Do you have to use cycle paths?

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sotal

Regular
I was out riding last week on a fairly regular route with a friend riding a bit behind.

As we approached a junction two blokes on bikes on the cycle path started to shout at us to use the cycle path calling us a variety of names.

As far as I was aware there is no requirement to use them, just wondered if I was wrong?

The road in question is a 30mph road. The cycle path comes and goes. Some of it is on the road, some is on the pavement. I use the bits on the road but have never used the bits on the pavements. They seem rather dangerous. I'm doing around 20mph along that road, the pavements have big bumps from tree roots, people driving out of their drives and many side roads to stop and cross at. I much prefer to stay on the road!
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
Simple answer No!!!, at 20mph your going too fast anyway, iirc the maximum recommended is 18 mph tops, ignore the ignorant muppets.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
No, other than for evaluation purposes.
At some point you'll have to rejoin the roads anyway.

Just because they are there doesn't mean I'll use them. Whatever people may feel I should be doing.
 

RoadRider400

Some bloke that likes cycling alone
Of course not. If I had to guess I bet the two blokes were on either hybrids of mountain bikes and have never experienced riding a road bike over uneven surfaces. No point tyring to reason with them, people like that will not have the cerebral capacity to understand. Just give them a smile and a thumbs up. Winds them up something chronic.
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
Blowing a kiss to idiots on the road is a great way to show your feeling for them.
Also when avoiding one particularly muddy death trap of a cycle lane, I was advised to "Get in the f*%!@in' cycle lane" the neanderthal was lost for words when I told him You'd be better off on a cycle lane ya fat nacker as his clapped out transit got stuck in traffic, any way it's one I would have used if it wasn't caked in mud & it happened that near home I caught up with the local PCSO, I mentioned it & he said he'd already rung it in as he had nearly come off his company MTB on it, and said it would be lethal on a road bike, funnily enough 8 hours later the mud was gone.
Basically it's likes everything in life, you risk assess it, if you think it's safer for you, use it, if it's crap infrastructure give it a miss, but no legal reason that you must use it.
 
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