Growing hostility towards Mountainbikers and Cyclists

[M-Power]

Back in our day we were more about cross country riding, bumbling through the woods at a more civilised pace and climbing showing off our fitness. These days it's all about jumps and breakneck speed through the trees. This could come across as quite intimidating to non riders.

Part of me thinks we could see a growing trend to ban riders from forests etc as Rochford Council have done after the recent events. The media of course love to stir up the hatred of cyclists. We are a new target for the masses who need to vent their anger about their lives in general.

It will never happen if course but part of me would love to see things return to the more gentle pace of our youth. There never seemed to be any hostility towards cyclists on the trails.

Am I wrong ? :roll:

 

[Skynet]

A tiny minority give cycling a bad name both on and off road, always have. It doesn't help that mountain bikes these days can easily be more capable than their rider. People looking for easy thrills where they let gravity do the work over pedalling just makes it worse.

 

[elPedro666]

"We are a new target for the masses who need to vent their anger about their lives in general."


I'm afraid you seem to be spot on with this tragic take on things - I spent far too long yesterday (and the day before) banging my head against some ignorant a*holes on Facebook (friends of a friend, so I thought maybe there was hope), but they remain utterly convinced that cyclist are a terrible evil menace, posing a vicious threat to their very lives on the pavements of Salford! This began because someone jumped at the sound of a cyclist's bell, I hope he's recovering now from such a traumatic experience.

I know we shouldn't technically be on a footway, but when the alternative is six lanes of 50mph traffic, and you need to be in the outside lane to go straight on, I don't think it's such a heinous crime! Especially with a friendly tinkle to warn of your approach. Incidentally you're 46 more times more likely to be killed by a car than a cyclist on a pavement, not that they'd countenance any criticism of angelic car drivers.
But yeah, the completely unfounded hatred runs deep and I agree the media love to whip up an unfounded confrontation - it helps draw attention away from their cronies as they dismantle hundreds of years of progress and murder innocents in foreign lands - not to mention at home - to stuff their already bulging pockets.

Not that I'm bitter.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

^^ Bang on and I also think the media whipped up cyclist hatred is to divert attention away from Daesh and other economic matters. If drivers would just position themselves further towards the centre line of the road, most cyclists could easily get past on the inside, with no occasional need to hop on the pavement to get by. There seems to be more intentional use of a car as a weapon against cyclists these days, compared to just driving without due attention 20 years ago.

I love riding through forests and it would be a tragedy if there is a media campaign to ban cycling from them, under the guise of health and safety. Thus cleverly handing victory to those who tried to terrorise us away from the forests in the first place.

 

[Skynet]

Think a lot of the on road hostility stems from city dwellers. There are a sub-set of cyclists who think road rules don't apply to them, not that drivers are a whole lot better.

 

[02gf74]

Re:

Why dont rickford council ban cars from the roads?

I am sure there have been many concusijons, severe permanent injuries as well as deaths due to cars.

 

[legrandefromage]

Reading the article, its seems to imply that cycling was already not permitted but have had to publicise it more after a cyclist was injured by a booby trap

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/1420228 ... oncussion/

These traps are seemingly appearing more and more by an ignorant few who thinks its their right to harm an injure somebody regardless of whether cycling is permitted or not.

*Ok, this is a motorbike but the speeds can be similar given the right conditions - its local to me and not the only recent example

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ca ... e-35311244

 

[Canopy]

I find these stories about booby trapped trails appalling, it is a bit difficult to police when the trails are off limits outside events but doing things that could maim or even kill aren't the answer.

Thankfully my local haunt is The Quantocks (mostly the combes at the north end) where there are very few no-go zones. I've never encountered anyone who didn't give a nod or hello and make a point to say thank you.. I reckon I see about 65% walkers, %5 joggers/fell runners and the rest being MTBers. rarely see people on horseback.

I did move a branch/log that was across a trail when making my way up at the weekend though but couldn't see evidence of how it got there.

 

[kingbling]

Being respectful in the first incidence will always help, booby traps are definitely not the answer but you can see how these incidences come to fruition i.e a walker complains to the local council or land owner on numerous occasions and is fobbed off, so takes matters into his own hands why because nothing is done about his just complaints. The same can be said of a car driver whose fed up of having his mirrors knocked or cyclists jumping a red lights across him so he chooses to block the road to get his own back or the cyclist who's had a near miss on the road and rides on the pavement no it's not right but we can see how things are exacerbated. It's a vicious circle out there people one which is near impossible to break.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

The on road answer has got to be more lined off cycle lanes, public education and legal enforcement. Maybe it should be a requirement that all learner drivers have to ride a push bike for a few weeks in a local city and have a proficiency test. This would make them aware of the real world experiences of a cyclist. Hopefully they would be less hostile when behind the wheel.