-
Posts
-
-
I’ve been getting out on the trails quite a bit lately and this question popped into my head as I continuously saw this as I rid through them.
What do you find to be the most annoying thing when riding the trails? It can be anything too, branches from trees, pointy stones, muddy patches, stray dogs (in some cases I guess), stupid people, squirrels, WHATEVER it may be.
Personally I find that those sapling stumps that just stick out, and are barely visible, but are right in the middle of the trails are the most annoying thing I’ve found this year.
-
1) Trash on the trails (no need for this BS!!!) 😠 😕 😠 😕 😠
2) People destroying things on the trail, booby trapping the trails, or people building technical stuff on our trails that have no business in doing so.
3) Riders riding in the wrong direction, especially when they have been told the flow or the trail flow is marked.Thats just a great start!!!
-
Litter! To me that includes the normal stuff like wrapers, empty water bottles (who buys spring H2O every ride?) old tubes, but it also include bio-degradable thingg like food scraps, orange/banana peels, apple cores. Thos thing are usally not native to the area and will possible get animals sick.
-
I would have to agree:
1st is trash
2nd is people wrecking the trails or wanting to cause harm to mountain bikers..
3rd broken branches about a foot and a half long and one and a half inch thick that tears of your derailleur when you half way into your 4 hour ride…
Yup that happened to me this weekend….((But if you checked out the blog area you will see that i actually carry spares such as a derailleur hanger…)) Still i had to stop!
-
This weekend was a big cost for a few of my group…One of my friends also snapped the bolt that holds the rear shock in place on his Santa Cruz Blur LT.
Another friend took a tree branch to the helmet just low enough that he got a scrape just above the eye.
-
"spcoast" wrote
1) Trash on the trails (no need for this BS!!!) 😠 😕 😠 😕 😠
2) People destroying things on the trail, booby trapping the trails, or people building technical stuff on our trails that have no business in doing so.
3) Riders riding in the wrong direction, especially when they have been told the flow or the trail flow is marked.Thats just a great start!!!
Have to agree with spcoast on this one but two things I have to add are washouts and downed branches after a good storm 😠
-
1.) Sappling stumps are almost invisible in New England, and they always catch you off guard.
2.) Equestrians. No matter [i:14leqhh0]how [/i:14leqhh0]far away you dismount and wait patiently for them to pass, it’s not enough. You could call them on the way to the trail 45 minutes in advance, and it [i:14leqhh0]still [/i:14leqhh0]wouldn’t be enough notice. I’ll take the high rode and be perfectly kind and friendly, but maaaaan…
3.) Wash outs. Great way to taste the local dirt. -
Ah, a great topic to bring out the inner-whiner in all of us… 😉
The first thing that came to mind was trash — I see most others feel the same way.
Otherwise, the thing that annoys me is a poorly designed trail when it could have easily been built right. For example, an erosion prone trail full of ruts when a good, well-drained, trail could have easily been built. A boring straight run when a fun, twisty, route could have been put in the same place. That kind of stuff.
-
Like the others mine go as follows:
1) Trash= which is prolly the most classless thing on a trail
2) Boobie Traps= which can be life threatening in some cases…Some guy was putting logs at the bottom of this descent just out of view until it was too late 😢
3) Flow Killers= like Cross Country teams, Joggers(w/ headphones on), Unleashed Dogs, and Horseback riders…But these people have a right to the trails like us and I’m okay with that…JUST DONT KILL MY FLOW
4) Guys who ride with out Helmets (complete idiots )
5) and of Course STUMPS (they suck) -
1) People destroying obstacles like small log ramps and such. I like that stuff on the small trail I ride at home.
2) sapling stumps of course. and also logs that are big/tall enough to scrap my crank on. I don’t know if i’m not doing it right or what. but those logs suck.
3) pot smoking morons who tend to smoke in the vicinity of the trails. not a pot smoker. -
For me…hands down…it has to be standing water. Because that means I can’t ride the trails in my area so I don’t tear them up. That’s the situation I’m in right now…it’s been raining like crazy here & I haven’t been able to ride my favorite local trail 😢 Guess I’ve never run in to boobie traps…so if I ever did, I’d probably hate them too 😃
-
People trashing (both litter and traps/damage) the trails is very annoying. I also find that the people who ride the trails and are rude to others are annoying. Not everyone on the trails is out there like its a race and not everyone is as confident on some sections. I try to assist other people and help them become better riders instead of worrying all about myself.
