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London cyclists warned to be careful... because of all the car fumes; Barrister asked if he was wearing a helmet - after being hit by a motorist; Viaduct reopens for cyclists and walkers; Is cycling linked to your education? + more on the live blog

Thank Coppi it’s Friday! Ryan Mallon is here to ease you into the weekend with the last live blog of the week
Fri, Jan 14, 2022 09:55
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London cyclists warned to be careful... because of all the car fumes; Barrister asked if he was wearing a helmet - after being hit by a motorist; Viaduct reopens for cyclists and walkers; Is cycling linked to your education? + more on the live blogCS5 cyclists (screenshot via London Cycles video Twitter)
14 January 2022, 17:50
Heading into the weekend like…

That’s it for the week folks! Thanks for keeping me company on the blog.

I don’t know about you, but I’m away for a lie-down. I was on the receiving end of a heavy tackle at five-a-sides last night, and my ribs have been sore ever since.

If only I’d been wearing my helmet…

14 January 2022, 17:06
Nextbike Cardiff (screenshot via BBC News report)
Ovo Bikes return to Cardiff after two month break due to thefts and vandalism

The Ovo bike hire scheme was reintroduced to Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan yesterday, two months after the scheme was suspended due to a high number of thefts and vandalism.

Before the suspension of the scheme in November, 300 Ovo bikes had been stolen and 260 vandalised. It was the first time operator Nextbike had been forced to withdraw its services in the UK.

Nextbike’s Krysia Solheim told Wales Online: “It’s a relief to be back on the streets of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. We know our customers have missed having access to the Ovo Bikes schemes.

"Bike share is a fantastic, affordable, and healthy way to move around our towns and cities – not to mention the fact that it’s one of the best ways of reducing harmful transport emissions.”

Let’s just hope it goes better this time…

14 January 2022, 17:10
14 January 2022, 16:55
CPA threatens to sue The Cyclists’ Alliance over ‘fake news’ prize money concerns

The pro season hasn’t even started in earnest yet and there’s already been some serious inter-organisational conflict (remember the ASO-UCI wars of the mid-noughties and mid-2010s? Surely another one of those is scheduled soon…).

This time, the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA to you and me) has threatened to sue The Cyclists’ Alliance (TCA) for what it described as defamation and false information after the TCA published concerns surrounding the administration of prize money on the women’s side of the sport.

Often criticised for its cosy relationship with the UCI, the CPA is the officially recognised riders’ representative organisation. Headed on the men’s side by Gianni Bugno, a women’s branch was finally set up in 2017.

While the CPA Women is made up of national riders’ associations, the TCA on the other hand operates a ‘one rider, one vote’ system. Also established in 2017 by ex-pro Iris Slappendel, the TCA has been praised for its close work with riders concerning contracts, retirement, career advice and education, and is viewed by many as the ‘true union’ for women’s cycling.

Surely, I hear you cry, the two organisations would work together to secure the continuing development of the women’s sport? Ah, but not so fast. It’s Friday afternoon so I’ll spare you the details, but this month the UCI’s Centralised Prize Money Management system (operating on the men’s side since 2017) was introduced for women. In this system, deductions are taken from prize money at races to pay for costs including doping controls, retirement funds and the development of national riders’ associations.

This week the TCA released a statement, claiming that the riders – who the TCA says the prize money “belongs to” – were not consulted about the scheme. The statement asked a series of pertinent questions about the new system and called for an independent third party to be involved, preventing a monopoly over the administration of cycling’s prize money.

The CPA has since responded in a confrontational press release, accusing the TCA “of defaming the CPA and manipulating the riders.”

“The TCA not only appears to be ill-informed but manifests superficiality in its communications,” the statement read. “The riders are enthusiastic about how CPM works. With this transparent system no prize money is lost and riders are paid faster. Alessandra Cappellotto and CPA Women are doing important work in partnership with the UCI and other stakeholders to ensure that the gap between women and men is gradually reduced.”

The accusatory and hostile tone of the CPA’s response has been widely criticised throughout the sport. TCA representative and world time trial champion Ellen van Dijk tweeted the following:

It is clear that both organisations are committed to growing women’s cycling, probably the most important issue in the sport right now. Disputes like this only do the opposite.

