Driver says cyclists should pay ‘road tax’ – then admits to owning electric car; Queen ruins naked bike ride; Sprinter jumps barrier to avoid peloton; Bikes on Film; Local paper trolls Tour of Britain; Cities a result of choices + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Oi, Tim, get out of the road!
Yesterday’s men’s Scheldeprijs race was a bit of an odd one to say the least.
Usually a race for the sprinters – Mark Cavendish is a three-time winner while Marcel Kittel won it five times during the 2010s – the peloton split to pieces in the crosswinds during the opening hour.
The rest of the day resembled the kind of pursuit race you’d normally see at the Tuesday night club league, with 14 riders up front being chased by a 16-strong group which included pre-race favourite Fabio Jakobsen. The gap hovered around a minute for 150km, before the elastic finally snapped during the finishing circuits around Schoten.
#SP22 🇧🇪
WHOOHOO!!!
ALEXANDER KRISTOFF WINS @Scheldeprijs AFTER 7 KM SOLO 🏆 pic.twitter.com/rRPErWVdP2
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) April 6, 2022
Alexander Kristoff then took full advantage of the lack of cohesion in the front group to slip away on the cobbles with seven kilometres to go to take an impressive solo victory, continuing his Intermarché team’s stellar classics campaign and cementing his own status as a serious contender for Paris-Roubaix in ten days’ time.
The win was also something of a collector’s item for the big Norwegian – despite racking up 83 professional victories during his stellar career, including the Tour of Flanders and Milan-San Remo, Scheldeprijs marked the first ever time he’s won a race by crossing the line on his own.
Despite having 83 professional victories to his name, @Kristoff87 has never won a race solo…
Until today#Scheldeprijs pic.twitter.com/kLHLsnqUid
— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) April 6, 2022
My first Solo win in 13 year’s 🙌🏻
🥇 @scheldeprijsofficialWhat a race!
crosswind, rain and full on racing all day 🚴🏻💨
So happy to take the win home for @intermarchewg📸 @photonewsbelgium https://t.co/3l3DmL4Al7
— Alexander Kristoff (@Kristoff87) April 6, 2022
If that all wasn’t odd enough, Tim Merlier – who had just finished ninth after Alpecin-Fenix failed to capitalise on having two of the world’s best sprinters in the winning move – decided to get out of the rain as quickly as possible by riding back down the course towards his team’s bus.
Now we often we see riders heading back across the finish on mountain stages of grand tours, as the stragglers come past them in the opposite direction. We don’t, however, often see it during a flat classic, as a dozen of the peloton’s fastest finishers bolt for the line, spread out across the road.
Tim Merlier practicing for the cross season
pic.twitter.com/VQ3iZOHf6b— Cyclocross Social (@Cyclocrosss) April 6, 2022
Merlier, who later said he wasn’t aware that anyone was still left in the race (to be fair to him, only 30 riders finished, so he wasn’t far wrong), had to quickly take evasive action as Jakobsen, De Lie and the rest barrelled towards him in the sprint for fourteenth.
Fortunately, he was able to throw his bike and then himself over the barriers just in time to prevent a potentially disastrous crash – spawning a few internet memes in the process:
[Record scratch]
Tim Merlier: “Yup, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.” pic.twitter.com/pWXJPHBovW
— Spencer ↙️↙️↙️ (@spencerhaugh) April 6, 2022
Tim Merlier’s mood as he cycled back to his team bus at #Scheldeprijs pic.twitter.com/2ueWHB1Bhr
— Arrière du peloton – Tom (@reardupeloton) April 7, 2022
Yeah I never had any problems going back down the road and having riders still coming in.
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) April 6, 2022
To give Tim his due, those barriers are fairly sizeable these days, no doubt forcing him to use all his cyclocross skills to get over them.
The Belgian sprinter was fined 200 Swiss Francs by the UCI and later apologised for the spot of post-race drama, saying “it was by no means my intention to endanger anyone”.
I’d like to comment on what happened today after the race in Schoten. When I crossed the finish line to ride back to the team parking, I sincerely thought that all the riders had arrived, as I wasn’t stopped and there was only one group behind us in the race.
— Tim Merlier (@MerlierTim) April 6, 2022
It was by no means my intention to endanger anyone, and I would like to apologize if I did
— Tim Merlier (@MerlierTim) April 6, 2022
The weird and wonderful world of cycling, eh?
