“I’m impressed!”: Council fills “cavernous” pothole two hours after the Jeremy Vine Show’s producer posts video of “horrible cycle crash”; Vollering asks to “delete pictures” after celebrating second place in Tour de France Femmes + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Who's at fault???
Firstly I am glad both parties are OK, and there were no serious injuries.
Saw a collision this morning, between a guy on a bike and a guy in a van.
Left turn only lane, bike passes van on the inside mid corner.
Interested to hear peoples opinions on where fault lays? pic.twitter.com/amKffFfegO— Michael Snasdell (@MichaelSnasdell) July 25, 2023
This video doing the rounds on social media since yesterday, everyone seems to be having an opinion. Cycling Mikey called it a “very stupid piece of cycling”, while others have pointed out that the van driver did not have his indicator on, which have raised questions like whether or not a signal is required to drive around to the left if the road ahead is left-only.
So here’s something to discuss for you lot, whose fault and what should or shouldn’t be done in such a situation…
Tour de France Femmes 2023 - what bikes are the women riding?
Among the 22 teams competing in the 2023 Women’s Tour de France, familiar bike brands take centre stage. From Bianchi to Trek, Canyon to Giant, the women’s peloton boasts an array of top-tier bike manufacturers, which for many is the highlight of the racing season, bringing the pro women racing to everyone’s screens.
> Tour de France Femmes 2023 – what bikes are the women riding?
Bonus points to anyone who guesses correctly what equipment Team Canyon-SRAM Racing uses!
"Let's delete the pictures": Demi Vollering celebrates victory in Tour de France Femmes... without knowing she came second
Demi Vollering has done a Jasper Philipsen. And by that, I don’t mean his recent, ahem, heroics in the green jersey at the Tour de France, but the embarrassing scenes when he celebrated after crossing the finish line in last year’s Tour, without knowing that Wout van Aert had already won the stage.
Vollering’s oopsie moment came in yesterday’s stage four of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift. Yara Kastelijn had already taken the stage victory in a brave solo breakaway in one of the longer races on the women’s calendar over a minute before the bunch sprinted to the finish.
Yara Kastelijn wint voor het eerst op de weg en hoe🤩
Demi Vollering deelt een prikje uit aan Annemiek van Vleuten → https://t.co/PQNIYvWBiq pic.twitter.com/ctHFlgZ0qx
— NOS Sport (@NOSsport) July 26, 2023
> Poor Jasper: Philipsen celebrates… second place
The prolific Dutch rider from the prolific Dutch Team SD Worx, looked slightly unsure, but still went ahead and posed for the photos as she outsprinted Uno-X’s Anouska Koster. However, the photos would later come back to haunt her (well, second is not terribly bad is it), and she half-jokingly asked to delete the photos after the race.
“I had no clue what was in front of me,” Vollering told Cycling Weekly at the finish line. “I caught up Anouska Koster, and she was the only one I could see, so I thought I had everybody. I didn’t know Kastelijn was still in front.”
“I didn’t know if someone from the group was out [front], you know? So I thought I’d celebrate anyway and then we have at least the pictures. If I didn’t win, then we can always delete them. So let’s delete them,” she said with a smile.
Demi Vollering thought she’d won Stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes 🤦#TdFF2023 pic.twitter.com/i1C8IOldh8
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 27, 2023
Vollering now sits 43 seconds behind teammate Lotte Kopecky in second position in the general classification, with a eight second lead over Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Longo Borghini and Movistar’s Annemiek van Vleuten.
She was hoping to gain more seconds on her rivals, and was disappointed at not getting the stage win. “Of course, it’s nice [to gain some seconds], but I had hoped for more today,” she said. “I hoped I could do a bit more in the end on the last climb, but I couldn’t make a difference anymore after such a long race.”
I’m sorry, but you know how the internet works. Once it’s there, there’s no going back… At least she did have some fantastic company to enjoy after the race.
