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Post by ChrisD on Jun 23, 2014 6:28:00 GMT
On Saturday morning I had two very different experiences as vehicles drew up alongside me. On the first occasion it was a very kind woman shouting encouragement as I was getting to the top of a climb (I'm very happy using the word climb here as the sign at the bottom has 20% on it). Clearly she could see that dragging my mass up that gradient was an effort but I was grateful for the support and managed to find enough breath to eeek out a "Thank you" in reply.
The other experience was toward the end of the ride when a van drew up and the driver yelled "Cycle path!" at me through the open window as I had my head down trying to get to the roundabout up ahead. I guess my initial (silent) response to that wasn't as, well, shall we say, as positive as the episode earlier in the ride. I've been reflecting on this for a bit and I can see the point, though I didn't really appreciate the way it was made. On the other side of the road along that section is a relatively new cycle path with the Tarmac still looking fresh and smooth. It's at the end of a long straight drag of single carriageway that tends to see heavy traffic, especially in the summer. There is some shared cycle path elsewhere along that stretch which is not so fresh and some of it frankly was a building site on Saturday. The path crosses from one side to the other along the length of the road and the earlier sections are interrupted by the usual side roads etc. The busyness and speed of traffic on the road makes me very glad that the local authority has invested in extending the cycle path to cover a fair bit of what is not an easy road to ride. If I was on a family ride we would definitely be on the cycle path. Should I be thinking 'use it or lose it'? Or, at least 'use it or potentially lose the chance of other paths being added in the neighbourhood'?
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Post by captslog on Jun 23, 2014 8:02:38 GMT
I sometimes use the cycle path, it depends upon where they are, how they run, and the surface. There are so many of them where you'd have to stop every few yards to give way for some reason, where on the road I'd have the some priority as the traffic. NOT using the cyclepath always makes me feel a bit self concious when it comes to a pinch-point, and I know that I will be holding up traffic
Some of the stretches I ride though have decent cyclepaths; off the road, safe and fast. It always annoys me to see people ignore these bits of cycle path to ride on the road. There seems to be some idea that the paths are there for kids and they are 'too macho' to use them. I look forward to the times where I can zip passed them on the CP as they are being 'serious cyclist' on the road.
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Post by Radchenister on Jun 23, 2014 8:26:47 GMT
Let's be truthful, many aren't fit for purpose, I used parts of a wide combined pavement / path to get through part of Gloucester yesterday but eventually abandoned it for the road again, as it was getting tricky to navigate at circa 30kmh due to being poorly set up. Eventually dropped off a kerb once heading out of town, as I wondered why two burly black clothed blokes were blocking the path and staring down the road my direction; they were stood near a crossing, inside the push button post. Once I'd checked over my shoulder, made my full kerb drop neatly and got seated again, I realised what they were up to ... 'afternoon officers', thinks to self 'enjoy playing with your speed camera whilst blocking my route why don't you' - they looked puzzled at my pacey but safe pavement dismount, didn't stop me though as think they were still computing why I'd made my move - would have been an interesting discussion if they did stop me.
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Post by wardyuk on Jun 23, 2014 8:45:30 GMT
I'll be honest - I almost never use cycle paths etc.. my bikes a road bike, and whilst the quality of the roads is at best, dubious.. they're almost always better than the state of cyclepaths, and I figure at the speeds I go at, its not safe being somewhere where there's a risk of pedestrians getting in on the mix - besides, cycles paths have far more curbs etc to negotiate than on a road.
The highway code, incidentally does state:
"Use of these facilities is not compulsory and will depend on your experience and skills, but they can make your journey safer"
...relating to cycle ways/cycle paths/junction markings etc and as bikes are legally classed as "carriages" we have as much right to be on the road as any other vehicle - I'll always pick whichever is safest and most conducive to a "comfortable" ride
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Post by KiwiBeard on Jun 23, 2014 8:52:32 GMT
I don't believe that cycle paths are appropriate for people cycling at 15mph anyway, even if there were up to standard (which they generally aren't).