‘This is leadership’
Remember, Paris wasn’t “always this way.”
It wasn’t even this way in late 2019 when I was there last.
Just a few years ago, Paris was choking in car traffic.
This is new. This is leadership.
Cities are a result of choices.
Video via @Khayat_Fouad pic.twitter.com/ZdNhAm8nlw
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) April 7, 2022
‘Don’t mind me, I’m just out for a spin – oh, is a race going on?’
Oblivious leisure cyclist spotted at the Tour of the Basque Country yesterday…
Loving the bloke bottom centre out for an afternoon ride on his bike with no idea some of the world’s top cyclists are passing below that bridge at the same time to fight it out for the stage win at #Itzulia2022 🤣 pic.twitter.com/dSbjmy242V
— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) April 6, 2022
That cyclist must be one of the few locals who isn’t constantly at the roadside cheering the riders on:
The Basque cycling fans are here! 😍 #Itzulia pic.twitter.com/EbcRqfQ0Ul
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) April 6, 2022
Well, at least they didn’t do a Merlier…
I noticed that as well. For a split second I thought he was at the same level as them and was going to crash into them!
— CHAIRRDRF (@CHAIRRDRF) April 7, 2022
Local paper trolls Tour of Britain
As we say yesterday, the Tour of Britain’s route announcement marks the start of an annual tradition, when needy cycling fans in the UK flock to Twitter to publicly express their disappointment that an eight-day, complicated stage race, with countless different stakeholders, doesn’t venture within walking distance of their house.
> Hill-top finishes to bookend tough 2022 Tour of Britain route
In return, the Santa Clauses behind the Tour of Britain spend the morning of the announcement calmly – and often humorously – explaining the rationale behind the route to the moaning hordes. Saints, the lot of them.
Well, it seems as if the local press has also decided to join in the fun by celebrating this most venerable of cycling festivals.
This morning the Isle of Wight’s County Press published an article about the race, the final stage of which will finish at the Needles Battery.
The story was accompanied by the tweet: ‘Will the Tour of Britain cycle race go past your house?’
Got a lot of time for the local news reporters actively trying to tip @nickbull21 over the edge. 👏
https://t.co/XnNEz5ze5y— Thomas Turner (@_thomasturner) April 7, 2022
Now that is some proper trolling…
Don’t encourage him. We beg! 😂
— Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) April 7, 2022
Annoyingly I’m going to need to walk 45 metres from my house to see it Nick. Sort it out.
— James Toney (@jtoneysbeat) April 7, 2022
Bikes and action films: a match made in Heaven
Now this is what you call a movie chase…
Born on this day, April 7, 1954:
Jackie Chan, martial arts actor & filmmaker, here showing one of the less-celebrated uses of the bicycle: taking on gangsters in Old Hong Kong.
Happy #bicyclebirthday, Jackie!#BOTD #bikesinfilms
From Project A (1983) pic.twitter.com/rhvraT9jZw— Cool Bike Art 🚴 (@CoolBikeArt1) April 7, 2022
Taken from 1983’s action-comedy film Project A, the scene sees Jackie Chan’s Sergeant Dragon Ma Yue Lung attempt to evade a gang of bike-riding gangsters through the tight, busy streets of late-nineteenth-century Hong Kong.
Chan, riding a bike sprayed in the Bianchi colours, shows he’s got some serious tekkers, flicking a dog bowl with his front wheel, taking part in some on-bike jousting, and carrying out some emergency seatpost repairs after a painful-looking mechanical incident.
The video, shared to celebrate the legendary actor, filmmaker and martial artist’s 68th birthday today, has inspired some Twitter users to advocate for more bike chases in action films:
The future is bicycle. We should have more action films with bike chases instead of #thatoldchestnut “the car chase” #hollywood #bicycle #precurser #tomorrow_today #polmtl https://t.co/33PYjMihe6
— Jason Prince (@JasonKPrince) April 7, 2022
On that topic, this Jason Statham-BMX collaboration, from 2008’s Transporter 3, is pretty cool:
And though not quite a chase scene, even Bond rode a bike – barefooted – in 1983’s ‘unofficial’ Never Say Never Again:
Are there any other action films out there featuring bikes or cycling-related chases?
