Furious Mark Cavendish berates Tour of Britain motorbike rider; Toronto’s horse poo bike lane problem; Was the double cleat horror set-up was real?; ITV’s cheery ads; NYC cops remove “illegally” locked bikes; Pedal Me’s round + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
NYC cops slammed for removing "illegally" chained bicycles...against their own advice
I guess we’ll never know what reaction NYPD’s 107th Precinct expected when it uploaded these pictures of a solid night’s work removing “illegally” chained bicycles. The station’s Facebook page proudly wrote about how its officers had removed multiple bicycles “chained illegally” to NYC DOT sign posts because it “can be hazardous to pedestrians”…
However, as some have pointed out, here’s the NYPD’s own flyer on bike safety…including a section encouraging riders to lock their bikes to metal posts of no parking and stop signs.
The reaction has been something of a PR firestorm. Several people have accused the cops of stealing bikes…
Alison Mc wrote: “Cars (and I am a car owner) can just be parked and left on public streets belonging to everyone, while there are not even a fraction of enough bike racks in this city yet you steal the bikes people legally park and lock up…and then lie and say it’s a public safety issue. What a crock of shit this is.”
Chris O’Leary shared the photo of the contradictory flyer…”‘Securing your bike to these signs is illegal.’ Oh, is that so? Then why does this NYPD flyer on bike safety specifically encourage people to lock their bikes to these signs? You just straight-up stole bikes. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Peter W. Beadle added: “Instead of wasting time, energy and money harassing people with bikes, have your officers stop parking on sidewalks and in bike lanes. The hypocrisy is unbelievable.”
And just when you think it couldn’t get much worse for them…
Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games tickets go on sale
Tickets for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year went on sale this week. A ballot system is being run until the end of September when applicants will be told if they’ve been successful. If it’s track cycling tickets you’re after, just remember that confusingly the Birmingham event’s venue is in London.
Lee Valley Velopark is staging the track cycling as the second city doesn’t have a suitable facility. I’d rather watch them race through the Bullring to be honest…but then again, there’s a reason I’m not in charge of these things…
Josh Quigley set for second attempt at breaking seven-day cycling distance world record
7 DAY CYCLING DISTANCE WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT #2
Date: 13th – 20th September
Record: 2,177 miles / 3,505km
Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland @GWR: “Greatest Distance Cycled in One Week – Unpaced”
Live GPS tracker and fundraising campaign in my Twitter bio 👆
🚴♂️🥇🌍🔥 pic.twitter.com/WfJWKk6Vou
— Josh Quigley (@JoshQuigley2026) September 10, 2021
Josh is back for another shot at the record. At the end of April he abandoned his first attempt due to an knee injury. That’s healed now and he’s hoping to better the 1,2000 miles he rode in five days during the first effort. To beat the record, Josh will have to cover 2,177 miles in the week over slightly altered Aberdeenshire circuit that readers might remember from April. All the best, Josh…we’ll keep you updated on his progress on the live blog next week.
Brace yourselves for another look...we spoke to the mechanic from THAT double cleat horror set-up
Let’s end the week how it began…grimacing at that punter’s cleat set-up from hell. We heard the naysayers and doubters questioning whether it’s a hoax, so got in touch with the bike shop mechanic unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your point of view) enough to be handed the double cleat disaster…they confirmed to us, “the fail was, sadly/joyously, all too real!”
I could tidy up the reply and split it down for quotes, but I’m going to leave the thrilling storytelling, with all its local charm, to our bike shop friend…strap yourselves in…
“The day started off normal – overcast, with a chance of light rain. Business was steady, and uneventful. The fail-party began when two middle-aged gentlemen rolled up on road bikes – the second guy pedalling all sortsa funny. First fella asks if I can help his buddy out with a cleat issue – cause he’s ‘tired of pedalling on his toes’. I think nothing of it, and ask him to hand me his shoes, so I can get a look at the problem.
“He does so, and, as mentioned in the post, I flipped them over and just stared, seemingly for ever. I was wearing a bucket hat and, as I talked with the guys, I was peering out from under the brim, studying their faces, to see if they were messing with me, since I was having a really hard time believing the cleat placement was naively intentional. There was nothing about their facial expressions, body language or vocal tones that indicated it was all a joke.
