can you ride on a off road cycle route???

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dixieandfinn

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as title.posted earlier about brideway and have found out the path we were riding on today when got abuse hurled at us is indeed an off road cyclepath according to the ordanence survey map.surely we can ride on that when bikes are allowed on bridleways!!
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As far as I know, the only off road routes that horses are legally allowed on are bridlepaths. My reasoning for this is that a horse has a mind of its own, and is a danger to other route users if not under control. A bike, for example, is (generally!) under control so is easy to remove from the path of a horse if the situation arose. A horse is much more difficult to remove from the path of a bicycle.

I do, however, stand to be corrected on this!
 
Not necessarily!! Many designated cycle paths are for cyclists and walkers only - you can only ride on them if they are marked as a bridle path on the map.( Dashed red line - or green depening on map type!)

On a related note I seeth with fury when I see cyclists trying to negotiate styles and kissing gaes on a footpath - there is an awful lot of ignorance about rights of way. I blame the Geogrpahy teachers not teaching map reading properly
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( I can say that as I am a gepography teacher
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Rather a piss take that cyclist can use Bridleways and have no trouble with horses or horse poo then, but all of a sudden it is a problem if we are on their cycle track, seems they miraculously loose the abilty to steer when on a cycle track.
 
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Rather a piss take that cyclist can use Bridleways and have no trouble with horses or horse poo then, but all of a sudden it is a problem if we are on their cycle track, seems they miraculously loose the abilty to steer when on a cycle track.

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No, horses are a pain on purpose built cycle tracks because they break up the surface and make it incredibly hard to cycle on. I and my friends who all mountain bike avoid bridleways like the plague unless they have been surfaced for dual purpose use as they are absolute hell to cycle down if they are regularly used by horses.

OP the council who covers the bridlepath will have a rights of way team whose job it is to ensure that the bridleways are passable. Ring and ask to speak to them about it. Often it is the county council but sometimes they have devolved responsibility to the districts and boroughs, so it may take a few calls. The council websites should tell you who to ring.
 
Pity a lot of bikes dont avoid Bridleways like the plague, I thought the idea of "mountain" bikes was to ride on rough terrain etc, they seem to like the mud and bumps etc in Robins Wood !!!
 
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Pity a lot of bikes dont avoid Bridleways like the plague, I thought the idea of "mountain" bikes was to ride on rough terrain etc, they seem to like the mud and bumps etc in Robins Wood !!!

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You are so negative! The two can live in harmony, but if it is a purpose built cycle track then people have spent time and money making it suitable for bikes not horses - I don't ask why I can't cycle round UK Chasers courses for example!!

I use woods round me which have both purpose built MTB trails and which are dual, and no-one has a problem with either. I ride my horse through woods cyclists use and it's all fine, but I wouldn't ride my bike on a 'horses only' track and if I was out biking and met someone on a horse on a 'bikes only' track I would point it out to them and ask them to desist!
 
I wouldn't have a problem with bikes going round a chaser course if that's what they want to do, I do live in Harmony with cyclists, just not understanding the "mountain" bike rough terrain biking thing with wanting smooth cycle tracks..... the mountain bikers I have come across ride through the same tracks as we do, they seem to like it, mud bumps and all..... I thought that was why they had "mountain" bikes.......
 
Yes, but bridleways are usually full of ruts, deep mud and holes and are almost impossible to cycle along when they are bog standard ones through/between fields. The ones which cross moors or go through woods have a far better surface on them for biking due to the terrain under foot. No MTBer wants surfaced paths, they'd own a road bike if they did. But equally they don't really hanker after brain shake or being forced to push the bike either, which you get on a lot of bridleways. Long distance paths are usually much better maintained and have a decent yet challenging surface on them.
 
its nice to get off road on non-moutain bikes too though, my selected bicycle can't do bumps (selected for ease of use on train!) but there were some nice surfaced tracks near uni that I used to use a lot when I was horseless.
 
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Nor is it adviseable to end up on a bikes skills course and not realise it until you are being yelled at and several bike riders have to find out how good their swerving & breaks are!! What passed for an amazingly inviting canter track UPhill soon turned out to actually be a CYCLE track for going DOWNhill.
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oops.
 
Maybe if multiuser routes were better maintained and catered for all, it would be less of a problem, then horse riders wouldn't feel that cyclist get catered for while we get Bridleways closed and we have to pay a fee to forestry commision while cyclist dont, I have personal experience over and over of routes being closed to horse riders and given to cyclist, this creates a them and us feeling, I have nothing against bikers or sharing, "sharing" being the operative word, taking off one to give to the other isn't sharing, the reason I said I wish bikers would avoid Bridleways is because on our local Bridleway certain bikers treat it like a race track, so whether you are on a horse or walking your dog they zoom past like idiots making you jump.
 
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Nor is it adviseable to end up on a bikes skills course and not realise it until you are being yelled at and several bike riders have to find out how good their swerving & breaks are!! What passed for an amazingly inviting canter track UPhill soon turned out to actually be a CYCLE track for going DOWNhill.
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oops.

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Although I wouldn't condone that, it is rather funny, Benny Hill comes to mind
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Nor is it adviseable to end up on a bikes skills course and not realise it until you are being yelled at and several bike riders have to find out how good their swerving & breaks are!! What passed for an amazingly inviting canter track UPhill soon turned out to actually be a CYCLE track for going DOWNhill.
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oops.

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LMAO!!!!
 
Bath did a trial on the Bristol Bath Cycle path to let horses use it, not sure how it went or if it is still going.

Horses are also allowed on RUPPs (???) Roads used as a public path - is that the right name? But so are 4x4s, motorbikes, bikes and everything else.
 
Pedantic--are you still paying a fee to FC, our forests have been free for years since BHS negotiated Concordat and no I cant remember what year that was.
 
Not personally directly, but I do remember paying extra on an organised ride and the money was for that, I have seen other postings where riders have moaned about paying it, think it was on Bridleways.co.uk
 
OK
I think the charge for an organised ride may have been admin type fee for FC to be sure they did not have car rally/4WD day the same day of organised ride and also warn all lorry drivers that an event is on.
Sure we were asked for fee in similar circumstances.
Some of the car parks to FC forests have a charge but I dont mind that --cant expect them to maintain them for nothing.
 
Horse riders are not allowed on cycle tracks.

However, if a bridleway is deeply rutted or pot holed then the local access department of the county council should be contacted and asked to rectify the problem. Best way of doing this is to write to them by Royal Mail Recorded Deliver and enclosing a map which shows where the problems are. This ensures that they can not deny they have received the letter and it is logged in to the system.

Sustrans who have built a large number of cycleways and get large chunks of public money have indicated in negotiations with the British Horse Society that they may allow horse riders to use certain tracks in the future. If there is a cyleway track near you that you would like to ride on contact the BHS H.Q. Access Department and let them know exactly which track you would like to use so that they can demonstrate a demand for this change on that specific track.
 
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