Welcome to Tuesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Car parking replaces bike parking outside Hackney school; Tony Gibb calls out sh*t temporary infra; Cycling Mikey gets another driver brought to justice; Lovely bike lane vid; Arnie and Greta go riding; 62% of Copenhageners cycle + more on the live blog
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, Nov 05, 2019 18:23
SUMMARY
5 November 2019, 18:23
A petit error...
France has registered @PetitAdrien62 for the women’s race at the European Championships cyclocross. pic.twitter.com/XKsMkj1tQj
— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) November 4, 2019
In fact France had simply named the wrong Petit, and it was Marlène Petit who they had meant to register for their women’s team at the European Cyclocross Championships.
5 November 2019, 18:23
Sam Bennett answers 'intimate' questions ahead of time on having three ribs removed
Just to get out in front of this, it was loose cartilage taken out…
To prevent everyone asking the same two questions here are the answers
A) roughly a hundred grams
B) no I can’t… https://t.co/QfE72ogwzV
— George Bennett? (@georgenbennett) November 4, 2019
Speaking to Cycling News, Bennett says he had three ribs removed to deal with ‘slipping rib syndrome’, that caused stitches and stabbing pains in his side; and following a couple of well-publicised tales in the past of what people claim they are able to get up to after having ribs removed (Marilyn Manson anyone?) Bennett says it hasn’t given him the same powers, and it genuinely is to fix his injury problems. We believe ya George…
5 November 2019, 18:23
The pros are back from the off-season...
How it felt stepping on the scales mid off season https://t.co/cRxAwPK38V
— Ryan Mullen (@ryanmullen9) November 4, 2019
5 November 2019, 18:23
62% of Copenhageners now commute by bike
The LA Times reports that 62% of journeys are now made by bike in Copenhagen – other takeaway facts are that there are more bikes than people, and five times more bikes than cars since Copenhagen started their project to transform it into the “best biking city in the world” in 2012. Back then the percentage of bike commutes was at 36%.
Soren Jensen is one resident who has converted in that time, telling the LA Times that he has since sold his car, lost 50 pounds in weight and bike commutes an hour daily: “The hour on the bike is time I don’t have to spend in a gym. I got healthier and look forward every day to all that fresh air. Life’s good.”
Meanwhile in the UK it’s estimated that just 3% of people make a journey by bike daily – and in London, although bike commutes have doubled since the turn of the century, 730,000 journeys are estimated to be made by bike daily, which is relatively small compared to Copenhagen given London’s large population.
5 November 2019, 18:23
Bikes > cars
It’s the convenience of driving that’s just so hard to compete with pic.twitter.com/IlQsHaktrG
— Max Wakefield (@wakmax) November 3, 2019
Clearly we’ve a way to go before we can match Copenhagen. Still, could be worse. Could be LA…
1970: One more lane will fix it.
1980: One more lane will fix it.
1990: One more lane will fix it.
2000: One more lane will fix it.
2010: One more lane will fix it.
2020: ?pic.twitter.com/NjS1IPORG2
via @avelezig— Urban Planning & Mobility (@urbanthoughts11) November 4, 2019
5 November 2019, 18:23
Two-time Tour of Flanders winner Stijn Devolder announces retirement at the age of 40
Devolder has finally called time on his long career, having rode his last season at the pro continental team Corendon–Circus. He won Flanders in 2008 and 2009, and bagged two Tour of Belgium wins plus numerous national titles between 2007 and 2013.
5 November 2019, 18:23
Alexandr Vinokourov cleared of race fixing charges due to lack of evidence
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Sporza has this morning reported that the current Astana general manager and former world champion was cleared of corruption charges relating to the 2010 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, due to lack of evidence. The prosecution accused Vinokourov of striking a deal with Alexandr Kolobnev to the tune of €150,000 to allow him to win the race, with Kolobnev finishing six seconds behind in second place – if found guilty Vinokourov could have faced six months in jail and heavy fines.
He relied on three key grounds to clear his name, firstly that TV images shown nothing suspicious about the performance. The second was that it was proven Vinokourov had his email account hacked by a competitor who wanted to become the Astana team manager in place of him, and styled certain emails to discredit him. The final point that led to the acquittal was that Vinokourov admitted putting money into the Kolobnev’s account, but this was because of previously made business agreements. Kolobnev has also been fully acquitted of any wrongdoing.
