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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU - cyclists should use the cycle lane on the huge pavement?

109 replies

Fizzielove · 23/06/2015 14:59

AIBU to feel really annoyed when I see a cyclist on the road - when there is a special lane on the pavement (which was specially widened to provide a cycle lane with a white line and everything!)

I mean seriously - USE THE CYCLE LANE!! I get sooooo annoyed!! They hold up the traffic because everyone has to give them a wide birth.

AIBU to get annoyed and want to put the window down and shout at them "Use the f cycle lane - that's what it's there for!!!"

OP posts:
knittingdad · 23/06/2015 15:02

Yes, you are being very unreasonable. The cyclist could have many good reasons for not using the cycle lane, and it would be bullying and abusive behaviour for you to shout at them.

For example, there is a long stretch of pavement turned into cycle lane near where I used to live that is unsafe to use, as it has a narrow blind corner at the end, so any cyclist using it puts pedestrians at risk.

Just calm down and share the road with good grace.

CMOTDibbler · 23/06/2015 15:03

YABU - cyclists can choose to either use the cycle lane or use the road. IMO, most of the cycle lanes are a PITA to cycle on - they are often rough, overgrown, littered, and you end up stopping every 50m because of side streets, bins, people walking in them and so on.

Doyouthinktheysaurus · 23/06/2015 15:04

we seem to have this same debate every week or so.....

Cycle paths can be uneven and there are often pedestrians walking in them, even if they aren't meant to. Cyclists on road bikes who are on a training ride are more likely to opt for the road so they can maintain the pace they want without having to keep slowing. Fast cyclists on a cycle path can be a hazard in themselves.

I don't cycle much anymore but I did avoid some cycle paths round here because they are shared paths and dodging pedestrians is not fun.

fleurdelacourt · 23/06/2015 15:05

are you the nutter who was all over youtube for shouting similar abuse to a cyclist in Richmond a few weeks back??

YABU - cycle lanes are there as an option for cyclists but really most of them are narrow and pass the end of driveways and cross smaller roads. For someone cycling on a proper roadbike, the road is the only true option.

SquinkiesRule · 23/06/2015 15:05

I'm with you OP. Dh and I were just talking about this this morning, we went for a walk and at a huge roundabout near us there has been a cycle lane put in all the way round, and yet the bikes are still on the lanes with cars I don't get it.
They do it at the beach here too, a big bike lane is put in many miles long and they are on the road backing up traffic.

boltofblue · 23/06/2015 15:08

Of course YABU - no matter if you're slowed down by a cyclist, the cyclist is legally entitled to cycle on the road. Just as you are perfectly entitled to drive on the road. How would you feel if I was upset by your legal driving on the road, and if I overtook you in my car, wound down my window, and screamed "Get off the road!"?

Original poster
Fizzielove · 23/06/2015 15:08

Ok let me paint the picture - dangerously busy road. So council decide at the great expense of the locals to extend the footpath to provide a safe place for the cyclists to ride.

Seriously - you think a dangerously busy road is better than a cycle lane on a pavement? There are no blind corners as you have - in this case it's a busy four lane straight road!!

I would never actually shout out the window and do share the road graciously (I just do it internally) - but this is one thing that just bugs me!! It's not safe - even my DC have commented!!

OP posts:
GlitzAndGigglesx · 23/06/2015 15:09

Cycle paths where I live are ridiculous there's not enough room for both bikes and say people with buggies. Overgrown bushes block the pathway too causing frustration for both. I know there's some idiot cyclists but I think the majority are respectful road users

BitchBags · 23/06/2015 15:11

Yanbu, we have it alot around here where a special smooth (no bumps or obstructions at all) cycle lane has been installed on each side of the path because this particular road is quite dangerous for cyclists yet they still cycle on the road when it's not really safe enough. The path was provided for a reason so use it

BitchBags · 23/06/2015 15:12

It also equally annoys me when I see cars parked in the cycle lane (red lane at the edge of the road) on another road very close to my house. It always seems to be the same two houses and they both have massive drive ways!

Original poster
Fizzielove · 23/06/2015 15:15

BitchBags - oooh that's another irritant - blocking the road by parking up the footpath - and also blocking the pavement for people who have either pushchairs or wheelchairs - and when you look they have a driveway that is sitting empty!!

OP posts:
chaosmonkey · 23/06/2015 15:18

Is it one of the lovely wide pavements where you get hit by any car turning into/out of the side roads?

babybat · 23/06/2015 15:19

I love how in these threads, the cycle paths are always perfectly smooth, wide and convenient, and the OP can see no reason whatsoever why cyclists aren't using them. Absolutely never the glass-strewn, narrow crap that most of us have in the UK.

OP - unless you're posting from the Netherlands, I don't believe that your perfect bike lane exists. YABU.

Original poster
Fizzielove · 23/06/2015 15:21

Is there a way to post a photo on here?

