Meeting cycling clubs out hacking

O

oldie48

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 April 2013
Messages
7,056
Location
South Worcestershire
Visit site
Today, hacking with a friend on a narrow country lane, we met a group of 30+ cyclists, riding at speed, some in double file, both horses were quite anxious but coped. Unfortunately, this was just the first of three groups! Second group ignored our request to slow down so we could get out of the way into a driveway with the result my horse was even more het up but they did let us know there was another group close behind (because we asked!) We managed to get both horses off the lane and into the driveway and the third group passed. There were in excess of 100 cyclists altogether. Does anyone manage to get information from local cycling groups about their routes? I'm happy to stay off the route if I know they'll be about and our area is becoming increasingly popular with cyclists. my horse is fine with smaller groups and is generally fantastic in traffic but I'm starting to become a bit nervous! My main interest is dressage but I've always bought horses that are good on the roads as i feel they need a bit of variety but this incident is just one of several recently that is making me question whether I should continue hacking. Your thought would be welcome.
 
It's ridiculous, isn't it?
I hate coming across these large groups whatever i'm doing, be it walking the dog, riding or driving my car.
They're so awkward due to the large number and are too concerned with themselves to pull over and let my car pass or slow down to let my horse/dog understand what is actually happening!

I don't think they should be allowed to ride around in such large groups without informing people first (and having to get appropriate permissions to do so...to stop them doing it every damn week). People argue horses and singular/a handful of cyclists are frustrating but they're nothing compared to 10 + of them!!
 
I have experienced this while driving a car a group of 100 plus cyclists going at speed crossing give way junctions with out stopping on a busy B road on a major tourist route on one of the busiest weekend in summer .
No thought for anyone's safety including their own .
It's madness .
 
They are terrible aren't they. My oh is a member of a cycling club but doesn't go on the group rides as he thinks they get too rowdy, competitive and the cyclists show very little consideration for other road users.

They have a fb page though that says where they are heading to, might be worth doing a search so you can avoid the areas!!
 
I had similar experience some years ago but the cyclists were on a single track bridleway, in a competition and were prepared to run us off the face of the earth. I researched the event and found it was run by a cycling club some 20 miles away, that they ran 25k, 50k and 75k rides all on the same day all going on tracks, bridlepaths and small roads. I contacted the organisers and explained how dangerous it was to horse riders and offered to help contact the horseworld as it was an annual event and, as you say, if you know it is going to happen you keep away that day. I kept chasing them for details of their routes etc for the next event and they finally contacted me 2 days before. I then explained that with advance notice I could have contacted pony clubs/riding clubs/tack shops etc etc and got the word around but with 48 hours notice, over an area of nearly 40k radius, that was impossible! They tried the same tactic the next year and got a fairly rude reply!!
 
How about try a well timed half-pass or a shoulder-in at trot and perhaps a pirrouette and some "oh my gaaaaawwwwd!!!" Shouted at the top of the voice?

Worked for us. The horses were a bit confused....... but we frightened the crap out the runners/cyclists. Job done.
 
they are the bane of my life here, everybody thinks they are in the Tour de France, what's worse is that they are not only on the roads in large flashy groups but they tank around the bridle ways too and look at me as if i am riding a fire breathing dragon, i've even had them trying to wave me off the roads and shouting at me to control my horse!!!!!!( who is usually standing there yawning), , i always yell at them that i have more rights to be on the roads as i have insurance and they don't but i feel for people who's horses are young and just learning , my friend helped her horse cope better by getting family and other friends together with bikes and doing a desensitizing lesson,i think it's the silence and gear changes they don't like. It worked well.
 
annoying!!!!!

We were riding on a B road a while ago to turn onto a uphill bridleway through the woods. As we were about to turn a lot of 8-9 mountainbikers came rushing out of the bridle way. Both our horses obviously freaked out, spun round and bolted and believe me they are normally reasonable bomb proof. When they finally settled we turned round to find the cyclists had gone but more came down the bridlepath hill. We asked one person and he said there were about 80 more to come as they were doing a tour.

Needless to say we tried a different route but the thought of how this could have ended. soooo dangerous!
 
We have a cycle path that forms part of the road running past the farm, they drive me nuts in the car and on the horse, they ride past in large groups hollering, they scream past the slow down horses triangle signs.
The worst ones are the lycra boys who have their ear buds in and dont give a toss who's around them as long as theyre going forward.
 
Im afraid they are one of the reasons I have more or less given up riding on roads. Round our way we are plagued with them at weekends and summer evenings, they have a particular route they use for time trials :( My horse gets a bit jumpy if anything quiet comes up behind him so I have had one or two near misses. If I spot them coming I use ferocious hand signals and they do normally comply, if they are coming up fast behind me I try and move sideways across most of the road so that they have to slow up a bit and single file past. As I said, I do minimal road work these days but still come across the odd group, sadly they do seem to obey different rules to every other road user which given how vulnerable they are seems daft to me.
 