🎶 ‘And they call it puppy love’ 🎶
Demi Vollering may not have won Stage 4 of @LeTourFemmes, but it looks like she enjoyed some 🐶 company after the race! 😍#TDFF2023 #sbstdf #couchpeloton pic.twitter.com/VJ7LSBHTOi
— SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) July 27, 2023
Motorbike riders slammed for pushing and clipping Tour de France Femmes rider, after Jumbo-Visma claim race-ending crash was caused by moto
“If you can’t pass safely, don’t pass. We need better education for some motorbike riders,” riders’ union president Adam Hansen said, after one of the motorbike riders was fined 200 Swiss Francs for the dodgy manoeuvre.
Tour de France 2023 green jersey Jasper Philipsen vs bunch of kids
🇧🇪 Jasper Philipsen challenging the stars of tomorrow 🤩#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/1tg2lUuNJq
— Domestique (@Domestique___) July 27, 2023
Kudos to the kids for sticking to their lines, lest Philipsen deviate…
"Passed my test in 1988, not opened it since": Driver boasts about not knowing Highway Code requires giving space to cyclist
“Yet another argument for five-year retests”?
Or at least that’s what some people are calling for following a social media altercation involing road safety advocate Adam Bronkhorst and Colin Gregson, after the former shared a screenshot of a post from an anti-ULEZ Facebook page encouraging motorists to sticky a second licence plate on top of the orginal one as a “way of getting around ULEZ”.
While we can discuss how wrong that is in the first place all day long, let’s move on to Mr Gregson’s replies shall we.
“Great news from Cheshire. The footpath along the River Weaver which has and is multi and equal rights of way has been given priority to PEDESTRIANS. Cyclists have been relegated !!! Majority of them have never heard of a 🔔”.
I don’t know what’s going on, but Bronkhorst seemed to get it and replied saying that pedestrians have always had priority, and that drivers have to give priority to cyclists on the roads.
“Since when do drivers have to give priority to cyclistsbon roads???” asked Gregson.
Bronkhorst said: “Since it’s written in the Highway Code. Are you saying you don’t know the Highway Code?”
The glorious reply from Gregson to this was, if you can believe it: “Passed my test in 1988. not opened it since. oh and its merely a “code” its not actually legally binding. No one ever gets prosecuted for breaking the highway code.”
> Most drivers still don’t know Highway Code changes, poll shows
I keep up to date with the law changes. Yes. And refer to it often. It’s your responsibility as a driver to know the rule changes. You have to do it. You do know this right?
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) July 27, 2023
Brilliant. Another driver who let alone is unaware of the Highway Code changes, but hasn’t even bothered to open it since 1988. Just brilliant.
Yet another argument for five-year retests.
— 🚲 🚗 60BPM (@willbramhill) July 27, 2023
Or as this tweet put it better…
They drive over us
— Blue is the Colour (@Jacksarback) July 27, 2023
The bromance we had all been waiting for: Mads x Jonas
Don’t tell anyone but I’m a Pogi fan through and through, but man I can’t stop loving these two Danes!
Team mate, friend, countryman.
Mads is THE perfect wingman.#TDF2023
— Anna Mac 👑🪱 🌈🖤 (@AnnamacB) July 27, 2023
Lorena Wiebes out of Tour de France Femmes with sickness
Team SD Worx’s Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes has been forced to abandon Tour de France Femmes after she suddenly started suffering from stomach issues this morning, an hour before the beginning of stage five.
The team has confirmed her departure, right before today’s stages with a flat finish and tomorrow’s entirely flat stage, perfectly suited to Wiebes’ profile as an elite sprinter, who already has a victory in this year’s Tour when she beat Jumbo-Visma’s Marianne Vos in sprint during stage three.
Lorena Wiebes is leaving @LeTourFemmes after illness. She’s suffering from stomach issues & consequently can’t start in Onet-Le-Château. “Of course this is a sportive loss for Team SD Worx, ‘cause there were still sprint opportunities. But health always prevails,” says Danny Stam pic.twitter.com/gqM1vh9AN6
— Team SD Worx (@teamsdworx) July 27, 2023
“Lorena Wiebes is leaving Le Tour Femmes after illness. She’s suffering from stomach issues & consequently can’t start in Onet-Le-Château,” said Danny Stam, directeur sportif of the team in a social media post.
