Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

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Phil Fouracre
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by Phil Fouracre »

What a clown! In all seriousness, I thought there was an 'advised' maximum speed for bikes on cycle paths. I assumed that you were then 'promoted' to the road!!:-)
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Flinders
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by Flinders »

Phil Fouracre wrote:What a clown! In all seriousness, I thought there was an 'advised' maximum speed for bikes on cycle paths. I assumed that you were then 'promoted' to the road!!:-)


I seem to recall that though there isn't a limit, the surfaces are, in theory, designed for speeds up to 12 mph. Which is borne out by how lousy some of the surfaces are.
I use that argument as yet another reason for why I'm on the road when there is a cycle track on the pavement, as even my average speed is much higher than that.
Mark1978
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by Mark1978 »

Sustrans do say their paths have a design speed of 12mph, but I'm also sure that's not by design that's just how they've ended up!

DfT guidance says that if you're wanting to do more than 18mph, then you should be using the road, but of course that's not a speed limit by any sense, just guidance.
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mjr
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by mjr »

Bicycler wrote:
mjr wrote:Lovely quote from Sustrans there admitting they've not been leading a SUStainable TRANSport network and been acting in a basically ultra vires or at least misleading manner.

I don't know. There's a difference between being a useful route for everyday cyclists and being suitable for high-speed wannabe racing

There is also a difference between travelling quickly and wannabe racing. Travelling quickly is a basic part of transport because sometimes you need to be in a place at a set time and other times the things which facilitate quick movement also make it easier to move heavy loads or travel less sweatily. But sustrans says no if you want to travel quickly. Almost makes me glad that our routes were mostly built first and sustransed later.
Are more cycle friendly countries any more accepting of high speed cyclists speeding past groups of pedestrians? In truth, even their infrastructure doesn't look safe for high speeds. Any footage from Holland which gets shown seems to show relatively sedate cycling as the norm. Not many UK style commuters bombing along on road bikes trying to beat their PB on their strava segment.

As Easy As Riding has posted some pictures of racers on cycleways in Holland on his site. They do not attract the same attention as the utility cyclists becuase we have lots of racers in the UK already. It is the normal riders who are rare outside a few hotspots. Not all of the normal looking riders are moving that slowly on wide open cycleways either! You can't tell speed from a photo.

Are the Dutch as into Strava? Does it hold the same attraction when fast riding is easier? We have taken a wrong turn in the UK and created an environment where cycling is too much of a gladatorial challenge. I am working to change that as is CTC and I would welcome help overcoming the misguided "cycleways should not be for travelling quickly" rhetoric of Sustrans.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Bicycler
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by Bicycler »

Then again, not all paths to which cyclists have access need to be suitable for high speed cycling. High speed cycling would be incompatible with the purpose and character of some paths and would cause a nuisance to others. Indeed, in some cases agreement to allow cyclists to somewhere they have not previously had access (eg. many towpaths) is on the understanding that it won't attract high speed cyclists. A lot of Sustrans routes are okay leisure routes rather than strategic cycle expressways. I don't mind as I see these as being in addition to the ordinary road network. I get much more annoyed where I cannot use a road because it has been turned into a pseudo-motorway or where I am expected to use a piece of substandard infrastructure. Entirely new routes are a bonus, but anything which is being presented as an alternative to a road should be at least as convenient as a road.
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mjr
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by mjr »

I also have no problem with leisure routes or greenways but I object to so much of a so called sustainable transport network being low speed routes that the sustainable transport charity criticises people for wanting to travel at an easily achievable cycling speed instead of splitting the network into transport and leisure routes.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Flinders
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by Flinders »

Mark1978 wrote:Sustrans do say their paths have a design speed of 12mph, but I'm also sure that's not by design that's just how they've ended up!

DfT guidance says that if you're wanting to do more than 18mph, then you should be using the road, but of course that's not a speed limit by any sense, just guidance.


Thanks, I knew I got the 12mph from somewhere!
I just wish drivers would appreciate that a cyclist wanting to do 20mph is perfectly reasonable, but does also mean they need to be on the road, as that sort of speed isn't suitable for shared use paths. Nor is 20mph achievable on a lot of off-road tracks even if there was nobody else on the track, given the surfaces that are often used -clay and packed gravel, for example.
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mjr
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Re: Shared/Cycle path . . . . I'm too slow.

Post by mjr »

Flinders wrote:I just wish drivers would appreciate that a cyclist wanting to do 20mph is perfectly reasonable, but does also mean they need to be on the road, as that sort of speed isn't suitable for shared use paths. Nor is 20mph achievable on a lot of off-road tracks even if there was nobody else on the track, given the surfaces that are often used -clay and packed gravel, for example.

We don't need to be on the road. We just need to be on a decent cycleway that isn't shared with walkers or built from porridge. You know, like our cousins across the water in the other Holland have.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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