To expect cyclists to actually cycle on the road or cycle path??

I am lucky enough to be able to bike it most days to work - cycle lanes are a rather difficult ot use, for the reasons mentioned. They are unusable to the most extent, and yes, I have never seen a car with a ticket on it for parking blocking a cycle lane.
And I do cross the lines at lights, in order to get a head start - I have no desire to be squashed by left turning traffic - happened once, bike and I went under a lorry..lorry paused up ahead to see if I got up...then buzzed off. Bastard.

Where car drivers moan about the bullying selfishness of bikers, it is a bit of a joke tbh.

lljkk, I see your point but this one doesn't give way every 100 yards (doesn't give way at all), has no side roads, has no pedestrians, has no driveways, no parked cars. And it was built at great expense at the request of cyclists. I really, really don't have a problem with cyclists. I just don't get it when I am behind one for the best part of 4 miles because I can't overtake.

I think there should be more emphasis on cyclists in the driving tests - I think a lot of people have not used bicycles since they were children and don't really see things from a cyclist's (vulnerable) point of view.

Yeah, we use the road and might sometimes hold you up for a few seconds but you have at least two exhaust pipes pumping out toxins and I have just the one

Civil engineers who work in city planning should be obliged to cycle regularly down the stupid cycle routes they come up with so another box can be ticked...

That might both save some lives and reduce the number of people cycling down the footpath.

CU I think you have a point actually

when people are listening to music / on their mobile they are NOT really aware of what is going on around them and that includes other pedestrians, children, cyclists, dogs, joggers, etc

I do it myself but I think it's not actually the greatest idea to be walking along oblivious to all the other people around you

Pedstrians are an utter nuisance on cycle paths. They seem to think it is some very optional thing and that you won't actually find a cycle ON the path, or maybe just one coming along ar 2 mph that won't mind at all that you and your 4 children are walking slap bang down the middle of it

I will cycle on the pavement or the road or the cycle path or wherever I choose, at a sensible speed, being cautious, until there is a proper network of cycle paths and safe roads all over the county, that haven't got arseholes meandering down the middle of them

I'm a serious cyclist often too "sniffy" to use "lovely cycle paths".

Because they give way every 100 yards at superstore and petrol station driveways, and nearly all cycle paths are designed for unconfident cyclists travelling under 10mph, space usually shared with pedestrians.

It's true, ask any civil engineer, that's who and how they design cycle paths for. They're designed for people who simply wouldn't cycle at all without a cycle path (ie., children, wobbly mums and old ladies). I don't want to be barrelling down a cycle path at 15-20mph next to wandering pedestrians, wobbly child cyclists and deaf old ladies with their shopping trollies. Rather take my chances in the road if at all possible.

Seems to me that inconsiderate road users drive all kinds of vehicles. Could just as eaily be having a whinge thread about maniac teenage hoody mopeders, white van man or flat-cap wearing old-men drivers.

True, point noted. Have also noticed lack of pedestrian intelligence in use of cycle paths etc.
But then you would think someone could listen to some music and not expect to get run down from behind for it, surely? Unless they are taking up the whole path! And cyclists are just as guilty of using the wrong lane. The problem is as you said, stupid people who block out the world around them entirely and stay put in the wrong lane.

I ride a bike and so do my two children to school. they ride on the pavement and I try to encorage tem to ring their bells when coming behind a pedistrian. problem is that when the pedistrian has an ipod stick in their ear , or busy texting, or busy yaking on their mobile they are unaware of what is behind them , infact they are unaware of what is happening around them full stop.

Also when you have designated cycle pths some of them are split into two lanes , claerly many of them are clearly split into two lanes , one marked cyclists the other pedistrians, oh how mnay times have I had to cycle round a pedistrian !

Swings and round and abouts dont put all the blame on cyclists .

I do agree that they must obey the highway code and observe traffic lights and signs etc, but so must all road users -drivers and pedistrians.

Haven't had time to read all posts, but seems to me that many cyclists are getting a rough deal. you try to be green, you try to get some exersize, but if you go on the road you are putting yourself in serious danger (not on all roads though), and if you go on the path you have to be really careful (which is the only responsible thing to do).

Cyclists will be able to stay permanently on the road when there are also only responsible car drivers on them. Even cycle paths (where there are those elusive things) start and stop and go through the middle of pathways, or get parked on, or get cars stopping and opening their doors into (dh narrowly missed hospitalization because somebody did this). It's not great at the moment for cyclists.

Rant about cars over, OP was absolutely right, cyclists should also respect other pavement/road users, and not be selfish. I don't ride a bike myself, and i will not let my kids ride them either.

If a cycle lane runs along a residential bit of road, then it has lots of ups and downs for drive entrances. Easier to go on the road for cycling at any speed.

I would assume that (unless you have some very peculiar cyclists round your way) that there is a good reason for people choosing to use a busy road instead of the cycle lanes provided.

Do they start or end abruptly with no obvious way on or off? Or is joining/leaving them too too dangerous to be worth the risk?

