Hit by cyclist!

[Candaules]

I was walking along the pavement this morning, when a cyclist hurtled towards me, and slammed into my arm with his handlebar. It was a narrow pavement, on a busy high street, with the farmers' market going on. He did stop (he wobbled so badly he probably had no choice), and he did (after I had a few choice words with him) apologize. But he then rode off, as before, on the pavement.

I feel annoyed by this, probably more than I should. I never cycle on the pavement. The dangers are obvious (as well as it being illegal), and it gives us all a bad name. Why are some people so stupid?

 

[Hip Priest]

I find pavement cyclists extremely annoying. Before I was a cyclist myself, I stepped out of my office one evening and got skimmed by some MTB rider flying along at high-speed. I called him an idiot and got the old Nescafe gesture.

 

[annedonnelly]

There may be reasons why some people need to ride on the pavement. But there is never an excuse for them to ride fast or recklessly so that they endanger or frighten pedestrians.

 

[HLaB]

I sometimes take a short cut back to the flat straight over the Crescent Bridge Rbt in Peterborough, sometimes I don't fancy dicing with 3 lanes of circulating traffic from a stationary uphill start on a heavy SS so I take the cycle/ped underpass instead. It dumps you on the wrong side of Thorpe Road, so I use the footpath. One night before Christmas, I done this and got off, the path is quite narrow and often full of peds, as it was that night. Just as I wheeled the bike up the hill past a woman, a pavement cyclist came down round the blind bend at speed and starts swearing at us for blocking his footpath

 

[Biker Joe]

You have my sympathy.
It's an unfortunate fact of life that people can sometimes be so inconsiderate.
I hope that by giving vent to your feelings it has been of some help to you.
It is good to have somewhere to go where you will find people with a sympathetic ear.
I hope your future excursions will be less endangered.
Take care

 

[Dave 123]

Bloody cyclists!

 

[fossyant]

Should have d-locked him (assuming you always carry your d-lock)

 

[MrJamie]

That guy was clearly an idiot, but I don't think pavement cycling is synonymous with bowling over grannies etc. There are a few (out of town) pavements I cycle on because they're very very quiet and avoid busy roads or junctions or because im going ridiculously slowly up a steep hill, when I do so I know I shouldn't really be there, so if I do happen to see a person I slow right down and do my best to keep out of their way. Also if im really holding up traffic in primary, ill sometimes signal left and pull over or ill sometimes pop onto a safe empty pavement until the cars have passed. Probably not a popular opinion on here, but it seems to work

 

[Onthedrops]

Lucky escape for you really.

Saying that, the pavements round here have much better surfaces than the roads!

 

[Accy cyclist]

I hate having to mount and ride a pavement and i'll only do it if it's pedestrian free, but i feel like i'm giving in to some down right nasty bike haters by doing so!

 

[Crankarm]

I was walking along the pavement this morning, when a cyclist hurtled towards me, and slammed into my arm with his handlebar. It was a narrow pavement, on a busy high street, with the farmers' market going on. He did stop (he wobbled so badly he probably had no choice), and he did (after I had a few choice words with him) apologize. But he then rode off, as before, on the pavement.

I feel annoyed by this, probably more than I should. I never cycle on the pavement. The dangers are obvious (as well as it being illegal), and it gives us all a bad name. Why are some people so stupid?

"Ger-off my p-a-v-e-m-e-n-t ! "

 

[Candaules]

Thanks for all your sympathy. I feel better now. I just needed a moan, really.

 

[sidevalve]

Nice to see the number of replies who will find an excuse for a cyclist beaking the law. If I were to ride my motorcycle down the footpath woud you find an excuse for that also ?
Untill cyclists act responsibly they won't be treated responsibly. There are lots of examples of stupid bad and dangerous driving but when asked to comment other drivers don't try to find excuses for it

 

[Biker Joe]

Thanks for all your sympathy. I feel better now. I just needed a moan, really.

That's great. Your moan was justified and this was the place to have it.
You've elicited the sympathy you needed to help you feel better and you've given others the opportunity to express their views on the matter.
It has also shown that their are times and situations where the use of a pedestrian footpath by a cyclist is justified, in regard to the health and safety of the cyclist.Providing it is done responsibly..
So, thank you for your post and I'm glad you're feeling better because of it.
I wish you well

 

[PK99]

That guy was clearly an idiot, but I don't think pavement cycling is synonymous with bowling over grannies etc. There are a few (out of town) pavements I cycle on because they're very very quiet and avoid busy roads or junctions or because im going ridiculously slowly up a steep hill, when I do so I know I shouldn't really be there, so if I do happen to see a person I slow right down and do my best to keep out of their way. Also if im really holding up traffic in primary, ill sometimes signal left and pull over or ill sometimes pop onto a safe empty pavement until the cars have passed. Probably not a popular opinion on here, but it seems to work

there is a big difference beteween cycling on an empty pavement and cycling on an occupied pavement and weaving between pedestrians or threatening to bowl them over by cycling at speed