I have seen some ones in the countryside of France/Germany which I would be more than happy to use however. The UK just does not do cycle paths well.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2014 8:53:57 GMT
I have often wanted to shout encouragement to a bloke i see regularly going up a steep hill near where i pick my son up but decide not to in case it is construed as an insult, so good on her maybe i should give it a go.
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Post by Phil on Jun 23, 2014 8:54:29 GMT
I'll be honest - I almost never use cycle paths etc.. my bikes a road bike, and whilst the quality of the roads is at best, dubious.. they're almost always better than the state of cyclepaths, and I figure at the speeds I go at, its not safe being somewhere where there's a risk of pedestrians getting in on the mix - besides, cycles paths have far more curbs etc to negotiate than on a road. I think this is a key point when it comes to using cycle paths in the type of riding we do. If I was using my bike to get around town I'd be on cycle paths where there are some, and actually on a big junction I will use them, but when on the roads cracking along at a good speed it's probably safer on the road than on the cycle paths. On a cycle path, there's more chance of a dog/small child suddenly veering in front of you than there is on the road simply because there are less barriers/defined boundaries than between the road and path.
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Post by Steph on Jun 23, 2014 9:12:34 GMT
There are only 2 around here that I use. 1 is actually a fairly decent cycle path that they are in the process of extending. Should make it one of the best in the city. Unfortunately it's only about half a mile long, if that. It's nice and wide, clear solid line down the middle so pedestrians aren't usually a problem, no side rides to contend with and a nice surface. Avoids a nasty road and junction too.
The other I use is quite the opposite. 2-3 miles long at least, awful surface, a lot of side roads and driveways, a section that takes you onto the road on the wrong side, through a bus stop at that. But the road there is very narrow, very fast and full of pinch points so I stick to the path if I go that way (which isn't often anymore, because of the poor facilities.) It also just ends in the middle of no where and dumps you back onto the road at an awkward place.
Most other cycle paths I come across on my route are just not worth using for one reason or another. Mostly poor surfaces and side roads but also because I can do 20mph+ on the road and I'm not going to do that on a cycle path. I do get a bit guilty I suppose if I'm using the road when there is a cycle path right there, and feel like I can't complain when someone passes me too closely in that situation, but at the end of the day I'm going to cycle where I feel safest and that is usually on the road (despite some of the idiot drivers.)
I don't think Coventry City Council knows what they are doing when it comes to the cycle facilities around here. If it is a case of use it or lose it (which I don't think it is tbh) then most wouldn't be a big loss.
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Post by stevo on Jun 23, 2014 9:26:48 GMT
perhaps he was just shouting 'Psychopath' for exerting all that energy on a hot day? ;-)
.............I'm here all week folks!!
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Post by r0b1et on Jun 23, 2014 9:59:28 GMT
Let's be truthful, many aren't fit for purpose, I used parts of a wide combined pavement / path to get through part of Gloucester yesterday but eventually abandoned it for the road again, as it was getting tricky to navigate at circa 30kmh due to being poorly set up. THIS THIS THIS. Both places I tend to cycle (around Reading and Fareham) have a selection of diabolical cycle paths. There is a lovely looking new one along the sea front for example, that is so well made that the waves in it make it essentially unridable for mountain bikes - I reckon if you could maintain a decent speed you could make music with them. But I like my wheels and I'm not training for the pave - so I'm on the road. Then there are the paths that are a decent surface, but then every 200m have a bus stop in the middle, complete with people milling around the path. So I'm on the road. Or the paths marked at the side of the road... excepting that they are full of parked cars - so I'm on the road. Or that I have to give way to every side road - so I'm on the road. They are always far too narrow, if I'm doing 20mph+ I am MUCH faster than most cycle path users and there is rarely space to pass them... so if that's a danger, I'm on the road. Poorly designed or constructed cycle paths do more harm to cyclists than good. Grr.
