West Ham star’s plea in hunt for car tyre slasher turns into cyclist registration 'debate'; Cyclist forced to use 'cyclocross skills' to avoid lorry; Britain's worst bike lane?; Rondo + Cannondale recalls; Cyclist knocked off in road rage incident +more

Here is my boy..... pic.twitter.com/0ywY29kRo3

— Victoria MacDonald 🔶 (@TheVickyMD) July 14, 2020

20-year-old Alastair Barrows had only just returned to his hometown in Norfolk after spending lockdown in Bristol where he studies; but just a week later after heading out for a bike ride, he was recovering in hospital after being knocked off his bike in an alleged road rage incident.

Ms MacDonald wrote on Twitter: "Road rage is disgusting! To the woman who decided to run my son off the road whilst screaming through the window of her car. He is now in hospital with a suspected broken jaw, concussion and two broken teeth. Luckily his cycle helmet saved him from greater damage!

"The witnesses confirm he had done no wrong but your attitude stank! Yet my son remained stoic throughout despite his injuries. I haven't seen him for 10 MONTHS, he is just home in the last 5 days and now you've put him in the @NNUH (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital). The matter is with Norfolk Police."

Ms MacDonald also said her son called the police at the scene, and they have witnesses plus details of the offender. The Eastern Daily Press report that Norfolk Police were called to the incident in Hingham, which involved Mr Barrows and a woman driving a white Vauxhall Corsa; enquiries are ongoing.

A lengthy campaign to transform a 1.4 mile disused railway tunnel into a 'greenway' route between Bradford and Calderdale has received another boost, with Grant Shapps announcing £1 million of government funding to make a business case for the project. 

The tunnel is on a railway line that was closed down in 1956, and became the centre of a row in October last year after it emerged contractors had been sent in to fill in the No 2 Shaft of the tunnel. The leader of Bradford City Council called on Shapps to intervene after Highways England ceased inspection and repair works at the tunnel, with the Queensbury Tunnel Society describing the work that followed as as an act of “ruthless vandalism.” 

If the Queensbury Tunnel project does goes ahead, the estimated cost will be £27 million, and it wil become the longest cycling tunnel in Europe. The Queensbury Tunnel Society said: “It’s time to move away from our engrained carbon-centric culture. Active travel must become the default choice for short journeys and we have to invest to make that happen.

“Queensbury Tunnel is a valuable future transport asset, not a relic of our past. It’s great to see the Government waking up to that reality.”

💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/YHNIyqyYWm

— ADN Ciclista (@adnciclista) July 15, 2020

Following the news of Rondo's recall due to reported issues with the front mudguard, a reader has been in touch to share communication from Cannondale regarding a recall of their Treadwell urban bike. As we understand it it's the Treadwell EQ models that feature a front rack that are affected; the email says: 

"We have received a few reports of issues with the bolts that attach the front rack installed on some Cannondale Treadwell bicycles that caused the rack to become detached from the bicycle and abruptly stop the front wheel, creating a fall and injury hazard.
 
"We have elected to conduct a recall of the rack in order to provide riders with a more robust attachment system, which will be installed at no cost by Cannondale dealers. We are working to finalise this improved attachment system and obtain required government approvals.
 
"In the meantime, Cannondale dealers should stop sale of the racks and all Cannondale dealers and riders should remove the rack from any Treadwell bicycles and save all rack parts for later re-attachment. If you have not already registered your bicycle for warranty and recalls, please do so now by downloading the Cannondale Mobile App and just spinning the front wheel to activate the built in Bluetooth wheel sensor and complete the registration, or register on the Cannondale Website. Once your bicycle has been registered, we will be able to contact you to complete the recall when we receive final government approvals.
 
"It is easy to remove the rack - instructions and a step by step video is available on the Cannondale Mobile App and on the Cannondale Website.
 
Once the rack is removed, you can keep riding your Treadwell – because nothing beats a bike ride. We’ll be in touch as soon as possible to get your rack safely re-attached."

From what I heard following @KingstonCycling the budget was there to start the project but it would need to be completed at a later date. I can see that these things take time, moving large pieces of street furniture overnight is not an easy undertaking.

— JT (@JT2UK) July 15, 2020

Jeeees.. stop it. The reality is there are several contractors on this job. The one moving the lamp post hasn't completed the job yet. One could argue they should have done that first, but still.

— Norman T (@NormInATeacup) July 15, 2020

We've had a fair few comments on the site and social media about the unfortunate blockage on a Kingston cycle lane, not all of them glowing towards yours truly... and the good news is, the likelihood is that it probably won't stay like that for too long. 

In short, different contractors are responsible for installing the cycle lane and removing road furniture, and as mentioned by Kingston Cycling on 4th July, the former was a few stages ahead of the latter... 

As usual, unfortunately the contractors that move things are running a few weeks (or even months) behind the rest of the team... pic.twitter.com/0b7gGZkseH

— Kingston Cycling Campaign (@KingstonCycling) July 4, 2020

The bad news is that it's still there, so we've contacted Kingston Council to find out when the lamppost is scheduled to be removed. You can find full details of the Kingston to Tolworth scheme - of which this cycle lane was part of - here. 

 

 

 

 

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I really don’t understand... There is a guy going around Wapping slashing tires! 😡 Anyone know who he is? He got a few cars including mine so if your in the area keep an eye out.

A post shared by Michail Antonio (@michailantonio) on Jul 14, 2020 at 9:46am PDT

West Ham footballer Michail Antonio posted footage of a rogue vandal slashing multiple car tyres yesterday, warning his followers to "keep an eye out". In the clip, the man wearing a blue rucksack cycles cycles up to a black Audi and appears to make a slashing motion to one of the rear tyres. He then rides over to a Mercedes G-Class and stabs a front tyre, which visibly deflates as he rides away. Antonio claims one of the cars targeted in Wapping, East London in the early hours of Tuesday morning was his, and is appealing for information. 

This has all somehow led a number of people over on Twitter advocating for the registration of cyclists...

CYCLISTS registration is coming

— SUPPORT UTAG WHERE BUSES GO WE GO (@sharks1334) July 14, 2020

This is why I Lobby for Rego plates on bikes.. disgusting behaviour.@SurreyRoadCops keeping an eye out?

— Relentless (@Relentl12852948) July 15, 2020

In a world where cyclists needed to register and insure their vehicle, would someone going around slashing car tyres anonymously take the time to do this? We're going to guess 'no'... 

The Polish brand have issued a voluntary safety recall of all 2020 Rondo Mutt AL and ST models, identifying a potential problem with the front mudguard. The statement says: 

"We have identified a potential safety issue. Overtime the front fender (mudguard) can become loose and bring the front wheel to a sudden stop. Due to this, the rider could fall and be seriously injured.

"Consumers should immediately stop using bicycles equipped with the original front fenders and contact the dealer that sold the bicycle. A new front fender that resolves the problem will be supplied within approximately 4 weeks of this announcement. The detailed information regarding replacement of this parts for each consumer is available and shall be provided by dealer.

"Please contact us via email info [at] rondo.cc or fb messenger if you have any questions. The detailed information regarding replacement of this parts for each consumer is available and shall be provided by dealer. Note that it is safe to ride the bicycle without the front fender.

"Your safety is our highest priority. We sincerely apologise for the situation, and would like to thank you for your support."

We reported on the launch of this curious-looking bike on Monday, and already it's crowdfunded over £1.1 million - over 1000% more than Superstrata's original target. Will they be able to scale up deliver to backers? The Indiegogo campaign still has 29 days to go, so we'll be following this one with interest...