MTB Etiquette

[Bromptonaut]

Rode the 'Adventure trail' at Sheerwood Pines this weekend. Graded blue, whatever that means, about as much technical stuff as I'd want to tackle on my old CB Ravanna. I was with family and most other users were in similar groups. There is a more testing XC (red) trail for the hard cases. Thoroughly enjoyable except for moment on a narrow section where there's a sudden whoosh and I'm passed with inches to spare by another cyclist moving at warp factor 6. No warning at all and If I'd wobbled we'd both have been off.

What's the MTB etiquette on approaching from behind and overtaking - I'd have at least liked a shout and preferrably some adjustment of line or pace.

 

[Rouge Penguin]

Go faster? Wink

If he passed you a lot faster, then were you having a nice calm ride on a fast section? Courtesy says he should have slowed and shouted, but might not care if he's a regular and was being slowed up

 

[Globalti]

He was showing off. He's a dickhead.

 

[Silver Fox]

A shout from behind, "passing on your right / left" is the usual script. Combine this with sufficient space and reduction of speed and all should be happy.

Of course slower riders, particularly on singletrack should be mindful of other cyclists approaching from the rear and move over when safe to do so.

 

[MacB]

some riders are dicks, on or offroad, fast or slow but I do wonder if there's some form of correlation between this and the cars they drive. Maybe the fast dicks drive BMWs or various other phallic substitutes, while the slow dicks will be your volvo drivers....though with MTBing there may be a few white van men thrown in there.

 

[ChristinaJL]

Some riders on trails have no clue. Very rarely do any of them call out when passing, one prat squeezed past me on a singletrack section with railing either side as I'd slowed down to approach the fire road. He knocked me with his elbow sideways and if the railing hadn't have been there I'd have been on the deck. My husband who was a way back from me had even warned them I was up ahead as they tore past him. Today a muppet nearly took me out cycling out of control downhill the wrong way on a one-way single track.

I did a mountain biking course a month or so ago and the instructor said if you're in front you have right of way and even the faster cyclists should ask to pass. I always pull over if someone comes up behind if there is room.

 

[Globalti]

To be honest one of the several reasons why I was growing stale with mountain biking was the whole "popularisation" of this branch of cycling; I came across groups of blokes at trail centres who I just didn't recognise as "mountain" or "bikers". The whole scene seemed to revolve around blasting downhill as fast as possible on the most bling bikes while wearing the identikit gear and looking rugged then heading for the pub. Call me elitist if you like but I came into mountain biking from 25 years of mountaineering, which is a sport conducted as modestly and discretely as possible.

 

[ChristinaJL]

He was showing off. He's a dickhead.

I had one idiot scream past me on a downhill section a bit out of control, but I cycled straight past him on the uphill section calling out "bike coming through on your right" very loudly at him with a smile on my face.

 

[ChristinaJL]

To be honest one of the several reasons why I was growing stale with mountain biking was the whole "popularisation" of this branch of cycling; I came across groups of blokes at trail centres who I just didn't recognise as "mountain" or "bikers". The whole scene seemed to revolve around blasting downhill as fast as possible on the most bling bikes while wearing the identikit gear and looking rugged then heading for the pub. Call me elitist if you like but I came into mountain biking from 25 years of mountaineering, which is a sport conducted as modestly and discretely as possible.

Oh yeah, I saw a group of those out today at our local mountain bike centre. I too am from a mountaineering background and believe you should at least be in control of your bike on the downhill sections before hitting the trails. I did a course which was great fun and taught me not just control but mtb etiquette.

 

[Muddy Ground]

As above really; avoid trail centres and you encounter a much nicer class of MTB'er [wink, wink]. Personally? Wait to pass until they've acknowledged you. Doesn't hurt to be polite.

www.muddyground.blogspot.com

 

[Zoiders]

You will get knobbers on the trails just like you get them on the roads, I can however see some unpleasant class snobbery creeping into this thread.

In defence of the rider that passed you (cleanly, quickly and without hitting you I might add) - he wasn't expecting to find a family ride on a red route, sorry but most purpose built single track trails state that they are not suitable for family and beginner rides, Follow The Dog on the Chase is sign posted the same way.

It's a hard one trying to find a balance between enjoyment and challenge while not being a danger to other users. Myself and the guys I ride with are not in the habit of doing high speed fly pasts on walkers and leisure riders, we do purposely avoid some of the more obvious trails and busy times like saturday afternoon, often prefering night rides for the simple reason that the trails become ever so clogged with groups who shouldn't really be leaving the fire roads or blue routes, it rapidly turns into trail center golf on bikes with people queing up and waiting to "play through".

