Wait for the considerate cyclist, NOT

ThursdayNext said:
OP, if you'd =read the road sign you rode past you'd have known you weren't on a cycle track, you were on a pedestrian walkway. Assuming you're not 'ignorant' presumably you mean you /also/ ride on cycle paths?

Lots of times you make great posts that are fun to read.

On this particular one you've complained about the road manners of a cyclist whilst freely admitting breaking road rules (laws) yourself by riding on pedestrian walkways/in bus lanes/on cycle paths becasue you don't think the council cater for your hobby sufficiently lavishly. TBH that is /exactly/ the sort of attitude that puts people off riders!
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The council doesn't cater for horseriders, full stop! What do you suggest OP does, spend her life bored out of her mind in the school? I hardly think given the choice she would pick riding along a NSL road over some lovely quiet off road hacking.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, me the op is a he, a male lol :-).

At this very minute I am uploading a vid with a mix of the better parts of our hacks, which we get too after the more difficult parts, this is to give a more balanced view of our hacking enjoyment, also I will be including going up the steps which then shows a MAHOOSIVE building with lots of lorry ports which will bring even more traffic, anyone who has seen my bridge crossing ride a year or two back will notice the massive area we used to ride on has now been built on, then back to more pleasant riding, but then still witnessing a drug deal and the litter, also nearer the end I stop trotting due to a cyclist coming just to show most of the time we get on fine with everyone else.

Going to start a new post with it.
 
atropa said:
The council doesn't cater for horseriders, full stop! What do you suggest OP does, spend her life bored out of her mind in the school? I hardly think given the choice she would pick riding along a NSL road over some lovely quiet off road hacking.
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Suggest moving yard to somewhere with less to whine about (except OP would miss it) or alternatively avoiding hypocrisy on threads with whining.

There are plenty of inner city yards with little or no hacking. They provide a service that is convenient but compromised. More remote places obviously have different pros/cons.

You pays your money and takes your choice. I've enjoyed riding both in central London and the Highlands and a lot in-between. I don't expect it to all be the same though
 
I don't understand this rolling over being bullied from where you live and defeatist attitude, I don't do being bullied and bite back, I ain't going nowhere, but you pay your money and you take your choice and I'll take mine, I understand that not everyone has a horse that will do it, no point in whining about those of us that do get on with it, so you stay riding in ever decreasing circles or the menage, no shame in that, different strokes etc, just not for me thanks.
 
Actually I think it is pretty obvious that for the most part the OP just gets on with it and doesn't whine about it at all! Unless he only goes out once every few months :p
 
ThursdayNext said:
OP, if you'd =read the road sign you rode past you'd have known you weren't on a cycle track, you were on a pedestrian walkway. Assuming you're not 'ignorant' presumably you mean you /also/ ride on cycle paths?

Lots of times you make great posts that are fun to read.

On this particular one you've complained about the road manners of a cyclist whilst freely admitting breaking road rules (laws) yourself by riding on pedestrian walkways/in bus lanes/on cycle paths becasue you don't think the council cater for your hobby sufficiently lavishly. TBH that is /exactly/ the sort of attitude that puts people off riders!
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I'll take breaking the law for my own safety while disadvantaging no-one else over ignorant riding by a cyclist who put themselves and others in danger any day.

'sufficiently lavishly'? Where do you live that the word 'lavish' could ever be used in the same sentence as 'public provision for horse riding'? I live in a National Park and it certainly doesn't apply to me! Open Access applies only to walkers in England, not horses.
 
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ester said:
Actually I think it is pretty obvious that for the most part the OP just gets on with it and doesn't whine about it at all! Unless he only goes out once every few months :p
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As I said above I actually enjoy a lot of OP's posts and his sense of humour.

In terms of just getting on with it: yes, I've ridden in (very) urban areas too. I've taken a (pretty good) horse under a tunnel of inflatable bouncy castle things in Hyde Park and crossed motorway bridges with every share horse I've ever had. I've ridden past bird scarers going off and (unintentionally, they'd failed to give the usual notice) during shoots. I'm by no means more than a novice rider but I am not afraid of riding in different environments.

What I /don't/ do is complain about a cyclist not scaring my horse, especially if I happen to be in an illegal place!

And having just watched the amazing hacking the the park: flip yes OP, your council (I assume it is them who maintains the park?) provide /excellent/ facilities for riders. Many of us would be chuffed at that!
 
There are just as many bad/dangerous/inconsiderate cyclists as drivers but we expect more from the cyclists because they like us have to deal with the bad/dangerous/inconsiderate drivers and should therefore know better.

I've met plenty of dangerous cyclists and plenty of nice ones - the bad experiences always stick in your head more - like the guy flying down the steep hill on a single track road at about 35 mph while we were riding 2 abreast and flagging him to slow down so we could move into single file - idiot tried to duck between the horse and verge and horse spooked spun and almost decked him - he had the cheek to yell at us. Reporting these incidents is almost impossible as how can the police trace them!

I hate them just as much when I encounter them on the road - often with no hi viz, riding in huge groups or on road races where getting a quick time is more important than following the rules of the road. Especially as I always make an effort to drive carefully around them!!
 
I do have to say though that as you're riding on the cycle path you shouldn't be surprised by that - at my last yard there was a cycle path but it wasn't a dedicated cycle path - horses were permitted and there were signs to that affect advising that cyclists should give way to horses - still didn't stop them whizzing past - my horse never bothered and if he did spook the cyclist would most likely come off worse than us!
 
