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The last couple of times I’ve ridden Skegg’s Point aka El Corte Madera Creek, I have seen a park ranger sitting on the tailgate of his truck with a radar gun and ticket book. Both times he was on a fire road that intersects singletracks but it’s way too easy to go 30+ on these. Apparently speed limit is 15 mph, I looked at the signs entering the park and yes it is posted 15 mph. Another rider told me the ticket was $140. Luckily I was warned ahead of time, so watch out on the timberview trail just before giant salamander.
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Be careful of B*ll Sh*t. A radar gun will only register magnetic metal i.e. iron/steel. Carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum will not register on radar and steel has to be close to be picked up. Lazer will pick up an object (you and bike). Radar has to be reflected by steel-metal. The radar ticket is BS. A lazer ticket mat not be. Go to court plead not guilty and ask for a jury trial. Ask the officer/ranger if the lazer has been recalibrated for people as opposed to automobiles and ask to see copies of the calibration. That should get you off. They aren’t smart enough to know if you are wrong. The worst you’ll get is a fine and not 30 days in the electric chair. 😄 Later,
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"fat_billy" wrote
Be careful of B*ll Sh*t. A radar gun will only register magnetic metal i.e. iron/steel.
The police trailer radar thingy displays my speed when I ride by on my way to work, and I have watched first hand while a radar gun measures the speed of a baseball.
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You are correct when focused in a small area but I’m talking about a radar used for automobiles. Different radars do different things. You can’t change the radars focus with out calibration. Oh boy another point of discussion! 😄 Later,
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hmm almost got a DWI on a bike once but never a speeding ticket.
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fatbilly,
I’m not sure where you’re getting your info, but radar, by definition, works on anything that is solid and moving.http://www.policeradar.net/hand_held_radar.htm
Scroll down to the Kustom Falcon model.
"Corded Falcon RoadRunner Low Speed Radar, tenths version. – Reads in tenths of a MPH down to 0.7 MPH! Ideal for fork lifts, joggers, bicycles and trains where you need to clock low speeds down to 0.7 MPH in tenths of a MPH.I used to be a police dispatcher and as such had to do periodic ride-alongs with the officers. They routinely used both the mounted and handheld radar on motorcyclists and bicycles.
As to the OP, there are several trails out here too that occasionally have a parks officer running handheld radar, and yes, they do write speeding tickets to mountain bikers.
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As if the po po didn’t have enough haters already, they have to pick on mountain bikers trying to get out in nature and get away from the hubub of the city. Even if they are exceeding the posted speed limit, a mountain bike can stop so incredibly fast that it really doesn’t matter.
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Out here it’s park rangers doing the patrolling, not cops per se.
With the capabilities of modern mountain bikes, 15 – 20MPH limits are pretty slow.
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Maybe it was an older radar unit but I’m an older guy so there. 😄 Later,
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Just recently out here by me Allatoona Creek and Turtleback trail…I have seen a new Acworth, GA police "Dirt Bike" cruising on the trails. Its sweet/badass looking.. However, It got me thinking that this ticketing and or hassle thing might be something coming our way.. The next week I saw that they now have a 4 Wheeler and a spiffy new trailer for it. The bike and the 4 wheeler were out cruising the fire roads.. Anyway curious to see how this develops if anything..
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The whole idea of speed limit for MTB is ridiculously stupid. People going out in the woods for speed, adrenaline and freedom of NO limits. And everyone understand potential risks. Not every biker even have a bike computer or GPS.
Sure, there’re dangerous intersections but it’s a common sense to slow down there to not crash into someone.
And another question: how does ranger able to stop a biker assuming it’s a singletrack at least 10 miles long with multiple exits? -
Yeah, busting mountain bikers for speeding isn’t new. In the late 1990s rangers were handing out tickets at Sope Creek near Atlanta on the wide, crushed gravel loop by the river. Clearly this was in response to other trail users (ahem, walkers).
Just look at it like skiing in a "slow zone" near the ski lift. The ski patrol is gonna bust you if you come in fast so just take it easy in the spots where they enforce and let it rip everywhere else!
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"trek7k" wrote
Just look at it like skiing in a "slow zone" near the ski lift. The ski patrol is gonna bust you if you come in fast so just take it easy in the spots where they enforce and let it rip everywhere else!
+1.
I’ve definitely gotten in trouble for speeding through a slow ski zone before. It was at mid mountain though… patrol had a hard time catching me…
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"dispatch to all units we have a 911 report of mountain bikers in the woods having fun, please rectify this situation immediately" I think I’ll mount a radar detector next to my cycle computer, or how about a computer with radar detector built in?
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😕 haters gonna hate
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"jrobertharms" wrote
"dispatch to all units we have a 911 report of mountain bikers in the woods having fun, please rectify this situation immediately"
Ahahahahaha! That’s too funny. When I was in college we skateboarded and BMXed a ton, and we always joked that the University Police had a Fun Meter that would go off and then they’d come find us. It was always irritating to get hassled by U.P. when all we were doing was riding our bikes, yet the underage hammer drunk kids stumbling home from the bars never got a second glance.
But then we built dirt jumps in the woods, and the Fun Meter couldn’t find us 😼
"Johnson! The Fun Meter has been going off all day!"
