To think cyclists should ride on the road, not on the pavement?

[AgeLikeWine]

Every day, I go walking along our local country roads, which are very popular with cyclists, and every day I am forced to walk on the road or in the weeds to maintain social distancing from cyclists who are riding on the pavement.

I’m not criticising proper cyclists; the Lycra brigade invariably ride on the road. I’m referring to families, couples and teenagers out for a bike ride who think they are entitled to use the pavements and force pedestrians to choose between getting run over by them or take the risk of stepping onto the road. Why don’t they ride where they are supposed to ride?

YABU = Cyclists should ride on the pavement and force pedestrians to get out of their way.

YANBU = All cyclists should ride on the road.

[Pipandmum]

They should also obey all traffic signs and signals. Only exception is if pavement totally clear of pedestrians near busy road (had to resort to cycling on the pavement myself on occasion - but pedestrians get priority always).

[Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches]

I don’t think children should have to ride on the road, but they should get out of the way or stop and wait for pedestrians to pass. Adults, especially when not accompanying children, should always be on the road.

[KenzoBaby]

YANBU.
Unfortunately where I live, many of the pavement cyclists are neds (for want of a better word). Basically horrible looking blokes who I would not want to challenge. They are not so much cyclists as thugs on wheels.

[HappyHammy]

Its the same where I live. The excuse is its safer than the road but there's virtually never any traffic. Or they are so important and in a hurry that they dont want to get caught at the lights. Some people just like to show off and behave like twats. Little kids are ok as they need adult supervision but they always stop to let pedestrians go first which always makes me smile and I usually let them go first in case they lose the rhythm.

[Inthenameofchange]

I was going to start a similar thread myself some weeks ago. Nearly got run over by one! My issue was that they should slow the heck down and also use bells when coming from behind pedestrians. Some of them just whizz past you like they're on a high speed chase and a slight move to the left or right (depending on where one's approaching from), you'll collide with them not knowing they were approaching...and speedily too.

[BlusteryLake]

It is illegal to cycle on the pavement so in general adults and teenagers should not be on the pavement. In my opinion, an adult accompanying a smaller child should cycle on the road as their child cycles next to them on the pavement. There are exceptions, eg a total bellend of a white van driver forced me onto the pavement last week by driving so close to me my shirt caught on his wing mirror.

[Ohdeariedear]

Where I live the pavements are designated and signed as mixed cycle/walking spaces, so I’ll carry on cycling on them.

[MrsAvocet]

It depends.
Well, obviously YANBU in expecting to be treated with courtesy. If everyone- pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, motorists- behaved with respect and consideration to others then the majority of these issues could be avoided.
But the question of where cyclists should ride depends on circumstances.
Are the pavements designated for shared use or not? If not, then you are of course right, but increasingly in some areas pavements are also part of official cycleways. Where I live there are quite a lot of shared use pavements.
As to why they are not on the road, I imagine it is because they are scared, especially if they are not regular cyclists. Not that that excuses being inconsiderate to other people, but being close passed by a car travelling at speed can be pretty terrifying, and people probably consider it too risky, especially if they have small children. Well to be honest, depending where you are it probably is too risky to ride on most roads with young children. Poor road conditions may be a factor too - some roads are very badly potholed. Chances are a family cycling on the road slowly with a small child would get abuse from motorists for holding them up.
I've had both experiences on my bike. Told to get off designated shared use paths and use the roads because they are for pedestrians and yelled at to get off the road because they are for cars. Ditto my lights are both too bright and not bright enough. If I ring my bell it is harassing people but if I don't I am sneaking up on them. Personally I settle for obeying the law, trying to be as considerate as possible and if there are two legal options I take whichever I consider to be the safer. I have never knowingly made anyone step off a pavement into the road though - that is definitely unacceptable - and as we are meant to be social distancing everyone should be being more careful.
But unless we have a totally segregated and well designed cycle path network(ie never) people are going to have to continue to share, and that means give and take from all road/path users. Other countries seem to manage. I've cycled in quite a few countries in mainland Europe and the attitudes (all round) seem to be very different.

[User64344]

Yanbu they come right up behind people and expect them to jump out of their way.

[hibbledobble]

It depends. Would you really want children cycling on the the road? If cycling with an adult, then the adult would usually be on the pavement with them. Everyone should be considerate, regardless.