5 November 2019, 18:23
Arnold Schwarzenegger goes riding with his 'friend and hero' Greta Thunberg
It was fantastic to see my friend and one of my heroes @GretaThunberg last week and go on a bike ride around Santa Monica together and I was so pumped to introduce her to my daughter Christina. Keep inspiring, Greta! pic.twitter.com/3Q6ZuInJHY
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) November 4, 2019
Schwarzenegger has heaped praise on 17-year-old environmental activist Thunberg in recent weeks, calling her his ‘friend and one of my heroes’ as they headed out for a bike ride. Arnie is known to be quite a cycling fan, and has shown increasing interest in environmental issues in recent years. As Governor of California, Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 to create the nation’s first cap on greenhouse gas emissions, and founded the R20 Regions of Climate Action in 2011. He has also adapted his Hummer car to run off hydrogen and another off biofuels.
Meanwhile, with a climate summit she was set to attend in Chile being moved to Spain due to political unrest, Thunberg is now hoping for a lift across the Atlantic by boat so she can attend some time between the 2nd-13th December in Madrid.
Also it has to be said but… that’s one hell of a jazzy bike Arnie is riding! Anyone got any idea what it is?
5 November 2019, 18:23
Arnie bike identification: we think we have a winner
road.cc Tony was convinced he’s riding a GT Pantera, but Kate over on our Twitter page looks to have nailed it with the suggestion that the bike is in fact a custom version of Fantic’s Seven Days Living e-mtb…
Yeeeeah it’s that. pic.twitter.com/4P0vyxxqPm
— katy moon (@Oog) November 5, 2019
Arnie has added a suspension fork and of course that gold paint job with the unusual leather top tube wrap. We’re waiting for Fantic to claim ownership…
5 November 2019, 18:23
Andre Greipel joins Israel Cycling Academy
We got the “Gorilla”: ANDRE GREIPEL will race with ICA 2020! So welcome @AndreGreipel . Yalla, Get it going ! Full announcement: https://t.co/ni2QySXlMZ pic.twitter.com/dAYLA4ohed
— IsraelCyclingAcademy (@yallaACADEMY) November 5, 2019
It’s official that the big German sprinter will ride with ICA in 2020. After a tough 2019 with Arkea Samsic, Greipel said in a statement: “ I am not somebody who is looking back. I just want to look to the future and start from there, and I know my abilities and will try my best to get back to that.”
5 November 2019, 18:23
Frédéric Magné sacked as a UCI director amid bullying accusations
La UCI ha despedido a Frederic Magné, director del Centro Ciclista Mundial de Aigle, Suiza, desde 2009. La medida se basaba en los métodos de trabajo del francés, según algunos testimonios. Se habla de abusos de poder, “violencia psicológica sistemática contra corredores y pic.twitter.com/aHDwgFnPYK
— Nieves Moya (@NievesMoya) November 5, 2019
Former Keirin world champion Magné was relieved of his duties as Director General of the UCI World Cycling Centre following accusations of bullying and a ‘breach of trust’. In a brief statement, the UCI said: “Based on information received in the last weeks, the UCI considered that there had been a breach of trust and Mr Frédéric Magné has been relieved of his duties as Director General of the UCI World Cycling Centre (UCI WCC).
“The UCI took its decision very quickly after collecting information and testimonies relating to serious matters concerning Mr Frédéric Magné.
“We will work to put in place new measures guaranteeing the well-being of the employees and trainees at our coaching and training centre. In particular, we are currently exploring ways to strengthen the UCI WCC’s governance. The UCI will make concrete propositions to the administrators at the next Foundation Board meeting of the UCI World Cycling Centre at the end of November, as well as to the UCI Management Committee.
“As our organisation needs to examine all the information at its disposal, it will make no further statement at this stage.”
5 November 2019, 18:23
Bike spaces for pupils replaced by car parking spaces outside school in Hackney
The removal of cycle parking outside a school in Hackney, to replace it with car parking on the pavement, despite there already being car parking available on the road alongside #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/LMrpMO3J8N
— Hackney Cyclist (@Hackneycyclist) November 5, 2019
The bizarre decision appears to have been made to replace rows of spaces for pupils to lock their bikes with three car parking spaces on a pavement outside the school, according to these photos on Twitter from Hackney Cyclist.
