So what do we think of this …. ?

What a strange group of riders with a dreadful attitude. I havent ever come across riders like this thankfully (otherwise Id have wound down the window and spoken to them!) but do regularly come across small groups of cyclists who happily hog the road for miles and drive me insane. Surely these people drive cars too and understand how frustrating it is to follow them for ages when passing places are available. Just plain rude.
 
As I sat watching that group of 3 riders with all the arm/hand flapping gestures, spreading out across the road and ignoring anyway of moving into that road recess I just thought OMG the old BHS road safety test has certainly altered

What's with all the arm/hand flapping, is that a part of some Highway code I haven't read about :)
 
I can't believe how rude the second group were. I imagine being non driver made them behave in this awful way. Their parents or someone needs to educate them before they're
allowed on the road. Thank you though to the car driver for being such a considerate driver! Most horse riders do appreciate it.
 
I was angry just watching that second lot of brats. I'm afraid I would have passed them and then got out and had a bit of a rant. Stupid kids giving all riders a bad name.
 
Dreadful attitude from the riders. I always thank people even if its just a nod of the head. Makes me mad when people don't show consideration for other road users. I would say that I think all the riders could put more hi viz on, leg bands with flashing lights for narrow and dark country lanes, and exercise sheets are the best. But that's just me, just because I ride out covered in the stuff doesn't mean everyone will.

Having said that I have had three or four drivers over the last 12 - 18 months slow down, wind their window down and say that they can see me a mile off and well done. Last week it was a police car and the copper wound down his window and said "its nice to see you so visible" which I thought was really nice. He probably thought I was a fellow police woman with all my 'polite notice' bands on!
 
Dreadful attitude from the riders. I always thank people even if its just a nod of the head. Makes me mad when people don't show consideration for other road users. I would say that I think all the riders could put more hi viz on, leg bands with flashing lights for narrow and dark country lanes, and exercise sheets are the best. But that's just me, just because I ride out covered in the stuff doesn't mean everyone will.

Having said that I have had three or four drivers over the last 12 - 18 months slow down, wind their window down and say that they can see me a mile off and well done. Last week it was a police car and the copper wound down his window and said "its nice to see you so visible" which I thought was really nice. He probably thought I was a fellow police woman with all my 'polite notice' bands on!
 
Alec Swan said:
Keith_Beef, Every single day I start out with the best of intentions; every day I get up early, but no matter my plans there are those days when horses, dogs, an elderly FiL with dementia, 'er indoors and women in general seem determined to put a stop to my good intentions. :) Take this morning; a guy 'phoned up, he's considering spending a five figure sum with me and he took the best part of an hour out of my morning …….. my day is now on catch-up and I'm sure that there are others in my position.

I accept that you have little sympathy for those who's days don't quite work out as planned, but perhaps you'll also accept, that I do. :)

Alec.
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Let's not stand on ceremony, please call me Keith, plain and simple.

I suppose you could say I'm fortunate, in that I don't have dogs, horses, dependant relatives and so on messing with my day as soon as it begins. And my kids are now 17 and 15, pretty independent as far as getting up and off to school goes, so I can be up and out of the door before kids and SWMBO are awake.

I didn't mean to say that nobody should have sympathy for people in a rush. Just that I personally don't have much sympathy for them.

I can feel sympathy for people who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in very difficult situations.

But, for example, somebody who thinks that it is a good idea to accelerate crazily towards every speed bump and then slam on the brakes every 100 metres along a 3 kilometre stretch of road, just in order to shave a minute off a journey, and arrive only fourteen minutes late rather than fifteen minutes late, deserves none of my sympathy and will get none.
 
I do think when it first comes on the van is going too fast for that tiny narrow lane. 1st and 3rd set of riders were fine.The 2nd set of 3 should have pulled into that gateway on the left with the tyre tracks. but as they didnt, I can see why they stayed 2 abreast as there really was nowhere for a van to pass safely.Maybe it was too downhill, or slippy to trot on, I cant tell from the video. but then when one rider showed sense and pulled over, why didnt the other two??
 
