to ask why do 'some' appropriately dressed racing cyclists think it is okay to not obey the highway code

[OwlLady]

and I say 'some' because it is some, not all

but they are bloody annoying riding out on junctions without looking because they think they are faster than a car and then you have to slam your brakes on and look at their skinny little arses in overpriced cycling wear and equipment

or three astride trying to wave you past on overgrown country lanes
pah!

all very tongue in cheek you understand but sometimes living in rural bedfordshire is trying

SaggyOldClothCatPuss, yy the route I take is used for time trials as well.

unhombre, that si partly my point, it would be assumed it was my fault if I knocked off a cyclist that pulled out of a junction whilst i was driving along the road. Lucky for them I am a responsible driver and have the foresight based on experience to slow down because I know so many of them do it.

< It's actually illegal to cycle on a designated footpath in England.

Not true.Cycling on a footway, i.e. a path (e.g. pavement) alongside a road is illegal. Cycling on a footpath, e.g., through your local woods, is not illegal.

www.ctc.org.uk/resources/Campaigns/10_Public-footpaths__brf.pdf

Sorry, I don't know why, but I thought the thread title said:

"to ask why do 'some' appropriately dressed racist cyclists think it is okay to not obey the highway code"

I was going to ask how you know they're racist...blah..

The cyclist/motorist/pedestrian division is a false one. We are talking about people displaying inconsiderate behaviour.

Some people are selfish knobs. It manifests itself in whatever mode of transport they use. They will act the same well when they drive their cars or walking down a busy street. Pound to a penny the people you've seen acting like bell ends on their bike, will also tailgate, jump lights, drive like a maniac as well when they get behind the wheel of the car.

I am cautious and nervous cyclist just like I am cautious and nervous driver.

yes I know what you mean compo, just take the supermarket as an example

May be I should have said it isn't legal to cycle on a footpath. It's a civil offence (unlawful?), that of trespass, unless there is a specific bye-law making it illegal.

CTC have been campaigning on this for some time. English rights of way law is archaic. It's really quite daft that there are so few paths that allow a right of way for bicycles (the 22% of the path network referred to in the CTC document).

It's called a civil wrong. Not an offence. Basically what it means is that the landowner can scream 'get orf of my land', if you are cycling there, and you should comply. If you did it repeatedly they could get an injunction against you.

I don't think the rights of way for bikes are so bad. Footpaths tend to be pretty slow going for cycling anyway, unless it's been done up for cycling it's unlikely to be worth bothering with.

Right, a little reading done. In cycling on a public footpath a trespass against the land is committed. A trespass against land is a civil wrong for which one may be sued by the owner of the land. Not as I had thought, a civil offence for which one may be prosecuted. (I still have to go and learn the difference between a suit and a prosecution, and whether a civil tort may be described as unlawful. This law stuff's quite interesting - can't see much work getting done today...)

I have also learned of the existence of Definitive Maps.