Growing hostility towards Mountainbikers and Cyclists

[The History Man]

Re: Re:

I haven't read the whole thread but just wanted to say I have noticed increasing hostility in London.

Some of this is (sad to say) warranted – some clueless riders for sure, also seeing people riding no hands with headphones on busy London streets surely doesn't help the public image. It's hard to pinpoint the exact cause, but I feel the old maxim 'familiarity breeds contempt' does apply. There's just too damn many of us now compared to 10 or 15 years ago. I blame Dave Brailsford.

We used to encourage the youth to join our training rides around Hampstead Heath bitd. Naturally they had cheap bikes that broke and we'd be obliged to fix it, so said youth's long face turned into a big smile again.

I got a ticket on the Heath last year. I wasn't in the woods, just pootling along at 2mph on a wide track with no one around. The Heath Police pull up behind in a van, take my details and say next time it's a £200 fine. I get the distinct feeling that the police have orders from above to come down harder on cyclists these days. It's about the only time I've ever had any issue in 30+ years of biking.

Ah for the old days with a scrambler on Sandy Heath without fear of punishment...

Oh how times have changed......

I used to ride around the Heath on my Raleigh Magnum, fresh from the shop in '87, wishing it was an Explorer, then home to Golders Green Road. I worked at the top of Downshire Hill NW3. Funnily enough was never bothered by anybody, especially the Police. saw Michael Foot once. Dragged a body out of the Mixed bathing pond once too. I could go on, Jackstraws Castle car park etc.

The eighties were very different times.

 

[Silvergoat]

Re: Re:

I haven't read the whole thread but just wanted to say I have noticed increasing hostility in London.

Some of this is (sad to say) warranted – some clueless riders for sure, also seeing people riding no hands with headphones on busy London streets surely doesn't help the public image. It's hard to pinpoint the exact cause, but I feel the old maxim 'familiarity breeds contempt' does apply. There's just too damn many of us now compared to 10 or 15 years ago. I blame Dave Brailsford.

We used to encourage the youth to join our training rides around Hampstead Heath bitd. Naturally they had cheap bikes that broke and we'd be obliged to fix it, so said youth's long face turned into a big smile again.

I got a ticket on the Heath last year. I wasn't in the woods, just pootling along at 2mph on a wide track with no one around. The Heath Police pull up behind in a van, take my details and say next time it's a £200 fine. I get the distinct feeling that the police have orders from above to come down harder on cyclists these days. It's about the only time I've ever had any issue in 30+ years of biking.

Ah for the old days with a scrambler on Sandy Heath without fear of punishment...

Ah yes, you should experience the joy of the new superhighway along Blackfriars Bridge in Londonshire. It should have been the answer to traffic harmony and fluffy bunnies but no. It's two way hell on wheels. A heady mix of regular commuters, Boris bikers, wannabe roadies, aggressively competitive alpa males who have bulked up from hours in the gym, plus the inexperienced and inept. I was cycling along there this morning and someone in the other lane decided they were gonna overtake everyone, crossed over the centre line and had a head-on smash with me then were outraged at me. My headset loose now. Grrr. Later on, there were two guys at the lights both off their bikes fighting each other, to the bemusement of the cabbies. Think I'm actually safer on the roads with the rest of the traffic. Also, saw quite a few cyclists along my commute route being booked by the cops, for no apparent reason.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

A big group of us suddenly came upon a childhood friend's father, a top judge, getting his back door kicked in on a bench in Sandy Heath, his eyes met mine in horror, I've never ever said a word. What happens in the woods, stays in the woods.

 

[Muddy paw]

As usual the goverment is to blame for alot of this hassle as they waffle on about car sharing and folk should be using cars less and use other means of getting about to help cut air polution and of course the only other options are to walk or ride which gladly alot of people are now doing but to penalise cyclist for using deserted tracks and such is disgraceful as the likes of the heath police should be encouraging cyclists unless their abusing these ares by endangering other people en route so any way at this rate theirs going to be many restrictions for cyclists in parks and ares like the lovely peak district and thats just not on because what decent cyclist wants to be stuck on the main roads without the option of a leisurely ride in a park or along country side trails ..

