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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Would you let a 11 year old cycle on country roads?

44 replies

FirstNameSurname · 19/09/2018 11:13

DD1 will be starting secondary in September. Where we live is fairly rural. She goes to a yard 5 days a week to help with exercising the ponies and has her own. DS1 attends special school so is dropped off around 4.30. The 2 schools DD1 prefers are too far away from our home for me to collect her and drop her at the yard before DS1 arrives home. Dropping her after wouldn't give her enough time to do all her jobs especially in winter.

Only option is for her to get the bus, get off early near the yard and cycle 2 miles. (Bike will be kept at friends) Google maps has it as a 10 minute cycle, the roads have grass verges each side so visibility is good and there's only one bend. Cars can pass at a squeeze so there's enough room for cars to pass her. The road is fairly quiet and I would expect her to meet a max of 5 cars on the cycle. Road is used regularly by adult cyclists and teams of cyclists as well as being well used by horse riders. The road is a 60mph max, most cars travel at around 45 and it would be near impossible to get to 60 on that road. DD1 knows the road well and is sensible.

Would you let her do it?

OP posts:

CMOTDibbler · 19/09/2018 11:15

I'd let my ds, but he has cycled a lot with us and is confident. Can you spend time with her teaching her to ride safely on the rod before this?

greendale17 · 19/09/2018 11:20

It is not about the child being competent but about road users.

No I wouldn’t let my 11yr old child cycle on country lane

MotherWol · 19/09/2018 11:31

If she's a competent cyclist and you're happy that she knows how to ride safely and carefully, then yes. It might be a good idea to see if she can do Bikeability either through her school, or with a cycle trainer on the roads in question. If she'll be cycling in winter she'll need to have good lights on her bike and a jacket with reflectives on it like this.

Subtlecheese · 19/09/2018 11:33

I used to in the 80's. To be honest I wouldn't I was driven off the road on about 6 occasions. Followed home from the stables and asked to get in a van.
I also cycled past a van every day on my way home in school uniform for a term before looking one day to see the driver masturbating.
Obviously none of those experiences should have happened and I would probably not consider the risk about the wanker! The driving off the road though was from poor drivers not allowing enough room or time to negotiate a cyclist and another car coming towards them. I learned a lot of drivers are not able to handle narrow roads / passing places.
On the flipside I was a very careful cyclist and when I switched to a longer non rural road ( after the being followed home from the stables at the weekend incident was discussed with my parents everything else came out) to school I was literally stopped by a parent to say I was a very good example to her daughter for my sensible approach to road rules.
(I realise this might confuse but where I lived there was a short sharp hill incline on a single track road or a a gentle long main road to the nearest town).

Satsumaeater · 19/09/2018 11:34

No I wouldn't let an 11 year old do it. I think a safe journey to school has to trump "time to do jobs".

Once she's about 15, maybe.

I wouldn't be happy about a girl being on her own, and I wouldn't be happy about a road with no cycle paths or pavements she can ride on (yes I know it's illegal to ride on pavements, but in rural areas where they're empty for miles I can't see the issue).

Subtlecheese · 19/09/2018 11:34

*passed

Subtlecheese · 19/09/2018 11:35

Usually rural roads don't have pavements.

Original poster

FirstNameSurname · 19/09/2018 11:47

Thanks for the replies. Good to hear others opinions as I'm really undecided.

She's passed her bikeability but I now remember a higher level she could do if she ends up riding to the yard. She's competent and has ridden in towns for years. She'll change at friends and have all the safety gear, after years of horses she is used to high vis/hat etc so I trust she will wear it she also has a head cam for hacks so she could also use that. She's hacked using these roads so knows them well and I've always pointed everything out and quizzed her on what she would do in situations on the road.

OP posts:

Speakeasy22 · 19/09/2018 11:53

No I wouldn’t. It doesn’t matter if she’s a good cyclist. That won’t help you if a car hits you. And drivers are just not careful enough, especially on country roads.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 19/09/2018 11:56

Yes I would. At 11 she is large enough to be seen by cars, it's only 2 miles and it doesn't sound like a bad road.

Sethis · 19/09/2018 12:18

I would. I grew up in the Lake District in Cumbria in the late 90s/early 00s and biked between villages all the time from about age 9 onwards. Never had an issue. Nowadays it's even safer because she has a mobile to call you if there's ever a problem.

Being afraid of other car drivers is a complete nonstarter, from my point of view. Do you let her cross the road by herself? Do you let her walk around in towns by herself? Where are you going to draw the line? You can't spend your life being afraid of what other drivers may or may not do, and being hit by a car under any circumstances is a tiny tiny tiny fraction of a percentage chance so long as she herself is sensible and sticks to the correct side of the road at all times. If you're super worried then make sure she has a hi-vis vest and a helmet, but beyond that I'd let her do it, 100%.

mrcharlie · 19/09/2018 12:30

My son is 11 and I've warned him to stay off the roads. I commute by bicycle to work each day and I've had my elbows knocked from passing wing mirrors several times. I cycle really close to the kerb so as not to be a obstruction, but motorists simply don't give a shit. I've had idiots try to knock my cycle helmet forward.
The roads are very dangerous and one day I will get hit and the damage inflicted to me will simply be because the motorist couldn't wait 10,20 30 seconds to pass.

