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Trail vandalism and trail vandals.
April 18, 2008Published by AperturemtbIf you look out of one of the windows in my house you can see our trail. An 8 pack leading into a berm and a steep downslope which turns 180* down and into the return track which brings you back to the start. The trail as a body keeps growing, new limbs form in the form of a berm on the run in, a pump track, a short (but very technical) downhill track, and even some board walks. We built all of this within the area which we are allowed (known as the long grass!) with none of it stretching onto the actual playing field with which it is next door neighbors, and therefore no obstruction or problems are caused by it. I assumed that it would be OK, people would leave it as it is and not interfere with any of it, parents of young children can watch us fly through the air and amuse their kids without us being of any annoyance to them, this was my biggest mistake.
I looked out of my window today to have a look at the trail. I knew I wouldn't be riding for a day or two because of the weather but the pull of the view was just too much to resist. Taking a glance out across the playing field I looked out onto the sight that I had seen so many times before, at least that is what I expected to see. But today it was different, there was a ring of light around the top of the berm, gaps in it , and worst of all exposed wood which I haven't seen since we built it. Seeing this sight I went outside, armed myself with a spade, saw, hammer, and wheelbarrow (all the usual trail building weapons) and set off across the field fearing the worst. As I reached the trail my fears were confirmed; we had been victims of trail vandalism. Now, I know that I am not the first to experience this, and I am sure that I will not be the last, but this hasn't happened to me to this extent before and it angered me significantly. As I set about making the berm more ridable - pulling out mangled bits of wooden structure, removing the bones of the limb that the trail had spent so long growing this winter, many thoughts came into my head. This was no off the cuff act of vandalism it was a large scale demolition process! This was no rickety weak structure that they had pulled apart, it was a solid framework that could support a fully grown man jumping up and down on it on his INTENSE M1 ! NO this was a malicious act of vandalism which at no point would I have expected in the quite, humble village of Hillesley, I now know better. As I pulled out the broken bones uncovering them through the hardened layer of mud that encased them I realized that the berm, in it's previous form, had only been in existence since February building up from a frame of wood with rubber tiles,  To my surprise the berm was not the only heartless act that had been carried out. Carefully placed on the backside of each ramp was a lump of wood about 1 foot long and full of nails. Not only that there was also strips of glass (broken) laid in neat lines in the trough between each ramp. Now that's either an attempt to damage equipment or a brutal attempt to injure someone. Something tells me that primitive man is trying to catch wholly mammoths in Gloucestershire! It's not just us that use the ramps either, little children love to jump across the chasm of death (yes it does get annoying). So basically this whole thing could of ended rather badly. Now I'm going to keep riding and building, and I pretty sure everyone else will too, it's just sad that an event like this has happened and yes the vandalism was bad enough but the logs and glass were just one step too far, it could have ended in injury which, I myself think would have been terrible. In the village we are regarded as mature, sensible people and our trails are never destroyed or questioned by anyone on the village council or the police, but if someone had got hurt due to the glass and logs this would have probably changed. I can now relate to anyone who has had the same experience, and I sympathize for you. I am not by any means saying that I am the only one this has ever happened to, and just asking for everyone to feel sorry for me, I am expressing my views for others to see. Now I've just got to figure out what to do next to try and make sure that the same thing won't happen (but unfortunately I expect it will). Cheers for reading this, Aperture mtb. |
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joeboy
(April 19, 2008 at 14:43)
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We spent ages on that and why would people do something like that do you think it was tom
18 weeks building our trail, trashed by forestry commission in an hour.
And also, I love your reflectors haha
And also, I love your reflectors haha
because theyre f*cking idiots
Well think of it this way.
If somebody built a great big garage or something like that in your garden you would want to tear it down because it is not meant to be there.
If you just build a trail on forestry land without permission they are going to tear it down.
If somebody built a great big garage or something like that in your garden you would want to tear it down because it is not meant to be there.
If you just build a trail on forestry land without permission they are going to tear it down.
If someone built a garage in my garden I would be like... 'awesome! Now my cats can live outside!'
