Are we ready to ditch our cars? BBC Today programme asks… (but little mention of cycling); Tom Pidcock gets a telling off from fans for launching himself off moving boat; Old but gold — bike lane-blocking edition + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Tom Pidcock gets a telling off from fans for launching himself off moving boat — wait until they hear about his day job...
First off, who can blame Tom Pidcock for having some downtime after a year packed full of Classics, mountain biking, Tour de France prep, riding said Tour de France, and a XCO mountain bike world championship.
But, such is life as an international superstar, uploading footage of your holiday activity to Instagram, including… *checks notes*… launching yourself off a boat moving at high speeds, is always going to leave you open to the party-pooping thoughts and warnings of your half a million followers. Click through to the vid second here…
And while we enjoyed the person on Twitter who replied to a video of the footage saying it “looks safer than what he’s doing for INEOS”, a post complete with the replay of THAT Galibier descent at last year’s Tour, it’s hard to ignore the legions of people warning against a repeat of the boat-bombing incident…
“That’s really dumb. Don’t do that again”
“Your boss must s*** his pants when he sees what you get up too”
Crazy thing to do. Something you learn if you’re going to be around boats….don’t dive off at full throttle. Getting sucked under with the prop and all is a risk. Here’s one common type. Ineos needs up their insurance on Pidders.😎 pic.twitter.com/MEDfUsLVxh
— Irene Rabinowitz 🇮🇱 (@irenerabinowitz) August 22, 2023
We also enjoyed the commenter who said it was an excellent way to get whiplash… “speaking from personal experience”… do as I say, not as I do. Join the club, Tom P… who hasn’t done questionably dangerous things as a 24-year-old? At least nobody’s asking why he wasn’t wearing a (Red Bull-sponsored) helmet…
Wout van Aert: Coming to a town, city or A-road near you soon
So, we might as well make this official…
Former champion @WoutvanAert will return to the Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 next month!#TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪
— The Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) August 22, 2023
People of Altrincham, Manchester, Wrexham, Goole, Beverley, Sherwood Forest, Newark-on-Trent, Felixstowe, Southend-on-Sea, Harlow, Tewkesbury, Gloucester, Margam Country Park and Caerphilly (and every location that made the route between!)… you’re in luck.
Wheelie good puncture solution
Front wheel flat tire?
No problem for Madis Mihkels 😆 pic.twitter.com/GWY9mo0s3L
— Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (@IntermarcheCW) August 22, 2023
"LTNs is just a shiny new name for a very long-established idea": Rat-running fears for low-traffic neighbourhood review
Peter Walker of the Guardian has penned a piece highlighting the concerns that quiet residential streets and housing estates risk being opened up as rat runs for drivers under the government’s review of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).
The Department for Transport (DfT) is yet to say who will carry out the review, or when it will happen, but it was touted as part of Rishi Sunak’s attack on “anti-motorist” policies.
But, Walker notes, the working definition for the review is any scheme where through-motor traffic is prevented by cameras or physical barriers, crucially, with no date of installation relevant, meaning some so-called ‘LTNs’ that have been in place for decades may also be up for being scrapped too.
“LTNs is just a shiny new name for a very long-established idea,” Simon Munk, the head of campaigns for London Cycling Campaign said. “We’ve seen modal filtering since the advent of the motorcar. Pretty much every housing estate since the war was built on the principle of not allowing through traffic. Is there a cut-off date for any of this?
> “Huge cost”: Repair bill tops £850,000 for councils fixing vandalised low-traffic neighbourhoods
“It’s a culture war wedge issue, fomented by politicians who seemingly want to distract attention from bigger woes.”
Tim Burns from Sustrans also asked for the government to show “greater understanding” that schemes have been around for years, many without contention, and have become an accepted part of communities.
What does a pro cyclist do post-retirement? Ride even further than they did as a pro, of course...
A week late on this one, but Phil Gil shared the pic of the Strava activity on his Twitter, hence us spotting it today…
Riding as close as possible to the border of Belgium’s Liège province, as you do.
“The course contained some passages in gravel to be as close as possible to the borders, so we alternated the bikes,” Gilbert explained. “In the end, a little over 200 km in gravel and the rest on road bikes, with relays of maximum 10 minutes.”
