To cycle ON the pavement?

[Hum2]

Haven't ridden in years and just getting back on it. Do not trust some of the cars on the road to overtake me with enough space. I'm still wobbly on it.

AIBU to ride on the pavement? Even when there is a cycle lane on the road (which was a locked at two points today by parked cars!).

I also use the 'green man' to cross the roads rather than moving to the road and crossing like a vehicle.

Hum2 Surely your statement.. ”I'm not riding for speed and slow right down or go onto road when I need to pass pedestrians” would make you MORE likely to be involved in/cause a collision than if you’d just cycled ON the road the whole time?

YABU. You definitely need to practice more away from other people. As a PP stated you're more of a risk on the pavement AND the road if wobbly. Plus going slower is inherently less stable anyway.

Find somewhere nice and quiet, off road is best if your bike can do it. There are things you can do to help as well. Make sure the saddle is at the right height - with pedal at lowest point knee should be very slightly bent. You can move the saddle forwards and backwards too. What you want is a position where you feel "in" the bike rather than "on" it IYKWIM.

Don't try and push too hard a gear. You want a nice low gear where you're pedalling at 50+ RPM. Pushing a hard gear twists your hips and shifts weight around, poor for balance. Try not to move the bars much, just shift your weight around to make small changes in direction. Absolutely key is you generally go where you're looking, so don't stare at the thing you're about to crash into!

If you feel the need to break the law and put other people and dogs at risk so you can indulge your wee hobby, be prepared to be fined and/or shouted at by people using the path correctly and legally. Obey the law or if you can’t cope with that, find a new hobby.

Just buy a bloody Vespa and go on the road.

Drivers pose far more danger to cyclists than cyclists ever have to pedestrians.

A reasonable speed limit for cyclists on pavements would be average adult walking speed, to give pedestrians a better chance of avoiding them.

With the absolute understanding that pedestrians take priority & if you're stuck behind them, tough.

I actually think it depends.
I don’t see any cyclists on the payment but there is a hill I drive down that is narrow and a common road for cyclists. There aren’t any pedestrians as the road that leads to it is an A road type with no pavement. The hill, however, has a pavement but not enough room for cars and bikes. As there isn’t enough room to overtake, there will be a queue of about 30 cars behind a bike every 5 minutes.
In this instance, I think it would be better (and safer) for the cyclist to be on the unused pavement.

In Australia kids under 12 and adults with them can ride on the footpath if there isn't a cyclepath available. There is a push to allow cyclists of all ages to ride on the footpath.

I am very lucky that we have shared paths as I would not want my child riding on busy roads. He has done the Bikeability level 2 course (upper primary age), but this only covers local streets, NOT busy roads.

OP, if there is a cycle path then you should use that, if not, I would not personally mind an inexperienced adult cyclist on the footpath with me.

Get off the freaking pavement. It's for pedestrians. If you can't cycle then don't

The majority of local cyclists of all ages use the pavement where we live. Most of them do behave with a minimum of consideration, but it's absolutely infuriating. (The tourists use the road )

There's another part of town with a network of cycle paths, and where are they - on the pavement (cutting down space for pedestrians), not on the road.

@findthegap I got gesticulated at by a filtering cyclist for indicating. I deliberately did it a bit early, there are two left turns one straight after the other, but I could see from his speed that if I left it later, it would be too late for him to stop filtering down my inside and it would have caused issues for us both. Some people just don't think ahead or about others.
There are twats who use all types of transport but you can't generalise.
I got knocked off my bike by a car driver, and have been squeezed off the road by lorries. Fortunately I've never been badly injured, but I've been lucky.
How many people who've replied here can claim to be a perfect driver, and never ever break a single road rule?

@MrsFrezziwig if your council is like the councils who maintain a dual carriageway near me they will just designate the pavement as a shared use path and stick some blue signs up. They won't do anything to change the pavement surface.

The only exception would be on a totally deserted footpath that goes along a busy/fast national speed limit type of country road where there are never/rarely any pedestrians, there are no designated cycle lanes and where there would be a serious danger to using the road as per the Highway Code.

This is my situation in a way. The stretch of the A38 I need to use to get to work is dominated by lorries. 3 or 4 of my workmates have been knocked off their bikes,especially by the roundabout.We cycle along the pavement now. Rarely are there pedestrians,but the odd one we do come across,we always stop for as we do realise that we have no right of way.

I have spoken to the police about this,and have been told that it's fine along there as long as we are aware that any pedestrians must be treated with respect.

Just to clarify....this is the only time I cycle along any path that isn't a designed shared or cycle path before I get jumped on.

If you're "wobbly" you need to practice more before you go out. Don't ride on the pavement especially if you're wobbly.

How many people who've replied here can claim to be a perfect driver, and never ever break a single road rule?

I don't drive (Londoner) so I mainly travel either on foot or by tube.
Which means I only really deal with cars when I'm crossing roads & so cyclists on pavements - pedestrian space - are much more on my radar.

I live near a big stretch of road that has a wide pavement, and many cyclists use the pavement, presumably for safety reasons as there have been many accidents with bikes on that road.

You can neatly divide the cyclists into two categories:

1. slow cyclists who slow down near children, dogs etc, and who ride very slowly over crossings, people who take care and are aware that they could cause an accident

1. nutjobs who think they're in the Tour De France, who screech to a halt, glare and sometimes shout at pedestrians in their way

Currently there's a campaign to get ALL the cyclists off this pavement which isn't fair on the decent people but absolutely right for the racers.

So if you're a slow, careful cyclists who will give way to pedestrians and dismount when you need to, I wouldn't object.

If I can't cycle on the pavement I probably wouldn't cycle at all!

I feel you. If I couldn’t drive on the pavement, I probably wouldn’t drive at all.

Don’t cycle then, diddums.

I don’t agree with cyclists riding their bikes on the pavement because of the way some of them seem to think everyone should get out of their way. I was on a pavement in the city a few years ago and some crazy woman in a bike raced past us telling us all to get out of her fucking way. So no I don’t agree with it.

Drivers pose far more danger to cyclists than cyclists ever have to pedestrians

I’ve narrowly avoided being hit by more cyclists on pavements than I ever have by cars on roads.

So being so bloody selfish OP and egocentric. The footpaths are not for bikes, they are for pedestrians!

Just cos you wish to be able to cycle on the pavement doesn’t give you the right to! Go on the road, if you don’t want to do that then don’t cycle! End of

I do sometime ride on the path if the path is empty (were in a rural town, so not many people about). Then go into the road if someone's coming.
Get your confidence up first, you shouldn't be riding on either of your still wobbly.

Practise in quiet areas on the road, early morning or later in the evening. Get off your bike and push it if it’s getting too scary on the road. Don’t go out on your bike with your child until you are competent.
Yes, she can be on the pavement with her stabilisers, but an adult should NEVER ride on the pavement.
You don’t get to break the law just because you are wobbly.