“Of course this is a sportive loss for Team SD Worx, ‘cause there were still sprint opportunities but health always prevails,” he added.
SD Worx, a well-oiled victory machine has been enjoying a near-perfect season and now, a near-perfect Tour as well. The team has won two of the four stages so far and has the yellow jersey with Lotte Kopecky, as it looks to dethrone Annemiek van Vleuten with its own star Demi Vollering. Even in the races it didn’t win, its riders bagged the second position — not as if that would be enough for the Dutch team.
Wiebes, the current European champion has also had a stellar season so far, winning a total of nine races in 2023. Besides the win in stage three, she came second in stage one behind teammate Kopecky when the Belgian had attacked solo and crossed the finish line alone.
UK Parliament's Transport Committee tells Department for Transport to fix potholes first before starting new road projects
While we are discussing potholes on today’s live blog, there’s some more good news coming in from Westminster.
Transport journalist Carlton Reid reports for Forbes that an influential group of British MPs has told the Department for Transport (DfT) that “future investment [in major roads] should focus more on maintenance and renewal rather than brand new projects.”
Instead, the Tory-led transport committee recommends “cancelling complex and costly enhancement projects.”
In February, the Welsh government decided to halt or amend almost all major road building projects – which forms part of a new transport plan that aims to reduce carbon emissions, improve road safety, and prioritise cycling, walking, and public transport use.
Cycling UK had praised it as “the most significant change in UK roads building policy over the last 20 years”, with the charity’s head of campaigns saying the move represented a “marked shift from other UK administrations’ simplistic and outdated views of building more roads as the answer to all transport woes from congestion to poor air quality”.
Could we be in for another nationwide transport policy shift? Something tells me this is going to be a bumpy ride…
A petrolhead writes that this is a “very biased piece of anti-car driver propaganda masquerading as journalism.” https://t.co/k1ptNJNNBA
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) July 27, 2023
Some not so itsy-bitsy drafting going on here...
Drafting is far from an uncommon thing in pro cycling, nor is it the most frowned upon. Sure, riders do it sometimes, but it’s also really easy to spot and penalise, or at least lambast (as we are doing here), both by comissaires and the fans.
Demi Vollering thought she was stopping for a fairly quick bike change with 60km to go in today’s stage five, but was instead met with a subsequent slow wheel change by the mechanic. That would make it twice in two days that Vollering has thought she was getting something but instead didn’t.
Anyway, as a result of the slow wheel change she ended up losing touch with the peloton and had some riding to do to catch up with the group. And when she, presumably along with the team, decided to do a bit of the good ol’ naughty drafting behind her team car, right in front of the motorbike carrying the race commissaire, it was certain that they would get a telling off.
🚨🗣️📢
The SD Worx team car gets the hairdryer treatment from a furious commissaire.#TDFF2023 pic.twitter.com/CUxikqSoFY
— Eurosport (@eurosport) July 27, 2023
It didn’t stop there, as it appeared that Vollering was going for another cheeky attempt at testing the rulebook, the good ol’ naughty sticky bottle.
Team SD Worx is certain to receive a fine, but will Vollering, in her bid to snatch the crown of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift from her rival Annemiek van Vleuten, end up receiving a time penalty too?
> Cheating at the Tour de France — a rich history dating back 120 years
Miguel Ángel López claims "no objective evidence of alleged doping", promises to "fight to clear his name" after provisional suspension by UCI
The 29-year-old Colombian, currently riding for UCI Continental team Team Medellín–EPM, has released a press release statement on his social media after he was provisionally suspended by UCI for “use and possession of a prohibited substance” before 2022 Giro d’Italia earlier this week.
López, an explosive climber, who won the Queen stage of Tour de France in 2020, and finished on the podium of both Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España in 2018, had been sacked by Astana in December after the team claimed that it “had discovered new elements” linking him to alleged doping doctor Marcos Maynar.
However, he has spent 2023 dominating the South American racing scene for Team Medellín – EPM, until it was cut short earlier this week with UCI’s decision.
