On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:05:13 +0000, David Hansen
wrote:

[---]

I am not very popular with many cyclists in this group for stating
this view, but I have no great objection to bikes ridden sensibly on
the pavement. Riding sensibly means riding at walking pace or below
in crowded conditions and some bikes and/or loads are not stable
enough at low speed to be ridden sensibly on pavements, in which
case they should be pushed.

That's the way it works in Germany, where there are some pavements on
which cyclists may ride, provided always that they moderate their
speed and respect the priority of pedestrians.

However, I do point out to advocates of
pavement cycling that it is safer and quicker to use the roads in
most cases, so pavements are really for short parts of trips, for
example getting to/from parking.

Also true.