Welcome to your Tuesday live blog, with Simon MacMichael, Jack Sexty and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Poll – Would you care if your bike got stolen? Rule change scuppers World Champs ride, driver tells cyclist he hit “you were in the middle of the road”, expensive bike breaks (not hols), more pavement fines, Belgian rides + more
All today’s news from around the site and beyond…
Tue, Feb 19, 2019 21:47
SUMMARY
19 February 2019, 21:47
London Cycling Campaign offering free bike checks
Free LCC bike checks today in the @cityoflondon from 12.00 to 17.00. Find us in Aldgate at the corner of White Kennett Street and Gravel Lane https://t.co/KpKnCSiYG3 We’ll be there every Monday until April pic.twitter.com/9sVQurW1GZ
— LdnCyclingCampaign (@london_cycling) February 18, 2019
Every Monday until April, the London cycling charity will check bikes for free in Aldgate.
19 February 2019, 21:47
Drop in fines for pavement cycling - this time it's Reading
We reported last week that numerous local papers and news websites were up in arms about the drop in fines for pavement cycling – and Get Reading are the latest to jump on board based on figures from a FOI request suggesting incidents of pedestrians getting injured are on the rise – they report that 18 cyclists were fined for pavement cycling in Thames Valley last year.
While cycling on the footway, other than designated shared use paths, is illegal, official guidance issued by then Home Office minister Paul Boateng in 1999 and reissued by former transport minister Robert Goodwill five years ago makes clear it should not automatically result in a fine. The guidance originally outlined by Boateng says: “The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of traffic and who show consideration to other pavement users when doing so.
“Chief police officers, who are responsible for enforcement, acknowledge that many cyclists, particularly children and young people, are afraid to cycle on the road, sensitivity and careful use of police discretion is required.”
19 February 2019, 21:47
Cyclist told he is to blame after getting clipped by driver on Dongegal road
Cycling in Donegal…. #NYSM #NowYouSeeMe pic.twitter.com/yxZ0fuoIvK
— Pauric Ward (@pward82) February 18, 2019
Posting on Twitter, Pauric Ward claims the driver stopped only to tell him he was “cycling in the middle of the road” and it was his fault. He says that the Garda haven’t been in touch even though the incident was reported, and luckily wasn’t seriously injured.
19 February 2019, 21:47
Cycling bridge collapses in Netherlands - no-one hurt
A bicycle bridge over a canal in the Netherlands has collapsed – thankfully with no-one hurt.
Eindhovennews.com reports that the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal in the village of Best collapsed yesterday.
The wooden bridge had failed a safety inspection two months ago, leading the local authorities to ban all traffic from it and put diversions in place.
19 February 2019, 21:47
No one watches women's bike racing...
It’s a pity @UCI_CX season is coming to an end, because women’s #cyclocross races were about to overtake men’s races when it comes to Flemish TV interest. This weekend, the women’s share exceeded 90% for the 1st time: 92% @SuperprestigeCX #noordzeecross & 95% @BricoCross #Hulst pic.twitter.com/3PB8hcoNEk
— Daam Van Reeth (@vrdaam) February 18, 2019
….unless you’re Flemish where women’s cyclo-cross racing is reaching a par with the men’s. Maybe because the lead woman doesn’t get a half lap lead by the third ronde
19 February 2019, 21:47
What's your most disastrous breakage?
It seems we’re not the only unlucky ones, as tales of catastrophic mech fails, snapped seatposts and crack carbon wheels have all made it into our unfortunate round-up of equipment fails… what’s the priciest bike bit that’s broke on you?
19 February 2019, 21:47
NZ track cyclist told he’s ineligible for world championships – an hour before leaving for airport
A cyclist from New Zealand has been told he is ineligible for next week’s track world championships – just one hour before he was due to leave for the airport and the 11,000-mile trip to Poland.
Team pursuit rider Dylan Kennett fell foul of a new regulation brought in by the UCI that riders at a World Championships must have competed in a World Cup earlier in the same season.
Cycling New Zealand appealed to the world governing body to be flexible given that Kennett’s absence from the World Cup this year was due to injury, but to no avail.
19 February 2019, 21:47
POLL: Would you care if your bike was stolen?