“The fella that had been wearing the shoes/cleats like that – for God knows how long asked me if there was any way I could mount the road cleats in the location of the mountain bike ones. I said no, not on the spot and, if there are adapters out there somewhere, we didn’t have any on hand. The solution was to swap out his road pedals for some cheap mountain bike ones, and when I went back into the shop, to get the pedals – I kid you not, my hands were shaking! – I, excitedly, ran around and showed the shoes to all my coworkers. Jaws were straight droppin’, left and right!
“At this point, it probably sounds somewhat sad that I’d get so excited over some silly cleats – but hey, you gotta get your thrills, when and where available, and this was basically bike-fail-manna-from-heaven!
“One cleat was mounted to the front holes of its backing plate, the other to the rear, and neither was even remotely straight – to the point where I don’t see how they really could have worked at all properly. There are a few other kinda quirky details to the story but that’s the important stuff.
“Hopefully that helps dispel the naysayers’ assumption that that bonkers cleat arrangement was a fishing prank! I could honestly give a crap about likes. At the end of the day, I/we here at Trench Tails are just looking for a nice, virtual group hug. It can be cold and dark, here in the trenches…”
Maybe that allays your doubts, maybe it doesn’t…I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did when that literary masterpiece dropped into the DMs…
ITV's cheery Tour of Britain ads
If you’d have bought all the adverts on ITV4, you’d now have…
➡️ Booked a funeral or cremation plan.
➡️ Booked an adults only holiday.
➡️ Given £2-£5 a month for donkeys/cats/other causes.
➡️ Released home equity.
➡️ Gambled away £££.I can’t take it much more!
— Phil Jones (@roadphil) September 8, 2021
I think they might be saying something about the sort of people who like cycling…
I am going to watch the Tour of Britain on Friday in Cumbria, I am looking forward to it but I am concerned that as I am stood on the roadside something will be missing, so every 10 minutes can you send me a reminder to organise a funeral plan and some photos of abused donkeys.
— Simon (@broom_wagon) September 8, 2021
Tour of Britain stage six: Cav's in the break...and he's angry
STAGE 6 @TourofBritain
Carlisle ➡️ Gateshead 📍
198km 🛣
19°C / 66°F 🌡🌧
Three cat 1 climbs 🏔🏔🏔Howay man, we’re headed for the north-east of England. More rain expected along the route, and some big climbs in the middle of the stage.#TourOfBritain | @TourofBritain pic.twitter.com/EQuhnql8aM
— Rally Cycling (@Rally_Cycling) September 10, 2021
Lovely to see Cav screaming at motorbike riders out on the course this lunchtime…the Manx Missile had a momentary aside with the TV camera to tell viewers at home how the moto’s slipstream can impact the racing after the breakaway split and he was forced to chase back on…
Cav’s up the road with Deceuninck-Quick-Step teammate Tim ‘The Tractor’ Declercq, Jumbo-Visma’s George Bennett and a few others. Interestingly, four of the seven escapees have finished in the top five of a sprint stage this week. Let’s see how they fair in the ‘high mountains’ of the Pennines…
Plans for new cycling and walking cafe in Suffolk scuppered by traffic safety fears
Plans to create a new cafe marketed at cyclists, runners and walkers have been withdrawn due to objections over traffic. The cafe was to be built as part of the conversion of former farm buildings at Foxhall Hall, plans which included an orthodontic centre and conference room available for hire by local groups and businesses.
However, Foxhall Parish Council objected to the plan, saying: “We believe that Hall Road is unsuitable for the additional regular traffic that this development will generate. This is a remote location which will be principally accessed by motor vehicles along a single-track road.
The Ipswich Star reports a new application has been submitted with scaled down use of the buildings. The primary use as an orthodontics centre remains, but the cafe has been removed from the plans.
Tour of Britain farmyard bingo continues
Attack! The pace isn’t just relentless in the peloton this morning… 🐄 🐄 🐄
📺 Watch stage six live on ITV4#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/7kToQBxmTC
— AJ Bell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 10, 2021
We’ve had sheep and cows aplenty…now you can tick horse off your farmyard bingo cards…it makes for less stressful playing than anti-cyclist bingo…
“well damn what’s going on here” #tourofbritain pic.twitter.com/bqgWHtLAET
— Robyn (@robynjournalist) September 10, 2021
what3words helped emergency services find pro mountain biker Gee Atherton after remote Snowdonia crash
Pro mountain biker Gee Atherton was filming in remote Snowdonia for his YouTube channel, hence the quality of the shots, when he suffered the biggest crash of his career. Emergency services and the Welsh Air Ambulance Service used the global addressing technology what3words to locate him.
