Tom Pidcock unimpressed by Amstel beer… but Pogačar chops the lot; “That’s sportsmanship”: Uno-X come to Conti racer’s aid; “Quite positive” close pass prosecution figures; UK’s most abused bollard; But cyclists; Weekend round-up + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Weekend round-up: Is SRAM planning flax wheels for vibration damping?; Is Tour de Yorkshire coming back?; Richmond Park speed limit proposal criticised + loads more
Here’s what you might have missed on road.cc this weekend:
> REVIEW: Tifosi Scalare Disc Tiagra
> Cyclists blast proposals to introduce 10mph speed limit on Richmond Park hill
> Elisa Longo Borghini’s special Paris-Roubaix Trek Domane
> Cyclist battered with metal bar by knife-wielding masked teenagers in brutal bikejacking
> Win! FIVE sets of Michelin Power Cup TLR pro road tyres + sealant worth £139.98 each must be won!
The award for the most unnecessary alternative description of a saddle sore goes to...
"Quite positive" close pass prosecution figures from Hampshire
Last week we brought you the news that West Midlands Police had prosecuted just one driver from 286 close pass submissions in 2022, a figure that attracted much ridicule and criticism on our Thursday live blog.
Well, road.cc reader Olly got in touch with the figures he received from Hampshire Police regarding Operation SNAP submissions (“with video and confirmed registration number”) in the county…
Of the 1,068 reported, 40 per cent (423) resulted in ‘PENTIP’, the police’s penalty notice platform used to record and process fixed penalty notices, while 38 per cent (403) received a warning letter. In contrast to West Midlands Police’s figures, less than a quarter (23 per cent) resulted in no further action.
But cyclists
UK's most abused bollard
You might have heard BBC’s Panorama is tackling LTNs tonight with an episode on BBC One at eight (half eight in Wales)…
We’ll have more on the initial reaction to the eye-catchingly culture war styled ‘Road Wars: Neighbourhood Traffic Chaos’ title shortly, plus what you can expect from the episode. In the meantime, in preparation the BBC’s homepage now has a promo article asking: ‘Is this the UK’s most abused traffic bollard?’
Yes, this is Howard Street in east Oxford where the bollard has been repeatedly vandalised, run over, bent, set on fire, stolen and replaced since last year, leading the BBC to guess it is “probably the most abused bollard in the UK”…
> Active travel campaigners release footage of anti-LTN vandals setting bollards alight
> Low-traffic neighbourhood ‘human bollards’ step in following repeated vandalism
"That's sportsmanship": Uno-X come to Conti racer's aid
road.cc contributor and AWOL O’Shea racer Charlotte Broughton found herself in one of those familiar mechanical spirals this weekend, when you just can’t seem to work out what’s wrong with your bike… the problem? She was on her own, in a foreign country, without her team and had a race on the horizon…
Anyone know of a good mechanic in Belgium or a kind team service course who could help me with my bike?
Brakes are completely not working so I’m having to pull out a kermesse just before I even start it. Please help, I’m away from home else I’d be able to do it 🥲
— Charlotte Eleanor Broughton (@char_broughton) April 15, 2023
After fixing an issue with her front brake a new issue arose with her rear shifter. A diagnosis of a broken bolt followed… and in the next update finally some good luck…
Update: my bike is fixed thanks to this legend!
A big team helping a rider from a really small Conti team with a technical issue while they are out in another country by themselves, amazing.
I love when people support ALL women and not just their own.
Thanks @UnoXteam 🥹 pic.twitter.com/17eBFfyS2R
— Charlotte Eleanor Broughton (@char_broughton) April 17, 2023
There’s a faith-restoring tale for your Monday lunchtime…
What to expect from BBC Panorama 'Road Wars: Neighbourhood Traffic Chaos'
Tao Geoghegan Hart wins opening stage of Tour of the Alps
Tao Geoghegan Hart has the 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙙 with the finish line in sight – and takes the lead 💪
He catches Hugh Carthy with 150m to go to claim Stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps 🙌@taogeoghegan | @INEOSGrenadiers | @Tourof_TheAlps pic.twitter.com/LfpwsNRaro
— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 17, 2023
Tao’s resurgence continues. After two and a half years without a win since his Giro d’Italia success the 28-year-old from Hackney now has two in 2023… insert something about London buses…
Preston’s Hugh Carthy was third too, Felix Gall the Austrian meat in that particular British sandwich…
Will we see these two on similar form come May?
