Future plans to be car-free..

[SAB]

One of the big risk factors putting me off the bike only life atm is that 1.7 miles of rural road between my village the the next small town over is a DEATH TRAP. Even in a car at a normal speed the hidden dips, bends and 'national speed limit+' attitude makes it dangerous. It's also part of the main road from Dublin to Derry where I live putting large HGVs and everything in between them on that road at all times of the day.

IF ONLY it wasn't for that stretch, that unavoidable stretch of road, I'd have a perfectly calm, river side cycle path which goes the remainder of the route into the city, breaking away from the road past playing fields etc reducing fumes. A truly beautiful, mostly flat light gradient commute into the third largest city in Ireland geographically and a way to study, work and get my supplies. I despise it.

I live with parents for university and have a car at the minute. Funds are too low to buy my own house, but when I do I plan on moving to the next village down - the one that does have that beautiful car-free cycle path.. then I plan to commute to work and everywhere else on bike. Hiring a car for road trips and getting the bus when it's icy. Goodbye £900 per year insurance. Goodbye £120 a year tax. Goodbye £20 a week petrol. Goodbye odd flat tyre £40 per wheel. Goodbye oil leaks. Goodbye contributing to the fuel problem and Co2 problem that's increasingly killing us.. That's a few years off at best.

Because in the future I'll be on cycle paths and shared paths virtually all the time I'll not be 'lane sharing' with cars, but rather pedestrians which I find easier to deal with. Particularly as even if a collision does occur it's not as fatal <I'm not a fast rider>. I was wondering from you commuters, do you have major incidents / dangerous stories of times you've been on a non-vehicular path on your bike?

Everybody laughs at the idea of car-free. Especially for someone who has a car already. Whilst right now it gets me in past that dangerous road to get me through uni, I'll embrace it. But I seriously dream of the two wheeled life when I can.

Some of you will probably tell me to man up and face that road. Others might agree. But what do you think? Am I leaving anything important out? I've posted before about various angles on the matter but have concluded that any car-free plan is a few years into the future for me.

 

[mjr]

I was wondering from you commuters, do you have major incidents / dangerous stories of times you've been on a non-vehicular path on your bike?

Bikes are vehicles - I think you mean non-motorised. But no. I remember one near-miss which was the fairly classic motorist pulling out of a driveway and not looking along the track, so stopping blocking it. I managed to stop in time and they backed into their drive, apologising. I've heard of several others colliding as a result of that and a few getting T-boned (by motorists who should be banned IMO as how can you not see someone right in front of you? It could as easily been a child walking as someone cycling), but that's not happened to me. I ride the cycle track alongside the A10 almost daily, in all weathers.

I've had a few collisions with cars, all minor, but they've all been on carriageways. I remember being run off the road once and a friend being run off, but again, carriageways, not cars entering tracks.

I've a vague set of principles that I follow when using non-motorised tracks which I've been meaning to write down for ages, so here goes:

• When all else is equal, keep left.
• But when you're on a track close to motorised traffic, keep to the side furthest from them - the extra space may give you more time to react when a nobber mounts the kerb without looking properly, as they often do to let emergency vehicles pass, or if there's any sort of obstruction in the carriageway (even including a motorist simply waiting to turn right). It also means you're a bit less likely to get hit by any debris or water the motorists flick up.
• But when you're passing oncoming cyclists, keep left - placing your left hand sideways with palm forwards, fingers to the left, on top of your left handlebar, will often persuade oncoming cyclists to pass on your right. Be ready to stop before a collision if they don't. Sometimes circumstances will mean it's simpler to pass to your right, but do it slowly, just in case they disagree.
• When you're passing a junction where a side road crosses the track, cover the brakes and keep left - other people using the junction will expect traffic to keep left and so that's where they'll normally look for you. Driveways count as side roads. If you see a vehicle approaching, slow and be ready to stop unless you're really sure you can clear the junction before they arrive. They may stop and let you across, but they may not.
• Try to time crossing side roads so it's physically impossible for a motorist on the carriageway next to you to slow and turn into the side road in the time before you're clear. This is easier if the side road entrance corner is tight (so a motorist has to slow more) and the crossing is a car length into the side road. Do not trust painted give-way lines on the road unless a motorist has actually stopped at them.
• Apart from the "the side furthest from them" idea, I think these are actually the same principles one should use when cycling on a road. There you also have the option to adopt primary position and try to "take the lane" when passing junctions, but some motorists will still overtake and turn across you (so-called "left hook"), dive across you oncoming ("right cross") or stick their nose out across a give way (failure to yield) so that's not 100% reliable anyway.