[Lottapianos]

Pavement cyclists do my head in at the best of times but there is ZERO excuse for anyone older than 10 to be cycling on the pavement when we're supposed to be social distancing. Not to mention that its bloody scary when they come whizzing past you at speed, and I'm not elderly or pregnant or in any way vulnerable. Assholes. Get on the road!

[cologne4711]

I don't generally have a problem with cyclists on the pavements when the roads are really busy as long as they give way to pedestrians.

At the moment it's a pain because it's hard enough to social distance as it is and most of them are teenagers who are clearly not in the same household unless there are a lot of sets of quads locally although now the roads are getting busier again we may see more of it. People on bikes need to hold their nerve and continue to reclaim the roads from motorists.

Wherever cyclists go, people moan. Go on the road, drivers moan. Go on the pavements/towpaths/trails, dog walkers and walkers moan. Where are they actually allowed to cycle?

[Stuckforthefourthtime]

I'm with you generally, it seems like lockdown has massively increased pavement cycling, perhaps because so many more new or less confident people are on bikes.

However I think it's not always possible for a child to cycle on the pavement and the accompanying adult on the road. Where I am there are busy roads with cars parked all along the kerb - a parent cycling a short way along a road to accompany a 7 year old on a bike ride around the park would therefore have to be separated by quite a wide distance, stopping and starting to avoid car doors or people parking or leaving, while the small child was out of sight on the other side.

[Jaxhog]

I don't generally have a problem with cyclists on the pavements when the roads are really busy as long as they give way to pedestrians.

That's it really. Unfortunately, there are selfish drivers, selfish pedestrians, and selfish cyclists.

[belfastbelle5]

Sorry, YABU. With many people being discouraged from using public transport at the minute, cycling may be their only option and they may not be very experienced in this. Certainly where I live I wouldn’t want to cycle on the roads - far too dangerous and often drivers have no respect for cyclists. It’s not that hard to be aware of your surroundings while walking on a pavement and just to move out of their way.

[Jaxhog]

At the moment it's a pain because it's hard enough to social distance as it is

So it's ok to bang into pedestrians then, or expect them to watch out for you and jump out of the way? If you're on the pavement - you have the responsibility to avoid pedestrians.

[Jaxhog]

It’s not that hard to be aware of your surroundings while walking on a pavement and just to move out of their way.

I would say the same of a cyclist!

[bluebluezoo]

I cycle on the pavement with my young child learning road handling- we hop on the pavement to avoid busy junctions or stop suddenly cycle paths...

Today though we were cycling down a wide pavement split for cyclists/pedestrians. Clear white line with pictures of cycles on one side, a person on the other, and clear signs defining cycle lane and pedestrian path.

Guess where all the pedestrians were? Yep, all over the cycle path expecting cycles to move or getting pissed off at the cycles coming behind them. Walking 4 abreast or wandering all over..

If you’re walking on a cycle path there will be cyclists!

[cologne4711]

Jaxhog I suggest you go and read my post again.

[SimonJT]

It depends on the individual situation, we live in central London, cycling on the road is very dangerous here due to some motorists being dangerous drivers.

My son and I cycle on the pavement (he’s four), we just ‘walk’ our bikes or go very slowly past other people on the pavement. Pavements are wide in the area that we live so theres lots of room.

[sqirrelfriends]

YANBU, someone almost rode into my two year old yesterday. The worst part is the roads are empty, obviously his safety was much more important than ours.

[PinkMic]

YANBU, it's a massive bug bear of mine. Now teaching 4 year old to ride on road - she will still use pavement at times, but I will stay on road if so.

Worst thing is that our newest cycle lanes are incorporated into wider pavements rather than roads - it makes it much harder to stay away from pedestrians and makes the whole pavement issue somewhat ambiguous.

[Lottapianos]

'It’s not that hard to be aware of your surroundings while walking on a pavement and just to move out of their way.'

Nope. Pavements are for pedestrians. Obviously shared use pathways are different, and I fully acknowledge that lots of pedestrians walk around in their own little bubble and stray into the cycle lane. They need to have a word with themselves as well. Other than that, cycle on the road, and if that's too scary, then maybe cycling isnt for you

[hellotoday27]

We go on the roads when it's a side roads but many of the main roads are just not safe enough for inexperienced riders. Drivers aren't patient enough as there's not room for 2 cars to pass plus a bike.

[sparepantsandtoothbrush]

I haven't voted as you've gone full on one way or another. I think it's safer for cyclists who aren't confident on the road to stay on the pavement but I also don't think it's ok for them to "force pedestrians out of the way".