I want to talk about something that’s really important to me and probably a lot of others here.
I ride mountain bikes in Skopje, and while we’re lucky to have a gondola and a great mountain, we don’t actually have proper, designated MTB trails. Because of that, everyone shares the same paths — bikers, hikers, runners, kids, families… basically everything mixed together.
And honestly, it’s becoming a problem.
There have been accidents. Some serious, some minor, and a lot of close calls. You’ve got riders going fast (sometimes way too fast), hikers not expecting bikes at all, and kids riding with zero awareness. It’s just a bad mix.
A few weeks ago, there was a situation on the mountain where a hiker stopped a young mountain biker (a kid, maybe 16) and started yelling at him. Here’s the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pJv3y5f9ZU&t=789s
You can feel the tension — and honestly, both sides are frustrated. Hikers feel unsafe. Riders feel like they have nowhere to go.
But this isn’t really about one incident. It’s about the bigger issue:
We’re all being forced into the same space without clear rules, infrastructure, or separation.
Right now it feels like we’re just waiting for a really bad accident to happen.
So I’m asking this seriously:
What should we do?
How can we change this situation?
And what exactly needs to change — riders, hikers, city planning, or all of it?
by AltruisticTrifle3790
13 Comments
1. try the easiest solutions first by seeing what the story is if you can put signs up in at least two languages (I know how it can be in the Balkans!) and not only that, with understandable pictures that the trails are multi-use, be nice, they are for everyone, etc.
An area nearby me has a nature trail along a river where it narrows and they called it the “with one another path” and it had a picture of people, families, and bicyclists together. It expresses that the trail is multi-use and people should show respect for one another and removes ambiguity.
Your post should be exactly what is written in a public release. I actually wanted to mountain bike down there, but it seems rough from what you’re saying.
mixed use trails are common in the United States. I’ve had the privilege of living in many different regions in the US and many have had dedicated MTB trails but most trails are actually mixed use, and sometimes issues pop up, but from what I’ve noticed, even on mixed use trails, hikers and bikers typically stick to certain trails. I.e., this trail is listed as “mixed use” on the land management website, but is built with berms and has jumps so only mountain bikers or hikers unfamiliar with the area will use it.
Are your trails *actually* mixed use, or are you poaching trails?
For example, in Seattle, WA, there are many free to use, public trail networks dedicated to just mountain bikes. In those same areas, however, there are mixed use trails.
Where I am now, in Southern California, we actually have no free to use public trail networks that are exclusively mountain bike use (that I’m aware of). All the trails here are mixed use. Very rarely will you see signage that indicates multi-use, only signs that state no bikes allowed.
What your problem seems to be is not that it is mixed use, it is that people are not aware that the trails are mixed use. The *best* thing you can do in this situation is put together a legitimate MTB advocacy group and get in on council meetings and speak directly with land managers.
Wow that video is absurd, the kid was riding responsibly and the family had a dog off-leash. Dad is lucky he stopped a nice kid.
This sounds like Denver area trails. Lots of conflict between different user groups.
You fix this with more trails to spread users out. You fix this with trail restrictions but user groups (hiker odd, biker even days). You fix this primarily by making trails directional so everything is more predictable.
In my city this was a conflict too. Then there was a club builded by the Mountainbiker community which talked with the city government about creating legal Mountainbike Trail’s. Now years later we have several very good trails around the town and no conflicts with hikers anymore. The club is growing and growing and organizes the biggest Mountainbike Festival in the region.
The struggle is real. dedicated use trails, directional trails, better signage’s etc
That place looks rad, and I wish my local multi-use system was this fun. You can keep it this way. If your local authorities get involved, MTBs will lose. This place looks pretty busy and they’re not going to restrict hikers. It’ll start with the park authority removing the jumps and berms and then eliminating biking altogether. This is always how it ends up.
We no longer have jumps or berms in most of my local trail system because of this exact same situation. Even log rolls get torn down.
Avoid that happening by slowing waaaaay down when you pass hikers, and announce how many in your group before you pass them. Disagree if you want, but it’ll end up with bikes being banned and you will have ruined it for all of the riders.
Lift served mountain biking does not align with hiking or other non-bike users. It is never a good idea to mix users preferring to go downhill fast on a bike with on-foot users going in either direction on the same trail. Your riding area should have already seen this as a fairly large liability operationally. If they haven’t they need to figure it out really quick. The gondola can serve those on foot and bike but the trails need to be used for one purpose or another.
Is the gondola charging for the uplift? If so, each user should realistically expect a situation that is at least safe in the design of the trails that follow instead of a free for all.
Respecting others rights to enjoy the great doors is a start. I’ve mtb since 90’s. A lot of us ride fast on multi use trails, I know I do. BUT when I see hikers I slow down. If it’s 10’ wide section not as much but I’ll be practically in the bushes on the far side from people. Horses? I’ll slow to a slow walking speed, even stopping to let them pass if I feel that’s the better choice. I’ve rarely come across very young kids on bikes, that’s obviously just me. Same thing applies to them. Yes. I’ve more than once swore mostly under my breath, because I have to break off. If I/we don’t and they complain to rangers or next council meeting, we suffer. Idk I feel it’s up to us to try and control the narrative.
I bet the dick yelling at the kid would not do that to an adult/me.
There are too many personalities involved, so sadly we might eventually lose.
Signage can help in keeping hikers off or at lest be aware on single track. (Very frustrating coming down and there’s some happy go lucky hiker tooling along up). Even on multiple use trails with a list of trail etiquette.
Rambling done. 🫠
You’re probably going to have to advocate for separate Mountain Biking Trails. Otherwise, if it remains Mixed Use, there’s going to be issues, because people are inconsiderate at best, dangerous at worst.
Brutal chat gpt copy and paste
You need dedicated trails. It’s wildly unsafe to have real DH on mixed use trails.
With that much foot traffic I really don’t see how anyone dares to ride like they don’t care who they run over. Ultimately, these are clearly not bike paths and these kids got what they deserved.
So you either need to find a way to legally build new trails, or legally designate existing trails for single use in a way that everyone gets something out of it. With abundant signage at any point along the trails where various users could mix.