That's it, I am no longer defending Cyclists!

[coldel]

I definitely think there is a sizable percentage of cyclists that should use the lanes, they are not safe on the road to themselves or others.They are not travelling fast enough to warrant using the road over the lane as at that speed they can safely travel down the lane without incident.

For reference, I do cycle also and I am in a hotspot for cyclists (Richmond Surrey) and it is quite terrifying watching the number that just ignore lights, go way too fast down hills etc. I have seen a number of fatal incidents over the last few years due to inexperience/ignoring safety over going fast.

Edited by coldel on Wednesday 18th July 09:31

[MrBarry123]

hornmeister said:

So if the cycle lanes are unusable or unused, lets stop spending our taxes building them and concentrate on repairing road surfaces, making roads safer and possibly wider?

Or is that too sensible a suggestion?

Completely agreed.

[CrutyRammers]

coldel said:

I definitely think there is a sizable percentage of cyclists that should use the lanes, they are not safe on the road to themselves or others.They are not travelling fast enough to warrant using the road over the lane as at that speed they can safely travel down the lane without incident.

For reference, I do cycle also and I am in a hotspot for cyclists (Richmond Surrey) and it is quite terrifying watching the number that just ignore lights, go way too fast down hills etc. I have seen a number of fatal incidents over the last few years due to inexperience/ignoring safety over going fast.

Edited by coldel on Wednesday 18th July 09:31

You can of course say all of that about some drivers though.

[Pica-Pica]

coldel said:

BobSaunders said:

Welcome to come and borrow my bicycle and see how bad said cycle lanes are from a cyclist perspective, and then realise why the road is used. Usually street cleaning pushes glass, debris etc. onto the cycle path which in turn is never cleaned.

The road is additionally free for all to use. Cycle lanes are optional. Until that changes, legally, then there is no discussion or argument.

I've seen better care given to a pigeon in the road than a cyclist on a bike.

If the cycle lane was wide, clear, tidy and flat - would you still not use it then?

PS, lots of drivers are cyclists too, no need to offer the bike.

Indeed, our cycle lane is clean, tidy, and with a grass verge separating it from the road.

[budgie smuggler]

rgw2012 said:

^^^This - same on Southend seafront regards segregated cycle path (but it does actually get cleaned). However the MAMILs still have to use the narrow road that has pedestrian refuge islands so regularly that there is hardly any safe chance for cars to pass let alone the buses, so passing is often done too close and puts everyone at risk. Loads of money was spent on that cycle way so FFS use it for your own safety and to stop the congestion that follows the cyclists who don't!

At 35 I'm not sure if I count as a MAMIL yet? But anyway when it's quiet I use that bike lane. When it's busy, fk that. Pedestrians and kids especially use it as an extension as the pavement. Far too dangerous.

And I think you'll find a lot of the congestion there is from people trying to reverse out into traffic from those angled bays in the middle, the ped crossings and the cool dudes going up and down there all day at 10mph on their Harleys or muscle cars

edit: also I forgot it disappears at peter pans with a very abrupt stop, so if you're riding contraflow, you then have to stop, and cross 3 lanes of traffic to continue

Edited by budgie smuggler on Wednesday 18th July 09:42

[Tom1312]

rgw2012 said:

^^^This - same on Southend seafront regards segregated cycle path (but it does actually get cleaned). However the MAMILs still have to use the narrow road that has pedestrian refuge islands so regularly that there is hardly any safe chance for cars to pass let alone the buses, so passing is often done too close and puts everyone at risk. Loads of money was spent on that cycle way so FFS use it for your own safety and to stop the congestion that follows the cyclists who don't!

To be fair I know where you are talking about. It really doesn't get cleaned!

I ride along there quite alot and I'll never use the cycle path myself.

It's too dangerous, I ride along there at around 25mph and the amount of times I've had somebody step into the path in front of me is ridiculous or my personal favourite, park in it or just gather inside it means it's not as safe as the road.

I've only ever had one serious crash on my bike and that was when a child ran out in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes and swerve (not fun when clipped in) and I copped a load of abuse for it. So I'll stick to the road thanks...

Though the cyclist in the OP does sound like a knob.

[captain_cynic]

BobSaunders said:

Welcome to come and borrow my bicycle and see how bad said cycle lanes are from a cyclist perspective, and then realise why the road is used. Usually street cleaning pushes glass, debris etc. onto the cycle path which in turn is never cleaned.

The road is additionally free for all to use. Cycle lanes are optional. Until that changes, legally, then there is no discussion or argument.

Compared to the road which is littered with 2t moving obstacles going a minimum of 3 times faster than you... You're telling me that it's safer that a purpose built bike path.

If a few twigs and leaves on the bike path represent such a impediment... surely that's damning evidence that cyclists are too dangerous to ride on the road where the same detritus is mixed with oil and lubricants then ground up into a fine sludge.

BobSaunders said:

I've seen better care given to a pigeon in the road than a cyclist on a bike.

Are you wonder why?

[anonymous-user]

Familiar tale, but I just wish the cycling groups would lobby the authorities to stop wasting money on cycle paths rather than happily laughing while they spend taxpayers' money on things they have no intention of using.

[anonymous-user]

BobSaunders said:

I've seen better care given to a pigeon in the road than a cyclist on a bike.

To be fair pigeons are generally a lot nicer than the average cyclist, just saying

[anonymous-user]

Chicken and egg. If cyclists used cycle lanes they'd be much clearer of debris, as it'd naturally get swept off. The more debris, the more it attracts debris. Street sweepers on roads tend to clean the gutter rather than the main body of the road and you don't tend to see roads clogged with crap or cars with punctures every 5 yards.

