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Cyclists divided over video of van driver failing to wait for father and child on busy road; Thibaut Pinot: “The first thing I’ll sell is the turbo trainer”; Police target red light jumping cyclists; Why don’t you use cycle lanes? + more on the live blog

Hopefully it will be a lucky Friday the 13th on the live blog today, as Ryan Mallon’s back for one last roundup of the latest cycling news and views before the weekend
Fri, Jan 13, 2023 09:54
91
Cyclists divided over video of van driver failing to wait for father and child on busy road; Thibaut Pinot: “The first thing I’ll sell is the turbo trainer”; Police target red light jumping cyclists; Why don’t you use cycle lanes? + more on the live blogVan driver and cyclist pass on busy London road (Lauren O'Brien, Twitter)
13 January 2023, 09:23
Van driver and cyclist pass on busy London road (Lauren O'Brien, Twitter)
“When you turn roads into car parks you put other road users at risk”: Cyclists divided over video of van driver failing to wait for father and child on busy road

It seems as if the ‘motorist versus child on bike: who should give way?’ debate is becoming something of a monthly occurrence these days.

The first few weeks of November, for example, were dominated by the viral clip of a driver refusing to stop before narrowly passing an oncoming five-year-old cyclist, which sparked a hotly contested debate that made it all the way to Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show and the former Chancellor of the Exchequer (I know, who hasn’t been Chancellor lately?) Sajid Javid.

Viral video debated on Jeremy Vine show (screenshot Twitter video/ @azb2019)

> Viral video of driver refusing to stop for five-year-old cyclist debated on Jeremy Vine's Channel 5 show

And then, a month later, another strikingly similar video popped up on the live blog, this time depicting a taxi driver ploughing straight ahead as a young cyclist passed… and on a school street too.

And now, as we enter January’s sluggish middle section, and just like clockwork, we’ve been treated again to another round of viral video déjà vu.

Posting the following clip of a van driver and cyclist (with a child) narrowly passing each other on a London street made narrow by the two lines of parked cars, safe cycling campaigner Lauren asked: “Should the van have waited here and given the father and child more space? That would have been the safest thing to do.”

The video has, inevitably, divided opinion – though this time even amongst cyclist themselves.

While several commenters were critical of the motorist’s driving…

… Others questioned the cyclist’s actions, or reckoned that the situation was well-negotiated by both:

Some, however, including Lauren herself, noted a separate, and perhaps more pertinent, in-built safety issue responsible for creating stand-offs like the one in the video:

13 January 2023, 17:31
“One of those give and take situations”: Readers react to van driver failing to stop and narrowly passing cyclist

This morning’s clip, featuring a cyclist and a van driver passing each other on a narrow street (which is one-way for motor vehicles and bidirectional for cyclists), has divided opinion in the comments as much as it did on Twitter.

Here’s a selection of some of our readers’ thoughts on the topic du jour:

mitsky: “I face this (without the child), as do most cyclists, on a daily basis. I don't mind if the driver is very slow/cautious but have reported ones who don't slow down or are aggressive/closer than I'm comfortable with.

“The way I look at this clip and most situations is: imagine the centre of the road have broken lines marking the two way lanes. In that case the driver of the vehicle that has to cross the line (due to the parked cars) needs to give way to the vehicle (cyclist) that doesn't.

“This can easily be seen to be the case here. Even without the lines on the road, the van driver is straddling the middle of the road. I appreciate that this case has been declared as one way and two directional for cyclists but the same principle should apply for safety.”

Van driver and cyclist pass on busy London road (Lauren O'Brien, Twitter)

Awavey: “For me the cyclist has passed a better gap (whilst clearly aware of the oncoming van) that they would have been advised to use, then everyone is happy and passes no issue.

“This is one of those give and take situations I feel, and I can assure you I’m one of those riders who will ride at cars in prime and head on at drivers who refuse to yield and drive past gaps they could fit in these situations normally. This one I wouldn’t have.”

HarrogateSpa: “Apply the hierarchy of road users. The driver can do the greatest harm, so has the greatest responsibility to take care, and should cede priority.”

Secret_squirrel: “Video starts too late for full context, but from what we can see the van was already passing parked cars, so the initial decision to proceed or dive in seems to be on the cyclist.  Hard to tell if the two gaps the van might have used were useful at all.

“My general feel is that both could have been more accommodating. Deffo nothing like as clear cut as the earlier viral incidents.”

