Serious question following of from the rant by some wannabe Clarkson from some poxy provincial radio station.
The cycle/bus/taxi lanes on the main A roads into Manchester are good, clean, fast and safe. However, once you get onto the smaller roads the lanes, if they exist, tend to be filthy, debris strewn, punctuated with kerb edges and items of street furniture or made out of inappropriate materials (slippery bock paving).
So, I use the good ones and not the poor ones.
So, I use the good ones and not the poor ones.
+1
rarely if you mean the bits painted on the edge of the road - too narrow. On the pavement - almost never - obstructed. Offroad ones on old railways - as often as I can - we have a network in edinburgh
I'd like to ask pedestrians if they ever use pedestrian lanes. Up near Prestwich Tesco, the pavement is divided for bikes / peeps but peeps just walk in the bike lane and tut when you ride by. Same happens in other places where the pavement is "shared."
Just outside Middleton centre there is a very thoughtfully provided cycle lane (green paint job) that runs for all of 25 yards.
The route to work has one short cycle lane in the 16miles, there is also one section of national cycle network that is off-road, not just off the road, rather on gravel, i tried it once, gravel and 23mm tyres don't mix. The section of cyclepath is not to bad, but does mean crossing a busy road twice so i only use it on the homeward leg when i don't have to cross the road.
Most of the routes i am aware of have far too many side roads, and some give priority to the pavement cyclepath, but are you really going to force a car to give way? Others are covered in leaves, grit, glass, etc. There are very few i would choose over the road.
I never use the shared use/pavement ones, or any that disappear at junctions (When you need a cycle lane the most!) or require you to give way at every single side road or driveway, or any that seem to think you're in a cyclocross race that requires you to dismount every time they can't be bothered to figure out where to put a cycle lane in, or the handlebar wide painted space at the side of the road full of sh1te.
But apart from that, sometimes.
On my commute there are a couple that provide a genuine short cut to rush hour traffic, even though they go share pavement. the ones at the side of the road are varisble
Every commute I make sure to use the cycle facilities as so thoughtfully provided by my council taxes.
(I use this one for practicing my Danny Macaskill style trials manoeuvres).
The answer is no I don't, they're all shit.
I tried one in Perth and hit a van. First time I'd used one and it put me off...
No, we don't have many round here and I only really ride on the country back roads anyway.
If it's just a split use sign on a pavement, not a chance. I do however use the ones on Hillingdon on my commute. They are however about 3 feet wide and on the road, and I ride on the edge in the Primary Position.
Yep! My commute is 18km and almost all of it is on cycle path of one type or another.
Mainly a lovely, completely off the road (NCN 72) path along old railway lines near the Tyne.
Oddly the section along the dual-carriageway has the choice of either shared-use pavement or a narrow marked cycle lane/gutter on the road - I stick to the pavement (no peds around there anyway) and annoy all the drivers by using the Toucan crossings 
Shared use along the Newcastle Quayside too - busier, but dodging dozy peds is a lot easier than getting snarled up in the circuitous road system and rush hour traffic around there.
the only one I regularly use runs from Tottenham Court Road in London to Angel. It is a pretty good one.
Plus the nearest 'road side' ones throughout the City and of course the Boris Bike Superhighway.
Shared use ones are pointless if you travel over 10mph.
I only use cycle lanes if:
1. It is going exactly where I want to go anyway.
2. It has no more junctions added to it than the road route. (side roads etc, i.e. priority is still with me)
3. It isn't full of parked cars
4. It isn't painted too close to parked cars
5. It isn't full of manholes/huge holes/broken glass/dog eggs/clueless pedestrians/familys on bikes
6. It isn't constructed in the manner of a 'cycle-lane facilty-of-the-month' horror story.
7. It isn't placed in 'turn-left without looking' territory.
8. It is no more than 10% longer than the road route, and dosn't include 5000ft extra climb over every and any possible minor obstruction.
9. The surface is tarmaced and in good condition (no moss, no cavernous holes, lot like riding down washboard).
10. You can carry good speed (i.e. isn't full of 90degree corners, blind approaches, diving off through back roads through housing estates).
11. Not marked out with litres of white paint, which, when damp, turns them into an ice-skaing rink.
The result is that I rarely use 'cycle lanes'.
Advance stop lines are ace though. I used to use the Bath-Bristol cycle path to commute to work on a lot too.
On road- yes as long as they're wide enough. Shared pavements- rarely, they tend to be on the outer edge of the pavement which means you're going up and down dropped kerbs, having to stop at side roads, and it's anti-social to ride at a decent speed on a shared path when there's other people about.
the pavement is divided for bikes / peeps but peeps just walk in the bike lane and tut when you ride by.
I once had a disgruntled bloke get all shouty that I "should be on the road", despite the fact he was practically standing on the painted bike logo and next to a shared use sign.
I have very little doubt that if he was in a car and saw me on the road he would get all shouty that I should be on the cycle path.
