"How Overlanders are Ruining Overlanding"
 

A bit of a clickbaity title, but I think the guy makes some very valid points. And while motorcycles are not as big of an offender, I think (and there are more than enough good moto routes like the TET/TAT/TCAT to fill up an adventure), it's worthwhile to remember to be respectful of the places you're traveling through.

The TET is an impending problem in itself, IMHO. There's a lane near us on the TET, that used to only see the occasional group of riders on lightweight trail bikes - maybe a group of 3 or 6 once a month. Since the TET 'opened' I see groups of up to a dozen once or twice a week, including heavy adventure machines with full camping gear. Predictably I can see the lane taking more and more wear until one day there will be TRO signs and it'll be lost to everybody for good. In the UK, legislation has removed about 95% of the lanes that people used to legally ride, and while light traffic on the remainder was tolerable anything that concentrates traffic on to a set route is going to cause a problem sooner or later. And guess what, the publicised route now attracts huge 4WD vehicles as well.

I've raised this concern on various forums and usually the result is one or more of the guys involved in the project start by getting defensive and progress on to personal attacks, so I don't bother any more.

That said the ACT from what I've heard of it seems more sustainable, being based mainly on gravel tracks more suitable for big bikes and 'heavier' use.

Mmm, there's old donkey trails here which are unused by motorised vehicles and they're the absolute best fun to ride ... no way in hell I'd put them on Wikiloc when we already get at least 6 large groups of enduro / light adventure bikes and a couple of lots of 4x4s going past our house each week. They rip up the trails, annoy the hell out of those who live here, and often ride faster than is safe :(

Basically it's the internet and everything connected with it like Youtube etc. People ride with helm cameras, post it and then that specific secret gem is no secret anymore.....


Albania was years ago such an off-road paradise til some turps published ride reports in the internet, in off-road magazines etc. Today it is pita. Like @Turbofurball said: even the donkey trails are ruined by massive trucks like Unimog, Defender, Landcruiser and the like.


If you find a hidden gem, enjoy it and please keep it to yourself :mchappy:

@Tomkat it's pretty much the same situation with TAT in some spots.

While the parts of it are legally still public byways people gate them and prevent traffic from coming through, because there hasn't been any for decades.

Sent from my BV4900Pro which I haven't managed to drown yet

Land access seems to be an entirely different subject! Closing off trails is illegal here, but some farmers still try it ... the flipside is that here and there there are genuinely private tracks (generally just going to one field or house, but sometimes not), and lots of trials that aren't mapped but are legal, so one has to be careful.

On the plus side, unlike the US you're unlikely to get the sharp end of a gun pointed at you unless you're causing damage.

The issue in the states that for example people build a house and turn the access road maintenance (grading, snow removal, etc) to county, still genuinely believing that it is their road because it is on their land. Well it may be their land but it is still a public road which can be used by public.

And even if the road has been taken off the maintenance list, most likely the owner hasn't hired a lawyer and it hasn't gone through the proper legal process, so it's still a public road.

The other point of confusion is that it costs money to install cattle guards, so in many places people just put burb wire fence gates. It doesn't mean that you can't go through just be a good neighbor and put it back up so cattle don't wander off.

And then I have a friend who had a gun pointed at him, or gates bluntly locked, you can't argue with that.

Sent from my BV4900Pro which I haven't managed to drown yet