Is this the best cycling lockdown video on the web?; Police report mega increase in speeding drivers; Zwift testing new ‘Boost Mode’; “Make sure that drivers see you” says road safety partnership; France to offer everyone 50 euros for bike repairs + more
SUMMARY
France to offer 50 euros for repairs so the bike can become ‘the queen of deconfinement’
The French government will offer a “repair cheque” of 50 euros to anyone who wants to get their old bike back in working order for when lockdown is lifted, reports Le Parisien.
“It is a boost to the bike during the deconfinement period to encourage us to choose this mode of travel,” explained the Minister of Ecological Transition, Elisabeth Borne. “We want this period to see a step forward in cycling culture, and for the bicycle to be the little queen of deconfinement in a way.”
Basically, if you take your bike in for repairs, any work up to 50 euros will be free. Anything beyond that, you’ll have to pay for. The government will then reimburse the bike shop.
There are now almost 500 bike hangars in Waltham Forest
Just signed off further batch of 64 @wfcouncil #wfminiholland #ResidentCycleHangars. #HoeSt– 4 #WilliamMorris-1 #HighSt– 28 #LeaBridge– 21 & #Markhouse– 10. Taking us close to 500 hangars in WF! Cos we’re serious about permanent change! @willnorman @london_cycling @WeSupportWFMH pic.twitter.com/47s3OPCPDk
— Labourstone (@Labourstone) April 29, 2020
The Tour de Yorkshire was supposed to start today
We’re gutted that @letouryorkshire won’t be starting today & we’ll miss seeing unbelievable moments like these.
RT if you can’t wait for the Tour de Yorkshire to return!#TDY pic.twitter.com/cHL5TjDb8J
— Tour de Yorkshire 🚴 (@letouryorkshire) April 30, 2020
Technically, it’s still postponed rather than cancelled.
Road safety partnership pilloried for victim-blaming tweet
The Road Safety GB North East group is made up of the 12 local highway authorities in the region, three regional police forces and four fire and rescue teams.
Its recent ‘make sure that drivers see you/always wear a helmet’ tweet has not gone down well.
How do I make sure that drivers see me?
By how much does a helmet reduce risk of death and how does it compare with other activities that people don’t generally harass other people about, such as getting insufficient sleep?
Show me the facts and I’ll make my choices.— steve abraham (@steve_abraham74) April 30, 2020
.@RSGB_NE It’s very simple people.
It’s all about looking!
Tell drivers to look. Anything else is secondary. If you look you will see someone regardless
— Real Gaz on a proper bike #fbpe (@gazza_d) April 30, 2020
Drivers, always wear a helmet, it could save your life
— MSeries (@mseriesMMXIV) April 29, 2020
Frustrated thief trashes key worker's bike
To go to London, work & keep us safe. Today some idiot decided to trash her bike left at the train station Prestwood, Bucks.They couldn’t steal it so they made it unusable for anyone.Why???? Stop being idiots & be kind 🙏 If anyone saw anything let me know ta 2/2
— Bespoke-M (@Bespoke_M) April 29, 2020
Zwift testing new 'Boost Mode'
The online uproar around @GoZwift having the (alleged) temerity to further gameify what was – at its core – a cycling gaming experience is incredible. Users sign up to a platform that allows you to disappear in game…yet blow up when a different gaming feature is added.#gozwift pic.twitter.com/T6D2ppPOS8
— Nick Squillari (@N_Squillari) April 30, 2020
Announcing it on their forums, Zwift said: “Boost Mode is a new event type that will allow users to charge a boost (with their own watts of course) and then discharge that boost at a time that’s right for them. This mode will be exclusively available in a limited number of FutureWorks Club Jarvis events as we test, tune and tweak the experience.”
Weird.
Brussels prepares for deconfinement by adding more cycle lanes
Brussels is to repurpose a bunch of motor traffic lanes as cycle lanes to take the strain off public transport during the deconfinement process.
Brussels plans new radical and orbital bike tracks to take the strain off public transport during the process of deconfinement. In most places, the news article says, these will be created by converting a motor traffic lane to space for cycling. https://t.co/Ez5Xefq2Vi
— Dr Rachel Aldred (@RachelAldred) April 29, 2020
That’s twice I’ve typed the word ‘deconfinement’ today. Never used it before. Pretty sure I’m going to be using it again.
Zwift fixes 196mph bug
The latest Zwift update (see further down the page) also includes a bug fix that will sadly prevent this kind of thing.