14 January 2022, 15:56
14 January 2022, 15:41
Sherlock Holmes and the case of the not-so-genius bike thief

Well that’s one way to get caught stealing a bike…

14 January 2022, 15:24
Cycling UK shares new Cyclists’ Defence Fund video as it aims to reinstate popular bike lane

This morning the bike charity Cycling UK shared a new fundraising video for their Cyclists’ Defence Fund (CDF). The CDF helps fight legal cases involving individual cyclists and cycling in general, especially those which could set important safety-related precedents.

The film includes examples of some of the cases fought using the CDF in the past, as well as Cycling UK’s current legal challenge against West Sussex County Council’s decision to remove a popular cycle lane on the Old Shoreham Road, used by children to get to school.

Cycling UK’s Sam Jones told road.cc that through this challenge, which was made possible by donations to the CDF, they hope to “set a precedent and make other councils take note before doing similar.”

Today’s fundraising call, Jones says, is “about helping us to prepare for tomorrow’s battles.” You can donate to the Cyclists’ Defence Fund on Cycling UK’s website. 

14 January 2022, 14:31
National Champs kits done right

There’s been a lot of talk over the silly season about poorly designed national champions’ jerseys (looking at you, UAE). So it’s refreshing when you come across one that ticks all the boxes, courtesy of Finnish champion Joonas Henttala and Team Novo Nordisk.

14 January 2022, 13:27
Tussling with the Tinker Man

Following Cycling Mikey’s alleged altercation with a texting motorist, covered yesterday on the blog, more London cyclists have come forward with reports of their own run-ins with phone-wielding drivers:

Nathan’s story led another Twitter user to recall one particularly harrowing experience on the same road with a certain maverick Italian football manager:

Going by the location, I assume this incident took place when Ranieri was in charge of Chelsea. Maybe the Tinker Man was too busy contemplating whether he should drop Damien Duff or not… Or perhaps he was texting his No. 8 to get him a coffee?

14 January 2022, 12:58
BoC Cards
“Roses are red, violets are blue, forget Valentines, I want Di2…”

Great news - we’re exactly one month away from the stupidest day of the year!

But have no fear, as you can make the guilt-infested capitalist showpiece that is Valentine’s Day slightly more palatable with these rather brilliant ‘honest’ cycling-themed cards from Band of Climbers. 

Although if you were really being honest with yourself, you would just go on your planned spin anyway and leave all of the unnecessary obligation to Hallmark. Have I made it clear how much I dislike Valentine’s Day?

14 January 2022, 12:25
Canyon Cycle to work scheme 2
Are university graduates more likely to cycle to work?

A newly published study in the Journal of Transport Geography has claimed that people with a university degree are far more likely to cycle for transportation than other city dwellers. 

The research, undertaken by Dr Ansgar Hudde at the University of Cologne, examined the socio-economic status of people who cycle to work, analysing over 800,000 journeys by 55,000 people between 1996 and 2018.

He found that, irrespective of age, gender and even location, individuals with college degrees were 50% more likely to ride bikes.

Dr Hudde’s study builds on earlier research which has shown that people choose their transport method based on travel time, cost, and its symbolic value – in essence, how others will perceive it.

Traditionally, this has been linked to motorists who buy large, expensive cars to signal their socio-economic standing - I'm sure we've all heard the old 'cyclist saving up to buy a car' joke - while also (perhaps unconsciously) pointing out that they don’t care that much about the environment.

“With the bicycle, it’s exactly the opposite,” Hudde claims.

“People with higher educational qualifications usually do not run the risk of being perceived as poor or professionally unsuccessful, even if they are on the road with an inexpensive bike. Rather, they can gain status by cycling.”

Riding a bike, according to the study, can also mark out an individual as “modern, health-conscious, and environmentally aware. In contrast, people with a lower level of education might be more likely to use an expensive car as a status symbol to show that they have ‘made it.’”

The growth in bike usage, Hudde argues, is therefore linked to rising education levels.

However, he believes that more should be done to encourage a wider demographic to cycle, and that the increase in cycling infrastructure in cities could actually exacerbate social inequality.

“We need targeted policies that reach those who stand aside from the current bike boom: people outside the bigger cities and with less education.”

So what do you think? Is bike riding as a mode of transport a status symbol intrinsically linked to your education? 

