He’s behind you! Pro cyclist in disbelief after thinking he’d won… only for chasing rider to snatch victory on the line; Telegraph anti-cycling bingo; 5km stage race even we could finish; Stairway to heaven? Nope, just a cycleway + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"2014 just rang, asking for their comment piece back": Telegraph columnist completes anti-cycling bingo with "nonsense" piece "whipping up hatred"
Anti-cycling bingo is finished. Rowan Pelling from the Telegraph newspaper has completed it. There is nowhere left to go…
Yes. On the day after the Office for National Statistics announced that the UK was in recession, the Telegraph’s columnists tackled the big issues of our time — “idle Britons are taking hard-working taxpayers for fools”, “the EU is in an even worse state than Britain, but Rejoiners couldn’t care less”, and of course cyclists apparently being “the rudest, most entitled people in the UK today”. What a spread…
Anyway, time to focus on the one we’re most interested, you can take in the rest on your lunch break…
Anti-cycling bingo refers to the game that can be played while reading online comments about cyclists, or in this case a column published in one of the UK’s biggest newspapers. The aim? To cross off all the tired, often heard, boring things that people who don’t like cyclists tend to say about cyclists. For example, if it were a points-based game, red-light jumping, riding on pavements and not using cycle lanes would be the low-scoring bankers.
Why do I say all this? Well, Rowan Pelling might just have completed it…
“Lycra-clad boors give off an almost palpable air of smug self-satisfaction even as they make life miserable for fellow road users,” she begins, and what a start that is. No dilly-dallying, no prefacing the topic with context or an anecdote or two. Nope, just straight on in with the bashing.
Thankfully, we get that anecdote or two in the intro, as Pelling ticks off the obligatory ‘keen cyclist’ qualifier, justifying all future anti-cycling bingoing, in the form of explaining how 30 years ago she used to use a bike to get around in Cambridge.
What follows is a whistle-stop tour through: that video on our live blog yesterday of a cyclist and lorry driver in a countryside stand-off, “mightily virtuous” cyclists, “obnoxious road etiquette”, “Lycra-clad road hogs” riding two-abreast “while a queue of motor traffic forms behind them”, “shooting red lights”, “ignoring one-way systems” and, SAY THE LINE… “nipping onto pavements”…
We’re not done there, I’m afraid…
On to the “wholesome mummies on their big cargo bikes” apparently “hurtling down a footpath”, the “push-bike Puritans” who “believe they’re a form of citizen police”, the “GoPro brigade who live for recording motorists’ tiniest infractions”, “snitching on drivers for minor infractions”.
Pelling concludes: “It all reminds me of the curtain twitchers who reported neighbours to the police over lockdown because granny came visiting – a sort of jealous appeal to authority to stop people having fun. It’s the absolute worst of modern Britain, and nowhere is it better embodied than in our miserable, obnoxious, moralising cyclists.”
BINGO!!!
Peter Walker, the Guardian’s deputy political editor did a breakdown of the piece on his social media, with the amusing statement…
Oh, hello Rowan, 2014 just rang, asking for their comment piece back. pic.twitter.com/foYEdvJIHq
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) February 15, 2024
“Seriously, who still writes or commissions this sort of stuff? The article itself actually manages to cram in even more cliches than the astonishingly banal headline suggests, which is an achievement of sorts,” he said.
The inevitable serious bit: as the comments show, articles like this help stoke up the sort of out-grouping which, some studies have suggested, can prompt people to take less care around cyclists – including me and several loved ones. So thanks for nothing @RowanPelling pic.twitter.com/fRNOga11Eq
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) February 15, 2024
Stuart Johnson, the Chair of the Colchester Cycling Campaign added: “Great job by the Telegraph. Whipping up hatred for cyclists yet again with more nonsense.”
And breathe. Think I might head back to bed for a lie down in a dark room…
Stairway to heaven? Nah, just a cycleway
No idea why I never use this cycling infrastructure pic.twitter.com/v2nj7GKfBJ
— Trundling on in the High Peak (@GiveMeSpace3) February 15, 2024
And it keeps on going…
At best bloody annoying mid-winter getting up there with all the fallen leaves on a cold, dark morning. At worst a major barrier to many people getting around by bike, particularly those using adapted cycles.
