OK, I understand the left or right bit, but how do pedestrians manage to get above the cyclists ?
Because the pedestrians have priority. Often we have pavements marked with different style or colour paving slabs to denote cyclists one side and pedestrians the other, so it's where there is no defined cycle track and your both sharing the pavement together that we get the last sign.
Basically one of the reasons for cycling being so successful here is the strict order of priority, pedestrians have priority over all, hit a pedestrian and you'll be in a massive amount of bother, the same if any form of motor vehicle hits a bike. It's why I and many cyclists will cross side roads with barely a glance because we know that motorists will be going out of their way to look for you and avoid you.
We do have issues with head in the cloud pedestrians plugged into headphones, but because they have absolute priority, you slow down and ride around them as best you can. All in all, commuting through town is not a race and sharing paths doesn't slow me down appreciably.
I found it hard at first to get used to the fact that everyone knows the rules and abides strictly by them and it's not unusual after ringing your bell to get an unexpected apology from pedestrians who have strayed into the bike path.