We believe the school in question is Hackney New School, and we’ll be asking them for a statement to confirm that the most recent photo really is the one with the three car parking spaces – and for them to explain the decision – shortly.
5 November 2019, 18:23
Hackney school's removal of bike spaces at odds with Council's School Streets initiative
Fantastic that @hackneycouncil Streetscene team been recognised nationally for our work on School Streets, especially after the launch of our latest just this week at St Mary’s Primary School, Stoke Newington. Next up is William Patten in early December…#deedsnotwords https://t.co/4yrDF770TI
— Cllr Jon Burke (@jonburkeUK) November 1, 2019
School Streets aims to promote car-free commutes and the reduction of air pollution for school pupils in and around London, by banning cars at peak morning and evening times on the designated ‘School Streets’ – and although the parking spaces on the post below are presumably outside of the council’s jurisdiction, it appears anyone using the spaces would have no choice but to drive amongst pupils and mount the pavement to get to their space during peak hours.
We’re yet to hear back from Hackney New School regarding their decision to remove the bicycle spaces, and if alternative provisions have been provided for pupils cycling to school.
5 November 2019, 18:23
Cycling Mikey off Twitter's camera gets another result
This mad overtake in December last year got rather harshly punished in the courts. On a quietway no less, I'm scathing of London's implementation of "quietways". Nothing like "cars are guests" in the Netherlands. https://t.co/YwZGnbehB7
— CyclingMikey aka Bike Gandalf (@MikeyCycling) November 5, 2019
5 November 2019, 18:23
More of these instead of vans please - nice move, DPD
This is really exciting for @CycleLogistics. Great to see the production of larger #cargobikes going up a notch @MayneKevin @ECLF_bike https://t.co/ZYdW8WB1ks
— Zedify UK (@ZedifyUK) November 4, 2019
5 November 2019, 18:23
We're loving this
It's the convenience of driving that's just so hard to compete with pic.twitter.com/IlQsHaktrG
— Max Wakefield (@wakmax) November 3, 2019
5 November 2019, 18:23
Ex-pro Tony Gibb calls out some seriously sh*t infrastructure
The state of this …
Well I’m assuming the pedestrian and cyclists diversion to get around the closed bridge at Dorney for the next year is the brilliant work of @RBWM, advise a different route unless your bike needs a full rebuild and you fancy a new pair of shoes pic.twitter.com/c9MVp7zTlO
— Gibby (@agibby76) November 4, 2019
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
chrisonabike 8 hours ago
"All that's required is an to roads policing" - that's a big all... Although no doubt the "idiots just keep coming" aspect does apply: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9lel2wz93o "Man charged after car crashes through bowling alley" - luckily they only skittled over skittles.
chrisonabike 9 hours ago
Almost any change to roads and streets is accompanied by a period of heightened danger, and in the UK "look out for cyclists" will need to be learned... practically. And over the time it takes for cyclists to become a regular feature. OTOH once (if...) good designs are in and frequent enough such that drivers encounter them AND the cyclists on them regularly (another big if) I don't think they should be much more difficult than a footway to deal with. These things are all over NL - don't have the collision stats but they should. (NL isn't perfect but collecting info on the safety of designs to feed back into better designs as required is part of the "sustainable safety" philosophy - if they're really a killer I think they'd be altering these.)
wtjs 10 hours ago
I'm in the happy position of agreeing with everybody here! I've never considered a bike with a stand, yet I'm impressed by the ingenuity and adaptability of this axle. I tow a Yak Bob with a Robert Axle, employing my El Cheapo Vitus gravel bike and I just have to be very careful where I stop. Hedges are generally a dead loss, and I seek walls, telegraph poles and signposts and generally lean the widest part of the Bob against it. One very awkward task is removing the two steel pins which lock the trailer arms onto the special mounting slots on the Robert axle, and when you have one out, the sodding weight in the trailer can twist the whole caboodle and bend the Bob fitting before you can get the other out and unhitch. I doubt if a stand would help with that. You can imagine that this combo is a real pain when you have to get it over the bridge at railway stations, and it nearly resulted in Merseyrail nearly parting me and the trailer on the platform from the bike on the train. It's a long story for another time. Another axle example recently featured on here, with a 12mm front axle bearing the Herculean weight limit of a monster American front rack.
