the difference between the two is simple - speed hurts. People walking in a park do, in a general kind of way, owe it to others (and to themselves) not to walk in to one another, albeit that the risk is tiny. Cyclists, travelling at a greater speed, should ensure, as best they can, that they don't injure others, or put others in fear of injury. Further cyclists should get it in to their heads that their speed is seen as an affront, or disrespectful to the spirit of certain places, notably parks, which are, after all, places of recreation.
If memory serves the Highway Code tells us to ride on shared paths no faster than twelve miles an hour. Lambeth Council has imposed a five miles an hour speed limit across Clapham Common. I would say that if there were people on a shared path then eight or nine miles an hour would be a sensible maximum, and that one should reduce one's speed still further (as Ben does in his video) when close to pedestrians, especially children, the elderly, or people with headphones on. If you can't work out how to do this, take to the road. And if you can't work out why you should do this, then it' probably because you lack the ability to empathise with others.
