Mountain bikers not observing the May-September Access Agreement on Snowdon and acting inconsiderately around other trail users.

>>> Permits and quotas needed to ride on Snowdon?

There have been recently some infringements recently of the voluntary cycling agreement on Snowdon, where bikes have been riding on the mountain during peak hours of the day. And the National Park officers have had some complaints from more than one person that certain cyclists were riding at unwise speeds and being verbally abusive to walker.

Essentially some mountain bikers aren’t adhering to the shouldn’t-need-to-be-written code of conduct that essentially states ‘don’t be an idiot’.

It will be relatively easy for authorities to slap a TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) on all of the Snowdon bridleways, stating reasons of pedestrian safety, and that willl be that. No more bikes on Snowdon. At any time.

Three things to know about bikes and Snowdon

1. Due to its popularity Snowdon is the subject of an access agreement. We mountain bikers agree that between May 1 and September 31 we stay off the mountain between 10am and 5pm.

NB: this is not a time restriction on when to start your descent from the summit (as some people often think it is). There should be no bikes on Snowdon uphill or downhill between the hours of 10am and 5pm, May-September.

2. Mountain bikers give way to pedestrians (and horse riders for that matter) at all times.

3. Riding Snowdon when it’s chock-full of walkers is extremely not-fun. It’s not even worth the bother.

Snowdonia National Park access officer Peter Rutherford: “We ask that mountain bikers respect the standing agreement between the Snowdonia National Park and various mountain bike user groups and stay off the Llanberis, Snowdon Ranger and Rhyd Ddu paths between 10am and 17.00 from the 1st of May to the end of September. The agreement was put in place to prevent potential clashes between incredibly high volumes of walkers and cyclists at peak times. It has worked well for many years, showing that all users can share the paths successfully, but this does rely on cyclists complying with the agreement, which most do.

“Cyclists should also be mindful that under Countryside Act 1968, they should give way to both pedestrians and horse riders at all times on a bridleway, and failure to do so (that is riding in a manner which is deemed to be reckless) is a criminal offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988.

“Cyclists should also be aware that they could find themselves liable in the case of any injury caused to pedestrians or equine users regardless.

“We’re delighted that so many mountain bikers come to Snowdonia and chose to ride on our highest mountain, and the success of this agreement could lead to increased access in other areas over time, so we would urge cyclists to please respect other users and exercise due caution – especially on their descents”