I'm a pedestrian, a cyclist and a motorist
so I see it from different viewpoints. I've been cycling practically all my life. Not a lycra type cyclist, I have mostly used the bike as a mode of transport, getting to work, going to the shop etc. and also for hitting the trails.
I have noticed a big change over the years. When I was a kid the cops would pull you over for cycling on the pavement, now I think its actively encouraged for kids under 16 or maybe its under 14.
Another big change is some pavements are also cycle paths which cause great confusion to pedestrians and motorists. Pedestrians are outraged you are cycling on the pavement and motorists are enraged that you are delaying them by 30 secs by cycling on the road.
Recently during lockdown I have been cycling most days and the Inverness distributor road is one of these roads where pedestrians expect you to cycle on the road and motorists think you should be cycling on the pavement.
Myself being an easygoing chap on my mountain bike try to please everyone by alternating from pavement to road and also cycling this particular road at a time when the pavement/cycle path is quiet.
Amazingly I've had 2 drivers pull up alongside and ask why I am not on the pavement.
I asked them kindly to go home and have a look at the [expletive deleted] highway code, and questioned if they got their driving license in a [expletive deleted] lucky bag.
A big problem, apart from the motorists and pedestrians generally being uneducated or maybe just out of date with the laws, is that the footpath and cycle lane are often not segregated which pushes many cyclists to use the road full time, which is perfectly legal and for fast cyclists on road bikes the safer option anyway.
To be fair some cyclists probably deserve a bad name and make life harder for the rest of us.