HoarseMann 12 hours ago
This has nothing to do with the type of bike - it's the type of behaviour that's the problem. Banning the sale of such bikes will not curtail the behaviour. They'll just find another type of vehicle and continue to drive dangerously as there's such a lack of enforcement. I'd sooner see them ban the bally. But really, all that's required is an improvement to roads policing.
AidanR 12 hours ago
The EAPC Bill is welcome, but full of holes. What's to stop an overpowered but temporarily limited e-bike being sold and subsequently delimited? This is often a trivial process.
Sredlums 13 hours ago
@KiwiMike Yeah, in my over four decades of riding all over Europe I've never 'been for a ride in the countryside'. That must be it. Or, and I know this is a wild concept, you just accept that I just voiced my personal experiences and never missed a kickstand, like I wrote. Anyway, what's the big horror of laying your bike on its side for the very few occasions where there is nothing to lean your bike against?
mdavidford 13 hours ago
They may have looked, but did they see?
jackcycles 13 hours ago
Ds2025: where they are going wrong is that they are crushing the motorbike rather than the person sat on top of it. If they did the latter this issue would be solved in less than 24 hours.
Rod Marton 13 hours ago
I came this way today with the car boot sale in operation. There was a marshal at the entrance, who stopped a car turning right across the cycleway as I was approaching. So that certainly works. I think it necessary for the marshal to be there, I couldn't say if the driver would have turned if he hadn't been there but you always have to suspect the worst. Unfortunately there is no marshal at the exit, and there was certainly a car stopped across the cycleway as I was approaching it. But he pulled onto the road before I reached it, and the following car stayed off the cycleway as I went through. Ideally there should have been a marshal there too. On the whole, though, it's a really high standard piece of infrastructure. Just a pity it doesn't extend a bit further.
eburtthebike 13 hours ago
“absolute carnage” So right! Just look at the bodies piled up, blood running in the gutters and injured people limping away. It's a bit of a problem with a road, delaying some people for minutes at a time: it isn't carnage, let alone 'absolute carnage'. Anyone who exaggerates so ridiculously really shouldn't be allowed to comment in public, unless they want to demonstrate their idiocy to all and sundry.
24 thoughts on “Car parking replaces bike parking outside Hackney school; Tony Gibb calls out sh*t temporary infra; Cycling Mikey gets another driver brought to justice; Lovely bike lane vid; Arnie and Greta go riding; 62% of Copenhageners cycle + more on the live blog”
Now that Copenhagen has been
Now that Copenhagen has been mentioned, it’s probably worth bringing up the wide bike lane that was mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It is absolutely awful. It is part of one of the routes that I can take to and from work, and it’s a complete mess. I haven’t heard a single good thing written or said about it, but plenty about how bad it is, to the point where the council have acknowledged that it is causing problems. The change has disrupted a perfectly fine route, created two huge bottlenecks (it’s only wide on the bridge – it’s quite narrow coming on and off it, making you need to squeeze up in advance), made people on bikes from one direction do U-turns to get on to it, forced people walking and cycling to cross paths with each other at a very busy point, and generally been shit. It was far better before, including when there were extensive roadworks during the process of the change.
One article online about it is here – https://www.tv2lorry.dk/koebenhavn/cyklister-melder-om-kaos-paa-dyr-og-rekordbred-cykelsti-i-koebenhavn – but there’s plenty out there. It feels like the people who planned this have never cycled or seen the area. Just goes to show that even in a place with fantastic infrastructure, mistakes can be made!
Also, the bike lane didn’t need to be 5 metres wide. It was never busy enough to justify the change and I’d say there are fewer people using it now than before, but now it looks busier because everyone is bunched up. The video in the article shows just a bit of how bad it is.
“But London is the same as
“But London is not the same as Copenhagen.” is the cry so often heard from petrolheads. Well, neither was Copenhagen. Like all western cities, it was gridlocked and more roads just made things worse, so it was very much like London. The difference is that they acknowledged that trying to satisfy the car monster was never going to work and actively pursued the alternatives, especially cycling.