I have just led my boy down the road and thanked many many cars - till I was nearly home I got to our bend and our drive is on the right of the sharp bend, me leading my boy me in a bran new orange tabbard boy in his hi viz rug - bran new orange and yellow boots behind and yellow in front, I hear a car speeding down the road who could not see us. Me with hand out she slowed quickly then me right arm out started to overtake, so I then put my bright yellow whip out as an extension of my arm to say I was turning right but she carried on so i mouthed I am turning right. She then stopped on the wrong side to allow me to continue crossing. I said you need to read the highway code , she shouts *I was slowing down as your jacket says, I thought you were telling me to slow down*!!!!!!

Duh......... don't they know the difference between slowing down sign and arm stretched out as a different meaning. Silly cow............

You know what I would like. A tabbard with built in orange lights and a button in front which you could push when you were Turing right like an indicator, should not be too hard to manufacturer!!!!!!
 
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Sometimes teenagers are so gormless on the roads. I think sometimes it's because few of them have to cycle anywhere any more and they have not yet learnt to drive so they have developed zero road sense. I ride out with a girl sometimes and am forever having to tell her to watch out what the traffic around her is doing, she lives in her own dreamland.
 
Gloi said:
Sometimes teenagers are so gormless on the roads. I think sometimes it's because few of them have to cycle anywhere any more and they have not yet learnt to drive so they have developed zero road sense. I ride out with a girl sometimes and am forever having to tell her to watch out what the traffic around her is doing, she lives in her own dreamland.
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Considering those who are too young to really understand the Highway-code aspect of road usage, I suspect that you've touched on a valid point. If more children were to become aware of the simple sense of road usage through cycling, perhaps we would see more children who had a greater sense of road awareness when riding ponies on the highway.

Alec.
 
Gloi said:
Sometimes teenagers are so gormless on the roads. I think sometimes it's because few of them have to cycle anywhere any more and they have not yet learnt to drive so they have developed zero road sense. I ride out with a girl sometimes and am forever having to tell her to watch out what the traffic around her is doing, she lives in her own dreamland.
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I agree.

I mentioned in a post in another thread, that when I was really young, we had the Tufty Club and the Green Cross Code man to teach us how to use the road.

Here in France, there is a compulsory class in the equivalent of Middle School, with a test, on the equivalent of the Highway Code. This, called the "Brevet de sécurité routière (BSR)" is in two levels, ASSR1 at about 12 years old ASSR2 at about 14 years old. Passing level 1 is necessary to be allowed to ride a 50cc moped at 14, or to drive what is known as a "license-free car" at 16.

Personally, I would make it a condition of applying for a car license that you've done first of all a year on a pedal cycle, then a year on a motorcycle. Of course, I'd have to invent some kind of magical device that measures journeys, to ensure that people don't just buy a bike or motorbike and never use it... And there would be allowances for people physically incapable of riding.
 
Oh wow, that is a lane that I hacked along solo many times as a teenager to access Haldon forest :eek3:, I lived in the next village along to Kennford. I've double checked it on street view and it's definitely the same lane. It's not even especially narrow by Devon standards, and anyhow any local rider/driver soon learns to reverse, backtrack or dive into a gateway or driveway to allow oncoming traffic to pass.

These riders should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

ETA Oi, teenager bashers, I was safely and courteously riding along this road solo from the age of 12!
 
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It's a pet peeve.

Almost to the point that I think it annoys me more that drivers being idiots.

It does nothing to the cause of getting other road users to be considerate if riders themselves can't be bothered to show consideration themselves.
 
Are the first and third set of riders hurrying the driver up, or just beckoning him forward and telling him it's okay to proceed?

We have lots of local yards and I've had this happen to me as a driver. Sometimes I've encountered riders in a place where I've stopped the car and waited for their instructions, so they'd either continue and pass me whilst I'm stationary, or they'd stop and call me forwards instead

Or at least, that's what I thought they were doing? Or maybe I'm driving too slowly!
 
Bruce17 said:
Are the first and third set of riders hurrying the driver up, or just beckoning him forward and telling him it's okay to proceed?