Jimmy Ray Will: “I think the van is OK here. Both van and cyclist were well established in the road, so it’s hard to say if anyone had priority. Although, the cyclist isn't encroaching on the van's 'side' of the road and is the more vulnerable road user, so you would have to argue they are in the driving seat.

“However, both cyclist and van driver had opportunities to pull in. The cyclist had the first and more significant space to pull in to, but elected not to do so. That to me signals that the cyclist was comfortable with the space available and the van driver was OK to proceed as they did.”

Right, that’s it – I’m away for a quick blast on the turbo trainer (forgive me, Thibaut Pinot). Have a good weekend, everyone!

13 January 2023, 16:58
Set your alarms…
13 January 2023, 16:37
World Mountain Bike Chariot Racing Championships
World Mountain Bike Chariot Racing Championships cancelled due to lack of numbers

Well, that’s my weekend ruined.

The world mountain bike chariot racing championships – which is every bit as mad as it sounds – was set to take place tomorrow in its traditional home of Llanwrtyd Wells, the purported smallest town in Britain.

The annual championships, described by the organisers as “Ben Hur with mountain bikes”, see teams of two cyclists (usually in silly clothing) race around the town’s Manor Adventure Centre – all while dragging along their mate, sitting proudly in a special Roman-style chariot.

And if you don’t believe me, here’s a video of the 2021 event:

Brilliant.

Unfortunately, the organisers have been forced to cancel the championships this year due to a lack of entries and the prohibitive costs of running the event.

“Owing to a lack of people entering the chariot racing this weekend, it has become unviable for us to run the event, so regretfully it will not be taking place as advertised,” the Neuadd Arms Hotel, which helps run the event, posted on its Facebook page.

“This also applies to the toga party in the evening as well.”

Now I’m really annoyed.

The organisers continued: “We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause if people have made arrangements, but we can't afford to run events at a loss in the current economic circumstances.”

Hopefully, the championships will return, in all their mad Roman glory, in 2024. They better – as I promised Dan we’d enter a road.cc team…

13 January 2023, 16:17
13 January 2023, 15:48
Bath’s bicycle mayor says Kidical Mass ride removed from climate festival by council because “it is considered a political event”

Saskia Heijltjes, who was appointed in October 2021 as Bath’s first bicycle mayor, claimed this week that Bath and North East Somerset Council removed a Kidical Mass ride from a climate festival last Autumn because it was deemed a “political” event.

Heijltjes tweeted yesterday that she was asked during a talk at the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy if the local authority supported and helped promote Kidical Mass, which sees families ride together to campaign for safe streets.

“The answer is ‘no’,” she wrote. “The ride was deemed ‘political’ and therefore removed from the council's Climate and Biodiversity festival.”

As Heijltjes notes, a Kidical Mass ride was originally slated to form part of the festival in late September and early October, advertised by the council as a “collaborative programme of events that showcase, inspire and connect organisations, residents and communities across Bath and North East Somerset”.

However, it was later removed by the organisers because, Kidical Mass says, “it is considered a political event” and policed under the category of “protests and marches”.

Kidical Mass Bath, on the other hand, say they are “an apolitical, community-led campaign, and will continue to demand the council deliver what they promised for residents.”

13 January 2023, 15:18
Bradley Stoke 'Look out for cyclists' sign (James Taylor)
Meanwhile, in Bradley Stoke…

Banksy has turned his attention to active travel, it seems... (Or should that be SaxoBanksy? I'll get my coat.) 

Bradley Stoke 'Look out for cyclists' sign (James Taylor)

Cyclist James, who captured these images of the new sign (compete with expertly positioned googly eyes), hopes it will help to improve the attitudes of motorists in the South Gloucestershire town, especially after he was on the receiving end of this shockingly close overtake – while dressed as Santa, I may add – on the approach to that very roundabout last month:

13 January 2023, 14:31
Clevedon’s “driving lane for drink drivers” ridiculed, as local Conservatives play anti-cycling bingo with comments about “high speed lycra clad cyclists” posing a danger to children

The ongoing work to improve active travel in the Somerset seaside town of Clevedon has once again made the headlines this week, with the new one-way street for motor vehicles along the promenade – featuring “wobbly lines” designed to reduce speed – ridiculed in the national press for turning the town into “Balamory from hell”.

North Somerset Council’s plans to improve Hill Road and The Beach in Clevedon include the creation of a bidirectional cycle lane, new cycle parking provision, widening the pavement along the seafront, and building parklets outside cafés.

