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Live blog: Highlights of Tour de France team time trial + reaction, Wiggins defends Froome in Eurosport podcast, cyclist sets zebra crossing example + more
All the news from the site and beyond as we start a new week
Mon, Jul 09, 2018 14:25
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
wtjs 15 hours ago
@FionaJJ These officers deployed next-level stupidity, and it must be difficult for the police to find people this dim. It doesn't even need rolling-roads or whatever, just a reputable bike computer on a quickly changed mount for the difficult cases where a proper EAPC has been modded, although you would need to look hard in Lancashire to find a police officer who knows how to make a pedal cycle go. Most illegal electric motorbikes are immediately obvious, not least because the crim is wearing a face mask. I saw an obvious one tonight coming out of Garstang Sainsbury's, not pedalling but without a face mask because everybody knows that the police only come into the town to hide away in the police station 200 yards away.
bikeman01 16 hours ago
Gustav Gullholm.. that's not a good look mate
mdavidford 18 hours ago
@Chris RideFar I think what you meant to say was "REMOVE this and put it on PODCAST CC".
jaymack 20 hours ago
As Mary Whitehouse never said - one doesn't have to read the article if one doesn't want to read about an off-road bicycle.
Rendel Harris 20 hours ago
@FionaJJ In London they're allowed to stop on single and double yellows to deliver packages or empty pillar boxes; in practice they take this as carte blanche to park wherever and whenever they want, such as this chap on the Brixton Road who pulled into the bus/cycle/motorcycle lane without indicating, as I approached at 20mph, to park on a red route, response to a remonstrance, "I suppose you never get post delivered do ya?"
FionaJJ 21 hours ago
@Rendel Harris We have a pavement parking ban, but around here at least, royal mail vans are already exempt, subject to certain caveats, such as allowing at least 1.5m, and only being stopped to do their work.
FionaJJ 21 hours ago
It was already embarrassing for the police that they made such a mess of their attempt to determine whether a bike was legal or not, but I had assumed it was a group of well intentioned, but under-trained officers acting on their own initiative, having spotted something they thought looked not quite right. I'm now discovering this was a planned activity, something sufficiently organised to have been given a name - Operation FRISLEN, designed specifically to identify and remove illegal e-bikes and scooters. It's apparent that the officers were sent out without adequate training, never mind the kind of equipment that should be used for this sort of work. I'm not saying they always need specialist equipment to spot all illegal bikes, but at least if they'd been given a demonstration with that equipment, they'd have realised why their approach was not going to end well.
Geoff Ingram 23 hours ago
Have put drop bars on a 2001 B1 mtb, a 2007 stumpy hardtail and a 2010 stumpy full suss. In all cases fairly basic conversións leaving gearing and wheels broadly the same and concentrating on correct positioning of bars and fit. Oddly, with all 3 I was happy with the result when recently done, but after a few months found that the extra speed on easy trails was more than offset by the lack of ability (probably mine) on tougher routes and finally preferred flat bar with slammed and inverted stem as best overall compromise. Good fun playing around, though.
mark1a 23 hours ago
The photos in this review look they are for a different bag?
mattw 1 day ago
This is a strange reactionary knee jerk overall. But what is this "are essentially motorbikes in disguise" waffle? "One letter claimed that high-powered electric ‘e-bikes’ were “essentially motorbikes” in disguise, with many being used without lights, helmets, or any hi-vis clothing." Surely, they simply ARE motorbikes?
14 thoughts on “Live blog: Highlights of Tour de France team time trial + reaction, Wiggins defends Froome in Eurosport podcast, cyclist sets zebra crossing example + more”
A few years ago I stopped
A few years ago I stopped next to another cyclist at a zebra when a parent and 2 kids wanted to cross.
Driver just piled through, when I caught up with him to tell him he wasn’t far off mowing a 5 year old over, all he could say was that I shouldn’t have stopped next to the other cyclist.
hirsute wrote:
So essentially “I was being a dick because of cyclists!”
I wonder if you managed to keep a straight face!
KendalRed wrote:
I didn’t get very far ,as I was still quite angry at what could have happened and I that I would have felt partly responsible if the kid had started to cross and been hit.
I usually expect at least a
I usually expect at least a car maybe 2 to pile on through when I stop for zebra crossings,but that’s ridiculous amount of not paying attention by the motorists there
Awavey wrote:
Difficult to know what’s going on in people’s heads or what they’re taking in from their surroundings but some wheeled users seem to expect pedestrians to step out before they’ll consider stopping. Probably something you’d be reluctant to do with a pram/pushchair…
Maybe it’s part of the thinking – subconscious perhaps – that other road users’ safety isn’t your responsibility too (especially if it might delay your all-important journey by a few seconds).
A lot of London cyclists are bad for this mindset too – fortunately they’re less lethal.
Duncann wrote:
I can confirm that many more London drivers are worse for this mindset.
Some zebra crossings seem
Some zebra crossings seem worse than others- there is one by our office which frequently gets ignored. I think its because it comes just after a mini roundabout.
There are a few red lights on
There are a few traffic lights on my commute where I do not wish to be anywhere near them as they change to red, understanding that cars will barrel through both myself and the stopping power of the red light. If I do have to stop (always for a red) it will be as close to the kerb as possible.
There is one where I will wait, at some distance, until the light has changed and watch 2-3 cars (sometimes mind) accelerate through the red and only then do I join the queue.
A few weeks back, I saw a driver, 3 cars back in the queue, upon the first car stopping for the red, pull out and pass the 2 cars that had stopped and then breeze through the red at speed. Oh for a helmet cam or a big artic coming the other way. Or both…
ktache wrote:
I do the opposite, I approach lights already central in the lane further right than primary, if it’s one of those two into one jobs I’ll ride pretty much as far right so a motor can’t undertake me, I don’t want a close overtake through a set of lights nor someone trying to barge in from the right as we saw a month or so back.
On approach to zebras and can see peds nearby I’ll be bang in the middle of the lane to control things, shoulder check and slow to antipate and then stop. Never had issues doing this in the 20 years I’ve been taking this approach and I even do it on a main through road when I can see peds waiting to cross when there’s no crossing. Being assertive and good road position makes a huge amount of difference and from the stats being mown down from behind is extremely rare, pschologically this is very very difficult for a driver to do it even if they are a total cockwomble, yes you can’t account for the Gail Purcell type driver but again that’s incredibly rare, I’d feel less safe doing what you’re doing, it makes you more vulnerable IMHO.
Not defending the drivers who
Not defending the drivers who didnt stop to let the woman and baby cross but legally you dont need to stop at a zebra crossing unless a person has stepped on to it
Its just good manners to stop and allow someone to cross rather than wait till they have stepped on to the crossing
https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians-crossings.html
kev-s wrote:
What a stupid rule.
kev-s wrote:
True, and it is also illegal to overtake a vehicle in the zig-zag line area.
#bloodycyclists
#bloodycyclists #bloodyredlightjumpingcyclists
The regulations for this
The regulations for this changed in 1997. Road users are required to afford priority to those who are actually on the crossing, not those waiting to cross. Stopping for the pedestrian in these circumstances would be a driving test fail.
Overtaking within zig-zags only applies to an overtake on a motor vehicle, not a cyclist. It’s not an opinion it’s the 1997 ped. crossing regs.