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Manly Dam aggressive man with dog abusing cyclists
I am interested to hear if anybody else has been confronted by a 40 something year old angry man with an bull terrier who waits on the rock half way down the down hill single track behind the homes at allambie (southern cross way). he seems to be there in the afternoon on weekends and abuses riders and intimidates them with his dog, the last 2 afternoon rides I have done around the dam (some 3 weeeks apart he was in exactly the same spot.
I am very concerned that this individual may injure a cyclist deliberately either setting his dog on one or setting up some sort of dangerous circumstance.
I am hoping these incidents have been isolated and I have been unlucky enough to encounter him twice in as many afternoon rides, however I truly belive this person is only interested in creating a fight or incident and wont stop until he suceeds...
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If you truly believe that the person truly is a sustained issue then I would encourage you to do the same thing I would encourage a walker to do if there was a problem with a particular aggressive rider or walker and that is report it to the council rangers. Someone wondering around a place that is frequented by walkers, riders and a lot of kids with a dog that could be considered dangerous under that person's control should be reported.
drag one of those fox baits out of the bush and leave it near the rock
I have a very good mate who lives near there who walks with his wife and dog (which is not remotely as big as a bull terrier). He is quite chatty and friendly with cyclists. The dog is used to bikes and is well trained - he moves to the side of the trail and sits down to wait for you to pass.
I wouldn't want to see a bait hurt the dog.
I'll see if I can get them to keep an eye out. What time is this nutter usually about?
If you have your phone it might be a good idea to take a photo, post it here so we know who to look for and to forward it to rangers. (Let me know when you do so I can warn my mate so he doesn't get pinged.)
Trying to intimidate or force an accident is not on.
thanks for the advice, the 2 occasions I have encountered this guy have been after 3 in the afternoon both rides were weekends , the first time I stopped and this was a mistake the aggression was only amplified, the last time I encountered him was Sat afternoon 24/4 around 4.00.
I will contact the rangers in the morning and as I always have my phone with me I will attempt to take a photo if I encounter him again. usually I ride in the mornings, however
The old codger completely ignores ya when you greet him and his dog looks pretty gnarly.
He hasnt said much but you can tell he's just one of those crazy old guys with some form of 'thing' that gives him a signature... reminds of the cat lady from Simpsons.
Like hawkeye pointed out, grab some footage or photos so we know what to look for and report it to rangers.
I seem to recall that using a dog to threaten or menace others is a serious offence.
Maybe call the cops if he strikes again?
Could be a nice helmet cam job for youtube
.........it's not the dogs fault.
I'm sure Pikey was not serious
He'd be far more in favour of a swift upper cut
(to the bloke, not the dog)
Yes. I'm joking. Ha ha
Best to ignore the silly old bugger
Edit. Oh. Saw that he is 40 something.
Ahem. Definitely not old!
I just went round at 3 this arv and some guy was with a bull dog (behind the houses just down from the rock drop & near the pine log water bars) - He and his dog was smack in the middle of the track just standing there. But thanks to your heads up knew what I was dealing with - I just gave him a big "gidday how ya going" and I went round him - gave me a filthy look but didn't say anything.
This guy sounds like he is looking for trouble, and sooner or later he's going to get it. I wonder if he's all there.
I guess the police know about him?
He was in exactly the same spot when I encountered him, he seems to just wait there to abuse cyclists. I rode this weekend both afternoons after 3.30 so I would have been there at around 4 I guess. This time I was armed with my helmet cam to get his image to pass on to either the rangers or the Police. By the time I was there he was gone. I assumed that he had come to his senses.. apears not...
I spoke to Warringah rangers, have not managed to get hold of the Manly Dam rangers, the head ranger at Council HQ said not their issue except that the Dog should not be in the reserve and to perhaps contact Police..
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW ? sounds like my fears have been realised he is there every Sat aftternoon looking for trouble!
What does guy look like? Is the dog a staffy or some similar looking breed?