Telegraph publishes column claiming 'Net Zero is trapping us in the dungeons of state control'
On the subject…
Why have nudges, fines, & physical restrictions curtailing everyday journeys, deliveries, and school runs become so rapidly dominant?
Net zero technocratic impositions across UK. But the Public is fighting back Together
Me in @Telegraph https://t.co/M3hwdXZ1Kj
— Alan D Miller (@alanvibe) April 15, 2023
This is Alan Miller of the Together Declaration, an initially anti-lockdown group which has turned its hand to freedom of speech, ULEZ and 15-minute cities in recent times. Yep, all the greatest hits…
In a nutshell… “One main purpose: to unite people from all walks of life to push back against the rapidly growing infringements on our rights and freedoms.”
Now you know what we’re dealing with, here are the words of Miller in The Telegraph…
“Low Traffic Neighbourhoods have been imposed too often without consultation, curtailing our freedom of movement,” he wrote. “Why, exactly, did Britain decide to allow meddling councils crack down on our freedom of movement in the name of climate change? Overnight, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) sprang up across London like mushrooms, blocking off roads with bollards or large wooden plant holders, and driving some locals round the bend.
“If these areas – where traffic calming measures are used to reduce the number of vehicles on residential streets – had been enthusiastically agreed to by residents, then they would at least be defensible. But all too often they were imposed from above without consultation, rushed through as an emergency measure in response to Covid. Now many of the capital’s main roads are clogged up, and the schemes are spreading across the country as overzealous green ideologues look to follow suit.”
The words not of a fringe group’s website, but published in one of the UK’s largest broadsheet newspapers. It will certainly be interesting to see how BBC’s Panorama deals with views presumably of this camp…
Analysis from May last year showed that nearly a third of low-traffic neighbourhoods have been scrapped while, on the topic of Miller’s complaints, a 2020 government survey showed that 8 in 10 people support measures to reduce motor traffic.
A study from around the same time also suggested that Hackney’s low traffic neighbourhoods had not caused a rise in traffic on nearby main roads. Elsewhere in London, Lambeth Council said car traffic was down by almost two thirds inside one of its LTNs.
> LTNs halve number of road traffic casualties, new study shows
New bikes in the road.cc office
> Five cool bikes we’re testing right now from Orro, Cinelli, Moda, Giant and Frog
Tom Pidcock unimpressed by Amstel beer... but Pogačar chops the lot
‘Give us a pint of t’ proper stuff, not this cat piss’…is almost certainly not what Tom Pidcock said as he placed his glass back on the podium after one tentative sip, after all he doesn’t drink, as far as we’re aware…
A disgrace to the british isles pic.twitter.com/NxTRKyNQiQ
— free agent Nairo fan (@NairoInGreen) April 16, 2023
He wasn’t alone though, Irishman Ben Healy also seemingly not taken by the Heineken-owned beer’s self-professed “perfect balance of taste and refreshment with a unique honey malt aroma”… and we thought bike companies were bad for marketing rubbish…
“Amstel delivers a subtle citrus and herbal hop character with a clean bitter finish”… apparently… not that Tadej had time to taste his, knocking it back like a fresher celebrating getting out of bed.
Anyway, the fans came to Pidcock’s defence… (look away now Heineken N.V.)… just some of the reviews for the race-sponsoring beer suggesting the Ineos man wouldn’t have been the only one to turn his nose up…
“Dog-****”… “**** beer”… “Piss in a glass”… “Not the best beer on the market”… “Like if somebody took all piss tests from the first day of the Tour and bottled them” (perfectly clean piss tests, we should add)…
It wasn’t the only Amstel-related controversy of the day, however, the positioning of the race director’s car (featuring some understated advertising) attracting criticism from many, including EF Education-EasyPost’s Jonathan Vaughters who said it helped race winner Pogačar, the Slovenian himself admitting it was “too close”.
