Sounds like you did the sensible thing. They’re not mandatory.
Ah, mountain bikes on a cycle path. They were probably lumberjacks.
The father of a lass that I know was killed on a cylepath when he struck tree debris that had not been swept up. There are some decent ones about, but as a general rule of thumb cycle paths aren't nice places to be.Let's see...glassed, loose dogs (or, worse, dogs on extendable leads), dozy walkers with headphones,iced-up in winter, lose priority at every side road, terrible sightlines on corners, oncoming cyclists may be on the left or right...no, best avoided unless you are happy to go slowly and very carefully.
Report the drain covers on fill that holeWhatever happen to road sweepers? I have only just started riding a bike and the crap in the first 2 feet of the road is amazing, loose gravel glass dog poo and those tiny gas canister bottles! also do road surfacing companies not know how to level a drain or manhole cover with the road? some places there are 2 inches between them
One bullet in @HLaB link says: "Ride at a sensible speed for the situation and ensure you can stop in time. As a general rule, if you want to cycle quickly, say in excess of 18 mph/30 kph, then you should be riding on the road." This was a DfT consultation (2009) so maybe it's now in 'harder' print?He's totally wrong [saying one had to ride in a provided cycle path/lane]. If a cyclepath is there you may use it if you want to but if you are [riding] in excess of 18mph you should be on the road.
, Archived DfT quote.
For on road cycle lanes there isn't a guideline on speed but again you only have to use if you want to and often it isn't in your best interest to do so, ie at junctions they guide you to the point where most potential conflicts can take place. There are countless other reasons too.
Steve - life is far too short to even try to do so. If someone says/shouts something which isn't 'true' just wave and shout a cheery 'good morning' or 'have a good ride' (or whatever). I think we can all agree that it would be nice to be able to ride on cyclepaths without the aggravations (surface, debris, obstructions, 'Give Ways', design wiggles, other users ) but we live, in UK anyway, in the real world. And a cyclist who takes on the load of 'explaining the law' to others is on an infinite road () to personal frustration. I'm with @Drago here: have a 'ready to deliver' positive greeting in your response quiver, and ride on, on path or road "in a way that is considerate to the comfort and safety of others".I think it is actually worth stopping and explaining the law to them.