[coldel]

CrutyRammers said:

coldel said:

I definitely think there is a sizable percentage of cyclists that should use the lanes, they are not safe on the road to themselves or others.They are not travelling fast enough to warrant using the road over the lane as at that speed they can safely travel down the lane without incident.

For reference, I do cycle also and I am in a hotspot for cyclists (Richmond Surrey) and it is quite terrifying watching the number that just ignore lights, go way too fast down hills etc. I have seen a number of fatal incidents over the last few years due to inexperience/ignoring safety over going fast.

Edited by coldel on Wednesday 18th July 09:31

You can of course say all of that about some drivers though.

Exactly, and they should also be castigated for the same. Cyclists shouldn't though escape criticism just because drivers do it, thats not an excuse.

[Tuvra]

BobSaunders said:

It's sensible. But, build cycle lanes which are able to be cleaned.. or are actually cleaned.

This is a local road to me, please tell me how you get a street sweeper into/onto those cycle lanes...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.4193349,-2.23192...

To edit.. you can actually see the glass in some of those pictures!!

You drive them into there.....

Our LA has these which are only 1.2m wide:-

[Hoofy]

I've been saying for a while they should just make the roads wider and not have kerbed-off cycle lanes. At least the "cycle lanes" would be kept clear of crap as this just keeps coming up again and again. Cycle lanes are a nice idea in principle but the reality is completely different and so we have much narrower roads.

[Byker28i]

We met a couple of lycra clad road terrorists at the weekend riding side by side with the outside one riding on the centre white line. 3 cars in convoy, the first overtakes on the other side of the road, which seems to infuriate said riders who then decide to ride down the center of each lane, only moving over when a car comes in the opposite direction. They kept this up for a few miles until the road widened and the others also got past.

[Tuvra]

Byker28i said:

We met a couple of lycra clad road terrorists at the weekend riding side by side with the outside one riding on the centre white line. 3 cars in convoy, the first overtakes on the other side of the road, which seems to infuriate said riders who then decide to ride down the center of each lane, only moving over when a car comes in the opposite direction. They kept this up for a few miles until the road widened and the others also got past.

I'm not sure how I'd react to that to be honest. Pretty sure the red mist would come down and I would go full mode.

[funkyrobot]

AllyBassman said:

I am normally one to defend cyclists on the roads, but last night tipped me over the edge.

There is a main road that I use every day, it's on a hill and it is quite narrow for the volume of traffic it carries. It has a path on the side of the road going down the hill.

Naturally, when a cyclists decides to take this route (going up the hill) it causes massive hold ups becuase:

- The cyclist isn't as fit as they think they are, so start flagging half way up the road and go at a near crawl
- As the road is narrow and normally busy in both directions, traffic cannot safely pass, so quite rightly does not.

Recently, the council has put in a lovely wide path/cycle path so that cyclists can use that to go up, rather than using the busy and dangerous road. So it's now got a small path on the side of the road going down the hill (not suitable for cyclists) and a lovely wide one on the side of the road going up.

Have I seen any cyclists use it? Nope.

Was I stuck behind a massive throbber going up the road instead of the cycle path causing hold-ups behind? Yes.

Rant over, cool story bro etc, etc!

Thanks for reading.

Here we go again.

Do you moan when you get stuck in traffic jams? I bet you are held up much more by other drivers than a few cyclists.

As for the cycle path issue, there is one near me that I use. It's off the road, so gets covered in rubbish, glass and is currently covered by overgrown hedges and bushes. No problem, I just get on with it. However, there are others I won't use simply because whoever put it there has ticked a box without even thinking about it.

I do wish vehicle drivers would stop blocking the bicycle sections at a junction down the road from where I live though. When I return from work, I use the bit marked out for bicycles to pass vehicles on the left and then sit at the front at the lights. Just lately, I've seen a lot of drivers blocking the lane and the section at the lights. I'm not defending drivers anymore.

[chow pan toon]

Byker28i said:

We met a couple of lycra clad road terrorists at the weekend riding side by side with the outside one riding on the centre white line. 3 cars in convoy, the first overtakes on the other side of the road, which seems to infuriate said riders who then decide to ride down the center of each lane, only moving over when a car comes in the opposite direction. They kept this up for a few miles until the road widened and the others also got past.

I'll take "things that never happened for 20 please"

[MikeyC]

In my area the council changed alot of the hard paths to foot+cycle - Great !
The bad news is that they are not flat at all
It's fine for walkers, but on a cycle at any moderate speed, you get shaken about alot.

For this reason, I can understand cyclists prefering to use the road, but they really should defer to faster traffic if they're causing a hold-up as per OP's post

[Glosphil]

Gloucester won an award for it's 'cycle tracks'. On the Stroud Road into Gloucester these are just lanes in the gutter separated from the main traffic with a dotted line. The space left in the centre of the road for cars, trucks, buses, etc. Is so narrow that two cars approaching in opposite directions have to encroach into the cycle lane to avoid a collision. Buses have no choice but to drive overlapping the cycle lane. I very very rarely see even a single cyclist on that route.

[funkyrobot]

Byker28i said:

We met a couple of lycra clad road terrorists at the weekend riding side by side with the outside one riding on the centre white line. 3 cars in convoy, the first overtakes on the other side of the road, which seems to infuriate said riders who then decide to ride down the center of each lane, only moving over when a car comes in the opposite direction. They kept this up for a few miles until the road widened and the others also got past.

Lycra clad road terrorists.

That's great coming from an organ donor.