I've probably forgotten something there, though.

Oh and if your area is like mine, the motorist-centric government doesn't clear ice and snow from cycle tracks, so I use a bike with spiked tyres when it freezes. Official advice is to use the carriageway, which is both stressful and not reliably cleared of ice either, despite the tons of salt they spread on it each winter.

Some of you will probably tell me to man up and face that road. Others might agree. But what do you think? Am I leaving anything important out?

Yeah. Join a campaign group and push for the cycle path to the city to be extended another 1.7 miles and connect up that village. Write to whatever elected member you have at the bit of government is responsible for that road.

I moved to a place with cycle tracks connecting it the 5ish miles to the nearest town, as well as to various quiet country lanes. I think this is currently vastly underrated as a selling-point for homes and it'll only become more so as fuel prices increases and we have to get more serious about tackling pollution, so current residents should push for better cycling connections to make it easier to sell their homes when they want to. Although we're still not car-free, but the car's mainly kept now for the cross-country holiday visits (when National Rail nearly always does engineering), transporting bikes and the few urgent trips - if hire cars became easier and more bike-friendly, I could see us not replacing it at some point in the future.

 

[Welsh wheels]

In theory it's good to not, as it were, give over a stretch of road to motorists. In practice, it's often sensible to avoid certain roads. If you don't feel safe on that road, it's best to avoid it. If there really is no other way apart from that road, then keep the car for the time being.

 

[Bodhbh]

I would get an OS map - or whatever the equivalent in overthere is - and double check you really can't bypass that section of road by cutting thru somewhere or other, or taking the hit and adding on a couple of miles. I've gotten fairly creative on my commute and can limit interaction with traffic to a couple of junctions if I'm inclined (I am).

Shared paths they have own inconviences - and I'm not saying they have any less right to be there than you - dog walkers, motility scooters, people txting while riding, etc. Some people would rather take the road.

 

[snorri]

Some of you will probably tell me to man up and face that road. Others might agree. But what do you think? Am I leaving anything important out? I've posted before about various angles on the matter but have concluded that any car-free plan is a few years into the future for me.

Ignore any calls to man up, you know the road and all of the conditions you are likely to encounter throughout the year, if you are not relaxed at the prospect of dealing with these conditions, then don't attempt it.
Meantime, don't drop that car-free dream .

 

[mjr]

Shared paths they have own inconviences - and I'm not saying they have any less right to be there than you - dog walkers, motility scooters, people txting while riding, etc.

I don't suffer those much. People are basically friendly and a nice mellifluous bell, smile and wave seems to persuade most people to let you past happily, as long as the path/track is wide enough.

I'd say the biggest inconvenience is that non-motorised junction design is generally shoot, with loads of stuff that they wouldn't allow on carriageways any more, and blind junctions and corners can mean you have to slow down, peer round and be ready to stop so often that the stress of riding on the carriageway can sometimes be more attractive than the stress of dealing with that.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Car freedom is actually great. Ok, I have access to a car and ride a motorbike so it's not totally porridge powered transport.

But it is a lot of annual cost I'm no longer paying

 

[Tin Pot]

One of the big risk factors putting me off the bike only life atm is that 1.7 miles of rural road between my village the the next small town over is a DEATH TRAP. Even in a car at a normal speed the hidden dips, bends and 'national speed limit+' attitude makes it dangerous. It's also part of the main road from Dublin to Derry where I live putting large HGVs and everything in between them on that road at all times of the day.