However, the scheme, which is currently close to completion and received majority support following a public consultation, has been the subject of a long, high-profile campaign, led by Tory MP and former cabinet minister Liam Fox, aiming to see it scrapped.

> Ex-cabinet minister Liam Fox protests against planned seafront bike lane funded by government money

The current backlash against the new road layout on the seafront – which has been converted to a one-way street to allow for the installation of the bike lane – has seen its wavy lines labelled a “driving lane for drink drivers”, while others have dubbed it “ridiculous” and a “snake lane”.

North Somerset Council says the wavy lines are “a design feature to reduce the potential abuse of parking at these locations and help make the road feel narrower, which is a technique used to slow traffic speeds.”

“A wavy line provides uncertainty to the driver and is proven to help reduce unwanted parking,” a council spokesperson said.

Nevertheless, the storm in an antiquated tea cup has allowed the opponents of the scheme to renew their campaign with a fresh wave of petitions claiming the unusual layout will make the seafront more dangerous and harm businesses.

> Controversial cycle lane roadworks blamed for “killing Christmas trade”

“A vast amount of public money is being spent to solve a problem which does not actually exist,” says local MP Fox about a road on which a cyclist sustained critical injuries in a collision involving a driver in September 2020.

“We do not have major road safety issues on Clevedon seafront at present, despite it being a Victorian amenity. We will, however, have safety issues in the future as a result of the incompetent plans of the current North Somerset Council.

“The project is not popular, not safe, not affordable, not properly consulted upon and not necessary. It damages historic amenity, will disadvantage visitors, especially the elderly, will disrupt local trade and impede access to local residents.”

While safety, access, and local trade are all at the top of Mr Fox’s priorities, somebody needs to tell his party, who used the controversial wavy lines to indulge in a spot of anti-cycling bingo concerning the apparent danger posed to children by “high speed lycra clad cyclists”:

13 January 2023, 13:39
13 January 2023, 13:22
Britain’s most flooded cycleways, round two

Yesterday saw the start of the most anticipated competition of the year (and no, I don’t mean the road.cc Recommends awards) – the Official Live Blog Flooded Cycleway Cup!

On Thursday’s blog, Dunham Massey in Trafford, Greater Manchester, made a strong start, roaring ahead with no fewer than three underwater sections.

> “This doesn’t work as an active travel route whilst underwater”: Is this Britain’s most flooded cycleway?

But it faces stiff competition from Bristol’s infamous ‘Lawrence Hill Lido’ (put forward by road.cc reader hawkinspeter), which was in the news last week for its spectacular Olympic swimming pool-like depths, the result of a damaged pipe caused by, the council says, a tree root ingress.

But what about an outsider like the NCN 6 in Northampton? A victim of regular flooding when the adjacent River Nene is high, reader Martin Baker reckons it could go all the way.

NCN6, Northampton (Martin Baker)

Of course, the season is still young, and there are plenty of flooded cycleways for us to wade through before we crown a river- I mean winner…

Keep sending us your local favourites!

13 January 2023, 12:39
“Can we expect a valet service?” Former pro mountain biker charged £75 to bring bike on ferry

‘Ow much?

According to former pro mountain biker and Active Nation commissioner for Scotland Lee Craigie, Brittany Ferries did at least get back to her, with what could charitably be described as a load of old cobblers.

“Like most major transport companies today our pricing changes with demand and so naturally during peak periods, or on sailings where demand increases, our prices can vary,” the company said.

“There are several factors that need to be taken into consideration when different passenger types travel on a ferry and there is an additional fee for a bicycle over a foot passenger fare.

“For instance, cyclists have a separate check-in and route through port, requiring different facilities than foot passengers.

“Once on board, garage space is allocated for bicycles, reducing the space for other vehicle types, and there is a member of crew who will be assigned to directing and safely storing the bicycles for transit, which of course takes additional time over a foot passenger or even a car.”

Of course…

13 January 2023, 11:56
“Ensuring the safety of all vulnerable road users”: Dublin police fine 16 cyclists in operation targeting red light jumpers and bikes without lights

Gardaí in Dublin city centre carried out an operation earlier this week targeting cyclists jumping red lights and riding without front and rear lights – and issued fines to 16 cyclists in the process.

A tweet from An Garda Síochána’s traffic team said that the operation was about “ensuring the safety of all vulnerable road users”.