Blobby10 · 19/09/2018 12:35

Yes I would let my 11 year old BUT I would insist that they wear a hi vis jacket, helmet (preferably with flourescent strips) and had both front and rear lights (probably two or three rear lights) on at all times. The aim being that you remove every excuse a motorist has for not seeing the cyclist - also applies to horseriders and walkers!

I would also cycle with them a few times and show them how to cycle defensively ie not in the gutter (width of a drain cover away from the verge) so if a twattish motorist comes past too close, they have some room to escape. I would also ensure that Find My Phone was activated on their mobile and that they sent me a text message when they left friends house, arrived at the yard etc

At 11, I felt my children needed to learn to do things for themselves but managed to safety aspects as well as possible,

neighneigh · 19/09/2018 12:48

I would, but it might get a bit miserable in winter. I'd also ride it with her a few times so that you can spot any big pot holes etc that might not be obvious. The pp is right about riding a drain cover width away from the kerb/verge, take a good defensive position

Thewolvesarerunningagain · 19/09/2018 12:50

I probably wouldn't, though I also used to bike to my riding stables when I was a teenager and loved the freedom that brought me. But as a cyclist, a rider (and a car driver) today I see so many drivers who simply don't have the skills for dealing with country lanes where visibility is poor due to hedges and overhanging trees and the path is winding and narrow. I've lost count of my own near misses, and in my own experience no amount of high vis makes a difference on winding roads. Your DD sounds like a very responsible and sensible rider and cyclist though.

serbska · 19/09/2018 12:52

Maybe.

From what you have said she is very road / bike / horse sensible.

However, doing it in summer in the dry and doing it in winter with wind, rain and darkness are two different things.

FlotSHAMnJetson · 19/09/2018 12:54

Yes I think I probably would, I used to do it at the same age. If she has hi-viz and head cam for hacking I would get her to wear those, if she's used to hacking on the roads then as long as she is safe and visible she is sensible enough to do it on a bike.

TheLongRider · 19/09/2018 13:00

@mrcharlie Don't cycle close to the kerb, it encourages close overtaking manoeuvres. You are better off taking a more confident position out from the kerb. Cyclecraft has some good tips on road positioning.

OP, I would let your daughter cycle to and from the stables. Good lights are the most important part and making sure her bike is in good working order. I was cycling to my best mates house 2 miles away when I was that age on narrow country roads. I'm still cycling on narrow country lanes 30 years later.

MrsBlondie · 19/09/2018 13:02

Nope I wouldn't. No way.

MsGee · 19/09/2018 13:06

I wouldn't to be honest. I drive on a lot of country lanes (also to stables!) and whilst most people who are local and / or sensible and know the roads well, you always get an idiot who goes too fast or overtakes where visibility is crap. And in winter with bad weather the visibility can be really bad.

Does anyone at this school also ride at the stables?

I understand your dilemma. My DD is starting high school next year, and one of her main considerations of school is ease of ability to get to the stables after school!

Spudlet · 19/09/2018 13:10

Under the circumstances you describe, yes, I would. I cycle on country lanes with ds in a bike seat though so am obviously quite a confident cyclist to do that. Good lights are a must - don't skimp on them. I'm sure you wouldn't anyway! I presume that she might end up hacking on that road? If you'd let her on it on a horse, a bike is no worse - at least bikes don't spook at the Terrifying Leaves of Doom, the White Lines of Horror, or the Alarming Horse-Eating Shadows of Monstrousness. (Or maybe I've just known too many nervous nelly horses?)

mrcharlie You need to take the lane, you are as entitled to space as much as anyone else on the road. It is the job of the driver to pass you, not for you to be creeping along out of the way. You can of course lull into passing places if needs be (I do) but don't encourage people to think they can squeeze by, because they will, even when there's really not the space.

stargirl1701 · 19/09/2018 13:13

No. A normal country road with a 60 mile an hour limit?

Tractors
Trailers
Combines
Log lorries
Pea viners
Horse boxes
4x4s with trailers
Dangerously slow drivers
Dangerously fast drivers

These are roads near me. I would not cycle on them.

stargirl1701 · 19/09/2018 13:15

Country roads don't have kerbs. They do have drains sinking into pot holes. A number of neighbours have wrecked alloys and tyres on pot holes like that.

CherryPavlova · 19/09/2018 13:15

Yes, mine all did.

stargirl1701 · 19/09/2018 13:17

Most recent photo from a neighbour.

What will she do if this happens to her bike tyre & wheel?

Would you let a 11 year old cycle on country roads?

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