Walking in cycle lanes

RyanB

Belfast certainly wouldn't win many prizes for being bike friendly, and lately I think its actually getting worse. I find myself getting increasingly militant at the morons who insist on meandering to work in the cycle lanes. This morning I had to go around some eejit who decided that the lane would be a perfect place for an early morning stroll. On taking this evasive action I nearly clattered some other guy who wasn't looking where he was going either. Rollickings were handed out to all concerned.

Anyone interested in changing things in Belfast however, take note:

http://www.belfastcyclecity.org.uk/

soy_sauce

there are plenty of those people all around in the UK. they normally listening to their iPod while walking so they never hear you shouting "excuse me" and when they final realised you are right next to them trying to get throught, they said "WTF?!!"

Paulie W

Or my favourite thing: jump into your path rather than move out of it.

Aidy

I quite like the rocking back and forth.

I'm quite capable of moving around them if they continue on their original trajectory, or stop, but most of them seem to move as if caught in some form of unpredictable brownian motion.

NGale

walkers in the cycling lanes is the biggest thing to get on my tits (putting it as politely as I possibly can't). It is a big problem in Exeter, tI have lost count at the amount of times I've had walkers complain at me when I'm in the right and ask them politely to move out of the way.

We also get alot of complaining letters in the papers from walkers complaining about cyclists and their attitudues...they do fail to mention that them and their dogs were most likely on the bl**dy cycle path at the time!

Porgy

I'm convinced that most of the people who complain about seeing cyclists on the pavement have really seen a cyclist on a cycle path or shared use pavement.

People are idiots.

Cartesian Centaur

Just try not to get so irate with them that you shove them in the road. Not that I have ever done this.

rhext

That would be one of the main reasons I don't use the cycle lanes! The others being:

Dogs (either off the lead, or on it with their owner on the other side of the path)
The fact that you have to stop at all crossings, even minor roads where you would normally have right of way.
Dogs
And did I mention dogs!

Runoutofgears

Pedestrians and cycle paths pose an interesting challenge to the average cyclist, the degree of certainty brought about by the highway code when cycling on the road are sorely missed. If the path is segregated peds ignore it and the idea of sharing the path is fine as long as they don’t have to share.

A couple of my favourite encounters have been:

Two old dears stood either side of the path with a cloud of small dogs, (5 No.) between them. As I approach I slow but the panic has set in, so I stop just short of the ensuing dog herding exercise. As I push off one of the old dears shouts “you’re going too fast”, I leave dumbfounded wondering what is about to happen as a speeding cyclist passes me going in their direction!

The family group, plodding along the path, lost in conversation whilst occupying the full width of the path between them. As I rumble up towards them I ring my bell, (yes I still have the bell fitted), then again and a third time, by now I’m almost track standing behind them when I ask; “excuse me please“ only for the rear most ped to jump out of their skin and yell “ why didn’t you ring your bell?” Telling them that you did, three times resulted in denial.

Another one is the surprise backward step performed by a senior gentleman who initially is on the Peds side of the track, but who decides that it would be fine to step back into the other lane at the last moment and bend down to pat his friend’s dog as you approach.

It’s weird to my mind why ped’s don’t see bikes as a possible hazard, I would'nt ignor 80kg travelling at 7 to 16 MPH. Even when you slow down for them it’s not enough, they seem to think you should get off and walk past them.

Porgy

Runoutofgears wrote:

It’s weird to my mind why ped’s don’t see bikes as a possible hazard, I would'nt ignor 80kg travelling at 7 to 16 MPH. Even when you slow down for them it’s not enough, they seem to think you should get off and walk past them.

One thing that doesn;t make sense is the disparity between what peds say related to cyclists on the road and how they behave on cycle lanes.

The claim is that they are too scared to walk on the pavement most of the time when nasty cyclists come hurtling by...or they harp on about the terrible threat to life and limb when an RLJer speeds through the lights.

On a cycle lane however they seem to be impervious to all - will quite happily step out in front of an 18 stone bloke with two full panniers hurtling along at between 15 and 20 mph. sometimes you ding and they look and then they carry on as if they hadn't seen you - so obviously I'm a big threat to their safety. Other times a cyclist ahead will ding, say excuse me, and finally get past a lane hogging ped/group of peds, even point out that this is a cycle lane and can they please walk to the larger, extremely nearby and much safer ped bit, and they will, having moved aside for this cyclists, move BACK In to the cycle lane just as I'm approaching from behind, and we go through the whole thing again!! :evil:

chuckcork

Porgy wrote:

On a cycle lane however they seem to be impervious to all - will quite happily step out in front of an 18 stone bloke with two full panniers hurtling along at between 15 and 20 mph.

