Mountain bike track built in forest where sign says no mountain biking.

BlackandGreen · 30-01-2019 10:07pm #1

Was going for a walk in a local forest recently, I think it's owned by coillte or at least it has a big sign at the entrance to the marked walked with various rules including "no mountain biking, quads, horse riding" etc.

I ended up going for a walk off down an unmarked beated dirt pathway and came across an extensively designed and sculpted mountain bike track. Lots of jumps, ramps, landscaped mounds of dirt, raised wooden tracks for about 20 meters.

Seemed heavily used.

What's the craic with this? Was a bit annoyed at it to be honest. It's a protected wild life sanctuary.

listermint · 30-01-2019 10:09pm

BlackandGreen wrote: »

Was going for a walk in a local forest recently, I think it's owned by coillte or at least it has a big sign at the entrance to the marked walked with various rules including "no mountain biking, quads, horse riding" etc.

I ended up going for a walk off down an unmarked beated dirt pathway and came across an extensively designed and sculpted mountain bike track. Lots of jumps, ramps, landscaped mounds of dirt, raised wooden tracks for about 20 meters.

Seemed heavily used.

What's the craic with this? Was a bit annoyed at it to be honest. It's a protected wild life sanctuary.

So went to a section of land you don't know much about or its ownership and got annoyed for what again ?

By your own admission you went off the trail somewhere else . Have you considered the sign didn't apply there

BlackandGreen · 30-01-2019 10:22pm

listermint wrote: »

So went to a section of land you don't know much about or its ownership and got annoyed for what again ?

By your own admission you went off the trail somewhere else . Have you considered the sign didn't apply there

Because it didn't appear on any official website as a listed mountain bike trail last time I searched, and the sign to the entrance of the forest literally says "no mountain biking". (the only entrance with parking)

Anyway. I did a bit more searching just there now and found a coillte 4 year plan pdf and the woods listed and the track has already been identified as causing damage to local badger population, and its working to protect them.

Just wanted to know what the general mountain bikers attitude to this is.

prunudo · 30-01-2019 10:48pm

What annoys me more in the forests is people who drop litter and let their dogs crap everywhere.

rizzodun · 30-01-2019 10:50pm

BlackandGreen wrote: »

Because it didn't appear on any official website as a listed mountain bike trail last time I searched, and the sign to the entrance of the forest literally says "no mountain biking". (the only entrance with parking)

Anyway. I did a bit more searching just there now and found a coillte 4 year plan pdf and the woods listed and the track has already been identified as causing damage to local badger population, and its working to protect them.

Just wanted to know what the general mountain bikers attitude to this is.

Usually, based on the mountain bikers I know, leave no trace, or as little disturbance as possible.

Also, one MTB trail is not reflective of the whole mountain biking community.

Tenzor07 · 30-01-2019 11:22pm

BlackandGreen wrote: »

Was going for a walk in a local forest recently, I think it's owned by coillte or at least it has a big sign at the entrance to the marked walked with various rules including "no mountain biking, quads, horse riding" etc.I ended up going for a walk off down an unmarked beated dirt pathway and came across an extensively designed and sculpted mountain bike track. Lots of jumps, ramps, landscaped mounds of dirt, raised wooden tracks for about 20 meters. Seemed heavily used.What's the craic with this? Was a bit annoyed at it to be honest. It's a protected wild life sanctuary.

Have you got a link to the location of this forest.. asking for a friend..

magicbastarder · 30-01-2019 11:33pm

if it's a wildlife sanctuary, i have zero time for anyone who would build an MTB trail through it.
go pick on a commercial pine forest instead.

JJJJNR · 30-01-2019 11:34pm

Someone should tell the deer, they create more trails than bikers ever do.

Peter T · 31-01-2019 12:12am

How does a track effect the local badger population ? Track shouldn't be there in the first place but the badger thing doesn't make sense to me

c montgomery · 31-01-2019 12:16am

BlackandGreen wrote: »

Because it didn't appear on any official website as a listed mountain bike trail last time I searched, and the sign to the entrance of the forest literally says "no mountain biking". (the only entrance with parking)

Anyway. I did a bit more searching just there now and found a coillte 4 year plan pdf and the woods listed and the track has already been identified as causing damage to local badger population, and its working to protect them.

