Road Hacking ... So misserable!

[Pippity]

I wear hi-viz and have never said not to wear it but we cannot rely on just hi-viz keeping us safe. It is sensible yes but doesn't stop people getting killed

You'd be best adding legbands. Motorists are likely to see legs before any other part of the horse, especially as they're moving.

So many people just slip on a grubby yellow waistcoat, leave it flapping open at the front, and think that's enough to count as 'hi-viz'.

 

[Rowreach]

Courtesy of Chan some years ago on a similar thread.

 

[ester]

lol that was after that H+H letter iirc!

re the pavement thing we have some multiuser paths here, so pavement for bike/pedestrian and horse. If you are on one with a horse no one passes slow anymore so although it's safer by way of avoiding a direct hit you do need a horse that is ok with that.

 

[ycbm]

I joined the pass wide and slow Facebook group, and the first thing I saw was a video of a horse (with apparently two others behind it) being ridden along a pavement while a tractor coming towards them passed them far too fast.

The question was about riding on a pavement for safety, despite the legalities. My reply would have been (if comments hadn’t been turned off) that I would happily go on the pavement or anywhere else in an emergency, but in this instance, had the three horses been positioned correctly in the road, slightly defensively away from the kerb, there would have been no room for the tractor and it would have had to slow down or stop, as it would for an oncoming vehicle. By riding on the pavement these riders made it possible for any vehicle to whizz past, and give the horses no consideration at all.

I bang on about this constantly because of the roads I ride in. If the road is too narrow for a car to pass you safely, then ride/lead down the middle of the road so that is impossible for anything to pass you until they stop and then you move over and pass them while they are stationary.
.

 

[Pippity]

I bang on about this constantly because of the roads I ride in. If the road is too narrow for a car to pass you safely, then ride/lead down the middle of the road so that is impossible for anything to pass you until they stop and then you move over and pass them while they are stationary.
.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work on the twisty lanes around me. Cars come flying round corners with no visibility, and would splat me if I were in the middle of the road.

 

[ycbm]

Unfortunately, that doesn't work on the twisty lanes around me. Cars come flying round corners with no visibility, and would splat me if I were in the middle of the road.

But if the road is not wide enough for them to pass safely they will splat you whether you are in the middle or at the edge, and you have far more chance of then slamming on the brakes and stopping if they see immediately that you are blocking the road. Listen for cars and stop before the bend if you hear one. Trot on round blind bends, obviously.

Believe me, I ride these roads every time I go out, I live on one. The safest thing is assertive positioning.
.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Assertive positioning, a good horse, and an accompanying ninja cyclist who is a qualified Advanced Driver didn't help when the driving instructor nearly took me out from behind on a blind bend.

Horse and me decked out in hi viz as per avatar. We'd both checked behind before rounding the bend - no car in sight. No idea what speed he must have been doing on the straight to catch up. He skidded and goodness knows how he missed rear ending us. If there had been a car coming the other way, it would have been a pile up, with us squashed in the middle.

 

[Pippity]

But if the road is not wide enough for them to pass safely they will splat you whether you are in the middle or at the edge, and you have far more chance of then slamming on the brakes and stopping if they see immediately that you are blocking the road. Listen for cars and stop before the bend if you hear one. Trot on round blind bends, obviously.

Believe me, I ride these roads every time I go out, I live on one. The safest thing is assertive positioning.
.

It's the difference between being able to pass and being able to pass safely.

On the roads round me, if I'm tucked into the side, they can get past without hitting me. My whip will touch them; their wing mirror might nudge my foot. But my horse is a saint in traffic and she won't react more than a little jump and nobody will get injured.

If I'm in the middle of the road, I'm on their bonnet before they have time to react.

Obviously, on a road with good visibility where people can see me from a decent distance away, I take up my road space.

I'm sure that, on your local roads, your method is the safest and most effective, but I know my local roads and what works here.

 

[ycbm]

It's the difference between being able to pass and being able to pass safely.

Of course. I was writing about roads which are not wide enough for a car to pass a horse.

 

[ester]

I suspect you have walls either side ycbm?

we have hedges or ditches +hedges while not ideal (understatement) do provide a leaping into option from the horses POV if there really was no where else to go. Not planned obviously but we had it happen once.

 

[ycbm]

I suspect you have walls either side ycbm?

we have hedges or ditches +hedges while not ideal (understatement) do provide a leaping into option from the horses POV if there really was no where else to go. Not planned obviously but we had it happen once.

Steep banks, and walls on top. I had a horse once jump up the bank and nearly fall off it onto the vehicle which had frightened him. Not something I want to repeat!
.

 

[Hanno Verian]

Talking earlier about GoPro and its short battery life 60/70 min for theand slightly longer for Hero 8 on hi res recording with image stabilisation I found this:-

https://www.3brpowersports.com/xpwr.php

I'm going to order the H8 one and see how it works with a power bank attached