Old but gold
Have seen worse parallel parking. pic.twitter.com/xd2CWFKlHF
— Tommy (@Wombletom) August 22, 2023
Tommy tells us this was back in 2020 in Balham, perfectly within the lines…
"Eyesore" cycling junction works leaving homes and cars "permanently covered in dirt and dust", claim residents
"We're also seeing an overall increase in the numbers of people cycling, so all in all, this is a good thing": London's deputy mayor welcomes cycle hire scheme competition
Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for transport Seb Dance has reacted to the news that the number of journeys made using London’s Santander Cycles hire scheme has dropped to its lowest level for 10 years, with bad weather and soaring costs blamed.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Dance said it wasn’t all bad news however, and pointed to the growth of rival services, such as Lime and HumanForest bikes, suggesting that overall cycling levels matter more than the success of one scheme.
“Obviously I want to see many more people use [TfL] Cycle Hire, it’s a fantastic scheme. It’s enormously boosted active travel rates across the city,” he said. “But what we’re also seeing is a number of competitors on the market.
“Ordinarily, you might think that I’d be slightly concerned about that, but what we’re also seeing is an overall increase in the numbers of people cycling. So all in all, this is a good thing. It’s contributing towards our 80 per cent [of all journeys made in London] target for active and public transport by 2041 — this the mayor’s objective, which he set out in 2018 and which we’re working every day towards.
“Although, yes obviously I would love more and more people to use the [TfL] cycle hire scheme, the fact that there are competitors out there providing an alternative is actually a good thing.”
We can dream...
Utrecht is home to the largest bicycle parking facility in the world. It has not one, not two, but three floors of two-tiered racks, totaling a stunning 12,500 parking places!
Enjoy a full ride through this cycling masterpiece! pic.twitter.com/vqwkChw7uR
— De Filmende Fietser (@FilmendeFietser) August 22, 2023
Uh oh! Wout van Aert just stole your KOM
British Cycling appoints task force to "support revival" of domestic racing scene
> British Cycling appoints task force to “support revival” of domestic racing scene
Thibaut Pinot crashes out of final pro race in France
Thibaut Pinot’s last pro race in France. Unfortunately DNF following crash with 90 km to go on Stage 2 of Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine. Remaining race calendar should include Slovakia, Luxembourg and then Italian autumn campaign. https://t.co/UwPhO0k5hy
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) August 23, 2023
Here's why I won't be upgrading to the Specialized Tarmac SL8
Ben Wiggins joins Hagens Berman Axeon
[Pauline Ballet/SWpix.com]
Ben Wiggins, son of Bradley, will join Hagens Berman Axeon for 2024, fresh off his silver medal in the junior men’s time trial at the World Championships in Stirling.
“Joining HBA was a no-brainer for me,” he said about the team run by Axel Merckx that counts João Almeida, Mikkel Bjerg, Jasper Philipsen, Eddie Dunbar, Jhonatan Narváez, Neilson Powless, Tao Geoghegan Hart and Ruben Guerreiro among its alumni.
“I’d been talking to Axel for a while and I’ve always admired the team, knowing the history of the team, and how many guys have gone to the next level from the team. I knew straight away that it was the right place for me to develop and try to get to the World Tour. Also the opportunity to work with Axel who grew up in a very similar situation to me with our dads doing great things in the sport, I can’t think of anyone better to get advice and guidance from. I can’t wait to get started.”
Near Miss of the Day 872: Close passing van driver banned for 12 months and ordered to pay over £700 in costs after narrowly missing cyclist and oncoming motorist
Are we ready to ditch our cars? BBC Today programme asks... (but little mention of cycling)
BBC radio’s Today Debate yesterday centred on car ownership, the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, electric cars, reducing emissions, implications for car ownership, and more…
On the panel was former Top Gear host (and now a member of the cycling community) James May, Conservative MP for Lincoln Karl McCartney, professor Julia King chair of the Carbon Trust, former Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer (fresh from his recent live blog appearance), and Graeme Potts of Eden Motors.
Host Mishal Husain began the debate by stating “the shift demanded by climate and clean air objectives is not however all about drivers swapping to electric cars. It is also about the need for us to drive less or, perhaps, not at all in the future — less car ownership, less private vehicle traffic, leading to better air and lower emissions”.