-
Definitely the #1 most annoying thing would be trash. Man it just pisses me off. If I knew where the people lived that littered the trail I would regularly dump my garbage on their doorstep.
#2 would be some of the retarded rednecks that plague Loyce Harpe Park. They do anything from flying up and down the clay road at unsafe speeds to trying to ride their motorcycles on the trails to shooting and killing alligators just to leave them there to rot and stink the place up. They kill wild hogs occasionally and leave them by the trail to rot. They get stuck mudslinging and take apart a wooden bridge and use the boards to help themselves get unstuck. The list goes on…
#3 would be unauthorized trail maintenance by retards who don’t know what they are doing. They remove roots which help control erosion. They try to make difficult trails easier to accomodate their lack of skills rather than learn how to navigate the obstacle or area.
-
"cujo" wrote
…Man it just pisses me off. If I knew where the people lived that littered the trail I would regularly dump my garbage on their doorstep.
That quote is the BEST, I can’t tell you how hard I’m laughing at it. Anyways it seems like trash in the #1 killer for most people. I’ve got to say that the "trail maintenance crew" is another pet peeve. Good to know what everybody thinks, looks like we are mostly in the same boat too.
-
Something else I forgot to mention that really boils my blood is when your favorite trail or track gets shut down on account of local idiots that think just because they got a bike for x-mas they now posses the downhill skills of Gee Atherton coupled with the freestyle vert/dirt jumping skills of Lance McDermott 😈 . On they’re first or second ride they take the tallest drop or the biggest jump they can find (on they’re brand new Roadmaster Mt.Fury 😆 ), break a bone or rupture a disk (by taking the jump or drop in a fashion that leaves you thinking WTF!!!!), and then sue the city or landowner for their own act of complete ignorance for the laws of physics, motion, and gravity 😏 .
-
Trash is the worst,then dog crap is the next,might as well have your dog drop one off at the swimming pool as well.What a buzz kill dog crap on the trail is,it’s just not the same as wild animal crap,ya know???If I wanted to see dog crap,I would look over the backyard fence at the neighbors back yard,they got a ton of it.
Bike parts,as much as I like to see bike parts,I hate to see em on the trail.Hate to say it,but some bikers just dont get it.
I have only come across a sabotaged trail on the bike path,someone took the top rail and a post from a chain link fence about 15 feet long and laid it across the trail on the other side of a hill in the path so you couldnt see it till you were right on top of it.Good thing I can bunny hop like a mad man cause I would of went down on the concrete in grand fashion. -
"steve32300" wrote
What a buzz kill dog crap on the trail is,it’s just not the same as wild animal crap,ya know???
One thing I used to hate when I used to ride dirt bikes was hitting a freshly s*it pile of horse crap on a trail at about 55 mph. There’s nothing quite like the smell of digested hay and grass on a hot exhaust.(and for all you guys who hate dirt bikers just to let you know, no I didn’t ride my dirt bike on MTB trails. That’s like s*itting on your dining room table right before you eat 😆 )
-
"Mongoose" wrote
[quote="Asfyxiate":1ghbtwq4]I’ve got to say that the "trail maintenance crew" is another pet peeve.
Wait a minute, I am a "pet peeve" to someone?!?!? Wow, I feel so special! 😃
Referring to the "trail maintenance crew". We work pretty hard on maintaining our trails, well at least when it is not so damn dry. Getting ready to do a garbage pickup day soon. Damn those littering pigs!!! 😕[/quote:1ghbtwq4]
haha no not you Mongoose, I was speaking specifically on the people who "think" they can maintain the trails, but just end up making poorly made ramps, or cleaning out rocks that should be there, things like that. I only say that because I myself volunteer at a local Mtb club. So what I’m really mad about is the fakies. 😆
-
"Mongoose" wrote
I had to set up my sons FR MTB so I could ride this past weekend.
