The hatred towards cyclists/horse riders etc

What fucking bridleways? They are all being sold off and built on!

Most cyclists and horse riders are fine. But some are dangerous or just inconsiderate. I was once stuck behind two horse riders for 20 minutes who just kept going despite so many places they could have easily and safely stopped for me to pass. Instead I had to idle behind them for 20 mins.

And last winter I came across a ridiculous amount of cyclists riding in darkness or near darkness without any lights or reflective gear, even on dark country lanes. So extremely dangerous for everyone!

IMO, many car/van/lorry drivers today are aggressive, unhappy and impatient. People get filled with rage on here (and out on the roads) about someone driving below the speed limit...and even at the speed limit. If they nearly have an aneurysm over a car doing 40 in a 50 zone, then I can only imagine how upset they get when you are in their way pootling along on your bike.

TLDR: most motorists are wankers and that's why they hate you.

We live in a small village that has a cycle route going through it, and it's the middle aged chain gangs of men that annoy me. If you're walking the dog, you can suddenly find 20 men aiming towards you screaming at you to get out of the way. I've got a deaf dog who needs coaxing into the side of the road, and I've had a few episodes recently where I've told them to slow the fuck down.
The Parish council have put signs up for 20mph around the bends but it's not really stopped any of it.

Everyone needs to share the roads with consideration for the other road users, simply.

I don’t want to hate cyclists but when I’m driving home from work on country roads I hate the stress of coming up behind them and having to crawl incredibly slowly for ages when it’s a 60mph road and I just want to get home to my kids. Horses seem to pull in regularly to let cars through, cyclists do not.

And how do you get to the woods? Bridleways are being sold off and built on, some of us only have the roads to ride on.
Entitled car drivers are the hazard

And how do you think we should get our horses to the woods? Sprout wings and fly perhaps?

the worst cyclists though are on the sustrans route, think they own it and do not use a bell, go past me without warning

this time of year there are masses of cyclists on my commute, they are not commuters, they are enjoying their bicycles, but oh god they make my journey home difficult.

They all seem to have some belief they should never have to stop or slow down.

I’ll be honest, I agree and I do hate cyclists. They simply do not look out for themselves and expects drivers to be the ones responsible for their safety.

Yes, drivers do need to be cautious of everyone including cyclists, but why are cyclist not capable of equally watching out for their own safety? Why expects others to do this for them?

I don't know you so cannot possibly hate you

You sound a reasonable person and appear to be doing all the right things to share the road.

I was annoyed (not hate) at a local cyclist today. I went for a walk at lunchtime. Relatively narrow pavement, wide residential road (30mph) but relatively quiet at that time. Cyclist (e bike too I think as fast) came up behind me on the pavement and shouted Excuse Me. I had no choice but to step into the road to let them pass!!

I'm reasonably certain that the actual reason is that people think cyclists are 'smug' and 'think they're better', which seems to be the thing that makes people angriest (presumably because on some level they are very insecure).

Of course YANBU you are considerate. But unfortunately many arent. Don't even get me started on delivery cyclists!

The scary thing about 'no helmets' is that research has proven drivers are more likely to pass too close to cyclists who wear them, and give more room to those who don't. So it can mean balancing the risk of being protected but also putting up with dangerously close overtakes.

Because people are lazy and lump all cyclists in together. Just like they moan about horse drivers, or tractors, or BMW drivers.

I don’t hate cyclists I cycle. But the sheer arrogance unwillingness to ever brake and the seeming determination to get into a Barney with every car is madness

why are you guys always trying to overtake cars on single lane roads or roadworks.

as a vulnerable road users we need to be just as cautious as drivers. Just because the burden is with drivers doesn’t mean it’s worth the your life and health to prove that point.

it’s pigheaded

The trouble with the hatred is that some drivers get in the mindset of not taking enough care round cyclists, through impatience. My friend was in a bike accident - without NHS it would’ve been loss of life it was so serious. Cyclists are vulnerable and whatever you think of them, drivers need to be really aware and careful. And cyclists need to take care too!

It's the arrogance and entitlement - from both sides - that gets people's back up. The " why should I" etc etc.

There's bad behaviour on both sides so let's not kid ourselves that anyone is unilaterally right or wrong.

PS I'm not including horses.

I’m biased against bmw drivers because I used to live near multiple car dealerships and the bmw drivers almost always were speeding down our quiet little street. It made me watch those cars out in other places and notice that the drivers tend to break other rules as well. Not all drivers, but many, and often.

Once you have a few bad encounters, you start watching for more. Soon, the entire group seems awful.

such are cyclists. I used to ride myself. You can’t deny that there are a subset of cyclists who don’t obey the rules and thus tarnish the perception of cyclists everywhere.

To answer the original question though OP, I do find that for some reason people see a handful of bad cyclists - eg the teens in black with no lights, or the commuter going through reds - and assume that all cyclists are law breakers who are selfish and put others at risk. Yet when they see a couple of bad drivers they don't assume that all drivers are law breakers who are selfish and put others at risk.

There does seem to be a real misunderstanding as well eg the assumption that lycra is an ego thing, whereas it's just bloody practical. You wouldn't think someone going running whilst wearing lycra running shorts was trying to show off, but cyclists get accused of it all the time.

And if it weren't for the endless housing developments and bypasses, horse riders would still have miles of uninterrupted bridleways to ride on (where they want to be) instead of having to use the roads to get from one short section of bridleway to another.