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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think these dog walkers are bonkers.

161 replies

QuebecBagnet · 30/08/2022 21:02

So at the weekend me and a mate went mountain biking in a local wood. The wood is totally private property and owned by the local cycle shop. No public right of way at all. There is a sign by the entrance saying “bike trail”. You used to have to be a member of the shop’s cycling club to use it but think they’ve stopped that now (I’m a member anyway).

it’s a proper mountain bike track, single track, twisty through the trees, loads of jumps and berms. It’s admittedly not very well used and I’m often the only person there when I go.

we came across two different groups of dog walkers on the path. First one a solo woman with an off lead dog. The second lot a group of 5-6 people with 5-6 off lead dogs. Dogs were running infront of the people (out of their sight) and I nearly flattened them as I came round a bend. First dog was growling and snarling and baring it’s teeth at me. We obviously stopped until the owners came running and put them on leads. They were apologetic about the dogs

I Politely pointed out it’s not a public right of way and they just sort of shrugged and said it’s a nice walk and that maybe we should go slower! They seemed so adamant that it was ok them being there that I came home and checked the OS map and definitely no right of way. No where near a right of way.

Why would they walk on a single track mountain bike trail? It’s dangerous for me as well as them!

OP posts:
SnowyPetals · 31/08/2022 04:35

Probably because they think them liking the dog walk overrides the fact that they shouldn't be there, and they have no concept of how fast mountain bikes go. They probably think it's automatically someone else's responsibility and don't care less that their dogs might cause an accident by being somewhere they shouldn't. Knobs.

IAMNOTTHEONE2022 · 31/08/2022 04:40

Hang on! So are you posters suggesting that OP goes SLOWER on the designated bike trail, that she has PERMISSION to use, so as not to accidentally hurt the entitled trespassers???

Hahahahaha!

Their entitlement is next level..

Rest assured OP, this won't be the only area of their liives where they behave this way. 99% of social media vids are full of people like this. They are the ones who make life more needlessly difficult for everyone around them, except themselves, and couldn't give two shits..

itsgettingweird · 31/08/2022 04:57

All the whataboutery because it's a cyclist 🙄

It's a cycle track designed for cyclists as a space for cyclists.

Maybe the cyclists should start riding around the areas designed and labelled purely for dog walkers with dog climbing facilities (we have them near us)?

It's quite simple. If it's an area that's private and set for use for a certain type of group you do t go there and endanger than group or yourselves.

Unless you're an entitled twat WinkGrin

SuperCamp · 31/08/2022 06:19

YANBU, but think a lot of people wouldn’t know what ‘bike trail’ entails, and would think it more like the equivalent of a bridlepath, where you might expect to come across horses walking or trotting but not find yourself in the middle of a point to point.

Goatinthegarden · 31/08/2022 06:29

Lampyshady · 31/08/2022 00:04

even if the signs are made clearer, entitled people will still think it's ok to ramble about wherever they choose. As for anyone thinking you should slow down and watch out for pedestrians WHO SHOULDN'T BE THERE, words fail me!**

im not saying that people should walk there dogs there, I wouldn’t do it, but the fact is that people do and cyclists should have been mindful of this-the OP said they had already seen one dog walker so knew crashing into someone was a possibility yet still thought it was ok to go round a blind corner so fast that they ‘nearly flattened” a dog. I don’t know much about mountain biking, but this seems really dangerous-surely you shouldn’t be that out of control on a corner. What is there was another cyclist stopped or going slower on the path ahead.
of course you should watch out for trespassers-it’s not ok to mow them down with a bike and seriously injure them as a punishment for them walking where they shouldn’t! That’s like saying you shouldn’t watch out for pedestrians while driving because they shouldn’t step out on the road.

You seem to be missing the point of what a mountain bike trail is. They are tracks built specifically for the sport. People should not walk across them, just like you wouldn’t wander across a ski slope whilst people were skiing down it.

I ride Mtb trails regularly, there is a code of conduct, much like any sport. If you need to stop halfway down a trail, you move off the track because you know other mtbrs might be hurtling down the track behind you. If you are slow, you move to the side to let others pass. There is always a strict one way system so no one will be coming back towards you.

