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Live blog: Alejandro Valverde says “I never tested positive,” Frankfurt tow away nearly 800 cars in a month for parking in cycle lanes + more

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@Rendel Harris Oh, and by the way. "But I will not take risks for something other than the GC." - this could just as well be read as "I won't take any risks unless it's really, really worth it." They're not even talking about snatching the maillot jaune for a day, but about the GC. Who wouldn't, if they had a opportune shot at that?
Here's a photo I took on Alpe d'Huez at TdF 1991. L to R: Gianni Bugno, Miguel Indurain, Luc Leblanc. They would finish the stage in that order, Bugno winning. Yes, colour film was available in 1991 but that day I chose to use black and white knowing that many years hence it would look epic.
Riding a bike is green. Pro cycling is not. Don't greenwash us by confusing one with the other.
The first 750 words of this article comprise a detailed explanation of the ways in which cycling continues to feel the full force of climate change. Perhaps more time reading what's actually written before rushing to spaff nonsense everywhere might help your comprehension.
Sadiq Khan and TfL cannot be accused of neglecting cycling. They have greatly improved provision in London. Yes there is a lot more that could be done, but we need to be patient. The public finances aren't in good shape, so things are going to b e tight for some time.
@Rendel Harris "ultimately football at every level is played on roughly the same size to pitch, the goals are the same size and there are eleven players on each team." Except they don't. In a senior team a 16-year-old plays against adults, under tougher competition, plays more matches and under greater mental strain. If your argument was vaild, I could easily counter it by sayng that riding the very same bike on the same roads as in training, 150 km a day, should not be such a big deal for a pro cyclist.
The TdF yearly circus generates human and atmospheric pollution. Big time. Airplanes, choppers, trucks, cars for teams, media, VIP and other involved parties. But pro cycling is a profitable business, ask ASO. Don't spoil the party with questions about carbon footprint, side-road waste, recycling (pun intended). Also, why does ASO not have a plan B case of high temperatures - earlier departure times, shortened stages, ... ? Based on this week's weather forecasts, several stages are likely to be cancelled. Quote of the day : "But as cycling continues to feel the full force of climate change, ..." In what ways?
@Podc I heard that Scunthorpe CC's experiment with wrapping the name around the jersey under the arm to make it fit didn't go too well either.
Be interesting to see if UAE chase down any breakaway today to ensure that Jonas stays in yellow.
@Rendel Harris Interestingly, and it sort of supports my theory that UAE were being cunning, Pog has the mountains jersey today because he was the quickest up the final climb, which argues that he hadn't burnt all his matches when he got to the finish.
17 thoughts on “Live blog: Alejandro Valverde says “I never tested positive,” Frankfurt tow away nearly 800 cars in a month for parking in cycle lanes + more”
Quote:
Would love to see that happen in places around the UK, but it would be seen as more of the Great War on the Motorist (TM) and no police force would touch it.
brooksby wrote:
Would love to see that happen in places around the UK, but it would be seen as more of the Great War on the Motorist (TM) and no police force would touch it.
Think they would need to build a bigger compound first.
Grahamd wrote:
nah, just crush them and deposit the offending cube of scrap metal on their porch.
brooksby wrote:
Would love to see that happen in places around the UK, but it would be seen as more of the Great War on the Motorist (TM) and no police force would touch it.
It’s a bit of a giggle commuting (by bike/car/bus/horse/whatever) down Hotwell Road in the morning – any of the cars left in the left-hand lane just get picked up and stuck on the back of a lorry
Canyon48 wrote:
You realise that they have to do that *every* morning- there are some people down there seem to think that recovery charge is just part of the cost of running their car, it seems…
Quote:
Duplicate post.
Except clearly the prospect
Except clearly the prospect of your car being towed has no effect on driver behaviour as (a) there are dozens of tow companies making a healthy living from doing this already, and (b) inspite of a month of warning, 850 drivers in one city still parked on the bike paths. Useful as revenge, but not sure how useful as a deterrent. Perhaps if the cars were then crushed……
I love the word
I love the word Abschleppdienst.
ConcordeCX wrote:
some of the German nouns are pure class. While the compound nouns are in a league of their own. I still break into cold sweats thinking about it and trying to get my tongue around them when I attempted and failed my German O’Level quite spectacularly.
I think it’s not so much the
I think it’s not so much the police that wouldn’t touch it as local councils.
Bezirksschornsteinfegermeiste
I used to be a bit of a bookie in my early teens and was fascinated with long words, I can’t recal many so had to look it up but some of the longer words in every day use are in German, Finnish + Scandanavian words too
Bezirksschornsteinfegermeister – head district chimney sweep
Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän – Danube Steam boat river captain
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
it’s a process called agglutination. The second word breaks up quite easily into “Danube steam ship travel business captain”.
you’ll enjoy this one, which I’m going to practice shouting at recalcitrant drivers, just to disorient them:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon
ConcordeCX wrote:
I don’t recall seeing that in Auguste Escoffier’s Reportoire de la Cuisine, that’s a belter!
Valverde: “I never tested
Valverde: “I never tested positive”. Oh well, that has a long history as a valid defence then….
I was almost starting to feel
I was almost starting to feel sorry for Valverde, thinking that he was getting a disproportionate amount of stick, but then he goes and says something like this and any sympathy disappears. So he was just storing his blag with a highly notable doctor linked to doping for prosperity?
Footpath parking seems to be
Footpath parking seems to be default setting for a lot of Drivers, no matter the situation. I have noticed an increase in people parking a few inches onto the footpath in locations where it makes no difference “Emergency Sevices might need to get by” … Well, don’t fucking parking there if Emergency Services are so important to you.
one from down under on
one from down under on yesterday’s ride – not 100% sure on the law – parking in a bike lane is legal in Victoria unless signs (none) say otherwise – blocking access to/from probably is a parking offence I’m told but at most its around a $95 fine