Apparently the halfs were alcohol-free anyway, so fair play to Pidcock for putting it down… unlike this lad at Ironman worlds last year…
We like to drink with Sam…
🍺🍺🍺 #IMWC2022 pic.twitter.com/bHnFgJ8MkB— Triathlon Out Of Context (@TriathlonOOC) October 9, 2022
Swim. Bike. Run. Chug.
17 April 2023, 08:15
17 April 2023, 08:15
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I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
When I was a kid (that was during the previous millenium when phones were connected to a plug in the wall), I rode my bicycle to school, music academy, sport grounds, parties even during the winter. The government didn't have to spend, correct that, didn't have to think of spending massive amounts of money to build cycling specific infrastructures. Over the past 3 or 4 decades, cars have grown bigger, taller, safer (for their drivers) and faster. Meanwhile, motorists have become abusive, aggressive, hypersensitive to people moving on two wheels, aka cyclists. Spending billions upon billions on new infrastructure won't address the crux of the matter. Sadly.
23 thoughts on “Tom Pidcock unimpressed by Amstel beer… but Pogačar chops the lot; “That’s sportsmanship”: Uno-X come to Conti racer’s aid; “Quite positive” close pass prosecution figures; UK’s most abused bollard; But cyclists; Weekend round-up + more on the live blog”
Can’t blame him – I found
Can’t blame him – I found that if I have too much Amstel’s I am Pidcock-ing like a race horse!!
It looks like Hampshire
It looks like Hampshire police kinda know what they are doing. Hopefully other forces take note to actually start making a difference.
Matthew Acton-Varian wrote:
That’s not the impression that I get from submitting to them. Part of the problem is that they won’t tell you what the result was. If you ask for an update you get an email telling you that they don’t have enough money to tell you the result and to complain to the PCC. While it might sound good to spend the money on dealing with the offences instead of updating the victim, if they don’t tell you what action was taken, you have to assume that none was taken.
Fair enough, though I did say
Fair enough, though I did say kinda, as was not 100% sure on victim feedback. I don’t have personal experience as I have only ever had experience from West Mids Police. I have never bothered with a camera for the exact reason it is a waste of money with their lack of prosecutions.
if they don’t tell you what
if they don’t tell you what action was taken, you have to assume that none was taken
And you’d be right almost all the time. When the police are prepared to spend all the time and money in response to a FoI request refusing to tell you what they actually did when they claim they ‘took action’, you know they were lying and did either nothing at all or sent out the joke warning letter
Jogle wrote:
It looks like Hampshire police kinda know what they are doing.
— Jogle That’s not the impression that I get from submitting to them. Part of the problem is that they won’t tell you what the result was. If you ask for an update you get an email telling you that they don’t have enough money to tell you the result and to complain to the PCC. While it might sound good to spend the money on dealing with the offences instead of updating the victim, if they don’t tell you what action was taken, you have to assume that none was taken.— Matthew Acton-Varian
Hampshire only let you know the outcome if it goes to court. I’ve had a couple of cases that did – https://road.cc/content/news/near-miss-day-733-291029
With the current system, I put a YouTube link in the report and then they subsequently asked me to upload the original files. I don’t think they would have asked for the original files if they weren’t going to do anything. Bit frustrating not to know if they’re just sending letters or if they’re actually prosecuting, I’m sure that could be automated very easily.
I don’t think they would have
I don’t think they would have asked for the original files if they weren’t going to do anything. Bit frustrating not to know if they’re just sending letters or if they’re actually prosecuting
An charmingly charitable assumption, which will please the people in Police BlackOps! It’s a way of making you put more effort in, with no effort on their part (they don’t have to watch or do anything with those 100s of MB files other than delete them) with the hope of putting you off any more reports. The aim of the police is to appear to be taking action without taking any- how difficult is it to knock out a quick email when they’ve sent a letter to the offender?- because that, or nothing, is almost invariably what they’ve done. The answer is that it would be easy, but they don’t want you to know how little they’ve done. Secrecy is the major weapon of the police in relation to offences against cyclists, or any offences for that matter
What one force does is upload
What one force does is upload a spreadsheet of dates/times/locations of reported offences and the outcome. Anybody interested could just check the list.
