Er...is it just me or is this a wee bit too patronising? Christina C on trail etiquette....

[2manyoranges]

I like Pink Bike. It’s a good thing. Generally I like the videos. But as I rode yesterday I couldn’t get this one out of my head. It just feels very ‘Do this and don’t do that’.....patronising, that’s how it sounds. I am all for not hacking up the planet, but that’s what mountain biking seems to have become. It’s moved from ‘leave no trace’ to ‘dig it up to ride it...’. And then this video says ‘this group can dig it all up, and then they can tell you what to do...’. Yes, be safe. Yes, don’t wreck things, But the tone of this is ‘we know best...now BEHAVE....’ .... but maybe that’s just me....

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-6-things-mtb-trail-builders-hate.html

I

 

[hookooekoo]

Don't the Americans have any bridleways?

 

[mk one]

Not really patronizing, this is about trails that have had time and effort spent building them for others to enjoy and some people not respecting them.

 

[2manyoranges]

indeed mk1, some of the things are very sensible, such as adjusting or adding features which are dangerous ... but when I suppose I like the feeling of being unfettered by too many rules - we stick with 'bridleways only', and then we're off........

 

[longun]

as a trail builder i tend to steer clear of these media type things. they either praise you or piss you off.

 

[CassidyAce]

Most of the points are sensible but the presenter is a bit like a school teacher telling the fifth grade to play nicely. Sensible points, patronising tone.

As for 'Don't ride trails when it's wet' . . . That might be fine for Colorado but, in Britain, it doesn't leave a lot of time left. As for the Scottish Highlands - surely, it would scarcely be worth building any trails in the first place!

 

[2manyoranges]

Ah good, not just me then. And that ‘don’t ride trails in the wet’ is hilarious - she’s filming in BC. In BC it rains. A lot. In fact, most of the time.

Note: Less than 50 kilometres (30 miles) away in North Vancouver, the North Shore mountains force clouds to rise and release their moisture, producing an annual average of 1,859 millimetres (73 inches). Yet in the Okanagan Valley, annual rainfall drops to 347 millimetres (14 inches) or less.

Cambridge - where we are (I am cheating here since it’s officially the driest town in England) with a yearly average of 107.5 days with rainfall, and only 568.1mm of rainfall per year on average.

 

[FluffyChicken]

To me if the trails are built by a place, then respect their rules and building. It's their land and done for them.

If they are just in some local woods and not by the owner. Anything goes, do what you like, the builders don't own them. If they/you make it dangerous and if something happens to somebody, you should be prepared to take the consequences.
It's why landowners start to stop bike activity.

 

[2manyoranges]

Yes that’s important FC - we always have a rule +1 to add to any set of rules ‘and don’t be stupid...’ It is indeed a shame that poor decisions and naff building is leading to bans. There are some good articles about this as well as Ben Cathro’s recent and good YouTube video on building legal trails.

I feel quite conflicted about the current law in Scotland and England re trails - Scottish Forestry has been successfully sued by people riding obviously casually-built trails and then injuring themselves - which just seems odd. If you elect to ride something, anything, then its your risk, I think. Obviously if someone digs a two metre deep pit with the intention of hurting people, that’s a different matter.

 

[hookooekoo]

I feel quite conflicted about the current law in Scotland and England re trails - Scottish Forestry has been successfully sued by people riding obviously casually-built trails and then injuring themselves - which just seems odd. If you elect to ride something, anything, then its your risk, I think. Obviously if someone digs a two metre deep pit with the intention of hurting people, that’s a different matter.

A few years ago the local authority where I live decided to bring in heavy equipment to destroy some trail features created over a period of quite a few years by mountain bikers.

Anger as woods bike trails bulldozed - Mountain bikers in Leeds have expressed disapointment after the bike trails they created and maintained for six years were bulldozed by Leeds City Council.

Unfortunately we live in an age where personal responsibility is rapidly disappearing, and everything is always someone else's fault. I wish people would just realise and accept that sports such as mountain biking have always been what I would term an adventure sport, and no matter how much trails are sanitised, there's always a risk. If people don't like that, they should stay at home, or slow down a bit, instead of wrecking it for everyone else with personal injury claims.