A question for the Cyclists.

I'm a cyclist, so I cycle on the road at all times. If for whatever reason I have a complete nightmare at a busy junction or something and decide to use the pedestrian crossing I'll get off the bike.

People who use the paths aren't cyclists, they're people out for a ride on their bike.
 
How about children riding their bikes on the pavement? There is a morning/evening school run which does just that around here. I'd rather they were on the pavement than the road tbh. The drivers are nuts.
 
LordSplodge said:
No because it is more dangerous on the pavement (junctions, obstacles, and pedestrians) and above all it would slow me down to an unacceptable speed.

I have the right to cycle on the road and as long as I cycle defensively and take up a position that discourages bad behaviour (I.e. my road position discourages drivers buzzing me) I don't see it as being that dangerous anyway.
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This! ^^
 
I ride only on the road but switch to the pavement of it's to dangerous to do so. ie single, very narrow long lane because of construction
 
FARGO said:
How about children riding their bikes on the pavement? There is a morning/evening school run which does just that around here. I'd rather they were on the pavement than the road tbh. The drivers are nuts.
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Yeah, kids should be on the pavements imo. I think (may be wrong) that children's bikes are classified as toys by their wheelsize and are legal for pavement riding.
 
Im an occasional cyclist (much prefer off road but still commute at times) im usually on the road at all times but living in the city with the worst drivers ive ever seen there are times i do mount and have been forced to mount the curb!
I think the last time i cycled to my footy game i was moving quicker than traffic down a hill due to there been a queue, some dosey old biddy decided to get closer and closer to the curb to the point where i had to brake hard and slip into the right hand side of the lane and over take her before she hit the curb and continued on her merry way!
Other than that i did stop riding a few years back as i was knocked off my bike on i think 3 different occasions and all on purpose!
One time some asian bloke threw something at me and sent me flying, the second another asian bloke opened the door of the car into me and the third they pulled in front of me and slammed on! Fun eh! But hey, thats Bradford for you!
I just wish we had more than the occasional 10 meters of cycle lane every few miles!
 
FARGO said:
How about children riding their bikes on the pavement? There is a morning/evening school run which does just that around here. I'd rather they were on the pavement than the road tbh. The drivers are nuts.
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The law states that children under the age of 16 cannot be charged for riding their bike on the pavement so children can do it legally.

However, and this is where it goes a bit stupid, there does not seem to be any provision in the law for an adult supervising children which means that the kids can ride on the pavement but the adult with them is supposed to ride on the road.
 
Yes I use the pavement.

I only ride for fitness purposes and don't have the required kit to safely ride on the roads. If I was riding to work day in day out, I would use the roads.
 
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I only use the road, last time I cycled on the pavement was because a moron in a big 4x4 left hooked me and it was my only escape route.
 
Some of the pavements on my commute are shared cycle paths, so yes, I sometimes cycle on the pavement. :)
 
If the road is quiet i'll ride on it but my balance isn't exactly what I'd call good so I'd rather fall off my bike, hurt my knees and elbows and **** of a pedestrian than fall off my bike and have my head juices sprayed all over the road :p. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I rarely ride a bike anyway though.
 
[Damien];20074517 said:
I cycle on the road without fail. Why would I want to ride somewhere with more obstacles, where I can't ride as fast, where cars at junctions aren't looking out for me and pedestrians could cut me up at any point?

If you want to be treated like you belong on the road, act like it.

I do circa 100m a week commuting on a busy A road crossing the M6 (@ J21 if you know the area) and apart from being hit once at that very junction by some silly cow in a merc coming down the slip road too fast I've never really had any problems.
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I've been knocked over near there too (at a crossing before anyone pipes up) and I was walking!! Nutters round here.
 
I ll ride on the pavement if it's empty, if there's pedestrians around then I will go on the road. Where I live it's a very busy place full of commuters going to and from London who are usually in a rush and you hear literally nothing but drivers sound their horn every 15 seconds so I'm not going to go and get hit by some impatient brat.
 
Riding on the pavement here in London will land you with a fine.

I'm a cyclist myself and I still don't understand why people cycle on the pavement. It's dangerous and annoying for pedestrians plus it's a whole lot slower than riding on the road. The worst are those that I see around London that resort to the pavement when they don't know their way around find themselves on a one way!
 
I never cycle on the pavement and I'm rarely more than a foot from the kerb (got to be mindful of drains though) which is why I get irked by idiot drivers who think it is perfectly okay to park over cycle paths (I used to deal with that regularly in Glasgow).

The only cycle paths around here are either too out of the way for a commute or are dual pedestrian\cycle areas on wide pavements which the pedestrians don't seem to be able to comprehend.
 
I always ride on the road, and when it comes to one way, i move over slightly so cars can't get passed.

It makes you feel good though when you are turning and cars wait and flash you to go, some girl did today, i raised my hand in acknowledgement and gave her a smile :)
 
theres a few roads here that have pavements with shared paths (cycleway and footpath) but tbh they are just as much of a pain as the roads!
 
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