just got myself a mountain bike, turns out its a bit too big but ohwell. any way do i have to ride it on the road or can i ride on the pavements? and do i have to where a helmet or is that just advised??

thanks

If you ride on pavements near me I'm afraid I'd shout a load of abuse at you. Pavements are for people to WALK on, not use a bike. That is what roads are for. Most cities have bike lanes nowadays. My local town also has bike lanes in parts so there is no excuse for riding on a pavement. Please don't do it.

I don't know about helmets and the legal side of it, but are you prepared to be knocked off your bike and have your head bashed against the kerb? It can and does happen, so think safety.

Sorry if I have come across as a bit OTT but adults riding on pavements really annoys me.

No you should not ride on the pavements. It winds my up when someone zooms up behind me on a bike....and upsets the girlies too! As a road user you really should get a copy of the highway code, as it applies to bikers too (Motor or pedal powered !!) and it will give you lots of information.
Helmets are not compulsary for cycles but recomended. I work in A&E and have seen some very nasty cyling accidents where people were saved by thier helmets. Pesonally I would invest in some protective wear too, you cannot begin to understand how painfull gravel burns are untill you are on the recieving end of a kindly nurse trying to pick bits of stone/gravel/ground in jeans!! :-P out of your legs!!!!
Happy cycling though...remember accidents are not the norm!
Aileen

> just got myself a mountain bike, turns out its a bit too big but ohwell

YAY, how exciting, a nice new shiny bike :-D Have a little ride around somewhere quiet and you'll soon get used to it :)

I got myself a bike a few years ago, just to ride with my boys up the woods - I stuck to simple riding while they did thier stunts on all the dirt jumps! My bike felt too big to start with, but I soon got my confidance back and got used to being on 2 wheels instead of 2 feet.

I've got rid of the bike now as the kids are more into scooters and tricks on them at the skate park, not somehting I'm willing to join in with!

You are not meant to ride on pavements (unless the pavement is also intended for cyclists and will be marked or 'split' with a line), but around here most cyclists do stick to the pavements and happily cycle past the police station with no problems. If you are in more of a built-up area with cycle paths then you may well get in trouble (and obviously, sadly be subjected to verbal attacks from pedestrians :( ).
Safety gear is not a legal requirement.

Enjoy your bike. I'm a bit sad I got rid of mine as we had some lovely family trecks through the woods and around the old quarry. Felt like a child again zooming down the hills along the country lanes :) (felt like an old granny going back up the hills )

Congratulations on the new bike, I am sure you can download a copy of the Highway Code in PDF not got the address but I think it should be easy to find. It really is best to read it before you venture forth as other road users and not happy if you get yourself in the wrong place.

You should ride on the road unless as others have said there is a white line designating a cycle lane on the pavement, must admit though when I lived in London I used the pavements after some scary experiences with cars passing too close, one even knocked my elbow with its wing mirror as it passed. But I was careful NOT to charge up behind any people or dogs etc. Helmet is again the safest bet, I always wore one in London but must admit I don't always bother in our little village, foolish I know, must get back in the habit!

Another bike fan here - great alternative way to exercise the dogs if factored into a planned exercise programme, as it can build muscle tone and extend forward reach quite nicely.... :-)

Thankfully we live in a rural part of the world where pavement riding isn't really an option but I can wholly understand why cyclists would want to use the pavement when I see some of the huge lorries thundering past! :-(

I think if riding on the road means putting your safety (life) at risk, then I find it perfectly acceptable to ride considerately on pavements.

However, what does wind me up is when I'm sitting at red traffic lights and a cyclist saunters through!!!  I don't really care much that its illegal - it just makes me jealous!!!!  :-D

In our area it is very dangerous to cycle on the roads around town and people seem to be allowed to cycle on pavements and most do safely.  I would rather see this than injured cyclists.  What I would like to see, though, is for motorists to be fined for parking and driving along pavements and grass verges.

>If you ride on pavements near me I'm afraid I'd shout a load of abuse at you. Pavements are for people to WALK on, not use a bike. That is what roads are for.

Me too, my rott hates bikes and things coming behind him (joggers!) so has a tendency to lunge and roar if I don't spot them first and either put him in a sit or hold him still.  OP, stick to the road and enjoy your bike.

Stepping out of one's gate can be a dangerous move when a cyclist whizzes past on the pavement :-)

> Me too, my rott hates bikes and things coming behind him (joggers!) so has a tendency to lunge and roar if I don't spot them first and either put him in a sit or hold him still.

That is a BIG problem with dogs, and when some kids (12-13 yrs) tore past me at a rate of knots from behind on a narrow pavement, my dog lunged and ripped the hem of the jeans of one. I had the police knocking at my door and had to go to the station to make a statement, I was charged under the DDA Section 3 (Dog Dangerously Out Of Control). Absolutely ridiculous, but very VERY scary at the time, I would not recommend that to anyone. Thankfully there were no other witnesses and the police did admit the kids should not have been cycling on the pavement, so it was dropped but I was warned if my dog did it again I would face prosecution.

Thankfully we now live somewhere where nobody cycles on the pavements, and if they do, they have a great deal of respect for other users, two-legged and four!

Don't ride on roads it is deadly. Motorists do not see you and if they do they think you have no right to be on the road. The abuse that gets hurled at me is awful. Thankfully in my town there are miles of cycleways so I barely have to go on a road ...Wear a lid and a hi viz and remember it is a legal requirement to have a bell or similar means of warning... Enjoy your bike I love mine,  especially in the weather we have had recently...