 

[Boron]

Re: Re:

I used to ride around the Heath on my Raleigh Magnum, fresh from the shop in '87, wishing it was an Explorer, then home to Golders Green Road. I worked at the top of Downshire Hill NW3. Funnily enough was never bothered by anybody, especially the Police. saw Michael Foot once. Dragged a body out of the Mixed bathing pond once too. I could go on, Jackstraws Castle car park etc.

A big group of us suddenly came upon a childhood friend's father, a top judge, getting his back door kicked in on a bench in Sandy Heath, his eyes met mine in horror, I've never ever said a word. What happens in the woods, stays in the woods.

Behind the back of Jack Straw's Castle always was an.... um.... popular place to go "off-road". Wondering now what hidden traumas I might have unconsciously repressed from my childhood rides...

 

[Boron]

Re: Re:

Ah yes, you should experience the joy of the new superhighway along Blackfriars Bridge in Londonshire. It should have been the answer to traffic harmony and fluffy bunnies but no. It's two way hell on wheels. A heady mix of regular commuters, Boris bikers, wannabe roadies, aggressively competitive alpa males who have bulked up from hours in the gym, plus the inexperienced and inept. I was cycling along there this morning and someone in the other lane decided they were gonna overtake everyone, crossed over the centre line and had a head-on smash with me then were outraged at me. My headset loose now. Grrr. Later on, there were two guys at the lights both off their bikes fighting each other, to the bemusement of the cabbies. Think I'm actually safer on the roads with the rest of the traffic. Also, saw quite a few cyclists along my commute route being booked by the cops, for no apparent reason.

I've yet to enjoy the superhighway but that sounds delightful. Well what with all the growing animosity, who's going to tell our illustrious new mayor the real source of the problems?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1gkRAWvxOs

 

[Silvergoat]

Re: Re:

Well what with all the growing animosity, who's going to tell our illustrious new mayor the real source of the problems?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1gkRAWvxOs

Psychomagnotheric slime flow – I think this actually explains everything!

 

[k-rod]

Re: Re:

Well what with all the growing animosity, who's going to tell our illustrious new mayor the real source of the problems?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1gkRAWvxOs

Psychomagnotheric slime flow – I think this actually explains everything!

GREAT word ^^ did you make that one up?

Ya, the eighties were different even here in the Wild's of the wet coast of Canada (replete with moose, bear, and deer). We used to blast through the university endowment land woods (massive tract of wooded lands) on trails that were littered with roots and rocks and creeks and obstacles and such. Then, over the years and increasing popularity and commensurate growing number of mountain-bikers riding through there, the parks board decided to curb the serious erosion our knobby fats were reeking, so the closed a ton of the off-the-beaten-path trails, and gentrified all the remaining ones by layering a huge coat of navy-jack gravel over them, thus saving the ground from further erosion (and rendering the trails into not much more than gravel sidewalks).

Ahhh ... the good ol' pre-suspension m/bike days, eh ...

"Eh" ... that's a Canadian term, eh?

 

[M-Power]

Re: Re:

Well what with all the growing animosity, who's going to tell our illustrious new mayor the real source of the problems?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1gkRAWvxOs

Psychomagnotheric slime flow – I think this actually explains everything!

Prolly not too far off the truth if you are into spirituality

Interesting article on FB today, cant find :facepalm: it but it discuss the pitiful spend of ~£1.50 ea on cycling per year. Govt target is £10 and Sustrans say we need £17. Nothing more annoying that riding out in the county on a lovely Bridleways when suddenly you are only faced by footpaths everywhere or its back whence you came. Bring in the right to roam on bikes on footpaths.change the laws, widen them, keep them in usable cond. let's all go and ride rather than increasingly having to take the car to go riding to a resort. Utter madness.

 

[M-Power]

Re:

Can we set up an EU Petition to ask that they divert a few £100M to the UK farmers and landowners in return for them building and maintaining a rideable interconnecting national network of cycle tracks beside or through their land ? They could get this in addition to the annual farming subsidies. Bet the network would be built fast and we could all enjoy uninterrupted riding for miles and miles and destress the nation in the process. Would be great for the bike industry too. I'd vote IN if the EU offered that.