> Miguel Angel Lopez being investigated as part of doping probe in Spain
My Spanish isn’t the best, but with the help of Google I can read that he said that he was unaware of “the tests and evidence taken into consideration by the UCI to make this decision”.
He added: “I would like to state that there is no objective evidence of the alleged doping, that all the results of my analyses and my biological passport are negative, and that the undersigned has never received, used or even requested any prohibited substance, neither in the Giro d’Italia, nor ever throughout my sports career, as was also reported at the time to the ITA [International Testing Agency] with whom I collaborated with as soon as it was required.
“I want to state that I will use all the legal means at my disposal to clear my name, and that I will request, immediately, that the agreed precautionary suspension be lifted, since I understand it to be completely disproportionate, taking into account, in addition, that the facts for which I have been temporarily suspended have been made public, known for more than 9 months.
“Furthermore, the need, origin and urgency of said measure has not yet been explained or reasoned, and the reasons that justify it have not been provided or explained.
“Such a decision by the UCI 10 days after the Glasgow Cycling World Championship is a precautionary suspension that not only damages my honor and damages the presumption of innocence of this cyclist, but it also damages. and harms my entire team, the TEAM MEDELLIN, the Colombian national cycling team, and, ultimately, the good name of the entire international cycling community, by questioning my sports career, without any evidence or adverse analytical results, and without any intervention, detected or found in my possession substance of any kind.
He finished the statement by thanking his fans, family, team and country for the support and “promised to fight to clear his name of any suspicion”.
Demi Vollering receives a 20 second time penalty for drafting as Ricarda Bauernfeind becomes youngest stage winner at Tour de France Femmes
Not been the best couple of days for Dutch star rider Demi Vollering, has it?
First the awkward victory celebration yesterday, only to be later told that she had actually finished second, over a minute behind the actual stage winner Yara Kastelijn.
And now, after a very visible and blatant drafting controversy in today’s stage, she’s been hit with a 20 second time penalty, pushing her down from second to seventh in the general classification, 1:03 minutes behind teammate and leader Kopecky and crucially, 11 seconds behind her chief rival van Vleuten.
> Some not so itsy-bitsy drafting going on here…
Demi Vollering a reculé à la 7e place au général à l’issue de cette 5e étape : la Néerlandaise a reçu une pénalité de 20 secondes pour abri prolongé derrière la voiture de son directeur sportif après une crevaison. #TDFF2023 pic.twitter.com/yXRWOVIqiPhttps://t.co/pPWbBZRJ8G
— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) July 27, 2023
The whole fiasco happened when with 60km left to go, the SD Worx rider got a rear puncture. As she got off the bike, she started taking her bottles out of the cage, expecting a bike change. However, the mechanic proceeded to perform a rather slow wheel change instead, dropping Vollering behind the peloton.
And then to catch up, she decided to tuck in behind her team car, essentially relaying her towards the back of the peloton with as much minimum effort expended by the rider as possible.
And with something so blatant and obvious, your live blog host had called it that it might be pushing the rules a bit too far, and that Vollering could be set for a time penalty besides a fine as well.
Drafting Vollering was such a terrible call for the team car to make. Demi should have been wise enough to refuse, she’s lucky it’s only a 20s penalty.
— David Hunter (@cyclingmole) July 27, 2023
Before the start of the stage today, SD Worx had already lost their sprinter Lorena Wiebes, who was forced to abandon with a sudden sickness.
All in all, not a very ideal day for the Dutch team (apologies everyone for calling them a ‘well-oiled victory machine’ early in the day and bringing the commentator’s curse to life).
But one rider for whom the day went more than ideally is Canyon/SRAM’s Ricarda Bauernfeind — the 23-year-old German becoming the youngest cyclist to win a stage in Tour de France Femmes, fending off the chasing duo of SD Worx’s Marlen Reusser and Movistar’s Liane Lippert.
🥹When the rider wins, the team wins too
🥹Une coureuse qui s’impose et c’est toute l’équipe qui gagne#TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift @WMNcycling pic.twitter.com/IfYqwUBJeV
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 27, 2023
“To be honest, I still cannot believe it. It’s just incredible. I had the support from my teammates, from the cars behind and all the partners yeah, everyone helped me and supported us and it was just an incredible team ride I would say,” Bauernfeind said in disbelief at the finish line.
