Etymology From Middle English rydyng; equivalent to ride + -ing.
1
A path cut through woodland.
2
The act of one who rides; a mounted excursion.
I like nothing better than to hear of your ridings, and shootings, and boatings.1853, Charlotte Mary Yonge, The Heir of Redclyffe, volume 1, page 95:
3
The behaviour in the motion of a vehicle, such as oscillation.
The admirable smoothness of the riding also reflected the greatest credit on those who, despite the difficulties caused by the shortage of men and materials, have succeeded in maintaining the track in such first-class order.1946 July and August, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 213:
A maximum of 80 m.p.h. was quickly reached on the 1 in 264 down through Three Bridges and at this pace the riding was exemplary.1959 March, “The 2,500 h.p. electric locomotives for the Kent Coast electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 125:
It was sung from the top of the oldest house in the burgh every June at the Common riding, which served both for a perambulation of the bounds of the common pastures or Haughs and to commemorate the young men of Harwick[.]1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 27:
Etymology PIE word *tréyes From trithing (initial /t/ absorbed into preceding north, south, east, west, inner ⟨th⟩ already sometimes /d/ in Middle English), from Middle English trithing, tridinge, from Old English *þriþing, from Old Norse þriðjungr (“third part”), from Proto-Germanic *þridjô (“third”) (English third). Equivalent to third + -ing; compare with farthing (“fourth part”). Cognate with English trithing. The folk etymology that connects the term to the area a horse-rider could cover in a single day is incorrect, but may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation.
1
Historical Any of the three administrative divisions of Yorkshire and some other northern counties of England.
Ontario shall be divided into the Counties, Ridings of Counties, Cities, Parts of Cities, and Towns enumerated in the First Schedule to this Act[…]1867, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Section 40”, in British North America Act 1867^(British North America Act 1867), page 16:
Derived terms
East Riding, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Riding, North Riding of Yorkshire, riding association, West Riding, West Riding of Yorkshire