We have lots of local yards and I've had this happen to me as a driver. Sometimes I've encountered riders in a place where I've stopped the car and waited for their instructions, so they'd either continue and pass me whilst I'm stationary, or they'd stop and call me forwards instead

Or at least, that's what I thought they were doing? Or maybe I'm driving too slowly!
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I never ride out alone, I'm not a good enough horseman yet, but I often ride last in the column when we're out.

I've done a similar thing often when a car comes up behind us; a driver hangs back giving us plenty of space, but in doing so can't see that the way is clear to pass.

If I can see that the way is clear and that the driver can use the "wrong" side of the road to pass us, then I wave the driver on.

But drivers coming towards us from in front usually don't stop. At best, they slow down, but that can be counterproductive if it means going from third gear and low RPM to second or first and high RPM: the car makes more noise and takes longer to get past...
 
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catroo said:
I recognise the area and can guess the yard these riders are from, that road would be the quietest one that they hack along so I assume horses are generally good in traffic.

I've hacked up that road hundreds of times, you don't get a lot of traffic but what you do get is normally big and noisy, if you want quiet hacking then Haldon forest is about 10 mins further on from the farm.
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Perhaps if you know the yard have a word with the YO or YM and point them at the you tube clip to be used in a tutorial for how to behave on the road and how NOT to behave. I guess it is a small mercy that they were not glued to their mobile phones !!!!
 
Keith_Beef said:
I never ride out alone, I'm not a good enough horseman yet, but I often ride last in the column when we're out.

I've done a similar thing often when a car comes up behind us; a driver hangs back giving us plenty of space, but in doing so can't see that the way is clear to pass.

If I can see that the way is clear and that the driver can use the "wrong" side of the road to pass us, then I wave the driver on.

But drivers coming towards us from in front usually don't stop. At best, they slow down, but that can be counterproductive if it means going from third gear and low RPM to second or first and high RPM: the car makes more noise and takes longer to get past...
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Hmm, the area I'm thinking of is a narrow country lane with a sweeping junction on the right. I'd be approaching from that junction, and the riders would be on the lane. Depending on which yard they are from, they night want to turn right towards me or continue on, so I generally just stop and await their instructions. There's a bit of a passing place, but it's narrow and on a slope. They usually beckon me on and hang back in the passing place.

It just got me wondering if I was doing something wrong, but sounds like not.
 
Bruce17 said:
Are the first and third set of riders hurrying the driver up, or just beckoning him forward and telling him it's okay to proceed?

We have lots of local yards and I've had this happen to me as a driver. Sometimes I've encountered riders in a place where I've stopped the car and waited for their instructions, so they'd either continue and pass me whilst I'm stationary, or they'd stop and call me forwards instead

Or at least, that's what I thought they were doing? Or maybe I'm driving too slowly!
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I said this earlier as I think it highlights how easy miscommunication is, because I think they are telling him it is ok to proceed, the driver thinks they are telling him to get a move on. I would never tell a vehicle to hurry up, partly as even though mine is fine to pass quicker I wouldn't want them to think all horses are.

Sounds like you are doing just fine Bruce :).
 
Cecile said:
As I sat watching that group of 3 riders with all the arm/hand flapping gestures, spreading out across the road and ignoring anyway of moving into that road recess I just thought OMG the old BHS road safety test has certainly altered

What's with all the arm/hand flapping, is that a part of some Highway code I haven't read about :)
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The arm waving is to slow down a van that is going way too fast for those lanes. It's a good job he has such good brakes. As somebody who lives and rides down single track lanes, we have to contend with delivery vans who use us as a cut through. However, none of them go at that sort of speed. I usually ride one, and lead one, and make sure to trot briskly on the the nearest passing place. Yes, ignorant riders, but the van driver should maybe plot an easier route if he is in such a hurry.
 
cundlegreen said:
the van driver should maybe plot an easier route if he is in such a hurry.
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If the van driver has a route, and if he plans...

Some of the big companies, especially in the US (UPS and FedEx) do that. I remember reading at least one article about using planning algorithms to drastically reduce the number of left turns on routes (being a country where they drive on the right-hand side of the road, turning to the left means crossing oncoming traffic): this reduced the number of collisions.