But seriously I see what your getting at....oh, and also forestry commision have invited us to view a piece of land 3 miles long that they have decided is a suitable downhill track substitue for where we built our first track.
But seriously I see what your getting at....oh, and also forestry commision have invited us to view a piece of land 3 miles long that they have decided is a suitable downhill track substitue for where we built our first track.
i carnt even recall how long we spent building our trails, and we coordinated with what the forestry (not build on the main path), to arrive one morning to find a man in a digger, with an annoyingly large smile on his face. The forestry said if we built there again we would be arrested, but they would find us somewhere else for us too build, its been about 6 months, and theres beeen nothing. So there not exactly biker friendly ha
if u can see the trails from ur window wot u need is a rifle. and btw broken glass an vandalism sounds alot like chavs so if u see some skulking around chase em off with a saw!
JamesOliver i think you should not even be here because i don't think you have the spirit of riding, and if you read it right... glass and nail that stupid in the worst some one could get really hurt.. but by the sound of your comment it seams like you could do that to a track........ so next time leave the comment in your head....
unfortunately it happens everywhere..don't understand why people bother get in so much trouble only to destroy trails, jumps, structures, etc..they don't understand that this is how we have fun..I've heard excuses like: "You could hurt yourself" ...yes, I know that...
you should then reply to the vandals... yes you could hurt yourself too becuse if you trash my trails again i will castrate you and put you in a bin!!
Sorry to this man. I know I would be devestated.
Destroying a berm is bad enough... but putting nails and glass on the jumps / landings is just plain criminal! The consequences of what could happen dont even bear thinking about. I'm sure the police would have a thing or two to say about it as it's obvious the vandals intention was to injure people.
Anyway, I hope they dont come back, and if they do I hope you catch them.
Keep riding
Destroying a berm is bad enough... but putting nails and glass on the jumps / landings is just plain criminal! The consequences of what could happen dont even bear thinking about. I'm sure the police would have a thing or two to say about it as it's obvious the vandals intention was to injure people.
Anyway, I hope they dont come back, and if they do I hope you catch them.
Keep riding
Hope you catch them when you are carrying your trail building tools.
it would be great to have the police on your side but when some trails are built illegally... theres nothing you can say to them!!
i remember when i was just starting mountain biking and me and my friends made a jump behind my friends house.. the neighbour rang the police on us and when the police came they laughed and asked if they could watch us riding for a while!
i remember when i was just starting mountain biking and me and my friends made a jump behind my friends house.. the neighbour rang the police on us and when the police came they laughed and asked if they could watch us riding for a while!
1st line is mean to say Sorry to hear this.
I shouldnt type so fast.
I shouldnt type so fast.
you could set up some motion lights and a camera, try to bust them in the act if they come back again....definately file a police report, never know what might happen. good luck, hope the guys that did this get what they deserve
some f*ck head ran over my second jump at my trail on a 4 wheeler and wreaked the side and lip
fixed it enough to ride then followed the 4 wheeler tracks hoping to find them so i could kick their ass
fixed it enough to ride then followed the 4 wheeler tracks hoping to find them so i could kick their ass
Unfortunately some people take great pleasure in destroying the things that other people enjoy. I believe it comes from a deep inner self loathing, as though somehow your enjoyment of said trails amplifies their own lack of self worth. It's sick really. Sometimes people are just dicks.
The the bright side.. at least you didn't get your trail removed by the town authorities, if that were the case you wouldn't even be able to rebuild.
The the bright side.. at least you didn't get your trail removed by the town authorities, if that were the case you wouldn't even be able to rebuild.
we had a big pump track and jumps in a lot and yesterday we wnet there to find out it was bull dozed. we had a bowl and lots of jumps. I was so mad
I feel for you man. In the river valley where we built stunts we have had the same kind of action nails dumped on the berms and hips stunts torn down and burned. Some malicious A hole pulled all the screws out of a ladder bridge once and left the rungs up. Not something you want to find out at 10 feet up trying to get speed up for the drop. Ive heard of traps being built on jump trails and wires strung across. If I ever catch one of the bastards like Mr T says I PITY DA FOOL
Years ago a dirt biker died back on the island from some random Dumbass booby trapping the trail.
well that is man slaughter! and these vasndals should be severly punished
It becomes a ridiculous game of wills, do they want to continue to destroy it MORE than you want to continue to rebuild it. Its a tug of war that no one can win. Don't try to figure out the "why", it will only lead to more frustration and anger and in the end the answer is always the same: "Because".