OP posts:
ShutUpLegs · 23/06/2015 15:23

Our council has put in a cycle-way at huge expense along a busy stretch and it is unusable. The exits are unsafe - the cyclist is effectively spat off into the most congested part. There are bus stops in the cycle lane FGS. None of the fast riders use it as they would be endangering pedestrians. It is only really useable for cycling with kids and even then you wouldn't pick that route in with young riders.

I use it only very early in the morning or late at night where there is less risk to me from traffic. When traffic is heavy, I am safer riding on the road and holding a strong safe position, riding defensively.

All the cycle clubs and campaign groups are furious - all it has achieved is to make car drivers beside themselves that the lane isn't being used. There has been so much feedback and input from the cycling community that has been ignored. A massive waste of public funds that has served only to increase motorists' ill will.

YABU - On a bike, I will do what I need to do to make sure I am cycling safely. No sensible cyclist chooses a risky route.

TessDurbeyfield · 23/06/2015 15:23

The cyclist is entitled to be on the road and does not have to give a reason so YABU.
I do tend to use the cycle lane but I am not at all sure the one near me is safer. There are loads of small roads that cross over the cycle lane and (some) cars will come up behind and swing into these roads across the cycle lane without seemingly being aware of the cyclist. The cycle paths suddenly stop on blind corners in both directions. In several places there is a bus shelter on the opposite side of the cycle lane from the bus stop so that people getting on and off the bus walk through the cycle lane. In several places the cycle path suddenly disappears because they have resurfaced the pavement and not drawn it back on again so there is great cyclist/pedestrian confusion. That is all before you get to pedestrians/broken glass/parked cars/traffic cones/bramble bushes etc in the cycle lane.

ShutUpLegs · 23/06/2015 15:25

ANd that too chaosmonkey - I was nearly sideswiped off yesterday. I was slowing and looking behind me to gauge whether a car might be turning left as I approached the side road. I thought I was clear when a car screeched up and swung across me. And this was 6:30am when traffic was relatively light - he wasn't looking for me at all because I wasn't in the road but on the cycle lane.

ReadtheSmallPrint · 23/06/2015 15:25

It's a very difficult one, and if you don't regularly drive or cycle on a particular route it's very hard to see it from the other POV.

I cycle to work along a shared cycle/pedestrian route that doesn't run along a road.

It is f*cking dangerous. People with buggies talking on mobile phones and weaving from side to side along the path, dogs on extendable leads with person on one side of path and dog on the other, pedestrians listening to MP3 players who seem unable to walk in a straight line and other mobile hazards. The path is clearly marked as a cycleway. Yesterday a 'sink hole' appeared in the path that I doubt the council will fix for another couple of months.

I can't help thinking I would be safer on the road...

ShutUpLegs · 23/06/2015 15:26

I deliberately commute in my work clothes and heels now as I seem to attract less aggro from drivers. When I was in Lycra, it was miserable.

TessDurbeyfield · 23/06/2015 15:33

Shutuplegs - exactly the same thing happened to me. I was looking at the car coming up behind me but he wasn't looking at me. He also wan't indicating so when I started to cross and he turned at the same time he hit my front wheel. There are side roads like this ever 20m or so on our cycle lane.

knittingdad · 23/06/2015 15:33

Fizzielove - Any chance you can link to the location of the cycle lane?

It can be hard for drivers to understand when they haven't tried to use the piecemeal cycling infrastructure just how inconvenient it can be to try and join all the bits together.

For example, on my current cycle to work I have to cross the same road twice, stopping for lights to change each time, because of where the council have chosen to put cycle lanes in.

I have come to accept wasting my time in this way because it is preferable to feeling scared that an entitled driver will hurt me, but it took many years of abuse from drivers before my confidence was worn down.

If you look at a map of cycle lanes - eg on Open Cycle Map - you can see how fragmentary it is in most cases. Sometimes joining a cycle lane for a short distance can create a hazard at the start and end. It's hard to tell without seeing each individual route in question.

ReadtheSmallPrint · 23/06/2015 15:38

Tess and Shutuplegs the cycle paths near us have 'priority' over traffic in the side roads. The road is elevated to a 'hump' where the cycle path crosses it and cars have to give way to cyclists.

Of course, they all do........ Wink

shaska · 23/06/2015 15:43

If it's the cycle highway in Tower Hamlets YABVVU. I intentionally avoid it, and risk getting hit by a lorry by choice, because I've had one accident and several near misses on it involving dickwads looking at their sodding phones rather than where they were going. Apparently they think because it's a bike lane it means they need to pay zero attention to any of their surroundings. What with that and the fact that pedestrians see it as a footpath when crossing, rather than a road, I feel safer and less likely to injure others out on the road with the lorries.

Pootles2010 · 23/06/2015 15:46

Look, they aren't stupid. They aren't going to deliberately endanger themselves just to annoy you. They have a reason, and it's likely to do with not wanting to die.

CheeseandPickledOnion · 23/06/2015 15:54

ShutUpLegs they've just done that near me. Big green cycle line, taking away a right turn lane at a busy junction, so right at the start cars will use it and queue in it so they don't get stuck behind right turners. There are at least 4 bus stops in the lane also. It makes utterly no sense. Complete waste of time and money.