"Use the cycle path" - comment spotted on local news website

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MissTillyFlop

Evil communist dictator, lover of gerbils & Pope.
Whilst I admire your vim and vogour, you'll spend your whole life doing this and the only person who'll feel worse is you.

Life's too short and there are too many plebs to correct.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
Unless the article has been changed since your comment was made, I can't see anything wrong with what they've said. If they haven't changed the article, then I'm afraid you've come across as kind a bit of a ranter.

As a faster cyclist I don't use cycle paths very often but they are a very good thing. The more people we can get out onto bikes the better really.
 
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Gixxerman

Gixxerman

Guru
Location
Market Rasen
Previous comment is still there when I looked at it.
For those the can't see it, it said:- "Cyclist's will still use the road like everywhere else in the county."
Which I believe has more than a hint of the person wanting cyclists to get off the road and onto the cycle path.
Hence my response.
 

Sandra6

Veteran
Location
Cumbria
I hear this a lot from motorists who clearly don't like bikes on the (their??) roads. I don't get it.
If there's a safe and sensible cycle path then most cyclists use it, but if it jumps up and down on and off pavements and means having to stop and wait to cross roads at roundabouts rather than cycle round then I totally understand why cyclists stay on the road.
I'm all for construction of more cycle paths, but some of the planners for such things clearly don't own a bike themselves.
 

compo

Veteran
Location
Harlow
I am all but 65. I have been riding since I was a pre teen on and off. I have done rural and urban cycling and In all that time I have never had a driver tell me to get off the road. I can probably count the altercations I have had with drivers on the fingers of one hand, and a couple of them were probably my fault or 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Whilst I wont be bullied on the road, and don't ride in the gutter, I am not a rider who takes up all the lane and is happy to see a tailback of cars because "I have a right to do so". I see myself as sharing the road with everyone else who is on the road and I get lots of toots and waves of thanks from motorists when I make way for them if I can without putting myself at risk or disadvantage.

Perhaps my attitude doesn't fit in with modern cycling philosophy but overall I am happy with my cycling lot.
 

Melonfish

Evil Genius in training.
Location
Warrington, UK
you get this in all the locals, frothy mouthed ranting at whatever really, you get regular types who like nothing better then bestowing their glorious opinion upon the unwashed masses.
sadly its usually misguided i agree that in this instance you'll just wind yourself up then make others see sense.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
I think it depends on how you interpret the post from Inside Story.
It could be that he is a cyclist who has studied the plans of the proposed works and realises they are deficient from the cyclists point of view. He has pre empted comments from the loony driver sector by getting in first to inform them it is unlikely all cyclists will use the new facility.
 

Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
I expect that Sustrans have thought this through better than the average local authority.

I emailed my local authority about a great wide cycle path which is about 1/2 mile long.

The problem with it is that when you get to the end of it, you have to get off your bike and walk if you want to turn right rather than going straight ahead or left. You cannot get back onto the road very easily at all.

The council planners admitted that the lane was not great for anyone going in my direction - there's only a large business park with about 1,000 employees or more in that direction anyway - and that my best course would be to stay on the road.
 
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Gixxerman

Gixxerman

Guru
Location
Market Rasen
I think it depends on how you interpret the post from Inside Story.
It could be that he is a cyclist who has studied the plans of the proposed works and realises they are deficient from the cyclists point of view. He has pre empted comments from the loony driver sector by getting in first to inform them it is unlikely all cyclists will use the new facility.
Good point. I never saw it from that point of view. I read it and immediately assumed that it was simply the usual, "we pay taxes for cycle paths and they don't use them" argument from car drivers. I still personally think that is what 'Inside Story' was hinting at, but I may be wrong.
 

downfader

extimus uero philosophus
Location
'ampsheeeer
Unless the article has been changed since your comment was made, I can't see anything wrong with what they've said. If they haven't changed the article, then I'm afraid you've come across as kind a bit of a ranter.

As a faster cyclist I don't use cycle paths very often but they are a very good thing. The more people we can get out onto bikes the better really.

I'm a faster cyclist, too. However I dont see anyone using these converted pavements other than myself and a handful of others. I'd go so far to say that:

- they dont encourage new riders
- they increase conflict between pedestrians and cyclists (I'm sure I'm not the only one to have been shouted at despite slowing down and ringing the bell to warn pedestrians, I'm certainly not the type to buzz them thats for sure)
- the surfacing is often worse than the road - Hamble Lane near me being an example - no space to move around both pedestrians and potholes, and with a frightening 40mph road where drivers regularly exceed this by some 20mph
- as above - getting holes filled takes quite some doing - look at Cycling Officer Bostock down here in Southampton - the sheer effort he had to put in before the Sky ride to get two filled in.
- they never provide any provision to cross side-roads/junctions safely - despite there being several options (recessed giveway lines and snaked cycle route)
 

wait4me

Veteran
Location
Lincolnshire
I hear this a lot from motorists who clearly don't like bikes on the (their??) roads. I don't get it.
If there's a safe and sensible cycle path then most cyclists use it, but if it jumps up and down on and off pavements and means having to stop and wait to cross roads at roundabouts rather than cycle round then I totally understand why cyclists stay on the road.
I'm all for construction of more cycle paths, but some of the planners for such things clearly don't own a bike themselves.
Beware of cycle paths that have driveways from properties crossing them. Most drivers leaving their property drive to the Kerb to see if the road is clear while forgetting there may be a cyclist coming along the cycleway/pavement. This is NOT a criticism of drivers just a warning.
 
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