The hatred towards cyclists/horse riders etc

[RH1234]

Following on from a conversation on another thread; AIBU to think that the hatred towards all cyclists/other road users I.e. horses is completely atrocious and unjustified.

Lots of people will make comments about “I bet they were in Lycra”, “I dislike road cyclists”, “they don’t even pay road tax”.

My question is not; do you hate cyclists. My question is why do you hate me someone you have not met) as a cyclist?

For perspective:

1. I pay VED (Road tax doesn’t exist) on 3 vehicles.
2. I have insurance for my bikes - which includes public liability etc. My cycle insurance is genuinely more expensive than my car, I also have free insurance through British Cycling.
3. I don’t run red lights (for transparency, I have been through one red light, floor sensors don’t pick up carbon fibre, it was 5am, after waiting a few minutes, with no cars I went through)
4. I cycle an average of 19-23mph, I can overtake tractors near me, I’m smaller than a tractor surely you can pass me.
5. I do ride two abreast if in a group, but if passing is difficult, as per the Highway Code we ensure you can pass when safe.
6. When riding on my own, I wave cars past so they can often go before they can see.
7. Yes I wear Lycra - but you try cycling 100 miles without decent chamois in place. I won’t mention leg hair as that’s a whole different subject for you.
8. My wife use to love cycling, but won’t ride on the road now due to the drivers attitudes.

AIBU to be annoyed that I don’t do any of the things people moan about, yet people will hate me, some people will hurl abuse, some people will literally try and drive me off the road (luckily not that often for the last one)

All I want is, to enjoy the sport I’m love, get fit and then spend the time with my family. Yet my wife has said to me, she is anxious when I’m out and follows me on find my iPhone, because she’s terrified someone will one day leave me for dead in a ditch.

Surely a two minute delay is not unreasonable? I don’t judge based on hobbies or backgrounds, why am I judged?

AIBU in thinking that those who state they hate cyclists clearly are either media influenced or just plain horrible people.

Apologies, this has turned into more of a rant than a AIBU, but I’m sure you get the gist.

I fucking despise cyclists on rural roads flying round blind corners often in the middle of the road. I am terrified of running them over. Round here they are a menace in the roads, and there are so many!!! I hoped it was a fad, but sadly the MAMILs have taken over.

As a horse rider, there are no longer ways of getting into the woods, onto a track or into a field without some form of roadwork. The roads are busy and dangerous places for us, but our only option is to get where we are going as quickly, safely and politely as we can. Our bridleways are being taken over by dog walkers, green spaces are a hazard with off lead dogs (although most dog walkers are courteous and thoughtful), there is often "that one". We have been banned from riding on green spaces so have to travel further. We are insured and wear the correct safety gear and hi-viz. Surely we can all take a moment to ensure we are ALL safe to use the roads?

Don't lump horse riders in the se bucket as cyclists @RH1234

As a rider of both bikes and horses, as well as driver, I wouldn't dream of taking a horse on some of the roads I cycle or see cyclists on. A horse is its own beast and I have to risk assess the situation every single time I head out. E.g. time of day, busy-ness of roads, potential hazards, sunlight etc. I have also put hours of training in to ride a horse and to get a horse that is safe on the roads. I do not ride a horse on a road through choice and steer clear where I can.

In comparison, cycling is a free for all for a lot of people. Huge groups out on the roads from clubs, little adherence to the highway code and more. Plus when I sue a bike I expect to be able to ride my bike on most roads and use it as a form of transport, which means cycling through towns and on busy roads.

Two totally different issues.

No problem with cyclists. Horses however, or their owners do annoy me.
Yes I will slow down to 10mph and give a very wide berth.

Lots of road signs and warnings but never anything about animals that are unsafe on public roads. I stopped in a narrow road because the horse ahead had shied. Probably a butterfly flew past. It danced around the road for 15 minutes while I waited 50 meters back with two children in the car. The rider yelled at me to go past. I didn't want a ton of horse to connect with my car and children and she was offended when I said that horse shouldn't be on a public road.
Ever since then I've been nervous passing horses.

At least cyclists aren't actually going to leap into your car.