However, the following 25 minutes seemed to largely bypass talk of alternatives to driving, instead discussing electric cars’ range, growth of the charging point network, the 2030 target, the price of electric cars, cost of electric car batteries, before Husain asked May about the need to walk and cycle more…
May replied: “I do cycle a lot, I’m not just saying that to be sanctimonious, I’ve actually noticed recently that even Google Maps has recognised that at certain times of day it’s quicker to go across London on a bicycle if you’re doing the sort of journey I do, between four and eight miles.
“The car is, like everything else in society, under more scrutiny than it has ever been — how it’s used, how it’s made, how it’s disposed of, where it’s left, what speeds it does. I think that’s a good thing because questioning stuff is great. And I am starting to think that in some places cars aren’t very appropriate.”
In reply to an earlier question, MP McCartney had said: “The prime minister and those around him see that we need to be realistic, when you get outside of London and you get further north, over 80 per cent of people use a car to get to work. That’s a phenomenal amount, there’s not going to be any replacement of those figures.”
Graeme Potts from Eden Motors also added: “Motorists are showing over and over again that they are not ready for this alternative because it is unaffordable. They have already demonstrated over many many years, and I have been in this industry for 42 years, that modal shift as it’s called is not an option for many customers. Karl [McCartney] makes a very very good point, the average person in Britain travels 18 miles to work, but the travel to work requirement for independent personal transport is as nothing compared with the lifestyle demands mum and dad as taxi drivers, or us going to our lifestyle or leisure activities.
“But if investment in public transport was different you could imagine the landscape where that starts to feel different?” host Husain suggested.
Potts’ reply: “As a proportion of travel to work journeys [rail travel] is actually still very low. I don’t want to be overly political, but the unreliability of the public sector means there is less likelihood of modal shift, in my view.”
23 August 2023, 08:11
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@mitsky I agree entirely which is why I think things would improve if the police made better use of dash cam footage submitted to them. In Gloucestershire the police won't take action unless someone is inconvenienced. For example I recently reported a driver for overtaking on the brow of a bridge. The oncoming car was forced to stop so they say they will take action. If there was no oncoming car in an identical situation there would be NFA. In my opinion an advisory letter to the driver would be very useful so they know they've been caught.
@JLasTSR A 12 month ban seems pretty lenient to me but better than nothing. Will she have to do a retest before she can drive again?
It is only a matter of time before someone uses this as a defence. "I didn't know that the rules had changed, your honour.". I agree. 10 years, retake the test. If you can afford a car, fuel, insurance, etc., then paying a small fee every decade to re-test should be little burden on drivers and be at no cost to the state.
That's fair - I didn't realise this cable is used elsewhere. However, I'd argue you can order most things on Amazon, and having to order something online doesn't necessarily mean it's "readily available" - especially in comparison to USB-C cables, which you can buy cables in most supermarkets, Post Offices, and any shop that sells electronics pretty much anywhere in the world - so if you're travelling or lose the cable it can be replaced immediately. Also, it's just ANOTHER cable to remember to take with you, isn't it?
@Rendel Harris After nearly 40 years in thé Ariège département it seems from my expérience cycling that it's always wise to bé thé most careful when you see a 31 or 13 plate. Though now cars keep thé same plate when they or their owner changes département
@Rendel Harris I will second that. Although they are hard to find you can buy them at https://www.amazon.com/BaiWeiDun-Universal-Magnetic-SmartWatch-Accessories/dp/B0FBR8PD63
I had actually cycled my first century the week before the accident. I got back on the bike straight away then a hip wore out and was replaced so I missed a lot of cycling in 2024 but I was back to my normal level in 2025 not so sure what has happened this year I am not as enthusiastic as usual I have been on the bike just not cycled far. I will have to do more as I will do a 50 mile ride in September the annual charity ride. Not sure fear is the problem exactly more a feeling that there is less enjoyment.in a bike ride than there once was.
What’s all this MTB palaver? The Tour de France was originally a gravel race. 🙃
@wtjs I've sent in 2 close pass videos to kent police, never heard anything back.
38 thoughts on “Are we ready to ditch our cars? BBC Today programme asks… (but little mention of cycling); Tom Pidcock gets a telling off from fans for launching himself off moving boat; Old but gold — bike lane-blocking edition + more on the live blog”
This chap seems to be doing
This chap seems to be doing good work in Cambridge, over 500 bikes recovered:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-66585713
Vigilante !!