Just wanted to know what the general mountain bikers attitude to this is.

The badgers can go suck a lemon

Lemming · 31-01-2019 12:30am

Peter T wrote: »

How does a track effect the local badger population ? Track shouldn't be there in the first place but the badger thing doesn't make sense to me

It may be any number of issues being caused for a local wildlife population be it disturbing natural prey or mating season/etc. The MTB advocacy group for Sheffield has held off on a particular project for the last few months due to a migratory bird species nesting nearby for example.

It can and does happen. That's not to say it necessarily is happening as I've also witnessed the bullsh1t excuses used to tear down parts of another local trail affectionately referred to as 'Wharncouver' (Wharncliffe woods) with claims of being ancient woodland being circulated into the press when the actual truth is it's modern logging forestry on what was an ancient woodland site ...

Wanderer78 · 31-01-2019 7:01am

BlackandGreen wrote:

What's the craic with this? Was a bit annoyed at it to be honest. It's a protected wild life sanctuary.

What are the do's and don't's in these type of situations, in order to maintain wild life protection, I.e. what should/could be done, when building and maintaining mountain biking trails in such areas, in order maintain an adequate level of wildlife protection? Thank you

C3PO · 31-01-2019 8:35am

BlackandGreen wrote:

Was going for a walk in a local forest recently.......
It's a protected wild life sanctuary.

Is it actually a protected wild life sanctuary - location please?

magicbastarder · 31-01-2019 9:26am

mod note - no locations to be given if it's an unauthorised trail

cjt156 · 31-01-2019 12:16pm

As a concerned biker and environmentalist there's only one possible response to this kind of behaviour.

muckwarrior · 31-01-2019 2:01pm

Can't comment specifically as I don't know where you're talking about, but in general it's not strange to find mountain bike trails where there are "No Mountainbiking" signs, as Mountain biking is basically officially banned everywhere except a small handful of places.

Regarding the environmental impact, again generally it has been proven that biking has less of an impact than walking. It always amuses me when walkers grumble about the environmental impact of biking as they walk on their massive stone clad paths that are probably visible from space. Most clandestine bike trails would probably disappear within a few months if they were no longer ridden.

Wanderer78 · 31-01-2019 2:06pm

muckwarrior wrote: »

Can't comment specifically as I don't know where you're talking about, but in general it's not strange to find mountain bike trails where there are "No Mountainbiking" signs, as Mountain biking is basically officially banned everywhere except a small handful of places.

Regarding the environmental impact, again generally it has been proven that biking has less of an impact than walking. It always amuses me when walkers grumble about the environmental impact of biking as they walk on their massive stone clad paths that are probably visible from space. Most clandestine bike trails would probably disappear within a few months if they were no longer ridden.

im obviously not a part of the 'general understanding', but by whos account has this been proven?

Auguste Comte · 31-01-2019 2:06pm

Peter T wrote: »

How does a track effect the local badger population ?

Bike envy, obviously. I mean have you ever seen a badger with a nice mountain bike?

Tr_18 · 31-01-2019 2:17pm

Is this area on South Tipp by any chance?
Any trail builders I know create as little disturbance as possible, I'd also be genuinely interested to see how a singletrack can effect the badger population

CramCycle · 31-01-2019 2:21pm

Wanderer78 wrote: »

im obviously not a part of the 'general understanding', but by whos account has this been proven?

I presume the poster means walking paths that are put in, as in not natural desire lines made just by large footfall rather council made paths with gravel, tar etc. and in this regard, they would be right but that is comparing Apples with Oranges.

As for off road, unofficial walking paths, compared to unofficial biking trails, I imagine the damage they do, other than visual is quite minimal, both would disappear without incidence in less than a year if left to their own devices with no affect to the environment.

As for the affect on animal populations, it is impossible to say without more info but unless under heavy use and in close proximity, it is hard to say .

muckwarrior · 31-01-2019 2:23pm

Wanderer78 wrote: »

im obviously not a part of the 'general understanding', but by whos account has this been proven?