14 January 2022, 11:29
14 January 2022, 11:22
Bennerley Viaduct (image credit - World Monuments Fund)
“Iron Giant” reopens for cyclists and walkers

A Victorian viaduct, derelict for over half a century, has been reopened for cyclists and walkers.

Bennerley Viaduct originally opened in 1877 and runs between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It was closed due to railway cuts in 1968.

Despite several attempts by British Rail to demolish the “Iron Giant” – the only UK structure on the 2020 World Monuments Watch list – repairs to the viaduct have been under way since 1986. 

While there were initial concerns over what the bridge would be used for, it was finally decided that a cycling and walking route would be installed.

The newly revamped Bennerley Viaduct was officially reopened yesterday, with Andy Savage from the Railway Heritage Trust the first person to cycle across it.

14 January 2022, 10:35
“Were you wearing a helmet?”

Yesterday on the live blog we featured another example of the kind of standard-fare, pointless cycling safety question posited by backbench MPs with the sole aim of shifting the onus of road safety on to the most vulnerable users. 

Now, as the last week, or month, or years have shown, politicians may not feel that their opinions, attitudes, or indeed their actions have any real-life consequences. But judging by the experiences of barrister Martin Porter this week, after he was knocked off his bike by a motorist, some perceptions of cycling safety appear to align with those of the Honourable Member for Bosworth.

On Sunday Porter, who used to blog under the moniker ‘The Cycling Lawyer’, was hit by a motorist who was turning right and claimed the sun was in his eyes. Porter suffered two broken ribs and damage to his teeth.

What followed was a series of incidents which seem to underline the place of cycling and cyclists when it comes to road safety.

According to Porter, the police told his wife it was “an unfortunate accident”, and every clinician and dentist treating him inquired whether he was wearing a helmet.

Most tellingly, when Porter informed the hospital physiotherapist that he had broken his ribs before while out cycling, she apparently replied “and the moral is?” Blimey.

Of course, this is an isolated incident and certainly cannot be said to reflect general public opinion. But it does once again highlight the level of miscalculation in Transport for London’s controversial ‘See Their Side’ advert. Empathy, eh?

14 January 2022, 09:48
London traffic jam (licensed CC BY 2.0 by Garry Knight on Flickr)
Cyclists told to avoid London today… because of all the vehicle pollution

Londoners have been advised to avoid strenuous physical activity in the city today due to extremely high levels of pollution.

According to the government’s forecast pollution levels will reach band 10 on the Air Quality Index, the highest level on the scale.

A combination of light winds and an intense area of high pressure currently covering western Europe has resulted in a lack of air movement across the city, which means emissions from motor vehicles and other pollutants will linger in the air for longer and won’t be as easily blown away.

Older people and those with heart or lung problems have been warned not to undertake strenuous physical activity, while even healthy people should “reduce physical exertion, particularly outdoors, especially if you experience symptoms such as a cough or sore throat”.

So who will suffer the most from these extremely high levels of pollution caused by massive car congestion? That’s right, cyclists.

Cycling commentator and writer Ned Boulting summed up the paradox at the heart of the government’s advice:

In effect, the government’s advice seems to boil down to: “Maybe best not to cycle into work today because of all the car fumes. Could you drive instead?”

The Guardian’s Peter Walker had another solution:

This week London’s mayor Sadiq Khan said car use in the city had almost returned to pre-pandemic levels and that “if we do not double down on our efforts to deliver a greener, more sustainable future, we will replace one public health crisis with another – caused by filthy air and gridlocked roads.”

Simon Birkett, Founder and Director of Clean Air in London, was even more blunt: "Londoners are literally stewing in their own juice with our own fumes trapped in still air for days. It is a stark reminder of how much we need to reduce building emissions as well as traffic emissions. Please do not burn wood on Friday!"

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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147 comments

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
1 like

Went for a walk this afternoon, going for a paved option.

There was a long layby which attracted numerous young lads in their "fast" cars. Regrettably, their speedy driving on an nsl was interupted by several cyclists undertaking unnecessary leisure rides.

None of the cyclists seemed to care that they were disrupting a very important business meeting on a Sunday afternoon.

I saw no evidence of suitcases though.

