To think these dog walkers are bonkers.

[QuebecBagnet]

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!

Go slower, ffs 😳

I don't wish any injury on a dog or a dog walker but you'd have to be fairly dim to take a pet to walk through a mountain bike track and not expect some injury.

Loopy!

It's a track for mountain bikers.

It's not a track for walkers/hikers/dog walkers.

Find an alternative place to walk your pet!

When I’m driving down a narrow twisty rural road (which I do often) I always take corners slowly and look out for people, bikes, horses, cars coming the other way. Don’t you??

When I’m driving down a narrow twisty rural road (which I do often) I always take corners slowly and look out for people, bikes, horses, cars coming the other way. Don’t you??

That's not really relevant here. People, bikes, horses and cars coming the other way are all supposed to be there.

It's more like saying that a pilot should go slowly down the runway in case there's a bus in the way. The bus shouldn't be there, and the pilot needs a certain amount of speed in order to make it work.

I see plenty of bikes on walking only trails tbf, and you only get a load of abuse when you point it out to them.

The whole point of single track is that you're going as fast as you can. We have loads of single track round where I live and people don't walk on them. By the same token we don't ride the footpaths.

Telling them to go slower is defeating the point of doing it

Are the cyclists putting themselves in the same sort of danger as the dog walkers are?

(not saying it's ok for them to be there, it's not. I just don't think the two things are quite the same)

@QuebecBagnet
Dog walkers can be complete arseholes, especially people taking out a gaggle of dogs not under their control .
My son was on a Mountain bike trail, and a stupid dog walker was there, a dim dog ran towards son ran over the dog (Both wheels) and crashed.
I have a dog, and am very aware of not walking where bikes and horses go.
If I see horses, I call dog to me- but plenty of people don’t , and then wonder why “ Ignaaaaaaaatius!” Gets kicked.

Mountain bikers go at great speeds, they cannot stop innan emergency without going OTB over the bars.

With you entirely on this.
Mum, 80, was knocked off her bike by a so called “Professional “ dog walker and her unruly pack.

I’m not in the least bit surprised, the entitlement of some people is breathtaking.

This is nothing to do with dog walkers or mountain biking but we live on a farm with no public footpaths and I was confronted by a bunch of walkers with all the gear who were adamant that the track to our house was a footpath/right of way. When I said that they were wrong they told me to “tell that to Ordnance Survey” as there was clearly a dotted line on it which meant they could be there. The dotted line was the marker for the parish boundary. They’d also ignored a “private no access sign” - that didn’t apply to them apparently - and were downright rude.

I suggested they retrace their steps and was told that as they were half way there so they might as well carry on 🤷‍♀️, at which point a tractor and trailer loaded with grain barrelled up the track and they retreated. Unbelievably entitled behaviour and downright dangerous for them and the tractor drivers.

Exactly!
Fast and Downhill.
Last thing one needs is a dozy dog walker on the other side of a road gap.

Don't be daft.

It's like saying "go slower" on a motorway in case there are idiots walking their dogs on it.

It's a private bike trail for people on bikes.

So many people contributing to this thread who clearly don't understand what mountain biking is. Or private land, apparently 🙈

@QuebecBagnet as many other posters have said, you're not in the wrong but the bike shop do need to put up clearer signage, and take into account that Joe Public does not know what mountain biking entails (i.e. spell it out).

For people who don't know what Mountain biking is..
Here is a Mountain biker {Sadly now RIP} who used to ride with his Whippet.

His Whippet was bike savvy and uber fit.

Some of this is amazing..

Nice bit of "whataboutery", but totally irrelevant.

Our local forest has mountain bike tracks - the cyclists go really fast and only an idiot would think to walk their dog along them.

What a joyful and amazing video!

Kerry seemed a lovely bloke.
It was tragic how he died so young, of apparently a cardiac arrest.

This vid of his shows how gutsy he was... This makes my palms sweat just watching .

If the landowner is encouraging dangerous adrenaline sports on their land, I think they should take more responsibility for ensuring that people and animals are protected from it. That would allow you to properly enjoy your sport too. This sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen, and it'll be land owner on the end of it.

YANBU my cousin competes as a mountain bike rider, the stuff he can do is terrifying. Naturally he needs to train/practice so uses designated bike trails to do this.

He's had at least two injuries specifically because of dog walkers on the private, well signed trails. Much to his distress one dog had to be put down too.

Anyone using private or public space against it's designated design is an arsehole. But there's a special level of arsehole who endangers their pets or other people because they think they're special and exempt from rules.

Mountain bike trails can be dangerous. Dog walkers should stay out.

FFS can we not even have private land for the express purpose of cycling without people trespassing on it? It seems pretty clear that people have been accessing it even while knowing they shouldn’t be there, so the owners can put up as many signs as they like and there’ll still be some entitled dog owner on it claiming ignorance. Some people just won’t be told.

I can't believe someone would knowingly walk their dog on a bike track.

Very dangerous for all concerned. Yanbu.

So owning private property and designating usage via signs means you need security guards to stop people trespassing. Don't be so fucking ridiculous!

That's like saying we should sue anyone with water on their land because they failed to stop someone drowning. Plenty of people have drown at quarry sites that are clearly not accessible to the public and have warning signs all over them...but people will be disobedient and do what they want by climbing over fences etc. That's not the responsibility of the quarry owners. What a fucking world you inhabit!

THIS
Riders actually Pay to go to designated Bike Parks, but entitled owners with a Doodle or 'He's a Romanian Rescyoo! {So that's alright, then} ' Trespass.
Some walkers are even clinging to trees as the slopes are so steep..Just why??