Tadej Pogačar to ride the Vuelta a España, ending weeks of speculation

Whereas returning again and again with different aliases to the same site from which you've been banned at least a dozen times over the course of several years is entirely sane behaviour, yes indeed.

@perce I agree

My problem is not with the idea that a n instructor is actually giving sensible advice on waiting, it is on the whole discourse on a 'nightmare' posed by cyclists, as if cyclists are illegitimate in the road, a major inconvenience, and so on. Put simply, the instructor wouldn't have said anything if they were waiting behind a car being driven at 15mph. And certainly not describing them as a 'nightmare'. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the advice, the problem is the framing and the language which has seeped into every aspect of Britain's car culture.

@Clem Fandango Saw them a while ago with Woke Tory and the Pseudo Authoritarians. What a gig.

Correct, and that completely aligned (except my phone auto-corrected and mangled my reply) with the instructor who said "What I was more or less saying was the psychological thing during a test, that you want to keep getting on with it. Then when something slow moving is in front of you, you’re going to feel that pressure. But there was actually nothing she could do in that moment.” You don't want to feel like you are hesitating and second-guessing yourself on your driving test.

And here is the exhaustive explanation from @jackcycles, in case anybody overlooked the comprehensive dissertation. "jackcycles July 23, 2026 at 12:02 pm “Undue hesitation” a very common cause of failing a driving test, and driving conservatively behind a cyclist where the examiner seems it possible to pass safely could cause it. The instructor is correct to point this out."

@jackcycles Slightly Unhinged? The synth pop/folk ensemble from Ghent? I fail to see how that's relevant.

It's odd to read about 'classic' bikes from year 2000 when I have a Flying Scot 531 from 76, and a Neil Orrell 753 from 81, just through the door into the garage. PS It's Ambrosio not Ambrosia

> "...cycle hubs in Redcar and Darlington which, so far as I can tell, have never existed." It's true that Redcar and Darlington didn't have dedicated premises like the Stockton Cycle Hub. However, the Cycle Hubs themselves did exist, with paid staff and volunteers delivering services across each area. Rather than operating from a single building, the hubs were based in community venues such as libraries and leisure centres, rotating between locations to provide free bike safety checks, maintenance sessions, guided rides, and other cycling activities. Hub staff and volunteers also regularly worked with local schools, supporting pupils and staff with active travel through outreach visits and events. So while there wasn't a permanent physical "hub" in the same sense as Stockton, it's not accurate to say that the Redcar and Darlington Cycle Hubs never existed, they operated using a different delivery model.

I can see where he's coming from. He's reinforcing the right thing to do with his pupil, and he's also sympathising in advance with the pupil over additional pressures on a test. So he's covering the what/how. But a big part of that "nightmare" is the pressure faced by the pupil on the test. Here is the picture it reinforces: - you have a road ahead with a slower vehicle user in front, one you have to take extra care over; - there may be vehicles building up behind, drivers of which don't appreciate you're on your test and may polarise their reactions to a slow learner in front from giving extra consideration to becoming aggressively impatient; - you're on a test where every movement of your body and the vehicle you're driving is under intense scrutiny over your control and reactions to unforeseen inputs. It is easy to feel pressured, to panic, to pick up one too many minors or a major (or whatever they are called) and fail. But when teaching the what/how, this is where the attitude needs to be spot on. You have to remove the emotion out of it. Just like a good instructor won't cover their eyes and yell, "we're all going to die!" - they'll anticipate; they'll talk calmly; they'll calmly grab the wheel and the foot controls if necessary and take over to avoid disaster. They will have anticipated problems going into a situation and have planned their moves. That approach of planning, staying calm and applying perspective doesn't just avoid conflict/crashes, it dissipates tension and the path to panic. So it is with the cyclist. So what if we slow down? If that's the right thing to do, then that is what the examiner needs to see. It's not a nightmare ("Don't panic! Don't panic!), it's just a Thing. The cars building up behind? They're fine. If they honk, they're saying "hello", "well done", "you're doing great!" Putting those situations into calm perspective is part of the instructor's job. It's not just driving safely, it's driving with the right attitude and passing that attitude on. If you say it's a nightmare, you're passing on that panic stimulus. You can sympathise with the pupil while still correcting their attitude approaching any form of hazard assessment. The question is, will Daniel Smith see this as a pile-on, or an opportunity (laced as it is with all the subtlety that social media/BTL can muster) to reflect on how he passes on that calm attitude to pupils? He's not a bad instructor, but this wasn't his finest moment. As with road users, is he happy to reflect on this as a personal learning moment for his road use rather than his YouTubery?