Horse riding group accuse cyclists of being 'rude and aggressive'

It does say in the article that they claim these mtb and e-bikes are being ridden away from designated routes. While the numerous claims being made are seemingly contradictory and nonsensical in many ways, if there are people in areas they're not supposed to be and damaging habitat in the process, then that should be dealt with appropriately.

Remove the emotive bits and really what they want is to keep people out of areas they shouldn't be, and to respect trail etiquette and the rights of other trail users. Emotion just gets  in the way and confuses them.

How do they know that the off-routes are being ridden? Is it reports from forestry workers or is it that the horse-riders are also going off-route?

Horse riders can ride where they like, cyclists are restricted to certain designated paths. Some car parks even have signs up "No forest cycling from this car park". Unenforcable of course.

As with all interactions between different groups there's only a minority that kick off on either side. I ride across the forest regularly and take the attitude of giving way to everything - horses, walkers, livestock, squirrels, etc.

I've had no issues with horse riders even if I'm riding somewhere I shouldn't. That even applies when I get dog walkers and runners using the cyclist only singletrack at Moors Valley (which seems to be pretty much every morning), or families riding it the wrong way. Winding down the entitlement factor on all sides is the way forward. I ride offroad because it's less stressful than road riding. Once the good weather returns I'll be riding off to the middle of the forest with the laptop and working from there for the day, wood ants and all... 

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Most of my riding is on the road and I'm always happy to see a horse rider. I think they make drivers aware that there's other road users and strangely, drivers seem to take a lot more care with passing horses (from what I've seen, anyhow).

I've never had any issue with horse riders - usually I call out "Hi" as I approach and wait if necessary so that I can pass them using the other lane.

Never give way to squirrels, though.

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and strangely, drivers seem to take a lot more care with passing horses (from what I've seen, anyhow).

Hitting a horse will cause more damage to the car then hitting a cyclist.... plus the judge will probably jail you for longer as their Tarquin or Cecelia rides horses as well.

Yep, drivers tend to be more wary around horse riders. Personally I think it's some forelock tugging cap doffing folk memory about encountering the lord of the manor. 

But, having said that, if you read the reports from the Verderer's Court there's a healthy section in every report about the menace of drivers. Verderer's are pretty much against everything other than Commoners interests...

Winding down the entitlement factor on all sides is the way forward

Agreed

it's the description of nearly silent e bikes that got to me, as if replacing legs with electric motors somehow makes them quieter.

I have always heard eMTBs approaching from behind, they make a certain noise.

Even a slick tyred roadie will make a noise if you are listening.

My bicycles are not quiet by any means, try to make them quieter of course, but everything makes a noise.

Electric cars are proper noisy, especially those Teslas.

Only bikes that are near silent have IGH and belt drive. But as for the cyclist haters their own whining would drown out that of an electric motor.

Not my gear 7 on my Rohloff.

Yes I wondered about that. Maybe they prefer the sound of heavy breathing from regular MTB riders?

I ride in the forest, and the mud pits you find are caused by horse hooves. Wide and narrow tyres re-compact the mud. I alway pass horses slow and wide but I have come across a few (onroad and offroad) that are not properly trained and become skittish at the slightest noise or bright colours. Many of deeply rutted tracks are the 4x4 tracks. I also second the issue that many tracks are not connected leaving the choice of on road sections (no always short) or using shortcuts that maybe unoffical.

" Wide and narrow tyres re-compact the mud. ", yes they do ad that'spart of the problem as where hoof prints causing standing water to pool, making areas of path muddy / boggy, tyre tracks channel water along paths causing a much wider erosion problem.  Whataboutery won't chsnge that 

spen wrote:

Whataboutery won't chsnge that 

Was it whataboutery though? Or was it someone who genuinely didn't know that was more of an issues. I confess my first thought (as someone who doesn't ride trails like that) was that surely the cutting up of the path by the hooves would be worse for the path than the tyres spreading the weight and recompacting the mud. 

You have explained why that isn't the case, and I am grateful. Maybe iturner2 was under the same misconception that I was. 

It's the forest - if something is new then it's to be mistrusted. They did the same when everyone switched from rim brakes to disc brakes*

They're almost certainly using their experience of being approached by silent EVs on the roads - which I don't like a cyclist either - and applying it to eMTBs.

Personally, as a cyclist, I'm not keen on some eMTB riders either, trail etiquette needs work and I'm fed up with being pressured by them on narrow sections where there's nowhere easy to let them by. 

*sorry