shared pavements

[94inchandy]

can i ask as a cyclist that has over 278,000 miles on my clock, a racing cyclist and a club cyclist,
why dose my local ctc always use cycleways and shared pavements, i would of through as the ctc is trying to get british roads safer, they would of got there members to use to road as it should be use for,
i class my self as a ambassador, i am not scared to ride in the road, i am not scared to making my self been felt, as we are riding over 12mph normal club run speed we are classed as traffic, come on ctc get your riders using the road safely, and if riders do not feel safe riding on public roads, think it time the ctc started safety training to make your riders feel safer,

riding with the local group, i some times think oh my god, to the way they ride, the slow groups going on and off pavements and footpaths, crosssing roads at dangerous points, cycling across crossing before the lights have turned, to the faster groups riding in the gutter, and not using lights to warm other road users,
we need to clean up our game, it to easy to point your fingers and shout at motorist, but we need to clean up your game before we start ranting on about others,

think this is a good time to act, as the bbc are showing war on britian roads that dose not make good viewing shows cycling in poor light,

[meic]

Why do you feel the need to criticise those who have braved their fears enough to get out on a bike but only to the safety of a cycle track when they have made an effort greater than 90% of the population by getting on a bike and out of their cars.

It is not surprising that with your attitude the vast majority of the population stick to the safety of their cars.
Safer not to stick your neck out.

We could insist that all riders do the hardcore road stuff but then our groups would be even smaller.

[Steady rider]

can i ask as a cyclist that has over 278,000 miles on my clock, a racing cyclist and a club cyclist,

Your level of skill and understanding of how to ride safely may be higher than many. Rding in a group of mixed ability tends to deliver extra problems.

The type of road and location used is a major factor and the options available.

A set of guidlines for group riding may be useful.

[Si]

why dose my local ctc always use cycleways and shared pavements,

Have you not asked them while you've been with them, Andy? I should think that they'd have a better idea of the exact reasoning they use than us

My own CTC group only use cycle paths / pavements when it is legal to do so and when it is advantageous to the cyclist.

However, my other group uses them most of the time (all legally) because we often have very new riders out with us. Most of these new riders will only go for a bike ride if they think that it is on nice 'safe' cycle paths. We get them used to riding on these paths and then, bit by bit, start introducing them to the road. Because they have become confident bike handlers on the cyclepaths they find the roads a lot less daunting than if they were taken out on roads from day one. Hence, for us using such facilities is very advantageous.

...whether this is the case for your group, well, I guess you'd know better than us.

[CJ]

I've ridden with many different CTC groups and never found one that 'ALWAYS uses shared pavements', because most shared pavements are rubbish to cycle on, so I just don't believe this. I daresay the unnamed group uses SOME shared pavements - even some of the rubbish ones - for the good reasons given above.

IMHO, no amount of training or experience (or equipment) can ever make a cyclist acceptably safe on busy roads with high speed traffic. They can improve your chances, but only marginally. I've known personally, quite a few very experienced always-ride-on-the-road cyclists who've met their end on Britains trunk road network and have no wish to join them in the special corner of Valhalla reserved for cycling road-warriors anytime soon!

So I ride the crap paths even though they're crap, whenever the rest of the traffic is consistently going more than 20 or 30mph faster than me. Above that closing speed, I reckon the chances of a dozy driver seeing me in time not to hit me become unacceptably low.