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!

In India it is much rarer for there to be a pavement so cyclists ride the wrong way and on the wrong side - but no one complains about this, not even the cows

Tyler, thanks for that link. Personally, I would put the designers of these truly innovative designs on bikes themselves and invite them to make full use of their own schemes at length

No, I shall not repent!

We cycle slowly, carefully and politely. We stop for people and know they have priority.

I don't see a problem with that.

Ain't doing no knitting though They're doing yoga for cyclists too!

I dunno Pan, we do alot of cycling (DH does a 20 mile round trip commute most days of the week into Bristol) and just find the roads safer: less stuff in the way to navigate and people don't expect to see a cyclist on the pavement.

Oh there's nothing sloppy about my seconds.

ah that is where you are going wrong - you need to

hurtle down the pavement

then speed through a red light - if you can do bunny hops then jump the lights if you can

give the mn land people summat to moan about - they love it

Nologo - a lot does depend on your environment, n'est-ce pas? I do ride in a bit of a tougher environment, so it gets a bit more difficult to compare with nicer circs, IYSWIM.

ivy - you are worse than me!

London Pan?

BTW, I was crossing over to the National Gallery the other year and saw old Boris Johnson cycling along in the heavy traffic, credit to him.

I also had a pavement dalliance with Jeremy Paxman in Oxford. I saw him and tried to get past (on foot ) and he moved the same way as me. We continued like this for a long few seconds with me inwardly panicking thinking "oh fuck, it's Paxo", doing a little awkward dance together.

I am too random for this thread now, so I am off to bed.

Happy cycling: on the roads please ffs. Please.

There are quite a few mixed use pathways around my way for cyclists and pedestrians. Cyclists ping I keep to the left, it works quite well. It's generally not that busy though which probably makes a big difference.

No, Manchester. The Venice of the North....

Good job you don't live in Japan then. It's the norm to cycle on the pavement there (usually with a few children on the bike plus shopping of course). I used to get odd looks from people if I cycled on the road.

It works really well.

Erm, just thought I should add that I'm not suggesting we adopt that particular habit. Can't see it working here for some reason...

Most of the pavements where I live are for the use of pedestrians & cyclists, mainly the ones next to busy roads. The only markings are at the beginning / end of the allowed cycle paths, there are no other markings on the pavement to distinguish which part is for pedestrians, which part is for cyclists IYSWIM.

Two problems that I have noticed because of this: The people (mainly adults and teenagers) seem to think they can ride on all the pavements in the area and ignore the 'end of cycle route' signs. The residential areas do not allow cyclists on the pavements. I very rarely see anyone cycling on the residential roads.

One of these pedestrian / cycle routes go past the local primary school and so is a popular route for many parents & children. Many a time I have seen adults riding very fast on this route, a few weeks back, my 9yr old DS was almost hit head on by a man racing down the path. He was so quick I didn't see him coming towards us, so as to move DS out the way. Thankfully, he missed hitting DS by an inch. Another weird one is, young lads racing their bikes on the paths with their dogs running behind them - not on leads.

I ride on the path...i ensure my son 12 yr old son rides on the path too...I've spoken to enough twats who have maimed and killed people by driving a car recklessly or even just not paying attention. We are polite and considerate when on a path. Obviously some will ruin for the rest. We don't however owe you pedestrians that hate cyclist on a path our lives !! so kindly jog on !!

yes Why, the whole debate should be about what is safest for all, not struggles between pedestrians-cyclists-drivers.

You don't get actual cyclists ( the ones on proper bikes with helmets, lights and high visabilty gear on) on pavements. The pavement ones are chavs in grey track suits, who as in areas of their lives obey no rules and expect to do as they please giving anyone who gets in their way a mouthful. Actual cyclists terrify me tho. Their bikes seem so fragile. I drive behind them rather than risk knocking them over.

