What do you think of people on bikes??

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horsecrazy25

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Tonight i was riding my TBxID with a friend. We were walking along nicely when 2 kids braked really hard behind us sending my horse shooting forward then sideways!! Bless him!! After my friend got in to the side they flew past not even saying sorry :mad: how rude! Then there father came past and "said im very sorry about that" :) atleast he had manners.

I don't have a problem with people riding bikes and i have met many nice people but it's just when people scare your horse/pony and don't even apologies!!or if they fly past you without letting you know there there!!

Do people on bikes annoy you? or Don't you mind?

Thanks In Advance
HC25 x
 
Silly people. At least their dad had the decency to apologise though
Bella is ok with bikes, but i was on a hack with one of the other people from the yard and her mum who was with us on a bike, and she kept getting angry at her child on her ony, and i think threw her bike down at least 4 times, which scared Bella and one time i had to get off to stop her from running across the road we were near in fear :(
 
I generally don't mind people on bikes, I used to cycle a lot myself. However... the other day i was moving two mares who are in foal, on travels quite stressfully so wanted a nice smooth journey. We came along a nice wide stretch of road (you know the ones with the huge hard shoulder?), and met a group of cyclists. Gently slowed down waithing for them to go into single file, or at least move over a tad (they were spread across the whole left hand side of the road). Nothing, gave a polite gentle beep, nothing, a louder beep, still nothing. After the qeue on the opposite side of the road dissapeared finally got to over take. Have to say i was not impressed and did shout at them very angrily :shame:
 
Where I ride there are zillions of bikes - we're right by a network of cycle routes. The vast majority of the bike riders are courteous, and some even ding their bells to let us know they're approaching from behind. We make sure we thank them profusely as it's really helpful. In turn, the bike riders feel puffy chested for being appreciated, and so it goes on ..... But there are some dorks who hare by like bats out of hell and it's only pure chance that my boys, and most of my friends' horses, are OK with bikes. I do think that, being fellow vulnerable road users, they have more sense when meeting horses than boy racers or hastled school run mothers, but there is the odd exception to the rule.
 
I personlly don't mind people on bikes but my mare hates anything with wheels, more so if its coming towards her, I usually call out asking if they can ride past slowly and always say please/thankyou, i've not yet met anyone who has been an ass about it. Even the teenagers who often speed up and down our lane to the local pit on their motorbikes generally slow down for us.
 
Oh don't get me started on bikes! They are my no.1 whinge subject - although I actually find them more annoying when I am in my car than on my horse!

Most annoyingly is the thousands of pounds that the council spent putting a lovely wide bike path alongside a really busy main road that I drive along every day - and there are bikes riding on the bleddy road! It is a very fast moving road, but isn't wide enough to accomodate cars and bikes safely - hence why the bike path was put in - and the stupid idiots just ignore the path that was put there for their safety!

Also - bike riders going along busy roads in 2's & 3's across the road, and not moving out of the way for traffic

Bike riders going along any roads with their ear phones / ipods in - I mean honestly - do you not have any common sense???

And one last one - bike riders without any hi viz, riding in dark colours, and generally ignoring all traffic - everyone likes to complain about horse riders when they do this - but bike riders are allowed??

Sorry - rant over!! :D :D
 
Some people don't seem to understand that most horses need room where bikes are involved ... I took Ethel on her first proper hack on Friday with a friend, we were going along chatting when they suddenly both shot forward but settled again quickly. I looked round and saw a guy on a bike behind us who said "Sorry was that me?? I was trying to quiet .." We both just laughed and said not to worry about it and moved over for him where he went past slowly and wide and apologized again for spooking them. So there are people out there who are considerate when on their bikes, and these people i like .. then you get the people who dont seem to care, but to be honest, I think the considerate ones are more scared of getting kicked than anything :p
 
nelle48 - Awww poor bella. Some people don't act the best around horse/ponies. Normally my boy is fine i think it was the sudden shock of the squeaking tires bless him. x

Dowjones - How annoying and rude, we have had similar situations like yours before very :mad:.

mytwofriends - Its nice when bikers ding you to let you know there coming "one day one women started coughing really really loud to get my attention" lol :p
 
devilwoman - Awww bless her atleast you have people who will listen and its good that your polite as some people arn't!

flo-bell - lol, sorry to get you so annoyed :p Glad you got that off your chest :p I understand what you mean, every now and then we have bike races around us and they are spread all over the road :mad:

tonitot - lol yh. Awww that was nice of him, you do get some lovely people but then some not nice people!!
 