She added: “We had to chase the first group because we missed it and my teammates did such a fantastic job and then it was up to me and I tried to attack and it work out.”
“I think its also for the team, we waited for the win the whole year and now I did it, or we did it. It’s fantastic.”
🫢Speechless
🫢Sans mots#TDFF2023 #WatchTheFemmes @Gozwift pic.twitter.com/ExwUKZ1l7i
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 27, 2023
So after that chaotic and eventful day, this is how the standings look, before tomorrow’s flat sprint stage, which will be followed by a brutal summit finish and then finally, a time-trial.
"I'm impressed!": Council fills "cavernous" pothole just two hours after the Jeremy Vine Show's producer posts video of "horrible cycle crash"
Credit where credit’s due, kudos Westminster City Council.
Ryan Wilson, the producer of the Jeremy Vine Show on BBC Radio 2 had posted a video of him falling off his cycle after hitting a “cavernous” pothole outside John Lewis on Oxford Street on Tuesday 2PM, and asked the council to fix it, so “what happened to him on his way to work didn’t happen to other cyclists”.
The Council, acting with the briskness previously unseen by most cyclists, proceeded to fill the pothole, which Wilson later called a “beast” (if you’re unfamiliar with road.cc pothole lore, a beast is smaller than a potmonster, but just bigger than a pothorror), in just over two hours.
Thanks again for flagging this with us. We take road safety seriously and can confirm that this pothole has now been filled. You can report highways and pavement issues directly to the relevant on our website here: https://t.co/tQSJzqoAdD pic.twitter.com/EIoYIXW5O2
— Westminster City Council (@CityWestminster) July 26, 2023
Do good things actually happen?
“Thanks again for flagging this with us. We take road safety seriously and can confirm that this pothole has now been filled,” wrote Westminster City Council on Twitter the next day, posting a photograph with the time stamp of when the job had been completed.
And here’s my thigh and bike, both of which would also be grateful for your help. @WCCpressoffice pic.twitter.com/liDYOcJy4y
— Ryan Wilson (@rhwilson83) July 25, 2023
Wilson, who was left with a bruise on his thigh and a detached rear wheel (hopefully the derailleur and the chain are okay), may not be the most pleased, but his alerting of the council and the council’s swift movement in return has definitely impressed other cyclists, including Mike van Erp, better known as Cycling Mikey.
Yes, me too.
— CyclingMikey (@MikeyCycling) July 26, 2023
Others however, were a bit more sceptical of the pothole filling. “I assume that is simply a short-term emergency patch as that is going to loosen and come out very quickly with traffic running over it,” wrote one person, while another sarcastically wrote: “Give us another text in two weeks when it’s as bad as ever and we will come out again and fill it with”.
> Council pays cyclist five-figure settlement over “harrowing” pothole crash
Danny Williams, CEO of Active Travel England, meanwhile thanked the cab driver following for “good driving”, as he crept to a halt behind the fallen Williams. I know, the minimum, right?
With the non-existent summer being taken over by another spell of relentless rains, we might be in for some more potholes, as if there already weren’t enough…
“London’s #Cycleway1 route is constantly blighted by potholes. One of the many, many downsides of having a supposed Cycleway route on roads used by heavy motor traffic,” wrote Toby Edwards.
> “Same question every winter”: Cyclists slam “disgraceful” state of Britain’s pothole-covered roads
Hopefully, this incident does mean the good work of fixing the ever-increasing potholes on Britain’s roads keeps continuing, and we eventually have less and less of them to fix. Eventually.
27 July 2023, 09:24
Jo Burt from the road.cc team spent a weekend at the glorious Wild Wales Gravel Fest, and here's him sharing his wonderful experience of never having the right bike!
A weekend at the Wild Wales Gravel Festival — where you only have the wrong bike some of the time
While the UK isn't blessed with endless finely packed fire roads, the more chaotic terrain is arguably just as fun but in a different way
27 July 2023, 09:24
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Latest Comments
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
@ktache Just go for the TNT Sports only package, £30.99 for a month. Alternatively have you considered experimenting with a VPN for a few pounds, allowing you to sign up for a free stream abroad, e.g. SBS Australia which streams the Tour live? If I didn't have a kind mate's login that's what I'd do!
