I'm amazed at how few people quote the continued use of horses on the road as a significant danger. We were on one of those "spirited" rides last evening and experienced the typical out of control flea bag lurching about on a main road. The attitude of most horse riders is very intolerant to bike riders, they are quite happy to leave piles of steaming dung all over the road but most indignant when we happen upon them. The don't have to be insured and you often see youngsters who are totally out of control with scant adult supervision. I believe in the "live and let live" attitude but the law allowing horses on the public highway is outdated and should be amended if the government has any real interest in true safety issues.
I know exactly what you mean Jools, as I approach 50 years of age I can look back with a shudder or two at various near misses while road riding along with a few hits, which I've been remarkably fortunate to have survived !!!. I tend to be a little circumspect on roads where visibility through corners is limited, another major problem we've been faced with this "summer" is a large amount of gravel washed into the road during the many storms we've had. The cars seem to brush it into bands which normally coincide with just the right place in the road for your bike to be when negotiating a corner. Add the disgraceful state of the roads in general and it makes riding a sportsbike a real endurance test, a comment passed by several on last evenings cross country ride.
Still enjoy touring on the old ST2 and have done far more miles on that this year than the sports bikes, had to drag the "R" out last week to get a few miles in ready for Friday at Rocky.
08-Sep-2004, 14:47 
Paul James
Hybrid Mode
