Good Samaritan gives free bikes as Christmas presents after flooding heartbreak, + more festive cheer; Bike lanes “complete waste of money” says Royston Smith; Cycling Infra World Cup; Man who hit cyclist on stolen motorbike jailed + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Near Chris of the Day
Driving home for Christmas? Not so fast.
When you're out on a bike ride and spot Santa and his elves jogging
[AU][OC] Spotted Santa and his elves getting some last minute training in before the big day from r/CyclistsWithCameras
A strange festive sight to behold.
Royston Smith MP says cycle lanes are "a complete waste of money" in latest anti-cycling outburst
These cycle lanes were and are a complete waste of money. They have not, for the most part, increased the take up of cycling and as far as I am aware have encouraged not a single driver out of their car https://t.co/T4QXOqn8dV
— Royston Smith MP (@Royston_Smith) December 23, 2020
Quoting an article in the Daily Echo about the cost of a temporary cycle lane, the Conservative MP for Southampton Itchen claims the lane hasn’t encouraged any drivers out of their cars ‘as far as he is aware’. It’s fair to say not everyone agrees with him…
I wouldn’t be too proud to be completely unaware about what’s going on in your own constituency. Sounds like you need to get out on a bike a bit more and meet the people you represent..
— Craig mitchell (@craigymitchell) December 23, 2020
“a complete waste of money”
“for the most part”
“as far as I am aware”Some excellent well researched peer-reviewed forensic data right there.
How much are the good people of your constituenc paying you for this inspiring representation?— Just Julian (surname: Block)🏴🇮🇪🇵🇸 (@Scribemole) December 23, 2020
Encouraged me to use the bike more. And the group of friends I know who now are regular cyclists.
— Rosanna (@rosanna_newey) December 23, 2020
Smith has a somewhat contradictory history when it comes to his musings on cycling and cycle lanes, saying back in 2017 that although money set aside for cycling should be diverted elsewhere, he believes that cyclists should be forced to ride in dedicated cycle lanes. After trying out an e-bike in September, Smith said: “Improvements in battery technology means that e-bikes and e-scooters should be promoted as a practical means of travel as I have advocated in Parliament. Dedicated cycle lanes, such as Bursledon Road are a far more sensible approach than halving road capacity overnight with no consultation to install bus and cycle lanes which choke the city with congestion!”
It doesn’t seem like Smith has changed his tune, or worked out how to fund the cycle lanes he advocates for without spending any cash yet…
The #CyclingInfraWorldCup is down to the final two
The Tyne Tunnels look amazing. 1st UK purpose built cycle tunnel included. But please vote #LeaBridgeRd for #CyclingInfraWorldCup for final today. The road was most dangerous in borough. Its total transformation incl 4 major junctions took a lot of campaigning & political will… https://t.co/25684CAceb pic.twitter.com/JnNgEv4Kxs
— Simon Munk (@psimonk) December 24, 2020
On Twitter, people are voting for the best bit of cycling infra in the UK – and the final two are Lea Bridge Road in Waltham Forest, vs the Tyne Tunnels between Howdon and Jarrow in the North East. As detailed by Simon Monk of the London Cycling Campaign, Lea Bridge Road has seen a total transformation in recent years, while the Tyne Tunnels was Britain’s first ever purpose-built cycling tunnel. Which one do you think deserves the title, or would you have picked an alternative from the original shortlist?
WORLD CUP OF GREAT UK CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE
The 24 groups for Round 1 are now set. No further correspondence will be entered into. The first votes start on Wednesday. Be prepared to defend you nomination. #CyclingInfraWorldCup PDF available here https://t.co/Ix7by07hmH pic.twitter.com/6OstFtvxON— The Santy Highwayman (#CyclingInfraWorldCup) (@RantyHighwayman) November 30, 2020
Jail for man who nearly killed a cyclist while riding a stolen motorbike
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A man who hit and almost killed a cyclist while driving a stolen motorbike on the wrong side of the road has been jailed for two years and 11 months, reports the Manchester Evening News.
20-year-old Konnor Harvey, who was disqualified from driving and uninsured at the time of the incident on August bank holiday of this year, was travelling ‘at speed’ on the stolen Suzuki GSXR motorbike in Lees, Oldham, and overtook a number of cars on the wrong side of the road. He smashed into a 54-year-old male cyclist, who went over his handlebars and landed on the pavement. The victim suffered life-threatening injuries and spent nine weeks recovering in hospital, while Harvey, who skidded along the road after the impact and hit a road sign, was arrested when he was discharged from hospital.