We’ve been here before, unfortunately…
> Cyclists blast new cycling “stairway to A&E”… seemingly “commissioned by Danny MacAskill”
Elsewhere, back in 2021 users of a Nottingham canal towpath dubbed a temporary bridge over the water the “Stairway to Hell” due to the steep slopes of the temporary structure, near impossible for many riders to scale.
“Ooh, ooh, and she’s buying a stairway to a cycleway
There’s a cyclists dismount sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure
‘Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there’s a shared-use path that sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, makes me wonder…”
COBBLES
Recon day 👀🔨 pic.twitter.com/ASfldALtra
— Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix (@A_ParisRoubaix) February 16, 2024
A week to go until Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, there’s something to look forward to. What we’d do for those cobbles of Roubaix to look like this in roughly two months time.
Police investigate as Pinarello and Trek Madone stolen in break-in
Greater Manchester Police have appealed for information after a Trek Madone and Pinarello Prince were taken during a burglary at a property near Buile Hill Park in Salford at around 2.35am on Monday.
“On Monday, February 12, 2024 at approximately 2.35am an unknown offender took two bikes from an address close to Buile Hill Park, Salford.
“Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or GMP live chat https://orlo.uk/6slrF or email Sgt Atherton on 13490@gmp.police.uk quoting CRI/06FF/0004137/24.”
.
Chris Froome to return to racing at Tour of Rwanda
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
Chris Froome will make his return to racing in 2024 at the Tour of Rwanda, the scene of one of his 2023 meltdowns over disc brakes…
> Fed up Froome denounces disc brake wheels on Instagram Reel
The eight-day stage race begins on Sunday, the four-time Tour de France champion saying he is looking forward to returning.
“I love any opportunity to get back to Africa, it feels like home,” he said. “Everyone is always so warm and welcoming, it’s a great feeling.
“Seeing the Field of Dreams was the highlight [of last year’s visit to Rwanada] for me. It was a project we had raised funds for at the Tour de France in 2022 so being able to go there and see it for myself was a wonderful experience.”
The Field of Dreams is a cycling centre in Bugesera, “a game-changing project that has already helped countless local children discover the joy of cycling” that was set up by Israel-Premier Tech at last year’s race.
Five-stage Ruta del Sol reduced to... five kilometre time trial, due to protests and police shortages
Finally, a professional race that even we could finish…
The organizers of @VCANDALUCIA has confirmed that tomorrow’s and Sunday’s stage has been cancelled and only the time trial today will be held #70RdS pic.twitter.com/1KbZo2MIX7
— FirstCycling (@FirstCycling) February 16, 2024
It was meant to be five stages, 595km and nearly 13,000m of climbing… instead it’s now just 4.95km and 186m of elevation gain. Yep, the uphill TT that is already underway will decide the entire race. The weekend stages have, like the opening two days, been scrapped due to farming protests in Spain, which has had a knock-on effect with police numbers.
The organisation of the 70th edition of the Ruta del Sol Vuelta Ciclista Andalucía announces that it is forced to suspend the Saturday and Sunday stages due to extra-sports events that are happening in Andalusia.
After endless negotiations, despite having all the permits and meeting the requirements of the regulations, the government authorities have not been able to guarantee the assistance of the necessary law enforcement agencies to organise the event and to keep all participants safe for the next two stages.
The organisation would like to thank the titanic efforts of each of the various municipalities, councils, associations, Junta de Andalucia, teams and riders, UCI, the local cycling association, the Spanish Cycling Federation, commercial companies, members of the organisation and the technical team for their efforts, as well as the Agrupación de Trafico and other state security services and bodies, the Government Delegation and other institutions for their help and cooperation to reverse this totally exceptional situation to which we in Andalusia, Spain and Europe have fallen victim.
"Waste of money" cycle lane branded an "annoyance and inconvenience" for adding 570 metres to motorists' journeys, as council approves extension plans
Introducing Finland's new president, the EF Education-EasyPost supporter
Finland went to the polls on Sunday, conservative former prime minister Alexander Stubb winning the presidential election (don’t ask me why there’s a president and prime minister, that’s what Google is for).
