Yorkshire man rushed to hospital after mountain bike trail assault

[highlandsflyer]

Our posts crossed @highlandsflyer I agree, it would be a very rare case.

I agree. No doubt there was a flash point, but I wouldn't leave the fellow in that state.

 

[FluffyChicken]

People have always been the same. Some good, some bad. Sometimes good people doing bad things, and vice versa. The news only talks about the people doing bad things because that's what we'll read.

There is no doubt a fuller story here. People rarely randomly assault people - and certainly not if they are out for a ride in the countryside. What they've done is unlawful, but there will be a rationale, not matter how faulty for it.

Edit: The BBC coverage suggests a confrontation took place

Pickering: Man seriously injured in Cropton Forest row with mountain bikers

Police say Alan Cummings required hospital treatment after he was struck following a confrontation.

www.bbc.co.uk

Again, unless this group felt they were in immediate threat to life style danger (unlikely given there's three of them and they are much younger), I can't see any justification for the actions they took.

They sound like your average retrobike.
And Cropton is fire tracks/roads with homemade off piste routes, fancies and trees. Even the surrounding areas are similar.
No specific cycle only routes, this isn't Dalby.

Just sound really odd for there.
Any locals know anything on the grape vine?
Stick Cropton in the title.

Could be a nice PACE frame, since they made a really nice looking yellow one. (modern style)

 

[bikeworkshop]

Pace?
My money's on ebikers
Oh hold on - idiots ride all sorts of stuff don't they

 

[Russell]

Classic whataboutery.

Not at all. Merely pointing out that the article has one side of the story and it is usually wise to gather all the information before making judgement.

Still, you do you, as the kids say.

 

[greencat]

They sound like your average retrobike.

Agreed, from the descriptions they could easily be an amalgam of some of the guys I ride with (for any bizzies with overactive imaginations, we are on the other side of the country).

If they regularly ride together, someone will know who they are. Chances are there's a least one ebiker in the group given the age range (most people I know over the age of about 40 are riding eMTBs now) - and yellow is not that common a colour for an MTB. Probably no more than a dozen or so models from the last few years. No idea if it's the kind of place someone would travel a long distance to ride to or if it's mostly locals.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Is it a wild assumption or is trouble usually locals?

IMO people tend to be more cautious and considerate if they are far from home - I suppose they aren't confident about what's what, they aren't on home turf, they've made an effort to get there, hoping for a positive experience.
That doesn't make it a rule though obvs. *holes are *holes wherever they are.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Agreed, from the descriptions they could easily be an amalgam of some of the guys I ride with (for any bizzies with overactive imaginations, we are on the other side of the country).

If they regularly ride together, someone will know who they are. Chances are there's a least one ebiker in the group given the age range (most people I know over the age of about 40 are riding eMTBs now) - and yellow is not that common a colour for an MTB. Probably no more than a dozen or so models from the last few years. No idea if it's the kind of place someone would travel a long distance to ride to or if it's mostly locals.

They could have been up to something, and the fella happened upon them. All speculation; but that is human nature. Unlikely he would have been co-operating with the authorities if he was himself up to no good. Unlikely they would have delivered that level of violence on a whim, unless they were predisposed to such behaviour. Suggesting he may be the author of his own misfortune may be reasonable in some scenarios, but I struggle to think of one. If he was, for example, sabbing trails I reckon he wouldn't be out doing so in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

 

[greencat]

Is it a wild assumption or is trouble usually locals?

IMO people tend to be more cautious and considerate if they are far from home - I suppose they aren't confident about what's what, they aren't on home turf, they've made an effort to get there, hoping for a positive experience.
That doesn't make it a rule though obvs. *holes are *holes wherever they are.

I used to know a guy who had a very respectable profession who would definitely travel for trouble - usually deliberately looking for fights outside nightclubs - as he assumed it was more anonymous. Got spooked one night when they were caught in the act, and his mate arrested while he ran off. The police reckoned they had a good description of the guy I knew - and would have him if they ever saw in the city again. Stopped shortly afterwards. Ditto an ex-football hooligan (but I guess that goes with the territory).

 

[greencat]

They could have been up to something, and the fella happened upon them. All speculation; but that is human nature. Unlikely he would have been co-operating with the authorities if he was himself up to no good. Unlikely they would have delivered that level of violence on a whim, unless they were predisposed to such behaviour. Suggesting he may be the author of his own misfortune may be reasonable in some scenarios, but I struggle to think of one. If he was, for example, sabbing trails I reckon he wouldn't be out doing so in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

Easy to imagine all kinds of plausible scenarios. Old guy out walking with a stick enjoying a peaceful afternoon in the countryside, gets startled by some mountain bikers racing by so tries to slow them down by waving the stick at their wheels causing one of them to fall off or feel threatened. Shouting match. Neither party appreciating just how much the other one scared them. Red mist comes down, and one of them plants one on him.

Not justifying or condoning the action, just speculating how it could how a row could have escalated and ended in something like this.

 

[highlandsflyer]

"A pensioner who was attacked by 3 mountain bikers illegally attempting to ride on his land in Cropton near Pickering says he fears they could do much worse, if they're not caught. Alan Cummings has a broken nose and fractures to his eye socket and cheekbone." Victoria Whittam, Twitter/X.
Twitter/X Post.