It seems that sometimes, when riding an event, a user would cease to be affected by wind resistance.
Chris Boardman on the boom in cycling since lockdown
Boardman’s on Radio 4 as I type, talking about bike sales, the French bike repair fund mentioned further down the page and more.
Here’s a link if you want to listen from the start.
Met Police report mega increase in speeding drivers
Detective Superintendent Andy Cox, from Scotland Yard’s traffic teams, said 2,020 speeders were recorded between April 20-27 this year, compared to just 268 in the same period last year.
He said that wile the number of motorists on London’s roads has dropped during lockdown, the number of people suffering life-changing injuries in road traffic collisions is about the same.
“We’ve seen incredible speeds, incredible risk,” Cox told the London Evening Standard. “Some of the people we’ve stopped have said things like ‘because of Covid-19 we didn’t expect you to be doing enforcement’, but it’s an absolute priority for us — probably more so than ever because of the increase in speed.
“Every one of those extreme speeders is entirely selfish: they’re not considering other road users, the wider impacts. They are frankly disgraceful. We’ve had since the lockdown, nine fatalities, so many people seriously injured.”
He added that NHS workers were “walking and cycling in a lot of these zones” which is kind of weird when you think about it. Obviously he thinks that speeding motorists are more likely to pay attention to that fact.
He’s probably right: some speeding motorists will only moderate their behaviour to save the lives of people who are saving people’s lives.
The next Cav
Casper in his happy place. Obsessed with it. @BahrainMcLaren @MarkCavendish @McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/3dtsN2TZCO
— Peta Cavendish (@petatodd) April 30, 2020
Reppin' in the virtual peloton
Props to the Mendips’ own Pete Naylor, who is currently repping the road.cc kit in Zwift as part of Mark Beaumont’s virtual peloton: 80 riders aiming to ride 240 miles (385km) each in a day, the equivalent of getting all the way around the world. Pete started at 4am and is currently less than 30km away from his goal, so if you’re on Zwift in the next hour or so give him a thumbs up!
> Mark Beaumont looking to recruit “virtual peloton” to ride around the world in a day
> Ride in road.cc kit on Zwift
The pros are looking forward to riding outdoors again
We think Sutherland’s in Spain.
Things I’m looking forward to next week
– riding without looking at a screen
– using real air instead of a fan
– sweating less
– getting a tan line (debating)
– getting out of the saddle
– not being attacked virtually by someone doing 83w/kg— Rory Sutherland (@rorysutherland1) April 30, 2020
Do you know if there is a Zwift badge for finally shaving your legs after 6 weeks?
— Jetse Bol (@JetseBol) April 30, 2020
Rugby League player doing Tour de Yorkshire distance on his turbo
Danny Washbrook appears to be taking an old school approach as well with no Zwift or Rouvy or whatever.
Today was supposed to be the start of @letouryorkshire 🙌
So, former @hullfcofficial and current @YorkKnightsRLFC player @Washy85 decided to ride the entire 612km route in his back garden to raise money for @Dove_House and @NHSCharities 👏
Donate 🔗 https://t.co/cNpiAMF9Xn #TdY pic.twitter.com/dTgpRHFhFD
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) April 30, 2020
This may explain why he’s only doing 10 miles a day.
Beware of the sheep
Milton Keynes is full of parks. Maybe not such nice sheep in Campbell Park who appear to prefer cyclists to grass (from earlier this year) #LoveMK @scenesfromMK pic.twitter.com/wqaL7f7j0d
— Nicola (@Nico1a_) April 30, 2020
Movistar have been reduced to spot the difference
🤔🔍 ¡Encuentra las 7 diferencias! / Find the seven differences! #SeguimosConectados pic.twitter.com/gXstmwite5
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) April 30, 2020
We spotted as many as one and now we’ve lost interest.
We consider spot the difference to be altogether too demanding.
(Update: We just spotted another, but jeez it makes your eyes hurt. Spot the difference is not a game for the digital age.)
York councillor calls for fines handed to cycle couriers to be dropped
A couple of days ago we reported on a Deliveroo rider who was fined whiile delivering food and medicine to people in York.
A number of York couriers have been fined for riding on pedestrianised streets.
They thought that traffic restrictions had been lifted.
City of York Council says the restrictions were not lifted. It’s just that the bollards to stop traffic entering pedestrian areas were removed at the start of the lockdown.