Most of the cyclists I come across out riding are very pleasant and usually pass the time of day with me. There may be the odd rude person but if someone is rude then they will be rude whether they are in a car, on a bike or walking.
I think what we forget sometimes is that not everyone understands horses and that they can be easily spooked. My OH cycles and he only has a clue because I tell him. Most things people do are because they don't know any different than out of rudeness.

I think its great to see people out enjoying the countryside, whether they are walking cycling or riding. There is plenty of room for all of us. One thing I do hate though is trying to get past road cyclists when I'm towing.
 
Most are very good with horses near us, they slow down near us or even stop (at which point we tell them they're fine to go past!) We have a lot of bike riders near us as we have the canal and public footpaths and its very nice to ride about both on horses and bikes!
However.....:D
we're starting to extend Kelly's hacks after her injury (only walking) so I decided to give the extra part of the estate a bash yesterday. She was perfectly well behaved but one part of the road is a little busier than our little estate we usually hack round and she was a little edgy - nothing extraordinary though.
Until, some boys on a bike thought it would be hilarious to get very close to us, then ring their bells and start shouting. :mad:
Cue me having kittens about Kelly bouncing on her feet, as she jumped forwards and started dancing and I could feel her literally shaking. I know, if she'd kicked out and caught one of them we would be to blame!!!
K x
 
My chap's not too keen on bikes full stop but he nearly had a heart attack at one of those where the rider practically lies back horizontally and it has some stupid flag waving in the vain hope that the local beet lorry might just spot it in time.
 
Hullaballo - Thats good, yeah i understand where you are coming from. I also like seeing people out enjoying the countryside :D

Kellyshereos - Awwww bless her, how rude. Like you said the annoying thing is if Kelly kicked then you would be to blame!! Even though you did nothing! Its so silly!! Hope you both ok.

attheponies - Awww bless him, i could see my boy having a heart attack over one of them!!
 
Their ok when they dont ring their bells behind me as they are coming from behind!!!
Im much happier about them when im on a horse than in a car!
 
My boy is pretty good with bikes TBH, and most of the cyclists around are really well mannered. Most either ring their bell or shout to let you know they are there and tend to go past wide and slow and not come up too fast behind. It only tends to be me that lets us down as half the time I can hear them as I'm away with the fairies... :rolleyes:
 
Hullabaloo said:
Most of the cyclists I come across out riding are very pleasant and usually pass the time of day with me. There may be the odd rude person but if someone is rude then they will be rude whether they are in a car, on a bike or walking.
I think what we forget sometimes is that not everyone understands horses and that they can be easily spooked. My OH cycles and he only has a clue because I tell him. Most things people do are because they don't know any different than out of rudeness.

I think its great to see people out enjoying the countryside, whether they are walking cycling or riding. There is plenty of room for all of us. One thing I do hate though is trying to get past road cyclists when I'm towing.
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I agree with this post. My husband is a keen cyclist and he finds it annoying having to slow down for us horse riders when he is midst a fast training session, but of course he does because he's polite. In my view the countryside should be there for all to share (whilst wearing their hi viz!) and we should all be courteous to each other, generally people round here are.
 
We are lucky to have some slightly quieter hacks nearby but unfortunately a number of these require us to ride the Camel Trail for part of them. No problem at all off season (which seems to be getting shorter and shorter) but running the gauntlet of bikes, trikes and other peddled contraptions with or without flags, buggies, dog carts and other paraphernalia in the silly season is interesting to say the least.
Thank goodness for bike friendly horses.
 
horsecrazy25 said:
juliette - Yeah, agree, we should always be corteous but you always get some who arn't :(
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But the same can be said for a fair few horse riders too. Near my yard, I often drive past horse riders who don't acknowledge when you've slowed down, regularly ride out when it is dusk or foggy in black with no hiviz, etc etc....

