Sunday 7 February 2010

Why So Touchy?

I seem to have touched a raw nerve in the mountain biking ‘community’. I’m puzzled that what I thought were mild and run-of-the-mill comments have attracted so much attention. If they over react to what I’ve said, how on earth would they respond to some other comments I’ve heard. I’m intrigued by this phenomenon. It illustrates the way certain groups gather together virtually via the internet to reinforce their beliefs and shut themselves off from a wider perspective. One of the results is a group defensiveness that’s invoked when members identify outsiders who dare to scrutinise what they do. Hackles rise and hunting is usually in packs. There are those on the ‘Single Track’ message board who do try to appear more reasonable than others but even some of them use dismissive terms like ‘pretentious tosh’ and as usual it’s the extreme ones who make most impact. Groups feel more cohesive when they identify a common threat and some go out trying to find one even when it hardly exists: A little collective paranoia can be good for the cause. But just a minute how many of me are there and how many of them? – suddenly hundreds of hits on this blog and a rash of ill mannered comments. Am I really such a threat or are they actually a bit unsure of the rightness of their cause? What an insecure lot.

I’m quite happy to be called an ‘old git’ or ‘a fart’ or ‘a prick’ by people who sign in as ‘anonymous’; that says a lot about the mindset of the people we’re dealing with. It’s tempting to play the same game - but I’d better not allow myself to get pulled into the slime.

I do, though, take exception to being told that I’m wrong when I’m accurately reporting what I’ve actually seen. Some examples of what some contributors have denied: Litter left by bikers: Am I really the only one who has watched as a biker takes a drink from a bottle and throws it over his shoulder? Or were my experiences the only times it’s ever happened? Why was it that the sudden appearance of bike tracks where they’ve never been before coincided with fresh drinks containers found at the side of very quiet paths when there’s never been litter before? Maybe the mountain bikers who chucked the beer cans were slow learning youngsters who hadn’t yet worked out that fizzy drinks aren’t suitable for bumpy rides, but other containers found were of the type specifically marketed to mountain bikers. When I took a holiday in a Scottish glen the week following a major mountain bike event why was it that there were scores of empty drinks containers lying over the wall over a long stretch of the road? Is that the result of an obsession of mine? Or do these people have such certainty that they actually know what I’ve seen cannot possibly be true? And what motivation might I have for making this up? I would dearly like to see more done to help cycling in cities and also more ‘quiet lanes’ in country areas where walkers and cyclists could feel safe. And I would be happy to keep my car to 20 mph to enable this. I’m sorry, but some of the contributors here remind me of the self appointed motorists’ groups who insist that speeding on our roads is not a problem. But perhaps some of them are also just that kind of motorist themselves? I’ll now run for cover before the flack starts up again.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Good that you don't publish your comments for others to read, otherwise the MTBers side of the story might be visible next to yours and show it for what it is, the very same closed-mindedness you claim to dislike. Many MTBers also walk in the country, it's not an exclusive activity. While the sport may include some who help to spoil it, so do some walkers and dog owners. Any rational person can see that faults lie on both sides, and do not lay blame with one party. But you're hardly rational.

Harry said...

greetings! - i'm a mountainbiker, and i like your blog...

i will attempt to answer your question; 'why so touchy?' - mountain biking in the uk is more or less illegal, a largely harmless activity that is frowned upon and discouraged with an aggressive vigour.

(councils/ landowners/ people-with nothing-better-to-do will go to extraordinary lengths to try and stop people riding bicycles off road)

Most experienced bikers don't find a moorland bridleway in any way challenging. For us, the draw to interesting/twisty/wooded trails is almost irresistible, but there are NO 'legal' trails like this for us to ride in the peak district, NONE.

you might as well ask climbers why they don't stick to ladders, or even better - stairs, or why they bother at all...

and so our sport is forced to exist outside acceptable society. Luckily for us the peak district has lots of interesting trails for us to ride, the problem is that they're all designated 'footpaths'.

we don't like getting in the way, we don't like causing bother, but many of us feel we have no choice.

(everyone hates us anyway, we're not allowed to ride anywhere, so why not ride where we want?)

i suspect that the animosity you've experienced is a backlash, almost a way for people to vent some frustration. i cannot condone this behaviour, and offer my apologies.