The tech splits the world into a grid of three-metre squares and gives each square a unique three word address – for example the public car park at the National Trust Powys Castle and Garden in Wales is limits.pads.rust. The service helps emergency services locate casualties, particularly in remote or heavily forested areas, far off the beaten track.
Pedal Me gets the beers in
Shame about all that traffic due to those cycle lanes being in the way. Guess we should’ve used a van 🤷♀️#cargobikedelivery @kegstarkegsuk pic.twitter.com/81vrPYYd3O
— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) September 10, 2021
Vintage Cav...furious Manx Missile rages at Tour of Britain motorbike rider
Cav getting feisty!
Mark Cavendish “politely” informs the camera bike that he should stop giving a tow to Mark Donovan.
The breakaway had worked hard to distance the rider who sat 9th on GC at the Tour of Britain, as his presence induced a chase from behind. pic.twitter.com/C9K74U76j2— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) September 10, 2021
Here’s the vid of Cav’s rant we referenced earlier…
The Deceuninck-Quick-Step sprinter was in unfamiliar territory today, up the road in the breakaway on stage six of the Tour of Britain. Mark Donovan’s presence in the break meant the escape was never likely to succeed due to his threatening position on GC. So, when the break attacked the DSM rider in attempt to get rid of him, and Donovan received some timely help in the slipstream of one of the race motorbikes – Cav lost it…
Calling the motorbike up for a word…the 34-time Tour de France stage winner screamed, “You’re helping them! What’s wrong with you?”
Before taking a moment to talk down the camera…”For all you people at home, these motorbikes have a bearing on the race. The guys are sat on them.” It was at this moment, perhaps wisely, the TV director cut back to the peloton.
It seems part of the Cav brand to occasionally get caught having a pop…his 2016 rant at a Tour de France cameraman shadowing him while he dropped out the peloton for a slash remains undefeated…”I went for a piss”…followed by an oh too familiar gesture. 10/10.
Wout van Aert wins his third stage of this year's Tour of Britain
🏆 @WoutvanAert wins stage six of the @AJBell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 outside the Angel of the North in Gateshead!#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/EVr1sFNCwH
— AJ Bell Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) September 10, 2021
Once Cav was finished bollocking the motorbike rider, the break traversed the Pennines – but was caught before the run into Gateshead. A big attack from Wout van Aert took the strongest riders to the head of proceedings: Julian Alaphilippe, Ethan Hayter, Michael Woods and Dan Martin amongst them.
Ultimately none of the group could make a gap last longer than a couple of minutes and it came down to a reduced bunch sprint. Van Aert was clearly the strongest, muscling his way past race leader Hayter in the final couple of hundred metres. Alaphilippe took third. The Belgian has cut his deficit to just two seconds ahead of the final couple of stages this weekend.
Tomorrow should be a sprint in Edinburgh. Sunday, a rolling run to Aberdeen. What may complicate things is the early climb of Cairn O’Mount and its 3.3km at 9.4 per cent. Will anyone try launching an ambush?
Toronto cyclists and walkers fed up with dodging horse poo...
Almost slipped to my death on the forty metric tons of shit the police horses left in the Dundas bike lane. Who do I call about that, toronto cops?
— Laura Fisher (@termitetree) August 30, 2021
We’re no strangers to crap cycle lanes here at road.cc…Mike brought this amusing BlogTo piece of Friday news to our attention. Toronto Police’s horses have been defecating in bike lanes and parks…pissing off/shitting on (choose your toilet-related word play) locals.
Photos of grassy areas covered in the stuff have emerged online, prompting some to call for the police to clean up after themselves. Disgruntled residents said the problem isn’t just in the parks…and has spread to bike lanes and pavements, causing cyclists and motorists to spend their time dodging dung.
It should be mandatory for mounted cops to clean up after their horses. Get this (literal) shit out of the bike lanes #Toronto
— Joey (@8FloorsAbove) April 14, 2021
10 September 2021, 07:45
10 September 2021, 07:45
10 September 2021, 07:45
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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.
48 thoughts on “Furious Mark Cavendish berates Tour of Britain motorbike rider; Toronto’s horse poo bike lane problem; Was the double cleat horror set-up was real?; ITV’s cheery ads; NYC cops remove “illegally” locked bikes; Pedal Me’s round + more on the live blog”
The pic of the NYC van
The pic of the NYC van obstructing the pavement reminds me of the Avon & Soms police van that I reported for obstructing the pavement, blocking the cycle lane and parking on double yellows. I did ring the non-emergency line first, but gave up after fifteen minutes.