Advice is I understand that above 18mph the road should be ued by preference, though given Richmond Park has a 15mph limit on the footpath around the outside I'd say it should be lower.

Personally my "favourite" moment was the stupid young woman outside Kingston College who though it would be absolutely hilarious to stand in the middle of the path as I approached (she ran over to the path to do so) then when I went to avoid her by a good margin moved to try and get in front of me again. If I'd slammed into at a good speed I wonder if she would still be laughing?

Why can't such obviously stupid people go turf themselves out of the gene pool and play chicken with say HGV's or trains instead? At least that way the only person they would hurt would be themselves, though saying that I guess the drivers would be pretty upset at someone suiciding by their truck/train....

Second "favourite" moment is when I'm behind some other cyclists going over Kingston Bridge, 3 walking abreast, girl in cycle lane.The others go past her and she screams in fright, I go past a few seconds later and she screams again. No effort made to move over or look at what might be coming. What did she think was going to happen walking up a cycle lane? She'd be overtaken by a flock of fluffy ducks?

prj45

Replace "pedestrian" with "cyclist" and "cyclist" with "us car drivers" and this thread could live quite happily on Piston Heads.

Porgy

prj45 wrote:

Replace "pedestrian" with "cyclist" and "cyclist" with "us car drivers" and this thread could live quite happily on Piston Heads.

I was waiting for this idiotic response.

Ha ha - as if pedestrians walked on the roads so much that the cars couldn;t get past.

I wish!

toshmund

Am glad to see that we do not have a monoply on the idiots in this area, and that my tolerance level/incidence level, seems to be common amongst everyone else so far. I cannot understand why people walk through a public park, which is grassed/dry and not muddy, but walk on the path/cycle path. As long as there are no stipulations about keeping off the grass, I always try to avoid narrow footpath/cycle lanes. Maybe the dog owners are concious of the amount of .... about.

While we are on it though, muppets who don't have the nounce to cycle on the left in the cycle lanes need a good shoe'ing as well, while we have the Kangaroo court in session. They invariably then meander along so slow - you wonder how they manage to stay upright. Then, to cap it off - veer off on a tangent, without looking around.

Don't get me started on the suicidal rabbits we have around here...

Porgy

chuckcork wrote:

Porgy wrote:

On a cycle lane however they seem to be impervious to all - will quite happily step out in front of an 18 stone bloke with two full panniers hurtling along at between 15 and 20 mph.

Advice is I understand that above 18mph the road should be ued by preference, though given Richmond Park has a 15mph limit on the footpath around the outside I'd say it should be lower.

I was being kind to myself - I'm probably more towards the 10 to 15 mph these days - though faster on the downhill stretch in Hyde Park - a nice wide path with plenty of visibility.

However fast I go - I've always managed to stop for the idiot who jumps in my way at the last moment - which is what's important.

Toshmund wrote:

While we are on it though, muppets who don't have the nounce to cycle on the left in the cycle lanes need a good shoe'ing as well, while we have the Kangaroo court in session. They invariably then meander along so slow - you wonder how they manage to stay upright. Then, to cap it off - veer off on a tangent, without looking around.

I've started a thread about this on BR - quite a while ago - and I think the response tended to be - stop using cycle paths - which i now have. But I don't think it was quite the response I expected. :?

Don't get me started on the suicidal rabbits we have around here...

dinner?

prj45

Porgy wrote:

I was waiting for this idiotic response.

Why's it idiotic? Some of the "my cycle lane" attitudes on here belong on piston heads with the "my road" arguments.

A reminder that pedestrians have right of way at all times in the park, even on cycle lanes; you must yeild to them.

If you strike a ped in the park you're in proper trouble, it will be viewed as your fault even if it is on a cycle lane.

I only wish it were the same on the roads.

Fireblade96

My old commute to work had a slightly downhill stretch to a traffic-light-controlled crossroads. It was in the town centre and busy, also near several bus stops.

With the lights in my favour, I could go through the crossroads at probably 15-20 mph. I lost count of the number of times peds would look at me, at the lights, at me again (now approaching them fast).....and then lurch out into the road !