He took 51.6 per cent of the vote, narrowly defeating Green Party candidate Pekka Haavisto, the National Coalition Party leader’s cycling hobby being given a shout-out today by EF Education-EasyPost team boss Jonathan Vaughters…
New President of Finland a fan! https://t.co/kHML8sW4ra
— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) February 15, 2024
OPINION: Changes to the Highway Code mean very little if they are not known or followed by motorists
Merida calls Ruta del Sol debacle "beyond farcical and unacceptable", as Maxim Van Gils wins race with TT victory
No holding back from the admin on Merida’s Twitter account, the bike brand that supplies Bahrain Victorious’ riders…
Sorry, but what has happened this week at #70RdS is beyond farcical and unacceptable. We will ignore that alibi-ITT of today. To the farmers: Gracias por nada.
— MeridaProRoadRacing (@MeridaProRoad) February 16, 2024
Just the one reply on that so far…
How are you not happy that the one sniping the cats is currently in the hot seat?
— NeonCityBois (@Bois88453City) February 16, 2024
Ouch. Yep, that’s winter signing Anotnio Tiberi of San Marino cat-killing fame… you know, the Italian cyclist who was suspended and ultimately let go by Trek-Segafredo because he shot dead a pet cat cat belonging to San Marino’s former head of state… no, really…
One of the weirder, and more sickening, pro cycling stories of 2023 that one. Anyway, he came third on today’s stage, on the same time as Juan Ayuso, ten seconds behind stage winner (and victor of the whole race overall) Maxim Van Gils.
Van Gils ejects Tiberi from the Ruta del Sol hotseat… https://t.co/b5zRHeHcvy pic.twitter.com/s93kN5sUZU
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) February 16, 2024
"Where are the cyclists?" Councillor questions "low numbers" on cycle superhighway – but Chris Boardman praises "exemplar" of cycling infrastructure
“The infrastructure has to be there for the journeys people are going to make. In Holland it took decades to create the cycling culture it has now…”
He's behind you! Pro cyclist in disbelief after thinking he'd won... only for chasing rider to snatch victory on the line
It was at this moment Tobias Johannessen knew, he bleeped up…
One metre from victory, one bike length, one bike throw, and Lenny Martinez had pulled off an improbable comeback (admittedly, mainly due to the Norwegian’s leisurely stroll towards the finish line thinking he had it in the bag).
Here’s the painful moment in all its glory…
Cult finish pic.twitter.com/JG6lGmg82U
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) February 16, 2024
The Uno-X climber joins an elite club of professional riders to have committed the finish line cock-up, perhaps most famously à la Erik Zabel at Milan-San Remo in 2004. Then there was Julian Alaphilippe at Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2020, made even worse (or better depending on your perspective) by the fact the world champ was then relegated to fifth for cutting across Marc Hirschi in the sprint. Like a misfiring striker grateful to see the offside flag after slicing one wide…
For pure style points alone, amateur duo Rémi Arsac and Charly Merle took the top prize at a race in France’s Rhône department last summer. C’est magnifique.
And who could forget Vincenzo Nibali’s teammate Luka Pibernik, going a whole lap too early at the Giro?
Wout van Aert notches first road win of 2024
“𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱!”
🇧🇪 Wout van Aert wins Stage 3 of the Volta ao Algarve with a spectacular sprint to claim his first victory of the season ⚡️#VAlgarve24 | @WoutvanAert | @vismaleaseabike pic.twitter.com/iCSiHirLFu
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 16, 2024
He left it late, but Wout van Aert is off the mark for 2024 (on the road, of course).
The Belgian stressed throughout his cyclo-cross campaign that he was aiming to peak for the Classics, hoping to claim a maiden Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. Ominous he’s picking off reduced sprints already, the lumpy route to Tavira helping put fatigue in the legs and shelling some of the faster sprinters at the race.
Anyone interested in some weekend bike race watching, tomorrow is the race’s ITT before Sunday looks a cracker — hill-top finish up a 2.5km climb averaging 9.6 per cent? That’ll do! Let’s see how those legs are, Wout.