'Your car may dent if you hit a horse, but that horse could easily be killed'

Exactly it's just not a compatible mix is it. Sometimes in life we can't do as we'd like to. When we were kids we used to ride go karts down the road, you rightly don't see that nowadays as it isn't safe.

Cycle in parks or paths, ride horses in fields or woods. All stables have fields they don't tend to be in the centre of built up areas.

Wow, far more replies than I expected to reply to. Again, I apologise for not quoting everyone that I’m going to try and reply to now.

Also, I do appreciate your replies and comments, some are just the same moaning points that are irrelevant for me, but I get the frustration as I get frustrated by these things too.
But so far far none those pointes relate to me, which means some of you just potentially don’t want me to go home to my family. So appreciate your honesty.

Start with the easy one: car tax, it’s been abolished. You pay VED.

Mw waving people past, this tends to be when there’s an anxious driver, they tend to appreciate it
or
I wave people past when on very narrow straight roads that mean a driver has to pass me with less than a metre (no stopping places). I wave to indicate I’ll stay as far over as I can to make the drivers life easier. These driver tend to be very appreciative.

Cyclist riding for fun/exercise whereas car drivers are going somewhere so should give way. What happens if you are driving to the gym, does a car need a special light to say I have no priority?

BMW drivers, damn, I am one of them too!

Horse comments, love these, we have 4. Our horsebox is our third vehicle - gosh that can be slower than me cycling in the countryside.
I do agree horse riders pull over more, but they are going much slower than cyclists.
on the horse front/cyclists, I get super angry at cyclists that ride straight past without slowing to check the horse is ok first.

Dark clothing, trust me I am visible, my light on the rear is very bright, no different to a pedestrian walking.

I would also like to add, out of the thousands of miles I ride, 95%(not statistically accurate, but a guess) of drivers are courteous and nice towards cyclists. I’m just trying to find the theory behind the 5% who couldn’t care less if I died on the road tomorrow.

Oh this again "I'm one of the good ones why dont you like me" because loads of you are shit ok? I live near a bypass its an accident blackspot 60mph cars that go faster than that it's like fucking bumper cars some weeks "accident on the bypass avoid at all costs" is a regular local announcement there is a cycle path well maintained a meter and a half away from the roads upu dont get pedestrians on 99% of the route because there is nowhere to go it's a bypass there is probably an 8ft strip of land from a car park to a crossing where you will encounter pedestrians where do the cyclists go? On the road with a bunch of dickhead drivers who regularly speed and crash and they whine and they moan and they complain what they dont do is USE THE CYCLE PATH AND STAY SAFE (and yes we know the road is an issue they have recently cut the speed limit and are thinking of cameras but this has been going on for years)

And dont get me started on the roads labeled unsuitable for cyclists that they insist on using steep narrow winding road no path huge buses coming around blind corners in the middle of the road seems perfectly safe for a cyclist right?

Fucking deserve the Darwin award some people

YABVU to wave cars on!! Totally and utterly irresponsible. Any cyclist who waves a car on should be fined as should any car that overtakes a cyclist without being able to see to make their own assessment of the risk of overtaking.
I bet you wouldn’t be quick to accept liability if there was an accident!
If you waved me on damn well would you get a mouthful about how bloody dangerous it is!

It’s also better for cyclists to unambiguously take up the lane. One sight I never enjoy is cyclists who ride very close to the gutter. Unless there is no traffic coming the other way / next lane is free, I’m just not going to chance overtaking so it doesn’t help. However, it does increase the chance drivers behind me are going to get annoyed and impatient.

Oh how we riders wish we could avoid roads and just road in “woods” and fields. We aren’t allowed to just trespass on private property. We wish we could avoid roads, but we have to use roads to access the bridleways.

I’m a competitive triathlete who has represented my country - should I only train (often doing 25mph) on cycle tracks then?

Why do you think a car has priority over other road users?

Walking/riding/cycling/driving - all just a human being trying to get from A to B. Just because I’m in my car doesn’t mean my time and life is any more superior to someone walking/riding/cycling.

You come across as an obnoxious, self centred 🐓 womble when you make comments like that.

Read my latest reply, it’s usually on roads that you would sit behind me for 2 miles until a passing spot. It’s to say I’m happy for you to pass me closely.

