Pavement Cyclists

[fiftiesfresh22]

Probably done to death.

Pavement cyclists are a menace on the street on which I live (reasonably busy road, narrow footpaths (not shared) wide verges both sides. There are several alternative quieter roads very close by which cyclists could use if they feel unsafe/not confident to ride on the road down here, all of which end up on the same main road at the end, literally a minute away from each other. But still some choose to ride on the even narrower pavements down those.

So todays offering...walking my dog on the footpath, on his non-extendable, standard lead as always, from behind me come two cyclists who I did not see or hear approaching obviously, who ''buzzed'' me {passed very close at speed) and made me jump. Thankfully my dog was on the other side of me, and as I startled I said ''FGS''. To which one of them turned & said ''FGS? you should have your dog on a very tight lead...'' along with something else which I could not hear as they continued riding away. I guess it was probably along the lines of ''so that we can pass''.

The arrogance of some cyclists (who we are led to believe are in the minority) who believe that the footpaths are their domain if they see fit, pedestrians are in THEIR way, and it is the pedestrians responsibility to walk looking over their shoulder/with eyes in the back of their head etc in order to facilitate the cyclists illegal journey., all without challenge. So many times I see elderly/mobility scooter bound/parents with toddlers & prams/dog walkers being passed at speed & close quarters. This of course is facilitated by the fact that the law is interpreted, not upheld, and pavement cyclists are completely ignored, even when witnessed by passing police, both on foot or in a vehicle and now of course we also have electric scooters.

No matter what cyclists do, they're damned

That’s just not true. What people like me are fed up of are the many cyclists who have no idea how to use shared paths appropriately and safely, or that they shouldn’t cycle on the pavements, or that it’s a good idea to where bright clothing and have lights on their bikes at night, or that they shouldn’t undertake vehicles, or go through red lights, or the myriad of other things they do while they’re saving the planet one ding of their bell at a time.

And yes, absolutely there are hideous drivers out there. No-one is disputing that, but this isn’t what this thread is about.

But when I hear a bell suddenly I don’t know which way to jump. It is not safe.

I think you just want to be angry with someone because you got a fright. I hate the “othering” of cyclists. And it’s pretty stupid when you consider that the majority of people cycle at some point, and 10% of the population on a regular basis.

By all means be pissed off at two people being inconsiderate arseholes, but why rant about the other 6.5 million people as if they are a homogeneous group?

I'm guilty of my share of pavement cycling, but I know I'm not really supposed to be there and I hope I keep a sensible speed. I always slow way down if there's a dog or small child around because I see them as less predictable than adults. (I've had one near miss with a dog, and that was somewhere that cycling is legal.)

What road is that? Maybe there's a reason. Maybe they don't use the quieter roads because of speed humps or potholes?

What gets me, as a former cyclist, is this. You see countless threads like these full of posters furious about cyclists on the pavement, vociferous about the danger it creates when bicycles and pedestrians are trying to use the same space. And I agree with them. Most people do. So, why do so many pedestrians suddenly see no problem at all with stepping abruptly into and wandering about in clearly designated and separated cycle lanes, oblivious to what's going on around them, often with headphones in? Anyone who has had to cycle from Elephant & Castle to Westminster will have experienced how stupid and terrifying some pedestrians can be.

Because there are idiot pedestrians too 🤷‍♀️ As you rightly say though, that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of idiot cyclists.

if a cyclist does not have enough room to pass safely, they need to stop and possibly even walk the bike past. There is no right to stay at speed, even on a shared path

@Ponderingwindow
What. If there is not enough room for a bike to get through then how can a bike with an adjacent pedestrian get past? it will need twice as much space.

There are some roads near me that are terribly dangerous for cyclists and for that reason I will cycle down the pavement at walking pace. The reason I cycle than walk the bike is I take up less space. I thought that was fairly obvious but apparantly not.

You clearly don't. 😂

I'm far more sick of all the cars that park on the pavement. Being a pedestrian round me is like being a second class citizen trying to squeeze past all the cars that take up most of the pavement, barely leaving a tiny person width gap. If you have a push chair it's often impossible and you are forced to walk in the road. And if it's bin day it's basically game over.

Apparently it's illegal to park on the pavement in London, which must be glorious being able to actually walk along the pagement. I'm honestly jealous if the problem you have is the occasional cyclist.

If we don't, we get accused of not giving adequate warning

By all means be pissed off at two people being inconsiderate arseholes, but why rant about the other 6.5 million people as if they are a homogeneous group?

Is anyone ranting about them as a homogeneous group? They are ranting about the inconsiderate arseholes, not the ones who aren't (and who are in the majority)

You shouldn't be cycling on the pavement and thus shouldn't be telling pedestrians to get out of the way,

It's a criminal offence to ride on the pavement. That mad case with the woman sent down for manslaughter because a cyclist fell off their bike and under a car has emboldened them, I think.

Do you have a disability which means you cannot look behind you?

It was entirely the right verdict

A delivery van very narrowly avoided hitting my pushchair when it mounted the kerb to park, luckily I was able to move it quickly enough. In our area people zip quickly on and off small driveways, a car missed my DD by about half a foot once, clearly hadn’t seen her.

I live in a very car centric suburb and rarely see a cyclist.

A "confident" (husband's description) cyclust rode towards a visually impaired woman on the pavement. The visually impaired woman shouted "get off the fcking pavement!". We saw footage. No physical contact ensued. The cyclist stopped, got caught in her own Brompton and fell in front of a passing car. It was a MAD verdict that imo only resulted because the jury judged her harshly for not stopping to "help".

It is bizarre to me that cyclists think they have priority over pedestrians. Or even equality with.

I’d actually love to live in an area with more cyclists and wonder where some of you live. I’m guessing seaside towns or somewhere idyllic.

Why? I think its much better that cyclists use a bell so i have time to move over, instead of them just appearing next to me and making me jump.

I'm a cyclist. The only road where I use the pavement is along a stretch of a fast, busy but rural A-road, where there are very rarely any pedestrians anyway.

On the very rare occasion that I do meet anyone coming towards me, I either dismount to pass them or crawl past at a snail's pace.

It is not so easy if I am nearing a person walking in the same direction as I am going, as they won't be aware of me until I am quite near to them. If the pavement there is very narrow, I will either dismount, step into the road and literally run past them, wheeling my bike, or if it is wider, let them know that I am there and hope that they will let me pass in exactly the same way that they would/should allow a faster pedestrian to pass.

Wherever I am riding, my bell is not used to tell pedestrians to " move over and let me pass". It is simply intended to make them aware that I am there, so that A) they don't suddenly change course (which many do even when another pedestrian is wanting to get past them) or B) jump out of their skins when I am right behind them.
That, as far as I am aware, is why any responsible cyclist uses their bell and fortunately, many people appreciate it and thank us.

WTF??

I thought you were supposed to ring a bell just to give people a heads up that you were coming up from behind. I don’t cycle much in the UK but I used to in the Netherlands but it’s often fairly slow cycling there.

Ridiculous. If people stuck to the left. Instead of wandering all over the entire width of the path this would be such a non issue . And as for bells annoying you. What are they meant to do ? Literally sit and wait for you to decide to look behind you ?

This is why all this net zero shite will fail. You all spot this climate change crap. But then woe betide anyone actually contributing to the climate changes positively by riding a bike