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Dealing with cyclists on multi-use trails

3K views 20 replies 17 participants last post by  jamesqf 
#1 ·
Is anyone else ready to run down rude cyclists you encounter trail riding? Despite signage saying horses have the right of way, they come flying up behind without warning or bearing down on you going full tilt. Don't try to talk to them as they are all wired to their ipods and can't hear anything.
 
#2 ·
As a person who has been that cyclist before, it can go both ways. I rarely saw a horse rider who wasn't incredibly self entitled about their use of trails, even when I Was trying to be polite about it. Needless to say, I ended up just trying to get past and not listen to what they had to say! :lol:

Not saying that's the norm, just that I've been on both sides. They are probably thinking the same thing about you. Just make sure your horse is okay with bikes. Maybe wear an orange vest with "Caution" on it? I tend to just assume when I'm on horse back that people aren't going to know how to behave around a horse, and I compensate for it on my end. If my horse were to freak out and one of them got hurt, that'd be on me. They aren't necessarily being rude on purpose - it's likey they have no idea how horses act and behave, and that they can be so reactive to things like bicycles.

Sorry you have to deal with it. At least it's not a shared dirt bike trail (I have seen those before!)
 
#4 ·
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This is a difficult one, while Horses have the right of way, they do not own the trail.

I have had friends who when riding came upon 2 people on Horseback walking side by side, blocking the trails so they had to almost crash trying to stop and were ignored for a long time by the riders of the Horses.

If someone is walking on their Horse and a biker comes around a corner at 20mph and there is is Horse what can they do? Try to stop and/or go around they Horse a lot faster than a Horse is walking?

On the same note once we were ridding pretty fast on our Horses and rounded a bend and there were 3 bike riders almost in the middle of the road trying to fix a tire.

We have encountered bikers and never had anyone be rude, only surprised and very confused what to do, but I bet there are a few rude people on both sides of this fence.

Horses need to be conditioned to bike riders. Bikers should ask Horse Riders some questions when they can, maybe have a chat with each other where everyone parks before the ride :wink:

Sharing the trails goes both ways, imo

It would be nice if there were separate trails, but that will never happen :-(


.
 
#8 ·
If someone is walking on their Horse and a biker comes around a corner at 20mph and there is is Horse what can they do? Try to stop and/or go around they Horse a lot faster than a Horse is walking?
And there's the whole problem in a nutshell. The sensible thing, of course, would be for the bikers* not to go around blind corners at 20 mph. But there is a subpopulation of mountain bikers who think the point is to go downhill at death-defying speed, and woe betide anyone - be it hiker, horseback rider, dog, or another biker headed uphill - foolish enough to get in the way of their adrenaline rush.


*Or people galloping their horses - biking isn't the only activity to have its share of thoughtless jerks. And I say this as someone who spends more hours riding bikes than horses :)
 
#6 ·
The people I ride with tend to freak out when anything is scaring their horse, such as bikes, kids, plastic bags, etc. I never worry about it because my horses are used to it more or less. I take my bicycle out in the pasture, as well as pony them off of it when I need to. It doesn't bother me, but the people I ride with can be quite rude when people don't slow down or talk when a horse is near. I don't really mind any group using the trails, it is the individuals who tend to be buttholes, as a general rule.
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#7 ·
I've had a multiple bicyclist come speeding down on trails behind me and my mare. Some are surprisingly quiet! To my surprise, they do not bother her one bit. A few have been kind enough to give me a warning that they are approaching. These are in the minority, wish more would do it.

Because they are usually going faster (and I just want to enjoy a quiet ride without having a bike constantly near me) I always get out their way, smile and wave, and let them pass. I've never met a rude bicyclist fortunately.
 
#9 ·
This is a situation along with road riding when carrying a brightly colored whip about the length of a dressage whip comes in handy. You don't have to shake it at them, just carry it poking out a bit!

We don't seem to have any trails around that are shared with bicycles but plenty of ones shared with hikers, quads and dirt bikes. I always look down with pity from "on high" when I ride past one of those sweaty, tired hikers especially the ones with a 40lb pack on their back!:D
 
#10 ·
We always try to get off the trail out of the way of the bikers if we see them coming. But some are pretty good about them moving to the side so we can pass too. Never really had a problem with anyone being rude about it, though since Horses tend to move slower then bikes we've always just stepped out of the way. Mine like to watch them pass anyway
 
#11 ·
My horse is conditioned to bicycles, but I tend to greet a cyclist if I see one to get a response and to slow them down a bit, if needed and possible, as frequently they don't realize the amount of damage a horse might do to them if they happen to do anything unwise - for instance, very recently a cyclist attempted to rush without a warning in between two horses (with riders) from behind. Both horses just happened to be very calm, but I still think he's very lucky I saw him first and yelled to stop.
 
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#13 ·
We had a lot of cyclists coming up behind us on a narrow lane. Even the most sensible of horses would jump when they suddenly went to overtake.