I tend to only use them if they're better than being on the road.
So if they take a better route or the road is a dangerous one.
Most of the time I don't bother though. Every time people see a bike in an off-road cycle lane it reinforces their view that bikes shouldn't be allowed on the road.
Living in the same city as the to55er from Exeter FM i have the mispleasure of using some of the cycle lanes; which are invariably shared with other users (no problem with that) except the usual abuse you get because i dont have a bell to warn them when approaching.
The only decent cycle path we really have is along the canal, but still have to dodge pedestrians walking obliviously in the middle of it, despite having seperate walkway and playing field either side. Was told recently im the sort of person who gives cyclists a bad name becuase i shouted out "bike up" while sensibly riding up behind some dog walkers in the middle of the cycle path.
instant hit: just get a bell? If you can find one with a suitably polite "ting" then people get out the way and you'll get thanked for using it.
My experience with a bell, is that people either don't hear it, ignore it, or jump directly into your path, rather than staying put. These days I just slow down or avoid the 'cycle-path' altogether.
Not ones like those. In general on road lanes are only there when the road is wide enough to ride safely without them. The net effect is to increase hassle from drivers as they don't understand why I'm not in the lane at places like these. Although, strangely, most other cyclists on this road ride in thne doorzone here.
I find a bell a great help on shared use paths and am often thanked for using one.
Yep. Halfords Bike Bell. pretty discreet, nice polite "ting", £3.
Worth having just so you can smugly point to it when people rant about cyclists not having bells (as I did with my father-in-law )
rarely if you mean the bits painted on the edge of the road - too narrow. On the pavement - almost never - obstructed. Offroad ones on old railways - as often as I can - we have a network in edinburgh
This.
Anything other than off-road cycle lanes (i.e. ones that are specifically set aside for cyclists, not shared with pedestrians) are more of a hazard than a help. They do more to divide road users than anything else. On pavement ones usually annoy both peds and cyclists as they're obstructed and both people think the other shouldn't be there. On road ones are generally ignored by drivers until yelling at a cyclist to be in them is helpful for them. We're all traffic, we should be on the roads and should be accepted and respected there, not forced into tiny lanes or made to mix with vulnerable foot traffic on narrow trails.
Have used the bell thing in the past but as pointed out by anotherdeadhero nobody hears it anyway, found a nice polite shout is usually more effective.
Anyway bell does not look cool and affects areodynamics on my road bike!!!!!!!!!!!
I tend to use them most of my journey. Apart from the one in Bury town centre. The conversation in the the town planning department appears to have been:
"Hi, you look bored, what are you up to?"
"Well. For a laugh I'm trying to work out what is the longest, most convoluted and nonsensical way of getting from A, here, to point B, 100 yards up there?"
Hmmmmmmmmm - well we could build a couple of inexplicable subways going underneath 2 roads, then cycle lanes across all the traffic lights leading up to them? They vear off the main road by miles
Yeah... that looks like a winner. Hey.... I've just noticed.... as a bonus, that will bring the cyclist out on the wrong side of the dual carriageway, after taking him half a mile out of the way, and he'll have to cross back over at another crossing
Result!
affects areodynamics on my road bike!!!!!!!!!!!
it's the extra weight that's the real issue 
An old favourite from my home town
I had a comedy old school bike horn for a while. That was teh amsuement. Sadly the rubber ball fell off eventually. You did have to use it a long way out to avoid giving anyone a heart attack, and mostly they just walked into your way anyway. A big hit with pissed students mind.
I think bells are great for shared paths. I find people do hear them and do get out of the way.
What I do find with shared paths/offroad paths/anywhere where you come close to pedestrians is....
No matter how thoughtful you are, how polite and courteous you are, how much out of your way to go to avoid causing pedestrians any problems, no matter how much effort you put into not killing or injuring them or their feral children/animals.....
The miserable buggers never, ever say thanks. Never. I just slowed right down, I went right off the path through the mud, I rang my little bell to let you know I was there and you couldn't even be arsed acknowledging it. I could have just ridden flat out, right up close. You'd have crapped yourself. But I didn't. Because I thought about you. How about just saying thanks for once. A quick nod will do.
Nope? No.
Depends where you are I think samuri. I start my commute in a fairly rural area: I get a lot of nice "Morning"s and "Thankyou"s from the various dog/child walkers.
But as I get closer to the city I hear fewer "mornings" and more tutting.
Bells are great, but the horn on the tandem when under the Windsor Relief Road in the tunnel is something to behold .
when I'm riding the stretch that matey on the radio is referring to you're damn right that I use the well surfaced traffic free Sustrans route..
That stretch of road is treacherous and the millions spent providing the alternative route for cyclists is a godsend and will save lives..
Plus you get a very picturesque ride along the estuary rather than along the shoddily maintained and heavily trafficked parallel A-road
that radio bloke is a wally but he has a point..
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