Relax, take a Valium or something.

This.

These are the only cyclists l despise. They dominate the roads in rural areas.

Commuter bikes and horses l don’t care about or even notice,

I honestly think there should be a lot more enforceable rules for cyclists.
Wearing a helmet
wearing hi visibility clothing
wearing lights
No cycling in groups larger than 6
no racing on the road
no illegally closing roads to host said races
pulling over if your holding up traffic for more than 5 minutes
wearing something identifying like a registration number so issues can be quickly resolved
being insured min 3rd party liability
no carrying young children on bikes or in those trailer things on national speed limit roads.
all kids to also be wearing helmets and hi vis
for what it’s worth I think the same for horse riders and for pedestrians walking in the road
no waving on other road users

I am a pedestrian/user of pubic transport. Don't drive, ride horses or cycle. Car re by far the biggest menace. The bigger the car the worse it gets. The fewer cars on the road the better.

Don’t be so bloody patronising! Having witness a head on collision due to the irresponsible actions of a damn cyclist who didn’t even fucking stop. You won’t get far telling me to calm down

I assume it is lack of patience or (in the case of horses) awareness of what 700kg of flight animal landing on your car would do.

I drive and ride horses on the road to get to bridleways. If there are cars behind me I let them past if at all possible. Most motorists are fine, butbsome Darwin Award nominees seem to think speeding past on a narrow lane is fine despite the Highway Code stating that 2m clearance and a max speed of 10mph is required when passing horses.

Why do you feel you are more entitled to use the road? Yes you have equipment but some cyclists also have to commute and carry stuff (I have a pannier with my laptop and lunch) so just because you also have to get to work why should you take priority?

In fact it would make your life easier if more people cycled as it would free up the road space for your ‘essential’ journey.

Again it all centres around perceived entitlement.

All those people saying that horses should be on the bridleways, horse riders wholeheartedly agree with you.

You can help by supporting the British Horse Society’s campaign. Thanks!!
https://www.bhs.org.uk/support-us/our-campaigns/project-2026/

In my experience pedestrians, horse riders and slow moving farm vehicles all do their best to pull out of the way of cars as soon as is safe to do so. the vast majority of cyclists do not. Indeed many seem to take great pleasure in holding cars up for as long as possible.

@twistyizzy not always. Some horses simply aren't safe to be on the road. I was thankfully well back from a couple of riders recently. This was despite the road being very quiet. A van emerged from a driveway between high hedges and the rider had no control of the horse as it shot sideways and bucked and half reared across the road.. If I'd been passing it at that point (as I could have) there would have been an accident,. I'd kept well back as I could see the rider wasn't great,, her only ability seemed to be to clingy on. I grew up in the countryside and know how to take care around horses but she should not have had that horse on a B road with a 60 mph speed limit. .

You could drive your car on a motorway though - horse riders & cyclists aren't allowed there.

Everyone has somewhere they need to be.

Cyclists, horse riders, carriage drivers & pedestrians have the right to be on the roads - all other users are only there under the terms of their license (which includes observing the highway code)

Your starting to sound a bit nuts. Why would someone hate you personally when they dont know you. People will get annoyed at something in general, not you specifically unless you do something wrong.

For your benefit, what I do(as I said I asked why people hate me, not all cyclists)

Wearing a helmet ✅
wearing hi visibility clothing ✅❌50/50, in poor weather absolutely, otherwise lights do a good enough job.
wearing lights ✅
No cycling in groups larger than 6 ✅ don’t like big groups
no racing on the road ✅❌cycle events aren’t races if the road isn’t closed
no illegally closing roads to host said races❌✅ I’m not the police nor council
pulling over if your holding up traffic for more than 5 minutes ✅ never happens
wearing something identifying like a registration ✅ my bike is pretty identifiable and I have my name on it? Does that help?
number so issues can be quickly resolved❌ can I have your mobile number please? If I have an accident I’ll happily exchange details though.
being insured min 3rd party liability ✅ £2m public liability on specific bike insurance
no carrying young children on bikes or in those trailer things on national speed limit roads. ✅
all kids to also be wearing helmets and hi vis✅ I’d agree on high viz for my DD on school commute