Using cycle lanes

I was thinking on my commute:
- Do you feel you should use poorly designed cycle provisions in order to encourage the idea that cycling provisions get used which might encourage further funding?
or
- Do you avoid using poorly build facilities as it's our right as cyclists to use the roads and it might encourage proper facilities being provided in the future?
- Do you feel you should use poorly designed cycle provisions in order to encourage the idea that cycling provisions get used which might encourage further funding?
or
- Do you avoid using poorly build facilities as it's our right as cyclists to use the roads and it might encourage proper facilities being provided in the future?
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The trouble is that by not using it, it gives drivers another reason to moan at me and others. If only they knew how irrational some of these cycling provisions are!
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
The other choice is at the home end - there's an off road cycle route - I don't tend to take it because a) I have to go up steps to get on it, b) it's slower, c) being an offroad one, I get dirtier.
Neither option is visible to the normal driver - so it's not much issue on road user response - in terms of encouraging more funding - there's nobody to see me using it - so how do they know if I do or don't?
A poor facility will be rewarded by little use, likewise a good facility will find heavy use. Just be clear to other road/cycle-path users what you are/intend doing
so dont fell obliged to use cycle lanes if you feel its more unsafe to do so, though you will find some drivers try to bully you because of it, but thats their problem not yours
There is a nice segregated lane on the pavement at the side of the A429 north of Warwick. The road itself is quite dangerous when the traffic is intense, which is almost always. Nonetheless, you see plenty of clubs using the main road on a Sunday lunch time, disrupting car traffic and causing havoc, all because they don't want their average speed to drop a couple of decimals by using the lane, or they can't live without their chaingang for a couple of miles... it's just pathetic and unfortunately it doesn't help people accept that we need more segregated cycle lanes
In the 500m or so that it goes along my route it gives way to 2 side roads, passes through a bus stop, has a 8 inch deep puddle across it and then disappears behind a pedestrian crossing. I don't think i'll be using it much.
The only other one that I think I ever encounter on my recreational rides is along the A24 near Dorking, it tends to be a bit full of twigs and general detritus but I still use it as it avoids the dual carriageway road and I'd rather dodge twigs than cars on that stretch.
A 1 way cycle lane should generally be 2 meters wide (Yep, that's the official statement), have priority over side roads, (ie have the same priority as traffic in the all vehicle lane) and have useable entry and exit points.(ie not 90 degree turns into them). In addition to this, they should have a buffer zone between the edge of the lane and traffic if separated, which if the general traffic lane is over 40mph, should be 1.5m wide.
On road cycle lanes may be 1.5m wide in short sections, or 1.2m wide if they are designed specifically to enable cyclists to filter on the inside past stationary traffic to get into an ASL.
Of course, councils never follow their plans/rules/guidelines etc, so we never get this, and cycle tracks/lanes are completed piecemeal, typically "just to get slow cyclists out of the way of the all important motor vehicle", without actually considering how cyclists are actually going to use this stuff, or at all, and are regularly just a "box ticking exercise", designed by an officer who's never ridden a bike.
So - Er, Some are good. Most are Poor, Some are down right dangerous. Experience will teach you what's safe and what's not to use.
The only bit of "cycle" infrastructure I use on my route is the bus lane - all other cycle infrastructure on my route are painted cycle lanes that are between 60cm and 80 cm wide, directly in the gutter, sometimes passing parked cars while doing so, and riding in them can entice drivers to pass closer than they would if there wasn't a painted cycle lane there. There's a reason that the National Cycle Standard advises riding at circa 1m from the kerb, and not less than 50cm...
Of course, not using it also means I regularly get shouted at to "use the cycle lane" ....
There are routes locally that have very poor quality infrastructure (1.3m wide for a very heavily used 2 way Eastern Road route into Portsmouth, for example) next to a typically 50mph road - i'll use it during the rush hour if heading for the occasional meeting in the city, but in the middle of the day, or late at night i'll ride central of the lane beside it, as it's actually safer to do so.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...
it has to be a pretty fancy cycle lane that I choose to use against keeping on the road,unless I feel the road is a death trap waiting to happen.
Where I live I am quite fortunate. The combination of car driver and road planning idiocy means I inadvertently have a decent stretch of road all to myself to avoid the worse of the rubbish cycle path, albeit with an extra half a mile on the journey. Took a fair amount of time on Google Maps to find though!
My rant is against those club riders who deliberately use the A road to go faster than they would be able to on the shared segregated lane.
If the desire to go faster becomes an inconvenience to other road users, then I would argue is not much different from other forms of public road abuse, like speeding, hogging lanes, parking on pavements etc.
It could so easily be brilliant, but by a couple of errors they've managed to make it a complete shambles. Maybe that's why it hasn't been finished. They need to sort the drainage, move the give way line for side roads to behind the cycle path and route the path behind bus stops. Then it would be much more useable.
Marin Nail Trail
Cotic Solaris
They don't tarmac the road to the pavement edges, they don't clear any debris or fix any pot holes within the lanes.
The new traffic-free segregated route running alongside this busy road is better surfaced than the potholed A488 and pleasant to ride along, although there are a couple of annoying give way markings on it where farm access roads go onto the A488. Water run-off from the fields can make it tricky in frosty weather but it’s nevertheless a huge improvement from what was before and I use it regularly for running and cycling.
I find it really annoying to see cyclists still using the main road. It’s always club groups or solo riders in all the gear. Is it ignorance or selfishness? As ugo says, it’s public road abuse and simply encourages cycle haters. I can understand riders shunning poor cycle paths but this is a good one.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...
Or they just miss the start of it, and they have the option of stopping in the middle of a live lane and hop the kerb, or just keep riding.
Bike 1 (Broken) - Bike 2(Borked) - Bike 3(broken spokes) - Bike 4( Needs Work) - Bike 5 (in bits) - Bike 6* ...
EDIT: I have to admit I was wrong. Just checked Google Earth and there are the standard blue and white cycle route signs.
Not all cycle clubs are run by the most knowledgeable or best intentioned riders - perhaps they just hadn't considered it.
I have been on a DC on a club run once - it was a bit of a magical mystery tour - we only went on the DC because it was a quiet time of day and wasn't far down to the climb we wanted to go up. Certainly can't say I enjoyed being on the DC - but it did mean that we had to stay very disciplined in a tight group - which is always good to practice.
Obviously, people from away might not spot it in time but most of the riders who ignore it are locals - serious riders in all the gear. As ugo says, they are no doubt chasing extra seconds and can’t be bothered to use this facility, even though staying on the road is more risky and annoys car, bus and lorry drivers.