York Press reports Danny Myers, leader of the Labour group at the council, says the lack of clarity means the fines should be dropped.
Is this the best cycling lockdown video on the internet?
“Day 42 of self isolation… Stabbed my pillow… cut its heart out as sacrifice… and took over a thousand selfies with my Trek Madone.”
We ran Shio Chuan Quek’s stop motion masterpiece on yesterday’s live blog, but many of you missed it.
There have been a few lockdown-inspired cycling videos in recent weeks, but we reckon this one’s the best.
Feel free to email us more suggestions at info at road.cc or send them via Twitter or Facebook or whatever.
30 April 2020, 08:32
30 April 2020, 08:32
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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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I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
When I was a kid (that was during the previous millenium when phones were connected to a plug in the wall), I rode my bicycle to school, music academy, sport grounds, parties even during the winter. The government didn't have to spend, correct that, didn't have to think of spending massive amounts of money to build cycling specific infrastructures. Over the past 3 or 4 decades, cars have grown bigger, taller, safer (for their drivers) and faster. Meanwhile, motorists have become abusive, aggressive, hypersensitive to people moving on two wheels, aka cyclists. Spending billions upon billions on new infrastructure won't address the crux of the matter. Sadly.
31 thoughts on “Is this the best cycling lockdown video on the web?; Police report mega increase in speeding drivers; Zwift testing new ‘Boost Mode’; “Make sure that drivers see you” says road safety partnership; France to offer everyone 50 euros for bike repairs + more”
Chapeau Francais!
Chapeau Francais!
French hat? Un béret, ou un
French hat? Un béret, ou un képi peut-être?
“The Road Safety GB North
“The Road Safety GB North East group is made up of the 12 local highway authorities in the region, three regional police forces and four fire and rescue teams.”
And apparently, every single person in that group is a driver who is completely ignorant of road safety. This is literally incredible; a road safety organisation which has absolutely no idea about its supposedly primary function, and which blames the victims. Total idiots.
They should immediately issue a grovelling apology and resign en masse.
eburtthebike wrote:
They don’t want drivers to pay attention otherwise their expensive Road Safety Camera vehicles (sic) would have to be scrapped. If they were really interested in Road Safety they would be out protecting vulnerable road users rather than making stupid comments to justify their jobs. This is the area where a Police DC sid not consider a cyclists broken pelvis to be a serious injury, ’nuff said.
Someone needs to tell RDRF
Someone needs to tell RDRF about this
Looking at the other posts
Looking at the other posts linked to in that reply thread, it does appear that the Road Safety GB North East group’s overarching philosophy is that cars will do what they do and it is everyone else’s responsibility to make sure they don’t get hit by them.
Talk about getting something precisely backwards.
I think you’ve hit the nail
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. That was pretty much the attitude I encountered last night on my exercise – I just accept that these Essential journeys are also urgent journies and that it is inDeed my job to get out of the way. I can feel a mission statement forming even now.
Good to see some push back on Twitter. see also the comments on this little story:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18412743.fordingbridge-fire-crew-called-burgate/
“deconfinement” – is that a
“deconfinement” – is that a real word?
It’s a French word
It’s a French word
brooksby wrote:
En Francais, oui.
eburtthebike wrote:
English too, at least if you’re a physisist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconfinement
or a physicist
or a physicist
Ah, that explains it.
Ah, that explains it.
Je ne parle pas français
brooksby wrote:
Français. Plouc Anglais.
eburtthebike wrote:
I’ve just realised there isn’t a “two fingers up” emoticon thingy on here. Really needs to be one.
(I’m stepping out of this conversation now, m’kay?).
I think it is a wonderful use
I think it is a wonderful use of words.
So much more elegant than reduction of “lockdown”
Reminds me of the campaign by
Reminds me of the campaign by the Road Haulage Association asking drivers to equip their cars with 12ft reflective flags to make them more visible from a truck cab and to fit extra strong roll cages to prevent them becoming crushed between lorries.
Maybe that didn’t happen? Frankly I’m not even sure what day it is anymore.
I followed the link about
I followed the link about bike hangers in waltham forest to find this shocker
“Met Police: “After Consideration of the evidence … the other party will not be prosecuted” Apparently this driving is acceptable. “
It’s what the Rozzers call
It’s what the Rozzers call “using discretion”. In Other Words: people on 2 wheels aren’t real people, anyway I don’t like them, they bring it on themselves.
