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To nudge the anti cycling thread a notch further - riding on pavements ( sidewalks ) and in pedestrian only shopping centers should be banned and legally enforced.

My wife was pinned to the floor by an absolute ahole who was barreling down the pavement outside a busy shop and hit her full on.
In retrospect ( which is easy ) I should have brought assault charges. In the heat of the moment I was more concerned about my wife.
I think cyclists should be registered and accountable for their road behavior with licence plates for identification. As cycling has now increased in recent times it needs it own set of legally enforceable laws to control behavior for the common good. Just because they are doing something healthy / sporty / green should not mean they can do it to the disadvantage and possible injury of others.
The pavement should be for pedestrians and infants on small bikes.
Steps off soap box.

Whew, at this point of your post I thought the reason your local cyclists weren't using cycle paths was because you had taken to driving "The Elk" down them!!

Cycling on footpaths, pedestrian only areas, riding without lights and dangerous cycling are all enforceable offences. Finding a to deal with them in these days of govt funding cuts to police budgets is another thing, plus it's not a Home Office priority

If there is a group of cyclists, side by side, they present a shorter obstruction so in some circumstances, a group side by side can be easier to overtake.

If the road is narrow, there is also the factor that even 'singled out' (language in use among club cyclists) a pass is risky for the cyclists. So it is possible the leader of the group will not call for singling out until it's safe to overtake.

There is a load of other factors, but that is two of them.

My point is there is no apparent discouragement and control from unsocial cycle behavior, from any quarter.
This applies to both pavement riding and cycle clubs.

I don't think that there has been a direct relationship between the tax collected on a motor vehicle and the maintenance of roads since the thirties and I guess that cycles are exempt because they are not motorised. I like to cycle and I think that makes me wary of cyclists and of vehicle drivers who often don't seem to be wary of me. I don't cycle on paths and I don't park my car on footpaths either. I do agree that the bunching of group riders needs to be re thought and frankly, around here it is asking for trouble.

Well thanks Martin, its sounds like a reasonable theory, but in my common experience in practice it often takes on an arrogant air. Having cycled myself for some years i would never impede traffic by riding two abreast, perhaps that is an old fashioned courtesy thing. It also seems rather risky to entrust road safety to a group leader, I was not aware this was usual.

We also get a lot of Horse riders doing the side by side thing, usually young ladies chatting or as i saw the other day, on the phone. the added danger here of course is the unpredictability of animals as if humans weren't unpredictable enough, horses have excuses….

I also find that those POLITE NOTICE signs somewhat condescending, even as as a pleb i know how POLICE is spelt. Please pass wide and slow is much more polite and courtesy works better for most people i would hope.

Third party insurance should be compulsory for all road users. Presumably if a cyclist does serious damage they are personally accountable anyway, so it makes no sense not to at least take that precaution. But like all things it will take a serious incident for anything to change.
We don't seem to get too many cyclists locally, although a couple of years ago I had a bottom clenching near miss in the Roadster, when an idiot woman in a large car was overtaking a cyclist on a blind bend. Funny how gripping the wheel and tightening the sphincter takes a couple of inches off the width.
I was out one day in the MGB several years ago and came round a blind left hand bend to find two horse riders side by side. Thankfully the brakes were up to the challenge.
My funniest experience watching cyclists was at Torquay, on the main road at Livermead, where the Paignton road crosses the railway by over bridge, then turns left and drops downhill. So cyclists can get up a fair speed. This dozy cyclist, in full gear had not noticed a parked car, and hit it at full speed, dead centre, he went over the handlebars, and then through the rear window, ending up on the back seat. He was ok........
It would have made a great u tube clip.

I have third party insurance on a cycle. Very cheap, so cheap the Cyclists Touring Club (I'm a member) throws it in with membership fee.

I believe the London Cycling Campaign does likewise, and probably others do too, but having been a member of the CTC since I was 16, no need to join another club.

Added, yes I do stick up for cyclists. Like car drivers, the majority abide by the rules, but the minority who don't is what folk notice.

If bicycles were taxed they would be zero rated, as are some cars, so it would be uneconomic, but I do think all cyclists should be insured.

If cyclist break the Rules of the Road then they should be prosecuted, but there are very few police cars now.

When overtaking a cyclist the Highway Code says you should leave the same space as if you were passing a car.