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I've read the comments on threads about cyclists being afraid to ride in traffic in Brandon: don't agree with it but there it is! Now I wonder why so many adults on bikes seem to believe that they have "right of way" over pedestrians on sidewalks. I've lost track of the number of times I've had to get out of the way - onto the grass or onto somebody's lawn - to avoid a cyclist whooshing past me from behind: no indication that they're coming. Teenagers don't seem to be so bad for this: they go onto the grass part but not adults. And generally, they're really moving!!! Don't these people realise that if they hit/ injure a pedestrian they'd be open to a lawsuit?

I am a cyclist, and I see the opposite. I ride by bike on the pedestrian/BIKE path along 34th/Richmond etc. All too often, Pedestrians seem to think it is OK to take up the entire path, either with multiple walkers, or someone walking their dog on a looooong leash. FYI: one half of the path is for pedestrians, one half is for cyclists! I have a bell on my bike, and when I give it a courteous ring telling you that I am behind you, politely move out of the way!! Why should I have to go on the grass??? Half of the bike path is there for my use, too!

Minus small kids, cyclists shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk at all, period. Is the bylaw being enforced is another story.  
 
Yeah, I've seen what Coffeeplz is talking about. Walking more then 2 abreast isn't legal. Walkers should stay on one side of the path. At the same token, cyclists on the paths shouldn't be going more then 20km per hour on them either. I say that as a cyclist.

Coffeeplz said "I am a cyclist, and I see the opposite. I ride by bike on the pedestrian/BIKE path along 34th/Richmond etc. All too often, Pedestrians seem to think it is OK to take up the entire path, either with multiple walkers, or someone walking their dog on a looooong leash. FYI: one half of the path is for pedestrians, one half is for cyclists! I have a bell on my bike, and when I give it a courteous ring telling you that I am behind you, politely move out of the way!! Why should I have to go on the grass??? Half of the bike path is there for my use, too! "

I'm referring to sidewalks, not the walking/bike paths.

MDG said "    Coffeeplz said "I am a cyclist, and I see the opposite. I ride by bike on the pedestrian/BIKE path along 34th/Richmond etc. All too often, Pedestrians seem to think it is OK to take up the entire path, either with multiple walkers, or someone walking their dog on a looooong leash. FYI: one half of the path is for pedestrians, one half is for cyclists! I have a bell on my bike, and when I give it a courteous ring telling you that I am behind you, politely move out of the way!! Why should I have to go on the grass??? Half of the bike path is there for my use, too! " I'm referring to sidewalks, not the walking/bike paths. "

You have two accounts. You started the post with one account and you have replied with your second account.  
 
Talk about off topic

it is getting to be a bad habit and against the law, so stay off the sidewalks cyclist's

loeog said "    MDG said "    Coffeeplz said "I am a cyclist, and I see the opposite. I ride by bike on the pedestrian/BIKE path along 34th/Richmond etc. All too often, Pedestrians seem to think it is OK to take up the entire path, either with multiple walkers, or someone walking their dog on a looooong leash. FYI: one half of the path is for pedestrians, one half is for cyclists! I have a bell on my bike, and when I give it a courteous ring telling you that I am behind you, politely move out of the way!! Why should I have to go on the grass??? Half of the bike path is there for my use, too! " I'm referring to sidewalks, not the walking/bike paths. " You have two accounts. You started the post with one account and you have replied with your second account.     Talk about off topic "

I butted in on my S/O's thread/topic & simply posted what he'd said in response to your post.  
Thank you stevo: that was the point of the original post.

Seriously!! Hope you all have a great day!!

Coffeeplz said "I am a cyclist, and I see the opposite. I ride by bike on the pedestrian/BIKE path along 34th/Richmond etc. All too often, Pedestrians seem to think it is OK to take up the entire path, either with multiple walkers, or someone walking their dog on a looooong leash. FYI: one half of the path is for pedestrians, one half is for cyclists! I have a bell on my bike, and when I give it a courteous ring telling you that I am behind you, politely move out of the way!! Why should I have to go on the grass??? Half of the bike path is there for my use, too! "

can take up the path if they wish...it is called a pedestrian / walking path, not a cyclist path.  
 
It is great that people with walkers can still get out and go for a walk on the pedestrian path, all the exercise on a safe pathway is great for their health.  
 
FYI: one path is not for cyclists. Go to the City of Brandon and check the by-law. I would do it for you and copy and paste is, just to save you some time, but I can't be bothered with your attitude. Look it up.

there was a bunch of us along with a stroller. Then my aunt said 'oh we got to move over, someone on a bike was ringing a bell', worked out good BTW.  
 
