 9!

[quote=binners ]
There's only one conclusion you can draw from this. Th[s]e[/s]ose people are selfish inconsiderate morons!

a few weeks back I met 2 horses being ridden the wrong way round the red/blue at kirrougtree

I've had that a few times, a young girl by any chance? She's going to get superman'd some day when that horse gets spooked.

Walkers I really couldn't care less about, let them do their thing and me mine, they can shout all they want as soon as they're out of sight it's forgotten about, unless they start swinging walking poles at me that's a whole different thing.

we came across a poor woman with a dog who was by this point quite angry, because she had accidentally missed a turn and ended up on the bike trail,

...wonder if she gets angry when she finds herself going the wrong way on the M6 in her mobility scooter?