And what existing chase scenes could be dramatically improved by reshooting them with bikes instead of the clichéd old cars?
I’m picturing the Italian Job with Raleighs instead of Mini Coopers…
Let us know in the comments!
Tesco: Every Pedal Helps…
This is incredible. A supermarket magazine where nearly every page is about cycling. I’m hoping for the next Tesco magazine to have an in-depth feature on Hugh Carthy. Preferably alongside a recipe for Lancashire hotpot. https://t.co/GzviRpwT4Y
— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) April 6, 2022
Speaking of cycling supermarkets, the giant Lidl banana made a welcome return at Scheldeprijs yesterday:
Inflatable banana because nothing says Lidl quite like bananas#SPwomen pic.twitter.com/Q5VVHLb1sU
— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) April 6, 2022
More Merlier memes
Rolling up to work on Monday and opening your inbox.
pic.twitter.com/Xpa1oSQv1L— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) April 7, 2022
Cruising down the high street and seeing your ex walking towards you. 😂 https://t.co/tvyfUro7Tv
— Katherine L Bates OLY (@KatherineLBates) April 7, 2022
When a letter arrives from student finance and you choose not to read it https://t.co/wfYk7lrLa3
— Dan Deakins (@DanDeakins) April 7, 2022
Driver says cyclists should pay ‘road tax’ – then admits to owning an electric car
In the ‘why don’t cyclists pay road tax’ genre of anti-bike online trolling, this one surely must go down as a classic own goal.
Responding to a tweet – from GB News of all places – about the Land Rover driver who was fined £1,000 for causing a cyclist to fall off their bike, motorist Jonathan came up with this wholly unique and not-at-all-tired and misinformed critique of people who ride bikes:
Until cyclist pay road tax, unsurfaced and ride like they are not the only things on the road, then they are not getting any sympathy from anyone.
— Jonathan Hodgson (@Jonathan1922) April 5, 2022
This morning, a few cyclists gathered on Twitter to educate the motorist about the realities of ‘road tax’:
Roads are funded by vat, which cyclists pay. Road tax does not exist.
— Rory O’Sullivan (@Rorkimaru) April 7, 2022
Cars need insurance due to the capacity for massive damage.
Almost all people who cycle get free 3rd party insurance cover due to the low risk
VED is emissions based
Electric cars are VED free, and pay no fuel duty – do drivers of those get no sympathy either?— TBSteve (@TBStevesPix) April 7, 2022
Jonathan is forced by law to pay a massive amount of insurance for his 4×4 because he is a huge risk to other people and property. I get free cycle insurance with my LCC membership because I’m very low risk, and I’m not required to have that by law.
— CyclingMikey “Who made him Batman?” (@MikeyCycling) April 7, 2022
Cycling Mikey’s tweet about 4x4s appeared to irk Jonathan, who quickly – and perhaps naively given the inevitable response – attempted to dispel such a notion, but instead placed his foot neatly in his mouth:
I have an electric car
— Jonathan Hodgson (@Jonathan1922) April 7, 2022
Cue the fits of hysterics erupting throughout Cycling Twitter:
So you do not pay VED or fuel duty?
By your own measure you are not entitled to any sympathy.— TBSteve (@TBStevesPix) April 7, 2022
It’s obvious that Jonathan has stuck his foot straight into his mouth. Absolutely hilarious 😂
— Pete K (@K57532896K) April 7, 2022
Absolutely no sympathy………….for yourself. pic.twitter.com/XzFQGsGmPM
— I liked your bike (@ILikedYourBike) April 7, 2022
Get off the road you tax dodger…
— Chris Gerhard 🇪🇺 (@chrisgerhard) April 7, 2022
— Owdrider (@owdrider) April 7, 2022
“Cyclists should pay road tax” pic.twitter.com/ynSVQnVvaG
— Beatnik69 (@beatnik69) April 7, 2022
‘Bloody cyclists, always holding me up, riding in the middle of the road like they own it…’ - Itzulia edition
every car when they get “held up” by a cyclist pic.twitter.com/FZtOCmtOvN
— Robyn (@robynjournalist) April 7, 2022
Chris Froome: ‘I’m 100 percent fit for the first time since crash’
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has said that he is fully fit for the first time since his horrific crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2019.