City sidewalks, no bikes should be riding them. Kids okay but not adults.

Really brenda???  
 
You think the walking/cycling paths are for people to walk on only? Well gee that sure is confusing to me since at every road along those paths they have stop signs for bicycles to stop at....  
 
Guess the city doesnt understand what brenda thinks is the real use for these paths.  
 
Think before you say something stupid.

Moving here from Edmonton I don't see a problem biking on a sidewalk as long as you are courteous. It's illegal in Edmonton not to have a bell on your bike to alert pedestrians when you approach them. I try not to go on sidewalks but if I wanna get to a business on Victoria or 18th it's a little nuts to bike on these major roads. I'll take a longer route and come in from a side street but sometimes you can't avoid going on a sidewalk. People in Edmonton move all the time for cyclists on sidewalks. Everyone for the most part is courteous about it and we all get along, in city with a population a lot larger than Brandon.

Brenda said "    Coffeeplz said "I am a cyclist, and I see the opposite. I ride by bike on the pedestrian/BIKE path along 34th/Richmond etc. All too often, Pedestrians seem to think it is OK to take up the entire path, either with multiple walkers, or someone walking their dog on a looooong leash. FYI: one half of the path is for pedestrians, one half is for cyclists! I have a bell on my bike, and when I give it a courteous ring telling you that I am behind you, politely move out of the way!! Why should I have to go on the grass??? Half of the bike path is there for my use, too! " can take up the path if they wish...it is called a pedestrian / walking path, not a cyclist path.     It is great that people with walkers can still get out and go for a walk on the pedestrian path, all the exercise on a safe pathway is great for their health.     FYI: one path is not for cyclists. Go to the City of Brandon and check the by-law. I would do it for you and copy and paste is, just to save you some time, but I can't be bothered with your attitude. Look it up. "

Sorry Brenda that is incorrect. There is a bike/pedestrian path in Brandon. There are green signs along this path at intersections showing a bicycle on them as well as a pedestrian. There is a painted line down the center to keep traffic between walkers and cyclists separated.

with the exception of the bike trail, which is now an incomplete loop, Brandon is not bike friendly. then add in a ridiculous amount of drunk drivers. Besides, there aren't many walkers in brandon, everyone drives!

you are right "due in December" this town doesn't seem to be...here's a perfect example: say you were biking on the bike/walk path on Victoria between 34th and 26th, going east. so when you come to the lights at 26th, are you supposed to just vere off the crosswalk into traffic? what happens here? lol that's an accident waiting to happen.

Paved paths are divided by a painted yellow line. Bicycles are supposed to stay on one side and pedestrians are supposed to be on the other. Both seem to be equally guilty of violating this rule. That said, I don't see much of a problem if there are very few people using the path at the time. People should just use common sense and have some consideration. Where have I heard that before?  
 
Some other things I see adult cyclists doing and I'm only going to mention adults because they definitely should know better, are riding through crosswalks into traffic without even stopping momentarily. They shouldn't be using the crosswalk at if they aren't going to walk their bike across. When they are riding on the street, many of them ride right through stop signs and red lights.  
 
Then there are the ones who insist on riding on the street in the wrong direction. Hey cyclists, when you're riding on a street, the law requires you to ride in the same direction as traffic as you are considered to be a vehicle. If you were riding a motorized bike or motorcycle would you ride facing traffic? I would hope not. The idea of facing traffic is only for pedestrians walking on the roadway.  
 
If there is a perfectly good bicycle path along side a roadway then use the bicycle path, instead of insisting on hogging an entire lane of traffic on a busy street.

This is ridiculous! We have what two months of nice weather for bikers to bike, walkers to walk, joggers to jog, bladders to blade. You don't know that person (adult). Don't know there story as to why they feel safe on a sidewalk other than the road. What happen to sharing.  
Such trivial 1st world trauma (BS).  
Sometimes little things should just be put in a journal so you can vent to yourself! Instead of enjoying seeing people actually getting out and being active! I can just shake my head at this silly conversation, just stay off the road if your one of those complainers who just can’t enjoy yourself without complaining about someone else!

Heheh,if you read the person's first comment it just doesn't add up. they've lost count how many times they had to get out of the way for a cyclist 'whooshing' past them from behind, with no indication they are coming. lol maybe the spidey sense starts tingling? how do you get out of the way when they've already sped by you? I walk just as much as I ride and this hasn't happened to me yet this year. but I'm sure it has happened to others. anyway. i'll take chance being of being 'open to a lawsuit' then getting run over on a major thorough fare. at least i'll be alive.

