Mark Cavendish doffs helmet to Tom Simpson memorial on Mont Ventoux; Kids pulling wheelies photobomb peculiar patriotic procession; Ineos Grenadier 4×4 has cyclist horn; 99km/h; Wiggo’s fashion show; Froome packs his running shoes + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Cyclists cause congestion?
Here’s a fun game.
Next time you see a queue of cars at a red light, walk along it and see how many drivers are on their phones.
Then, when lights change, watch 50-metre gaps open up ahead of their vehicles.
But cyclists cause congestion, yeah?— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) July 7, 2021
"The bow before your master button": Reaction to Ineos Grenadier 4x4 having a cyclist 'toot' button
Not sure you need to be “gently” made aware of this coming up behind you https://t.co/4QZVQKif2C pic.twitter.com/NqgulS9bAz
— Andy Arthur (@cocteautriplets) July 7, 2021
Picking out your comments and reaction to the ‘toot’ button took a while…I’m guessing that’s probably not the reaction the brand was hoping for when it came up with the “gentle hoot” idea…
Fire this bullshit into the sun. https://t.co/t1Z01wvdts
— Pro Elbows (@pro_elbows) July 7, 2021
cyclists can quickly acknowledge the toot with the rapid deployment of the middle finger 🖕🏻
— Multiblah (@wcycle17) July 7, 2021
Ah, this must be the ‘Richmond Park’ spec.
— Harry 🚲 (@nottheUCI) July 7, 2021
Graham wondered: “Do they really think a cyclist would be unaware of a massive 4×4 tailgating them, if the 4×4 didn’t have a ‘toot’ button?”
OnYerBike christened the ‘toot’ the “bow before your master button”…While, Phil Barker added: “Oh, a big red button specially for when there’s a cyclist, nope, can’t see that being used inappropriately at all.”
Keep your thoughts coming in…
99km/h...
A fast ascent… and a furious downhill!
Check the speeds from @alafpolak1 up and down the first ascent of Mont Ventoux ⛰️#TDF2021 #TDFdata pic.twitter.com/rkoCwqeSwM— letourdata (@letourdata) July 7, 2021
Kids pulling wheelies photobomb peculiar patriotic procession
🏴 WELCOME TO ENGLAND. 😂 pic.twitter.com/fC4mD6PIwv
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) July 7, 2021
We’ve got too many questions about this one…it’s safe to say Euro 2020 has some people feeling particularly patriotic. I should hope these pesky patriots parading past potholes paid their ‘road tax’…Maybe the Ineos Grenadier 4×4 should have a ‘pedestrian peep’ to let parading football fans know you’re there?
Thankfully there was a kid photobombing while pulling wheelies for that all-important cycling angle.
Any Welsh, Scottish or Irish readers can stop laughing now…
Wout van Aert...Cyclo-cross superstar turned sprinting sensation who can also TT wins double-ascent of Ventoux stage...Is there anything he can't do?
🏆 🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert claims the win!
🏆🇧🇪 @WoutvanAert triomphe !#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/6je6fpcaxD
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 7, 2021
A LOT happened on Ventoux…Cav is somewhere still out there, battling the time cut. Deceuninck-Quick-Step says he is onto the descent…will he make it?
Mark Cavendish doffs helmet to Tom Simpson memorial while battling the time cut on Mont Ventoux
Pure class and dignity shown from Mark Cavendish as he passed the Tom Simpson memorial. Fair play Cav. Now go and beat Eddy’s record and show em what the Brits are made of. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/S6MXB7cMvJ
— George Poole (@GeorgePuddle) July 7, 2021
Even in the heat of battling the time cut, Mark Cavendish found a moment to doff his helmet in respect to the Tom Simpson memorial on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux. The memorial marks the spot where Simpson tragically died during the 1967 Tour and is regarded as a pilgrimage site for many cycling fans.
Fans often leave bottles as a mark of respect and Cav threw his cap onto the memorial on the first ascent before removing his lid and raising it skyward second time around. Let’s hope there is some common sense applied by the UCI and the commissaires don’t feel the need to slap Cav with a hefty post-stage fine…
Cycling writer Chris Sidwells, Simpson’s nephew, thanked Cavendish for his gesture…
Thanks @MarkCavendish Removing your helmet at the Memorial stone was kind respectful gesture from a champion and a gentleman.