I sent it to the local press which had an article on it, and of course, I was roundly condemned by the petrolheads.
nicmason incoming to defend
nicmason incoming to defend the hard-pressed police in 3… 2… 1… 😉
brooksby wrote:
Now now. We know that any criticism of police conduct in specific and defined situations has to be rooted in institutional anti-police prejudice – otherwise why would you criticise?
Parking on the pavement of my
Parking on the pavement of my local high street is completely normalised. It’s diagonal parking and somebody posted a picture of a large SUV that had one wheel on the pavement. The comments were typically that if they didn’t do that their back end would be stuck out. Somebody even said that their vehicle was so large that if they didn’t do that they would have to parallel park and that would take up more parking spaces. There was no suggestion that people should drive smaller cars, find a parking space they could fit into, that if you drive a vehicle that large then you should definitely parallel park or even god forbid walk or cycle (it’s a small market town not much more than a mile diameter).
The trouble is that for many (gammons) this is the status quo. Change is not wanted or appreciated and they have no concept that as we come out of a global pandemic and the head towards an actual extinction level event we have to find new normals.
Indeed, that that choose to
Indeed, that that choose to use oversize vehicles should clearly not have to be inconvenienced by the consequences of that decision. Others should be inconvenienced instead.
Re: Commonweath Games
Re: Commonweath Games
They are building a new aquacentre but the campaign to get a velodrome built didn’t work. Personally I would have had it at Derby rather then London to keep it in the Midlands.
Still I’ve volunteered and hoping for placement at Cannock for the MB and/or Sutton Park for the Tri.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
Is it quicker to get from Birmingham to London or Birmingham to Derby by Public Transport? I suspect Manchester would also be valid.
Birmingham to Derby by Train.
Birmingham to Derby by Train. 40 minutes or so and the Velo is a 5-10 minute walk from the station.
Birmingham to Manchester by Train. 2 Hours and a 17 minute minumum travel by tram,
Birmingham to Lea Valley. 70-90 minute train journey to london and 30-50 mins of travel across London.
Derby Velo has less capacity as it is a multisport venue with temprorary capacity provided with putting seats in the centre but at least it would have kept it in the Midlands.
I still have no idea how that
I still have no idea how that person managed to mount those SPD SL cleats….
Guessing the shoes might have
Guessing the shoes might have had replaceable rubber grip sections on the toe, attached with a suitable thread ?
MTB/CX shoes often have a
MTB/CX shoes often have a couple of football boot studs on the toes, for better grip running up steep muddy slopes.
Example of how seriously
Example of how seriously drivers are treated by the courts, taken from the Sun (sorry!)
The SUN ??!!
The SUN ??!!
“The car is used sparingly for socialising and for shopping”
Get a taxi instead of having a car. Must be £700 to have a car before driving any miles so that would buy quite a few fares plus no doubt there are free bus fares.
hirsute wrote:
One of my elderly relatives got rid of her car, and I was worried that she would become isolated.
As she pointed out to me the start-up costs for a car were more than it would cost her in taxis per year (for the amount she uses her car – y’know, sparingly…), and she didn’t have to worry about driving, or maintaining a vehicle.
And as you say, she also uses the bus
Just had the MOT and a
Just had the MOT and a colleague asked how many miles we had done. When I checked it was about 4200 and 4500 for the last 2.
It’s near the point where having a car isn’t worth it. The benefits of carrying bikes and kayaks plus any youth work (risk assessments require someone to have a car) just about outweigh the costs.
4200/4500 in the last two
4200/4500 in the last two years respectively or do you mean only 300 ?
I think in each of the last 3 years I’ve cycled more miles annually than I’ve driven, and I really dont cycle lots of miles compared to most.
4200 last year, 4500 year
4200 last year, 4500 year before.
Going to try out a trailer now for the weekly shop !
hirsute wrote:
The Grauniad is my main news go-to site. But I look at the Sun and Metro as well as the various local news sites and the Slate (for US stuff).
I find most of the content on the Sun and Metro utterly detestable, but I think it’s important to try and read stuff that’s outside my bubble <shrug>.