I love blackamoor, i may move through it quicker by bike than by foot, i may need to pay more attention to the ground, but the experience is still rich and invigorating, and yes, we do stop to admire the views.

Neil said...

CB The reason I'm slow at publishing the comments is simply that I've got a life to lead and I have many diverse interests and not got round to reading everything yet. I've decided foor the moment not to publish abusive or anonymous posts. I don't mind discussing with people who identify themselves even with a pen name (as I do myself) so that I can see whether they are consistent in their views.
If you expect me to respond immediately to comments then I think that's unreasonable. I've been accused of being obsessive about MTBers and blinkered. Doesn't that sound like MTBers themselves? After all many of you seem to spend a great deal of time on MTB message boards and reacting when someone is found to have a different view. As for not being rational, well it's possible from time to time that I'm not, but when accused I like to see the evidence. Sorry but I still think you're being unhealthily touchy

Neil said...

Harry,

Thanks for your interesting comments. Of the ones I've read so far yours are easily the most balanced. All I do in my blog is unambitiously ramble on about the things which I observe and which seem interesting to me related to a place I know pretty well. Until this avalanche of animosity was thrown at me I had not given detailed thought to MTBers, just a handful of sideways observations over the years. I had thought my comments were calm and reflective but if I had any prejudices beforehand, what's now happened has only served to reinforce them.
I'll try to come back to some of the things you say in a future post. The whole MTB phenomenon is pretty new to me and there might be enough material for a book!!

Mark Fisher said...

I would be absolutely astonished at how arrogant and self-absorbed these bikers are on their closed forum, but then when ever I have challenged a biker for their misuse of PROW I typically get the same moronic abuse. Access rules are there to maintain the charcteristics of locations, both in the care of the landscape, but also in the experience it offers. The free-for-all that bikers selfishly take to themselves is the vicarious thrill of the spoilt child. It is annoying that there are not the resources to ensure compliance with access laws. It would be an embarrassment for the bike yobs of Britain to see how responsible in the main the bike riders of other countries are.

Simon said...

Would you agree on Cycle only tracks at Blacka ? to keep Cyclists and Other users apart ?

Sounds like a good solution to keep everyone happy.

Neil said...

Simon,

I don't know whether you know Blacka but there's already something like 5,000 metres of bridleway that cyclists and others use. To me that's not usually a problem. I object to bikers going on footpaths mainly because the ground is mostly soft peat and anyway it's not legal. I can't see a need for separating other than this. Anyway I often talk with bikers when we meet on bridleways. I find that in most cases they are reasonable and grateful for having interesting wildlife pointed out. There are the occasional idiots who race past like madmen but most reserve their poison for when they are logged on. Must be something about computers.

Unknown said...

On the whole your post seems quite reasonable however i'm curious about the statement

"Am I really the only one who has watched as a biker takes a drink from a bottle and throws it over his shoulder?"

Have you actually personally witnessed a cyclist doing this? I don't mean someone you've seen in the Tour de France on telly or similar. But just a normal cyclist riding along?
In 25 years of cycling I can't recollect ever seeing a cyclist do such a thing. I'm not for a moment suggesting that cyclists are somehow immune from littering, they no doubt drop almost as much as walkers, but given that water bottles used by cyclists aren't generally considered disposable items, it would seem a strange thing to do.

Unknown said...

How do,

I have found your blog quite interesting, and you demonstrate an excellent prose in purveying your opinions. Opinions though are all that they are. I'm hoping that if you read what I am posting on here and follow the links you will see that your opinions are way wide of the mark and ill-informed.

One of the main points of concern regarding mountain bikes that you raise is based upon erosion.
There have been many studies made regarding erosion on multi-use trails but I have never read one that states that a mountain bike causes more damage to a trail than a walkers boot. I hope you have a chance to read http://www.imba.org.uk/uploads/papers/perception_and_reality_of_conflict.pdf
as it surmises quite succinctly all the previous scientific studies that illustrate that a mountain bike causes no more erosion than walker.