As Sticky Bottle pointed out, just before Christmas it emerged that only 71 drivers had been convicted in 2022 of dangerously overtaking a cyclist.

Needless to say – just like a similar cyclist-targeting operation carried out by the Met in Hackney last year – the Gardaí’s attempt to protect vulnerable road users divided those on Twitter:

> Police in Hackney catch 18 red light jumping cyclists in 90 minutes 

13 January 2023, 11:26
Quick, someone ring Netflix, Geraint has come up with a title for their new show

Well, at least it would still be better than ‘Tour de Force’ or something like that…

13 January 2023, 10:38
Pinot battles to third on the stage to Mende at the 2022 Tour de France (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Thibaut Pinot: “The first thing I’ll sell is the turbo trainer”

It’s fair to say that Thibaut Pinot’s announcement yesterday that he plans to retire at the end of 2023 has sent the cycling world into a period of mourning.

And it’s easy to see why. Throughout the 2010s – a decade dominated by the relentless, robotic rhythms of the Sky train in the grand tours – Pinot stood out as one of the sport’s great, lost romantics who, like the French heroes of the increasingly distant past, raced on feel and with (dare I say it) panache. And who, most importantly, appeared human.

> Thibaut Pinot announces he will retire from cycling at the end of 2023

That caricature of Pinot as cycling’s last romantic (and, despite all the teary abandons and photos with his goats, it is still a caricature) stems from the Groupama-FDJ rider’s striking relatability and understand that there’s life beyond racing your bike – something underlined by his plans for the future, as told to L'Équipe in their cover story on the 32-year-old’s retirement.

“The first thing I’ll sell is the turbo trainer,” Pinot told the newspaper. Very relatable.

“Cycling’s taken up a third of my life,” he continued. “I want to focus on my other passion – animals and nature. I’ve always wanted to use what nature gives us to make things, honey, grow fruit and vegetables. I’ll open a guesthouse. Do some trail running & cross-country skiing, which’ll help my hyperactivity.”

Thibaut Pinot wins on the Tourmalet, 2019 Tour de France (A.S.O./Thomas Maheux)

On the way to victory on the Tourmalet at the 2019 Tour (A.S.O./Thomas Maheux)

Reflecting on his dramatic abandon at the 2019 Tour de France, when he appeared on the cusp of ending his country’s then-34-year drought at their home grand tour, Pinot once again illustrates why he’s not Chris Froome, or  Tadej Pogačar.

“If I’m able to live the life I dream of, it’s also because I didn’t win the 2019 Tour,” he says.

“My life would have changed too much, which is why I have no regrets. I never wanted to have the life of a champion. I would have become a public figure, really famous, and I didn’t want that.”

While Groupama-FDJ boss Marc Madiot – in typical Madiot fashion – reckons Pinot’s 2019 Tour was his “unfinished symphony”, the Tour of Lombardy winner’s main goal for 2023 will swell the heart of every cycling romantic: the Giro d’Italia.

“Even though I've only raced it twice, the Giro is the most beautiful race for me. I can’t finish my Giro story with an abandon in an ambulance,” he says.

A love for the Giro and a hatred of turbo trainers? Again, a man after my own heart.

While Pinot’s announcement this week has prompted fans and the media to reflect on a cycling life less ordinary, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of drama, goat photos, and battered car panels left to nourish our romantic urges throughout 2023…

13 January 2023, 09:58
Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lanes? Part 2,967

To be fair, I’m not sure all the parked cars were included in Sustrans’ designs for the recently opened cycle lane in Enfield… 

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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91 comments

Avatar
Rob Ainsley | 1 year ago
4 likes

York's riverside cycleways are regularly inundated. Right now is our annual once-a-decade winter flood.

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eburtthebike replied to Rob Ainsley | 1 year ago
1 like

Can you swim on your bike?  Or is this a variation of man needs woman like fish needs bicycle?

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Rendel Harris replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
3 likes

.

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chrisonabike replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
2 likes

Oxygen doping!

@eburtthebike - since you're now power-assisted might I suggest this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uRUZTgNiXY

However it mentioned "might be the new Tesla if Elon Musk made water bikes" so I'm already out!

Avatar
Rob Ainsley | 1 year ago
5 likes

York's riverside cycleways are regularly inundated. Right now is our annual once-a-decade winter flood.

