Twitchers

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Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
I do a bit of bird watching and have been in hides with some very friendly twitchers ( the bloke who insisted on smoking his cigar not included) I ride my bike through the local reserve not on bridleways but on public footpaths, I always say hello to people I pass some are friendly some have hostility written all over their faces and don't speak, I can put up with that I am riding where I shouldn't ( but not doing any harm) today I went for a run to test out my sore Achilles, I got the same reaction from some people today while running, hostile looks no reply to my greeting, I'm running its like walking but quicker, these people are fast approaching horse riders as the NIMBY kings, rant over I'm off for some beer.
 

deptfordmarmoset

Full time tea drinker
Location
Armonmy Way
Take away their car parks, that'll do more for wildlife and get them out on bikes themselves.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
I do a bit of bird watching and have been in hides with some very friendly twitchers ( the bloke who insisted on smoking his cigar not included) I ride my bike through the local reserve not on bridleways but on public footpaths, I always say hello to people I pass some are friendly some have hostility written all over their faces and don't speak, I can put up with that I am riding where I shouldn't ( but not doing any harm) today I went for a run to test out my sore Achilles, I got the same reaction from some people today while running, hostile looks no reply to my greeting, I'm running its like walking but quicker, these people are fast approaching horse riders as the NIMBY kings, rant over I'm off for some beer.


You are in a nature reserve not a gym.

They go for a peaceful, calm and untroubled environment. You're probably perceived as the equivalent of the dog off the lead running about and startling the fauna.

Have a beer and ponder on finding a more suitable running environment. :thumbsup:
 
OP
OP
Venod

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
You are in a nature reserve not a gym.

They go for a peaceful, calm and untroubled environment. You're probably perceived as the equivalent of the dog off the lead running about and startling the fauna.

Have a beer and ponder on finding a more suitable running environment. :thumbsup:

Surly you are allowed to run its a natural thing, as I said like walking but quicker, riding the bike through might be a bit naughty but I have never understood the hostility to bikes on public footpaths, I have been riding on these since I was child ( and that's a long time ago ) I can't see me stopping now. I would never run in a gym when there is the great outdoors to share with other people.^_^
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Surly you are allowed to run its a natural thing, as I said like walking but quicker, riding the bike through might be a bit naughty but I have never understood the hostility to bikes on public footpaths, I have been riding on these since I was child ( and that's a long time ago ) I can't see me stopping now. I would never run in a gym when there is the great outdoors to share with other people.^_^


The clue is in their title.

They'd be called cycle paths or shared use paths if they were intended for bikes.

The hostility to you using them will not go away.

The legitimate users of the footpaths are entitled to be grumpy about your selfish behaviour on a bike.

If you want to run outdoors do it in a park and not in a nature reserve. Simples :thumbsup:
 

Tommy2

Über Member
Location
Harrogate
I don't think it is out of order to want to run in nature reserve as long as you are using the paths and being considerate to other users, what's the maximum speed you are allowed to walk at?
bike is a bit naughty unless it specifies its ok.

Walkers that walk side by side and don't move when people are coming the other way is more common and far more inconsiderate.
 

Yellow Fang

Legendary Member
Location
Reading
When mountain biking on a bridleway or a ancient path like the Ridgeway, I hate motor cyclists, quad bikers and horse riders. When I am running on one, I hate mountain bikers too.

Country foot paths can get quite steep which can tempt you to go fast because it's fun. Paths are narrow and the visibility is often not great. I suppose walkers don't like being crashed into a frightened by some mountain biker speeding around the corner.

Can't see why you shouldn't run on a foot path, though.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Can't see why you shouldn't run on a foot path, though.


It's in a nature reserve. They are usually created as a haven for wild life to enjoy a relatively calm and unthreatening environment. Folk tend to go to them for the calm atmosphere and the ability to watch the wildlife without them being startled by cyclists and runners. I'd be pretty cheesed off if I was attempting to observe wild life and have it flee the presence of runners and cyclists.