Just got a visual that doesn’t quite compute…
1st, isn’t your sons sled a 24 incher?
2nd, you’re not exactly a … small guy… if I remember your old avatars correctly…?Just how does that work out? 😀
-
#1) People who do "trail maintenance". Not normal maintenance but smoothing out or removing an obstacle because they can’t ride it.
Our local Team BOB (Babes On Bikes, or Female Dogs on Bikes) has sone this recently because a team member was hurt attempting a section of trail beyond her abilities. Well, they fixed the problem! 😼
#2) Riders who can’t wait to ride after a rain/snow and trash our trails – there is a difference of riding here in the rain vs. the midwest or east when the next rainstorm puts the trail back to normal again.
-
I was going to say coming up to other people, but after reading the other post , I would agree with trash. the other day I was giving this guy driving ahead of me shit for littering out of his window. he hade no idea what I was talking about 😕 when we pulled up to the light.
-
Have you guys ever encountered “bike trapsâ€
-
The only thing I can think of that has not been said which I just experienced 2 days ago is animal crap. People that take their dogs on the trails are great (I do myself) but if they crap on the trail… pick it up. Nothing worse than riding over a soft, warm pile of crap.
Thankfully I saw the mound and didn’t ride over it. Especially thankfull because it wasn’t from a dog…. someone brought a horse through the trails… now that would have been messy.
-
the other day i almost hit a deer, my own fault but still a PITA trying to ride and have a good when bam 200# deer 2 fricken feet in front of you. then of course trash, and people looking at you like your a retard when you go in the grass to get around them because they refuse to move over for you when you stick to one side for them
-
Most annoying thing(s) for me on the trail…..?
#1…rude trash talking "locals", or "bro-brahs" that supposidly ride everyday on that particular trail all the time and have some kind of personal ownership taking it WAY too seriously. Easy dude…don’t quit your day job.
#2….trails shared by equestrians…like walking your dog, I believe that equestrians should pick up their pet’s shit!
-
trash definitely sucks. i also hate getting hit in the face by branches, or when the branches are so thick where you are trying to drop into a trail that you endo because you can’t see a single thing! yeh, did that about a week ago.
and i don’t know if i have ever encountered someone removing an obstacle… but if that would piss me off like NONE OTHER!! mountain biking is all about those parts of the trail that you CAN’T ride… that’s what keeps you coming back, the challenge of it all! (plus the tech sections are what i’m all about) man, if i ever saw someone doing that i would BUST THEM UP!
-
Dead Bodies! I’ve run over allot of dead stuff, and a couple of snakes I wished were dead!
-
#1 Horses ! I tell you i ride on trails where there is horse ranche near by, nothing better than having to hit the brakes mid down hill run and wait for some horse riding motherf*cker to trot infront of you, especially when they refuse to let you pass, because it could "scare" the horse.
#2 Rattle snakes. I just finished an uphill climb <30 min, when bam a rattle snake lunges at me, i don’t think i have ever taken off so fast after such a climb.
#3 Trash is pretty bad, but the area here is pretty clean, because a few people here actually respect the enviroment. -
Firejet….here in N Cal I think we have the same issues all over.
Personally I don’t have an issue with the horses…some of those equestrian riders (yes the female variety) have some amazing inner thighs and other great attributes. Key words..some of them! Besides the manure dries quick and goes back into the earth…easily to be seen from a distance.
#1. Free range, grass fed, organic, no antibiotic, beef rolling our local hills in the East Bay. They thrash the single track, their pies can block a narrow trail and you end up flinging it upon yourself and the poor bastard trailing you. In the late afternoon..they always migrate back to a certain portion of the parks and will create bovine traffic jams. Events made worse when the Bull is present and starts to get aggressive. If you scare the calves a 1500# cow will come barreling your way. The trail damage they do when it’s muddy, is mindnumbing
#2. Sunbathing rattlesnakes and migrating Tarantulas on Mt Diablo. Ridden over plenty of Rattlers, but the spiders just give me the freaking creeps when you see hundreds of them moving across the trails in Aug-Sept.
#3. Poison Oak
#4. Hostile hikers and trail runners that always insist that you’re not supposed to be riding there. Bullocks.
