10-15 years ago cycling on the pavement wasn’t considered a issue.
Now they all use the roads I presume its the law but why?
I often trundle down country lanes with nice wide footpaths but I cant pass a cyclistphile because he insists on using the road and I cant overtake him because the road bends too much.
They say you have to have a 1.5m gap before overtaking one which may work well in the states with their roads but here its not practical.
10-15 years ago this wasnt a issue now the roads are clogged with bradley wiggin wannabes who can only go about 10mph unless its downhill because even though they spent £1500 on spandex and £3000 on a carbonfibre bike they are still getting overtaken by Joe the forklift driver on his mountain bike with a ■■■ hanging out of his mouth.
Fully entitled to and should use the roads, unless the footpath is also designated as a cycle path.
As with horses and other slow moving things we find on the road, we have to bide our time staying safely back from the moving obstruction in order not to alarm or intimidate until a safe and suitable overtaking opportunity appears, the lorry driver is after all supposed to be the professional road user so should be able to take such things in their stride.
The roads are filling as quickly as the country, soon enough we’ll be reduced to very slow progress on all sorts of roads at all times of the day.
Wasn´t an issue 10-15 years ago? What, cyclist on the pavement? I can assure you it was, mate. I know, personally, that it was in London, and I assume that other cities had problems too.
Before I came back to UK perma I used to visit my sister here, London, for a couple of weeks at a time. I remember walking around in town and being nearly run over, every day, by at least 2 of these “Professional” cyclists, the courier guys. You just don´t expect to be overtaken by a skinny ■■■■ doing 20 mph on the pavement.
Then the kids got hold of the trick and you couldn´t walk for more than 30 yards without having to step onto the road to let the little effers past!
It´s getting better these days due to 1:Plod, occasionally, and 2:People standing up to them. But it still happens each and every day I´m walking around be it in town or out in the burbs.
Effin cyclists on the effin pavement are a effin pain in the effin arse.
Example of their stupidity and arrogance…
About a month ago I was walking to the bus stop, 7 a.m. lovely clear sunny morning. There was no, and I mean NO traffic on the road at all. NONE.
Walking ahead of me, all going to the same bustop are about 30-40 people. I see a bit of a kerfuffle heading up the stream of people.
Yep, a cyclist, mid 20s, on the pavement, going against the flow of people, dressed in full spandex, helmet, expensive bike, and an attitude.
I said “hey, c´mon” and gestured to the empty road.
He said “Eff off”
I am absolutely dumbfounded by the attitude of these people. ■■■■■, all of em.
Why can´t they use the pavements? Because it´s for pedestrians?
tachograph:
Why should pedestrians be put at risk because of some drivers impatience, the place for cyclists is on the road unless the pavement has a cycle lane.
Would you be happier sharing the road with pedestrians ?
Sent from my mobile.
Pedestrians generally have more road sense. If we give cyclists 1.5m don’t I deserve the same generosity when I open my car door?
I managed to cycle to school for best part of 10 years on the pavement
Never had an issue then again I didn’t ride everywhere with my face down and ■■■ in the air like a cat in heat.
Maybe if we could get rid of the spandex brigade it wouldn’t be too bad.
adam277:
Maybe if we could get rid of the spandex brigade it wouldn’t be too bad.
If we could get rid of them an awful lot of roads would be better for all users both pedestrians and drivers! In theory they’ll all get too old soon for it and give up as it seemed to be a phase.
Biggest problem i find is the idiot in the BMW who’s desperate to overtake me (in truck) not thinking that maybe theres a good reason I’m doing 10mph. I get a safe gap and they come charging through.
I used to bike to school and work when younger but i had a mountain bike whoch didnt break on the tiniest bump in the road and thus often went faster than the traffic. Defo better than these £3K ones. No licra, only school uniform which helped.
The biggest problem is every type of driver (car drivers, taxi drivers, van drivers, HGV drivers, Bus drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders) ALL think they are in the right, ALL think they somehow have more entitlement on the road than anyone else, when the fact is ALL have exactly the same entitlement as each other and need to SHARE. But the human race is actually very poor at sharing things with one another. So that’s why we all have to go on the road and beep and swear at each other and get angry and crash and fight.