I explained to one of these cyclists that because the horses did not realise they were there and they suddenly appeared they jumped forward but some horses, not so well trained could well give a double barrelled kick resulting in serious injury.

I asked him to call out "Cyclist" when he was 30 yards back, this way the horses would know something was behind them.

The cyclist was thankful and had the information put in the club news letter, pinned on the notice board and even wrote to a couple of cycling magazines.

It seemed to work because very few ever came up from behind without calling out.
Both of these!! I never assume I get right-away, even though as a horse rider, I do. We always move to the side to allow the faster going bikes to get past us.
We also always make sure to be nice, chat, what not. Saranda is right, it most certainly slows them down just enough for the horses. :) Many times they have asked us what proper procedure is, aside from watching out. We like Saranda, let them know if they can yell out for the horses to hear them, then try to give us a second to get out of the way, then all is great. I am not OCD that bike riders cow down to the the horses. But for safety, not going nutball on corners (for horse riders and bikers, good point whomever said that!) is important.
I also try to listen well in the areas where we will have issues, to prevent the problem before it arises.
Saranda, I can't believe someone thought they could go between 2 horses like that!! Death wish much?!
On all our trails so far, the only issue we have had, which I wasn't there for, was a biker barreling down a trail and not realizing their were horses ahead. He almost took out the horse when he finally stopped.
Thankfully my mare doesn't get upset too much by bikers so far.
 
#12 ·
We had a lot of cyclists coming up behind us on a narrow lane. Even the most sensible of horses would jump when they suddenly went to overtake.

I explained to one of these cyclists that because the horses did not realise they were there and they suddenly appeared they jumped forward but some horses, not so well trained could well give a double barrelled kick resulting in serious injury.

I asked him to call out "Cyclist" when he was 30 yards back, this way the horses would know something was behind them.

The cyclist was thankful and had the information put in the club news letter, pinned on the notice board and even wrote to a couple of cycling magazines.

It seemed to work because very few ever came up from behind without calling out.
 
#14 ·
I think we have people discussing two very different situations. One is the rather ordinary bicyclists on fairly level & open paths, lanes, minor roads and the like, where it seems as though a big part of the solution involves desensitizing your horse to bicycles - and dirt bikes, quads, and other traffic you might expect to meet.

That's quite a different problem from the high-speed downhill mountain bikers, who're a danger to everyone else on the trail, not just horses. Only solution I've found is just not to ride or hike on the trails these people use.
 
#16 ·
I'm very lucky. My mare is fine with pretty much all kinds of wheeled vehicles, save one: The lay-down bike that you pedal with your hands. They look way too much like a prowling big cat.

I'm also very lucky that the one time we happened across one of these and my mare freaked, the bicyclist was kind enough to stop his cougar-prowling and waited until we danced past before he continued on his way.

The bicyclists are actually cranky as us horse riders for dropping poop on "their" path. They have to swerve around it. *gasp* ruins everything, apparently.
 
#17 ·
Most of the mountain bikers I've encountered on multi-use trails here have been fine. Horses have the right of way over hikers and bikers but I'll usually move aside and let the bikers pass if they're moving fast, and they usually thank me. It's the road cyclists here that ride "entitled" - two and three abreast or in big groups, even on small mountain roads with no bike lane, and in town they ride as vehicles when they want to and as pedestrians when they want to - cutting across traffic, riding on sidewalks, etc. On roads I'm glad Colorado law requires horses to be ridden facing traffic, that way the whole group of cyclists doesnt come up behind us.
 
#18 ·
This is true here as well! We live out on the country, and the city street bikers come out here to ride. While I think they are nutty for wanting to ride on fairly twisty shoulder-less roads where people go far faster than the posted 45... hey if you want to die!
What gets me is they refuse to move! I have been driving with my horse trailer, and they were 3 abreast, no sign of moving... I am NOT going into the other lane on spots I can't see, nor can I slow down well enough when they popped up out of nowhere on the other side of a curve or whatnot. We have managed it thankfully, but still... They act very entitled. I agree, the trail bikers I have yet to have any issues with. Even ones who didn't realize they were a bit clueless, but weren't rude. :)

What was fun for us one day was they were doing a memorial march in the park. This involved a group of 20-40 military people in military dress. Marching along in unison, with all their backpacks, pants and gear swooshing along, but not a single word uttered. Boy did my friends' horses not like that! I am sure the fact that they were all a giant blob got them. My mare was totally fine till right at the very end, but she still didn't get nearly as upset as the other 2 horses. I love my girl. :)
 
#20 ·
I had to encounter this situation a lot when I worked for a day ride stable in California. Both have to be polite. If the horses can stop and let the bike go by, that is best, provided the bike gives the rider time to get to the side and settle the animal. Hogging the trail by either party is wrong, but the cyclists need to understand what is happening, be vocal "give me a second to get him out of the way for you", cyclists need to be ready to wait that moment or two.

last cyclists who tried to just wiz past me found my saddle rope on his handlebars and me dallying :)
 
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