Harvey pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, causing serious injury whilst disqualified, using a motor vehicle in a public place without third party insurance, driving whilst disqualified, and driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence.
Detective Sergeant Diana Dyer-Barron, of Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This was a shocking incident which demonstrated the complete disregard Harvey had for law-abiding road users who have a legal right to be on our roads; he doesn’t and I’m satisfied that today’s verdict will keep it that way for a while to come.
“Konnor Harvey is extremely fortunate that he wasn’t here today facing a jail term for causing an innocent man’s death, as this collision was so serious that the victim who suffered due to Harvey’s reckless actions was almost killed.
“I would like to pay my best wishes and respects to the victim of this incident as he continues his recovery from injuries suffered on that horrendous day. Hopefully today’s conclusion is a further step towards some closure for him.”
Good Samaritan offering free bikes and scooters to those who lost Christmas presents in South Wales floods
If you are in Newport and have lost Christmas presents in todays flooding….let me know.
I do have some smaller bikes,scooters and balance bikes ready to go if needed.All bikes are FREE to a family in need and I am happy to help.#freebikes4kids #cycling #community #recycle pic.twitter.com/Grcw3VvbhX
— PuffaJones (@PuffaJones) December 23, 2020
Torrential rain cruelly brought flooding to areas of South Wales yesterday, and the big-hearted Newport bike mechanic who goes by the name of Puffa Jones – who has spent 2020 fixing up and gifting bikes to children, NHS workers and others in need – has stepped in to offer refurbished bikes to those who have lost Christmas presents in the floods.
He says: “If you are in Newport and have lost Christmas presents in today’s flooding… let me know. I do have some smaller bikes, scooters and balance bikes ready to go if needed.
“All bikes are FREE to a family in need and I am happy to help.”
Puffa (whose real name is Mike) says that his van of goodies is “almost empty” with “just a few more bikes being collected from Shedquarters in the next hour”, bringing some festive joy to those who have cruelly suffered once more after an already bleak 2020. He was also on hand to help when South Wales was hit by floods back in February, and is always looking for unwanted bikes to fix up so they can be donated to those who need them. If you have any unloved bikes to donate, you can contact Mike via the Twitter profile linked above.
Alex Howes is ready for Christmas
Ready for a holiday. pic.twitter.com/WykRtRISPj
— Alex Howes (@alex_howes) December 24, 2020
The EF Pro Cycling rider appears to be done with this sh*t, and looking forward to a day of not cycling in minus temperatures.
Cycling Infra World Cup: Tyne Tunnels take the lead
***** GRAND FINAL *****
— The Santy Highwayman (#CyclingInfraWorldCup) (@RantyHighwayman) December 24, 2020
At the time of writing, the voting split looks pretty similar to another big vote that happened four years ago and is all over the news today… but anyway, there are two hours left to vote between the Tyne Tunnels and Lea Bridge Road in Waltham Forest.
Update: Lea Bridge Road narrowly took the win with 51% of the vote.
Park Tool plug their legendary pizza cutter, for the dwindling number of cyclists who don't already own one
What’s better than pizza after a good day of wrenching or riding? The Park Tool PZT-2… it’s a bicycle and a pizza cutter! An excellent gift for your favorite hard-to-buy-for cyclist.🍕 Grab one today at your local Park Tool dealer or online. https://t.co/0ZqCgpMyT0 pic.twitter.com/p5hkp7jWKa
— Park Tool (@parktool) December 24, 2020
As noted in our ‘Don’t buy me this’ Christmas gift guide, there’s a chance you’ve already got a few in the draw from previous Christmasses… but in any case, this is a taseful advert and there’s no denying it’s an above-average pizza cutter. On the subject, what are they cutting here? Looks like an extra large fruit shortcake biscuit to me, which isn’t a bad thing.
More festive cheer: upCYCLE deliver four bikes to children to give out on Christmas day
upCYCLE was founded by Philip Dobson in June of this year, with a mission to help young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds discover cycling to lessen their use of public transport during the pandemic. As part of this they refurbish donated bikes, and told Brixton Buzz that their most recent good deed was dropping off four kids bikes to Brixton Library to distribute to children who otherwise were unlikely to receive Christmas presents.