— Chris Sidwells (@ChrisSidwells) July 7, 2021
And while writing this the news we all wanted to hear has come through…It’s coming home! It’s coming home! Cavendish is coming home! The green jersey has made the time cut…
Here they are, all safe inside the #TDF2021 time limit 😃
What an incredible team 🙌
Photo: @BeelWout pic.twitter.com/o82UMJje11— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) July 7, 2021
Not everyone was so lucky...Luke Rowe misses the time cut
Soren Kragh Andersen makes it with a few seconds to spare
Luke Rowe is too late pic.twitter.com/O3qYMgU3YE
— José Been (@TourDeJose) July 7, 2021
7 July 2021, 08:01
7 July 2021, 08:01
7 July 2021, 08:01
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Latest Comments
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.
83 thoughts on “Mark Cavendish doffs helmet to Tom Simpson memorial on Mont Ventoux; Kids pulling wheelies photobomb peculiar patriotic procession; Ineos Grenadier 4×4 has cyclist horn; 99km/h; Wiggo’s fashion show; Froome packs his running shoes + more on the live blog”
As the ‘toot’ will still be
As the ‘toot’ will still be governed by the same laws on when it is appropriate to use the horn, it makes no sense to do so with a ‘kinder, quieter’ tone – if you need to use the horn then making it friendly is not necessary. If you don’t need to warn someone of an immediate risk to their or your safety then you don’t need to toot them. Simple.
Dear Ineos Grenadier
Dear Ineos Grenadier designers
Go f*** yourself
Every cyclist ever
Ah yes, the “bow before your
Ah yes, the “bow before your master” button.
Thoughts? –
Thoughts? –
Not that I want another giant
Not that I want another giant car being designed and released on roads designed for smaller vehicles.. the idea of a giant car with a gentler horn isn’t a terrible one.
Now if the ‘Toot’ button
Now if the ‘Toot’ button played the classic French TdF style directeur sportif car horn warble, I’d say chapeau designer, I’d still think you were a total ‘toot’ for putting it in or for anyone using it, but it probably would make me smile on the road if I heard it used.
As for the rest, it looks purely functional at best,those Audi design gurus they borrowed sure didnt go for the stylish route.
But isnt this darn thing supposed to spend all its days up mountains,in deserts or stuck on farms (maybe Clarkson will get one) where on earth do they think theyll encounter any cyclists anyway ?
Awavey wrote:
Beat me to it. Either that, or a nice ‘Ding’.
mdavidford wrote:
Beat me to it. Either that, or a nice ‘Ding’.— Awavey
The buses in Paris have a really sweet “ding” bell that they use solely when coming up behind cyclists in shared bus/cycle lanes to let you know they’re there – makes moving over a pleasure (and they always give plenty of room!).
Having ridden back down from
Having ridden back down from the Cow & Calf after TdY stage and being “warbled” by several DS’s coming from behind it actually made me feel happy to be on a bike.
I would definitely be up for the ability to switch the toot to a warble although it would probably be lost on most leisure cyclists.
Yes, I think it was when a
Yes, I think it was when a ToB stage finished in Aldeburgh (the Womens tour has finished there too but I think I drove that time) and theres only one main road out of Aldeburgh, not the nicest to cycle on either most of the time, but every DS team car that came past me as I rode home after the stage had finished, gave me the “warble” as they passed, which yes sounds crazy but actually did give me a big cheesy grin and cheered me up as a road cyclist thing.
But yes I think you are right most leisure riders would probably be scared silly by it, missed opportunity by Ineos though.
Awavey wrote:
Maybe it’s designed with mountain bikers in mind 🙂
I’m guessing the Venn Diagram
I’m guessing the Venn Diagram of ‘Grenadier Owners’ and ‘People who give a shit about cyclists’ would be two separate circles.
Brextremist Monaco-based ex
Brextremist Monaco-based ex-pat billionaire plans to build the Ineos Ridikulowagen in <Rule Britannia fanfare> France </fanfare>; sponsors cycling team and includes a button to honk unnecessarily at them.
