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Live blog: Specialist bike shop Ubyk reportedly ceases trading – but has it found a buyer? Team Sky sacrifice aero gains for festive spirit; County Down cycle lane cleared by ‘bloke with shovel’ + more
In today’s cheesy festive pro promo vid of the day, Team Sky are apparently ‘cold’ in Mallorca, so the wagon stepped in to give them something festive to warm up…
Thu, Dec 20, 2018 15:19
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Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
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Latest Comments
mjvande@pacbell.net 2 hours ago
Mountain bikers don't care about obeying the law!
OnYerBike 4 hours ago
It's worth pointing out that unlike cycling on a pavement (i.e. a footway alongside a carriageway), cycling on a footpath is not a crime; it is a civil tort against the landowner. That means it's not a police matter, and other people using the path have no standing to complain either (although of course you should still be careful and considerate of other people, regardless of the status of the right of way). Indeed, without going into a full lecture on the history of Rights of Way and the noble tradition of mass trespass (e.g. Kinder Scout), there is an argument that the law implicitly condones such "illegal" use of paths, given that new rights of way can be created by members of the public demonstrating that they have used the path without permission but "as of right" for long enough, without the landowner taking action to curb such use. As an additional point of information, I would note that the offence of causing injury by "wanton or furious" cycling applies anywhere. I'm no lawyer, but I struggle to see that the designation of the right of way would have much sway, but rather any case would rely on the broader context and whether the manner of the cycling was safe given the terrain and conditions.
Pub bike 5 hours ago
@Rendel Harris I get close-passed by more riders than cars in Richmond Park. Maybe I should ride faster.
Rendel Harris 5 hours ago
@perce I'm normally a big fan of your excellent posts perce but I must take issue with this one. The idea that Lord Khan of Tooting would ever, in any circumstances, have been friends with Nigel is surely beyond the bounds of even your fertile imagination?
Rendel Harris 6 hours ago
Not to downplay the seriousness of bikejacking, but Mr.Taylor might want to consider that fact that many riders have been put off using the park at weekends due to the aggressive, intimidatory behaviour of members of his own club, who are notorious for riding as if the park is a private training facility just for themselves, and that's a pretty sad state of affairs as well.
Riggers 6 hours ago
In Wiggle/CR's absence, what are people using nowadays? I've been out of it for a while, but now returned.
quiff 7 hours ago
I did a multi-day ride many years ago with someone who was a better cyclist than me by every conceivable measure but this one. I remember watching them up ahead on a quiet road trying to teach themselves - snatching brief seconds with their hands off the bars before losing balance and grabbing on again. 'Watch this' I said to the rest of my group, before I accelerated to catch them, then nonchalantly sailed past them uphill riding no hands. Very satisfying. I've been able to ride most of mine hands-free, but had a Specialized Allez that really didn't cooperate. Haven't been brave enough to try it on a Brompton or cargo bike though. And still can't do a wheelie, or any of the other things on Jo's palmares.
Slartibartfast 7 hours ago
@Hamster now that is an exciting development. I do remove/amend signs but reporting them for flyposting is much more satisfying.
Hamster 8 hours ago
@Slartibartfast If the sign-maker can be caught in the act then the council Environmental Health can get a report for littering/fly-tipping. Hours of endless fun for that person trying to explain away a conviction. Don't report unless you're prepared to go to court though. Or remove the litter and put in the nearest bin with a sticker explaining how littering is a crime.
kingleo 8 hours ago
What would make driving safer for motorists is if they stopped driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and driving faster than the speed limit.
19 thoughts on “Live blog: Specialist bike shop Ubyk reportedly ceases trading – but has it found a buyer? Team Sky sacrifice aero gains for festive spirit; County Down cycle lane cleared by ‘bloke with shovel’ + more”
Well done Terry, is there
Well done Terry, is there some sort of award road.cc could give him?
Had something similar last year, with overgrowing foliage blocking the local paths, so I got the battery powered hedge trimmer out and sorted it myself, didn’t even bother wasting my time asking the council.
burtthebike wrote:
The cordless Hedge Trimmer is the tool of power for those in a similar position, you can do so much in so little time with them and they re about as safe as they possibly can be to use… weve kept a 7.4km long greenway clear for over five years using two of them !
scrapper wrote:
Nice one.
I’m kind of hoping that you use two of them yourself – one in each hand, swinging your arms in great circles whilst letting out a rampaging war cry against foliage.
HawkinsPeter wrote:
The cordless Hedge Trimmer is the tool of power for those in a similar position, you can do so much in so little time with them and they re about as safe as they possibly can be to use… weve kept a 7.4km long greenway clear for over five years using two of them !
— scrapper Nice one. I’m kind of hoping that you use two of them yourself – one in each hand, swinging your arms in great circles whilst letting out a rampaging war cry against foliage.— burtthebike
Juggling them surely?
Whilst rending the air with screams against the austerity that means the councils don’t have the resources to trim a hedge anymore.
burtthebike wrote:
Technically, it only counts as juggling if you use less hands than objects, so for two hedge trimmers you’d have to use one hand (which to be fair is quite feasible – ex-juggler here).
HawkinsPeter wrote:
Sorry, but that picture would only count if it was a squirrel juggling the shears or the man juggling sharpened squirrels.
burtthebike wrote:
Tough crowd!
HawkinsPeter wrote:
Oh no it’s not!
CygnusX1 wrote:
Is this some kind of joke to you?
HawkinsPeter wrote:
All a bit soft really that, a real man juggles chain saws in a ring of fire
burtthebike wrote:
Please send that man my road.cc socks, which I am going to win of course.
Elf and Safety gone mad,
Elf and Safety gone mad, innit?
If its not safe for a council worker to walk along with a broom then surely it is not safe as a cycle lane / pedestrian footway either. Ciouncil effectively admitting that the infrastructure they built is not fit for purpose.
Or if its safe enough for pedestrians and cyclists surely a bloke with a hand cart and broom or even a snazzy little pavement sweeper EV could manage to negotiate it without dying a gruesome death?.
Astonishingly, are not liable
Astonishingly, councils/authorities are not liable for “accretions” on the highway, and councils hide behind this to avoid keeping roads clean.
(Section 41(1) of the Highways Act 1980).
I wonder if tory Cllr Susan
I wonder if tory Cllr Susan Webb also considers the billions spent on building more roads to encourage more people to drive everwhere “vanity projects”? Or is that particular epithet only applicable to schemes to get people out of their cars.
^^ forget the ring of fire,
^^ forget the ring of fire, real men wear a neckerchief and no shirt ^^
Ubyk saga on STW. Long read
Ubyk saga on STW. Long read but the new owner appears to discuss the situation in more detail.
hopster wrote:
Aside from the shittyness of losing money to a fraudulent company, that’s an amusing thread in the typical STW competition for stupid prize and other internet stalking (for the wrong person, obvs) wankery.. Hat off to the new owner, even after the demands that he pays out for the previous owner’s shenanigans, and suppliers stepping in.
Head down TTing kills. Not a
Head down TTing kills. Not a great advert really. Plus, his helmet with the head down is so un-aero that he is being overtaken by a lovely lady on her shopping bike! Pahhh!
The old Ubyk owners seen like
The old Ubyk owners seen like scam artists after reading stw. New owner seems daft wanting to use a name with much bad will associated.