On/off road/pavement cycling

[Sandra6]

Apologies if this has been done before, but I'm curious as to others' opinions on the practice of hopping from road to path - you know to beat the lights or avoid sitting in traffic.
Is it a perfectly acceptable way to keep moving or an annoying inconsistency of cycling?
I'm torn.
For the most part it irrationally irritates me, but now and again I do it myself. I cycle on the pavement to avoid cobbled roads and when in town I cycle down the path and use the pedestrian crossing before joining the road again so that I don't have to go all the way round the one-way system.
If I saw me I'd probably want to slap me.

 

[cd365]

I personally never cycle on the pavement

 

[gaz]

I do it sometimes at vauxhall (going towards stockwell). I see it fine to do here as I enter via a dropped kerb or via a side road, and it's a shared use path.
As long as you do it legally and safely, there isn't a problem.

 

[akb]

If there is a road and pavement next to each other, my choice would be to use the road, adhering to the highway code by stopping at lights etc etc. If you feel you need to mount the pavement to save some time, then you should be leaving slightly earlier, IMHO of course!

 

[lulubel]

I do it on my MTB if it provides a means to get past stationary traffic, but ONLY if there aren't any legitimate users of the pavement (ie pedestrians) who will be affected by me using it. I don't go up and down kerbs on my road bike.

 

[cyberknight]

If they are adults i ask pavements cyclists if there mum does not allow them to ride on the road.

the only time i ride on a pavement is a shared path/cycle path .

 

[Boris Bajic]

Apologies if this has been done before, but I'm curious as to others' opinions on the practice of hopping from road to path - you know to beat the lights or avoid sitting in traffic.
Is it a perfectly acceptable way to keep moving or an annoying inconsistency of cycling?
I'm torn.
For the most part it irrationally irritates me, but now and again I do it myself. I cycle on the pavement to avoid cobbled roads and when in town I cycle down the path and use the pedestrian crossing before joining the road again so that I don't have to go all the way round the one-way system.
If I saw me I'd probably want to slap me.

Fear not. You are in the same boat as many of us. That is an honest admission.

I dislike it when others do it, but I've always seen Oxford Street as fair game. In fact Oxford Street and quite a few other parts of Central London.

I taught my children not to do it and I vever do it when they're with me. They know I'm a hypocrite, but I don't want to be brazen about it.

I see pavement use on Oxford Street and 'Nearside Filtering Plus'. The same only more so.

The only time when I get very moral about it is on my road bike with its delicate cycleparts. Is that a correct use of the word 'moral'?

 

[sidevalve]

Fear not. You are in the same boat as many of us. That is an honest admission.

I dislike it when others do it, but I've always seen Oxford Street as fair game. In fact Oxford Street and quite a few other parts of Central London.

I taught my children not to do it and I vever do it when they're with me. They know I'm a hypocrite, but I don't want to be brazen about it.

I see pavement use on Oxford Street and 'Nearside Filtering Plus'. The same only more so.

The only time when I get very moral about it is on my road bike with its delicate cycleparts. Is that a correct use of the word 'moral'?

By "delicate" do you mean it's too delicate to use on the road !? If so it's not really a road bike is it, it's a track bike. Which is a bit sad really as even the hottest supercar as loved by Clarkson can still be used around town, so it sort of defeats it's own object.
As for the OP, I often use the pavement but I just hop off the bike and walk, then nobody seems to mind and it only adds a few seconds to the journey.

 

[Boris Bajic]

By "delicate" do you mean it's too delicate to use on the road !? If so it's not really a road bike is it, it's a track bike. Which is a bit sad really as even the hottest supercar as loved by Clarkson can still be used around town, so it sort of defeats it's own object.
As for the OP, I often use the pavement but I just hop off the bike and walk, then nobody seems to mind and it only adds a few seconds to the journey.

Tee Hee.... I was kidding. The implication in my last paragraph was that I take a very moral line on pavement riding when it would involve hopping my road bike up and down kerbs, but that I adopt a different (and more flexible) moral approach when on a hardtail MTB.

By definition this is not a moral line and yet the language I was using suggested it was a moral response. I found a hint of humour in the clearly dichotomic apposition of the two notions.

I'll get my coat.

And ride off across the pavement.

On a hardtail.

Giggling.

 

[4F]

Apologies if this has been done before, but I'm curious as to others' opinions on the practice of hopping from road to path - you know to beat the lights or avoid sitting in traffic.
Is it a perfectly acceptable way to keep moving or an annoying inconsistency of cycling?
I'm torn.
For the most part it irrationally irritates me, but now and again I do it myself. I cycle on the pavement to avoid cobbled roads and when in town I cycle down the path and use the pedestrian crossing before joining the road again so that I don't have to go all the way round the one-way system.
If I saw me I'd probably want to slap me.

I am traffic and therefore use the road. As there is not a smilie for a slap please accept this instead

 

[sidevalve]

Tee Hee.... I was kidding. The implication in my last paragraph was that I take a very moral line on pavement riding when it would involve hopping my road bike up and down kerbs, but that I adopt a different (and more flexible) moral approach when on a hardtail MTB.

By definition this is not a moral line and yet the language I was using suggested it was a moral response. I found a hint of humour in the clearly dichotomic apposition of the two notions.

I'll get my coat.

And ride off across the pavement.

On a hardtail.

Giggling.

Thank god for that ! I was beginning to think we'd pushed the boudaries a bit too far !
However for a real question, when did this riding on the pavement thing begin ? I mean "when I were a lad", [sorry], well once you were above about six you rode on the road, and yes there WERE a lot of cars about then, as many of us will be able to confirm [with none of the "traffic calming" stuff we seem to have now, for what it's worth]. City centres were cram full and you took your chances, nor did you burst into tears every time some gonk made you brake or cut you up, somehow we just got on with it.

 

[Ian Cooper]

I think cycling on the pavement, either as a pseudo-legal way to beat a traffic light, or as a way to avoid 'scary' traffic, is suicidal.

Cyclists that constantly move in and out of traffic are less visible, unpredictable and therefore more likely to be hit.

If I ever have to use the pavement, I get off and walk the bike - and that's here in Montgomery County, MD, where cycling on the sidewalk is legal. I just think it's asking for trouble to cycle on the pavement.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Pavements are for pedestrians. Get off and walk if you need to use one.

 

[gambatte]

I ride on the road. I dislike cyclists, apart from kids, on the pavement.
That said, I believe the majority of drivers have lost any moral argument due to the amount of pavement parking and consequent obstructions

 

[Sandra6]

Thanks for the slap 4F -and the honest replies, everyone.
There are only a couple of times when I do it and for the most part I'm happy on the road or cycle path.
I spent years belligerently obstructing pavement cyclists with my pushchair so I always give way to pedestrians.