The ones who should be shot on sight are the ones who ride at 5mph on a twisty bendy road when there’s a perfectly good and wide cycle track alongside. The urge to mow them down is almost too much to resist at times.
No amount of intimidating revving seems to get them to notice and move their hi-viz spandex clad arses TF out the way!
DickyNick:
The biggest problem is every type of driver (car drivers, taxi drivers, van drivers, HGV drivers, Bus drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders) ALL think they are in the right, ALL think they somehow have more entitlement on the road than anyone else, when the fact is ALL have exactly the same entitlement as each other and need to SHARE. But the human race is actually very poor at sharing things with one another. So that’s why we all have to go on the road and beep and swear at each other and get angry and crash and fight.
It all works well in Holland, why can’t it here.
Sometimes it looks like there are more bikes than cars in some parts.
There needs to be more tolerance in this country, and the self righteous spandex crew make the situation worse with their crap attitudes, but on the other hand some bullish truckers don’t help either.
I aint in the spandex crew (trust me I’d look ridiculous ) but I have a bike.
My area aint exactly the big city, so if I’m riding through local villages where heavy trucks are present, I sometimes use the pavement for my own safety and peace of mind… as long as there’s no pedestrians that is.
So whip me now.
DickyNick:
The biggest problem is every type of driver (car drivers, taxi drivers, van drivers, HGV drivers, Bus drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders) ALL think they are in the right, ALL think they somehow have more entitlement on the road than anyone else, when the fact is ALL have exactly the same entitlement as each other and need to SHARE. But the human race is actually very poor at sharing things with one another. So that’s why we all have to go on the road and beep and swear at each other and get angry and crash and fight.
It all works well in Holland, why can’t it here.
Sometimes it looks like there are more bikes than cars in some parts.
There needs to be more tolerance in this country, and the self righteous spandex crew make the situation worse with their crap attitudes, but on the other hand some bullish truckers don’t help either.
I aint in the spandex crew (trust me I’d look ridiculous ) but I have a bike.
My area aint exactly the big city, so if I’m riding through local villages where heavy trucks are present, I sometimes use the pavement for my own safety and peace of mind… as long as there’s no pedestrians that is.
So whip me now.
Totally agree , im the same drive trucks but bike occasionally and ride my bike with consideration to other road users , if i can hop on a pavement to let someone pass I will as long as it’s safe to do so , what’s the point in holding someone up .
Nothing worse than trying to get past of a bike for ten minutes then stopping at a set of lights for them to sail past you and put themselves right under your wing mirror for you to do it all again .
I often ride my bike to the yard, and I ride up the dropped kerbs to allow traffic to pass. Some riders are A holes but then some truckers are no better.
It would be quite possible for them to share the road or the pavement if there was some consideration for others and it works both ways.
If you’re on a road and holding up a load of people then pull over at some point to let them past, if you’re on the pavement then you need to take it easy so you can avoid pedestrians.
Of course I know this attitude isn’t confined to cyclists and many of the lycra clad hobby cyclists will be driving a car or even truck the next day with exactly the same attitude of I don’t give a stuff about the rest of you its all about me.
a raised paved or asphalted path for pedestrians at the side of a road.
“he fell and hit his head on the pavement”
synonyms: footpath, paved path, pedestrian way, walkway, footway; sidewalk
“I had parked blocking the pavement”
any paved area or surface.
“the pavements and columns of these ancient ruins provided the material for more recent structures”
tachograph:
Why should pedestrians be put at risk because of some drivers impatience, the place for cyclists is on the road unless the pavement has a cycle lane.
Would you be happier sharing the road with pedestrians ?
YES where there are very few peds
RISK - lets look at that …
Cyclist collides with pedestrian = likely outcome of cuts and bruises
Cyclist collides with vehicle = likely outcome of a hospital trip or the morgue
Just to back that risk assessment up our local plod totally ignore cyclist using pavements unless they seem to be causing a problem for pedestrians - not law but using common sense to reduce risk of injury
I reckon the more pressing issue is where vehicles drive on/off to park on pavements where there is no need to do so
) but I have a bike.
the next day with exactly the same attitude of I don’t give a stuff about the rest of you its all about me.