Lord Sugar picks up new Pinarello... then moans about being stuck in his limo in traffic due to Cycle Superhighway works

If he was driving through Whitechapel he's completely spot on: it's attrocious for cyclists as well. Once the superhighway is finished it might be great but in the meantime it's a blocked up mess that doesn't do cyclists or motorists any favours. The way materials and equipment are stored whilst they build it may be contributing to the chaos. I don't think Sugar blames cyclists or cycle infrastructure per se: just that clown Boris which is fair criticism IMHO.

A timely article quoting someone who, unlike Alan Sugar, knows his arse from his elbow - Chris Boardman:

Quote:

The government’s own figures show that physical inactivity costs Britain £47bn a year – nearly £1bn a week – and has been described by NHS England CEO Simon Stevens as a “slow motion car crash” for the service. Air pollution in our cities was responsible for more than 29,000 deaths in the UK last year. Businesses lose £1.5bn to congestion in the capital.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2015/nov/24/the-uks-cyc...

Is the current CS construction a significant contributor to this congestion? No. But people like Alan Sugar just do not want to confront the reality. Me-me-me dinosaurs like him get a disproportionate amount of publicity but aren't representative of businesses (or people) in the capital: https://cyclingworks.wordpress.com/

Housebuilding developments in Shrewsbury (pop. 60,000) are in progress around several parts of the periphery as well as brownfield sites having now become construction sites. This will only make congestion worse, and not just the traditional pinch points at river crossings; it affects nearly every intersection and not just between 8 and 9 am on weekdays. I'm sure this desperate situation is mirrored in many towns and cities across the country but I don't know how bad it has to get before they wake up.

maybe the winner of this years show will have a business that solves this very problem? that would be worth quarter of a milion ...

Hope he had to pay for that bike....

1. Sadly, this arrogant sense of entitlement that he should be able to drive (or be driven) wher, when, how and for whatever reason he likes, is part of general motorist culture in this country.

2. He  - and your correspondent - talk about being stuck in "traffic".They mean MOTOR  traffic.

3. This shows, yet again, that you can be dead keen on cycling as sport or leisure but not go along with what's right for cycling as a form of transport.

I cycled home last night along a cycle path which runs alongside a main road.  The traffic coming back into the city was nose-to-tail the whole length of it (about six miles).  And yet I saw not a single bicycle in that queue.  And yet, I would lay down money that - if asked - a significant number of those people would say that cyclists cause traffic jams. (Anecdote disclaimer: not London).

Anyway, my point is that Lord Sugar is hardly unrepresentative - there are too many motorists sitting in their cars (usually just the one person in each car) complaining about how the traffic jams are down to the buses, or the cyclists, or the phase of the moon...  Anything except 'there are too many f-ing cars!'.

i suggest him to abandon the Rolls-Royce in the traffic jam and hire a tuktuk if he's too lazy to ride himself ;

Why don't he suggest that only cars such as Rolls-Royce are allowed on the roads? that's implicitely what he's suggesting ...

and  no, he's not part of the problem, he is THE problem, the HUGE problem.

And i should add, before the CSH, he was already sitting idle in the traffic jam; but it was "normal", we haven't heard him of anything; at least now, some are moving...  if he has time to loose, he can stay hours in his limo, texting with his smartphone or whatever, no problem; that's not the case for most, the reason why we ride a bike and need a Cycle Super Highway.

Ha! I actually cycled past him in Kensington Palkace Gardens the other morning - if I had known this was his attitude I would have given him a bit of lip!

How can a cycling 'enthusiast' not realise that him and his chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce are part of the problem, as pointed out by Simon E? And exactly how many people actually commute into the City/West End by car? A miniscule percentage of the total commuting numbers, and yet they expect to have the roads to themselves?!?!

Piss off Alan, you and your limo are part of the problem, not the solution.

Do you complain every time you are held up by road works or one of London's many construction sites? No. It's just a cheap dig from a self-important arsehole at someone who has actually done something to improve London's infrastructure for people who do not travel in a limousine.

Somehow I don't think Lord Sugar will be using his new Pinarello for commuting.

He has no excuse now, new bike, new cycle superhighway.  Off to film his latest series, he might be in a better mood if he cycles