Oh My God

[Wind in my Air]

Use them if you must, but don't condone them!

They have the unfortunate habit of making car drivers think you should be in them. I've known some try and take it upon themselves to 'help' me into the cycle lane by driving alongside me and closing in.

 

[Powerhouse]

My favourite is a lane next to the A14 where you cycle the opposite way to the lorries thundering along/cars going at 70mph+, whilst being sandblasted by road debris/rain/stones/wheel nuts (they make a lovely whizzing noise). Even more fun at night where you get blinded as well.

I cycled down there yesterday! It is awful, but nothing compared to actually trying to cycle down the bits with no cycle path... There you get the fun of trying to cycle down the random extra bit of tarmac that is just outside of the main carriageway while random lorries decide that they want to get vengeance on you being close to the road by swerving into the pebbles at the side and blasting them up at you. It was loads of fun I can tell you!

 

[TheBoyBilly]

They recently opened a Giant store in my town and I got involved in an internet forum slanging match on Shorehambysea.com after I happened to mention that Shoreham was becoming a bit of a Mecca for cyclists. 'Good God no.....' or something or other was one reply which then got a bit heated over cycle lanes/paths and how 'we' get in the way of car drivers, don't have insurance etc etc. blah blah zzzzz!
When I mentioned that cycle lanes are often not fit for purpose one bloke said we should stop wasting money on them then. He didn't get my point at all. He even went on to say how he had actively supported cycle lanes, but with his obvious ignorance of anything about cycling I found that hard to believe. I gave up in the end.

Bill

 

[apollo179]

I just phoned Kent County Council asking about cycle lanes and if there were any plans to put in new cycle lanes and make the town of Maidstone a safer place to ride.

The operators reply was "Why?...Why would we need cycle lanes?, There aren't any plans for them"

Thats a very disappointing attitude of KCC.
You would hope that cycling matters would be a consideration in all local authority planning.
Did you speak to the right person ?
Standalone cycle paths are good but tend to be less suitable for speed than just cycling on the roads.
It would be great to have some hi speed cycle routes into london.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Thats a very disappointing attitude of KCC.
You would hope that cycling matters would be a consideration in all local authority planning.
Did you speak to the right person ?
Standalone cycle paths are good but tend to be less suitable for speed than just cycling on the roads.
It would be great to have some hi speed cycle routes into london.

So you want RLJing to be legal for cyclists and now you want special high speed cycle paths in addition to regular cycle paths. Have I gotten this right?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

They recently opened a Giant store in my town and I got involved in an internet forum slanging match on Shorehambysea.com after I happened to mention that Shoreham was becoming a bit of a Mecca for cyclists. 'Good God no.....' or something or other was one reply which then got a bit heated over cycle lanes/paths and how 'we' get in the way of car drivers, don't have insurance etc etc. blah blah zzzzz!
When I mentioned that cycle lanes are often not fit for purpose one bloke said we should stop wasting money on them then. He didn't get my point at all. He even went on to say how he had actively supported cycle lanes, but with his obvious ignorance of anything about cycling I found that hard to believe. I gave up in the end.

Bill

Great shop. Same you have to risk death on 'that' sodding roundabout to get to it from east or west.

Based on my observations y'day Shoreham is a mecca for cyclists, esp. on a Bank Holiday Monday.

 

[PK99]

Indeed... good on the council.

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2010/05/just-how-safe-are-dutch-cyclists-and.html

 

[Red Light]

The whole thing is nonsense unless done properly - but that would cost money and nobody is stumping up for that.

£1m/mile to build them properly. Personally if that sort of money is available I can think of far better things to spend it on.

 

[Red Light]

http://hembrow.blogs...clists-and.html

Good old David; there are only two ways to provide for cycling - segregated cycle tracks and the wrong way.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

£1m/mile to build them properly. Personally if that sort of money is available I can think of far better things to spend it on.

Yes like road resurfacing!

 

[Red Light]

But even that is full of blind spots and road crossings, and littered with loose toddlers and dogs at weekends. Great if you are getting into cycling like myself and want somewhere to practise on, or if you're on a mountain bike with no intention of going above 10mph for any distance.

That's because the design speeds for cycle tracks are 10mph for ones shared with pedestrians, 15mph for segregated ones.

 

[Archie_tect]

I just phoned Kent County Council asking about cycle lanes and if there were any plans to put in new cycle lanes and make the town of Maidstone a safer place to ride.

The operators reply was "Why?...Why would we need cycle lanes?, There aren't any plans for them"

Did you mean to be put through to the receptionist on the Adult Education Helpdesk?

 

[Red Light]

Yes like road resurfacing!

Agree. I would much rather it was spend on fixing potholes and broken road surfaces for us to cycle on. As long as its not a tar and chippings fix.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Agree. I would much rather it was spend on fixing potholes and broken road surfaces for us to cycle on. As long as its not a tar and chippings fix.

Amen to that. I rode a 105k of the Tour of Britain route through Wales and I hope that some resurfacing work is done before the actual tour or I fear we will see several broken wheels at the very least.

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I wasn't that fussed about cycle lanes until I did a ride up in Doncaster last week and The cycle lane is about 2 inches across.


Are they expecting a troupe of tightrope walkers?