There's plenty of alternatives available to runners e.g. bridle paths, tow paths, parkland.
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
If I go running in a nature reserve I try to act as the animals themselves do. So I bound, like the deer, or I shuffle, like the badger, or I gambol, like the lamb. Or hang around in bushes with binoculars. Like the twitcher. Or the perv. :smile:

Actually, I like looking for birds (amazingly, no Fnaar fnaar comment :thumbsup:) but there's a difference between an interest in our feathered friends and the obsessive twitcher. There's also a difference between nature reserves... some are wild havens, some are semi-urban, and postively invite runners and cyclists through them.
 

deptfordmarmoset

Full time tea drinker
Location
Armonmy Way
I've cycled through the Rainham RSPB thingummybob and it was a cycle path, an nationally-adopted one if I remember correctly. Twitchers were still snotty: they seemed to think the cycle path was for twitchers to assemble near to the car park whilst obstructing the path.

Anyhow, bikes are great for spotting birds, which is rarely how spotters and other bird collectors get there. And lycra-clad cyclists wearing brightly coloured jerseys are the last thing birds are afraid of. So brighten up. Any animal that sports vivid colours is not a bird predator. Birds may be surprised by the arrival of a cyclist, yes, but fearful, no. There appears to be no evolutionary process that has alerted birds to the predatory dangers of gaudy cyclists.

(There are loads of goldfinches around here this year. They're not afraid of being brightly coloured. And they have such a lovely song.)
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
I've cycled through the Rainham RSPB thingummybob and it was a cycle path, an nationally-adopted one if I remember correctly. Twitchers were still snotty: they seemed to think the cycle path was for twitchers to assemble near to the car park whilst obstructing the path.


It's not the same scenario. The OP was illegally cycling on a footpath in a reserve. You were legally cycling on a cycle path in a reserve.

The twitchers were in the right in the first scenario and wrong in the second.
 
OP
OP
Venod

Venod

Eh up
Location
Yorkshire
It's not the same scenario. The OP was illegally cycling on a footpath in a reserve. You were legally cycling on a cycle path in a reserve.

The twitchers were in the right in the first scenario and wrong in the second.

As far as I know cycling on a Public Footpath is not illegal it may be trespassing but that's a civil offense, cycling on a pavement at the side of a road is illegal. I wish we had the Scottish rules of right to roam.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
As far as I know cycling on a Public Footpath is not illegal it may be trespassing but that's a civil offense, cycling on a pavement at the side of a road is illegal. I wish we had the Scottish rules of right to roam.


I'm glad we don't. It give pedestrian enjoying the tranquility of reserves and public footpaths through the countryside the right to be undisturbed by self righteous prats on bikes.
 

Glow worm

Legendary Member
Location
Near Newmarket
The clue is in their title.

They'd be called cycle paths or shared use paths if they were intended for bikes.

Footpath use changes over the years of course. Some fall out of use, while others become bridleways or roads. I don't see why some footpaths cannot be used for cycling. Around here there are plenty that are as wide as a lane, and make useful alternatives to busy and unpleasant roads. There are others of course which are completely unsuitable for cycling where it would be rude and inconsiderate to do so.

Here's a photo of one footpath ideal for cycling near me from JME's excellent cycling blog: Keep Pushing Those Pedals (I hope he won't mind me reproducing it here).
P1490830_1_2_3_4_5_6_tonemapped.jpg


Just saying, it's the law, in a blanket fashion ignores such local inconsistenices on the ground. Footpath use changes and laws should reflect that. As DM stated above, I'd also much rather see people arriving at nature reserves by bicycle than in Volvos, which is what they do around here! Wicken Fen, a famous nature reserve nearby has a national cycle route going right through the middle of it. It's brilliant. Perhaps we should close it and insist everyone comes by Volvo and the like instead! We'd need to double or triple the size of the car park, but it's only a SSSI so what the heck!
 
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