I found out that screaming "Aaaaargh, my brakes don't work" as I approached tended to clear a path :twisted:

itboffin

I love the bright green mini road with raised kerbs and cycles painted all over at Waterloo station for some reason peds are drawn to it like moths to the moon.

It's just a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

girv73

I use Sustrans Route 9 in Belfast a lot and it's cursed with pedestrians and their attendant clouds of whirling, sh177ing dogs as described above. You need to be down early on a Sunday or else it's a stop-go exercise in frustration as you pick your way through the oblivious herds. Cycles have priority along the path, but try getting that through to the plodders in front of you! You'd be better hopping over the fence on to the motorway!

I also use the Comber Greenway path, but it's 50/50 shared use so I don't mind the pedestrians so much.

My best ever encounter with a pedestrian wasn't even in a cycle lane: it was a young girl who crossed two lanes of traffic just to stand in my way as I tried to turn right across a further two lanes. WTF!? "You're very stupid." I said to her (really), she agreed and went back to the footpath.

rally200

Porgy wrote:

prj45 wrote:

Replace "pedestrian" with "cyclist" and "cyclist" with "us car drivers" and this thread could live quite happily on Piston Heads.

I was waiting for this idiotic response.

Ha ha - as if pedestrians walked on the roads so much that the cars couldn;t get past.

I wish!

I was waiting for this imbecilic response to someones opinion.

if you're too busy, or too important to give a bit of courtesy to peds then take your stabilisers off and ride on the road.

jjojjas

:roll:
usual moaning bollocks on here I see.
"it's my road!!"
"No it's mine..."
"No it's.........
YAWWWWNNNNN.

RyanB

if you're too busy, or too important to give a bit of courtesy to peds then take your stabilisers off and ride on the road.

Actually, perhaps I should have clarified this in my original post - the cycle lane in question is a dedicated cycle lane, not a shared cycle lane, where its to be expected that pedestrians will wander into the cycle path (hell, I sometimes have to cycle on the pedestrian side)

No, what I'm talking about are dedicated cycle lanes (i.e. raised kerbs on both the footpath side and the roadside seperating the cycle lane from both)

Why people insist on walking in these is beyond me, and no amount of "courtesy to peds" can convince me that something is simply wrong with a person who insists on walking in it.

starseven

I tried not to get too annoyed with pedestrians,sometimes I am one and it seems a bit too much like car drivers getting annoyed with cyclists. Live and let live, if you have to stop and going around someone so what?

starseven

Except the skanking chav wasters in dirty tracksuits and ridiculous hats, they get mown down and shown no mercy!!

RyanB

Live and let live, if you have to stop and going around someone so what?

Becuase it brings me back to my original point. In Belfast it seems like we're short enough of decent well thought out cycle facilities, without the few we have being thoughtlessly compromised. Thats why I'm getting increasingly frustrated/militant about it.

DanielCoffey

I think these situations are what the Air Zound was invented for...

girv73

DanielCoffey wrote:

I think these situations are what the Bar Mounted Frikkin Laser Beam was invented for...

Fixed that for you.

girv73

@RyanB which cycle lane are you talking about? One of the embankments?

Dudu

Porgy wrote:

I'm convinced that most of the people who complain about seeing cyclists on the pavement have really seen a cyclist on a cycle path or shared use pavement.

People are idiots.

Similarly, I believe that most of those who complain about cyclists riding the wrong way along one-way streets have failed to notice the plug with a cycle lane at the end of the road or the cycle lane all the way along the street.

Added to which, most of the Great Unwashed seem unable to distinguish between the meanings of "One Way" and "No entry except cyclists", especially when they're in cars.

Dudu

Runoutofgears wrote:

It’s weird to my mind why ped’s don’t see bikes as a possible hazard, I would'nt ignor 80kg travelling at 7 to 16 MPH. Even when you slow down for them it’s not enough, they seem to think you should get off and walk past them.

It's worse than that. Many cyclists don't see an approaching cyclist as a potential hazard and continue riding on the wrong side of the path (or even the road) or overtaking in the face on oncoming cycle trafic. And they don't half get shirty if you ask them if they'd drive like that.

Dudu

prj45 wrote:

Replace "pedestrian" with "cyclist" and "cyclist" with "us car drivers" and this thread could live quite happily on Piston Heads.

The difference being that cycle paths are for the exclusive use of cyclists, pavements are for the exclusive use of pedestrians, while roads are open to all, on foot, bike,horse or car, unless they're motorways.

Now stop being silly.