Avatar
Jenova20 | 2 years ago
10 likes

I'm absolutely astounded that they're telling people to stay at home and not venture outside so the fucking car drivers can continue to pollute the air so badly it's a bigger health hazard than the pandemic we're currently in. Whichever person put out that public statement should have been put in the stocks so we can throw shit at them (when it's safe to breathe the air outside of course).

Avatar
wtjs replied to Jenova20 | 2 years ago
5 likes

I'm absolutely astounded that they're telling people to stay at home and not venture outside so the fucking car drivers can continue to pollute the air so badly

I'm not. After all, we've endured Northumbria Police telling us to avoid cycling during busy periods, and South Wales Traffic telling us not to cycle in the dark. This just completes the set. It seems to have been accepted by some that cyclists and pedestrians will suffer more ill effects from the pollution than the slobs sat in the guzzlers right in amongst it. I think this is doubtful-although it's pretty bad for everybody, they're getting their just desserts 

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to wtjs | 2 years ago
4 likes

wtjs wrote:

It seems to have been accepted by some that cyclists and pedestrians will suffer more ill effects from the pollution than the slobs sat in the guzzlers right in amongst it. I think this is doubtful-although it's pretty bad for everybody, they're getting their just desserts 

There is research showing that the air inside cars is more polluted than outside, and that people exercising breathe out the pollution more than car occupants.

Avatar
Christopher TR1 | 2 years ago
7 likes

Another day full of fuckwits in cars.

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Rik Mayals unde... replied to Christopher TR1 | 2 years ago
12 likes

It's been quite amusing whilst I've been at home, watching some nearby residents antics every day. They get their 2 ton Range Rover off the drive, plonk child in it, and floor it for.....200 yards, I kid you not! 200 bloody yards, to drop child off at school, the school which takes 3 minutes to stroll to. Parent then drives around the block and parks RR back on the drive! So, a 1.5 mile round trip to put child outside the school 200 yards away!

Fuckwits like this should have their licenses revoked, apart from making a totally unneccessary journey twice a day, they are pumping out lots of pollution, and creating danger to other children walking to school with their erratic driving.

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Sriracha replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 2 years ago
3 likes

You could show some understanding - it's because the roads are too dangerous to risk Junior walking to school, yes even 200 yards, because of all the idiots driving cars who shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel.

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eburtthebike replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
1 like

Sriracha wrote:

it's because the roads are too dangerous to risk Junior walking to school, yes even 200 yards, because of all the idiots driving cars who shouldn't be allowed behind the wheel.

The most self-fulfilling prophecy. 

"We have to drive Tamsin to school because it's too dangerous for them to walk/cycle because of all the parents taking their Tamsins to school."

 

Avatar
eburtthebike | 2 years ago
7 likes

CUK's video is excellent, and an example of how to get your message across, quickly and clearly.  Maybe TfL could use the same producers?

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Backladder | 2 years ago
12 likes

“and the moral is?”

Don't let a doctor treat you if they can't tell the difference between your head and your ribs!

 

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
0 likes

Cav burglars sought

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/mark-cavendish-aggravated-burglary...

//static.standard.co.uk/2022/01/14/11/20220114%20George%20GODDARD%20left%20Joe%20JOBSON%20right.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&quality=50&crop=968%3A645%2Csmart)

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mdavidford replied to Hirsute | 2 years ago
0 likes

Rupert Penry Jones has come down in the world.

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Jenova20 replied to Hirsute | 2 years ago
6 likes

hirsute wrote:

Cav burglars sought

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/mark-cavendish-aggravated-burglary...

//static.standard.co.uk/2022/01/14/11/20220114%20George%20GODDARD%20left%20Joe%20JOBSON%20right.jpg?width=1024&auto=webp&quality=50&crop=968%3A645%2Csmart)

 

Police are hunting Macauley Culkin and the Honey Monster...

Avatar
markieteeee replied to Jenova20 | 2 years ago
2 likes

Lawrence Fox and The Crack Fox

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
8 likes

First day out this year in traffic and the idiots reign.

Van driver reversing back through traffic lights to take a completely different direction, despite me shouting my presence.

Driving instructor over took me 30m from an ASL, then completely blocked it - no other traffic in front of him.

Driver over took in a 40 with no view past the hedge on the right with the bus indicating to pull out and me in primary. She had no thought that a car could easily appear oncoming any second.