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chrisonabike replied to Rob Ainsley | 1 year ago
0 likes

Yeah, it's almost like they put the cycling where it was possible (easiest / cheapest) rather than where it was best.  To be fair the Ouse and even Foss are logical places to have routes along.

I was visiting York after a gap of some decades a couple of years ago and it was flooded again.  That was hardly unhead of before but it seems to be standard now?

I did note they had clearly added some cycle infra during my long absence.  However, since being a railway town York seems to be very much a car town - albeit with more cycling than much of the UK.  I never quite understood why it wasn't doing better e.g. was more like Cambridge?  Apart from the hill it is mostly flat, it's compact, has some useful disused railway long repurposed as non-motorised routes, is a major tourist destination, has "narrow mediaeval streets" (plus walls and barbican!) plus more modern suburbs which certainly have space for new infra - AND a fairly large number of university students.

Maybe it or the council reflect the general North Yorks character?  That's driving country!

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Simon E replied to Rob Ainsley | 1 year ago
1 like

Rob Ainsley wrote:

York's riverside cycleways are regularly inundated. Right now is our annual once-a-decade winter flood.

Shrewsbury is the same. Sustrans Route 81 uses the riverside park known as The Quarry and down past the weir. The photo below, taken a week ago by Liam Ball, shows English Bridge with water at least 1 metre above the path and the Severn is another 0.5 metres higher today. And the path will still be muddy and treacherous after the water level recedes.

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
1 like

"Saskia Heijltjes, who was appointed in October 2021 as Bath’s first bicycle mayor..."

Is there some problem with West country cities and their elected representatives supposedly carrying out their council's published strategies?  As we know from the recent article, Councillor Don Alexander of Bristol has a similar problem with comprehending what is essentially a fairly clear strategy.

I'm afraid someone needs to get back to Saskia Heijltjes and find out why she thinks that uniquely, a bicycle ride for children is somehow political?  Since cycling seems to be equally detested by both main parties, and only really supported by one, the Greens, I would dearly like to know why she thinks it's political.  I note that she is from Holland, and must therefore know about the Kindermort campaign that stopped road expansion and led to more, better cycling facilities; that wasn't political in the sense of left/right either, but it did achieve political change, so maybe that's what she means.  But if she isn't firmly in favour of change, why did she accept the post?

Whatever, I would expect a Bicycle Mayor to be rather more active and assertive about promoting cycling, especially when Kidical Mass is so close to what what actually worked in Holland.

Just taken a look at an interview she did after getting the post:

"I chair the Bicycle Users Group at my workplace and I’m an active member of local campaign group Walk Ride Bath. In 2021, we started Kidical Mass rides to raise awareness of the need for safe infrastructure for cycling. The rides are so much fun, with many children on their own bikes, ringing their bells and feeling safe on the streets because of the size of the group.

What are your plans as Bicycle Mayor?

As a Bicycle Mayor, I want to grow Kidical Mass in Bath by running regular rides and
reaching out to more people. These events are perfect for people to meet and share
experiences of cycling. I want to build on the strengths of Kidical Mass as a positive event to inspire other families to take up cycling and to combat stereotypes. I will use the event as a platform to engage with decision makers and campaign for safe infrastructure for everyone, so that more people can choose to cycle."

Now I'm totally confused.

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chrisonabike replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
4 likes

She's not really part of the regular council machinery I think e.g. I doubt they give her the key to the paperclip draw, never mind ability to make stuff happen.  From Bath Uni:

Quote:

The role of Bicycle Mayor is voluntary and independent ...

As I read it, she's just passing on the news (not news) that councils don't like people protesting or attempting to embarrass them into making changes not lobbied for by their friends' businesess (good luck).  So they'll head off anything which looks like citizens organising for themselves as opposed to a couple of random nutters who're easily dismissed.

Bit like Big Politics.  I think they've seized on the wheeze of trying to redefine "lawful protest" as basically "a street party, as long as it's not too noisy or exhorts change".  So a group of concerned (god forbid angry) people occupying public space and voicing displeasure is to be discouraged.

Cold comfort but I think this shows that previous Kiddical Mass events have not been completely ineffectual when considered as protest.

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brooksby replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
2 likes

Bicycle mayors are voted in as a kind of Head Activist, they're all something to do with the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, I think. They're nothing to do with the council, and have no powers or funds.

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chrisonabike replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
1 like

Ah, thanks, that was it - I couldn't recall if they were vaguely involved with the council but for better (bloody councils; hmm Sustrans ... ?) and worse (absolutely zero power) they're not.

