I saw this only this morning in Salisbury.
The cycle path and footpath are one and the same piece of tarmac, separated by a continuous white line.
A young teenage cyclist was travelling along a cycle path. A couple (in their 50s) were walking along, one each side of the white line - no idea why. The cyclist had to swerve and was almost knocked off his bike by the male of the couple who for some reason tried to grab hold of the cyclist.
Said pedestrian was then berating the cyclist at the top of his voice and told both me and another passer-by the "f*@!#$ off" when we pointed out that he had been walinking on the cycle path.
The lycra clad morons are another issue but here was a blameless cyclist.
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Some cycle paths are fenced off from the pedestrian area, but people still walk in them. The only safe way to use these paths is to cycle at walking pace (might as well walk!) or on the road. I gave up on cycle paths a long while ago.
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It's old ******s like that who stopped me cycling into town to go to the bank, etc. Okay, now I walk which is even better for me and the bikes just rot. But I can understand people who go back from bicycles to cars.
HJ
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if you travel up and down the country you will see how many cycle paths are put in crazy places, and are often hardly used at all
i feel sympathy for pedestrains in some situations when half the path (which has been there generations) is suddenly painted up as a cycle path, and idiots start cycling along them at more than 30 mph
getting the mix between pedestrians/cycles/cars/etc right is more than just painting a few bus and cycle lanes up to meet some political target
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Have you ever tried to maintain thirty miles an hour on a bicycle? I can manage thirty in a sprint, and even 40+ down hill, but on the flat 99.999% of cyclists (including me) would die of heart failure if they tried to maintain that for more than a minute or two. Most cyclists ride at around 12-15mph. The amateur racing boys can cruise at 18-20mph for most of the day. Even they suffer at speeds much higher than that.
Chris
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Chris
Quite! I've seen about 35 on the Mountain Bike, but that was downhill and as fast as you can pedal. The gearing is just too low. Road bikes are rather faster, but a continuous 30 is unlikely unless it's the Tour de France. As you say a steady 12 - 15 is really it for the amateurs, and probably less off-road, where I feel a whole lot safer anyway.
Regards
john
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still too fast half an inch from pedestrians
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All,
The small West Sussex town I live in has a number of longish but narrow paths that double for pedestrian and cyclist alike. I have to be careful on my bike along these paths because the bike is relatively silent and the elderly who use the paths often have some hearing impairment.
It occurred to me that my new bike did not come fitted with a bell
(or mudguards for that matter either, its a hybrid) I must do something about that before I upset someone!
I enjoy cycling as much as driving, but this is quite a rural place. Cycling in an urban environment is probably pretty dangerous now.
Regards
Julian
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Near where I work in the West End of London ( Camden Council area) new cycle lanes have been created by putting kerb stones down the road and reducing what was a two-lane road to one lane and a cycle track.
This took months and must have cost many thousands of pounds.
I have yet to see a cycle use the track.
However, the other week a fire engine was trying to get down the road and, as it is now only one lane, got held up for several minutes.
I wondered how many people died as a result of that delay?
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West side of Russell Square towards the British Museum?.
At the same time they cut back the island at the junction of Russell Sq and Bedford Way allowing traffic to cut in at the last minute, missing the eastbound cylist in their blind spot.
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No, other side of Tottenham Court Road towards the Post Office Tower
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