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news
Horse rider hit by undertaking cyclist during triathlon (source Facebook).JPGVideo: Horse and rider struck by undertaking cyclist participating in triathlon
A horse rider has posted video to Facebook of competitors on the cycling leg of today’s Windsor Triathlon passing her at speed, one of them striking her and the horse as he passed them on the inside, causing the animal to rear up and leaving the woman with a bruised ankle.
Organisers of the event in Berkshire, Human Race, have launched an investigation and have promised to ban any riders they identify in the footage from future events.
Shot on a helmet camera , the footage was originally posted this morning by Facebook user Jennifer Katherine, who wrote: “No warning to local residents, signs, etc ...
“Went out at 7:30am to our other farm down the road and came back on same road 9am. I have lived here all my life and never had a problem with cyclists – as with my horse, who is bombproof on the road.
“I am wearing a yellow hi-vis hat silk, coat, gloves and gilet. My horse is wearing a yellow hi-vis rug and breastplate. The cyclist smashes along the side of my horse, taking my stirrup in the handlebars and bruising up my ankle. My horse rears and bolts forward, taking off one of his back shoes.
“Not a lot I can do I think but what should I do? I had no knowledge of the event and repeatedly had near misses where cyclists failed to slow down and put themselves, me, my horse and drivers at risk.
“No-one stopped to see if I or the horse was ok after this hit. I'm still in shock and feeling very sore along one side of my ankle,” she added.
The event was today’s Windsor Triathlon, organised by Human Race, who said in messages posted to social media: “We are currently investigating an incident at the Windsor Triathlon involving a group of cyclists and a horse rider.
“We are taking this very seriously. Riders will be identified and disqualified from this event, and banned from all future Human Race Events.
“All riders are briefed to follow the Highway Code, and we do not condone dangerous cycling of any kind. We offer our sincere apologies to the individual involved.”
Rule 215 of the Highway Code, among other things, instructs road users to “Be particularly careful of horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles especially when overtaking,” and to “Always pass wide and slowly.”
The behaviour of the cyclists has been condemned by commenters on the original Facebook thread, many of them horse riders who have highlighted their own experiences of some people riding bicycles far too close to them.
Other cyclists too have been strongly critical of the riders with one urging Human Race on Twitter to also report the incident to the British Triathlon Federation (BTF), saying: “Those cyclists should not be racing as dangerous to all on the roads.”
Human Race replied: “BTF are on site with us, and have provided all of our race referees. They are aware of the situation and will also be taking action.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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69 comments
I ride on those roads regularly, and have raced that very same triathlon several times.
My thoughts:
1. There is no excuse for either undertaking the horse or the close passing by others. It's just plain wrong, and the riders who did either should be disqualified under British Triathlon rules and banned (organisers' discretion). It sounds like the organisers are taking this seriously, and I'm certain BTF will too.
2. Windsor tri is a large, long-established and well organised race. The roads aren't especially narrow or twisty. Nonetheless, packs almost always form, often where faster riders from a later wave catch slower riders in the previous wave, often complicated by cars being in the mix, also stuck behind slower riders. It's virtually impossible to avoid at times.
3. On-bike cameras are banned under triathlon rules, so there shouldn't be any footage.
4. It shouldn't matter whether there was signage - the horse rider was perfectly entitled to be there. Whether they were wise in doing so isn't relevant either - that would be blaming the victim.
Would be nice to think that some of those in the bunch can remember or had their own cameras to show the numbers of the tools if this video can't ID them.
But why had a bunch formed in a triathlon anyway?
Dickheads are dickheads whether they're on a bike or not. There's absolutely no excuse for buzzing a horse and rider. They should have been in the centre of the opposite carriageway, doing 15mph tops.
Rule 42 applies.
Always bring a towel? Not sure how that would help...
Not closed roads, but I doubt there were no signs to let residents know of the event. Pretty sure I heard there were signs. I saw signs for the smaller Henley Triathlon in the middle of nowhere the other week. I think I read somewhere that there was a late change to the bike course though.