I am more then happy to share the sidewalk or whatever with people on bikes, adults or kids. Both just stick to your right side as you would driving and be courteous! Bikes have a hard time keeping up with traffic and every single day there is an impatient driver, personally I would never ride a bike here but hats off to those who do!

Enough said... said "This is ridiculous! We have what two months of nice weather for bikers to bike, walkers to walk, joggers to jog, bladders to blade. You don't know that person (adult). Don't know there story as to why they feel safe on a sidewalk other than the road. What happen to sharing.   Such trivial 1st world trauma (BS).   Sometimes little things should just be put in a journal so you can vent to yourself! Instead of enjoying seeing people actually getting out and being active! I can just shake my head at this silly conversation, just stay off the road if your one of those complainers who just can’t enjoy yourself without complaining about someone else! "

I agree. I try to bike on the roads. Yet on 18th where the "multi use" path ends by Wendys I stay on the walk.  
 
It is plain stupid to continue North on the main road. Then I use some simple rules.Stay to the right. Slow down big time at crosswalks and aproaching people etc. Bike/scooter speeds are to fast around foot traffic. Especially when coming from behind.  
 
Faster traffic be it on bike paths etc should be able to share with foot traffic but keep near footmobile speeds when around them.

A thread like this seems to pop up every summer lol  
 
I've recently started biking to and from work as my daily exersize. And sorry to the OP or anyone else this might offend you *insert sarcasm*... I DO bike on the side walks. Here's why. First off, Brandon does not have bike lanes through out the city. Secondly, many people in Brandon drive like a**holes. Therefore, in the end, as a cyclist I DO NOT feel safe biking on the streets.  
 
If I happen to bike up to someone walking, I will slow down and move over on to the street. Stop making all adult cyclists sound like jerks.

bunch of cry babies. I bike on the sidewalk and will consider to do so. I am not hurting anyone, staying active, being better to the environment and I am courteous to others and go around people. The biggest reason is so I can go home at night without getting hit by some driver that's not paying attention.

For sure, nothing wrong with that!!

standupguy said "bunch of cry babies. I bike on the sidewalk and will consider to do so. I am not hurting anyone, staying active, being better to the environment and I am courteous to others and go around people. The biggest reason is so I can go home at night without getting hit by some driver that's not paying attention. "

as I driver I too have to watch out for bikers that are not paying attention, riding the wrong way on a street, or crossing when the feel like it.  
 
There are two sides - we should all be courteous.

Today I saw a 40 year old man driving down the sidewalk and going through red lights.

ok

I for one always bike on the sidewalks, reason one being that I don't trust a lot of the drivers here in Brandon and reason two being that a car is going to do a lot more damage to me than I to it. Plus drivers are never expecting bicyclists, I can't even count the amount of time I've almost been hit on a intersection when I've had right of way.

I find it ironic how some cyclists wont ride on the road where they belong because they say its not safe for them, but they think nothing of cycling on the sidewalk and endangering pedestrians. Where are the walkers supposed to go when you bikers make the sidewalks unsafe for them? Another sign of the times - me first, screw everyone else.

Brandonv94 said "I for one always bike on the sidewalks, reason one being that I don't trust a lot of the drivers here in Brandon and reason two being that a car is going to do a lot more damage to me than I to it. Plus drivers are never expecting bicyclists, I can't even count the amount of time I've almost been hit on a intersection when I've had right of way. "

If you are riding on the sidewalk and then enter the crosswalk like it is a bike path you are bound to get hit. legally you should probably have to dismount and use it like a cross walk.  
 
Where I have nearly nailed bikers is I do not nor should not expect a bike to be speeding onto the crosswalk. I check right and left for traffic and pedestrians. In that short time frame a bike can and has appeared out of nowhere. Why should I be looking a third or a half block down for a bike? I check the corners of the walks and then look for road traffic.  
 
Feel free to use the sidewalks but at intersections/crosswalks pedestrians have the right of way. Bikers are not pedestrians.

so jack ass, you get physically scared when you see someone riding a bike on the sidewalk? even if its a kid? so you would rather see someone bike down 18th street or Victoria rather than on a sidewalk. I know what your response already is. "its the law!" oh well, only in Brandon! and yes I do get off my bike and walk across at crosswalks.