The capacity of this blog to offer hospitality to comments, literate or otherwise, from inhabitants of mountain bike websites on the boring subject of litter has now reached saturation point. The degree of saintliness protested by those who have never once dropped so much as a toffee paper is beyond my powers to contest. Obviously all have undergone a radical conversion in this area of behaviour since my observations going back two years ago that have only now been discovered by those wanting to claim they are now clean, pure and doubtless chaste. And of course those containers of energy drinks associated with biking must have been illusory and I only imagined picking them up and taking them home for disposal. But I can't leave this subject before thanking people for some of the best laughs I've had for many days. The commenter who believes I blame all the litter in the UK on mountain bikers gets this month's joint prize alongside the one who read so carefully what I'd written that he believed I had blamed MTBers for a roll of paper that had wrapped itself round a tree after a gale. So that's it. From now on I delete all comments about litter and those from 'anonymous' first.
Memo: now the readership of the blog has changed make sure sentences are shorter, words have fewer syllables and there's no ambiguity (not a good start).
All is however a distraction from the main charge against those I suppose must be called 'Single Trackers'*. They wish to promote cycling on PRoWs. As far as I can see it's their raison d'etre. Frankly I'm not inclined to discuss this with anyone who is unable to be balanced. Biking on vulnerable soft paths does ruin the paths in several ways and those who claim otherwise are in denial. I'm sure there are some who will protest that they personally are so amazingly careful that their tyres hardly even touch the ground. But I'm serious. There's several kilometres of bridleway on Blacka alone that you're allowed to ride on. Leave the footpaths alone.
*..... or should that be One Track Minders - or OTMs?
2 comments:
I'm glad you find them fun BB 'cos their obsessiveness to me is a pain in the backside. Do you think it's all about identity? I mean there are some who think of themselves as MTB ers and there are some who just ride mountain bikes? I mean youngsters buy a bike and aren’t part of ‘the community’ and don’t see them selves as bound by the same rules? Or just opt in and out as it suits them?
Nick, you could be right. It had sort of occurred to me. but why don't they admit that? Denying anyone on a MTB could possibly be a problem suggests paranoia.
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