It isn't just cyclists who can be rude! As in every sector of society there will be some bad cyclists. There are bad horse riders, bad drivers, bad walkers even.

FWIW, I cycle and I ride horses.
 
We usually encounter bikes when we're on narrow forest paths. Most of the riders are very good about slowing to a crawl or getting off. Sometimes, we meet someone who comes zipping around a blind corner really fast---one guy ended up careening right into the bushes trying to avoid us. I doubt he went so fast around a blind corner again! I think they forget that there could be something around the corner if they're not on the road.

I get more worried about loose dogs, and definitely about motor bikes, which shouldn't be in the forest, but are!
 
Don't get me going on bikes! Where I live, we have hundreds of dedicated Weekend Warriors who are out sweating on their mountain bikes, cluttering up the roads as they huff and puff along, all wearing their Lance Armstrong, tight-fitting, logo emblazoned riding gear (do they ALL have sponsors!? Makes you wonder).

For the most part, they ignore traffic rules, ride 3 or 4 abreast, don't stop at intersections, ride on narrow roads and make it very difficult to pass and generally annoy the p*** out of me.

They also ride the trails adjacent to our yard and they whizz down the hills at incredible speeds, around the turns, spooking horses regularly. My horse is fine with a regular bike riding quietly by but when goes buzzing past downhill at an alarming rate of speed, she is well justified I think in wigging out.

Last year, a moron cyclist tore past a rider, spooked the horse which fell over a hillside, breaking the rider's leg or arm, can't recall which, and NEVER EVEN STOPPED! :mad: Had to know it happened too as other riders were screaming.

I know there are plenty of polite bike riders out there but they certainly seem to be outnumbered by the idiots around here.
 
I don't mind them when I'm riding, but it does grate a little when I try so hard to be courteous when I'm riding on the roads - thanking drivers, moving over where possible, trotting on if needed etc, but cyclists just don't? Quite often there are queues of traffic behind a cyclist who could just move into a gap and wait while it passes but they never do.
 
spookypony - I know i shoudln't but that made me laugh about guy going straight into bush, bet that taught him a lesson! Yeah dogs now a days are very scary and are getting quiet a reputation for attacking horses!!

baymareb - My god, hope the person who broke arm or leg ok and horse. True about logos some people you can tell are professional but some you can just tell arn't!!
 
I find the majority of cyclists, polite and friendly, we should all try to get along - as you never know one day you may need help from a passing mountainbiker...but I have noticed that dog walkers are the worst for being unfreindly, intolerant and downright rude - they think they own the countryside, and think that fido worrying the horses or livestock is funny and that "he's only playing" I've given many an overzealous mutt a good crack with my schooling whip!!
 
The cyclists around my last RS were terrible!!! We were out on a hack, and there was a large hill where we would always canter up, taking forward seat. It was a bridle path only, and cyclists and walkers were not really allowed up there because people on horses would usually use this hill to have a good gallop up! I was riding a large Fresian which used to be used to driving so was a little bit hard to get to canter. Was at the back of the ride because I was helping at the time. So, trying to get into canter while everyone else is galloping off. Cyclist comes racing up my side, so close he nearly touched my stirrup. My horse spooked so badly I came off and he continues to bolt up the hill to catch the rest of the ride, leaving me staring after his bottom and the cyclist. The YO was not amused!!

Usually I don't mind cyclists as they are often quite considerate, especially if they usually ride in a horsey area so are aware of the manners etc involved. This one however was not :( xx
 
never had a problem with bikes, mostly they are courteous. some don't let you know they are there and just cycle past but tbh why should they really. although we haven't heard them it is unlikely that the horse hasn't spotted or heard them.
One i felt quite sorry for. we were on a really narrow road and i kept hearing this wee ting noise, i was looking in the hedges etc before it dawned that it was a bike behind us patiently waiting to get past. I was apologetic and he did see the funny side.
 
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