It's made the BBC Berkshire news site... (Edit: third story on BBC site, slow news day?!) For a bruised ankle, I know it could have been worse, but it doesn't make the news every time a cyclist is barely injured by another road user. Anticyclist bias? One driver is blaming the cyclists for another driver nearly hitting her head-on, false logic, find a way to blame the cyclists. Oh, and "dangerous cycling", strange one given it's virtually impossible to convict killer drivers of dangerous driving, despite the driving test and licencing standards.
Looking at the video, shame it isn't higher resolution to identify the idiots. Most of the cyclists are in the drops and more upright, but the first "undertaker" looks like they are still fully going for it, second appeared to be an unwilling participant, possibly forced to that side by others. I suspect it was different riders/groups overtaking each other in a bit of a mess and a lack of planning ahead etc by some which caused everyone to be caught up in the incident. Banning all in the vicinity could be a poor kneejerk reaction.
Using the time, location, known bike start and bike finish times, shouldn't be too hard to narrow down potential riders if no witnesses are forthcoming. If they do identify the riders, they should be given a chance to give their versions of events, automatic ban if they don't, then go from there.
Must have been plenty of poor road/race craft though, probably by more than one.
Chip timing data could help.
I drive part of the bike course twice a day almost every week day, getting to and from work. I saw no signs indicating the impending event this year. I have done in previous years (as far as I can see, if there were changes to the course, it was largely the same as previous years). I don't know if this is representative of the entire course or not. I also don't know if warning signs were put out over the weekend. Certainly whatever might have been around were absent again this morning.
Appalling. None of those triathletes were slow or wide enough when passing that horse.
Another example of the benefits of riding with a camera.
Saddened to see this. Closed event or not. There should have been plenty of signage and marshalls making the rider aware that there was a competition going on. This might have allowed the rider to make a decision as to whether to go on the route or not. The riders, undoubtedly are even in an event like this subject to the law. I do hope the competitors ALL who failed to slow down and even more so those that close passed the rider are talked to by the Police and those who flagrantly disregarded the law prosecuted.
Undertaking a horse - WTF??
Now on national news too - well done, bellends.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-44512967
Pressure needs to be put on the BBC for not reporting similar close passes on cyclists in the same way.
Tweet away my loverlies...
We have a few videos here that they could have reported on in the same way.
Only 7 comments on the car pass video from the horse riders feed.
Dull pricks.
The Daily Mail will be all over this tomorrow.
I get that they think they're in a race but invariably they're all monumental entitled wankers. Been caught out a few times myself around here (there are a couple of Tri's run per year from Sandy Balls) and the risks they take are eye-watering given they could encounter anything from a squirrel to a cow roaming free around here. It's not like they're racing the Brownlees is it?
This morning I was out and encountered a horse and rider on a fast descent. Slowed down, said hello, steered well clear, got a "thanks very much". I've seen horses kick out at bikes that have surprised them, that's got the potential to end badly for both horse and cyclist.
Horses are unpredictable and I always back off and give them plenty of room. I grew up near a riding school and used to see horses trotting past regularly. One day a horse with a young girl riding it got spooked and collided with a bus. The girl was not seriously hurt but the horse broke a leg and had to be put down. I was walking my dog and saw the immediate aftermath. It was an unpleasant sight and I do wonder if the girl ever rode a horse again. That made me realise how careful you ahve to be when riding or driving past horses.
In the car I'll keep my distance until it's safe to pass. On my motorbike I'll even hold in the throttle and coast past, so as not to frighten them. On my bicycle, I'm highly aware that horses can kick out if they're frightened.
I'm definitely not one of the horsey set but I don't like to see animals being mistreated in any way. And I know too that horse riders suffer from a lot of the same poor treatment by motor vehicle drivers that us cyclists have to deal with.