Yes you are going to get the weekend warriors who hare about being a pain in the arse for other riders but outside of the downhill routes they are not such a problem as you can leave them for dead on the single track, if however you are after the contemplative and studious atmosphere of climbing then you are in to the wrong passtime - mountain biking did not start life as the preserve of the beard wranglers with Ray Mears socks and sandals, it started life as a gravity sport and the earliest bikes were built/cobbled together to improve the speed of fire road descents.

What you also have to remember that like with surfing you are going to get guys who live locally and use those trails a lot, I am not saying that it's a case of "locals rule!" or anything like that but they generaly know what they are doing and are very unlikely to hit you if they zip past on a bit of twisty trail. As for "white vans"...well any transport is better than none and vans work really well for stuff like mountain biking - it's not to do with the "wrong sort" using the trails.

 

[Muddy Ground]

Guess without having been there it's difficult to comment? Generally the faster riders are working to a different mental attitude; they've tuned into the speed and can guess where you'll be within the next half a second. If you're ambling along, then so is your mind and anything faster would seem reckless even though it was obviously perectly safe in hindsight. Some of these guys have bike skills like you wouldn't believe. A close call to you may have been a mile to them.

Also, as pointed out, mountain biking is classified as a dangerous sport after all. I'm not saying reckless or deliberately endangering to others, but people are out there to push personal boundaries - one can imagine if the trails had been, for want of a better word or phrase, hijacked by families then after saying polite hellos to a few dozen people and possibly been ignored, perhaps this person had gone beyond being reasonable and was trying to reclaim what was seen as theirs? Hate to say it, but after using the trails all winter and then seeing people coming out to enjoy the sun for a few weekends, a bit of possessiveness and resentment does creep in..... Seems that perhaps this other person was marking their territory.

Dunno. Sounds a bit 50/50 to me really - perhaps the other person may care to comment? Without the contra viewpoint we're going to go around in circles here.

White van? Would love one for the MTB; that or a classic Chevy pick-up. My daily driver is a £500 eBay special; would rather spend money on a bike than a car. But is that some kind of inverse sbobbery I've got going?

www.muddyground.blogspot.com

 

[Norm]

In defence of the rider that passed you (cleanly, quickly and without hitting you I might add) - he wasn't expecting to find a family ride on a red route, sorry but most purpose built single track trails state that they are not suitable for family and beginner rides, Follow The Dog on the Chase is sign posted the same way.

It's a hard one trying to find a balance between enjoyment and challenge while not being a danger to other users.

I kinda agree with Zoiders here, but with an addendum.

If you are travelling on a route which is above your usual standard, there should be no problem with that but you need to be aware that there will be faster guys about.

That doesn't mean that I think buzzing others with a close pass is ever acceptable, though. However frustrating you might find it when driving and you come up behind a cyclist, there is no excuse to barge past. Oops, sorry, however frustrating you might find it when MTBing and you come up behind someone slower, there is no excuse to barge past. (see what I did there? )

 

[henshaw11]

While it sounds like the bloke may been a bit of a dick for not slowing, calling out can have the unintended result of whoever's in front actually moving into, rather than out of, the way - so scooting past quickly might have made more sense from his perspective. The seemingly too fast/too close pass has a parallel with motorcyclists overtaking cars.

I wonder if there's an 'oops, I almost ran into a bunch of people on the trail' thread somewhere

 

[Zoiders]

I kinda agree with Zoiders here, but with an addendum.

If you are travelling on a route which is above your usual standard, there should be no problem with that but you need to be aware that there will be faster guys about.

That doesn't mean that I think buzzing others with a close pass is ever acceptable, though. However frustrating you might find it when driving and you come up behind a cyclist, there is no excuse to barge past. Oops, sorry, however frustrating you might find it when MTBing and you come up behind someone slower, there is no excuse to barge past. (see what I did there? )

It's not the public highway and it's not a car, groups that storm through and refuse to stop - expecting you to get out of the way - fair enough they are goons but if you can pass quickly without making a fuss then do so. The trails I use are also frequented by horse riders as well, most horses being mental at the best of times so shouting is out.

Sometimes trying to hail groups of more sedate riders causes more problems than it solves as they panic and mill about like frightened sheep. Ooops, sorry, however frustrating you might find it that you can't use every trail for family or beginner rides you still need to read the advisory signs at the start of routes to get an idea of the level and pace of riding you will find on them.