Elsewhere today, Marlen Reusser took the second stage of the women’s Volta Femenina de la Comunitat Valenciana, building a commanding lead on GC in the process. If you thought the Algarve climb was tasty, the women’s peloton will tackle a 3.9km ascent averaging 11.2 per cent tomorrow. Sunday’s stage into Valencia could be anything, with a fair bit of climbing before a downhill run into town. Sprint? Breakaway?
It’s good to have bike racing back, isn’t it?
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Latest Comments
Don't worry. The Gulf Stream will collapse soon enough. Then you won't have to worry about hot weather anymore.
I was going to say let’s proofread better, the article is littered with toilet humor typos but upon a closer look the name really has been anointed after solar urine
I think that Burnham has more backbone than Starmer, so I don't think there'll be any U-turns. Let's hope that he brings that determination to active travel policy, Boardman as transport minister is quite possible. He could be made a peer and appointed as a minister that way
@Sredlums my reply with a link is awaiting moderation but they are a hybrid caliper, the cable actuates a hydraulic piston.
@wtjs seems it is not just Burnham and Labour's policies that are crackpot.
Mountain bike bars have gotten much wider.
@Sredlums Quite obvious nipple ended cable, one you pointed it out...
Those don't look like vehicle stopping bollards.
Drivers seem to be using the pavement as well, perhaps there will be calls to remove this to if enough of them decide that's the place to park.🙄 https://www.facebook.com/share/1D5GaMsTkF/
@Clem Fandango Like this?
77 thoughts on “He’s behind you! Pro cyclist in disbelief after thinking he’d won… only for chasing rider to snatch victory on the line; Telegraph anti-cycling bingo; 5km stage race even we could finish; Stairway to heaven? Nope, just a cycleway + more on the live blog”
Ms Pelling was formerly owner
Ms Pelling was formerly owner and editor of The Erotic Review. Good to see she’s lost none of her flair for getting cash for a load of old wank.
She’s spending a lot of time
She’s spending a lot of time moaning.
Does she know that bikes
Does she know that bikes involve chains, nipples and lube?
the little onion wrote:
Not to mention copious amounts of rubber and leather…
Rendel Harris wrote:
I’m sure she’s never mounted one and gasped as she vigorously thrust towards the finish.
That’s my recollection of her
That’s my recollection of her – she seemed fun-loving, commuting from Cambridge and always with her office to evening outfits. Quite the come down.
I think I just broke my irony
I think I just broke my irony meter with the idea that cyclists are the most entitled people, when we see examples every day of drivists refusing to accept that they can be held up for a couple of seconds on a journey. Or parking on a pavement so that no-one else can use it. Or not bothering to pay attention and then act surprised when they inevitably hit and injure/kill someone.
I was shouted at the other
I was shouted at the other morning by a gentleman walking his dog (well, I say ‘walking’ but his labrador was running excitedly around, completely untethered, on a shared-use path).
There was a bit of to-and-fro with him saying I’d given him the evil eye and me pointing out his dog should be under control, but it ended with him shouting that “You bl00dy cyclists think you control everything!”.
(I don’t know about everyone else here, but if cyclists did run everything then I think our urban areas and roads would look very different…).
brooksby wrote:
Well, different, certainly.
What people don’t realise is that if cyclists did run everything* it would be better for driving (and walking) [article].
* They don’t do so even there – because there are probably proportionally no more “cyclists” there than here in the UK…
Are you sure? Everybody in
Are you sure? Everybody in the Netherlands cycles.
We spent some time in Friesland this summer and you could get around the whole region just by boat and bicycle if you chose. Sadly I couldn’t take my bike with me.
Note quotes around “cyclists”
Note quotes around “cyclists” and Chris Boardman’s comments in the linked video… (difference between “fietser” and “wielrenner” approximately?)
brooksby wrote:
Hmmm – what would a cyclist utopia actually look like?
First, we’d change the traffic laws so that cyclists can treat traffic lights as “Give Way” signs (c.f. Idaho Stop laws) and similarly one-way signs would be optional though again it’d be a “proceed with caution” kind of scenario and without priority.
