# Where Can I Use an Off-Road Bike?



## JtB (24 Feb 2009)

Hi All,
I'm considering some off road bikes for my family because there are lots of country paths across fields and along waterways around by where I live (Hampshire). One question though, are bikes normally allowed to use these paths? Or do they tend to be for walkers only?
Shaun.


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## maurice (24 Feb 2009)

Anything other than footpaths are fine (unfortunately most paths tend to be footpaths). Believe technically you might need a permit to ride next to a canal, but not sure on that, you won't get in trouble anyway.

Bridlepaths are the mtb'ers normal stable diet, get an OS map and link as many together as possible for a nice loop.

ps. if you're discrete, courteous to walkers and it's not crowded, you can get away with riding on footpaths 99 times out of 100. Just avoid the ones that go near/through farms.


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## JtB (24 Feb 2009)

Thanks Maurice, the problem is that most footpaths round where I live do pass through farms.


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## 02GF74 (24 Feb 2009)

Canals are private property belong to British Waterways or some such body. You are supposed to apply for a permit - I believe you can find it on line and print it off.

In practise there is nothing to stop you from cycling on the canal path. 

For some reason walkers will tend to walk in the centre or in pairs so as to block the path from anyone who is travelling faster e.g. me running or cycling.


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## fossyant (24 Feb 2009)

The canal one, you can literally just print a permit off from what I know - no real hassle.


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## Globalti (25 Feb 2009)

As written above, nip to a bookshop and buy the Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map of your area. Here's the key:http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk...HqRjI/h8O/AXMn6TvpAbzqRjMrAjT/AbJ/BjFcx4Qch0K

This will open your eyes to what's around you and you'll be amazed at how many bridleways there are (green dashed line) although in agricultural counties like Hampshire there might be fewer than you'd find in an old industrial area like Lancashire, for example.


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## montage (6 Mar 2009)

Where abouts exactly in Hampshire?
I am there aswell and most places are fine  Though I admit I am a roadie and rarely go offroad, though I used to go anywhere I liked with my mtb before it was nicked - people who are out for walks are hardly the type to be annoyed if they see a cyclist sharing the path anyhow, it tends to be little angry anal men with suits + bowler hats who get annoyed at such petty things.


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## Ludwig (7 Mar 2009)

The New Forest in Hampshire will have hundreds of miles of cycle trails and I don't really see a problem with canal paths. I was a runner and did hundreds of miles along the tow paths and didn't need any license or anything. Here in Mid Wales which is about 2 hours drive from Hampshire, there are vast wilderness areas which are brilliant for mountain biking. You can ride all day and not meet a soul.


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## Cubist (8 Mar 2009)

Ludwig said:


> The New Forest in Hampshire will have hundreds of miles of cycle trails and I don't really see a problem with canal paths. I was a runner and did hundreds of miles along the tow paths and didn't need any license or anything. Here in Mid Wales which is about 2 hours drive from Hampshire, there are vast wilderness areas which are brilliant for mountain biking. You can ride all day and not meet a soul.



No, there isn't a problem with canal towpaths generally, but they are the domain of the Waterways. You can run on them, fine, but they do ask for cyclists to obtain permits to ride on them. They too have to think about their liability, and where they have risk assessed that it would not be safe for pedestrians and bikes to share a towpath, they don't issue permits. (Huddersfield Narrow Canal for example). 

So. If you want to ride on a towpath, look it up on the web, go to their site and check whether permits are available for that stretch. If they are, you can download one and ride on it at no extra cost. If no permit is available, then you can't, because it's not safe either for you or for the other people who want to use it. (but you are probably more than welcome to run on it.....)


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