Vigilante !!
Grass
Snitch
It’s an industry now and that’s wrong.
Shocking isn’t it, people
Shocking isn’t it, people doing good on an industrial scale. Down with this sort of thing. Careful now.
NORMAL hard working people
NORMAL hard working people are out here stealing lefty loonies’ commie bicycles and he has the termacity to think its his place to stop them??????
Vigilante !!
Vigilante !!
Grass
Snitch
Quite correct. This man is a menace to society, as is Rendel for publicising his anti-social self-publicising antics, and is bringing more cycling terrorists back onto the road and encouraging the police to terrorise instead harmless fun-loving motorists like these charging around a small market town shouting out of the window, sounding the horn, close-passing a cyclist while the driver holds up a mobile phone displaying a woman’s bare breasts- although I didn’t discern the image subject at the time.
Don’t worry drivers! I can assure you that Lancashire Constabulary is fighting back against all this wokery and will not respond or take any action at all against the driver of MJ55 HRO. The driver and passenger were clearly drugged up
Re Pidcock; we’ve all done
Re Pidcock; we’ve all done some foolish things when we were young.
Your comment re “Party pooping” clearly demonstrates that, like Tom, you probably have only experienced boats while on your holidays. Anyone who is around boats as their job or main hobby, will know that jumping in like that is an incredibly stupid thing to do and no life jacket/buoyancy aid too.
If you and Tom have been brought up with boats and think this is okay, you are a pair of ****ing idiots.
Legin wrote:
He’d certainly want a helmet for that if he doesn’t want to wear a buoyancy aid. It’d be very easy for him to hit his head and loss of consciousness isn’t recommended in the water.
You’ll be entirely
You’ll be entirely unsurprised to hear the ferry to France is the extent of this live blogger’s boat-related adventures… (didn’t jump off that)…
Dan Alexander wrote:
Strong decision making there
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/23741418.holly-davies-jailed-cyclist-crash-a354-blandford/
Seen this, Dan?
“was on the medication
“was on the medication Tacrolimus – the side effects of which can sometimes impair vision.”
Maybe driving is not a good idea then. How could it be framed as mitigation?
[Edit – beaten by brooksby]
Hirsute wrote:
Hi, thanks, yes we’ll have
Hi, thanks, yes we’ll have something on it shortly
Legin wrote:
Piddock by name and a piddock by nature. But he be cyclosleb so must be goody and highly copyable by young wags everywhere. You’re only young once – and then you die (or seem likely to if you piddock).
Is it all part of a PR splash?
Remember, don’t feed the
Remember, don’t feed the troll. Everytime someone replies to them, they go off under their bridge for a crafty wank.
And a donut.
And a donut.
perce wrote:
Doughnut.
Who me?
Who me? Anyway I went to the Noddy Holder academy of spelling
Is that nextdoor to the Slade
Is that nextdoor to the Slade school of Artistic license?
I do agree in principle.
I do agree in principle. However, seeing its more blatant “conversation starters” getting hi-jacked and turned into threads about doughnut/coffee establishments, obscure and/or non existent bands, or indeed the antics of pigeons at football matches is also highly satisfying.
Private Eye #1605 wrote:
About this supposed LTN
About this supposed LTN ‘review’, the Labour party should state that, following an election victory, they will immediately reinstate any LTN that has been removed.
They won’t, of course, but they should.
I’m not sure they could, nor
I’m not sure they could, nor am I sure that the Westminster government can (easily) compel local councils to remove LTNs.
In all this culture wars nonsense about whether LTNs are good or evil, what is lost is a sense of what levers central government can pull to encourage or dissuade local governments from creating/abolishing LTNs, and how long any action from central government will take to filter (pun intended) to a local level.
It’s almost like this LTN review of Sunak is just a piece of culture wars nonsense, rather than any kind of meaningful policy.
Sunak doesn’t give a monkeys
Sunak doesn’t give a monkeys about LTNs and won’t follow through anyway, it’s just chum for the culture war that is the only hope they have left (of getting re-elected or at least not totally wiped out at the next general election).
Ogmios Episode 6 by the way focuses on an LTN – far more entertaining.
The Tories devised Gear
The Tories devised Gear Change, let us not forget “A Bold Vision for Cycling and Walking”, to encourage local councils to put in measures to encourage active travel. You’d think job done…..
however, the right wing press and the Tory party themselves are happy to ignore the simple fact that it’s their policy. That’s what fans the culture war flames.