It's always easier to destroy than to build. They see it as fun to destroy trails, but we don't see it as fun to build them. The fun we get is when we ride those trails, so in the end they're the ones who win the war...
I would say it's tons of fun to build trails... rebuilding is another story.
But yeah, riding is always better than building.
But yeah, riding is always better than building.
i like building because you can use your imagination but also learn from your mistakes... it beats school!
That's very sad that someone would feel the need to wrek something built for fun and exercise. The nails and broken glass would be cause to make a police report. Rebuild and carry-on , try not to take it personally.
Cheers.
Cheers.
we had an idiot drive over jumps and push over a road drop with his landrover on our future world cup track, the same numb nut drove over our 12m wooden table top and the whole dual track and completely wrecked it.. its so irritating!! but karma is real, they will get what is coming to them
thats is soooooooooo lame
i have had that done to me by sum scumy bmxers !
i have had that done to me by sum scumy bmxers !
This is sad we do no harm we just build to have fun... is that a crime me and some friends try to build one to in a place inside a forest we had a lots of for that spot we still build 2 drops (http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/1757449/)and begin to build a road gap 2 weeks later the road gap hasn't there but the drops where no problem i think to built in the other side even to correct the jump in the other week we find all of the track destroy... is sad to think that we build to enjoy and has a friend of mine say "to stay out of drugs" and this motherf*ckers destroy it....
The only reason they wreck these tracks is because they are stupid low-life scum, who don't have anything better to do than get stoned and be dumbasses, sorry to hear about your track man, but you should definately set up a camera or a motion sensor light, keep on ridin
Obviously this is a common problem with "freeriding". Unfortunately, the only way around it is to move to Canada, the only place on earth where this sport is fully accepted.
Not completely true.. there are retards born every minute in every country. Well there are sweet places to bike in Canada shit still get torn down by f*ckups.
Canada is great for biking I agree... but we have problems just like anywhere else; kids who would rather break it than try it. The key is to get them interested in our sport. If they see somebody else about to destroy the trail that they now enjoy they can do the same as us, save it.
Calling people dumb shits and f*cking idiots only perpetuates the division between us.
Calling people dumb shits and f*cking idiots only perpetuates the division between us.
ye i sad thing about this case is that we did not expect it because we live in a small countryside village life's a b*tch
some little shit smashed whisky bottles at the local jumps and ripped a log out of a jump at my trail
I used to live in chicago, and we'd spend many hours loooking for solid spots to build on, and countless more building. usually a few weeks and wed go out to find all of our takeoffs and landings converted to paintball bunkers and broken glass everywhere.
i went to my trail 1 day in fall 06 and there was graffiti on some of the trees
took at least an hour to scrape it off
took at least an hour to scrape it off
it's help if you spelled "photography" right in the video...
well thats what happens when you dont build everything out of dirt so kids cant pull sticks out to destroy it.
those mouther f*ckers i hope you guys find them
wow my jumps just got destoyed in my field a few days ago. By some little 10 year old kids. no lifes i guess
yeah i feel really sorry for you, we have a place we call "the candycane tree place" it used to be awesome but everytime we come to jump people have either torn our stuff down or scattered shit like glass and nails all over, we cant go there anymore without taking costly risks
"and just asking for everyone to feel sorry for me"
haha
haha
Kids at the local dirt jumps cover bords filled with nails with just enough dirt so you cant see the nails right on the landings.
Why not use dirt jumps in the wood or Forest where no-one see :-)
My Ramp is fine miles away from the kids lol
My Ramp is fine miles away from the kids lol
f*ck people who mess with bikers trails were not doing any damage
some f*ck knocked over all my wooden shit and f*cked up my jumps last night. now i have to spend all f*cking day fixing shit an if they come back im going to kick their f*cking ass and throw them in the f*cking pond
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