So, it's now the month of July and I'm going to have to pay to watch the TdF, for one month only. On a tablet unfortunately, as I didn't manage to get a laptop to rig up to the TV, grrr. Just wondering, what package will I have to fork out for? Not wanting to pay for the wrong one...
Not that it sounds like a dealbreaker given the other faults you've identified, but that cable isn't really a "proprietary" cable, four pin magnetic cables like that are quite common on bone-conducting headphones and other devices (my inexpensive smartwatch uses one) and they can be had for £4.99 on UK Amazon.
There was never really anything to say about le col kit. Most of it was alright. Some of it was poorly designed/made. Trying to position yourself as a Rapha competitor whilst always offering 40% or more off doesn't scream premium though.
48 thoughts on ““I’m impressed!”: Council fills “cavernous” pothole two hours after the Jeremy Vine Show’s producer posts video of “horrible cycle crash”; Vollering asks to “delete pictures” after celebrating second place in Tour de France Femmes + more on the live blog”
“Who’s at fault?”: I’ll jump
“Who’s at fault?”: I’ll jump in to get the argument started…
Not something I would have done. As a driver, I would have indicated – its a junction even if there is only one way to go. As a cyclist, I would definitely not have slid up the inside.
Having said that – I am not sure legally whether going up the inside was wrong? I vaguely remember reading that it is acceptable, if the traffic is moving at walking speed or slower?
Actually – going through the
Actually – going through the footage again – that isn’t a junction, its merely a left turn.
That changes things – if we take out the left turn and imagine that was a straight section of road, I believe the cyclist is permitted to undertake a slow moving vehicle and the vehicle should look out for them.
Put the left turn back in – definitely not something I would have done. Cyclist was very lucky that wasn’t much worse.
I’d say the cyclist in his
I’d say the cyclist in his case.
Howver I could not find the precise site on Streetview.
Presumably before long X will mark the spot.
HoldingOn wrote:
The only mitigation for the cyclist I can think of is he’s not been through the turning before, and thought the van was going straight on. If I was driving through there, I would indicate and check my mirrors, but I wouldn’t ride up the inside of the van.
Had a thought about some
Had a thought about some ultra-minimal cycle infra that no car driver would whinge about: No-HGV lanes.
Keep a lane on a main road pothole free by restricting HGVs from driving on it, car drivers get to reap the benefits too.
Obviously I’m not saying this is enough cycle infra to make cycling safe; however it’s something that would be difficult to object to and would make cyclists safer.
What was that cyclist in the
What was that cyclist in the van collision thinking? That van driver would not have know he was there until after he heard the bang. How many seconds would it have cost the cyclist to have just waited until they were round the corner to pass? That is exactly the type of MGIF attitude that leads to so many close passes from drivers.
Precisely no seconds lost if
Precisely no seconds lost if they’d eased in behind the van because they could have taken a quicker line & draft through the turn. By taking whats effectively a much narrower line against the kerb to get around the corner with the van, even if the van gives space, the bike would have to slow down to make it, else be spat out to the right on exit by the centrifugal force at play with cornering at speed.
Dumb cycling imo.
I don’t know how that isn’t
I don’t know how that isn’t stupid cycling. In the grand scheme of poor driving that doesn’t even register. If I am driving and going around a corner I am not constantly checking if a cyclist is diving up the inside and as a cyclist I wouldn’t pull that move in a million years for that reason. I get annoyed when drivers don’t bother looking when they should be. I don’t get annoyed when I have put myself into a fantastically stupid position whereby a driver has to be at their absolute best to see me.
There are dozens of occasions on every ride where I am riding defensively because I know that drivers probably wouldn’t see me or know i’m there. This incident 100% comes under that umbrella.
The cyclist got it wrong big
The cyclist got it wrong big time and thankfully was very lucky. I think he recognised that in his fortunately instant response after the event.