Evenhope - that is exactly why there is usually a section at junctions reserved for cyclists.
When I find motorists hogging them I still move in front so they can't avoid seeing me. Unfortunately it takes longer to get going when there's not room to point your bike in the right direction

I wish our cyclists would use the cycle paths provided but they still use the road whats the point of spending the money if they dont get used

We have a large network of off-road cycle paths constructed recently at huge expense. They are always empty, with the cyclists choosing to use the (narrowed) road next to the empty cycle path instead. The traffic is bad enough as it is but following a cyclist up a narrow bridge where the road isn't even wide enough to allow two lorries to pass each other causes a two lane jam for miles.

I was once at the front of a set of red lights in a large MPV indicating to turn left. A middle aged man on a bike came up my inside, and proceeded to go straight on when the lights changed. I missed him by inches (he was in my blind spot). Had I hit him I would have got the blame for it, yet he had no business doing that- I was indicating FFS. Now if I'm in a similar situation I move as close to the kerb as I can so a cyclist can't get up alongside me while I'm stopped.

Cyclists demand respect yet don't give it IMO.

Oh, I had a motorcycle courier shout something at me, I didn't hear it, but it included the word 'woman' which is never a good sign, is it. I had just changed lanes or something. I cycle in central London, sometimes I am going to be in other road user's way. That's the reality of using a road, surely?

The only bad thing I admit to is occasionally holding up traffic because

1. there is a line of cars in the cycle lane
2. bitter experience has taught me to cycle a car door's length away from anything parked
3. When I cycle that far out into the road cars have to overtake me, instead of whizzing by at 60mph with inches to spare

On my route to work I have to take a right turn on a road with a turning lane, I always use signals and change lanes when safe to do so but still regularly have people blasting me with their horns and waving their fists. Why?

Do they think that without a motor I should not need to turn right? Or maybe they would rather I pressed the button at the little used pedestrian crossing instead now that would hold them up...

No, its down to the bikes (and I am really not anti-bikes by the way, I even have one for around town . Cars are normally backed up because you can't overtake the cyclists and it is a fairly busy A road. It puzzles me everytime I pass one

Cyclists do sometimes kill pedestrians. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

I don't know what the deal is with the A road, it sounds like a nice cycle route, but I obviously haven't seen it.

Presumably, if the traffic is backed up, it's mostly down to the cars, though, not the bikes?

"Cyclists on the pavement are highly unlikely to cause any serious injury to pedestrians"
I wish this was true - two years ago I was walking along the pavement with my dad under a railway bridge where the pavement narrows. I sudddenly heard a violent ringing of a bike bell & turned to see a cyclist bearing down on us at speed. Not surprisingly my 95 year old dad couldn't leap out of the way & I stepped in front of him. The bike hit me incredibly hard & I had massive bruises - but if it had hit my dad, it probably would have broken his leg, which at his age could easily have led to his death. All the woman on the bike said was "I rang my bell".....

I can see all of that nqc, I really can. But this one is about 4 miles long, has a separate kerb, is on an A road where cars don't park, people don't walk and was built at huge expense and disruption. I drive along this particular road quite a lot and it annoys me when I get stuck in backed up traffic and see an empty cycle path.

Hmmm, I've used cycle paths, and generally don't like them. If they're just a line on the road, the cars ignore them, or park on them. If there's a nice little kerb thing between the cycle path and the road, cars still park on them, and also don't see you, so feel even happier turning left through you. Pedestrians also try to walk through you (particularly if it is a two-way cycle path, on one side of the road, so bikes are coming from the 'wrong' direction).

I guess I don't actively mind the little drawn on ones, but they don't do anything, and they're forever appearing and disappearing, so I really don't see the point.

Oh, and I really hate shared cycle/pedestrian paths, with a lovely line down the middle. Because, yeah, pedestrians are trained to care about lines on the path. So they completely ignore the line, and you get to spend your time dodging pedestrians. Who, let's face it, don't exactly indicate when they're about to swerve randomly or gesticulate or whatever. And pedestrians of course can be 3 years old, or drunk, or blind. I don't really want to share my space with those people.

I do use the local towpaths a bit, more so now there are lots of signs up getting cyclists to ring their bell before going under bridges, as this seems to have reduced the chaos there a bit. We do have some nice provisions locally for cyclists, but they have a wide range of gates on them to keep motorbikes off, some of which mean I have to take apart my bike to get through.

But mostly, I am happiest on the road.

There is a reason. A friend who is a cycle bore was explaining it to me. I nodded off so I can't tell you what it is, but it is a very good reason- apparently.

Well, I can see why you wouldn't use that one and how annoying that would be. But would someone explain why cyclists don't use really decent cycle paths?

what annoys me is that in our town they have provided something pathetic like 2 cycle paths - purely on the grounds that the pavement happened to be wide enough to accomodate one. The paths run for around 50 yards in a random spot, then stop. And then, nada! The council then pat themselves on the back for having ticked another box, while in reality providing feck all of any use to anyone.

Ohhh, honestly there is one thing that really annoys me and that is when the council spend loads of money on a lovely new cycle path on a dangerous A road and the serious cyclists are too sniffy to use it. At rush out, traffic gets backed up behind them when this lovely, cycle path is clear. It really, really annoys me.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.