Froome has struggled for form and fitness since the crash almost three years ago and only raced for the first time this season at the Coppi e Bartali in late March after an interrupted winter.
However, the 36-year-old Israel-Premier Tech rider is confident that most of his health problems are now behind him.
“Obviously I was a bit delayed with the start to the season due to the setbacks that I had in December and January but I’ve now had solid two and a half months to set up a good base,” he said this week.
“Now, after Coppi e Bartali it’s time for me to introduce more intensity and more race-specific work on the bike. That’ll take me towards my next goal, which will probably be the Tour of the Alps in a couple of weeks’ time.
“I’ve no issues now. No niggles, no pains, and nothing holding me back. I’ve got the green light so I just need to get the work in. I’m on that path now and that’s what I’m used to doing. The training, the sacrifice, that’s the part of the sport that I enjoy. I’m just going to get stuck into it.
“This is the first time since the big crash that everything is at 100 percent. There’s no reason why I should be held back. It’s purely about getting the racing and the training in and trying to get back up to speed again.”
Froome plans to race the Tour of Romandie, a race he won in 2013 and 2014, after the Tour of the Alps, before another tilt at the Tour de France in the summer. But he insists he’s approaching this season one race at a time.
“I don’t know my programme yet and we’re taking it race by race at the moment. So much depends on where I get to in the next month or so and if it all goes to plan.
“I think that it won’t help to put expectations out there right now when I don’t know where I’m going to get to in the next couple of months. It really could go either way. I’d love to be back to my old self but it’s going to take a lot of work to get there. I’ve now got the green light to do that work. I’m optimistic and hope that I get there.”
“We’ll wish the Queen well from afar”: Start of naked bike ride to be moved – because of pesky Jubilee celebrations
The Queen and a bunch of nude cyclists – not your everyday combination, I’ll grant you that.
But the Queen’s upcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations have become a thorn in the side of the organisers of the London leg of the World Naked Bike Ride, an annual event where hundreds of cyclists head off for a nice group spin in the buff to address issues such as road safety, oil dependency, climate change, and body positivity.
First held in Seattle in 2003, with the debut edition in London taking place the following year, the World Naked Bike Ride is now held in more than 120 cities around the world. Despite Covid restrictions last year (2020’s event was held virtually), over 1,421 riders bared all on their bikes through the country’s capital.
The 2022 event is scheduled to take place in its usual slot on the second Saturday in June – which has led to it clashing it with a little old bash being organised for one of the inhabitants of Buckingham Palace.
Despite the Queen’s Jubilee taking place the week before, the organisers of the naked bike ride were informed that Hyde Park, along with other areas in the vicinity of the palace, will be closed the following weekend to accommodate the dismantling of infrastructure.
The anticipated closure of Hyde Park, Green Park, Constitution Hill and the Mall means that the ride won’t be able to start or finish in its usual spot, with changes also needing to be made to the route.
Other starts are expected to remain as planned, with feeder locations at Clapham Junction, Croydon, Deptford, Kew Bridge, Regents Park, Tower Hill, and Victoria Park, and an accessible option remaining feasible.
Organiser Dave said in a statement: “Hyde Park is always the biggest and most popular start. It’s where the ride started from in 2004 and we have always welcomed the support of the Royal Parks in facilitating this well-behaved, spectacular protest ride.
“The participants also love the area and sing Happy Birthday to the Queen as they ride down the Mall. It’s a sad loss for us this year but we’ll wish the Queen well from afar and be back next year.”
Surely Liz could join in?
Maybe best not to ask Andrew…
“You were only supposed to blow the bloody tyres up”: Bikes and action films
We’ll finish off today with a round-up of some of your favourite cycling action scenes, inspired by what Cocovelo described in the comments as Jackie Chan’s “relatively peaceful and pleasant” ride through Hong Kong in Project A – at least compared to the typical British morning commute.
I think Andy got too invested in working out how the Italian Job could have worked if they had used Raleighs instead of Minis:
Given a reasonable per-bike load of 25 kg of gold, that’s only about 800 troy ounces or about £1.2M at today’s prices. Probably not worth the trouble.
Thanks for that incredibly useful information there…
Though chrisonatrike at least thought there was some promise in my idea, saying “the scene at the end with the cargo bike hanging over the cliff was a classic!”