And watch out for dog walkers with extending leads, I've had several scrapes and bruises because of them....

> In our area it is very dangerous to cycle on the roads around town and people seem to be allowed to cycle on pavements and most do safely. I would rather see this than injured cyclists.

It's a tough one, I stopped and helped an old lady one day that had been knocked down by a bike, ridden on the pavement by an adult - she broke her collarbone :-(  People, adults, the eldery, kids and dogs walk out their gates onto the pavement without looking and therefore a bike is a major hazard. If the bike were on the road at least people would be looking (hopefully) before stepping out there.

On the other hand it is dangerous for cyclists on the road (pedal and motor) and sometimes cars just don't see them and of course they are very vulnerable.

If I had my way nobody would cycle apart from on off road cycle tracks and nobody would ever use a motorbike, of course this is in the same idyllic world were starvation, illness, pain, hatred and abuse don't exist in any form :-D

Its too dangerous to ride on roads so I always ride on pavements! If I see someone walking on the pavement I slow down or give them a wide birth but generally I stick to pavement.

tracey123,me too,we have a lot of dual purpose paths round here,so I dont need to ride on pavements as such,but Im always very aware and careful when passing people,children and dogs especially-you can still get moaned at!What used to annoy me most,was on the way to work at 5am,if there were walkers in front,you could ring your bell or say excuse me,till you were blue in the face,theyd be side by side,nattering,or plugged in to music-only option was to wait for a gap in the traffic,hop on the road,and get back on the track in front of them.!

Taken from the highway code

>64

>You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.

>[Laws HA 1835 sect 72 & R(S)A 1984, sect 129]

There are a lot of things that are law that arent abided to. Kids ride round without lights on in the dark, people urinate in the street when drunk etc etc. If Im not safe on the road I will go on the pavement. End of really.

> If Im not safe on the road I will go on the pavement. End of really.

There is a law to abide by and if you're caught breaching it then expect a £30 fine slapped on you!! Especially in really built up areas, happens a lot down here...

> There are a lot of things that are law that arent abided to

I think we all know that two wrongs don't make a right, the argument that so and so murdered someone/stole something/drove through a red light therefore I can too doesn't really work :-)

My son is a mountain bike addict so much so he has made it a career. Dont ride on pavements unless they are marked cycle ways.
No rule says wear a helmet but he does as he has seen what happens when you dont so wear one please.
Have a great time and no mountain riding yet!!! enjoy.

thanks everyone, the reason i asked is because on my old bike i fell off a few times (allthough the gears were dodgy) and my jenes kept getting stuck in the bike some how and again allmost fell off lots of times, i dont want to fall off on the road and get run over. (also i hate passing people on bikes when im driving) im in a semi-rural area. I guess ill have to get some pratice in and hope i dont fall off.
I do plan to take the bike to parks and beach mostley (driving there with bikes somehow wedged in the car) but figured it would be good to bike to shops instead of driving.

> thanks everyone, the reason i asked is because on my old bike i fell off a few times (allthough the gears were dodgy) and my jenes kept getting stuck in the bike some how and again allmost fell off lots of times, i dont want to fall off on the road and get run over.

What kind of bike was it? I used to have a lovely mountain bike and always felt so safe on that - I never seemed to wobble and knew it would always handle pavement kerbs and bumps etc really well. I used to ride it off-road in the New Forest sometimes and it was really brilliant, speeding down muddy tracks and through puddles with confidence. I now have a "hybrid" (Mountain bike x town bike) which has larger, thinner wheels, and is more lightweight, I really don't like it as much at all and don't feel half as safe & balanced as I did on the previous one.

dont know what my old bike was, my dad brought it back form the farmers market one month, this is the one ive got now
http://direct.tesco.com/product/images/?R=205-4217
mum doubled up her tesco vouchers so we got one each for a grand total of £20 for both!

Last time i tryed to go up a kerb i allmost went over the handle bars :D

Actually your new one doesn't look as solid and heavy as my old mountain bike - the tyres aren't as thick. I wonder if you can still get ones like mine? It wasn't a hugely expensive one, and I got it for £60 completely refurbished, about 9 yrs ago. I do miss my old one, but I stopped using it because of my flat's layout - it was far too hard to get it out through the flat and I got fed up with it residing in the living room! So the poor thing ended up slowly rusting in the back garden.

maybe bikeriding should be addressed on the contraversial issue page?

was hoping to take it out today but im full of cold, well im half full of cold, my left nostril, left side of my throat and soo sore. One of the student on thursday was ill, im sure thats where it came from. :(

> There is a law to abide by and if you're caught breaching it then expect a £30 fine slapped on you!! Especially in really built up areas, happens a lot down here...

Shame they don't fine pedestrians on cycle paths.... especially those with buggies....

Have to admit I rode on pavements too, I would have been far more of a hazard on the road! I have been told off by the police a couple of times though. Annoying thing is they let the youths be, doing their wheelies and skids and zooming about. No pedestrians have ever complained though, I was very aware and careful.I started to ride in the very early mornings to work, hardly any pedestrians, hardly any traffic so some roads I didn't mind riding on. I take the bus now! ;-)

The worst thing was CARS parked in the cycle lanes!!!! :-(