Comment

Published: 18th January 2007

Author: Sean Lawless

I hate New Year resolutions! After 362 days (guess how long I stuck to my '06 resolutions) of drinking, smoking, swearing, pie-eating and salad dodging, when January 1 rolls around it's time to stagger up to the bathroom mirror, grip the sink with trembling hands, stare into those bloodshot eyes and admit that the party's over...

Since January 2 (which, as everyone knows, is when all proper resolutions should kick off) I have eaten three pies, liberally peppered my speech on a day-to-day basis with four, five and even six-letter words and consumed booze on all but two days (but only once to memory-wiping excess). And as I write this month's comment it's still only January 11. I haven't, however, had any nicotine whatsoever and if I can only stick to one resolution then that's the one that really counts. And do you know what? Apart from irritability, aggression, depression, anxiety, poor concentration, increased appetite, light-headedness, insomnia and killer cravings it's actually been quite easy so far...

Now there is one resolution that I'd strongly urge all DBR readers to make - and, luckily, it's an incredibly easy one to keep as well... A charming bit of legislation known as the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 has basically closed off thousands of miles of public rights of way to motor vehicles. This has serious implications for trail, trials and enduro riders and is a classic example of how highly-politicised pressure groups like The Ramblers Association are using parliament to squeeze out motorcyclists. But there's still a chance to stop the NERC Act in its tracks by going to http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/reclaimRUPs/ and adding your name to the online petition.

At the moment there are 3,671 signatures on there - not bad but it could be so much better. If just a small fraction of DBR's average monthly audience of 45,000-plus sign then we could possibly make all the difference. And for dirt bike riders across the country that would make for a very happy New Year...