There were some great shouts when it came to your favourite bike-related action sequences, starting with 2012’s silly but fun bike messenger thriller Premium Rush (the posters for which included the Lance Armstrong-esque demand “Ride like Hell” – it’s no “Ride like you stole it Floyd”, but it’s decent). The film featured Scottish trials rider Danny MacAskill as a stunt rider:
Brooksby pointed out that there’s also a very similar British film called Alleycats, starring yer woman from Poldark:
Last on the bike messenger dramas is 1986’s Quicksilver – there had to be a Kevin Bacon film in here somewhere, didn’t there?
Which features a great early car versus bike race sequence…
… and some funky skills:
The opening ‘catch-the-fox’ scene of the Tomb Raider reboot is also super, and includes Lara Croft – who knew she could ride a bike like that – almost getting doored by a Range Rover driver and then being struck by a police car (just to make the whole thing relatable):
Finally, in Stormbreaker Alex Rider chases a white van man through London to a scrapyard:
One of the YouTube commenters, however, had some tips for young Alex:
And if action movies aren’t your thing, here’s a handy guide to some of the best other kinds of cycling films currently available on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and on DVD if you’re feeling nostalgic.
Enjoy! I’m away off to watch Breaking Away. Now that’s a proper film…
7 April 2022, 08:43
7 April 2022, 08:43
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Latest Comments
@Blackthorne83 Have you an inside track or is this just supposition? He's not young and perhaps he is indeed an ar$e. Maybe he's a racist, maybe he isn't. I'm sure it will all come out. If you stick a national jersey on, there is an inevitable responsibility to think more carefully how you speak and behave. Don't get yourself into a position of risk to start with.
@MatzeLoCal Spot on. No request should be necessary. The testers, upon hearing the circumstances, should have 1. Paid respects 2. Rescheduled
Fantastic result, and a great write up, thank you
@matthewn5 I'm talking about carbon crank AXLES, not spiders. SRAM axles are aluminum (29 or 30mm versions) or steel (24/22mm GXP); Campag are steel (most models) or titanium (Super Record). Are there any other brands using carbon axles?
@ROOTminus1 Lake wide fit - CX239 would probably be ok for you. I wear the normal width and they are roomy, the wide ones accommodate lardy feet. And who wears road shoes with laces? That's just wrong, 2x boas or stay home.
@chrisonabike Any excuse to repeat my favourite quote from Bertie Wooster, when he took on Spode (Lord Sidcup) who had started a fascist movement called the Blackshorts: "The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you're someone. You hear them shouting "Heil, Spode!" and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. That is where you make your bloomer. What the Voice of the People is saying is: "Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?”
@mdavidford more cheap lists-icles.
Please spear us the jousting puns - it's just throwing down a gauntlet for some greaves abuse of the comments section, and there's no excuse for tilting things in that direction.
@eburtthebike some cyclists already wear black shorts, we really don't want the Blackshorts joining in...
@theslowcyclistxx Carbon wheels correctly built for their intended purpose can take a tremendous amount of punishment, as can be seen from downhill mountain biking where carbon wheels survive massive jumps, high speed crashing over rock gardens et cetera et cetera. If this wheelset is not designed for that that's fine but then it should not be falsely marketed as being as strong as XC MTB wheels when clearly it isn't.
32 thoughts on “Driver says cyclists should pay ‘road tax’ – then admits to owning electric car; Queen ruins naked bike ride; Sprinter jumps barrier to avoid peloton; Bikes on Film; Local paper trolls Tour of Britain; Cities a result of choices + more on the live blog”
The usual ‘cyclists don’t pay
The usual ‘cyclists don’t pay road tax’ on twitter only someone dug into the complainers tweets and he previously stated he owns an electric car !
If any one needed evidence
If any one needed evidence that this language should be classed as hate speech rather than ignorance this would be it.
I imagine “Jonathan” would
I imagine “Jonathan” would say something like his wife pays road tax, or he pays VAT on the electricity, or some other sh!t… I also imagine that he had never even considered it, until that moment
Probably !
Probably !
That Bloody Cyclist posted
“Did you take advantage of the electric vehicle grant from the Government? Then cyclists subsidised your vehicle, along with the rest of the tax paying public and corporate entities.”
hirsute wrote:
Quote:
How about the appropriately named Alex Rider, in Stormbreaker?