As long as you don’t read the
As long as you don’t read the Mail !
hirsute wrote:
I have some standards! Although I don’t actually read the Standard 😉
I never admit to reading the
I never admit to reading the Guardian; don’t want people thinking I’m a raving lefty..
Yep.. It’s a common sight;
Yep.. it’s a common sight; someone clearly feeble from old age and/or infirmity, driving slowly to the shops and back, cops turning a blind eye, until one day, they accidentally hit the juice pedal instead of the brakes and launch through the scenery, whether that’s people, building or another vehicle.
brooksby wrote:
Jesus H, how fast the fack was she going to do that??? The whole thing screams that she was going ridiculously fast, was not paying attention, did not stop to assist the person that she hit – which she must have known was likely to be seriously injured.
Unblemished record???
What, cos the rozzers had refused to action the numerous NMOTD vids that had been sent them????
Captain Badger wrote:
Did she pull away like Lewis Hamilton in order to follow the ambulance on blue lights?
Strikes me that giant copy
Strikes me that giant copy and paste might just stretch the definition of “fair dealing” a bit far!
I understand people’s complaints about the sentence, but it’s important to note that for many old people their car is their only means of independence, and taking it away would isolate them and make them lonely, potentially condemning them to an early grave.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
If you extended the same empathy to the whole of society that you show for any car driver accused of virtually any offence, you would be a lovely person, you really would. As it is…
Failing to stop at the scene of an accident is an incredibly serious offence and can (and has) cost lives due to the perpetrator failing to summon medical assistance in a timely manner. This woman not only did that (which could be attributable to panic) but failed to own up to what she had done until she was caught by CCTV. Leaving the scene of an accident ought to be a minimum year’s ban no matter what the hardship defence. Sure, the situation of older people could be taken into account as mitigation in less serious cases, e.g., if she had four cases of being caught 5 mph over the speed limit I wouldn’t complain if mitigation was considered, but not in this case. Would you argue for her being able to keep her licence if she had been drink-driving? Well leaving the scene of an accident without summoning assistance is just as bad as that.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Worse, because here there is an actual victim who needs help, whereas many people get away with drunk driving daily.
Indeed – and though I’m not
Indeed – and though I’m not suggesting it was a factor in this particular case (although it could’ve been) the lower penalties for driving away from the scene of an accident have been used by drink drivers to get away with their offence, in some cases (this happened with someone who nearly killed a cousin of mine) driving home then reporting themselves to the police, saying that they’ve had several large drinks once they got home because they were so shocked. I believe in some jurisdictions in America if you leave the scene of an accident you are given exactly the same penalty as you would receive for drink-driving (on top of any other penalty) on the basis that you have, de facto, refused to take an alcohol test by driving away.
How about:
How about:
…
Nope – I tried to edit it down for ‘fair use’ but if you strip it down it doesn’t actually make any sense. I suspect that the copywriters at the Sun already try and simplify stuff down for people who are not used to doing ‘the long read’…
Nigel Garrage wrote:
I’m only smiling at this because it’s you writing – after all this is exactly what lots of people think (especially juries / judges…). No doubt if you live in Caithness there’s a chance it could be inconvenient. However for the vast (suburban) majority of us it is not the case now and we can easily improve people’s independence going forward. I call fallacies 5 and possibly 6:
https://cyclingfallacies.com/en/5/elderly-people-cant-cycle
https://cyclingfallacies.com/en/6/people-with-physical-disabilities-can%E2%80%99t-cycle
What could things be like?
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/safe-cycling-for-8-to-80-year-olds/
Ooh go on, do quibble about the hills, the weather, the cheese…
Some graphs? (apologies – this is from a decade ago but I suspect the numbers have gone up rather than down):
https://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/02/who-cycles-in-netherlands.html
Maybe you really do need your own mechanical assistance? Try a microcar:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ly7JjqEb0
https://expatinfoholland.nl/help-guides/transport-mobility/dutch-mini-micro-moped-cars/
Nigel Garrage wrote:
so we can’t stop people who work from driving dangerously as it would impact their livelihood, but we can’t stop retiured people from driving dangerously as it might leave them isolated.
Cost of using a car ‘sparingly’ is likely higher than taxis as and when required.
