No wonder cyclists are hated

[DaveReading]

At the risk of stating the obvious, when cows are accompanied by calves they can get very protective and should be given a wide berth.

Get between a cow and its offspring at your peril.

 

[Webbo2]

At the risk of stating the obvious, when cows are accompanied by calves they can get very protective and should be given a wide berth.

Get between a cow and its offspring at your peril.

Yet farmers have them in fields where a public footpath crosses. There was a recent case where a farmer got prosecuted under H&S laws for doing this. I can’t believe that they are allowed to do this.

 

[cyberknight]

Several decades ago I was touring in Dorset with a friend. For some long forgotten (and probably stupid) reason we ended up wheeling our bikes across a field. I looked behind me and to my horror a load of cows had appeared and were following us in single file. We stopped. They stopped. I have no Idea what was going on. But we lived to tell the tale.

i grew up in a village and it was normal to wander across the fields dodging cows and their deposits

 

[boydj]

Of course they are, motorways aside but fact is roads are designed primarily for vehicles.
...........................

Legally, bicycles are vehicles.

Most roads were designed before motor vehicles came along.

Roads surfaces were first smoothed to accomodate bicycles.

 

[Profpointy]

I was once crossing a field on a public footpath with 2 mates to visit a crag we were carrying bouldering crash pads which would have made us look large. There were several cows in the field who started to move our direction in a rather an assertive manner. Shouting and waving the pads at them discouraged them so we legged it over a wall to get away.
More recently a friend got trampled whilst walking with the dog in the Yorkshire dales.

Having a dog with you seems to almost always feature in incidents of people being injured by cattle

 

[Profpointy]

Yet farmers have them in fields where a public footpath crosses. There was a recent case where a farmer got prosecuted under H&S laws for doing this. I can’t believe that they are allowed to do this.

As I alluded to upthread, If you are walking in the countryside across farmers' fields (of cows) it is really incumbent on you to be aware of the risks, whether from cows, or from cliffs or mountain weather. I'm a city boy, but using a tiny bit of sense and not getting between. cow and her calf or a bull and his ladies seems pretty basic stuff. This is the same as someone doing Crib Goch on Snowdown and complaining there's no handrail

 

[Time Waster]

They are, it just that motorised vehicles for which these roads were not designed, are allowed on them. It’s the the motorised vehicle that is the anomaly.

In what way are roads designed for cyclists?

Everything is useable by cyclists but really designed for them? The width is designed for motor vehicles. The features such as line markings and signage is better suited for motor vehicles.

So cycles need double yellow lines for example? What about signs? On the end of poles, are these really designed to be easily seen and read for most cyclists on an upright bicycle with the body often leaning forward? Would it not be better for the info on signs to be say on the road or lower down.

I'm sure you can think of other road features that suit motor vehicles and their operators better than cyclists on their bike. There's an idiom that could apply here. If it quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.

 

[raleighnut]

In what way are roads designed for cyclists?

Nobody is suggesting that roads were designed for cyclists.

'm sure you can think of other road features that suit motor vehicles and their operators better than cyclists on their bike. There's an idiom that could apply here. If it quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck.

Roads have been 'modified' to suit motor vehicles and likewise signage on them but they weren't built for motor vehicles solely (with the exception of Motorways) roads are for people to get from A to B by whatever means they choose from walking to Horses, Carts, Cycles etc. The only vehicles that are charged a fee to use them (and pollute the atmosphere) are motorised ones.

 

[Pblakeney]

The only vehicles that are charged a fee to use them (and pollute the atmosphere) are motorised ones.

This is usually the first argument presented to excuse impatience.
"Cyclists don't pay to use the roads". Well, neither do EVs, and "road tax" doesn't pay for local roads. It is a silly excuse. Root cause is impatience.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The width is designed for motor vehicles.

Nope, the vast majority of roads predate the motor car. The width was not designed for them. Suggest to have a full read of link below to get the facts

https://roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/

 

[Pblakeney]

This is not an unusual site on one of my regular routes. They do worry me a bit, but not enough to make me turn back! They won't move, but neither are they aggressive. They just look at me, while I talk to them and pick my route through them. There is an obvious way through in this photo, but it's not always that easy.

View attachment 772300

I encountered the below on a road/cycle route south of Oban while on holiday. They were non-plussed.

 

[Binky]

Quite why this thread is now dominated by photos of cows speaks volumes for how topics go off on a tangent.
Cows can a danger to walkers that's for sure. Most years there's tales of someone getting trampled. I think those with dogs attract attention of the herd, a defence mechanism.
Basically always know your escape route if you go through a field of cattle.

Only issue I've had cycling have been roads which traverse common land and get cows,sheep and horses grazing. Sometimes get cows wandering onto roads and sheep can be startled and run across. Just be aware and take care.

 

[DaveReading]

Apropos cows, a couple per year are killed, on average, in animal-vehicle collisions on Dorney Common (just outside Windsor), where unfenced grazing pasture is crossed by a 60 mph B road.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I have a profound distrust of horses. It's not a phobia or a terror or anything like that but I'm generally glad if they are at least 100m away, behind a fence.

I'm not sure how that is related to the reason why everyone does or does not hate cyclists but I thought I'd let you know.

 

[Profpointy]

I have a profound distrust of horses. It's not a phobia or a terror or anything like that but I'm generally glad if they are at least 100m away, behind a fence.

I'm not sure how that is related to the reason why everyone does or does not hate cyclists but I thought I'd let you know.

I think the original Daily Mailesque discussion was boring everyone's arse off so a digression into other low (but not zero) risk activies is an improvement