That's shocking to watch. What a bunch of knob ends.
Although it is not the first time that triathletes have pissed off other road users with their "gotta rush; I'm in a race behaviour".
Whose fault is it? Clearly the rider on the bicycle whose inconsiderate action has probably done more to set back the relationship between horse owners/riders and cyclists than he knows or cares. No doubt, there were loads of other riders in that race,who rode appropriately, but will probably have to suffer because of the action of one twat.
Absolutely nuts, all of the cyclists passed too close and fast. As for the undertaking cretin....
But have to ask how a horse rider got onto a tri course? Surely there must have been some signage, etc
Poster if the footage says not.
A lot if close passes, I can understand the temptation not to slow down as it is a race but there was a lot if space and almost none if them using it. And the two that undertake... there are no words for that kind of stupidity.
But statements about vulnerable road users showing more consideration for each other are naive, a lot if my worst close passes are at the hands of horseboxes
.
Was a non closed road event. And while signs may have been up they would have been for the benefit of the ‘athletes’. They are under obligation to adhere to the Highways Act due to it being open road. That bunch is also in contravention to the drafting rules for TT.
From the event guide: 'Please note that the Olympic distance will be a 2 lap course with a lap of the top loop on the map before continuing back to transition. The roads are open to live traffic and you MUST obey all Highway Code Rules and road regulations at all times. You must give-way where required at junctions and roundabouts, be aware of your fellow cyclists and other traffic users, and obey all road regulations, highway signage and any specific event signage.' Absolute tools!
How is it that when cyclists see other riders we call them out for being absolute dickheads.
That was some of the most dangerous riding passed a horse and rider I've seen. I hope they find responsible and prosecute them
Now if only car drivers would accept and castigate other drivers for their dangerous overtaking.
Outrageous drafting for a Tri event too?
The best result would have been the 2nd undercutter binning it into a tree and the horse kicking him in the nuts.
Absolutely stupid.
Majority is far too close to the horse rider. They would complain if a car did that.
Undertaking too!
Saying that, they would moan if a car did that.
I wouldn’t ride my horse near a race either.
No Bell?
There was plenty of room to pass the horse and rider safely. I do wonder if the cyclsits had their heads down over the bars and only looked up at the last minute? Whatever happened, it's seriously bad cycling. The rider who hit the horse maybe should take up another sport.
Bet you anything it's a combination of that and the fact he/she(?) seemed to be in a slight group so was *possibly* slighly unsighted. Horse is in primary position which is correct and normal, gives them space to move.
I've seen similar in TTs where riders have gone into the back of parked cars cos they're head down being aero or looking at their computer - in fact I've seen it on group rides too where a rider at the back has been so busy fidlding with computer (or occasionally Go-Pro, music player etc) that they've failed to notice the group has slowed and run into the back of a fellow rider or an obstacle on the road.
Atrociously bad cycling - hope they get banned from all future triathlons. Glad the horse was OK too, that could have been really bad.
but ok unless they are using the force to navigate, surely they must look up at some point to check they arent about to end up riding straight into a hedge or a tree because the road has turned into a corner, a horse + rider isnt exactly a small thing not to notice on what looks like a fairly straight road with a good sightline, and its not just one rogue rider there, I count nearly 10 of them,and there are 2 doing the undertake ?! they cant all be blissfully claim to be stem gazing or not paying attention to whats infront of them on what they know to be open road.
That's pretty much what I thought, but you went into more detail. It just goes to show that cyclists can indeed behave like utter morons too. The horse rider was in primary position and clearly doing things properly. There was even room for the cyclsits to give the horse and rider a wide berth, that's what's so annoying about the incident.
I expect the people that were involved are keeping their heads well below the parapet right now.
@StoopidUserName
Wasn't a closed road event...
Really? I'd read it was. Closed road or not there's no excuse whatsoever for what that Muppet did. But still, signs should be been up, Marshalls out...communication sent out months in advance and so on.
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