By GERARD MICHAEL

CYCLISTS will always be a danger "to pedestrians — just like cracks in the footpath, stray dogs, swooping magpies, falling tree branches, and everything else that life in the big city brings.

But when it comes to sharing Centennial Park, a certain amount of tolerance needs to be shown. Pedestrians and cyclists are there for the same reasons: to exercise, to enjoy the park's sublime ambience, to get from A to B in an enironmentally-friendly way.

Cyclists aren't out to ruin a weekday morning shuffler's fitness routine or to annoy the hordes of weekend Alaskan malamute walkers.

Centennial Park is a multiuser environment. Just as cyclists have to contend with pedestrians, pedestrians have to contend with cyclists.

And let's face it, cyclists at some time or another are pedestrians.

The cycling fraternity is aware that bunch riding can be intimidating but the "thugs in lycra" tag is not a true representation. If authorities are so concerned about pedestrian safety in Centennial Park, why do they allow dogs off leash within centimetres of the bike lane?

• Gerald Michael is a competitive cyclist

By HAROLD SCRUBY

CYCLISTS and pedestrians definitely do not mix.
The government and councils have to start spending money on separate paths — not shared paths, which they continue to build in order to get that nice warm glow.

But that does not solve the safety problem facing pedestrians and cyclists around our city and at places such as Centennial Park.

They need to force cyclists to obey rules like everyone else in the CBD.

Cyclists have an obligation, at all times, to give way to pedestrians — it's the law.

Principally the Pedestrian Council wants a strong alliance with cyclists because cycling is an active form of transport — pollution free.

But we have several concerns — especially about cyclist couriers, who for years have ignored every single traffic rule.

Couriers ride on footpaths, the wrong way up one-way streets and through red lights as their business is delivering packages in short times.

We call on Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore to urgently bring stricter codes in the CBD to solve the problem.

• Harold Scruby is the chairman of the Pedestrian Council of Australia