To think if cars don't allow enough room for my bike, I have no choice but to go onto the pavement?

[Hammy02]

I cycle to work everyday but increasingly I've found that cars are so close to the pavement that I couldn't fit my bike inbetween. What am I supposed to do? I live in a city in which there are loads of bikes so locals should be used to cyclists. Unless it is tourists but still.

I live alongside a road which has traffic lights and gets backed up.

The people thinking it is a no brainer to just drive along the pavement regularly scare the crap out of me as I try to leave my own drive.

Oh and yes the number of ninja cyclists (dark clothing, no lights) out there is insane. When I'm on my bike I have two rear lights, one rear reflector, one front light (which is almost as bright as the sun), reflective bands round my ankles and a hi-vis jersey with reflective strips on it. Anyone not seeing me pedalling along must have some sort of vision impairment...

Oh, and front reflector and wheel reflectors too, obviously

it's not "road tax" it's vehicle duty tax ffs.

everyone pays for the roads via council tax, so even pedestrian have paid road tax.

When I was learning the Higway code (some time ago) I was taught that undertaking on the left was legal if the traffic on the right was queuing. Is that no longer the case?

Clearly cyclists should generally ride in the stream of traffic, it's safest for all concerned, but this is often made impossible by aggressive drivers who wrongly believe that cyclists are supposed to hug the gutter. It's almost impossible for a cyclist (100 kg) to ride in the correct place if a 2 tonne vehicle has decided you shouldn't be there and is driving at you fast in order to make the point.

I like that Ninja cyclists I must remember that one! We have lots of those here although we also have a few Ninja cars the black ones where some idiot thinks its still day light so does not have their lights on! When I did my cycle thing at school we all had to have the following;

Bell
Helmet
Reflective Gear
Lights on bike
and Know how to signal properly!

Im not sure there will ever be a solution that keeps both happy however..

Sorry, but I have no empathy with bicyclists..Ugh. Bane of my life they are. Why don't you look where you're going? And for goodness sake, please take your headphones out of your ears, and DON'T talk to people on the phone when you're riding a bike.

I am not a ninja cyclist. By any stretch. Nor do I wear earphones or use my mobile. Do people actually do that? No wonder drivers get vexed with cyclists. I just don't like being delayed in my journey to work. It is a whole 8 minutes door to door not being smug at all

I have no empathy with car drivers ... Ugh. Bane of my life they are. Why don't you look where you're going? And for goodness sake, please take your headphones out of your ears and turn down your music, and DON'T talk to people on the phone when you're driving a car. Less of the superior attitude to other road users as well, would help.

OP, if it's an 8 minute cycle then it can't be more than say 20 minutes to walk? If the roads are so bad to be on, wouldn't that be a better prospect?

Nobody likes being delayed on their journey to work, but everyone wants to make it there in one piece all the same.

Streets work best when everyone takes responsibility for obeying the rules and eliminates phrases such as 'no brainer' from their vocab.

I agree with WhereYou, if you cycle the way you do through heavy city traffic you are putting yourself in danger, cycle on the footpath you are putting others in danger, So.. walk it .. no brainer

20 minutes would cost me 12 extra minutes kip. I am as lazy as I am irritating on the road it seems.

If bikes are on the pavement, where do pedestrians go (especially those with children with faces at handlebar height who are very nervous after a previous collision)?

I've no problem with cyclists using the pavement or using a pedestrian crossing at the green man, as long as you get off your bike and push it.

If the traffic is stopped then you'll still be getting along quicker than if you were a car. Surely one of the benefits of being a cyclist is changing from road user to pedestrian when required?

Not acceptable to ride your bike on the pavement though, or through a red light.

My driving and walking is about a 50/50 split. I much prefer to see bikes on the path even though I have small children , the roads are too thin and there are too many bad drivers around for them to go on the roads. In a car V bike crash the cyclist is going to come off worst . Sensible bike-riding on the path is fine IMO, as long as it's not through the centre of town with loads of pedestrians.

ScrambledEggs - thanks! I'm never quite sure. I mean to add, of course, that I am a driver, a pedestrian and that I CYCLE my 25 miles to work and back through central London every day. But I'm finding it increasingly scary - my age, I think! Some drivers are quite agressive - but then some cyclists are arses too!

I think that many car drivers also do not realise that stopping distances on a bike are the same, if not longer, than in a car. To stop safely and comfortably on a road bike, which don't tend to have very powerful brakes anyway, you have to brake, change down several gears, and unclip one foot from the pedal, all whist remaining balanced, which can be pretty hard to do if you are having to take evasive action from some idiot who has just driven in front of you.

Of course, it is possible to stop very quickly, but that usually involves using your knee, hip and shoulder as a brake. Which tends to smart a bit.

So please, car drivers, allow cyclists as much time to stop as you would a car! Don't forget that a good cyclist could be doing 20-30 mph on a road

Good effort SmartArse. My route is either 12 or 14 miles in each direction, depending on which way I go. What is your route, if you don't mind me asking? I come from near Kingston to Temple.

OP, I don't understand why you posed the question, given that, based on your comments, you don't care if you're being unreasonable or not and will continue to behave in the same way regardless.

What, if anything, did you gain from this exercise?

YABU

I was going to start a thread on this topic, but obviously most of it has been covered. I work in a city with a lot of cyclists. Most are fine. But if one more twatting cyclist sneaks up the left hand side of my car in a moving queue of traffic as I'm about to turn left at the lights, I'll fucking explode.

You join the queue of traffic, or you overtake. You do NOT undertake the cars unless you want to get very very squashed.

grr.

You would be unreasonable to ride on the pavement, definitely. As annoying as it is when cars squash you out, you still shouldn't ride on the pavement.

However I've always understood that cyclists should ride on the left, and can move up the traffic queue - hence cycle lanes are always to the left, and there's an area at the head of the lights where the cyclists are supposed to wait. (If the cars don't ignore signs and use it themselves).

Fortunately there are a lot of cycle lanes where I live, but I'm not sure it's right that bikes aren't allowed to move along the inside of a queue. Trying to remember cycling proficiency lessons now....

Anyway. Don't ride on the pavement, still.

That's a serious journey, SmartArse! And I thought my 20 mile round trip was a lot. I used tfl to give me a safer route through central London btw - it's slightly slower but a lot less scary, I think.

YANBU to go onto the pavement.

YABU to cycle on the pavement.

If there is a queue and no room to weave between cars you can choose to:

1 - wait in the queue
2 - get into the pavement and walk

If the pavement is crowded you may on occasion cycle very very slowly and carefully (walking pace or less) while saying "sorry, sorry" - as you'll take up less space that way than if you walk besides your bike. Ideally you'd be pushing with your feet rather than pedalling to indicate the "walky" nature of your movement.