Not that I object to a toot
Not that I object to a toot in it’s official use as a warning to other road users of your presence and nothing more, but given their involvement with TdF surely someone is having a little joke with the bicycle icon?
oh, a big red button
oh, a big red button specially for when there’s a cyclist, nope, can’t see that being used inappropriately at all.
philbarker wrote:
When you press it, it ought to do nothing except light up a sign saying “Do not press this again” 😀
(No subject)
brooksby wrote:
plays a recorded message.
“cyclists may use the middle of the lane, cyclists may ride two abreast, cyclists are entitled to use the road too. It is unlikely cyclists will add more than a few seconds to your overall journey time”
wycombewheeler wrote:
Nice
With a 4×4 like that. I would
With a 4×4 like that. I would probably hear the sound of the engine coming from a mile away even with my headphones on (mpow flame solo’s)
But even if i didnt, one would question how much of a difference a ‘gentle hoot‘ would make. I see a lot of people wear over the ear noise isolated headphones when out cycling.
Seems a bit of a gimmick tbh. I doubt many of these 4x4s will be manufactured and sold to and bought by the general public as they are going to be super expensive and thus more of a unicorn product due to their customised nature.
In any case, I have never had the tits scared off me by any vehicle tooting their horn whilst out on the road.
The toot button will only be
The toot button will only be needed to alert fellow off roaders – mountain bikers – obvs.
So I’m sure it will be used most days in it’s natural terrain. Chelsea, Kensington etc.
I’d be slightly more
I’d be slightly more impressed i.e. more than zero, if they had designed a 130db device for cyclists to warn drivers of their appalling vehicles of their presence.
Not sure about branding it as
Not sure about branding it as a cyclist-specific button, but I have often thought that some sort of two-stage car horn or separate toot button would be a good idea – e.g. a gentle toot for signalling your approach on narrow winding lanes, or for “you may not have noticed, because you’re looking at your phone, that the lights have changed to green”. A centre push car horn doesn’t have the control finesse to achieve that reliably.
I fully expect now to be told: (1) if I can’t control a car horn, I shouldn’t be driving; (2) “lights have changed to green” isn’t an appropriate use of car horn.
quiff wrote:
I don’t know about point (1), but point (2) is correct 😉
brooksby wrote:
Is it okay to use the horn to warn them that they have become distracted by their phone? Because that’s why they haven’t moved ten seconds after the light turned green.
andystow wrote:
That would only be OK if it was done by the green light, so the driver knows it is there.
To be fair, I can probably
To be fair, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve used a horn in this situation, but in any event I have now re-educated myself on the detail: “you must not use your horn while stationary on the road… except when another road user poses a danger“. On which basis, query whether tooting a driver distracted by their phone is ok…
[EDIT: oops, andystow got there before me]
I made a classic mistake last
I made a classic mistake last week. Turning right at a junction the van coming towards me flashed his lights and slowed down so I pulled across his path. He went mental. I realised after, that he was flashing to let a driver out and not to let me across. The traffic was virtually at a stand still but I don’t think he even saw me until I moved into his path (btw, I was never in any danger). I should have been bright enough to know that the majority of drivers will never give way to a cyclist regardless of circumstance.
I accept my mistake. The HC states “‘Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights to convey any other message or intimidate other road users.” I wonder if he reflected on the same point?
That’s why the HC is there. So we all understand the rules. It will only lead to conflict if we do anything else.
There’s a right turn down to
There’s a right turn down to my office, usually with lots of motor traffic coming the other way so I have to stop and put my arm out (hoping that the drivers behind me have noticed that I’m stationary).
I’ve lost count of the number of times where a driver in that other lane will stop RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME due to a queue, as if I’m bl00dy invisible or something…
Yes, frequently had this on
Yes, frequently had this on my erstwhile commute, while trying to cross a busy stretch of the A1 in London. Not comfortable.
Getting out of the end of our
Getting out of the end of our street is a bit of a sweat, whether on the bike or in the car, at certain times of day. I was sitting waiting to come out and turn right a couple of days ago (car), when the driver of a 4×4 paused when the line moved forward a couple of car lengths and signalled he was waiting for me.
