"Earl Purple" wrote

I wouldn't ride it at you though. The only reason I ever use the
pavement is to round the bus that has just blocked off my access.
This
is most commonly on the A41 Finchley Road heading South.

Give us a proper lane to pass road traffic and we won't use the
pavement. Simple.

There are two proper lanes adjacent to the bus lane. Move right,
behaving as described in "Cyclecraft", the generally recommended
guide to cycling with other traffic, move back when past the bus.

It works for me.

In the evenings, when it's uphill, buses are more likely to be
passing me. They do much the same.

And no, I won't use the "recommended" cycle route up and down the
hills
in the backstreets of Hampstead.

I'm with you there. The main purpose of defining "cycle routes" is
an attempt to define most roads as "not cycle routes". I suspect
that even the people who got out their magic markers, and defined the
network, don't use the network as such. In reality, of course,
London has 8500 miles of bike routes, because every road and every
street, except for a couple of motorways, is a bike route

Jeremy Parker