Supermarkets would have decent covered bike parking and maybe they could provide trailers for hire too for when you’ve accidentally bought too many tins of acorns.
Drivers would be encouraged to be patient, polite and welcoming to all the cyclists, even the unsure, wobbly ones as the drivers wouldn’t be so stressed about their journeys as there’d be much less congestion on the roads.
The NHS would maybe start to recover from the malicious intent of the Tories as the population’s health starts to improve due to the extra exercise and lack of air pollution. Even the rivers and waterways may become healthier due to far less tyre and brake pad particulates being washed into them.
Politics may turn around as people start to interract with their surroundings far more rather than just viewing them through a windshield. Maybe selfish people would be shunned rather than being celebrated and it could become common for people to help each other (e.g. do you want a hand with that puncture?). We could even start appreciating people that keep the roads and cycleways clear and maybe shortlist some of them for awards and honours rather than just rewarding political cronies.
Anything I’ve missed?
I don’t think “idaho stop”
I don’t think “idaho stop” and “cyclists just ignore some rules” is “utopia” at all! That would be more like “cycle past traffic lights with no danger at all”.
I like the idea of shops providing support for cargo transport! However in reality this could be tricky. Bizarrely (IMHO) the local Homebase laid on a cargo trike a few years back. That was great for me but it didn’t last long. I think it was “too soon” and very few people used it plus it seemed the staff were baffled and it was not maintained (any public-use cycle stuff gets trashed really quickly).
Parking needs addressed – instead of “park and ride” we’d look to move to “train and cycle” (with your own or a public bike) or “cycle and walk“. Parking at home can be addressed in several ways – building regs, local (private) parking spaces etc.
“Drivers” – that’s also an issue. Here we have “cyclists” and “drivers” – or rather – “drivers” then everyone else. Mentally changing that is vital so e.g. people are “just using the car today / this trip” where “car” is realistically interchangable with “cycle”.
Many benefits for health – and the economy (local shopping) – await!
The more I look the more I
The more I look the more I think that other things need integrating (or “fixing” in the UK where we’ve let everything slide in favour of motor transport). Public transport will be a major part. How we maintain our streets (e.g. just letting utilities / private works “have at it” essentially ad-lib is not helping), planning regulations, how we view “development” as a whole…
I’d just suggest “copy what works”. So changing our overall philosophy / design goal of road transport. That will mean some (mild) restrictions on ease of driving, a network of sufficient-quality cycling routes (on separate exclusively cycling infra where needed) which go where people need to go, feel safe and allow social travel – oh and sorting out junctions.
Although if we allow the existence of “reality” in this question (e.g. politics, change being very difficult / slow) then sadly we’ll likely need to go step by step, repeating others’ mistakes. Luckily this process (getting there from here) has been covered in detail [article series with recommendations in part 3] [njb video].
hawkinspeter wrote:
Cyclists are so selfish – WHY WON’T THEY GET OUT OF MY WAY.
Do these people realise that
Do these people realise that cyclists are entitled- entitled to use the roads?
the little onion wrote:
Bloody cyclists, wanting to get from A to B in a quick and convenient fashion and then they insist on not being walloped by some clueless drivist sat in their metal box and staring at their phone
Ah the Torygraph. Just
Ah the Torygraph. Just another culture war propganda pamphlet.
I get better opinions & news from Viz
Clem Fandango wrote:
Well, they don’t want to be promoting relevant news articles as that wouldn’t put the Tories in a good light would it?
It’s time we were given some
It’s time we were given some legal protection from this type of hatred. If she spouted of like this about Muslims or Gays she’d rightly be in prison before the end of the day. But it’s OK to generate animosity even hate in people driving a few tons of metal that we have to share the roads with.
Yeah, I have never understood
Yeah, I have never understood the acceptance of it. If people down the pub said “I fucking hate muslims” people would think “what a racist POS” but say that about cyclists and you get mumours of agreement.
I can’t think of any other group that people are as free to hate.
A while ago I was walking
A while ago I was walking near my house when a car went straight through a red light at a pedestrian crossing. A gentleman walking nearby looked at me and said ‘must be a cyclist’.
