Cycling on the pavement

Q,: Why do cyclists (sometimes) ride on the pavement?

They do so because:-

This road is is a very busy, it is too narrow for the volume of traffic that it carries.  If cyclists do persist in riding (legally) on the road, then not only do they place themselves in great danger, they hold up following traffic.   Even the pavement is not very wide.   Would you let your child cycle on this road?

   There are some stretches of cycleway, but they don’t last for long, nor do they connect up as part of a comprehensive network. 

   Naturally enough It is the pedestrian who complain about cyclists cycling on the pavement.   Oddly enough they are not so vociferous about motor vehicles on the pavement, yet they are a  much greater problem.

  http://pavementparking.blogspot.co.uk   

 Why is it then, if they are so worried about cyclists, that so many of these pedestrians walk on cycleways?

At time such as these, it pays to have a bell.

Dogs milling around, their movements are unpredictable, the owners too busy nattering to be aware of the problem they and their pooches pose to cyclists.  Although the pedestrian side looks clear, On this occasion the cyclist was brought to a halt by a dog running around.

Whilst one owner, draws his pooch from off the cycleway, another (a spaniel) progresses across the cyclist’s path, even though it was on a lead, the cyclist was brought to a halt, rather than run over the dog's lead.

I think that the colour red must be so appealing to them.

    Such a nice footpath, with a separate wide cycleway, and so clearly marked too (this one is in Italy). 

    So the bicycle can’t be quite the threat to pedestrians as they would like to make out. 

     Generally, English cycleways (even two-way ones) are too narrow.

Sop back to England, believe it or not, this is a signed cycle route, presumably shared-space with pedestrians, but along this busy 70 mph dual-carriageway, it is not fit for purpose for either pedestrians or cyclists.    AND, the crash barriers present a hazard, being in the wrong place.

See:-  http://unsafecrashbarriers.blogspot.co.uk   for more information.

This footway only leads to another main road, with a limited connection to a supermarket.

So why do cyclists sometimes ride on the pavement, well often or not, they haven't got a lot of choice, and even then the choice is likely to be rather limited.

The next blog will reflect on cycle links between villages and towns, etc.

01.01.2014.