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/baths-first-bicycle-mayor-revealed-6...

Not sure they're even much to do with CEofGB (sadly a bit dormant it seems).  It seems to be more of a loose network of autonomous non-hierarchical collectives type thing:

https://bycs.org/bicycle-mayor/

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eburtthebike replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

Bicycle mayors are voted in as a kind of Head Activist, they're all something to do with the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, I think. They're nothing to do with the council, and have no powers or funds.

So what is the purpose of a Bicycle Mayor, if it isn't to support other cyclists and to achieve change?

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mdavidford replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
2 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

brooksby wrote:

Bicycle mayors are voted in as a kind of Head Activist, they're all something to do with the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain, I think. They're nothing to do with the council, and have no powers or funds.

So what is the purpose of a Bicycle Mayor, if it isn't to support other cyclists and to achieve change?

Isn't that what she is trying to do, within the limited scope of influence she has, by flagging up the ridiculous decision of the event organisers?

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Hirsute replied to mdavidford | 1 year ago
2 likes

You're back !
A few of us wondered where you were.

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HLaB | 1 year ago
2 likes

The Cambridge Busway Cycle Path has flooded impassably a few times now where it drops below the level of the bus tracks near St Ives.  Whilst I could be wrong, I think its been built sacraficially to protect bus tracks (the cycle path will soak up the flood)  7

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
5 likes

I don't know they did not hit me.

And she indicated left before she even cleared me.

 

 

 

 

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Rendel Harris replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
4 likes

Thank goodness the white car driver has been aware enough to get over to the left, you can guess when given a choice between hitting another car and hitting a cyclist which way she's going to go.

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eburtthebike replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

Have you reported them?

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Hirsute replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
2 likes

Yes, about half an hour ago.

No doubt it will be just a letter. It was very gusty too, so more space than 1.5m required.

If you put my submissions on a map, that spot would have the most pins. Do essex police even bother with this approach ?

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Hirsute replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
2 likes

Amazed to get an email at 0617 telling me to retain the footage. Probably just a course but they looked quite old so a course would be good for them given all the HC changes over the years.

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mattw | 1 year ago
1 like

I like the River Nene "lake at the bottom of the banking" one.

An incentive to keep the speed up, especially for e-bikes - lets have that at the championships.

Have they dealt with the Noah's Ark sections of the cyclepath by the Cambridge Guide busway yet?

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chrisonabike replied to mattw | 1 year ago
0 likes

With e-bikes it could be a bit like Rufford Ford if there was a steep climb up out of the water maybe - if the electrics cut out? (Not sure how waterproof they are).

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NotNigel | 1 year ago
2 likes

Hull folk having a meltdown with this story in the local wind-up merchant, Hull Live.

 

apologies for the website.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/hull-city-...

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brooksby replied to NotNigel | 1 year ago
5 likes

Funny, when you consider that I saw three cars being driven around Bristol last night with no rear lights on (I couldn't see their front).  I wonder whether the police will start stopping motorists and offering them free lights? 3

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Sriracha replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
1 like

See 'em all the time! Since the introduction of DRLs on new cars, there are some motorists who assume that because the front lights are now always on, the rears are too.

Not only that, but they don't understand what the D in DRL stands for. So as well as driving at night with no rear lights, without their proper lights switched on the front DRLs will shine undimmed at full daylight running brightness, dazzling other road users. Plonkers.

Mind you, why this outcome was not entirely predictable to the bureaucrats who framed the automotive DRL regulations is beyond me.

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ktache replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
0 likes

Yep.

And why, accepting the stupidity of some drivers, didn't they include rear lights, so that when they cannot be bothered to put their lights on at night, that there would be some behind.

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Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
9 likes

Title for a series based on G's Tour: Thomas the Crank Engine.

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AidanR | 1 year ago
7 likes

My view is that on narrow streets, the vehicle coming the other way is inevitably on my side of the road. How can it possibly have priority in that situation?

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Rendel Harris replied to AidanR | 1 year ago
2 likes

AidanR wrote:

My view is that on narrow streets, the vehicle coming the other way is inevitably on my side of the road. How can it possibly have priority in that situation?

It's somewhat complicated here by the fact that it's a one-way street with a cycle contraflow, so the van is never actually not on its own side of the road.

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AidanR replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

Sorry, I'm referring to the usual situation of a two way street.

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