Cyclists should show courtesy to walkers

Sir, - Having read both Janet Ward and Bob Duncan’s letters on their close encounters with cyclists, I feel moved to add my voice to the growing number of people who have had negative experiences with cyclists while out walking, evening in the hills and sheep trods of the countryside.

What I resent most is being approached from the rear, hearing a shout of excuse me and then being passed by a cyclist with as little as three inches between me and his/her handlebars.

And, oh yes, the cyclist is invariably dressed in the uniform of the entitled: Lycra.

The frontal approach is slightly different but equally offensive, especially if walking on a narrow track. The warning call is given and there is an expectation by the cyclist that you, the pedestrian, will move aside in order that they can continue their journey unimpeded.

The lack of respect and consideration for the safety of other people out for a walk is shocking.

There is a lack of understanding by a significant proportion of today’s cyclists that the routes they now cycle on were once walkways long before they suddenly became “shared”.

The 2003 Access Scotland Act does give people rights to access and those rights I am sure are well known to the entitled element within cycling.

It is a great pity that none of them seems to be aware that an access code pertaining to cyclists exists within that act.

Part of it states: “Do not endanger walkers and horse riders; give other users advance warning of your presence and give way to them on a narrow path.”

I would add two other requirements, closing any gates they pass through and the need to give pedestrians at least one arm’s length distance as they pass by on their journey. Brett Antonson. East Glenree, Alyth.