Haha Puff- I can confirm that my son and I are not 'chavs in grey track suits' erm and we obey the law in every other area of my life strangely enough?!! After seeing an elderly man lying on the side of the road yesterday waiting for an ambulance after being knocked off his bike, I stand by my judgement to flout the 'law' and ride on a path where I feel safe! I don't know of any Police Officer who can guarantee our safety..

Was walking home with the kids, kids on the pavement in front of me. Cyclist comes thundering down towards them. They dash across to the grass verge (near the road). Cyclist then stops and tells me off that the kids were "playing near the road" and I should have better control of them!
Grrrr!
My pet hate is drunk cyclists. I've seen one wobble all over the road, almost trying to get a car to hit him, I've also seen one cycling in a pedestrian area (wobbleing) nearly knocking people over!

Haven't read rest of thread but just saw Pan's comment:

"Pedestrians. Arncha sick of them! Stepping out in front of you off the pavement. Walking in the cycle lane. And some of them are MUCH worse when they climb into their cars.
Mog - calm yourself. We don't make a point of holding you up on your precious journey. We sort of have as much a right to be on the roads as you do. It isn't personal. This could be news just in for you. And going through a red light (which I do most days) does nothing to 'get in your way'. It's just pathetic jealousy because you can't.

hth."

Tell it that to my 10 year old niece who walked across on a green pedestrian light and got a dislocated shoulder from a cyclist who couldn't be arsed to wait and plowed through catching her and sending her spinning. I don't cycle and I'm all for campaigning for better cycle lanes (as I did at our local planning committee) but yes, I'm pretty sick of people who think they're so fucking important they can't wait for pedestrians and are happy to mow down a child with their self-righteous zeal. How utterly pathetic. He clipped her, saw her fall, wobbled over to the kerb and then rode off again. Absolute arsehole. And so are you Pan if you think going through a red light 'gets in your way" - appears cyclists can injure people with impunity. I'm not remotely jealous of that kind of attitude. Hope your children (if you have any) aren't injured by a cyclist in a hurry and who doesn't think a red traffic light applies to them. Shoulder's popped back in and she's fine if nervous but no one's around to pay for her chipped teeth where she pretty much bit the kerb.

"Arncha" sick of them indeed.

Agree with wheezo. Was standing at a pedestrian crossing, green light comes on. Next to me was a woman with a pushchair. She did not notice the cyclist because she was tending to her other child who was walking.

If I hadn't pulled her arm back and stopped her, her child in the pushchair and her other walking child would have been hit head on by speeding red light cyclist.

To the OP - YANBU. Pavements for pedestrians.

And Pan - you should observe how to use a road properly.

I hate cyclists. They are obnoxious on the road here (Aus) and often refuse to go single file. One of these days I'm going to fly past one of the pricks and open my car door. (Yes, that was a joke don't get your panties in a twist anyone.)

When they go single file on the road and play it safe, they don't bother me. When they ride right in the middle of the road, refuse to get out of the way and disgust me in their sweaty spandex, I'll admit the urge to kill grows stronger...I find a lot of the cyclists in our area (because it's rural) tend to be 'road bullies' that come up from the city and want to get into a pissing contest with drivers. It's odd. The city cyclists are MUCH more aggro than the rural ones, it's almost like they're thrill seekers jumping red lights, taking on cars on extremely dangerous crowded roads etc.

Lurking so laughing about car-dooring a cyclist is OK, as well as covertly bragging about the urge to kill? WTAF?

For your info they do not have to cycle in single file. Read the code.

Think about it: a car takes up more than the space of two abreast cyclists, so what's your problem? Spandex?

In our area, they come up in large groups and ride on the road in groups of fifteen/twenty not single file, legal or not it's annoying and can be quite frightening when one of them suddenly lags and almost hits our car. So yes, sometimes we joke about opening the door.

Like I said, when they play it safe they don't bug me. The rural ones don't bug me. The aggro city ones do.

Yes, they annoy me, and maybe it's just me but seeing a middle aged man in spandex is gross.

Echt -"never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends" Read the code.

Also, for the cyclist I encounter every morning: "Do not ride on the inside of vehicles signalling or slowing down to turn left"