Dave Davenport
Guru
- Location
- Hampshire
I actually quite like riding in traffic, but then I consider all road users to be traffic.
Designated Cycle lanes/tracks
- Thread starter Mike Braddock
- Start date
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Nigel-YZ1
Guru
- Location
- Somewhere else... maybe soon.
I pay my local authority and police force to make the roads safe for me to rightfully use them.
They don't do it!!
Why should I cower on an excuse for a road narrowing scheme to go where I want to go?
They don't do it!!
Why should I cower on an excuse for a road narrowing scheme to go where I want to go?
Well if you seen the state of the cycle lanes where I live it would answer your question, full of pot holes, drains and little stones oh and all the parked cars, I would prefer to use a cycle lane as im still s wee bit nervous on the roads but I dont fancy coming off my bike due to the state of them, Glasgow city council sort it out lol!!
S.Giles
Guest
I'm new to bicycle discussion forums, but came independently to the conclusion a long time ago that the vast majority of cycle lanes are not fit-for-purpose. I'm glad to discover I'm not alone in this belief.
I always try to derive my opinions from first principles, placing a premium on objectivity, but it's amazing how often I argue with people over stuff like this. The dogma is that cycle lanes are good, regardless of their design/condition.
Steve
I always try to derive my opinions from first principles, placing a premium on objectivity, but it's amazing how often I argue with people over stuff like this. The dogma is that cycle lanes are good, regardless of their design/condition.
Steve
Most cyclists ARE trying to get councils to invest in better infrastructure. Until that actually happens, we will use the best one currently available, which is almost always a normal/bus lane on the road.
And those shared paths aren't much good if you have to get somewhere in a given time (or just don't like not being able to safely exceed 12mph).
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Nigel-YZ1
Guru
- Location
- Somewhere else... maybe soon.
We pay for the roads. Why shouldn't we use them?
There are perfectly good roads that go almost everywhere I want to go - better than your imaginary cycle facilities. If you want to spend your life persuading councils to provide some other expensive and divisive stuff I consider largely unnecessary, that's your call. Just spare us the naughty devil-smiley things. We've heard it all before.
400bhp
Guru
And your best mate is "coloured" no doubt.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
Well, given nearly all the cycle facilities I've seen are actually worse than nothing, I'd not wish to encourage building any more - with my (ratepayer's) money too. I'd rather they spent it on fine wines for council hospitality as that at least wouldn't cause me inconvenience and extra risk. These "improved" facilities which are often spoken of, I've yet to see - mind you, I've only been cycling 40 years, so perhaps I might see some by the time I've done 50 years.
Even in Amsterdam, I'm not wholly convinced that the facilities help cyclists - to my visitor's eye they seemed more to get cyclists out of the way of motorists (just like here). I think vast numbers of cyclists was why cycling was good it Amsterdam - thought admit I walked round.
S.Giles
Guest
I took my bicycle to Cambridge recently, and the cycle facilities were vastly superior to anywhere else I've been. There's also a bicycle shop on every street!
The cycle lanes in Doncaster (where, for my sins, I spend part of my time) are worse than useless. Doncaster council specialises in cycle lanes that end suddenly and dump you off on an unmarked pedestrian pavement. I hate riding on the pavement, so I don't use those cycle lanes. Last time I looked in the highway code book, there was a £500 penalty for riding a cycle on the pavement, so what's that all about?
Another Doncaster speciality is 'pedestrian' crossings marked as usable by cycles, even though there's no cycle lane leading to them (so you had to be riding on the pavement to get to them in the first place).
This vagueness needs to be sorted out for everyone's benefit.
Steve
The cycle lanes in Doncaster (where, for my sins, I spend part of my time) are worse than useless. Doncaster council specialises in cycle lanes that end suddenly and dump you off on an unmarked pedestrian pavement. I hate riding on the pavement, so I don't use those cycle lanes. Last time I looked in the highway code book, there was a £500 penalty for riding a cycle on the pavement, so what's that all about?
Another Doncaster speciality is 'pedestrian' crossings marked as usable by cycles, even though there's no cycle lane leading to them (so you had to be riding on the pavement to get to them in the first place).
This vagueness needs to be sorted out for everyone's benefit.
Steve
youngoldbloke
The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
Those 'cyclists dismount' signs baffle me. What are we supposed to do then? I've never seen a 'cyclists remount' sign.
what's wrong with cycling on the road - when i'm on the road i am part of the traffic, i'm not some alien who has just been dropped there from spaceWhy is it that cyclists ignore designated cycle tracks and ride on the road. Is there something I'm missing here or do they really get a kick out of riding in traffic.
Mike
People in cars are unaware of this.
youngoldbloke
The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
I do! I understand they are 'advisory only' anyway. I never use a cycle lane/shared path etc. unless it is to my advantage. I don't believe they are 'planned' by anyone with any experience of cycling whatsoever.
youngoldbloke
The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
I find it extremely distressing that so much money has been spent on such useless, pointless, 'cycling facilities', presumably in order that local authorities complete their given quota of such work, while elsewhere roads are left potholed and extremely dangerous for cyclists. It makes no sense whatsoever.