We could do the same, but while we have endless governments who simply refuse to look at those alternatives, except for some derisory crumbs off the road builder’s table, it won’t happen here. There’s an election happening, so all of us cyclists should be hassling the candidates and parties to commit to sign up to the BMA’s proposal of £20/head/year for active travel, and to finally get around to the comprehensive review of road law, promised so long ago. The BBC R4 prog “Today” is asking for subjects from the public for them to ask politicians, so take a minute and tell them to ask about those two subjects pm@bbc.co.uk
burtthebike wrote:
Done
I invite others to do the same 🙂
Ah, so that’s what it is –
Ah, so that’s what it is – didn’t know it had a name (slipped rib syndrome). Sympathise with George, it’s intensely painful. I’ve had it for a number of years in my right side, only gets triggered when sitting and bending forward (e.g. to do up laces) so it’s not too debilitating for me. Pain is sharp and stabbing with a dull lingering pain afterwards. If you’ve ever crashed down on your crossbar, or caught your bollocks twixt inner thigh and the nose of your saddle, it’s like that. I’d always assumed it was a muscle spasm because stretching out made it go away.
Looking at that empty road in
Looking at that empty road in Copenhagen I’m surprised more people don’t drive.
Where is that Max Wakefield
Where is that Max Wakefield video filmed? With that long mandatory cycle lane that’s wide enough to fit the whole width of the handlebars?
brooksby wrote:
A105 Enfield, one of the mini-Holland schemes:
https://goo.gl/maps/sKg4pNoMtKi1Ws1U6
Jitensha Oni wrote:
Thanks; I’m a bit jealous of it
brooksby wrote:
Don’t be, it has more than its fair share of poor design decisions (bike lane between bus shelter and bus stop, bike lane between pavement and parked cars, bike lane crossing numerous side streets etc)
Would be good if more could
Would be good if more could be found out about that Hackney school story (which is just appalling). Is there any truth in the comments on the thread that the space used now for car-parking has been public access for decades? And where RantyHighwayman says “In 2017 it was an office with highway paving up to the boundary. It’s since been replaced with the red paving” – does that imply any established right to public access?
Also – is this down to the council, or one of those oligarch-run academy empires, or is it a private school?
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:
It’s an academy so it’s not directly accountable to the council. I can hardly imagine a Hackney Learning Trust school doing this.That said, apparently the planning conditions have been breached, so fingers crossed.
Hackney school story – I’m
Hackney school story – I’m betting (hoping) that the cycle parking was popular but there were concerns about security, so they provided secure spaces inside the school instead…
quiff wrote:
I like your optimism but suspect they just saw it as an easy(lazy) way for parking their cars.
Anyway, I see a local councillor has reviewed their planning conditions and they are in breach so planning enforcement will now act on the school.
billymansell wrote:
I claim my prize from the future. Tomorrow’s live blog shows 100 parking spaces inside the school grounds.
Google maps would suggest
Google maps would suggest that Hackney setup has been like that for a while, whilst turning that space into car parking does seem stupid,I’d question how secure any bikes being left there basically on the side of a pavement and road completely accessible by anyone wandering by all school day were. If theyve replaced it with better secure bike parking inside the school gates,which then displaced those cars…which is the worse problem to have?
Interesting looking at the
Interesting looking at the historic streetview pictures for that Hackney building. Seems the area the cars are parked on was originally just part of the normal pavement. I guess it might still have been part of the property of the building…but are there no planning laws relevant when such land has been used by the public pedestrians for a long time?
Generally am sick of how land constantly gets repurposed for car storage. There’s not going to be room left for anything else in the city at this rate. We’ll all have to move out of London to make room for a giant car park.
“Sam Bennett answers
“Sam Bennett answers ‘intimate’ questions ahead of time on having three ribs removed”
Wow, i knew George Bennett had three ribs removed, but now Sam Bennett is having ribs removed too … Rib-doping?
SNS1938 wrote:
Not sure about rib doping, but three ribs = three Eves.
Really like Mikey’s script at
Really like Mikey’s script at the end of his vid; should be widely distributed.
burtthebike wrote:
Except it is not true, the days of driving how you like are still with us. For those of us outside London there’s no change, its just that now police forces are having to come up with reasons not to do anything with video evidence
bobbypuk wrote:
I binge watched some of Mikeys videos as they become addictive to see just how often he catches people using mobile phones,, its unbelievable youd think the police would blitz these places as its just like catching fish in a barrel it seems, makes you wonder how bad the rest of London is let alone the rest of the country.
Vino would never fix a race;
Vino would never fix a race; what a waste of good drugs that would be.
Organon wrote:
Yeah,you would think so. Desperate man… .
Sam Bennett could do an Adam
Sam Bennett could do an Adam and make himself a new mate or 3 even.