When a driver breaks the rules it’s a minor infraction. When a cyclist does it they’re a lout.
I mean, thats just drivers in
I mean, thats just some drivers in a microcosm. I’m amazed cyclists aren’t be blamed for global warming at this point.
Oh but we are. Cycle lanes &
Oh but we are. Cycle lanes & LTNs cause congestion (apparently). Cyclists also “hold drivers up” (when not riding at reckless speeds and constantly maiming pedestrians and damaging wankpanzers) which means that the poor drivist has their engine running for longer & so the damage is greater than if the bloddy cyclist just didn’t exist. It’s simple culture war scienceology.
Yeah, always amuses me (not
Yeah, always amuses me (not in a good way) how drivers moan in the local Facebook groups about being stuck in traffic/long queues without for one moment considering they are causing it.
“… when a driver went
“… when a driver went straight through a red…”
http://rc-rg.com
And that “minor infraction”
And that “minor infraction” can have major, catastrophic consequences.
Why don’t the police consider this sort of stuff inciting hatred?
Ah yes…
It annoys my wife immensely
It annoys my wife immensely but that’s what I say every time I see a
cardriver going through a red light but I always follow it with “because apparently only cyclists go through red lights!!!”If anyone starts off with “you cyclists going through red lights” I ask them to pay attention at the next set of lights they are stuck at and count how many cars go through on amber or red. They tend to be very quiet after that.
pay attention at the next set
pay attention at the next set of lights they are stuck at and count how many cars go through on amber or red
I can’t resist an outing for one of my extensive collection of offences ignored by Lancashire Bent Idlers ‘because everybody does it’
https://upride.cc/incident/dl66xgz_lcctraffic_redlightpass/
mctrials23 wrote:
Gypsy/Roma/Travellers?
Not if you are Pontins.
Not if you are Pontins.
ktache wrote:
Yeah, I read about that
mctrials23 wrote:
Tories?
Being a cyclist or ginger , i
Being a cyclist or ginger , i think would be comparable in the derision stakes .As i’m both can qualify on the ammout of abuse suffered over all 50/50.
Safety wrote:
If I die on my bike at the hands of a motorist, I’ve given explict instructions to my wife that my case should be treated as a hate crime unde the same framework as the Sophie Lancaster case, unless there is conclusive evidence to the contrary.
Rowan Pelling should be treated with the same contempt as Stephen ‘Tommy Robinson’ Yaxley-Lennon, or Abu Hamza al-Masri.
Rowan Pelling should be
Rowan Pelling should be treated with the same contempt as Stephen ‘Tommy Robinson’ Yaxley-Lennon, or Abu Hamza al-Masri
You’ve forgotten the haggard waste-of-space fashion-journo who said she’d like to kill all cyclists, who also worked for the Telegraph, if I remember rightly
It does seem that the wider
It does seem that the wider ‘general public’ have a societal need to ‘hate’ at least one ‘outgroup’ that exists around them, and given that the hatred of outgroups on the basis of colour, religion, gender and sexual preferance is now (thankfully) frowned upon, and in most cases illegal, then we seem to be, as cyclists, the ones in the crosshairs – an easy target.
And also Vegans. And I’m both. I must just enjoy vitriol I suppose!
Bigots be bigots basically –
Bigots be bigots basically – she knows he’s not allowed to write that sort of vitriol about anyone black or Jewish or Muslim or gay, but she can get away with being bigoted against cyclists. I’m sure if you asked her she’d respond “Some of my best friends are black/Jewish/Muslim/gay.” She’s a bigot’s bigot.
IT’S ALL CYCLINGMIKEY’S FAULT
IT’S ALL CYCLINGMIKEY’S FAULT WHY THEY HATE US
if she said it about Jews she
if she said it about Jews she wouldn’t be in prison either
The worst backlash she’d get
The worst backlash she’d get if she said similar about followers of the Jewish faith I’d expect would be her colleagues guffawing that she’d stand as a Labour MP.
It’s utterly disgusting that these people are paid to have a platform from which to spout their bile, and equally depressing that these so-called journalists are so predictable.
