MTB RIDING RULE UP AT TOKAI

[SwissVan]

I ride tokai twice a week. I love riding up and down the singletrack. My take is this the downhill rider should have the right of way as its such fun going down you dont want to stop everytime someone is huffing up the track. When im huffing up the track and i see some guys flying down i move to the side they zip past and i carry on ..no worries. Then when its my turn i expect the same treatment.

 

On weekend mornings if you ride up the single track you a chop im sorry to say but you are. Riding downhill singletrack is the spirit of the sport to muck that up would really be taking the fun out of MTB. SO thats that then teh rule is made uphill move over on singletrack and let the dhill guys rip and no uphill on sat/sun am....and remember im watching u

 

The problem is to avoid confusion you need one rule for all occasions instead of having rules with if's and conditions attached, cause then everyone starts adding his own version and chaos resumes...

 

Your approach works well when the gradient is not to steep, but if the route is steep and difficult then it is easier for the bikes going down to give way than it is for the ones going up.

[GLuvsMtb]

The point of riding singletrack at public trails like Tokai is not to gun down the trail as fast as you can. I see so many good and not-so-good riders picking their braking points so late, that they end up sliding that back wheel all around the berm. Who cares if you made your run in 5minutes20sec iso 5minutes30sec?

If you ride the singletrack at a controlled pace you'll have enough time to stop for riders coming up.

Another thing that we should start doing is saying thanks.

So few guys say thanks, no matter who has right of way.

[Lucky Luke.]

The point of riding singletrack at public trails like Tokai is not to gun down the trail as fast as you can. I see so many good and not-so-good riders picking their braking points so late, that they end up sliding that back wheel all around the berm. Who cares if you made your run in 5minutes20sec iso 5minutes30sec?

If you ride the singletrack at a controlled pace you'll have enough time to stop for riders coming up.

Another thing that we should start doing is saying thanks.

So few guys say thanks, no matter who has right of way.

 

Don't go fast? That's crazy talk!

 

Seriously though, how do we learn to race singletrack if we can't practice doing it at Tokai?

 

And yes, I do say thank you and I'm all for good manners. But I like to go fast while I am thanking the oncoming traffic. And I have no problem with getting out the way when I'm going up.

[Stevief]

The problem is to avoid confusion you need one rule for all occasions instead of having rules with if's and conditions attached, cause then everyone starts adding his own version and chaos resumes...

 

Your approach works well when the gradient is not to steep, but if the route is steep and difficult then it is easier for the bikes going down to give way than it is for the ones going up.

The gradient at Tokai is nto steep on the singletrack in 99% of the trails its only steep where the downhill guys ramp up by the top split. That part is not rideable in the up direction anyway.

[david16v]

The gradient at Tokai is nto steep on the singletrack in 99% of the trails its only steep where the downhill guys ramp up by the top split. That part is not rideable in the up direction anyway.

 

It can be done Stevief, are you drinking pink drinks?

[Trance23]

Hey, I like the idea's coming round awesomeness.

 

I like the idea about putting signs up with different colours on them so you know as a new rider to that trail which route is easier one to difficult and tech.

 

And the distances of each route but also my an advantage too:). I am going to contact the Wild Parks. ( San Parks) and see the response that I get from the suggestions from everyone's points made on this topic.

 

I know many of you think aaaahh nothing will get done. But, at least it will be a stepping stone forward. And I know alot of you take this topic as a joke and want to get your popcorn out,WATCH a difference will be made on the Tokai trail and maybe they can impliment the plan to other trails and new trails.

[Stevief]

It can be done Stevief, are you drinking pink drinks?

You right i will climb the ramp section , no more pink drinks for me

[Oliver Williams]

In the old days (I'm talking Tokai here) you rode up the road to get it over with as quickly as possible, and have a chat on the way, and rode down the singletrack for the fun of it, which was the point of going mountain biking in the first place. You rode up one or two steep link sections for a proper technical challenge, and see if you could do what your mates couldn't, and that was enough of that sort of fun. If you want to practise your 'riding up technical singletrack skills' then do so when nobody else is around, or at the very least, be vigilant, and give way to the rider coming down (apologising profusely if you get in the way). Why on earth put time and effort into building singletrack for people to ride up it?! I think it's a silly debate, and the only way to resolve it seriously is to have dedicated 'up' singletrack and dedicated 'down' singletrack i.e. one-way traffic where 'passing right' means passing right. Ask Meurant and beneficiaries (us) how much budget to allocate to building 'up' singletrack, and get votes to decide which proportion should be 'up'. Most races / rides worth doing do not aim to please riders wanting to ride up singletrack. Right way of way for the person coming up makes sense for 4x4 vehicles on jeep tracks, but not for mountain bikes on singletrack.

[Chris Nixon]

Its all about safety first for me. When it comes to single track I think the rider going down has right of way because it takes him longer to stop. Generally most if it is not a problem as just a little respect on both sides will do the trick. Its the blind corners that are the real problem. All riders going up must just bear in mind that a rider going down at a higher speeds will not be able to stop in time on a blind corner.

[Trance23]

I am loving the responses here and some great points are coming out:) Loving it

[aka_flipper]

Hi all

i've had the privilege of riding a wide variety of trails around the world - moab, seven stanes, portes de soleil, italy, alps etc .. and i feel i need to add input to this.

 

the imba rule of riders going up having right of way does work in places where imba has a dedicated following - i've seen it in action in colorado and utah. but in SA the mountain bike scene has an extraordinary proportion of novices who haven't heard of rules of the trail let alone imba.

 

i've found the trails that work best are the graded one direction trails - like porcupine rim, any of the seven stanes - where you select your grade: red, green, blue, black what have you and then ride it to your hearts content knowing full well that when you jump off a drop or jump or pin it round a switchback you wont be hurtling headlong into a group with heads down pounding on the granny gear trying to get over some roots. you can link loops to make the ride shorter, longer, harder, easier depending on the location .. but in essence you are going one way down tracks.

 

the other thing from a trailbuilder's perspective is the trails at tokai are essentially a compromise so that people can go both up and down on the same track. our bikes are so much more capable these days that we don't have to ride up a fireroad to access singletrack - thats for the 29ers.

 

i think with the tree felling going on in tokai, the ever increasing numbers of saturday riders, that this is the perfect chance to build and amend trails that are a whole series of one-way loops with grades and built for their direction and nature.

 

just my 2c

g

[Trance23]

Hey I like the response and some great idea's coming from everyone.

 

I will say that Tokai is an amazing mountain to riding on always nice and busy and their are always friendly riders most mornings (Sat,Sun) who always greet and are always willing to help out.

 

Would be nice if they could stop felling so many of the tree's up there as it is a B ***ch to climb the main hill and other sections of the trail that have had the tree's felled away:( Not nice and cool get's flipping hot man.

 

And I think if they could accomodate for rider types with proper signage up it would help those Novice/recreational riders have a sense of the route they are taking and the distance too:)

 

I am not sure what other MTBikers think I would like to know.