I was out for a ride today with a new lady on our yard. Haven't been out with her before so was a bit worried when I saw a big group of cyclists approaching from behind at great speed. However when they saw us, they slowed down, went into single file, asked if it was safe to pass before slowly and sensibly passing. We thanked them profusely - was a shame for the cyclists as we were half way down a nice downhill stretch so we spoiled it a bit for them!
To be fair cyclists around here, even the Lycra clad packs, seem to be pretty sensible when it comes to horses.
 
Perhaps it wasn't that long ago that car drivers were saying the same about horses! But seriously they are a hazard. We live just off the Olympic route in Surrey and the numbers can be dangerous. I know locally the BHS is trying to build links with local clubs so that riders can get notice of the "sportives". But it can be hit and miss.

And it isn't only large groups. I even had a single road rider catching a lift up box hill hanging onto the ladder at the back of the landrover whilst I was towing the trailer! And he had the nerve to swear at me and call me selfish when I stopped and refused to drive on unless he let go. But I wonder who would have been legally responsible had he slipped and gone under my trailer!
 
Frankly I think they feel when they are in a big group they feel a bit invincible. I did meet a similar event a few weeks ago on what was virtually a single track lane, fortunately on this occasion the front riders complied with my request to stop and I was able to get out of their way but horse was a bit freaked and I'm afraid he's also less confident.
MyBoyChe said:
Im afraid they are one of the reasons I have more or less given up riding on roads. Round our way we are plagued with them at weekends and summer evenings, they have a particular route they use for time trials :( My horse gets a bit jumpy if anything quiet comes up behind him so I have had one or two near misses. If I spot them coming I use ferocious hand signals and they do normally comply, if they are coming up fast behind me I try and move sideways across most of the road so that they have to slow up a bit and single file past. As I said, I do minimal road work these days but still come across the odd group, sadly they do seem to obey different rules to every other road user which given how vulnerable they are seems daft to me.
Click to expand...
 
They drive me demented! last summer, on one particular saturday, we had over 800 - yes 800! going along our road! that was a definate no hack day. I only found out they were out in such numbers that day because one the organisers/marshalls had parked his car outside the yard, and I was able to ask him what was going on. I asked him how he would feel if 800 or so of my horsey chums decided to ride up the road like the clappers.... There was no prior notice or warning to anyone in or around the village where I live. A lot of the trouble seems to that they are doing some kind of time trial, so effectively they're competing against the clock, so when you do meet the en masse and ask them to slow down, quite often they won't, because they're 'racing'.

Cars can't do this, motorcycles can't do this and horses can't do this - so why bicycles?
 
I have emailed th secretary of a local club and asked her where I an get information, hopefully she'll come back to me. I also mentioned that riders should be aware that when requested to slow down or stop by a rider they should comply, I await her reply with interest.
amandaco2 said:
Our local groups have a fb page with routes on it.
Click to expand...
 
Our local groups have a fb page with routes on it.

Cyclists have as much right on the road as anyone else. Im not aware of a law saying horses or cars or motorbikes cannot go out in groups?

its a shame some are clueless about passing horses but saying things like they have no rights on the roads isnt going to help at all.

maybe contact the local cycle clubs to see if they will do something to promote safety for both sides?
 
So maybe to teach the organisers of these sportives a lesson in communication the horse world should find out the dates of the event and go out en masse with some safe horses and bring the cycling event to a slow conclusion. Maybe then the organisers would remember to talk and involve different users of the rights of way before arranging a take over job?
 
I don't think anyone has said that they don't have a right to be on the roads, the suggestion from some has been that a mass event should be publicised in advance of the event and some clubs already do this. I certainly don't want to stop others doing what they enjoy but I would like the opportunity to keep myself and my horse safe.
amandaco2 said:
Our local groups have a fb page with routes on it.

Cyclists have as much right on the road as anyone else. Im not aware of a law saying horses or cars or motorbikes cannot go out in groups?

its a shame some are clueless about passing horses but saying things like they have no rights on the roads isnt going to help at all.

maybe contact the local cycle clubs to see if they will do something to promote safety for both sides?
Click to expand...
 
I agree oldie48 ive had them scream at me that its a cyle route, newsflash eejit its also a public road and like it or not you should be respecting other road users right to be there as well, not charging on regardless and ignoring road hazard signs
 
amandaco2 said:
Cyclists have as much right on the road as anyone else. Im not aware of a law saying horses or cars or motorbikes cannot go out in groups?

?
Click to expand...

If more than 50 horses or cars were out on public roads having a speed competition, there would quite rightly be complaints.

In fact, it's unusual for such large groups of horses or cars to be out in packs that size even non competitively.
 