I don’t think that Sunak had a Bold bone in his body, it’s the same old wibbly wobbly Tory party.
The Labour Party can just say
The Labour Party can just say that they await the conclusions of Sunaks review which they would expect to be available next year (ie before the election). If not, why not? We can’t be dithering in the face of a climate crisis.
Of course, if the conclussion is that LTNs encourage active travel which has beneficial effects on Climate Change, Polution and Health then they can crack on.
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/23741418.holly-davies-jailed-cyclist-crash-a354-blandford/
In case anyone missed this. Dunno how to send it direct to Road.cc…
Send to info [at] road.cc
Send to info@road.cc (though they usually do pick up on stories in the comments).
£500 for snitching?
£500 for snitching?
Sign me up !
Laurian wrote:
Then she shouldn’t have been driving even if you ignore the whole drink-driving thing
brooksby wrote:
Sadly the system is broken in that it is the responsibility of each and every driving licence holder to self report their condition to DVLA for the list of conditions identified.
Thus it is not the responsibility of medical practitioners with the ability to diagnose these conditions to report them, probably Patient/Doctor privilege.
The cause and effect between a condition and fitness to drive is lost on many, with predictable results.
SMIDSY being the best know..
Pidcock has been known to
Pidcock has been known to ride the Downhill trails in Andorra with other Downhill, MX & Enduro riders…….I presume that would scare a lot of those commenters as well.
Riding the downhill is an
Riding the downhill is an extension of his profession, he will understand the risks and know if he has the skills to deal with them.
It is quite apparent from the clip that he doesn’t understand the risks of jumping off a moving boat; if he did I’m sure he wouldn’t have done it.
It is not about being scared; it’s about stupidity.
May replied: “I do cycle a
May replied: “I do cycle a lot, I’m not just saying that to be sanctimonious….
Why on earth does he think that saying that you cycle a lot might be seen to be sanctimonious? Perhaps being a presenter on a car show has so contaminated his view of cycling that he thinks any mention of doing it is somehow saying that you’re morally superior to drivers. Or maybe the indoctrination of the public is complete and any mention of cycling is seen as being better than thou.
Great to see the BBC keeping up its effective ban on mentioning anything good about cycling.
eburtthebike wrote:
Seriously? Have you seen some of those that frequent here?
Cycling will only be
Cycling will only be effective if there is joined up thinking with decent, reliable public transport. Alone it isn’t “the” answer.
Case in point being today I had to go to a data center in Slough from home in North Kent. Honestly the go to, not so long ago would have been to jump in the car. Now though I was able to ride the 6 miles to the first station I could pay contactless, it has decent secure cycle parking. A couple of stops and then a change at Abbey Wood for the Elizabeth line and then travel all the way to Slough in about 1hr. With contactless just over £20 for the days travel. A lot better than tackling the M25.
However I will mention I had planned to do this Monday and the trains out west pretty much were all cancelled with signal problems.
Edit: for clarity on cost of travel. Hope that is OK.
Quote:
Program about cars with the majority of panellists heavily involved with cars* talks about cars and concludes that because there is lots of driving, the future must feature lots of driving. Meh.
(* The MP is for Lincoln – Lincolnshire being one of the most rural / lowest population density counties)
There are only two “solutions” (whatever that means in this context) not counting “what problem? We’ve got the price of eggs to worry about anyway”. Try to simply replace cars with electric cars – which I bet we quickly find isn’t a “solution”. OR we will need to do a mix of lots of different things. That would be electric cars (because already). But travel reduction and mass cycling (because extremely efficient and a *private* transport mode) would feature. Public transport would need to expand and improve.
Unless the autonomous taxi-pods, teleporters or our AI replacements make this problem irrelevant.
These chats always seem to come back to “but what about commuting?” and “but what about people outside of urban areas”? Those are good questions of course but reminds me that: over 80% of the population lives in urban areas. Children, retired people (growing number) and many others don’t drive to work. And the majority of trips under 5 miles (a lot of trips) are driven.
Perhaps we could start there? After all, we’ve got working models we can study.
Quote:
Like this one?
https://goo.gl/maps/JzuKqt5MveoTuxRj9