Unfortunately, there was a steady stream of traffic in the other direction showing no signs of letting me in, so I waited where I was, so as not to block the bus/cycle lane. Within 15 seconds he was blaring his horn because he was fed up waiting for me to go (in spite of the queue not having moved any further forward) and, at the point, the pedestrian crossing lights went red stopping the oncoming traffic.
I set off, and waved my thanks … he gave me the bird and a two word greeting in response, even though the vehicle in front of him in the queue was stopped at the red light, his side of the crossing, meaning he was now exactly where he would have been had he not stayed where he was, and I had delayed his journey by precisely 0 seconds.
Some people are simply not psychologically suited to being behind the wheel of a two ton killing machine.
IanMK wrote:
I wonder why he feels it was more inconvenient to him to allow another road user to cross his path, than to allow another road user join the queue in front of him?
Yeah, but how many times have
Yeah, but how many times have you (on a bike, or even when driving) been shouted at or beeped at for stopping and letting a motorist out of a side road into a queue, or for letting someone actually use a zebra crossing?
I’d venture that it’s “a lot”.
A lot of these people don’t appear to consider anyone outside of their box.
The justification for “toot
The justification for “toot”ing a horn at a cyclist is to “make them aware of your presence” and I have never really understood why that is acceptable in most circumstances.
Riding on busy urban roads means that cyclists need to be aware of their surroundings to the extent that they should be aware of cars approaching with or without a toot, and they shouldn’t even need to be aware of them if the driver intends to drive safely and patiently, and overtake only when safe to do so leaving at least enough space to fall off into (as Eddy M would put it).
The same applies on quiet country lanes where riders should position themselves to prevent unsafe overtakes on narrow roads and otherwise drivers should overtake in the same safe manner.
It is probably acceptable to toot to warn you are there on a lengthy stretch of narrow road, where there are opportunities for a rider to move over and allow an overtake … but it is still the riders’ choice.
Regardless of how aggressively it might be done, the majority of the time the only reason for drivers to toot their horn is when they think the rider should get out of their way, justifying it to themselves that the only reason the rider wasn’t doing so was because they didn’t know the driver was there.
When I’m Prime Minister, all
When I’m Prime Minister, all cars will be fitted with an alarm that can be triggered by any nearby cyclists, to remind them to look at the road/not drive like cocks.
Postie can’t explain where my Bullingdon Club membership card has got to
eddy better wind his neck in
eddy better wind his neck in
Surely the cyclist toot
Surely the cyclist toot button is a piss-take to get them some much needed column inches for their ever so inappropriate, gas guzzling vehicle.
Something that size with big fat tyres on isn’t going to be quiet, regardless of what the occupants think behind their double glazed windows, hob-nobbing it over the hoi-polloi frrom their lofty perch.
A gentle toot, or full blown horn will elicit exactly the same reaction from me, a rather impolite “fuck off”!
On ‘Quality driving’ – I see
On ‘Quality driving‘ – I see this all the time, and do wonder what people think those painted lines/lanes with a cycle motif are for…
The persons bio who posted
The persons bio who posted that tweet
The one reply to her
No surprise that Liam also tweeted abuse about the picture of the crying German girl either. Extreme right gammon alert.
brooksby wrote:
Advanced stop lines for drivers and pedestrians. Haven’t you read the HC recently?
It might be time to resurect my plan to dress like a police and ride around, watching all the drivers suddenly clear the cycle lane for me. Could be fun!
They are not looking in their
They are not looking in their mirrors, and from what I see when filtering through stationary traffic there will be a few staring at their phones too.
ktache wrote:
Even better. Carry a notebook and overtly take down their registration.
Toot? Or the sound of a mad,
Toot? Or the sound of a mad, drunk, cycling fan ringing the hell out of a cowbell about 2 inches from the stage leader’s face?
Disappointed by the hate
Disappointed by the hate towards “toot”. Even if that’s a bad idea, at least they are trying and deserve some respect when explaining why it is a bad idea, not pure hatred. And personally… I like it. If driver is not sure I’m aware of him, I’d prefer “toot” over explosion of the regular car horn.
I’m trying to think of
I’m trying to think of situations where the car driver, being already so close to the cyclist that a pap of the horn would be a blast in their ear, would need to warn the cyclist of their presence.