Call me cynical, but I expect
Call me cynical, but I expect that as the pothole looks large enough to cause motorised vehicle damage, that may have had a bearing on it being fixed so promptly. (even though the taxi in front appears to go over it with no visible issue)
Any council should traet a
Any council should traet a pothole like that as an emergency and aim to have it fixed in two hours. There’s nothing that unusual in this
That cyclist appears to be a
That cyclist appears to be a numpty. One of the ones which gives the rest of us a bad name.
I wish those Great Train
I wish those Great Train Robbers would stop giving the rest of us rail passengers a bad name.
I mean sure, it isn’t like
I mean sure, it isn’t like some on here treat motorists like a collective responsible for bad drving in general eh?
I mean, Audi drivers yes but
I mean, Audi drivers yes but thats only because as far as I can tell you have to pass a complete bellend test before being allowed to driver one.
It was a daft bit of riding,
It was a daft bit of riding, but given that the cyclist calmly admitted fault afterwards I don’t think that he comes out of the incident that badly
AidanR wrote:
The problem I have with that video is that it’s a video, therefore in the public domain for all the cabbies, car lobbyists and general motons to use against ‘normal cyclists’.
That genie is already out of
That genie is already out of the bottle. You only have to see a few dash cam compliations on youtube to know they love that sort of thing.
Hirsute wrote:
I think the difference here is that (certainly judging by road.cc) other cyclists are saying the cyclist was wrong. Had that been one of the other myriad of “driver runs over cyclist” videos that we all see, there would have been ardent defense of the driver from lots of people (including people that can’t drive)
HoldingOn wrote:
The reaction from other cyclists also disproves the oft asserted case (including by some posters on here) that cyclists never think the cyclist is in the wrong.
You seem to be going off in a
You seem to be going off in a different direction again.
I was replying to someone who said the video is one that can be used against cyclists. I agreed with this but pointed out that there are alredy videos where the cyclist’s behaviour can be used as a illustration and that the compliers love this scenario where they can blame the cyclist. After all, it’s a great distraction from the real issues on the pubic highway.
the real issues on the pubic
the real issues on the pubic highway
It’s some highway, that pubic one
Hirsute wrote:
Apologies – I do that sometimes. Unfortunately I have a tendency to misinterpret what someone is saying. I promise I don’t do it on purpose!
I had picked up on the “used against cyclists” and was trying to point out that other cyclists were already on board with the cyclist being at fault, but then point out that in alternate videos where the cyclist isn’t at fault, we don’t get drivists pointing out “No, the driver was at fault there”
Actually, there are some
Actually, there are some suites of dash cam footage where comments do say it was the drivers fault.
I’ll keep a look out at the w/e for some.
Hirsute wrote:
What were those appalling dashcam compilations that used to be linked to on here?
This is hardly the worst but
This is hardly the worst but it is the sort of thing that drivists lap up
There were 2 others I saw at the w/e but can’t remember what. Although when searching for them I found this one !
UK Dash Cam | CYCLIST SCUM
On twitter is a lime bike
On twitter is a lime bike rider crashing into the back of a car because they are on the phone and don’t see the traffic has stopped. I don’t think it was a scammed bike as the rider was an adult and was peddling quite smoothly so with the electrics on.
So loads of “no helmet” “not on the cycle path”, “probably got away with so should have reg plates”. Not many thinking “Lime bikes are registered so rider can be traced” or “It is a hire vehicle so person might be new to London and not carry a helmet and decided on a whim to cycle”.
RE: who’s at fault:
RE: who’s at fault:
Before getting to that this is (mostly) how the aftermath should be done. Dunno if they actually made contact but driver 1) notices cyclist going down and immediately stops* 2) gets out to check and checks they’re OK 3) this doesn’t turn into a shouting match, let alone an assault 4) someone takes responsibility – it’s a little unclear but it sounds like the cyclist says “it’s my fault” here.
Fault? I definitely wouldn’t have cycled up the inside there if I was paying attention, I hope! As others said (and someone says in the video) it doesn’t seem you can go straight on here. It’s not totally clear but the van doesn’t seem to cut off all space on the left.
