Hi folks,

I've just got new pair of rollerblades and I want to try them out. I'm planning on skating mostly in cycle lanes in Zurich - I'm not breaking any rules doing that, right?

Mark

hi. i think you are only allowed on the street or bike lane with rollerblades. Rollerblading is banned on footpaths. Try greifensee for blading. Have fun.

As a cyclist who *tries* to accept it as a fact of life that pedestrians will carelessly wander into me as I elegantly glide along cycle lanes, where they get quite aggressive before I remind them who has priority / don't you know it's daft to walk in front of any moving vehicle? / open your freaking eyes, halfwit, and stop blinking like a startled rabbit, I reckon it's perfectly fine. Just know how to stop; not because I'll be a nuisance (and I'm everywhere), but Bipeds will make your journey more interesting (and don't use your iPod at the same time. This is your Uncle talking to you...)

Know the feeling. The car drivers that cut you off by turning the corner add to the danger.

I have been a cyclist for years.

Geneva has a beautiful cycling path from my home just behind the Hilton to Lausanne.

I usually did my Genève-Nyon-Genève, rolling at an average speed of 28 Kmh according to my Cyclometer, but I reached sometimes 42 Kmh on a flat gentle slope ( you can reach 70 kmh when rolling down from a hill ...

The thing is, sometimes, rolling at near 40 kmh on a bike without a bell ( road race bikes have no bells ) I had to yell a people that wandered around, or entered the cycling path without seen me coming.

Man, that was dangerous, for me and for them... Have you ever clashed with a bike rolling at 40 kmh ? I'm sure it must hurt bad.

So, I think people should think more about it. Cycling paths are for bikes and specially outside the city, for fast road bikes.

If you want to roll on them, do it but remember the bikes are prioritary and much faster than you.

Inline-skating is allowed on footpaths and on cycle lanes if the lanes aren't part of a road. Where there's no footpath they're allowed on the road if the road is calm or has a <=30 km/h speed limit.

For Zurich this means that the cycle lanes in the Seepromenade (e.g. between Bellevue and Tiefenbrunnen) are a yes, but these for example around the main station are a no. Some sample photos are available here.

By law every bike is required to have a bell.

Salsa Lover - I know the cycle path that you're talking about. When doing it, I pick and choose when to use the cycle path and when to use the road. I agree, some section of the cycle path are not safe to ride on at speeds that exceed the family-out-for-a-group-ride pace, and if you're a serious cyclist then it is safer to be on the road, which is actually built to be travelling at speed on. Riding in the bike lane creates a lot of additional intersections and obstacles. Having said that, there are some sections of that route where it does make sense to use the bike lane, and it is difficult to always know which is best - I find it quite frustrating and do not really enjoy that whole section of the Lake Geneva tour.

I suppose they have no lights or brakes either??

Cycle lanes on edge of roads are not particularly useful anyway. Cars are not stopped by broken yellow lines from shunting into the back of cyclists. The debris of the road - small stones, sticks etc - is flung there by traffic and cyclist often come out of the lanes to avoid this junk and drain covers. And those boys in the skin-tight shorts and tops often ride two abreast and use more than the cycle lane width anyway.

Cycle lanes are inconsistent and often unclearly marked when they move on and off the road. Near me the council recently added a cycle to a 5km stretch of a 60kph by-pass. Only a couple of cycles and hour use it - and the cycle lane is only in one direction: downhill. I assume they take the train back.

Finally, the swaying motion of an in-line skater would be an obvious distraction to car drivers and unbelievable dangerous for the skaters. I think it's insanity to even think of skating on a cycle lane at the edge of a road.

@AbFab

I am talking about a road bike, not a city bike.

A road bike, has brakes, they are powerful, but will not stop you ( without you expelled forward ) at 40 Kmh.

They have no bells, lights or any other innecesary stuff, they are built for speed.

Whenever I went inside a city, I'd go on the road with the cars and avoid the places or reduce the speed when I know there is danger of hitting a walker. ( Even If sometimes in the city I was faster on my road bike than many cars ).

But outside the city, the bike paths are made for bikes. In many cases there is a big sidewalk and a well signaled bike path so the walkers should be aware they should be careful when stepping on the bike path, there could be a fast bike coming, in the same way they know that if they step on the road without watching first they could be hit by a car.

As about the skaters, I didn't find them to be such a problem as you can see them from far away and then avoid them. The walkers are a bigger problem, they come to the bike path suddenly or just stay there and don't move even if you are yelling at them from far away.

Legally required to have a bell. Legally required to have lights when the street lamps are on.

My racer came with a bell fitted.