Horrible Road Surface - Been honked every time!

[Bodhbh]

Craters....hackbike's picture sums it up (tempting to upload that to the fill that hole report, but then it wouldn't get taken seriously )

Photoshop a bus and a couple of cars onto it then!

 

[Banjo]

cycle Lanes

Hi Thomas as a beginner I bow to your greater experience but I cant understand your comment that you hate cycle lanes?

I think there great and feel much safer off the road.Why are you against them?

 

[Will1985]

I think there great and feel much safer off the road.Why are you against them?

When you say off the road, I think you are referring to cycle paths instead of the white line drawn 2' from the kerb on the actual road surface.

I dislike both - paths are more often than not shared with pedestrians and dog walkers which increase the danger to a cyclist.
Cycle lanes push the rider towards the side of the road, completely ignoring the concept of primary. Add to that the drain covers and ignorant motorists who use them as parking areas, then they really start to become a waste of white paint.

 

[thomas]

Hi Thomas as a beginner I bow to your greater experience but I cant understand your comment that you hate cycle lanes?

I think there great and feel much safer off the road.Why are you against them?

I think there is a time and place for them, for me personally I'd happily not have any. I understand for some people they make them feel safer, but that isn't the same as being safer. Many cycle lanes encourage poor road position, gutter hugging, going too close past parked cars, always filtering on the left, etc.

Near me, there are ones that shrink for pinch points, so not to "slow" down cars. Well, if it wasn't safe to pass that far out without the traffic island there, it isn't safe to pass closer with it there! There are others which would basically force you into pot holes (the one i'm getting honked at).

For shared paths:

Typically, I would be cycling at a speed that I wouldn't want to use a shared path. They say 18mph and over is too fast for them, I'm not saying I'm always doing that, but I don't really want to be dodging pedestrians, dogs, etc at any speed.

I don't want to stop every 100 yards to cross the road and a lot of foot paths are maintained worst than roads.

If cycle lanes were actually designed, rather than just...we've got some left over paint - let's put one in there. Maybe they would be useful.

I'm quite happy using busy roads, duel carriageways, etc. I think it's time some motorists learn to share a bit more.

I could probably go on forever, but I'm a little sleepy so this is all I could conjure up .

 

[Banjo]

I see your point that cycle paths/lanes arent good for great speed,not really a problem for me at this stage

There has been a lot of redevelopment done in our area over recent years ,some of the new pavements have two lanes,one for pedestrians ,one for bikes with a slight height difference and different colour surface.These are great to ride on though you do still have to cross roads etc but they are a lot better than a painted line down the edge of the main vehicle carriageway which as you say are probably worse than useless forcing you into the broken glass and drain cover zone.

 

[HelenD123]

There are actually some good cycle lanes in Hull - a metre wide in places and some have a hatched door zone between parked cars and the cycle lane. I quite happily use these.

 

[Amanda P]

Banjo, click through a few of these for reasons why cycle lanes can be a very bad idea.

Helen - I've seen a couple of places in the Hull area where, on the approach to a traffic island, the cycle lane actually gets wider, and - better still - there's a big sign saying DO NOT OVERTAKE CYCLISTS AT TRAFFIC ISLAND. Or words to that effect.

I'd like a pic of one of these arrangements to send to other councils as a suggestion. I'm pretty sure you pass one every day. Any chance of posting a pic?

(Thomas - semm to have hijacked your thread a bit. Oops).

 

[HelenD123]

Banjo, click through a few of these for reasons why cycle lanes can be a very bad idea.

Helen - I've seen a couple of places in the Hull area where, on the approach to a traffic island, the cycle lane actually gets wider, and - better still - there's a big sign saying DO NOT OVERTAKE CYCLISTS AT TRAFFIC ISLAND. Or words to that effect.

I'd like a pic of one of these arrangements to send to other councils as a suggestion. I'm pretty sure you pass one every day. Any chance of posting a pic?

I'll pack my camera next time I'm heading that way and get you a pic (I don't quite manage it on the bike every day). Actually there's no cycle lane then one appears for about 10 metres either side of the traffic island with the no overtaking sign.

 

[thomas]

I see your point that cycle paths/lanes arent good for great speed,not really a problem for me at this stage

There are some nice cycle lanes and in all fairness, the cycle lane I fuss about does go on to be nice and wide later on which means I get a reasonable amount of space. There are just plenty of really bad ones, or parts of them that can be dangerous...if they are I will just go outside of the cycle lane though.

I quite like the bikes on the ground, as they usually take up about a meter of the road and don't have a white line forcing you into anything, just a warning to drivers. I wouldn't mind those in places...along one of the longer roads I cycle along, something like that would be nice just so motorists expect cyclists along there a bit more and maybe are a bit more patient.

Helen - I've seen a couple of places in the Hull area where, on the approach to a traffic island, the cycle lane actually gets wider, and - better still - there's a big sign saying DO NOT OVERTAKE CYCLISTS AT TRAFFIC ISLAND. Or words to that effect.

(Thomas - semm to have hijacked your thread a bit. Oops).

Haha, no problem. . I'm happy fussing about cycle lanes - like to see these hull ones. Wouldn't mind no overtaking signs in some places, or things to remind drivers to overtake us with a nice amount of space!