Can’t believe no-one’s
Can’t believe no-one’s mentioned these ones:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct6O2nSOMlI
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085204/
OK so I might be stretching the definition of “action film” a bit..
https://www.youtube.com/watch
Beginning of the remake of
Beginning of the remake of Tomb Raider, IIRC. Lara Croft plays fox in a game of fox-and-hounds, until she gets doored by a police car.
Is it time for road.cc to
Is it time for road.cc to stop wanging on about people wanging on about the Tour of Britain not going past their houses?
No? Ok I’ll stop wanging on then.
Never!
Never!
Am I too late to complain
Am I too late to complain that the race is nowhere near Altrincham this year?. I mean, c’mon, it’s always passed through the local area.
Since the Tour de France
Since the Tour de France seems to start in random non-France countries, I’d like to complain that the Tour of Britain appears to go nowhere near my house in central Illinois, USA. Too bad, as we have some lovely, fast gravel here even if there aren’t a lot of truly big climbs.
andystow wrote:
Can’t the US just do what it normally does and start a world series – visiting most states and possibly Canada?
Ooooooh! Handbags!
Ooooooh! Handbags!
Not exactly an action
Not exactly an action sequence per se but there’s a nice scene in Good Morning Vietnam where Robin Williams and his sidekick (Forest Whitaker?) grab bicycles and set off in pursuit of a young lady who had caught Williams’ eye. Poor Williams was of course a bicycle addict himself, close friend of a certain Texan and owner of over 100 race bikes.
You mean youve not seen
You mean youve not seen Premium Rush https://youtu.be/Pn6ie1zCkZU
Premium Rush is a definite
Premium Rush is a definite beer-and-Pringles film 😀
Or there’s a similar British film, Alleycats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjDwBd51weM
stonojnr wrote:
Raise you Quicksilver (relevant now for the gig economy): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091814/
Jackie Chan’s lovely ride
Jackie Chan’s lovely ride through Hong Kong actually looks relatively peaceful and pleasant compared to my morning commute
That Jackie Chan clip is
That Jackie Chan clip is brilliant. The choreography of it, no CGI, is just great
If they used Raleighs for The
If they used Raleighs for The Italian Job instead of Minis, given a reasonable per-bike load of 25 kg of gold, that’s only about 800 troy ounces or about £1.2M at today’s prices. Probably not worth the trouble.
andystow wrote:
But the scene at the end with the cargo bike hanging over the cliff was a classic!
“You were only supposed to
“You were only supposed to blow the bloody tyres up.”
When I picture a GB News
When I picture a GB News viewer, it looks remarkably like Jonathan Hodgson.
Though he raises a good point about paying road tax for unsurfaced roads. I think.
I’m guessing he meant insured
I’m guessing he meant insured but spelt it so badly auto-correct decided he meant unsurfaced.
If you are going to watch
If you are going to watch Breaking Away, look out for the bit where he hits 60mph chasing the lorry – in the little chain ring.
IanMSpencer wrote:
Spin to win!
There was a Danish thing in
There was a Danish thing in the skandinoir slot on bbc4, that featured our hero chasing the bad guys, in possibly an overpowered German saloon, on a bikefeits, with child seats. Wasn’t the hostage thing underground but on a ferry, I think.
Below the surface, series 2.
Regarding the Paris tweet
Regarding the Paris tweet (this is leadership) I live in Paris / London and there are similarities between the two – especially central London where there is some excellent infrastructure. Outer London is still mostly hideous. Paris has got lots of cars though – it’s not quite cycle nirvana yet but it is getting there. In my opinion more so than London.
This is totally anecdotal, and I’ve no evidence to back it up – drivers in Paris seem less aggressive towards cycles than in `London. That makes a big difference. Some London boroughs are doing good stuff – but it’s not contiguous between boroughs. And that seems a shame.
Lukas wrote:
Absolutely, and that goes for much of the rest of France as well. I’m always amazed when I ride in Paris how much courtesy there is towards cyclists, I don’t know if it’s because cycling is more of a national sport but the difference is palpable.
Lukas wrote:
…
Some London boroughs are doing good stuff – but it’s not contiguous between boroughs. And that seems a shame.— LukasAnd comparisons like this allow everyone to see how much better things could be if the political will was there. And that includes smaller scale project in towns and cities across the whole country.