Hi there, Jordan and Ethiopia seem to be two countries, where kids have fun to throw stones at cyclists.

What is the best reaction to this? How do you make them stop?

Thanks for your suggestions,
Pascal

When I was in Tibet on the Friendship Hwy, I didn't have trouble with stonethrowing kids, but youngsters along the road could get seriously annoying - from begging to trying to steal stuff from my backrack to slowing me down by holding on the panniers! After 2,3 incidents I just gragged my "dogstick", holding it so that everybody ahead could see it. Suddenly everybody behaved very nicely...

I would advise to pick up some stones yourself and make sure they see them. Otherwise you could stop and try to interact. Not a good idea would be giving handouts like stickers, pens, sweets, or even money. It would even more encourage them to keep this behavior.

i was cycling in ehiopia in the begining of this year ..... we got only three stone in 4 weeks ethiopia .... some cyclists we met on the way got many more stones ...
dont look to fancy ... not like an european sportsman with to much money and ... you have to smile and make fun to them .... its the only way ... the kids in this country are realy hard anoying ... and its not easy to always smile to them .......
i have been cycling in jordan to ... and i really dont know how to stop them ......

good luck ....

Hi Pascal :-)

I cycled in Jordania and Tibet but in Tibet I did not have problems. In Jordania children threw stones at me between Amman and Petra. Don't worry to much as they can not aim that well
First of all you should behave and look confident.In Jordania I always greeted the children with Salam Aleikhum and they stopped throwing or collecting stones. They always turned out to be very curious. Another way is to pretend to throw back and make it like a game, that also works or you can make a joke about it and pretent to catch the stones. And if nothing else woks look at them with a cold killer look but I only had to do that once. Most of the time a Salam Aleikhum was enough

Cycle the world,
Marc

Hi there, thanks a lot for your replies. I will try to blend in as best as I can, laugh and be happy about my luck to be nearly as free as a bird...

throwing stones? now that for me is as bad as astrayed dogs that come barking after you. it's good that i don't get caught by them.

its just a way of kids to get your attention... they are sometime got fascinated by biker passers... But they should also be stop... why not try take time to stop and talk to them on not throwing stone.. hmmm.. i think thats suggestion because some kids dont understand any other language.. but if you do know whats there local language you may talk to them... those kids throw stones because maybe no one have ever tried to stop them... maybe they think its alright...

Also means no Jordan and Ethiopia for me lol.

I'll go straight to them and if their parents are around I might talk to them.
That is if they understand English or maybe I'll wear a shirt with a
"no throwing of stones to cyclist" and a "peace" sign.

But thats a really nice and peaceful idea.