If the unfolding situation demands a warning be given why would the car driver get so close before warning of their presence? And being so close, what is there to warn about; is the car driver intending to get closer still until contact?
I can only think this is a “get out of [b]my [/b]way already” button. But maybe you can come up with scenarios where an actual “warning of presence” is appropriate?
Sriracha wrote:
Exactly.
Don’t warn me you are too close, don’t get too close in the first place
Country road, car coming from
Country road, car coming from behind. I’d prefer to know the car was there and without mirrors on my cycle they can sneak up.
Might not make any difference to an overtake, but if know the car is there then an overtake won’t come as a surprise and I may even make effort to wave them past if safe. After all, I have no wish to hold anyone up and if they are in front then I get the benefit of their crumple zone against oncoming vehicles, at least for the next couple of corners.
If you can sit through the
If you can sit through the 9min video showing the interior, and no they dont even demonstrate pushing the toot properly sadly.
Apparently it’s also designed for in case you see some friends out on the road and just want to say hi…
My objection to the principle of a specific toot button with a cyclist label on it, rather than just engineering a normal horn depress to have two levels of volume, and I’m sure a car I had 20 years ago had actually managed that feat of engineering, is what use case have they imagined beyond a quick we sponsor a cycling team let’s put something cyclisty init as a talking point,do they think it will be used for.
And that’s ignoring their stated design aim that this isnt a car for normal road driving, I mean it’s designed more likely to encounter livestock,why isnt a horse toot, or a sheep toot button.
But no cyclist on the road rides without awareness of traffic in their surroundings such that a motorist needs to announce their presence behind them with a toot of the horn to just let you know they are there ,because if you did ride that way youd end up in A&E pretty quickly. Yes there are times vehicles surprise you largely because of speed,wind noise,but a toot button doesn’t solve that.
It comes across instead as a Beep-Beep out of my way I’m a motorist button.
I’m wonering how loud it has
I’m wonering how loud it has to be to be audible over the sound of that massive engine.
And Teslas are very loud too, maybe not ICE loud, but being passed by a few I’m always suprised how loud they really are.
Edit, I really should have continued reading the comments.
Though my comment about electic cars stands, the tiny BMW is fairly quiet though, I suppose with the very efficient skinny tyres.
My first two cars were mark2
My first two cars were mark2 escorts both circa mid 70’s and at least 10 years old by the time I got my hands on them. The horn was on the indicator stalk and was easier to give a ‘toot’ for some reason. Since the horn has now migrated to the steering wheel it feels to me that it is more difficult to achieve a quick ‘toot’ and drivers seem to have developed a more aggressive approach to using the horn. At least that’s the way it feels to me!
BobK wrote:
very….
Welcome btw
The hate originates from the
The hate originates from the fact that Ineos are making a big contribution to the destruction of our liveable climate. Not content with that, they are trying to create as much plastic pollution as possible.
The icing on the cake is producing a monstrous 4×4, and the cherry on the icing on the cake is that they are using a cycling team to greenwash their reputation.
I’ve run out of elements of cake to use as an analogy for the appalling-ness of the Cyclist Toot button – that’s how bad it is.
Well,
Well,
I guess we could all follow this lad’s example…just to remind ‘peds’ and other ‘road users’ that cyclists do exist…a little toot from this wouldn’t harm anyone…
On ‘Kids pulling wheelies…’
On ‘Kids pulling wheelies…’ – WTAF are those people doing??? They look like a Monty Python sketch.
brooksby wrote:
Bladdy patwiots, holding up the twaffic, walking 20 abweast, no ‘i viz, or ‘elmets. Vey shud know ver pwace!
One of my neighbours (well,
One of my neighbours (well, lives on the same street but I don’t know them) always flies an England flag. Like, ALWAYS. The other day a new flag had arisen alongside it and I googled it because it looked like some white supremacy thing… Turned out to be the regional flag of the Black Country.
brooksby wrote:
Can’t imagine why I might
Can’t imagine why I might have thought it was white supremacist – can you?
brooksby wrote:
Black White and red, chains,
Looks perfectly, err, normal
Look it up and dispel your
Look it up and dispel your ignorance:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Black_Country
Less white supremist, more
Less white supremist, more fascistic perhaps.