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Post by captslog on Jun 23, 2014 10:12:12 GMT
Does anyone else ever see this.......
You'll have one of those cycle lanes hat run on the carriageway, it's just separated by a bit of paint from the main drag by a line of paint. Along comes a cycle, BUT in the opposite direction to the traffic flow!
What is it with these people, are they suicidal or just dim?
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Post by Radchenister on Jun 23, 2014 10:49:04 GMT
Dim! Around here it's pretty remote, we don't get that sort of thing - but when I go into towns and cities I see all sorts. My gripes with the small lane along the A road here is those that get irate if we ride two abreast early on a Sunday morning when hardly anyone is up and about - why the odd driver gets all beapy and sweary is beyond me, what's the problem with these folk? Rarer but probably more dangerous is the odd person at other times who sees the line as a sort of 'firewall', almost like a kind of imaginary Armco, that means they float along fairly fast and close to you, not even moving out an inch to give you some safety, they're all cosy in their box and don't register that they've just sent 2 tonnes of metal close to a human (wonder if they'd be this blasΓ© if you gave them a rifle and asked them to shoot past someone that close). I find this lack of empathy particularly annoying, when all the 'cycle lane' is in reality is just a dashed white line on a fast A road and the route it delineates is messed up - I've had the local one flooded, full of mucky farm run off, full of hedge trimmings, umpteen potholes, in places it's like a cobbled street, missing lines of bitumen that'll catch your tyre, where road trenches are run through it etc. I think there's a distinction between the types of uses that people need to be careful about and that on the other hand, road designing hasn't caught up with fully; also differences in town and country, as well as commuting riders, pootling for pleasure and leisure with kids, riding for sporty leisure, racing and training. Cycle lanes don't fit all the profiles, nor do roads. Perhaps it's too much to expect them to but things could certainly be improved, we're in the 21st Century now aren't we (?), funding and resources are claimed to be the issue / barrier more often than not - whilst the City of London builds its towers, the local residents there are locked in an 'us and them' Daily Mail fuelled power struggle and the rest of us just get by whilst the majority of the country's infrastructure falls apart.
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Post by KiwiBeard on Jun 23, 2014 12:04:39 GMT
Does anyone else ever see this....... You'll have one of those cycle lanes hat run on the carriageway, it's just separated by a bit of paint from the main drag by a line of paint. Along comes a cycle, BUT in the opposite direction to the traffic flow! What is it with these people, are they suicidal or just dim? had the same yesterday albeit not a cycle path, just some idiots cycling on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic ie me, all lycraed up and helmeted. I just assumed they were french, and in that case probably couldn't understand the choice words my wife yelled at them. Also, had yet another argument with some customers of Evans around the corner who insist on cycling the wrong way down our one way street. The first girl said 'oops, sorry I didn't know', then gave the bike to her friend to also try. Very wobbly and a car coming down the street. Do these people not realise a) the danger to themselves, b) how much they will have to pay in damages if they cause an accident?? </rant over> sorry
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Post by erictherat on Jun 23, 2014 13:25:43 GMT
Never found a decent cycle path I would want to use.
Made a trip up to the national cycle centre in Manchester. All new roads, blue cycle paths separated from the raod by a separate curb. tasty, i thought - lets try em. purpose built, next to the national centre for our sport, they gonna be well planned - i thought. excitedly i tried the path...
got about 500m down it when - due to an obviously essential box in the pavement - the path makes 3 90 degree turns around the mystery box before continuing. I had to brake hard, get off, walk bike around slalom hazard, get back on and continue... on the road.
there is a good one on the footpath on the road between hope and hathersage. I tried to use it once and nearly took out several walkers, who thought they were on the pavement.
never found a usable path yet.
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Post by r0b1et on Jun 23, 2014 14:55:06 GMT
Do these people not realise a) the danger to themselves, b) how much they will have to pay in damages if they cause an accident?? <cynical> Nothing, they will give you a false name and address and you have no way of knowing. </cynical>
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