There have been studies done that conclude that walkers do more damage to a trail as they tend to go to lengths to avoid puddles or wet patches, thereby widening the trials to a much greater extent than a biker would. If you go hiking a lot you'll regularly see evidence of this. Then of course there are the aforementioned walkers trails that have been constructed from massive stone slabs and/or gravel. These scar the landscape to a far far greater degree than any natural mountain bike trail.

Hurrache · 31-01-2019 2:28pm

muckwarrior wrote: »

There have been studies done that conclude that walkers do more damage to a trail as they tend to go to lengths to avoid puddles or wet patches, thereby widening the trials to a much greater extent than a biker would.

This can be seen on the likes of Djouce and Maulin, the rocky paths are gradually getting wider and wider.

C3PO · 31-01-2019 2:31pm

Wanderer78 wrote: »

im obviously not a part of the 'general understanding', but by whos account has this been proven?

Quite a lot of research if you Google it!
Most mountain-bike trails are very narrow and tend to follow the natural terrain. If they are left unridden they disappear within a short space of time.

Wanderer78 · 31-01-2019 2:36pm

muckwarrior wrote: »

There have been studies done that conclude that walkers do more damage to a trail as they tend to go to lengths to avoid puddles or wet patches, thereby widening the trials to a much greater extent than a biker would. If you go hiking a lot you'll regularly see evidence of this. Then of course there are the aforementioned walkers trails that have been constructed from massive stone slabs and/or gravel. These scar the landscape to a far far greater degree than any natural mountain bike trail.

im both a walker and mountain biker, and also a mountain bike trail builder, unfortunately us humans have a tenancy to create 'proof' to verify our actions from time to time, even though im not dismissing your statements above at all, a balanced approach is required, as im of the opinion, humans currently cannot exist on this planet without having some sort of negative impact on it.

i think its very important not to create an element of contention amongst other users of these environments, we should be listening to their concerns, and them ours, and come to some sort of agreements. im under no illusion of the damage i have, and continue to create via my activities, but im very willing to listen to others concerns, to hopefully implement changes in my approaches to these activities.

Icyseanfitz · 31-01-2019 4:24pm

id imagine the majority of the trails in Ireland are kept low key, and officially "not sanctioned but allowed by coilte regional managers" so as not to draw attention. realistically how many people know of this trail? It would need a fairly massive number of riders to be doing any real damage to the environment.

btw fcuk badgers, those tb infested feckers

CramCycle · 31-01-2019 4:58pm

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

id imagine the majority of the trails in Ireland are kept low key, and officially "not sanctioned but allowed by coilte regional managers" so as not to draw attention. realistically how many people know of this trail? It would need a fairly massive number of riders to be doing any real damage to the environment.

btw fcuk badgers, those tb infested feckers

F*ck cows, giving badgers a bad name :pac:

cjt156 · 31-01-2019 9:55pm

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

...fcuk badgers...

CramCycle wrote: »

F*ck cows...

What you two get up to in your spare time belongs on a different forum..

The Noble Nudge · 07-02-2019 5:35pm

Its been a while since I've seen the sign but I passed a Coillte generic one in Ticknock last night...(no mountain biking, etc etc)
Opposite the picnic table at the top of the tarmac path on the right hand side....
I dont know the names of the segments.....

prunudo · 07-02-2019 5:45pm

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Its been a while since I've seen the sign but I passed a Coillte generic one in Ticknock last night...(no mountain biking, etc etc)
Opposite the picnic table at the top of the tarmac path on the right hand side....
I dont know the names of the segments.....

I've seen a sign in a forest local to me saying no mountain biking. Had a Coillte logo but was printed on laminated a4 page, looked like it could have been placed by 'concerned forest user' rather than an official sign.

gnarbarian · 07-02-2019 6:08pm

jvan wrote: »

I've seen a sign in a forest local to me saying no mountain biking. Had a Coillte logo but was printed on laminated a4 page, looked like it could have been placed by 'concerned forest user' rather than an official sign.

I saw this at a certain EWS venue (not mentioning any place names!)

prunudo · 07-02-2019 6:28pm

gnarbarian wrote: »

I saw this at a certain EWS venue (not mentioning any place names!)

Prefered the other photo

Probably see 50% of those rules broken every time i go to the woods!

Mountain bike track built in forest where sign says no mountain biking.

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