Cycle paths or road??

[Ernie]

Poolio has started thread on "wear your helmet" This bought some very constructive comments from members. I have one now..do you use your cycle path??

For me the answer is no..i travel to work either early at 04.45 so the roads are quiet but travel in peak time at 1730 , then my next 2 shifts are reversed, go to work in rush hour and then go home at 0530 again all quiet.

Even in normal day hours i travel on the road with the cycle path too my left. The reason i dont use the path in peak times is because of joggers with ipod that have no lane discipline, cyclist with ipods again no lane discipline, dog walkers who contually let the dog "mess" the path..no mud guards{up the back ..i think you get my drift..i have mudguards now }, and wont retract the extendable lead..this is even after i have given polite indication with the bell. The quality of the tarmac especially after the 2 hard winters.

As i am riding along i do notice that its a bout 50/50 you do use the cycle paths

Again the above might change as in Plymouth we have had a major revamp of the inbound road into the city..so i am not saying never.

So what are your views..thanks

Ernie

 

[swos]

Where there are cycle paths I will use them. Although the ones on the way to work don't get gritted in winter so I tend to use the roads instead

 

[technodup]

Depends on the cycle path. Where I am all the green lanes at the side are horribly rutted and potholed. I nearly came off a week ago, the road was damp, I had skinny tyres and I was carrying something so riding one handed. The thickness of the green paint meant when I turned slightly towards it my tyre didn't grip it and slid along it rather than rolling over it. Bit scary for a second. I'm not bigging myself up here but I think a few novices would have been on the floor.

We do have some tarmaced off road paths as well which are good but you'd have to be lucky for them to be convenient direction wise. Good idea but if it takes twice as long as the direct road then who's going to use them?

Generally I ride on the road, but use the lanes when it suits. And no helmet.

 

[rosstheboss]

On Worthing seafront the cycle path/footpath designation was scrapped as a mixed use thoroughfare was deemed the safer option - i.e. if there was a designated cycle path, cyclists would go flying along and people would get run over (as had happened before when the cycle path was marked out in the middle of the promenade which people crossed to get to the beach.... it was always going to happen - someone was run over by a speeding bike and ended up with severe head injuries/brain damage). It works quite nicely now, although there is the occasional dickhead but what can you do?

Elsewhere in Worthing the cycle lane's dart on and off the road and quite often make little logical sense - i.e. a super wide verge with two pavements, one's the cycle path, one's the footpath, but neither are actually marked closer than every 100 odd metres!!!

 

[orange71]

If there is a cycle lane (as opposed to path) I will use the lane (i.e. on the road, but separated by a dashed white line).

I only use cycle paths if there is no road. Cycle paths are dangerous for the above reasons. The speeds I want to do are just not possible because of dogs/pedestrians/lamp posts etc.

Generally I'll prefer to take my chances on the road.

 

[pigman]

no i dont use the cos
1. like others have said - joggers/dogs/jaywalkers & I dont want to ride at 5mph for safetys sake.
2. to many little stops/give ways/breaks in the lanes
3. theres a sublime message that gets bikes off roads - i feel i belong on the road like any other road user

 

[jimo746]

If it's there I will use it, driven past many a cyclist riding along the road when there's a cycle path right next to the road and thought "why the f**k don't they use the bloody cycle path?! , that's what it's there for".
If I (a cyclist of many years and sympathetic towards cyclists in general) can think this then I shudder to think what is going through the mind of some of the other drivers on our roads.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

In my case it depends on the condition of the cycle path and the proximity / behaviour of the nearby pedestrians and cars.

 

[Woz]

All of the above. If it's there I will try to use it. If it's more dangerous (usual nonsense as mentioned) than it's the road. I generally take my bets on the road in rush hour and keep up with the flow of traffic....I'll whiteline if absolutely necessary so not to be boxed in by more than one moron group and have a clear vision ahead. Saturday is the worse day of the week in the city.

I'm very lucky with my regular ride to work - a combo of great bike lanes and a handfull of low traffic streets in mainly residential areas. I could do about 50% off road too....but then I'd get carried away and wouldn't be arsed to go to work.

Winter is an all together differant matter. The bike lanes have up to 2m high snow mounds on them from the road clearing.

No helmet. Always gloves and glasses

 

[drystonepaul]

Although in theory cycle lanes should benefit all road users, be they cyclists, motorists or pedestrians, in reality this is so often far from the case.
The main problem with alot of cycling infrastructure in the UK is that is is badly designed and badly implemented.

While by no means being perfect, many other European countries do a much better job when it comes to cycle lanes. It's embarrassing to see the UK getting it so wrong so much of the time.

Sustrans have done a great job campaigning for and identifying a safer network of routes in urban and rural areas at a national government and local authority level.
Sadly though, while they have drawn up and issue plenty of technical guidelines along with the Department of Transport, it's the local authority/council and it's contractors who interpret, build and maintain any cycle lanes.
This has led to a very inconsistent level of cycling provision with countless examples which are at best impractical and at worst simply dangerous for cyclists, and to an extent all other road users too.
Unfortunately Sustrans often get blamed for this, as many facilities get signposted up as part of their National Cycle Network.

The Warrington Cycling Campaign published a great book called 'Crap Cycle Lanes' a few years ago which shows some of the worst examples in the UK, and has examples from other countries too.
The website still includes it's 'Cycle Facility of the Month' on which the original book was based.

You don't have to look far to find plenty of examples of similar stupidity.

So to answer the question. For me it's yes and no. I'm more than happy to use cycle lanes and tracks which are completely segregated from traffic and don't involve multiple road crossings, or convoluted routes etc. There are some great cycle lanes and cycle ways built on disused railways for example.
It's the cycle lanes which have been added into an existing road layout or use footpaths which tend to present the biggest issues and are often the ones I avoid.

The diagram below illustrates how vulnerable cyclists are at this type of cycle lane layout:

Here you are much safer on the road.

There are a few good articles on the subject below:

http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/research.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregated ... facilities