Re. The zwift ‘boost mode’
Re. The zwift ‘boost mode’ feature and peoples comments about it always being a gaming platform and others should stop complaining about a game being a game…
…I may be wrong, but I honestly don’t remember zwift being marketed as a ‘game’ at least initially. It was an indoor training platform that aimed to be a lot more engaging than others with a bit of racing as an add on. Fair play if they wanna gamify it further (they’ll go with the money either way) but at some point people will request they don’t have to pedal when playing too 😛
It’s a gaming platform that
It’s a gaming platform that uses cycling instead of a console or computer. You may not have thought so but it was pretty obvious when they started adding new features that it’s what it was intended to be.
And they will gamify it further because that’s what game developers do to maintain interest.
I watched part of the BBC’s online coverage of the Swiss 5 ‘races’ on Saturday and Sunday. Without Alex Dowsett’s commentary it would have been even worse, just a tedious video of a drive through some very pretty scenery interspersed with images of sweaty cyclists on turbo trainers. I’m sure it is better for the participants than some sh*t dance tunes while riding a turbo but I simply don’t get it as entertainment.
+1.
+1, Simon.
But yep, on the flip-side, they should make a Zwift “Master’s Racer” Edition. The Velominati brigade remained alive and well and well-hidden in matching lycra and they need an outlet, for all our sakes. I think Rouvy appeals to the Fondo set who never cared all that much about what everyone else was doing anyway but wanted to recon routes, test their fitness against others and shoot the breeze on the downhills. And there are plenty of straight-up training apps. But someone should really shoot for a more realistic racing experience, maybe even upping the drafting advantage in order to better team tactics. It might be better to watch as a spectator, it would definitely serve a market for amateur racers, and more importantly, it would save our souls from the Zwift altar-boys and church-ladies.
Whether Zwift started off as
Whether Zwift started off as a ‘game’ or not is debatable; I don’t think requiring physical effort stops it being a game but then I did once injure a shoulder playing Wii Boxing.
Now the ‘interactive cycling’ market is becoming more mature and more platforms are available, players will have to choose their positioning. Unlike options which use real video of climbs, Zwift has consciously gone even more ‘cartoony’ – the volcano for example, it’s unashamedly not real-world even when based on real-world locations. Personally I hardly ever use the power-ups and don’t see myself using this boost feature, but I don’t have a problem with them doing it, other than I’d rather they put just a little effort into the really basic enhancements which users have been requesting for years, like being able to change the pre-set route without leaving the whole game.
Maybe the The Road Safety GB
Maybe the The Road Safety GB North East group should look at what Detective Superintendent Andy Cox has to say.
There is a source of danger out there, it “might” not be cyclists, and their behaviour.
There are things relating to safety you might want to consider before the classic victim blaming.
I’m sure their answer to knife crime danger is for everyone to wear stabproof (resistant) vests as well.
And make sure that the
And make sure that the stabber sees you… or not… maybe the sun was in their eyes… that’s it! Make sure the sun is in the stabber’s eyes. There.
In any case definitely wear a helmet in case you get stabbed
The Boardman thing on R4 “You
The Boardman thing on R4 “You and Yours” (a consumer programme) starts at 17:15 and is generally pretty good. CB does a good job, extolling the virtues, but as per usual, no in depth evaluation of anything; also, why’s it on a consumer prog, not in the main news?
Just remembered “You and Yours” was one of the programmes heavily pushing helmets 25 years ago, interviewing only people from the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust, and refusing calls to provide any balance, which the BBC charter guarantees. So this is a bit late, but nevertheless welcome.
Thanks for putting the link
Thanks for putting the link to Shio Chuan Quek’s vid up again, I missed it the first time; brilliant.
Even more brillianter, even if it’s nothing to do with cycling, it is hysterical https://www.facebook.com/JohnScaglione/videos/10157687110976501/?t=32
Sadiq Khan – should do
Sadiq Khan – should do something about crime in London first instead of just talking about it ;-(
You are a shit stirring prat.
You are a shit stirring prat.
Check your facts.
Check your facts.
The previous mayor, somebody called Boris Johnson, closed police stations in London. The Met has a smaller budget thanks to the Tories who cut 21,500 police jobs across the UK as part of their austerity programme. They also cut support for ex prisoners. So right across the UK, we have had an increase in crime, thanks to the Tories.
I spotted 3 differences
I spotted 3 differences