I’m also greatly encouraged by Hants’ stats. I have reported a few dozen to them and, like others, heard nothing back except one where the driver stopped and swore at me, they wanted to record it as a separate offence. Amusingly the car appeared for sale on a local Facebook group and I caused a stir by mentioning the incident 😀
What one force does is upload
What one force does is upload a spreadsheet of dates/times/locations of reported offences and the outcome. Anybody interested could just check the list
Well, that’s very interesting. Which force?, and do you have the link to this spreadsheet which would completely contradict Lancashire Constabulary’s official position that they are prevented by law from even confirming that Lancashire Constabulary knows what Lancashire Constabulary did about this case where they stated in writing they were taking action?!
The important point is that the person who reported the offence woud know the details and the registration, and so would know the outcome linked to, say, the driver of 4148 VZ although no other member of the public would be able to link the punishment to the driver. This published spreadsheet seems highly improbable to me!- not least because it would be seriously breaking ranks with other forces, but if it exists I will be using it in communications with the Information Commissioner and, I hope, the Information Tribunal, so I’m hoping for a reply
wtjs wrote:
It’s Northamptonshire: https://www.northantspas.com/PAWeb/Public/Content/23
Thanks. But I’ve now looked
Thanks. But I’ve now looked through a couple of massive ‘concluded cases’ spreadsheets and not found anything to do with offences against cyclists, such as close-passing- it’s almost all speeding cases You can find a reference number for an offence against a cyclist, but I need to know from some cyclist in the Northamptonshire area who has actually managed to find ‘their’ offence listed and then been able to link it to an outcome. How do you do It?
wtjs wrote:
Make sure you’re looking at the ‘Op Snap’ link, not the ‘FOI’ link.
In the 2023 March submissions
In the 2023 March submissions file there are examples of cyclist ‘witnessed’ incidents:
I will be able to tell you
I will be able to tell you soon if that egress ref actually matches the reference you get when you report, as I have one submitted from early April, and you get a number assigned to the submission:
Done a bit more digging and
Done a bit more digging and you can find out a bit about the outcome. If you filter the ‘concluded offences’ spreadsheets under the FOI tab by camera type ‘dashcam’, you can see all the public submitted content.
I looked at the 2nd July 2021 in the ‘dashcam submissions’ spreadsheet under the OpSnap tab. There were three offences marked for prosecution (processed), two of which involved cyclists. The concluded offences sheet has those three offences listed, with the time and location, two marked as attended courses and one prosecuted. It doesn’t state number of points or fine, which is a shame, but is a lot more feedback than some forces give out.
(bit hard to read, but here are the snippets – bit worrying reading the reason they didn’t prosecute one close pass: because the road was a bit narrow!)…
If the men were getting half
If the men were getting half pints, technically quarter litres, then the women were only getting 3rds by the look of it. Who looked even less interested in drinking it, though I do recall Lotte Kopecky has said she doesn’t like beer.
I saw the Mail did another
I saw the Mail did another LTN exclusive piece at the weekend, i suspect the telegraph will be lined up for post the Panorama showing.
I only glanced at it but it was focussed on business owners saying LTNs were destroying their business, but I couldn’t work out how exactly. Like an example they gave of a wholesale ice cream seller whose suppliers refused to deliver to them because of an LTN in the way!?!?
Awavey wrote:
Seriously??
It’s what they claim “: ‘We
It’s what they claim “: ‘We have six companies saying they are not going to be delivering to us (because of the LTN)” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11956383/Businesses-slam-Sadiq-Khans-cycling-tsars-claim-LTNs-boost-trade-40-cent.html
Furuncle. That’s a great word
Furuncle. That’s a great word.
Considering that WMP ignored
Considering that WMP ignored – No Further Action – the case where I was T-boned at a roundabout (on Station road in Berkswell in front of two witnesses, both of whom testified), it doesn’t surprise me that they’d ignore close passes, too.
I find it interesting that
I find it interesting that the right wing press always blame LTNs on local councils. At least he BBC appear to be pointing out that they actually are Government Policy and that the Government is actually handing out money for implementation.
Saddle sore and furuncle are
Saddle sore and furuncle are quite different things.