I live around the corner from the piece of trail that you're talking about. When I was coming home from a ride yesterday there was a guy walking up my street that fits the description, the dog was a big bull terrior thing on a blue lead ( not just a collar on him but a blue brace around it's torso). The guy was wearing a striped top.
He walked across my front yard, then crossed the road. I made sure he saw me go up my driveway so he was aware mtbers live here ( incase he was on some sort of "I live here you bike riders can piss off" type of trip). He just keep staring at me, didn't look friendly.
I thought about following him to see where he lived. If I knew he was the guy in question I would have!
Was this Saturday or Sunday?
It was yesterday, Sunday. Got back home a bit before 5 so timing seems about right.
the guy is kinda scruffy looking shaggy dark hair, dog not too sure just colour was brown and either bull terrior or staffy I think, he is definitely from the i live her MTB piss off as that is exactly what he said to me the time I stopped.. ie I have lived here for 20years.......
That could be him then. I'll definately be keeping an eye out for him.
Be brilliant to have his address if needed!
Sounds like we need to double-team him. One of us gets him talking and keeps him engaged while the other takes photographs for distribution to police and rangers.
It won't be confrontational, just a quiet chat to find out what his issues are. Possibly he's pissed off about the signs barring peds from some track sections, so we need him to know that we are unhappy with that outcome too. But if he won't surrender his aggro attitude, then he'll be told about the photos which we'll send to police and rangers regardless.
I live up near the school, so not too far away from you, JJS. Can you handle a camera?
If I can pin point where he lives, then if anyone ( self included ) needs to make a complaint we have an address to provide.
I appreciate you saying it won't be confrontational, but planning a double-team effort etc and then planning to be there at a certain time to catch him etc is pretty intense - I think it would only lead to an over the top confrontation.
Plus most people on here ride together so surely it's only a matter of time before he's confonted by more than just one lone rider. Almost everyone rides with their phone, most of which have a camera built into them these days.
If you're not comfortable, that's OK. No pressure.
Re: aggro, it all depends on how you handle it. This is just a mission to find out what the issue is. If you just listen and ask questions, and feed back what you're hearing so that he has a chance to correct your understanding, it is very rare that there is any heat. If there is any, it definitely won't be coming from my end.
My suspicion he has his nose out of joint because council has put up those stupid signs barring walkers. If so, I reckon I might be able to turn him into an ally.
The photos are just backup.
Those signs aren't down this end of the track though, the closest ones are up around the 19th hole and I doubt he'd walk that far from home ( could be wrong though). Plus if he was that aware of signage he'd take more notice of the fox baiting ones!
No, but if he's dumb enough not to have worked out from the media coverage where we said that we DIDN"T want walkers excluded, he could easily be dumb enough to get the rest of it wrong. And he doesn't have to be very dumb - it's a depressingly common human trait.
People will happily believe what they want without bothering to check. It just needs to sound credible.
We'll just find out what's bothering him and put his mind at ease. Well, as best we can. If he's a nutter there may not be much more we can do except talk to the Police. Given the presence of the dog I'd prefer backup and photographic evidence.
Expect the best, plan for the worst - as they say.
After stopping to try and talk to him once I am not keen to stop again, that is why every ride I will have my helmet cam running.
We have encountered him as a group of 3 riders but as he positions himself in a place where you are not riding along side each other he only confronts people one at a time. This is one of the main reasons that I made the initial posting as the riders would think it is an isolated incident.
thanks for the heads up guys. I normally ride by myself early mornings but you just never know when he may be about. I will post this up on BMU as well
I would probably suggest just calling the cops on him as he doesnt sound like he is hanging about to chat to riders. It sounds like its only going to take 1 person to give him an earful and he will let the following rider know all about it. For this reason i reckon its probably best to call the Cops before someone gets hurt.
*bump*
What happened here? Did this guy get told to leave Cyclists alone in the end?