If you have a bike to donate you can get in touch with upCYCLE via their website – or you can make a donation to their GoFundMe fundraiser here. Meanwhile, our hero from earlier this afternoon Puffa Jones has signed off for Christmas…
Merry Christmas everyone…..and thank you all for your support this year.#freebikes4kids #cycling #community #recycle #giving pic.twitter.com/chpKFbbqAv
— PuffaJones (@PuffaJones) December 24, 2020
…and on that note, so will I as the mulled wine is calling. Merry Christmas!
24 December 2020, 09:55
13-speed, new Dura-Ace speculation or titanium gravel bikes? Remind yourselves of 2020 in bike tech with our round-up below
road.cc's top 10 tech stories of 2020
Check out the most-read road.cc stories of the past 12 months, including the biggest bike launches and some unexpected entries
24 December 2020, 09:55
Steve Thomas casts his mind back to when, aged 12, he swapped a Raleigh Chopper for a road racer...
Tales of a 10-speed racer: how getting a Raleigh for Christmas changed my life
Swapping a Raleigh Chopper for a road racer sent me on quite a journey
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Latest Comments
@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
17 thoughts on “Good Samaritan gives free bikes as Christmas presents after flooding heartbreak, + more festive cheer; Bike lanes “complete waste of money” says Royston Smith; Cycling Infra World Cup; Man who hit cyclist on stolen motorbike jailed + more on the live blog”
Royston Smith MP wrote:
So he at least understands that uptake of cycling and encouraging people out of their cars is important. Baby steps Royston, getting there….
I saw Chris Rea in a garden
I saw Chris Rea in a garden centre the other day.
He bought a driving gnome for Christmas
That is sheer quality and
That is sheer quality and possibly the pun of the year!
Well, if money spent on cycle
Well, if money spent on cycle infrastructure is a complete waste of money, it’s still better value than his constituents are getting from this ignorant, waste of oxygen MP.
Hardly a day in December goes
Hardly a day in December goes by without someone posting a picture of yet another car with that same registration with an accompanying quip about Chris Rea.
Obviously a fake reg but I suspect someone working on the police’s social media got a bit creative here as a way of obscuring the real reg ahead of any prosecution.
On the subject of knocked off
On the subject of knocked off number plates. Someone will probably actually own the CR15 REA plate and will now be sick to death of being pulled over. I had my plates nicked earlier this year and it’s not that funny.
They do, it’s a black Merc A
They do, it’s a black Merc A Class. At least it’s got an Mot and Tax
“Member of Parliament for
“Member of Parliament for Southampton Itchen. I do not use Twitter for debate or casework. For enquiries please email royston.smith.mp@parliament.uk“
Anyone want to email him the replies.
Yep, spouting cobblers isn’t
Yep, spouting cobblers isn’t debate or casework. So he’s right about one thing.
NPlus1BikelightsNJerseys
That’s the only possible reason I might wish to be his constituent.
Re Royston Smith’s comments:
Re Royston Smith’s comments: Mrs H was a very (very!) keen weekend cyclist but scared to commute on the dangerous 8 central London miles between home and school at rush hour. During lockdown (lockdown one as I suppose we must call it) her school called all teachers back for the last week of summer term to prepare for September (without kids). She didn’t want to risk getting infected on the six-train round trip she had to make, so she was going to drive in. I suggested instead we ride our road bikes in each morning and I would go back in the evening and ride escort home. She loved the new routes and new infra we discovered so much that she’s bought an ebike to go with her road bike, has been cycle commuting all term (even in the foulest weather, fair play to her) and has now sold her car and rides everywhere. So you’re talking cobblers, Royston old boy.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Fantastic! Give her a snog under the mistletoe from me.
eburtthebike wrote:
Fantastic! Give her a snog under the mistletoe from me.
[/quote]
She’s riding her first stint on our 200 miles on Christmas Day challenge at the minute (see Forum) but will do later!
Part of Royston’s problem is
Part of Royston’s problem is that Itchen, his constituency is the east of So’ton and the dock area – much of the cycle lane action he’s so keen to criticise (party political, of course) is outside it.
That’s a giant chocolate chip
That’s a giant chocolate chip cookie!
Sadly, I think you’re right.
Sadly, I think you’re right.
A giant fruit shortcake would be a thing of absolute beauty.
Although probably wouldn’t respond well to being attacked with a pizza cutter.
This…
This…