I posted this on the ‘paying
I posted this on the ‘paying attention’ news item, and it’s not about cycling, but still
Make sure you’re paying attention, riiight…
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/youve-led-ordinary-decent-life-28641839
Talking about GoPro users
Talking about GoPro users “recording motorists’ tiniest infractions” which I assume she means using mobile phones, or in simpler terms, breaking the law. To then go on and compare it to “a sort of jealous appeal to authority to stop people having fun” seemed very strange.
Her idea of fun is close
Her idea of fun is close passing cyclists maybe?
Let me have fun in a way that
Let me have fun in a way that offers me no benefit or enjoyment whatsoever and puts the lives of others at risk you lycra clad weirdos!!
The thing is most Telegraph
The thing is most Telegraph readers already agree with opinion pieces like Rowan Pellings, istr it’s not the first she’s written on the subject either, she’s just preaching to the choir, people already hate cyclists for all the tickbox items she covers, they won’t suddenly convert to the idea.
Kind of daft to pretend it’s any different.
Complains about cyclists
Complains about cyclists using helmet cameras to report dangerous driving?
Would she complain about people using other camera sources to report criminal behaviour? No…
And where is the report that shows that less than half of video evidenced reports to police are from cyclists, with a bigger proportion (more than half?) from OTHER DRIVERS?
Dangerous driving is a
Dangerous driving is a criminal offence.
Benthic wrote:
Is it? We had better inform the appropriate authorities.
As we have all seen, when it comes to cyclists the authorities don’t give a damn.
I love the way cyclists are
I love the way cyclists are portrayed. Like they see someone forget to indicate and suddenly they rush home to upload it and get some poor downtrodden driver banned. Life ruined. Oh the horror. Oh the shame.
Considering the police ignore half the super dangerous driving they see on dash cam footage, I don’t think they are punishing every minor infraction.
These folk earn money
These folk earn money pandering to the preconceptions of others. They are not independently supported to seek out objective truths.
COBBLES A week to go until
COBBLES A week to go until Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, there’s something to look forward to. What we’d do for those cobbles of Roubaix to look like this in roughly two months time.
No! Dry plz. As I have an entry for the P-R sportive and I prefer my bones unbroken.
Miller wrote:
Good luck – I did the 2016 one (168km starting in Busigny), I discovered that it’s even harder than it looks, but worth it for the feeling when you turn right and go through the gates to the velodrome. It was dry but windy that year.
I have ridden on the cobbles
I have ridden on the cobbles before; they are utter bastards. That was a while ago and I’m hoping a modern wide tyre will take away some of the harshness.
Good riding to have done the Busigny start. I’ve opted for the shorter 145km which starts and finishes in Roubaix and, yes, very much looking forward to the velodrome!
Currently, and for some time
Currently, and for some time now, it’s been clear that the Telegraph, rather than the Mail or others, has an anti-cycling policy which is not merely incidental but a centrally-driven directive of some importance (to them). For non-cycling related reasons I have to check the DT website front page daily. The frequency of cycling-related headlines is astonishing – recently there’s been one every two or three days. It’s beginning to appear obsessional, almost as if there’s a required quota. Somebody with the power to dictate editorial policy must be behind this: I’ve no idea who.
WBoy wrote:
Unfortunately, it seems to be fairly common across mainstream media. I’d say that you just need to look at their biggest advertisers – they’re usually car brands.
But lots of motorists are
But lots of motorists are cyclists and vice versa. You’d have to be suffering from a severe case of Putinesque zero-sum-game idiocy to think you have to criticise the one group to appeal to the other.
john_smith wrote:
Absolutely.
A lot of people are self-absorbed idiots and don’t take much care for others’ safety on the roads. I’m a great believer in harm reduction and we want to get as many of those idiots out of cars and onto bikes (or e-scooters etc) as that way their idiocy will cause less harm. Also, when you make mistakes on a bike, you tend to hurt yourself and thus learn from them whereas drivers don’t usually learn when they close-pass as they’re usually oblivious to it.