“Cycle theft is no longer seen as a priority: the feeling is that the public do not care if their bikes get stolen.”
In the final edition of yesterday’s Live blog we published a piece about the British Transport Police disbanding its dedicated bike theft squad to re-deploy resources to tackle violent crime. It was a decision that had angered members of the squad itself who see bike theft on the rail network as a major problem that will only get worse if not tackled.
While it’s hard in these times of slashed police budgets to quibble about the BTP making an operational decision to target violence over bike theft the remark at the start of this piece from the officer explaining the rationale behind his superior’s decision leapt out at us, and it seems a great many of you too. It also set us thinking because it’s not the first time we’ve heard that sentiment expressed – it’s fair to say that there are as many different types of cyclist as there are people riding bikes and not all of them care as much about the bike ride as we’d imagine most road.cc users do. But even amongst enthusiast cyclists it’s not uncommon to hear the sentiment expressed that having a bike stolen is an opportunity to get a new bike. Maybe that’s just putting a brave gloss on a bad situation, but how would you feel if it happened to you?
Let us know by voting in our poll and in the comments below.
19 February 2019, 21:47
Things you can do on a bike in Belgium…
Ride through a pond without getting your wheels wet*. In the Bokrijk in the Di Wijers region.
*You might get splashed though.
19 February 2019, 21:47
Phil Gaimon Worst Retirement Ever - Perth
The ex-pro goes in search of KoMs and tasty snacks while learning some Aussie-style English.
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to ebiketips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
Rendel Harris 49 minutes ago
@mitsky Just checking the figures and apparently the 2026 average cost is £58,000 per year per prisoner; worth noting that is only the direct cost, you then have to factor in ten years of lost tax income from the prisoner, ten years that the prisoner is making no contribution to society as a worker or as a consumer, plus the fact that if they were the primary breadwinner very likely the costs will include benefits for their family as well. None of which should be a reason for keeping violent recidivists out of prison of course, nor drug/drink drivers who kill, but it is a factor worth considering for lower-level offences.
Rendel Harris 58 minutes ago
@Surreyrider I ride in Surrey a fair bit and absolutely many do look like that but the point is they all *think* they're driving perfectly reasonably (as one discovers when remonstrating with someone who's skimmed one by 30cm, "I gave you masses of room") so deterrent penalties have little effect. That's why we need to strike at the root cause and actually train drivers properly and test them stringently (and more than once over the course of a potential 70+ years of driving, it's absolutely absurd that competence and knowledge in what for most people is the activity in their life that will run the biggest risk of killing people you never have to have your qualifications renewed).
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@mitsky Imprisonment currently costs over £50k p.a. per prisoner and obviously that will rise over the course of a ten-year stretch with inflation. Regarding culpability and mitigating sentences etc, of course I'm not against condign punishment for drivers who kill (and cyclists on the tiny, tiny handful of occasions when this happens), including prison as appropriate; I was objecting to the ridiculous and oft-repeated demand of MM that drivers who kill cyclists must get ten years, "no excuses, no exceptions".
Blackthorne83 5 hours ago
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
RoadYeti 5 hours ago
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
chrisonabike 9 hours ago
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
chrisonabike 9 hours ago
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
mikecassie 9 hours ago
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
ktache 10 hours ago
Thanks, just going to have to suck it up. Got next week off and will take the easy, if expensive option...
Rendel Harris 11 hours ago
@ktache Just go for the TNT Sports only package, £30.99 for a month. Alternatively have you considered experimenting with a VPN for a few pounds, allowing you to sign up for a free stream abroad, e.g. SBS Australia which streams the Tour live? If I didn't have a kind mate's login that's what I'd do!
15 thoughts on “Live blog: Poll – Would you care if your bike got stolen? Rule change scuppers World Champs ride, driver tells cyclist he hit “you were in the middle of the road”, expensive bike breaks (not hols), more pavement fines, Belgian rides + more”
The cyclist was more of a
The cyclist was more of a threat to the gutter than the white line, the driver in a massive vehicle is a massive tool!
As for the CX audience, who cares? More females watch I’m a celebrity than males, it is what it is…
I wonder what a Freedom of
I wonder what a Freedom of Information request would show for the number of drivers being fined for driving illegally in cycle lanes?