#5. Ranger Rick who responds to every trail user’s complaint about MTB riders…..and having all of us being treated the same for the infractions of a few.
#6. Getting busted for nightriding at midnight. I thought that with budget cuts, the rangers would stay in bed and not get OT. -
"Bigdave08" wrote
1) People destroying obstacles like small log ramps and such. I like that stuff on the small trail I ride at home.
2) sapling stumps of course. and also logs that are big/tall enough to scrap my crank on. I don’t know if i’m not doing it right or what. but those logs suck.
3) pot smoking morons who tend to smoke in the vicinity of the trails. not a pot smoker.Why does it bother you if someone smokes pot in the vicinity of the trail?
-
I hate other people on MY trails while I’M trying to ride…ignorant SOBs. Yeah, and equestrian types too. 😆
-
People with no class, I ride a lot at an unmentioned spot and I always have a habit of when I pass someone (or get passed lol) I tell em how many riders ahead or behind me and say have a great ride or whatever, I can’t stand it when people say something rude to you or ignore you ect. I ride a lot in MI and this trail is 2 miles from my house so its super convenient, but the people suck, everywhere else I ride at people are friendly and nice ect.
-
People should be nicer to each other on the trails. MTB’ers are a relatively small community and we should all stick together. Being cordial and better yet helpful to others on the trail can go along way with promoting the sport and setting a positive image with other users of the trail. Most of us know that the hikers and equestrians would be just fine if not happy if we were not allowed on the trails. The same thing going back to the smoking pot on the trail. It offers a negative image as it is illegal (despite sate laws it is still illegal everywhere Federally), many trails are on federal land; and if the "powers that be" associate the useage of illegal drugs on the trails with MTB’ers, we will end up losing more trail access whether it is just or not. Just food for thought.
-
Well I just figured I’d add another too my list here.
The trails themselves! By that I mean if they are overgrown.
I think it’s that time of year when the local organizations are hitting the bigger more popular trails and rides, and they haven’t quite gotten to the all of them yet.
So I’m riding on a trail and I know it well enough to know how much space I have, well not this time around. Brush everywhere, picker bushes in my face, and green leaves everywhich way you look. kinda made it a little harder to ride, but nonetheless I suppose that ups the challenge.
-
Well, trash and crap has been mentioned before, though I do particularly hate horse crap. At least most dog owners pick up after their animals.
Today I for the first time ever on a public trail, came upon what was for me, the most disgusting and saddening thing I’ve ever witnessed while riding. It’s my new top pet peeve…
Human crap, complete with toilet paper. Not once, or twice, but three times, right in the middle of the trail. And to make things fun, the 3rd one was runny. Ewww.
Don’t get me wrong, I have gone where the bears go a few times, but in the middle of the darn trail? Please…!
-
"CAndrewsAK" wrote
Well, trash and crap has been mentioned before, though I do particularly hate horse crap. At least most dog owners pick up after their animals.
Today I for the first time ever on a public trail, came upon what was for me, the most disgusting and saddening thing I’ve ever witnessed while riding. It’s my new top pet peeve…
Human crap, complete with toilet paper. Not once, or twice, but three times, right in the middle of the trail. And to make things fun, the 3rd one was runny. Ewww.
Don’t get me wrong, I have gone where the bears go a few times, but in the middle of the darn trail? Please…!
LNT anyone???????
-
I Would have to say…… "Trash on the Trails" would be my Peev! 😕 😠 😈 😼
😏 However when I’m out at the trailheads or on the trails here in Central FL I have met some of the nicest group of people on the planet 😀 😀 ……hope it continues to be this way for me. 😀 😀 -
With the wet June we’ve had in VT, Id have to say mud and puddles!
-
Dogs off leash. Riding on the local trail yesterday and came around a corner into a pack of dogs. Owners did nothing to call the dogs back and one ended up latching onto my leg. Hard to unclip when you have a 50lbs dog yanking in the opposite direction. Of course the owner says "my dog doesn’t bite". My reply, so he’s not your dog? The young kids did not get the Pink Panther reference. I like dogs, just not when they are using my leg as a chew toy.
-
😏 
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.