To expect cyclists not to ride on the pavement and not expect pedestrians to move out of their way!

[ophelia275]

I am so sick of having to swerve the pushchair or move out of the way so that some idiot on a bicycle can avoid the traffic by cycling on the pavement and expect me to stand aside with my kids/pushchair/shopping so that they can ride past. Sometimes (when I am not with my kids) I stand firm and don't move out of their way so they have to get off or be patient and wait until I have walked past.

When I was quite heavily pregnant I was walking along and this guy on a bike came zooming up and shouted "move" and just pushed past me. Nob.

Grrr. Hate them!

Nelly, I get that! I was just reiterating the point that there can be good reasons for cycling on the pavement, and that not all cyclists are tossers.

Tbh the Opening Post isn't saying anything unique or controversial - of course everyone would agree with that specific point!

YANBU, if it's too dangerous on a stretch of road, get off and WALK on the pavement.

Though what's scaring me at the moment is other drivers overtaking cyclists on roads - give them more room.

And what pisses me off are they cyclists who look behind and gesture for me to overtake - if I thought it was safe to overtake on a corner with cars coming I would.

Boring.

tyler - you lucky thing, i LOVE dk, great place, feels very different to here although i love it here too, but it's just different. lots of cyclists there, lots. never seen so many come to a halt when the light turns red :-D

BOCI don't get the feeling of them and us at all. Maybe I'm lucky where I live, but I find the vast majority of car drivers and pedestrians are reasonable people.

What nologo said.

Nelly - no, I've not been had a go at - apart from the mad bunt who once shouted at me for wheeling my heavily laden bike slowly on the pavement. Apparently I should have been walking in the road...! Nutter.

Cheese - not unless you count Copenhagen airport! , but I've travelled a fair bit and mixed with lots of international folks throughout my life. Sometimes I would gladly trade nationalities...

a child in my class had to have several days off school as he was knocked over by a cyclist riding on the pavement. hen he did return his head was black and blue and swollen eyes. head injurries can be fatal. he was lucky.

Maya (cool name) - yep, I go along with that. We aren't very good at communicating - we ahve an adversarial judicial system based on 'cleverness' rather than enquiry about what actually happened.
And yes it manifests itself in odd ways - last week I had a really unpleasant woman argue at me for NOT thanking her for moving away from the exit door on the train when I was trying to get my bike off at my stop. She was firm in her belief she could stand anywhere she wished to. She seemed to thrive on the conflict.

Pan, the law basically chooses that we ride on the road.

You have to cross many more roads on the pavement than say, going on a main road where you would have priority over the side roads.

People don't/shouldn't have to except cyclist to be whizzing by on the pavement when they are opening their front gate. Cyclists travel more quickly than pedestrians even when cycling fairly slowly and pavements aren't designed for travel of that speed en masse.

Jeez, Susan, that's horrendous

On the subject of cycling manners, I used to get laughed at by pedestrians for stopping for them at zebra crossings. Work that one out if you can. Nutters.

I agree OP

One time a really aggressive pavement cycler tried to get past me and my very elderly neighbour who struggles to walk.

He was wearing a messenger bag across his body which I grabbed as he went past and he fell very heavily.

Serves him right.

Pan (thanks! ), the adversarial aspect of the judicial system drives me nuts. As does our childish kneejerk reactionary characteristic. Can you imagine how differently the Jans Breivik trial would have been handled in the UK? We'd have been useless, baying for blood instead of truth. What a bunch of eejits we are.

Nologo - yes the law says that. It also says you shouldn't cause carnage by killing and seriously injuring bikists - but that happens every day. The highways in this country were designed and built with the motorist in mind. Not bikers. Not pedestrians. And the law reinforces that. Largely. So bikers have to improvise to stay safe whilst traveling.

Nancy, much as I agree that the cyclist's behaviour was appalling, I think your actions were horrible too. And your attitude to the cyclist falling hard. Has to be said.

Good point Pan. There's not much protection for cyclists; nobody's thought that out consistently in road design.

< have I mentioned I was at a Maya event? I bored everyone solid on the FWR about it, with a lovely story as well.>

maya - nah, he deserved it. really.

Nancy - I think you are a thug. Or a bit pissed and feeling brave. Perhaps both.

Ooh, tell, Pan! I saw her once in the flesh many years ago!

Nancy - no, he didn't deserve it. You could have broken his hip that way. You are demonstrating perfectly the thuggish British attitude which I mentioned earlier. What a vile attitude.

Warrington Cycle campaign's facility of the month is a good illustration of how well cyclist are catered for in general. It's easy to see how pedestrians and cyclists can come into conflict with arrangements like these.

there is a lot of pent up frustration on this thread - it is bad for health, possibly a need for some therapy here for a few people

Oh it's really long! But worth it. I'll type it out over weekend and cut n' paste into a PM if that's ok?

Tyler - if you cycle regularly, you'll see that this is in no way representative of what it's like for the vast majority of cyclists. That route you showed will typically randomly stop/ join traffic/ be regularly filled with pedestrians. That is not good provision of protection for cyclists.

Ivy - you're right. Fancy a bike ride, anyone?!

tyler - that is so darkly funny. I ride in a Big City and sometimes the lane just stops. Literally. First time I rode it and it stopped, I stop and looked . I could only laugh.