As a cyclist myself, I think he was too fast, bearing in mind you were on horses. Whether you should have been there yourselves is immaterial. Two wrongs don't make a right and a little common sense on his part, would have made the whole interaction between horse and cyclist easier. As cyclists,we have a very common link with Horse riders. Insofar as we both have to share the same routes in many areas. We both share bridleways and roads and we both need to exercise common sense. He is lucky your horses were well behaved.
 
Wow !!!!! The Engineer has been lured out of his clipper sharpening den to talk about something else .I think he is rather like a reverse Yogi Bear, and hibernates all summer ,only to emerge in the autumn when all our clippers go wrong.
I do agree with his point about cyclists and our common link. I have a good friend who is a serious road racing cyclist (a real one ,has a license).Whilst I thought my opinions about some cyclists were a tad reactionary,you should hear him talk about"lycra clad ***** who have bought a bike and think they own the bloody road." His opinion of time trials is that they are run by folk who are incapable of running a legitimate publicised race safely.
 
In the future I would ride down the middle of the two paths, or two abreast, to force any cyclists to slow. I suppose then you might have issues with cyclists who put their heads down and pedal, but in any case I think you need to make yourselves more noticeable since technically you aren't meant to be there.

It doesn't matter if you would have moved off of the footpath on seeing a pedestrian - that doesn't mean you are entitled to ride there when it's empty.
 
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ThursdayNext said:
And having just watched the amazing hacking the the park: flip yes OP, your council (I assume it is them who maintains the park?) provide /excellent/ facilities for riders. Many of us would be chuffed at that!
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If that park is council owned, I doubt if Pedantic has any more right to ride in it than he does to ride on the footpaths and cycleways he's forced to use to use to get to it.
 
wallflower said:
In the future I would ride down the middle of the two paths, or two abreast, to force any cyclists to slow. I suppose then you might have issues with cyclists who put their heads down and pedal, but in any case I think you need to make yourselves more noticeable since technically you aren't meant to be there.
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Why do that? If I was on a bike ride on the cycle path and two horses who weren't supposed to be there in the first place were blocking the path I'd be annoyed, and I'm a horse person!
 
surely the funding for cycle lanes etc comes from an 'environmental road users’ aspect though? Government funding to supposedly reduce traffic congestion and pollution, they aren’t just funding a hobby - although no doubt this has been a major byline of it. I doubt they would allocate the same funds to cater for riders, sadly!
 
NOA, pet, clearly. Total respect to you for riding along that dual carriageway. Mine would die of fright if a cyclist did that. Lump of spooky cob.
 
SpringArising said:
Why do that? If I was on a bike ride on the cycle path and two horses who weren't supposed to be there in the first place were blocking the path I'd be annoyed, and I'm a horse person!
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Because it would stop people whizzing past the horses - which OP was pissed off about. The same reason people ride two abreast on the road. If OP cared about pissing people off they wouldn't ride on the footpaths in the first place, but if they're going to do it they might as well attempt to do it in a way that will minimise distress to them/their horses.
 
ycbm said:
If that park is council owned, I doubt if Pedantic has any more right to ride in it than he does to ride on the footpaths and cycleways he's forced to use to use to get to it.
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We have every right to ride on the parks, never ever been a problem with the Rangers or my local councilor, last time I had trouble with loose dogs on the park the Ranger told me "himself" that we had more right on there that the dog owners, so that put's that little query to rest as far as being on the parks, plus Darley park has a Bridleway running through it and a cafe on it, Ranger turned his engine off for me one day as he didn't want to upset my horse, I said thanks but not to worry as we has just ridden through the city center ;-)


 
We had an ignorant cyclist pass us this morning. I was hacking my 5 year old out with my friends older horse - hes not seen many cyclists and last time one passed him he was a tad nervous and started bouncing so we politely asked him to slow down - he was coming at us full speed down a hill and completely ignored our hand signals to slow down, our yelling at him to slow down and my screaming at him not to ignore us when being asked to slow down and turning the air blue as he shot past me. He said something but it was windy and we couldn't make him out. Fortunately for me Logan was an angel and other than lifting his head up and having his ears firmly pricked in the cyclists direction, he was solid and didn't bother which I am pleased about. But the guy was about to hit a corner, we could have been trying to warn him about anything and he was just whizzing along merrily not giving a toss - I would expect a fellow vulnerable road user to show a little more consideration.
 
The cyclist in the video can be cut some slack. Had he overtaken a couple of horses on a quiet country lane in that manner, then he most certainly would have been inconsiderate. Sadly, such behaviour from cyclists is all too common (I live on a national cycle route, so encounter it more that most.). I counter it by being accompanied on the roads by my own tame ninja cyclist outrider, who can leap into action if necessary to calm traffic.

However, the OP and his hacking buddy are riding alongside an insanely fast and busy dual carriageway, and are immediately adjacent to a designated cycle path. To a non horsey person, it would seem that a. your horses are fine with all that motorised traffic, so aren't going to be bothered by a bicycle and b. you are riding adjacent to a cycle path, so you and your horses will be expecting cyclists to pass them.
 
Pedantic said:
We have every right to ride on the parks, never ever been a problem with the Rangers or my local councilor, last time I had trouble with loose dogs on the park the Ranger told me "himself" that we had more right on there that the dog owners, so that put's that little query to rest as far as being on the parks, plus Darley park has a Bridleway running through it and a cafe on it, Ranger turned his engine off for me one day as he didn't want to upset my horse, I said thanks but not to worry as we has just ridden through the city center ;-)


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Good for you for taking the roads back! Usually the only horses seen in town or city centres these days have cops on their backs, even then that's a rare sight...
 
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