Indications for responsible access to the rural and natural environment by cyclists and hikers. Rules for the safe coexistence of sports uses in the rural and natural environment.

Spanish Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing and Royal Spanish Cycling Federation: Indications for responsible access to the rural and natural environment by cyclists and hikers

The Spanish Federation of Mountain and Climbing Sports and the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation, assuming the public responsibility entrusted to practitioners of their respective sports, propose the following code of responsible sports practice in rural and natural environments.

Regarding the inhabitant and the property

1) Park your vehicle in the areas established for this purpose. Leave access to homes, garages and fields clear. Do not make it difficult with your vehicle to pass through roads or trails.
2) For your activities, use public roads and other areas already designated for transit, without entering private property without permission.
3) Leave all the doors, gates, barriers, and other closure or access control elements as you found them, and do not alter them.
4) On your journey, refrain from picking fruits and other cultivated products, do not feed farm animals, do not interfere with the work of the inhabitants of rural areas, and take into account the indications they make.
5) Reduce the noise of your activity to a minimum.

Trash

6) Always carry a bag to collect the garbage that you produce during the activity and deposit it at one of the points where a collection service is provided. Biodegradable remains are also garbage, however much they may decompose in a few weeks or months. Take with you all the garbage that you generate and try to pick up something that you can find in your path.

Animals and cattle in the bush

7) Pass as far as possible from herds and other domestic livestock.
8) In the presence of wild animals, give notice of your presence in advance and avoid them. Do not disturb birds and other animals, especially when they are breeding. Before animals in an aggressive state, move away cautiously without sudden movements.
9) Find out before doing the activity about the restrictions on traffic for environmental reasons that may exist on the route, whether temporary or permanent.
10) Refrain from giving food to the animals you find.

Interaction with the environment

11) Interact with the natural environment in a respectful and discreet way, causing the least possible impact.
12) If in your activity you travel through an archaeological or paleontological site, or a geological enclave, do not take anything with you and communicate, if applicable, the location to the competent authority.
13) Avoid, in your activity, shortcuts and voluntary erosion of the land. Try not to travel off the trail or “cross country”.
14) If you notice the presence of a fire, notify the authorities.
15) If you find yourself on a road or path with unmarked wires, stones, or other unexpected and unpredictable elements that can obviously cause personal injury, take pictures, write down their geolocation, eliminate this dangerous situation, preserve the evidence in a safe place, and when you have the opportunity, inform the authorities.
16) Try not to leave a trace of your activity in the natural environment and do not take flowers, fruits, stones, etc.
17) Comply with current regulations, find out and follow the instructions of the authorities. If you come across areas that are temporarily closed, for whatever reason, look for an alternative.

Rules for the safe coexistence of sports uses in the rural and natural environment.

The Spanish Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing and the Royal Spanish Cycling Federation, as responsible for the development of their respective sports, and for the responsibility they assume to ensure the safety of the users of the roads and trails and their coexistence in the rural and natural environment, propose the following scenario of coexistence both for their federated members and for the people who carry out these sports in Spain.

1. The coexistence of the sports uses of the two federations, on the same road in the natural and rural environment, is a growing phenomenon that requires education, common sense, coordination, collaboration, mutual understanding and generosity on the part of all.
2. People who use sports or leisure activities do not own the roads and trails, but are responsible for their preservation and good shared use.
3. Special attention will be paid to people with disabilities, people with reduced mobility, the elderly or young people. They will be given right-of-way when detected, possible and necessary.
4. Users must adapt their speed to their experience and physical conditions, to the safety conditions, characteristics, state and visibility of the road, to the speed limits established in the regulations, to the risk of coinciding with other users, to the weather and environmental conditions, and to any other circumstance that occurs at all times.
5. In case of overtaking, crossings, and especially dangerous maneuvers, the speed must be adapted to the circumstances of the moment and place. Respectfully mark and warn your hands open to other users and even if you have preference use prudence, be diligent and think about those who share the route or road.
6. All of us who use paths and trails for sport or leisure have the duty to be respectful of traditional uses. You must respect the priority of livestock transit and other rural uses.
7. When there is a signposted route, the priority of passage that has been specially established must be respected.
8. In the event that there is no established priority of passage on a route or road, the following rules are proposed for sports or leisure uses:

I In wide roads > 2.5 m

I.1. Given the perspective of a shared use of individual practitioners, they will travel as close as possible to the right side of the road, depending on their direction of progression.
I.2. In the case of crossing two or more groups of the same or different modes of mobility, each group must adapt the speed of transit to the circumstances and arrange themselves in single file and to their right according to their direction of progression.
I.3. In the event of having to overtake, the people who overtake will do so on the left side of the road depending on their direction of progression, they must reduce speed as much as necessary in advance and signal the maneuver audibly or verbally and respectfully, all this to carry out overtaking as safely as possible. The advanced person or groups will be arranged in single file and on their right.

II In the case of narrow roads < 2.5 m and especially in paths < 1 m

II.1.All people, regardless of their mode of mobility and direction of travel, must make their best efforts to facilitate crossing or overtaking manoeuvres.
II.2. In general, hiking traffic is established as a priority and cyclists in second place.
II.3. In the case of groups, the first and the last (depending on whether it is a crossing or an overtaking) of each one of them will verbally indicate the number of members of the same to the other, trying to group as much as possible to carry out the overtaking in the shortest time. possible.

III On descents, ascents or roads with difficulty

The right-of-way will be given, whenever possible, to users with less maneuverability, also taking into account the effort or difficulty for specific mobility in certain places. In the case of reduced visibility, precautions will be taken to guarantee the safety of users

Download original document: Acceso al Medio natural. Convivencia de usos RFEC y FEDME