"I know sir, but we can’t seem to locate the source of the fun!" -
WOW!! How low is the crime rate in ya’lls area that the turds in blue have to sit out in the woods and hassle MTBers? Around here there isn’t a day that goes by that a major crime reported in the paper, that’s why I’m out in the woods..to get away from all the flim flammery!! 😆
….Radar Detector….Now that’s funny!! I can see it now somewhere in the near future, Bike computer? Check!, GPS? Check!, Go Pro? Check! Radar detector? Check! (Why does Pee-Wee Herman’s bike come to mind?) Although in Va radar detectors are illegal in cars I wonder if that translates to MTB as well, and besides if you do get a ticket take it to court and tie up enough of their time, $$, and effort it’ll get dropped. Remember the burden of proof lies on the prosecution and twist it to seem just how petty the ticket is and as an added bonus you can make the cop look like a jack ass for wasting the courts time, $$, and effort!! -
Plenty of crime in Nor Cal, Oakland, San Francisco.Yeah that’s why I MTB to get away from that. Almost got a ticket there once for being in the park after dark.
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You should try living in a Commonwealth state (Va) they’ll nickle and dime all day long ie: let’s say you get pulled for speeding on the trails, they’ll also tack on as many violations that are remotely involved as possible knowing some will get dropped but not all so at the end of the day they still will get $$ such as riding at lunch time, disturbing leaf decomposition, upsetting the air flow, laughing too loud….. Ah yes the Commonwealth of Va. yea it’s Common, but I sure ain’t Wealthy….God i hate this area
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we have about 350 miles of paved bike path here in dayton ohio with a speed limit of 20mph on it. i got a warning ticket 2 summers ago on my road bike for going 26mph by a park ranger using a radar gun. TRUE STORY! i have my "warning ticket" hanging on the wall in my man room. i tried talking him into giving me a real ticket so i could brag about being ticketed on a road bike but he would’nt.
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LMFAO!!!! You know he has to feel like a tool if your asking for a REAL ticket!!! That’s awsome
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my exact thoughts. but it would of been cool to get a ticket though. i dont know anyone who has ever got a ticket on a bycicle.
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…shoulda gone around again and again until… maybe get him to see how fast you were able to get, my philosophy? waste my time? I’ll waste yours, same applies to telemarketers I don’t get rude but I will consume 30min to an hour of their time with jibberish and talking in circles. I’m sure someone will say "that’s not right" but the more I hold them up the less likely they’ll call you 😆…..I’m a dick!!
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"oneeyeredeye" wrote
TRUE STORY! i have my "warning ticket" hanging on the wall in my man room. i tried talking him into giving me a real ticket so i could brag about being ticketed on a road bike but he would’nt.
You should’ve added on the "please, Mr. Plastic Badge?" route. 😀
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I have definitely never heard of ‘clocking’ people on the trails. Seriousley.. why take the fun away!? That’s ridiculous that they have nothing better to do then ticket mountain bikers- come on policeman, there’s plenty out there!
This actually reminds me of a story from college. Our campus police had a reputation for many ridiculous behaviors: doing absolutely nothing, writing as many tickets as they can for completely irrelevant reasons, and trying to keep a not innocent campus as "safe" as possible by reporting the already innocent people. Anyways, one day at soccer practice the campus security pulled up and started to write tickets for every car parked by the curb because: "the cars were parked too close to the curb". Our captain, being as smart-allic as she was, yelled back: "Hey cop, you forgot to ticket my bike!". Maybe you had to be there … but stories like these always remind me of that! 😆
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I’ve seen bikers get tickets on regular roads, but never on trails. In fact, I was on a group sanctioned road ride and everyone who did not stop at a certain stop sign in a certain town got a ticket. That’s why I actually stop at stop signs and don’t run red lights in town.
There was actually an article here not too long ago about a guy on a bike that got a speeding ticket while going 27mph! I can certainly see the argument that bikes should be held to the same rules as cars while on the road, but a ticket for 2mph over means that every biker would need to have a properly calculated computer that he actually pays attention to while riding through busy streets! That’s absurd! And, lets not forget the fact that some of these people that commute on bike do it out of necessity, not choice. So, now you’re saying that people who may not have the money to ride the bus/metro or drive have to go out and get a computer for their bicycle.
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I stand corrected about radar guns. Spoke with a Police Officer (Po Po) about radar. The new radar guns CAN register any object. He said the problem is the beam is wide and picks up everything moving in the area and you can’t really tell what it is "seeing" unless there is no other traffic or objects moving through the beam. He said with lazer there is no excape because to shows only what it strikes. Many people think it’s radar when it is really lazer. We should wear tin foil wrapped around our helmets to combat radar but the guys in the white coats may come for us. Or if so motivated haul ass down the trail so the cops Crown Vic can’t catch you. Niether of these methods are approved or very smart. Oh yeah if the cops are on bikes can catch you in the woods you probably shouldn’t be speeding anyway. 😄 Later,
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Officer: "Do you know why I pulled you over?"
MtnBiker: "Um…no."
Officer: "I clocked you doing 26 in a 20."
MtnBiker: "26? That’s it!? Can I go back and try it again?"😆
In all seriousness, that sucks about getting ticketed while biking. Talk about a total buzz kill.
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"fat_billy" wrote
Be careful of B*ll Sh*t. A radar gun will only register magnetic metal i.e. iron/steel. Carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum will not register on radar and steel has to be close to be picked up. Lazer will pick up an object (you and bike). Radar has to be reflected by steel-metal. The radar ticket is BS. A lazer ticket mat not be. Go to court plead not guilty and ask for a jury trial. Ask the officer/ranger if the lazer has been recalibrated for people as opposed to automobiles and ask to see copies of the calibration. That should get you off. They aren’t smart enough to know if you are wrong. The worst you’ll get is a fine and not 30 days in the electric chair. 😄 Later,
As someone who uses radar at work, a bike WILL get picked up by radar. Distance is a contributing factor. I’m also sure "they are smart enough to know you’re wrong"
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