A couple of years ago, a yard belonging to a lady I was riding out for had a massive problem with seemingly random races happening unexpectedly on the roads we used for hacking. She asked and asked for notice for when these races where scheduled but they keep ignoring her request.
One day she saw a lad hanging route signs for a race to be held the next day. She got everyone on the yard (20+ people and most of them had 2+ horses, it was a major competition yard) and their friends who could ride (so every horse on the yard had a rider, easily 50+ horses) to go out the next day and basically block up the road for the cyclists(ride 2/3 abreast super slow when infront of them!) Most of the horses were over 16hh so very intimidating and when we asked what the bloody hell we were doing we simply said that we were doing the exact same as the cyclists... holding a race without giving anyone notice, the only thing different was that our race was a walking one where we wanted to see who's horse could go slower.
They ended up calling off the race after an hour and we found out the next day that the race had been a major one between 3-4 different clubs.
The yard owner told the organisers that unless we had prior notice of any and all races taking place within a 10mile radius, we would continue to hold our 'races'.
That was probably ttwo years ago by now and the yo still gets at least a week's notice before anything!!
 
Look at the end of there day, we are all out trying to enjoy what we are doing...whether that is horse riding, walking, cycling, motocross, off-roading...whatever! There are good examples and bad examples of all groups...people are nice, others are idiots. But there is no need for all this moaning and tarring everyone with the same brush.
There is didly squat you can do about cyclists that get together of their own accord, but groups rides through clubs are widely publicised on the groups websites and Facebook pages...so you can find out when the busy times are going to be...you may not get the routes but you will know when they are in the area.
It is also worth looking at 'sportives' websites like UK Cycling events and Wiggle ones as they have regular sportives (groups of many riders) out throughout the UK and throughout the year. This gives you the date, time and a downloadable route on each ride on the website...so again, you can plan ahead.
We are all intolerant of each others hobbies because we inconvenience each other...but that is life.
By the way...I am both a keen cyclist and happy hacker of many years...so can see both sides. I just wanted to point out that we can actually help ourselves a little because in this digital age the information is usually on a website somewhere...rather than just complaining about it! Happy days!
 
I called our local club to complain about their members behaviour after one particular evening when I got caught up in a time trial and despite me asking them to slow down they actually overtook a car that had slowed right down behind me as there was an oncoming vehicle!! The person I spoke to said that if I noted the number of the cyclist they would speak to him as they are supposed to obey the highway code. Handy for future reference....whilst trying to control a spooked TB I will jot down the numbers of the road racing cyclists :( Maybe this is one of those times that a headcam would be useful.
 
About 15 years ago there was a serious accident caused to a horse rider as a result of a race ride that failed to stop when it met some horse riders. The case went to court and the judge stated that all race rides should be accompanied by cars at the front and rear and that in the event of them meeting horses the race ride should be immediately stopped to allow the horse riders to get out of the way and only then could the race ride be re-started. Clearly the above clubs need to be advised of this.
 
Cragrat said:
If more than 50 horses or cars were out on public roads having a speed competition, there would quite rightly be complaints.

In fact, it's unusual for such large groups of horses or cars to be out in packs that size even non competitively.
Click to expand...


Does having a speed competition mean the cyclists act vastly differently?
im sure if 2 cars were having a speed race that would be complained about.....mostly as cars have a speed limit to keep to legally!
for cars and horses a speed competition would equal much higher speeds than normal.

For bikes the difference isnt that great as most cyclists are wanting to push their times anyway, esp in a large group. And large groups meet for regular rides so a large group isnt unusual, at least around here.
some of the replies here are saying things like cyclists have less right to the road due not paying insurance? An attitude like that wont help at all.

Obviously im not supporting behaviour from cyclists thats potentially dangerous.
Just trying to say cyclists have road using rights, they often go out in large groups as part of the sport. They probably dont see why rider need to be out on the road in groups.
just try to deal with it by trying to keep relationships as good as possible, by improving understanding
 
Ours seem to have an invisible bubble around them... Two came round the corner ( blind) wrong side of the road... If I had been in the car and nt on pony they would have been over the roof. They are rude, arrogant and can't slow down as it affects their time... Ok horse riders can be arrogant but really... We don't use wrong side of the road..
 
Some do. Good and bad on both sides. None of us are collective angels

Highlands said:
Ours seem to have an invisible bubble around them... Two came round the corner ( blind) wrong side of the road... If I had been in the car and nt on pony they would have been over the roof. They are rude, arrogant and can't slow down as it affects their time... Ok horse riders can be arrogant but really... We don't use wrong side of the road..
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
My husband is a member of a local cycling club. Most clubs have logos on their clothing and can be tracked down on Facebook. Contact the secretary of the club if you have had a problem. Most will be only too happy to try and rectify the problem. My husband's club split into several different rides so the numbers are manageable and emphasise good road manners towards other users.
 
amandaco2 said:
Does having a speed competition mean the cyclists act vastly differently?
Click to expand...
Yes, it does. Whether it's a sportive, a time trial or a club run, once they are trying to beat the clock the adrenaline rises and the blinkers come on.

We are on a cycleway so get it all the time. Miserable eeijits who won't acknowledge a friendly greeting whether I'm on my horse, cycle or walking the dog. Wobbly leisure cyclists are quite different, very friendly and relatively 'normal'.

(I am a fomer CTC member, veteran of many club runs and completed Lands End to John O Groats by cycle).
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top