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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that adults should cycle on the road

344 replies

LoopyLou1981 · 16/03/2018 08:12

It’s been a long time since I’ve been organised enough to get up (and get 2 kids up) and out early enough to walk to the station instead of getting the bus.
On a 2 mile walk, I’ve been ‘dinged’ at by 3 cyclists to get me to move over on the pavement so they could get passed.
Is this a new thing?! Our roads aren’t narrow or any more dangerous than any others. AIBU to think they should be on the road?!

OP posts:
Lobsterface · 16/03/2018 08:14

I thought unless it was a shared footpath they were legally meant to be on the road.

SquatBetty · 16/03/2018 08:15

YANBU unless it's a shared pavement and cycle path. Adult pavement cyclists are pathetic. Don't bother getting a bike if you're too scared of riding in the road. Oh and buy some fucking lights for your bike if it's dark, don't use that as your excuse for riding on the pavement.

Lethaldrizzle · 16/03/2018 08:18

I don't mind people cycling on the pavement. I certainly dont think they're 'pathetic' - but I do mind them ringing their bell at me.

Locotion · 16/03/2018 08:18

Yes we cyclists should be on the road. I am sure its illegal to ride on the pavement. If no pedestrians and no room /dangerous on road I will go on to the pavement for a 100m to skip trafffic. I wouldnt have the audacity to ding at pedestrians!

ShatnersWig · 16/03/2018 08:19

YANBU. But at the same time, if there is a cycle path they should use that and not be on the road. See loads every morning - perfectly good, safe cycle path to use but they stay on the main road, swerving around puddles, drains....

Bitchywaitress · 16/03/2018 08:23

m.youtube.com/watch?v=RY8dQ-DmdGc

Lazypuppy · 16/03/2018 08:23

I'd rather they ring their bell to let me know they are going to pass me than to appear out of nowhere from behind and surprise me!

Vitalogy · 16/03/2018 08:24

I don't mind, especially if they have a bell, it's when they don't have a bell and whizz past close by, that makes me jump. Please get a bell cyclists.

Stillgameforalaugh · 16/03/2018 08:25

We live rurally. There's a pavement along a part of the road running outside to the next village. Hardly anyone walks it. I often think cyclists should use it rather than the road as it's uphill a lot and so a cyclist can really slow traffic. Blind corners etc makes overtaking unwise. But no those cyclists keep on the road. Grrr.

ReversingSnail · 16/03/2018 08:27

YANBU. Adult cyclists should be on the road or cycle path. Pavements are for pedestrians or children who aren't old enough to cycle on the road. I'm also astonished at the number of cyclists out at night virtually invisible with no lights.

FrancisCrawford · 16/03/2018 08:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

claraschu · 16/03/2018 08:33

People should cycle with common sense and consideration, always being careful of pedestrians. If they do that, there are times when it is a good idea to go on the pavement.

I think that sense and consideration are better safeguards than rules when it comes to cycling safely. Unfortunately there are too many people who are self-righteous and not very considerate.

LostInShoebiz · 16/03/2018 08:33

Yes, they absolutely should be on the road doing big boy cycling.

Urubu · 16/03/2018 08:34

YANBU pedestrians are the most vulnerable ones and therefore deserve a reserved area.
People can then decide if they are confident enough to cycle on the road (with cars) or not, in which case they are welcome to walk on the pavement.

ballroompink · 16/03/2018 08:36

YANBU. I live on a main road WITH CYCLE LANES and teenagers and adults are constantly cycling on the path. It's infuriating.

Amanduh · 16/03/2018 08:38

The bell ringing thing really gets my goat. A man completely made me jump out of my skin and drop things last week cycling on the path, and rode so close to me getting past. Idiots

Orangettes · 16/03/2018 08:40

I used to wonder why the cyclists used the road rather than the perfectly good cycle path, I don't cycle as a rule but I understood after I tried cycling on it. It was full of glass and they didn't have right of way at junctions, so I couldn't build a proper speed up, it was really frustrating.
I used to teach my kids that scootering or cycling on the pavement wasn't really something they should be doing, so when they met a pedestrian they should stop/walk, I'm amazed at the number of kids who haven't been taught how to respect pedestrians.

wombat1a · 16/03/2018 08:41

Cycle paths are often not worth using with all the children and buggies being pushed along them. If they stuck to the pavements and not the cycle lanes then I could stick to the cycle lanes.

WeiAnMeokEo · 16/03/2018 08:42

So NBU. Some idiot cycled into my atm the other day while i had my son in the sling. Get. On. The. Road.

Laiste · 16/03/2018 08:42

If i was walking with DD on a pavement and got dinged by an adult cyclist to get out of the way i'm afraid i wouldn't. They should be on the road or off the bike.

Can't say it's happened to me on the road. Happens a lot in the parks and woods round here. Don't mind that as we're all stuck on the same track.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 16/03/2018 08:43

YANBU. When DD was little, I shoved a pavement cyclist off. He came up behind us, shouted BIKE, so I shielded the pusher with my body and he went over. He started shouting, I went "pfft" and gave him That Face. DD hadn't woken up or been hurt, so I didn't have to anything else.

Coffeethrowtrampbitch · 16/03/2018 08:43

Yes, I've never been so angry as when walking along a footpath tired after work, a cyclist came up behind me and dinged hisbbell until I stumbled off the path into the wet grass so he could get past without getting his bike wheels dirty in the mud.

It was utterly humiliating but I had no choice as he was so aggressive I thought he would run me over. I really hope a car treats him the way he treated me, preferably on a cycle lane where he should be able to feel safe.

ClashCityRocker · 16/03/2018 08:43

Disclaimer: I bike on the road, or the cycle path if there is a sensible cycle path option.

However, I do wonder what the fuck our council are playing at with cycle paths.

We have ones that stop at ridiculous places so you can't actually safely get back on the road.

Ones that go down a fairly steep hill before propelling you into the bloody centre of a busy cross roads.

Ones that for reasons unknown are only three metres long - surely much safer staying on the road rather than swerving on and off the road?

Ones that start off as cycle paths but turn into the pavement at some indeterminate point. And never at a point with a lowered curb so you can safely get on the road.

One theyve 'stolen' from a local dog walking path. The path is not double width and, as it goes through a popular area for dog walking is naturally very much still in use by the dog walkers.

Which is fair enough - but it's a bloody bendy track, not particularly well lit and this makes fast bikes and extendable leads a worrying combination.

Still the route is advertised as a 'bike superhighway'....

So I reserve the right to use common sense when deciding whether to use a bike path or the road.

(although I do much prefer a nice smooth bike path which has been designed sensibly to the bloody potholes on the road!)

ClashCityRocker · 16/03/2018 08:45

Shit that was a rant and had paragraphs when I typed it Blush

But yes, biking on the pavement is shit.

ShotsFired · 16/03/2018 08:45

And there you have it, 30 mins into what is obviously going to turn into another "let's bash all cyclists post. Can't do right for doing wrong...

"On a 2 mile walk, I’ve been ‘dinged’ at by 3 cyclists..."
"The bell ringing thing really gets my goat..."

Interspersed with...

"I'd rather they ring their bell..."
"I don't mind, especially if they have a bell...Please get a bell cyclists."

Make your minds up.

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