Another point of concern that you raise is the apparent litter that mountain biking brings to the countryside. If you follow these links http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=247
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=
you will see that the bottles and cages that are used by mountain bikers are specific products that are solely designed to be used on bikes. As the containers cost at least £4 each and are designed to be re-used I find it hard to believe that people would just be discarding them for the sake of it. What you also fail to realise as well is that the majority of mountain bikers will take out a day-pack (similar to walkers) which will house an internal hydration system.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=244
Therefore negating the need for any bottles at all.

Unknown said...

Hi,

Firstly a confession, I too am a mountain biker (I even subscribe to Singletrack).
It seems to me that you have a rather unfair view of mountain bikers in general, unless your local mountain bikers are misrepresenting the rest of the sport.
I live next to Glentress, (voted the UK's best and busiest dedicated mountain bike trail centre for several years running) and it is absolutely spotless. This is not the result of cleansing, but due the attitude of mountain bikers who like yourself appreciate our natural heritage and who in the main would also like to conserve it both for ourselves and future generations. In fact it is the ability to see far more of our countryside than walking allows that draws many of us mountain bikers to the sport.
I think the crux of your problem is the sweeping generalizations you are making. I absolutely believe you have witnessed cyclists littering, but I would argue this is the exception rather than the rule. I see pedestrians littering on a daily basis, but would not "assume" any person in particular would be more prone to this than another unless I had personal knowledge of their behaviour. As a result I do not assume a BMW driver is rude, or a horse rider is “posh”, and would suggest you also try to remember the individual.
I am sure you would not appreciate being incorrectly type cast, and it is this that has angered the mountain biking community.
Furthermore, research shows that the vast majority of litter in the environment has been deposited there by the wind or other natural elements. Again this is not an absolute, but bearing in mind your proximity to Sheffield I would suggest that this is the case here and not the vast majority of people enjoying Blacka Moor in whatever form they choose.

Barnaby said...

I am shocked by your comments. I am a mountain biker, a walker, a driver and a member of society. I can't believe that you see the actions of a few people who have no care for their environment to be the norm of the MTB world. On the whole I have rarely seen a biker drop litter, especially beer cans, yes there are a small minority who do but they would also be the people who would drop litter in the street and probably have a very untidy house.

You comments are disturbing as you are grouping everyone together and stereotype them - does this mean as Muslims are terroists or all Irish people have bomb making factories in their houses? or perhaps that all Germans are hitlers in the making (although Hitler was Austrian). Hopefully you will understand my point that not everyone within a group acts the same. (Apologies if I've offended anyone with those comments but I know that the minority does not make the majority)

The responsible bikers will look after the trails they ride and be respectful to other users, unfortunately due to the lack of places to ride when compared to other countries there will be times when bikers and other users come into contact - but it is more about education within the biking community on what is acceptable than moving to discourage or ban biking in rural areas. Walkers at the end of the day don't own the land but are users in the same way as horseriders and cyclists. I could add that I have seen walkers dropping litter and letting their dogs foul footpaths but that might just be seen as playing tit for tat.

Neil said...

Barnaby, you are way OTT in your comments. I'm seriously worried about the lack of imagination of MTBers and inability to see themselves as others see them. Let me explain something - though I had promised myself I would do so no more. Blacka ten years ago was a place which was of no interest to your usual tourist, not a honey pot site where trippers got out of their cars strolled a hundred yards dropped their litter and then went back. If you did meet anyone on Blacka they were mostly of more mature years, quiet and usually locals. There was hardly any litter and given that profile you wouldn't have expected much. Over the years MTBing has increased while the profile of non bikers has not changed. A quite sudden increase of biking activity has coincided with a lot more bottles etc left around. The bikers I would say were mostly a good deal younger, a fair proportion very young, though there have been some older ones more recently. Quite a few ignore signs so we old ****s conclude they don't care much for other people's standards. Oddly there are more of them going downhill (fast) than going uphill and it's a hilly site. It's always valuable to base your conclusions on direct observation of a place you know well. That is what I try to do. If there are saintly MTBers in other parts of the country how splendid that is. I'm describing one place and drawing some tentative conclusions. I do not know why this is relevant in your mind to Hitler and the Germans. All seems very far fetched to me. I could continue your analogy but I had better not or I'll have even more hysterical comments probably telling me that I've compared MTBers to Nazis!!! Now this is my blog so the final comment is mine. PLEASE can you all get some perspective into your rather narrow lives.