Cycling on pavements #firstworldproblems
ChrisB200SX wrote:
I suspect it would show that there haven’t been many such fines, which would then be interpreted as demonstrating that the act rarely happens and so need not be a focus of police resources.
ChrisB200SX wrote:
I have reported vehicles parked in a mandatory cycle lane and provided video evidence. The police refused to prosecute and told me to contact the local community police.
ChrisB200SX wrote:
.
“cycling in the middle of the
“cycling in the middle of the road” I have had that in secondary road positioning. Hooted going passed, then at the lights ‘you were in the middle of the ‘kin road, mate.’ What they mean is, that ‘you weren’t in the gutter where you belong’…
dassie wrote:
And yet if they’re driving in their car on their own, they are a lot further over into the lane than any cyclist would be…
(OT: I was on the bus this morning, and counted cars we passed on the dual carriageway section queuing to get into the city. I counted 29 cars, and only 2 of them had more than one person in them).
brooksby]
And yet if they’re driving in their car on their own, they are a lot further over into the lane than any cyclist would be…
(OT: I was on the bus this morning, and counted cars we passed on the dual carriageway section queuing to get into the city. I counted 29 cars, and only 2 of them had more than one person in them).
[/quote ]Average occupancy of a car is 1.1 people.
dassie wrote:
Had similar when overtaking parked vehicles, because of course I simply need to crash into the back of the vehicle so you can go on your way. I ignore most of them, only the nutters who try the pulling alongside etc get the hairdryer treatment, unfortunately for one person it turned out they live at the bottom of my street so when he and his missus got out as I’d seen them turn into my street and was 4-5 seconds behind I asked him what he was going to do now he wasn’t in his tin box trying to threaten me with it, blah blah blah police, blah blah blah dash cam. I said great, we can then see your illegal use of the horn, tailgating me, talking bullshit about ‘middle of the road’ and also you reversing back down the road directly at me which is an assault. I even gave him my address to point plod toward!
Was tempted to leave him a little present but not even worth the effort as sweet as the end result might be.
My worst break was a seatpost
My worst break was a seatpost. I was trundling up a slight incline at about 15mph and bam!, I’m on the road. The lady riding behind me couldn’t understand why I was sitting in the middle of the road on such a nice day. Luckily, landed right on my butt – was off the bike for 2 weeks but nothing broken on me.
Amost destroyed my old Cannondale. But, I got a new Trek Domane out of the accident so alls well that ends well.
And there is no justice for bikes on the road. Best to realize that cars outweigh us by orders of magnatude and we need to look out for them regardless of the laws involved. Always seems to be the bicyclsts fault regardless. Even when the accident is on video.
Confiscate the car from that
Confiscate the car from that knobhead and let him walk back to Derry or whereever – might even make it before he needs a visa (I’ll get me coat)
Edited to add: …and he hasn’t even paid any road tax in Donegal
I’d be proper gutted if
I’d be proper gutted if either of my bikes were nicked, despite both being insured. As self-builds they’ve had a lot of work put into them and they’re also literally irreplaceable as Bowman & Fairlight don’t have any replacement frame stock.
I’d probably be less bothered if they were from Spesh/Cannondale/Giant/Trek etc because, well, new bike excuse 😀
Most disastrous breakage for
Most disastrous breakage for me was my ego – I was cycling home from work on my Triban 540 (10sp) and stopped at a set of lights. when the lights changed I got out of my seat to put the power down, started to pull away then my foot just went straight through the tarmac without any resistance, I lost my balance, hit the ground and almost ended up under the wheels of a bus that was behind me.
It turns out that the quick link or ‘easylink’ in the chain couldnt take the power and had completely disintegrated while i was out of the saddle
my Castelli Alpha jacket had a few small holes ripped into it from the fall
My reaction to my bike being
My reaction to my bike being stolen woud range from homicidal to mildly irritated: Homicidal if my best bike was nicked; mildly irritated that a 15 minute walk awaited me if someone had stolen my “Bahnhof bike”.
A really stupid and insensitive comment from the police!
Christopher TR1 wrote:
Exactly
(If my bike was stolen I would be devastated, as I truly cannot afford to buy a new bike…).