The very point of riding a Mtb trail is to go as fast as you can without losing control. You would not expect to see a dog on a trail.

The forest where, I bike, there are trails specifically for mountain biking and trails off to the side for walkers. I have never, ever seen a person or dog wander onto the trail and I would not be looking out for them as I came round a corner.

CredibilityProblem · 31/08/2022 06:48

I think the owners should probably cover their arses with some stronger signage saying.

"No pedestrians!
Danger of Collision!
Mountain Bikers may be on this route at any time and will be travelling too fast to stop"

TenoringBehind · 31/08/2022 06:54

YANBU but it sounds like better signage and fencing is needed

Jets121 · 31/08/2022 06:59

I’m a mountain biker too op and find many dog owners so entitled. I’ve been told off by dog owners on a few occasions when the problem has been their out of control, off-lead, dogs and not my cycling.

I don’t want to hurt a dog, and I could also be injured if I did hit one.

Soontobe60 · 31/08/2022 07:00

QuebecBagnet · 30/08/2022 21:40

I knew with all the anti cycling feeling on MN that somehow this would still be the cyclists fault. 😂. So predictable.

Show quote history

I cycle and I walk in the woods behind my house. It’s a disused mining area now a country park owned by the council. There are signs everywhere indicating where people can walk or cycle or ride horses. There are also multiple signs saying no mopeds, quad bikes, motor bikes or electric bikes.
Guess what happens almost every weekend?
I can’t say I’ve seen lots of anti cycling feeling here, just occasional annoyance at a cyclist who’s riding dangerously. Just as the OP, as a cyclist, is annoyed at dog walkers.
If I were the OP, I’d speak to the land owners and point out that their signage needs improving before there’s a nasty accident between a Walker and cyclist, for which the land owner may well be responsible.

SD1978 · 31/08/2022 07:06

Can you get the owners to put up signs? Won't necessarily stop the issue- but also makes them aware which they do t sound as if they are that bikes have the priority as it's private land with no right to roam?

Glittertwins · 31/08/2022 07:10

The dog walkers were totally at fault if it's private property that they were effectively trespassing on without the fact it is set up for off road biking.
Whoever said about not going so fast clearly has never done any form of technical biking - the speed is necessary to cover the berms etc

Lifeisaminestrone · 31/08/2022 07:14

I had never heard of a bike cycle route so would have thought it was like a bridle way.

I think better signage is needed.

ThursdayLastWeek · 31/08/2022 07:15

Imagine if the OP went mountain biking in a private dog field - I reckon the dog walkers would understand the meaning of private land then.

Original poster
QuebecBagnet · 31/08/2022 07:24

Lifeisaminestrone · 31/08/2022 07:14

I had never heard of a bike cycle route so would have thought it was like a bridle way.

I think better signage is needed.

Imagine something like this . So it has a jumps like these scattered throughout, not the whole way round but enough of them to make a dog Walker probably realise this is not a footpath.

To think these dog walkers are bonkers.
OP posts:
Original poster
QuebecBagnet · 31/08/2022 07:26

And as you can see from that photo the terrain really restricts visibility. If there’s an off lead dog in the path after the last jump I’m not going see it until I’m in the air over the top of it and I’m not going to be able to avoid it by then.

OP posts:
missingeu · 31/08/2022 07:33

I would love a bike trail near us, that the bikers could go to. At present our local woods have been taken over by trail bikers - they have cut down trees, built large ramps and ride too fast around the public woodland that they shouldn't in the first place. It would make our woods a safer place to walk without being rundown by trail bikers and having to climb over ramps.

Random789 · 31/08/2022 07:34

YANBU. They shouldn't be there and if I was the cyle shop owner would be doing something much more decisive about it. They are leaving themselves open to legal peril if they allow this potentiallt dangerous situation to continue.

I'm a dog walker and I am guilty of walking in bits and pieces of woodland that don't have a formal right of way. Generally, I think people will do that if there is no commonsense reason not to. I think that I might stray into those woodsBlushif there wasn't clear enough signage indicating that it would be wrong and hazardous.

DougalsBlueJumper · 31/08/2022 07:37

That’s like saying you shouldn’t watch out for pedestrians while driving because they shouldn’t step out on the road.