Perhaps in an ideal world the driver would have spotted the cyclist coming up on the inside but I think the cyclist was not thinking ahead. First by making the move at all but second as it looks like they had too much speed for the turn (again – seems the driver didn’t cut off *all* space). Perhaps they thought they’d whizz past the van before then and/or expecting the driver to pull wide away from them or put on the anchors?
* Arguably van driver could have gone forward a bit to clear the corner – but then maybe them being where they were would stop someone turning who failed to spot a cyclist on the ground?
Agreed, it’s the cyclist’s
Agreed, it’s the cyclist’s fault, and the driver behaves well after that.
+1. Don’t think any blame can
+1. Don’t think any blame can be attached to the van driver here. And the way the aftermath was handled was good too.
chrisonatrike wrote:
Hopefully someone knows the area and can confirm, but I can’t see any lines on the road to indicate a junction.
Yes – a very calm interaction on both sides. Kudos to them both.
The left turn arrow on the
The left turn arrow on the road is covered by the van at the crucial point at which the cyclist needed to know. So either the cyclist didn’t know the road, or they thought the van would not cut the corner so sharply.
From experience I always assume that if a motorist can get away with turning their steering wheel a little bit less and cutting a corner, or cutting a junction, they will do.
However, I also think there is too much reliance by road designers on road markings in the UK. They wear out quickly, and pretty much disappear in the rain. Perhaps that’s why cycling in the rain is so scary?
Umm…
Umm…
Couple of interesting
Couple of interesting Grauniad articles today:
National Highways accused of ‘systemic failure’ on cycling provision in England
Freedom of information responses on design standards suggest cyclists being ‘endangered’ on shared-use paths
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/jul/27/national-highways-accused-of-systemic-failure-on-cycling-provision-in-england
France has had the guts to crack down on SUV drivers. Why doesn’t Britain?
These hulking vehicles are lethal to pedestrians, disastrous for the environment and have no place on our city streets
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/27/france-crack-down-suv-drivers-britain-city-streets
(No subject)
Mate. You’ve totally made my
Mate. You’ve totally made my day.
Mangling the language, could
Mangling the language, could that be a “wankpanther”? (which is possibly the mainland Spanish pronounciation of “wankpanzer” IIRC)
“Firstly I am glad both
“Firstly I am glad both parties are OK”
Cyclist clearly at fault there (how is there even debate?) but let’s be honest: only one of the parties might have been not OK
This is the thing that does
This is the thing that does my box in. The media reports a collision between a motorist and a cyclist and is at pains to let us know that the driver was not injured while showing an image of a bike underneath a SUV. I can accept the report stating it is understood that the driver had a medical episode but to say that there was no injury is just mind blowing.
All on the cyclist.
All on the cyclist.
Filtering is allowed but you do need good judgement and up the inside of the van at a corner is not one of them.
Quote:
Has Jeremy Vine’s Producer managed to not just fix one pothole, but all the potholes?
Really Adwitiya. Do you
Really Adwitiya. Do you really need to toss a bone over the wall and then watch the ensuing scrap???
Positive story about cyclists
Positive story about cyclists on South Today. Cape Verde team preparing for the World’s in the New Forest. Volcanic islands so I’m guessing they can climb.
Not one local frothing about cycling too fast, or immigrants…
ktache wrote:
Yeah I saw that, it was great. I’ve ridden round there a bit so I was left wondering whether they’d had some attitude from the 2 legged residents just like everyone else has. “I suppose you think you’re the Cape Verde national team do you? Oh…”
Tumbleweed ….
..
SD Worx are quickly turning
SD Worx are quickly turning into the Team Sky of the WWT. From the cynical ploy to neutralise a Giro stage with a tactical nature break to the sheer arrogance of assuming to have won a stage to now blatant cheating (and getting away with it). Fortunately the other teams keep it fair and interesting.
If you live and cycle in
If you live and cycle in rural areas sadly potholes like this are the norm. They are deadly especially in the dark or lf its been raining.
The maintenance in rural areas needs to be addressed.
Don’t cycle up the inside of
Don’t cycle up the inside of a turning vehicle.