TRF Forums

Which all leads me on to say that the whole 'anti' thing is just a load of class and age war.
The antis are driven by retired middle class militants on final salary pensions, who delight in stopping anyone doing anything that annoys them, and have the funds and time to back it up.
They feel that because in their careers they were in a position of authority, they now are in charge of a 10 mile radius of their castle.
These sort of people probably spent their career stamping on others to get to the top, and are not used to the oppressed having a say, so get even more upset when challenged. Cue loads more money and a top lawyer.

Just a thought should we consider having some way of identifying us as part of the protest? Hi viz jacket or black arm bands or a flag on the back or our bikes?

It would be really good if each group could sort out some vests or armbands

it would be impossible to do nationally and hand out on the day. If enough people wanted them i could arrange something and send them out............let me know...........and in the meantime i will ask the Exec.

the whole point of the protest is to show the Anti's that if we are banned from the lanes we are going to be on the roads......where else can we go?

I cannot say to you please don"t ride the Lanes.......after all they are public rights of way and you entitled to. the point is you might not be able to for much longer..........hence the protest.........you can do as you please especially not for the sake of a protest......heavens forbid......

But dont worry you might not need to ride 3 or 400 miles round trip at all because there will be no lanes to come to. Better still you might not even need to ride the few miles to your local lanes because you cant ride them either. You might have to buy a trailer though so you can enter an Enduro or go to a "pay and play"...........YOU CHOICE

the majority though would really appreciate your assistance with OUR protest on the 26th.

Most of my riding mates are not in the TRF, so we do our own thing. A few of us have joined up recently to help with the fight to save lanes, and we had around 20 of us in the Peaks on 24th April. 1/3 rode with the TRF and 2/3 did our own ride.

I cannot pursuade any of my mates to commit to riding an enduro bike on tarmac after the expense of driving a van for 3-400 miles, so it really is a case of no one turning up, or 8 - 10 riding the green lanes, the tarmac between them, and be seen parking up in car parks and petrol stations as per the original protest idea.

When we go on long distance rides, we need a critical mass of riders and also key riders with the transport to be able to do it- ie we need to have enough vans, and cram them with as many bikes as possible to keep the costs affordable.

As said before, I am seeing an increasing number of riders that have given up caring, as they feel we are fighting a loosing battle, with total closure inevitable, and are riding what they can for as long as it lasts. The natural progression of this is to ride off-piste and try not to get caught, which is one of the main unintended consequences of relentless lane closure. (which of course I am not condoning)

Story in MCN today on page 2

I am very disappointed to read this. It demonstrate so cleary just how F@&King short sighted we are and it means we have two battles on our hands chaps.

!........the establishment

2............the trail bikers who have the beliefs as stated in this comment.........YOU'RE ONE OF THE REASON S WE ARE IN THIS MESS and you are the very peolpe who will cost the rest of us and our children the opportunity to ride the lanes in future and you are not not helping our cause you are hindering it.

sorry if the truth as (i see) it hurts..unless i have got it wrong?

Don't apologise Mike, the truth doesn't hurt. This is what is actually happening on the ground. I'm neither happy or proud of it, but it's happening.

Then i for one ( and a good few others) are wasting our time and would be better off spending it with our families or running our businesses..........

Especially if this view is the view of the majority.........we'll fight for the lanes as long as we can just carry on as we are but otherwise we will carry on as we are anyway.......win win!.......if this is the majority view then i am out.....

I very much doubt it's a majority view, and certainly within the TRF it must be an extreme minority view as it cuts across the whole ethos of the TRF.
However, apologies for being brutally honest, but this mindset is out there, and is a direct result of NERC, the antis, and the shockingly horrible way we are treated by the ramblers when riding the lanes in the Peaks. When I first rode in the Peaks, I used to give a cheery wave and a 'hello' to all I met on the lanes, and was puzzled by the frosty, and sometimes aggressive reactions. Now I understand why, and can understand why some riders have just had enough of being persecuted and abused and are just doing what they like.
How do we turn them back? I've no idea.

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing the Peaks protest, I am absolutely for it. In my opinion it is better to have 8-10 riders riding the lanes, the tarmac between and showing a presence in the Peaks, than no one turning up because they don't want to ride on tarmac only.