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Live blog: Rafa Nadal jumps on bike to go shopping in Wimbledon, Greg Van Avermaet riding yellow BMC Teammachine + more
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Tue, Jul 10, 2018 14:25
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
BroomBroomBroom 2 minutes ago
@chrisonabike Tramway used to run to the top of Whiteladies then all the way along to Westbury
jamesha100 11 minutes ago
There really should be more crackdowns on phone use as the danger is well established by now. The six points and £200 fine for drivers who are caught should be effective but I think an instant one month ban as well as those would be a good thing as it would show drivers what they stand to lose.
the little onion 12 minutes ago
Wow - some warm words and enthusiastic goals from the government about active travel https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/11/ministers-pupils-england-active-travel-school-cycing-walking-heidi-alexander Now, let's see some ACTION!
chrisonabike 58 minutes ago
Is there any detection? Lots (most?) UK lights seem to operate on fixed cycles - and certainly cycle detection seems rare (and nothing like NL where there may be sensors some distance in advance to detect approaching bikes and see if lights can be changed so they're green when they get to them). There also seems to be a vicious cycle of "have to leave extra time after lights change because drivers keep rolling through *until* they've gone red", which is possibly self-catalysing / makes people annoyed if they *are* waiting but nobody is moving or crossing.
Rendel Harris 59 minutes ago
@quiff Yes think you're quite right but that's what causes the trouble for the unwary (like tourists, and me when I'm thinking of something else), approaching the lights from the other (Palace) side you can't see that the cyclists coming up from Parliament Square have a green light, so it's all too easy to assume that with the motor traffic stopped in all directions the cyclists will be stopped too, when they're not.
chrisonabike 1 hour ago
Getting up to the Downs? If it's in the summer can't people just catch a passing balloon? I'm slightly "EAPC cautious" but Bristol seems a reasonable use-case for them. Alternatively what about the council installing escalators - after all if it's hard to cycle up there won't you think of the pedestrians? "We are where we are" (why *wouldn't* you drive everywhere?) but I do occasionally stop to wonder how anyone got anywhere pre-car.
quiff 1 hour ago
Very wholesome, but I found it difficult to imagine this happening in the UK. "Do you want a lift in my cargo bike?" "No, get away from me you weirdo."
quiff 1 hour ago
On Birdcage Walk, I think the cycle lane has totally separate phasing so that when it's green you can either turn right past Bucks Palace, or go straight over towards Victoria. But I agree that does mean holding those who want to turn right for an inordinately long time, which is just too much for some people (even though they often then decide to wait at the lights at the Mall). I quite enjoy a game of catch up with the the RLJer on Constitution Hill.
MattFlipFlop 2 hours ago
I've got a great packable race cape from Sheffield based D2D.. Fits in a jersey pocket and 90% cheaper... D2D is always the 1st place I look My wife finds cycling clothing sizes crazy, they sent 3 different sizes on trust for her to try. Be great if you reviewed some of their gear
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@quiff I abhor RLJ and don't do it myself but in both those instances at least part of the blame lies with poor junction design in my opinion, around Westminster Bridge and Embankment the phasing is ridiculous, I don't know if the sensors are poorly calibrated or what but it often seems to be the case that traffic in all directions and pedestrians are all being held on red, it's unsurprising if not excusable that some people can't be bothered to wait when the way ahead is clear. As for the Birdcage Walk/Buckingham Palace lights, they are just weird: I nearly got knocked down there myself by a cyclist as a pedestrian last week, and it would've been my fault but the cycle lane lights seem to have no connection with the lights for the rest of the road, so on the two lane carriageway the traffic lights are on red in both directions and you think it's okay to cross, but then as you get to the other side you find that the cycle lane lights in both directions are green and a bunch of tourists on Lime bikes comes charging round from Spur Road. I've seen so many near misses between cyclists and pedestrians there with one or both groups confused by the light layout. Both well-intentioned schemes that are better than what was there before certainly but both need some attention, I believe.
13 thoughts on “Live blog: Rafa Nadal jumps on bike to go shopping in Wimbledon, Greg Van Avermaet riding yellow BMC Teammachine + more”
Well actually, the real blame
Well actually, the real blame lies in the massive lobbying of our government by the haulage industry who are against anything that puts their costs up in the name of safety… they fought like heck with side bars for lorries, eventually selling them to companies outside London when the deadline came in. Same with mirrors… and no doubt high vision cabs and camera systems.
BJ has built a whole career
BJ has built a whole career out of transparent bullshit. It’s a deep criticism of this country that that absolute wanker has had the power and authority he is apparently granted.
I’m sure that if Boris had a
I’m sure that if Boris had a superior safety system to the EU offering, the EU would have looked at it and incorporated it if it were indeed superior. They are kind of good like that.
don simon wrote:
The EU has all the strengths and weaknesses of a collection of 28 members with sometimes complementary and sometimes competing interests. Lots of extensive discussion, horse-trading and compromise.
On a related safety issue – longer cabs with better visibility – France and Sweden opposed the proposals on behalf of their truck manufacturers. But the case for change was a good one, supported by most, so a compromise was reached (IIRC) which meant the change would happen, but a few years later.
Of course, once outside the EU, Johnny Foreigner will just do whatever we tell him
Borris is an idiot and will
Borris is an idiot and will say whatever suits his own agenda at the time. Let’s stop taking him seriously.
harragan wrote:
Parallels with Jeremy Clarkson…?
Slides? They look like
Slides? They look like sandals to me. These are slides (I think these are by United Colors of Benneton)…
de Pfeffel Johnson has always
de Pfeffel Johnson has always been a self-serving tosser. (I never refer to him as ‘Boris’ because hes no friend of mine)
He only started to do somehting about cycling provisions in London when there was a cluster of 6 cyclist deaths in a 2 week window and he knew that would be his legacy. Prior to that he had argued against it for nearly 6 years, even going as far to suggest prosecuting cyclists wearing headphones not long prior to the death cluster.
The much missed Twitter account @BorisWatch put it most succinctly in 2015:
If Boris gets run over we
If Boris gets run over we should give the EU credit for it.
What a self serving prick.
“Shimano show off Greg Van
“Shimano show off Greg Van Avermaet’s yellow BMC Teammachine he’ll use to start TDF stage 3”
It’s amazing that BMC knew he’d be in the lead before they started the time trial. And they even had the confidence to give him a road bike to ride it!
dst wrote:
“Shimano show off Greg Van Avermaet’s yellow BMC Teammachine he’ll use to start TDF stage 3”
It’s amazing that BMC knew he’d be in the lead before they started the time trial. And they even had the confidence to give him a road bike to ride it!
— dst
Often “special edition” frames are painted, delivered overnight, and then built first thing in the morning in Grand Tours.
Rapha Nadal wrote:
Often “special edition” frames are painted, delivered overnight, and then built first thing in the morning in Grand Tours.— dst
That may be the case, but my point was that he didn’t use that bike for stage 3 (the team time trial stage) as the artical headline suggests.
Ref: Rapha Slides.;
Ref: Rapha Slides.;
What do you call a French Pro Cyclist wearing sandals?
.
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Julian Alaphilippe Floppe