Also I note that while she had an unblemished record, she has clear form here for hit and run, so we do not know whether or not she had done this sort of thing before and simply not been caught.
wycombewheeler wrote:
…
Also I note that while she had an unblemished record, she has clear form here for hit and run, so we do not know whether or not she had done this sort of thing before and simply not been caught.— Nigel Garrage
This for literally EVERY case where a solicitor/judge gives some bullshit about a driver in a serious incident who simply hasn’t been caught before by our near non existent traffic police…
EddyBerckx wrote:
SSSSSHHH…… you’ll wake wtjs……
He never sleeps where there
He never sleeps where there are police failings to chronicle!
Anyone interested can go to the ‘what the police are REALLY doing’ to see the latest dodge Lancashire Constabulary has stooped to in the hope of sabotaging its own prosecution- the demand for a video WITHOUT the GPS data (that video doesn’t exist but I’m going to send them a version with the left side chopped off, for a laugh) because if I can’t provide it the prosecution ‘may have to be abandoned’. I think LC is running scared now- resorting to pathetic foolishness like this to cover up cover ups
More problematically, is that
More problematically, is that given her insurance premium is likely to sore she will probably only be able to maintain a car if she has a certain level of income. So the impact of her actions will depend more on her income not the decision of the court.
IanMK wrote:
That would be really irritating.
TheBillder wrote:
I’d certainly be shaking my head.
I might even tut couple of times
I think it is also important
I think it is also important to note that a lifetime of disability is quite a price to inflict on a child.
As others have said, once you get to the point of only using the car for occasional local trips and shopping it is likely cheaper to use taxis or public transport, more sociable to have a natter with the taxi driver or other bus passengers and far safer for everyone.
There are a lot of people
There are a lot of people injured on the roads who dont die and dont have “life changing injuries” but are still permanently damaged and can suffer the consequences for the rest of their lives.
When I was 19 I was knocked off my motorbikre by a careless driver and suffered compound fractures of the lower leg. 4 operations, 11 months on crutches before I could walk unaided. 3 years before I could drive a car. Im now 62 and pretty fit and healthy. But my leg never fully recovered; I now have arthritis in that leg which limits walking due to pain. Luckily I can cycle for miles and miles completely pain free.
What I’m saying is even relatively minor injuries can have life changing effects and should not be ignored. A scar is a permanment reminder of what someone did to you.
I found the comments of the
I found the comments of the guy who saw the double-cleat nightmare a bit sniffy and cyclist-snobbish. Sure, it’s a ridiculous set-up but surely gently pointing out the error rather than running off to colleagues, desperate to laugh at the expense of the shoes owner would be a better, kinder response and would encourage the shoes owner to keep riding.
MattieKempy wrote:
I’m in agreement
I’m more than happy to have a snigger at this kind of thing, but I’m also a little conflicted about the fact that someone is being ridiculed and shamed. They cocked up, so what? It’s not as if they threatened anyone with 40t of steel. They had a go at a bit of DIY, and learned how not to do it. They’ll know next time, and no harm done.
Ned Boutling and David Millar
Ned Boutling and David Millar did a bit on a similar theme on their pod recently – saying cycling twitter could be a bit vicious on people making innocent mistakes. I tend to agree – though at least in this case the person hasn’t been identified in any way.
If you watched the Tour of
If you watched the Tour of Britain on German Eurosport today you will now know where to get help for a willy that only flops and placed a few bets.
The drooping battering ram metaphor had one of my kids asking questions.
https://singletrackworld.com
https://singletrackworld.com/2021/09/lego-meets-mtb-in-this-stop-motion-video/
It’s a beauty and I’ve finally figured out how to copy and paste web addresses using the tablet. Pictures next…
Can any of them land a front
Can any of them land a front flip though?
Comments were closed on this
Comments were closed on this story, and rightly so, but here is an update.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/10/ex-police-officer-jailed-for-assaults-on-two-people-while-on-duty
I’m guessing he will not enjoy his three months on the nonce wing.
Having been unfortunate
Having been unfortunate enough to have recently been in hospital for an operation, the past month has seen me lying on the sofa watching wall to wall cycling on Eurosport every day. Great, especially as a lot of the cycling has been ad free.
Fast forward to this week and watching the tour of Britain on ITV4. Every ten mins there has been an ad break, all the same ads for funerals, cremations, life insurance every single ad break. They must think that all people watching daytime telly are coffin dodgers just sat there waiting to die. It’s been infuriating, and has really put me off watching it. I’m all for ads, and realise the need for them, but have some different ones!
biker phil wrote:
Or it could be that they’ve bought into the myth that riding a bike is so dangerous, it’s equivalent to a death sentence.