 

 

Avatar
nniff | 2 years ago
11 likes

I live up near Box Hill, south of London and about 20 miles from the city.  I take the dogs for a walk when it's still dark at this time of year.  It was very clear this morning and you could see the smog in the reflected light - never seen that before. In the summer you can see a yellowy-orange lens of smog sitting over London as you ride over the Epsom Downs, but to be able to see it before dawn is something else.  Yuk. Glad I'm still working from home and not riding into the smoke

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wycombewheeler | 2 years ago
5 likes

I wonder of graduates are more likely to cycle because they cycled by necesity during their student years. While those tha left education at 16/18, generally lived at home and bought cars.

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IanMK | 2 years ago
17 likes

Wait until drivers find out about those graduates. Graduates who are likely to be higher earners, pay more tax and, therefore, contribute more to the upkeep of the roads. Pretty sure they're going to want to move over and let those guys through.

Avatar
Craig Prosser replied to IanMK | 2 years ago
3 likes

Unlikely the gender studies grad that makes my morning coffee can't pay that much tax. Or the art one on the tills at Tesco😂

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to Craig Prosser | 2 years ago
4 likes
Craig Prosser wrote:

Unlikely the gender studies grad that makes my morning coffee can't pay that much tax. Or the art one on the tills at Tesco😂

You're a real darling aren't you.
Ooh I've got just the friend for you.....

Avatar
vthejk replied to Craig Prosser | 2 years ago
6 likes

This art grad teaches your young 'uns at school. Am I an exception to your hard and fast rule? Has your ecosystem just turned upside down?

Avatar
Eton Rifle replied to Craig Prosser | 2 years ago
5 likes
Craig Prosser wrote:

Unlikely the gender studies grad that makes my morning coffee can't pay that much tax. Or the art one on the tills at Tesco😂

You're struggling to understand the meaning of "likely" in the phrase "likely to be higher earners", aren't you? Perhaps you need some education.

Avatar
Pyro Tim | 2 years ago
1 like

since when was Valentines day a holiday?

Avatar
mdavidford replied to Pyro Tim | 2 years ago
8 likes

Pyro Tim wrote:

since when was Valentines day a holiday?

Since it was made the feast day of St Valentine in 496.

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Pyro Tim replied to mdavidford | 2 years ago
1 like

A feast, but not a holiday. He's amended it now anyway. Never had a bank holiday for it. It's just a day, and an over comercialised one at that

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mdavidford replied to Pyro Tim | 2 years ago
4 likes

A feast day is holiday / holy day. A Bank Holiday (or for that matter, a public holiday) is different kettle of fish.

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chrisonabike replied to mdavidford | 2 years ago
5 likes

Oh - fish on Bank Holidays too? Well, I suppose we're increasingly worshipping Mammon these days... (Except for HawkinsPeter - or at least he apparently keeps a line open to the Great Old Ones just in case).

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
7 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Oh - fish on Bank Holidays too? Well, I suppose we're increasingly worshipping Mammon these days... (Except for HawkinsPeter - or at least he apparently keeps a line open to the Great Old Ones just in case).

It's simple logic:

  1. There are gods beyond mortal understanding, and you really want them to stay away.
  2. In order for them to come to Earth, they need cultists to summon them.
  3. The cultists will be rewarded for the summoning by being eaten first, and thus spared the horrors of an Elder God invasion.
  4. If you are not among the cultists, you will suffer immeasurably.

If you are a cultist and an Elder God is summoned
You are rewarded for your hard work by being eaten first.

If you are not a cultist and an Elder God is summoned
You watch in horror as your reality is bent in otherworldly, hellish ways. Your face melts off, there are no directions, and everything is terrible.

If you are a cultist and an Elder God is not summoned
Nothing, other than you wasting your time.

If you are not a cultist and an Elder God is not summoned
Nothing.

So, if you're a cultist, you make the worse outcome more likely due to your participation but your worse outcome is better than the non-cultist's. The non-cultist has the best outcome if no Elder Gods are summoned, and the worst outcome if they are.

Avatar
mdavidford replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
5 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

If you are not a cultist and an Elder God is summoned
You watch in horror as your reality is bent in otherworldly, hellish ways. Your face melts off, there are no directions, and everything is terrible.

I think it may already be too late.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 2 years ago
6 likes

...At this point, Chris Witty said "Next slide please".

 

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