When I got my last TimBuk2 bag made I decided to opt for vinyl, and they offered 3 colours, black, white and red, and when I got it I was worried that it might have a slightly fasist tone, which I am nowhere near politically or otherwise. I very much hope that no-one has ever thought this of me.
Well, no.
Well, no.
The 12 year old pupil who designed the Black Country flag was in fact recalling “the famous description of the Black Country by Elihu Burritt that it was “black by day and red by night” owing to the smoke and fires of industry.”
So informed by the local heritage, not by far-right, authoritarian ultranationalist ideology. Oddly enough.
The white shape recalls the famous glass cone kilns, whilst the chain refers to the industrial history of chain making. Hence all the smoke and fires.
But people can twist anything.
I am not disputing this
I am not disputing this information, or that it represents the Black Country, though I found it very green when riding in it from Birmingham.
There is just something about that colour scheme.
My first PostDoc at Reading was a Cornishman and someone had had a go at him for displaying a small flag of Cornwall on the rear of his car, having mistook it for a swastika. Really not and nothing like it either.
ktache wrote:
I think it pretty limiting to entertain just one, negative, association for red black and white
https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=flags+with+red+black+and+white
You are completely correct,
You are completely correct, though I did find that someone had created the Facist flag of Antartica.
Sriracha wrote:
Consider it dispelled, thanks.
Although about 2/3 of that
Although about 2/3 of that article is the ‘Controversy’ section, about whether the chain is appropriate, given the role that the region’s chain-making played in the slave trade…
mdavidford wrote:
I’m absolutely torn about this.
On one hand the red white and black has clear associations with far-right symbolism – there a re a few world flags incorporating this colour scheme exclusively, but not many, and there are a lot of far-right flags adopting it. And the chain is odd unless explained, and even then there are connotations as you rightly point out.
On the other hand it’s the output of earnest engagement by a child. Why on earth did the board of selectors not pick up on this and either adapt the design, or select one of the no doubt many other entries?
Some people might say I’m reading too much into the symbolism, but that’s exactly what a flag is.
This discussion is reminding
This discussion is reminding me of Alan Parker Urban Warrior… appearances can be deceptive – I saw this bloke who had a skinhead haircut and I thought ‘fascist’ and went over and punched him in the teeth. Turns out he was recovering from a very severe brain operation.
Captain Badger wrote:
That ‘sounds’ like Wonnie Pickewing…
The _Kaner wrote:
Who’s ‘e???
Ineos removed my post from FB
incorrect info, sorry
WTF!!
WTF!!
Patriots
I’ll be out riding my bike while all the footie fans are watching grown men fall over like they’ve been shot.
What a load of nonsense.
I hope they were patriots, as
I hope they were patriots, as they were singing Vindaloo. It’s good of them to acknowledge that our national cuisine is provided by migrants.
markieteeee wrote:
Vindaloo? But our national dish is incontestably Chicken Tikka Masala.
So let me get this right, En
So let me get this right, En-ger-land won through an own goal and a dodgy penalty decision
Looking on the bright side the roads were as quiet as the first weeks of lockdown 15 months ago. Bliss. Can we have the footie on every week?
A bit of a harsh take on the
A bit of a harsh take on the match but as you were the greatest England manager we never had, I’ll let you off.
I’ve got to keep on with the
I’ve got to keep on with the controversial comments, even from beyond the grave!!
Don’t get me started on leeds Utd…..
Slipped out under the radar
Slipped out under the radar today was the news that hauliers can now work extended hours because there is a shortage of HGV drivers at the moment. The thing is that the limit on their hours was not because we had load of drivers so ‘let’s give them all a turn’, it was for the drivers’ welfare and the safety of them and other road users.
Just seen the same news on
Just seen the same news on the Beeb and about to post it here.
I’m sure we’ll hear more.
I’m sure we’ll hear more.
Only when the bodies start
Only when the bodies start piling high…
It’s great: I live in Germany
It’s great: I live in Germany and, on the sme day England beat Germany at the footy and Cav won a TdF stage – Rule Britania!
Mind you I was out riding my bike during the footy 🙂