IF ONLY it wasn't for that stretch, that unavoidable stretch of road, I'd have a perfectly calm, river side cycle path which goes the remainder of the route into the city, breaking away from the road past playing fields etc reducing fumes. A truly beautiful, mostly flat light gradient commute into the third largest city in Ireland geographically and a way to study, work and get my supplies. I despise it.

I live with parents for university and have a car at the minute. Funds are too low to buy my own house, but when I do I plan on moving to the next village down - the one that does have that beautiful car-free cycle path.. then I plan to commute to work and everywhere else on bike. Hiring a car for road trips and getting the bus when it's icy. Goodbye £900 per year insurance. Goodbye £120 a year tax. Goodbye £20 a week petrol. Goodbye odd flat tyre £40 per wheel. Goodbye oil leaks. Goodbye contributing to the fuel problem and Co2 problem that's increasingly killing us.. That's a few years off at best.

Because in the future I'll be on cycle paths and shared paths virtually all the time I'll not be 'lane sharing' with cars, but rather pedestrians which I find easier to deal with. Particularly as even if a collision does occur it's not as fatal <I'm not a fast rider>. I was wondering from you commuters, do you have major incidents / dangerous stories of times you've been on a non-vehicular path on your bike?

Everybody laughs at the idea of car-free. Especially for someone who has a car already. Whilst right now it gets me in past that dangerous road to get me through uni, I'll embrace it. But I seriously dream of the two wheeled life when I can.

Some of you will probably tell me to man up and face that road. Others might agree. But what do you think? Am I leaving anything important out? I've posted before about various angles on the matter but have concluded that any car-free plan is a few years into the future for me.

Which road is the death trap?

 

[captain nemo1701]

I was wondering from you commuters, do you have major incidents / dangerous stories of times you've been on a non-vehicular path on your bike?

In 8 years of commuting down the Bristol Railway Path I have only ever seen three accidents, two due to careless dog owners letting their pets off the lead onto the path. Last week, I saw a female cyclist getting stretchered off by paramedics after a collision. I've also encountered twonks on motorbikes and once, even a quad bike (see my youtube channel). However, it's inherently very, very safe. There are far more accidents in cars on the road!.

 

[screenman]

I wish you luck, personally I enjoy being a car owner and seldom give a thought to the cost.

 

[Sixmile]

Out of interest how far can you get down the country by using your traffic free route? I've cycled abit around lough foyle but never ventured south of stroke city on the bike.

 

[SAB]

@mjr Thanks for all those tips!

@Welsh wheels I agree!

@Bodhbh There’s one other way, though a much much more dangerous junction on a steeper hill that I’d struggle to get up is involved!

@snorri Thanks!

@Tin Pot It’s code is A5 and the nearest small town is called Newbuildings.

@User46386 I wouldn’t put it past local people in their battered ten year old BMWs to deliberately try and clip you with their mirror. They already drive TERRIFYINGLY fast to scare the sh*t out of cyclists. Sadly.

@Sixmile It’s the River Foyle / A5 road I’m next to! Are you local? It’s south of the city I would be commuting in from. I can get from stroke city to Newbuildings before the ‘official cycle route’ turns into a terrifying back road and the main road – which naturally the cycle route would continue along, if it was longer – is just a heavy traffic A road with no footpaths along the side. If you’re local you can picture the road I mean


I have cycled down it before, last summer. But it’s scary. When I say I have, I mean for a period of four weeks I would cycle even after work to the next village to buy dinner, cycle in on a Saturday afternoon to the city etc. It’s just how a slight clip, let alone worse, on a main road can mean death or worse, living with an extremely horrific physical or mental injury! It’s not that I’m lazy or scared of the effort cycling takes

 

[SAB]

Is there a path next to it?, I'd ride on that if its that bad.

There's no footpath on the first 1.7 miles.. just road and hedges/trees

 

[screenman]

You have a very poor view of your fellow motorists, make yourself visible.

 

[mjr]

You have a very poor view of your fellow motorists, make yourself visible.

He's visible anyway. So-called conspicuity aids (what's typically grouped under hi-viz) don't reduce casualties. I'm inclined to believe his claim that the road is deadly until someone shows me data.