what the hell happened to my fave singletrack?

not been out on a decent ride since Xmas, so went out this morning, my local route includes Stanmer park (near Brighton), which has a nice single track downhill, but i got there today and they have paved it with red sand, i avoid this area on weekends as its full of dog walkers and did not expect anyone to be there at 10am this morning, the last time i went up there at Xmas i rode over a dog,

today as soon as i got onto the track a dog bit me, but no blood so i carried on, the owner did nothing,

then another womans dog ran infront of me while she was on the phone, she said sorry, so i said, "GET OFF YOUR PHONE AND CONTROL YOUR DOG", then she had a little moan,

i though maybe they have paved a little section, cos it does get a bit muddy, but no they have paved the entire track, no roots, no rocks, no jumps, then i realised why, an old lady on a go-cart with 3 massive german shepards, for f*** sake, i had to go completely off the 9 foot wide track to avoid her,

:x

Gutted. :cry:



:twisted: http://www.mini-diggers-hire.co.uk/digg ... -essex.php

amt27":1q0s2a8h said:

today as soon as i got onto the track a dog bit me, but no blood so i carried on, the owner did nothing

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I really dont like dogs. They always go for you when your riding your bike, and as you say, the owners just dont give a sh1t do they?!

"here boy, here boy, oh he doesnt like you does he" is just not good enough when they are chasing and biting you!

I nearly lumped the the last dog owner who's dogs growled at and chased me, I bloody lost the plot with him. I ended up scaring myself, because thats just not like me, but then when you have 2 alsations growling at you, the adrenalin tends to pump! :shock:

I’m not exactly certain of which trail that is, but I’m pretty sure that it was classified as a footpath prior to the resurfacing. I appreciate that most people ignore that, but unfortunately it does give dog walkers, ramblers, family outings etc an excuse to moan about mountainbikers and attempt to restrict access if we ride on footpaths (especially if you ever hit somebody’s dog, which is of course a crime punishable by death in the eyes of most doggy folk).

The resurfacing itself while regrettable is part of a reclassification to ‘access’, which is a hybrid category between foot path and bridle path and which does now officially allow cycling there. It is also intended to facilitate access to the countryside for disabled people, even though motorised vehicles are still not permitted. But even if they’re not, it’s a bit hard for us who ignore ‘footpath’ signs to claim that disabled people should obey all the signs that apply to their buggies.

My own view is that if we want to improve access to the countryside, we can’t realistically expect it to be only for ourselves and in reality we can only hope to succeed if we work in alliance with other groups, including the disabled as well as equestrians. The resurfacing of trails like those is part of the price to pay for other improvements, such as the installation of gates to replace stiles. Stanmer Park is after all a beautiful public park and I don’t think we can blame the Council for wanting to popularise it and encourage its use by a wider audience. There are plenty of trails further afield where you’ll rarely see anybody other than a fellow biker IMPE.

at the risk of hijacking this thread I was only thinking this morning about dogs etc as I tried to avoid *yet another* dog in the middle of a cycle lane how cycle lanes should be made for BICYCLES ONLY i.e. no pedestrians, no dogs and no lamposts. I'm thoroughly fed up with dogs and people who walk right down the middle of a busy cycle lane and then complain about not hearing you... 2 things:

1) It's a cycle path (the clue's in the title), don't be surprised if bikes come whizzing past you. Even if I rang my bell I'd be past you before you jumped out of your skin hearing the bell let alone passing you without ringing a bell and scaring the hell out of you - why not try walking to the side of the path (not off it, but just stay left)??? :?

2) keep your dogs under control on a cycle path

I'd rather take my chances on the road these days than use a cycle path, at least the traffic is moving in the same direction, a bit more predictable and at a similar speed.

Rant over... :evil:

Interesting debate evolving here - Personally I only ever ride on Byways and Bridleways and have been known to walk when I have got to travel along a section of footpath or join the road and come back if need be (this is needed if you ever ride the Ridgeway from Wiltshire going east as it turns into footpath at the eastern end).

I'd be equally pissed off If I met a Land Rover coming the other way if I was on a Bridleway (yeah it's happened :roll: :roll: )

Dogs?.....don't get me started :!:

Anthony":oorntkso said:

I’m not exactly certain of which trail that is, ......

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its on the east side of the park, close to the uni and runs up nearly to Ditchling road,

there is already plently of surface track on the west side, and i am not entirely sure this is easy access, this track is quite high up, i dont know how the lady managed to get up there, someone without motor power would certainly find it impossible,
the west side has a carpark close by too, and walkers regularly put logs on the west side to stop cyclists,

basically Stanmer park is one huge dog litter tray for the city dwellers, if you go up there on a typical day there are more dogs than humans, and it is regularly used by dog walking companies, last time i was confronted by a walker with 10+ dogs,

yeh, i was aware this was a footpath, i am pretty curtious and slow down for people, the dog i ran over actually ran into my wheel, last summer i would only meet other mtbers on this track during weekdays daytimes,

If you are on a footpath on a bike , you have no right to be there unfortunately .

Not that i respect this , as I ride on any tracks whatever it is .

I only (knowingly) ride bridleways, but it bugs me when I see lovely footpaths that are rarely used by walkers that could be re-classified, but nothing seems to be happening on that front

anybody know anything about this? How does it work?