It's really not like saying that at all though. But if you insist on using that comparison, it's like someone wandering along the middle of a single lane, winding rural road with no footpath and expecting drivers to watch out for them. Maybe drive at 5 or 10mph 'just in case'. The cycle trail is a narrow, multi terrain dedicated path. The signage should definitely be better, but I reckon that it still won't deter some idiots. But they are then trespassers who enter at their own risk.

AnyodyAnywhere · 31/08/2022 08:04

I admit that as a hiker I can be a bit anti cyclist at times but I 100% agree with OP on this one.

I can see no reason that a mountain biker should have to slow down in case they come across dog walkers where they shouldn’t be in the first place. I often hike in an area where some trails are marked as Bike Trials so I don’t use them…makes sense to me.

puffylovett · 31/08/2022 08:16

Lampyshady · 31/08/2022 00:04

even if the signs are made clearer, entitled people will still think it's ok to ramble about wherever they choose. As for anyone thinking you should slow down and watch out for pedestrians WHO SHOULDN'T BE THERE, words fail me!**

im not saying that people should walk there dogs there, I wouldn’t do it, but the fact is that people do and cyclists should have been mindful of this-the OP said they had already seen one dog walker so knew crashing into someone was a possibility yet still thought it was ok to go round a blind corner so fast that they ‘nearly flattened” a dog. I don’t know much about mountain biking, but this seems really dangerous-surely you shouldn’t be that out of control on a corner. What is there was another cyclist stopped or going slower on the path ahead.
of course you should watch out for trespassers-it’s not ok to mow them down with a bike and seriously injure them as a punishment for them walking where they shouldn’t! That’s like saying you shouldn’t watch out for pedestrians while driving because they shouldn’t step out on the road.

Clearly you’ve never mountain biked! It’s impossible to take a corner slowly, when you’ve got momentum and there’s jumps and berms you have to keep your speed up just to stay on your bike! Which is why dedicated tracks are safer - because you know what to expect and you know it’s safe at speed and there will be nothing in your way.
The dog walkers shouldn’t have been there, they put themselves, the cyclist and their animals in danger.
I say this as both a dog walker and an ex mountain biker.
OP we have the same issue - the National Trust have given over an area of our local hill to mountain bikers, you have to be a member, it’s all clearly signposted. But, you can’t do anything about stupid people who choose to ignore the signs. Even worse are the ones who think bikers shouldn’t be there and deliberately block the tracks with logs to try and cause an accident.

puffylovett · 31/08/2022 08:18

nect Time you see them, ask them if they would also walk down the middle lane of the motorway with dogs off lead and expect not to get hurt 🤦🏼‍♀️

NumptiesIncorporated · 31/08/2022 08:21

They technically shouldn’t be there but it’s still up to you not to hurt them by riding your bike dangerously fast into them or their dogs-that would probably be a criminal offence whereas trespassing isn’t

Yeah.

And people shouldn't trespass on the track at Silverstone when there's a race on, but it's up to the drivers not to hurt them by not driving dangerously fast into them.

BitOutOfPractice · 31/08/2022 08:22

It’s because a large proportion of dog owners believe that their right to own a dog and walk it wherever the hell they like, off lead if they fancy it, absolutely trumps everyone else’s right to enjoy anything. Bike trails, children’s playgrounds, pub gardens, you name it, dogs have a greater right to enjoy them, off lead, than you. That’s just 3 examples I’ve seen in the last 2 weeks.

hotdiggetydog · 31/08/2022 08:35

SarahSissions · 30/08/2022 21:14

How do you know they haven’t also got permission from the owner to be there?

Love this. Immediate assumption is that it's some oversight by the OP 🙄

rookiemere · 31/08/2022 08:38

Speak to the shop and ask them to put up more signs to say "Bike Trail only - Private Land - No access for walkers - Likelihood of injury by fast moving cyclists " or something similar.

I agree you should have your cycle trail to yourself in the same way that teens should be able to use scooter parks without indulgent DPs letting their toddlers hog the place. Loads of areas for dog walking these days - they probably wanted to avoid the hassle of bumping into other dogs and having to put them on leads.