Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Jdsk
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by Jdsk »

Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 9:00am
Jdsk wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 8:56am
Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 7:17amRants on a forum are always one sided.
But the whole discussion doesn't need to be. If we choose to try and reach consensus we might occasionally achieve it.

For example in this thread:

1 It can be difficult to find the status and permissions of somewhere you'd like to cycle.

2 There are some experts who can tell us where to look. (Thanks.)

3 It's sensible to wind down confrontations of this type rather than escalating them.
And yet there's advice to walk past then get back onto your bike having made a passive aggressive pleasantry. The best advice is to find the status of the route and if cycles have right of way get signage accordingly. Until then walk your bike along what is a very short stretch when there's pedestrians around.
I see what you mean. But consensus doesn't mean unanimity...

... and I woke up happy and was wondering about the possibility of seeking consensus in the forums. I certainly wasn't asserting that it's there for free already. : - )

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mjr
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by mjr »

Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 9:00am And yet there's advice to walk past then get back onto your bike having made a passive aggressive pleasantry. The best advice is to find the status of the route and if cycles have right of way get signage accordingly. Until then walk your bike along what is a very short stretch when there's pedestrians around.
Awful advice. Never given to motorists. I would ride until it is signed one way or another.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by Tangled Metal »

Yet to see a mixed use path for motorists and pedestrians but if there are any the hierarchy of vulnerability surely applies. 😆
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by axel_knutt »

I was walking on a path similar to that last night. I didn't think much of it when a couple of kids on a quad bike appeared in the distance, but I didn't jump out of the way immediately so he put his finger on the horn, held it there, and kept accelerating. They must have been doing about 40-50mph when they passed me.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 1:37pm Yet to see a mixed use path for motorists and pedestrians but if there are any the hierarchy of vulnerability surely applies. 😆
Really? Plenty of country roads with no dedicated footpath, that's a shared use space.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by Tangled Metal »

You're talking about footway or footpath? I think you meant no footways on country roads but that was away from a road so a footpath, right?

Not seen many mixed motorist and pedestrian footpaths around away from roads. Technically BOATs meet that category but not like the OPs section which isn't clear so perhaps better to treat as pedestrian only. Best not to drive or ride on there, right?
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by mjr »

Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 4:21pm [...] the OPs section which isn't clear so perhaps better to treat as pedestrian only. Best not to drive or ride on there, right?
The OP's section might be an unadopted road which is too narrow for cars.

This wishy-washy we-must-not-ride-anywhere get-off-and-walk-and-****-those-who-can't attitude is part of why we have lost the right to ride on so many motor-free roads and even purpose-built cycle tracks, including many unpaved roads which have been misregistered as footpaths and it's a heck of a lot of work to correct that. In that way, the projects like King Alfred's Way have been doing great work, despite my other doubts about them.
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Asker
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by Asker »

Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 7:17am "Just cos I'm a cyclist!"

Hmm! Not just a cyclist but a cyclist riding on a route where the access situation was at best unknown at worst not allowed as the pedestrian said.

Two sides to every story and you're giving one only. Look at things from his pov. Ever been close passed by a car on your bike? Ever been close passed by cyclist when walking on a footway? Priority of vulnerability? Heard about it?
I've said it before but they were blocking the WHOLE path (and it's a pretty wide one too) so they still would've had to move for anyone trying to get passed. I manged to get around them via a tiny gap.I hadn't got anywhere near "close passing" him nor had I put him in any danger cos I had already stopped moments before he started on me. He was putting himself in 'vulnerability' by idling plonking himself smack in the middle taking up the WHOLE path to chat - I could have been jogging or whizzing by on my skateboard or strolling but he still would had to have moved. His "I shouldn't have to step aside for a cyclist, so I WILL NOT" attitude was petty.

Anyway, I heard back from the council surprisingly fast this morning after emailing 3 different addresses last night. I can now continue to ride that path with peace of mind. No idea if they'll put a sign up, I did ask. Thanks to all that helped especially Gaz who supplied that map and link to the local cycling guide.

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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by mjr »

Bravo Warwickshire CoCo!
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by drossall »

Asker wrote: 16 Jan 2022, 12:29am Thanks. I believed the landowner to be the council since it's not on private land and it is part of an estate that has public access to a timber store and trampoline center etc.
And the email says "...we give permission for you to ride on..." so the County Council is the landowner? Otherwise they couldn't just give permission?
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by jgurney »

Tangled Metal wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 4:21pm Not seen many mixed motorist and pedestrian footpaths around away from roads.
Mixed anything and pedestrian could not sensibly be called a footpath. Footpath strongly implies a route for pedestrians only.
Not seen many mixed motorist and pedestrian footpaths around away from roads. Technically BOATs meet that category
A BOAT is not a footpath and is not away from roads. According to the Road Traffic Act 1988 a BOAT is a road.
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by thirdcrank »

drossall wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 6:54pm
Asker wrote: 16 Jan 2022, 12:29am Thanks. I believed the landowner to be the council since it's not on private land and it is part of an estate that has public access to a timber store and trampoline center etc.
And the email says "...we give permission for you to ride on..." so the County Council is the landowner? Otherwise they couldn't just give permission?
While, it doesn't matter much, I took the email to have been written by somebody trying to simplify things as much as possible, rather than something for a law report. ie Conveying something like "rest assured you are OK riding on "paths" marked on our Cycle Guide including the one in your query but only on those we have marked." ie They don't want to answer the simple query "Was I in the right?" with a dissertation on rights-of-way.

None of that is going to convince anybody who "knows" that cycling there is prohibited. Perhaps signs will eventually be installed. In the meantime, if the local police are minded to have a crackdown, that email should be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

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Asker
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by Asker »

thirdcrank wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 8:17pmWhile, it doesn't matter much, I took the email to have been written by somebody trying to simplify things as much as possible, rather than something for a law report. ie Conveying something like "rest assured you are OK riding on "paths" marked on our Cycle Guide including the one in your query but only on those we have marked." ie They don't want to answer the simple query "Was I in the right?" with a dissertation on rights-of-way.
I thought it was a straight-forward answer to a straight-forward question, I provided the pics, some context and just asked, "Can I cycle here? Because someone said its illegal." I didn't ask if I was in the right, just is it legal to cycle here? Not sure why they'd need to write anything for a law report, I didn't say I was getting sued or fined or in trouble.

From experience working in email support no one's gonna write more than they have to, I'm sure they've other queries to respond to. At least it was from a human who had personalized it and wasn't a copy-paste generic email or a "please follow this link for our guidelines". The fact they made it short and sweet tells me there was no question that they were sure while purposely eliminating the chance of a recontact from me.
MarcusT
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by MarcusT »

There are haters on all sides. The pedestrians will purposely block the cyclists, like the cyclists will purposely block traffic on the road. It's an ugly circle
I wish it were as easy as riding a bike
pwa
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Re: Cyclist-hater refuses to move and says its illegal to cycle on this path??? (PICS INSIDE)

Post by pwa »

Do we know the people blocking cycle use on (as they perceived it) a footway were "cyclist-haters"? Perhaps they just hated cyclists cycling on footways. Just as some people hate electric scooter riding on footways.

If the path in question is not a footway, and is in fact open to cycling, the landowner would save some unnecessary aggro by making that fact more obvious on the ground.
Last edited by pwa on 18 Jan 2022, 7:15am, edited 1 time in total.
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