With the daylight hours getting longer and the weather better with them, more and more cyclists seem to be joining me on my morning commute. So many to the extent that I was stuck in a traffic jam on the towpath last week. I congratulate them on their effort and yes it is really great to see people making an effort to get to work in an environmentally sound way, which is generally considered good for you.
But …
Please don’t ride on the footpaths, they happen to be for pedestrians, cyclists get the roads and occasional cycle paths. Riding on the pavements just makes everyone’s life harder, some of us cycle all year round and hate being reminded about how cyclists endanger pedestrians with our reckless ways even though the majority of us don’t. (It is also an illegal act that has a fixed penalty associated with it.
Please don’t block the tow path and cycle at 3 miles an hour, honestly I can actually walk faster than that and the timing of my commute means that I need to travel at 16mph at least on the tow paths. If you can’t ride at pace that’s OK but please don’t block the path for other cyclists.
Red lights mean stop for all traffic, not just cars, they include bikes as well. Please just follow the rules of the road. Crossing a red light is a particularly stupid thing to do and a collision with a motor car really hurts, more so when it’s side on.
And Finally …
Have fun and be safe out there, while remembering that some of us cycle all year round regardless of weather and such and are not going to be impressed by our commute time trebling so you can pootle along slowly.