So, we need to highlight idiots in cars and get them to change their behaviour or stop driving. Idiots on bikes are something that we just have to live with as at least they’re using the best mode of transport.
telegraph is a joke these
telegraph is a joke these days
Get them up chimneys instead !
I’ll also mention that I discovered whilst listening to radio4 that offering to take your shoes off when visting a private dwelling is ‘woke’.
Hirsute wrote:
I never offer to, I just do it. I’m always a bit bemused when someone says “oh, don’t worry, you can keep them on”. Thanks, but… I don’t want to. Maybe I’m missing a social cue about the smell…
Vuelta a Andalucia now
Vuelta a Andalucia now completely cancelled, they were hoping to botch together a time trial today and then somehow get a couple of stages run at the weekend but with the police being withdrawn from race duties to deal with the agricultural protests in other parts of the country they simply couldn’t do it. Great shame.
That Stairway to Heaven looks
That Stairway to Heaven looks doable, definitely going down. And I’d have a tackle of it on the up too. Only if deserted. Steps look like those on the horseshoe bridge over the Kennet where it meets the Thames, NCN 4 where it starts, from the 5.
26 inch 2.1 MTN, rigid, but easier on the hardtail. Lot of technique on the up. Perfect gear, timing on power and weight transfer.
At 40 degrees and a couple of
At 40 degrees and a couple of flights, fair play!
ktache wrote:
Well done if you got up that. I have tried and failed, notably lacking lots of technique on the up and perfect timing on power and weight transfer. My gear was ok.
Mind you, the bottom of the horseshoe bridge has been dipping into the Thames of late.
ktache wrote:
Done that a couple of times this year with CTC off-road group, quite like it.
There’s some steps like that
There’s some steps like that near here, sometimes I can do them other times it’s foot down and push. The main problem is that they are spaced to exactly my wheelbase so you have to bunny hop and have enough momentum. If they were a bit nearer or further apart you could ride them quite easily. You can’ have a run up to them either, there’s sharpish bends. Going down them’s easy though
Telegraph article. Nothing
Telegraph article. Nothing to do with distracting attention from the latest recession, it’s to distract from the disastrous bye election results.
Well, when I say disastrous, only for the tories, so a win for humans everywhere.
“Don’t forget, you might be
“Don’t forget, you might be starting to think we are useless but you hate the wokerati clad lycra brigade more!! Don’t think about the fact you are the first generation in modern history to be consistently worse off than your parents. Keep voting for people who demostrate nothing but contempt for you.”
That Telegraph hack might
That Telegraph hack might have a point about rudeness – after all having people trying to intimidate you on a daily basis with their two-tonne death machines does tend to make one neglect the social niceties – but for someone who went to public school and Oxbridge, then waltzed into the editorial offices of various newspapers and magazines, to accuse others of being “the most entitled” shows a rather shocking lack of self-awareness. But then certain people will say anything to try to curb anything that has any chance of changing society for the better.
I read the anti-cycling rant
I read the anti-cycling rant in the Telegraph today – more evidence that the average IQ of the world has dropped 10 points over the last 75 years.
Wasn’t there a similar
Wasn’t there a similar episode of a rider being beaten on the line after sitting up too soon involving Saronni and possibly Lemond about 40 years ago?
john_smith wrote:
Are you thinking of the Worlds in ’82 at Goodwood? Boyer (US) broke away and thought he had it won, but when he sat down and looked back he found Lemond was, contrary to team convention, chasing him (Lemond couldn’t stand him); he tried to kick again but couldn’t restart his effort and Saronni overtook them both to win, with Lemond taking 2nd and Kelly 3rd.
That sounds right. Boyer is
That sounds right. Boyer is another rider who went off the rails a bit.
john_smith wrote:
Something of an understatement…
Hey Dan, bike racing hasn’t
Hey Dan, bike racing hasn’t been away, unless CX is nothing to do with bikes
Best of luck Chris.
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This headline popped up in my
This headline popped up in my news feed today…Telegraph Australia…I don’t / won’t subscribe but all other sources give 2000 daily trips so thats probably 1000cyclists unless some pop home for lunch…ramp replaces 55 steep steps hard for loaded bikes / cargo bikes / families….so build it and they will come