But I think that a lot of delivery drivers are self-employed, almost like Uber, running to pick up a parcel and deliver within a short time. I expect that they rely on Sat Nav to get from A to B at 5mph over the speed limit, without much thought as to whether a road is safely drivable at that speed.
 
Once upon a time Channel Four let me spout off on road safety in a special feature on the old racing programme The Morning Line - they used to have a slot called Hoarse Box where different subjects could be aired - my basic premise was - if you cannot observe proper road manners and have the ability to foresee Horsey problems - you should not take your mount on the road.
Of course, riding is regarded as one, if not the only, pursuit one can do that doesn't require a license or payment of tax to do and Horseyfolk extend this to mean that they have a godgiven right to be as obstructive as they damn well like - and unfortunately, as far as the Law is concerned - they do.
But it is not A GOOD IDEA - as many above have mentioned. Drivers - even the most reasonable person - once in their vehicle seems to think that THEY have a godgiven right to an open road - they speed and are inconsiderate - so we have a perfect storm in the making - and the poor horse is always the one who comes off worse.

Though I'm the last person to advocate thrashing horses - I always took a 4ft dressage stick when riding out - this served two purposes - it gives extension to one's hand, my mare's bum was conveniently 4ft away from where I sat and she had learned to move away from gentle pressure, this coupled with inside leg and good contact enabled me to ask for a STAND when a stolen car chased by two policemen passed me at 70mph actually hitting my foot.
My stick would also come in handy to remonstrate with errant drivers along with gestures as to where I was going to shove it!
Ironically though, most drivers sort to avoid the held out stick far more than my mare's rear legs which seemed to develop magnetism at times.
 
cundlegreen said:
The arm waving is to slow down a van that is going way too fast for those lanes. It's a good job he has such good brakes. As somebody who lives and rides down single track lanes, we have to contend with delivery vans who use us as a cut through. However, none of them go at that sort of speed. I usually ride one, and lead one, and make sure to trot briskly on the the nearest passing place. Yes, ignorant riders, but the van driver should maybe plot an easier route if he is in such a hurry.
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Have you ever been to Devon? That is a normal through route Devon lane, and the van driver will have to drive many miles on similar ones as part of his daily routes. The van driver is driving perfectly well, the idiot riders are riding very poorly.

I wouldn't ride and lead on a singletrack road anyway.
 
cundlegreen said:
The arm waving is to slow down a van that is going way too fast for those lanes.
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As there's no head-up display it's difficult to prove what the actuall speed of the videoing vehicle is - but I'm willing to bet good money that he does not exceed 30mph anywhere and in my critical opinion only goes a little too fast in one small section.

As somebody who lives and rides down single track lanes, we have to contend with delivery vans who use us as a cut through. However, none of them go at that sort of speed.
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I live in a mostly single track lane with passing places and often have 40ft artics jamming the thing for hours because of SatNav. Many car and van drivers regularly break the universal 50mph limit despite many horses in evidence.

I usually ride one, and lead one,
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I'm afraid that I'm dead against this now - with the best will in the world - you are asking for trouble. I have in excess of 30,000 hours saddle time much of it roadwork - admittedly ending in the mid 1990's but I would not have rode and led even then.

.....and make sure to trot briskly on the the nearest passing place.
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Very commendable. You can call me paranoid ( but I'm still here ) but I never spent a single minute on a road mounted without knowing what was behind me and how far away it was. Coming to a bend, I'd check both directions and then trot round for at least 50yds or more if a speeding car could have approach without being seen. My mare was exceptional in traffic and she was kept so by constant reinforcement of her training. Some of the "riding" I see today makes me weep!
 
The second clip driver has the patience of a saint! I used to ride on a similar lane and I’d carry my dressage whip, don’t mind admitting I smacked a couple of cars who took the mick. I regularly encounter riders on a narrow lane taking out the dogs and I’ll just wait rather than try to scrape past. Fortunately, it’s not a very long lane.

Keith, Seine et Oise? I used to live in Andresy, in the 78000 area. I would have loved to ride at the time.
 
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It is well known that the lenses on dash cams make it look like people are driving faster. We have single track lanes, with right hand bends, it terrifies me that people ride and lead on them.
 
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