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Car parking replaces bike parking outside Hackney school; Tony Gibb calls out sh*t temporary infra; Cycling Mikey gets another driver brought to justice; Lovely bike lane vid; Arnie and Greta go riding; 62% of Copenhageners cycle + more on the live blog

All today's news from the site and beyond.....
05 November 2019, 20:22
Ex-pro Tony Gibb calls out some seriously sh*t infrastructure

The state of this ...

05 November 2019, 20:16
We're loving this
05 November 2019, 20:14
More of these instead of vans please - nice move, DPD
05 November 2019, 20:07
Cycling Mikey off Twitter's camera gets another result
05 November 2019, 16:45
Hackney school's removal of bike spaces at odds with Council's School Streets initiative

School Streets aims to promote car-free commutes and the reduction of air pollution for school pupils in and around London, by banning cars at peak morning and evening times on the designated 'School Streets' - and although the parking spaces on the post below are presumably outside of the council's jurisdiction, it appears anyone using the spaces would have no choice but to drive amongst pupils and mount the pavement to get to their space during peak hours.  

We're yet to hear back from Hackney New School regarding their decision to remove the bicycle spaces, and if alternative provisions have been provided for pupils cycling to school. 

05 November 2019, 15:25
Bike spaces for pupils replaced by car parking spaces outside school in Hackney

The bizarre decision appears to have been made to replace rows of spaces for pupils to lock their bikes with three car parking spaces on a pavement outside the school, according to these photos on Twitter from Hackney Cyclist. 

We believe the school in question is Hackney New School, and we'll be asking them for a statement to confirm that the most recent photo really is the one with the three car parking spaces - and for them to explain the decision - shortly.

05 November 2019, 16:32
Frédéric Magné sacked as a UCI director amid bullying accusations

Former Keirin world champion Magné was relieved of his duties as Director General of the UCI World Cycling Centre following accusations of bullying and a 'breach of trust'. In a brief statement, the UCI said: "Based on information received in the last weeks, the UCI considered that there had been a breach of trust and Mr Frédéric Magné has been relieved of his duties as Director General of the UCI World Cycling Centre (UCI WCC).

"The UCI took its decision very quickly after collecting information and testimonies relating to serious matters concerning Mr Frédéric Magné.

"We will work to put in place new measures guaranteeing the well-being of the employees and trainees at our coaching and training centre. In particular, we are currently exploring ways to strengthen the UCI WCC’s governance. The UCI will make concrete propositions to the administrators at the next Foundation Board meeting of the UCI World Cycling Centre at the end of November, as well as to the UCI Management Committee.

"As our organisation needs to examine all the information at its disposal, it will make no further statement at this stage."

05 November 2019, 15:17
Andre Greipel joins Israel Cycling Academy

It's official that the big German sprinter will ride with ICA in 2020. After a tough 2019 with Arkea Samsic, Greipel said in a statement: “ I am not somebody who is looking back. I just want to look to the future and start from there, and I know my abilities and will try my best to get back to that."

05 November 2019, 14:03
Arnie bike identification: we think we have a winner

road.cc Tony was convinced he's riding a GT Pantera, but Kate over on our Twitter page looks to have nailed it with the suggestion that the bike is in fact a custom version of Fantic's Seven Days Living e-mtb... 

Arnie has added a suspension fork and of course that gold paint job with the unusual leather top tube wrap. We're waiting for Fantic to claim ownership... 

05 November 2019, 12:28
Arnold Schwarzenegger goes riding with his 'friend and hero' Greta Thunberg

Schwarzenegger has heaped praise on 17-year-old environmental activist Thunberg in recent weeks, calling her his 'friend and one of my heroes' as they headed out for a bike ride. Arnie is known to be quite a cycling fan, and has shown increasing interest in environmental issues in recent years. As Governor of California, Schwarzenegger signed the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 to create the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions, and founded the R20 Regions of Climate Action in 2011. He has also adapted his Hummer car to run off hydrogen and another off biofuels. 

Meanwhile, with a climate summit she was set to attend in Chile being moved to Spain due to political unrest, Thunberg is now hoping for a lift across the Atlantic by boat so she can attend some time between the 2nd-13th December in Madrid. 

Also it has to be said but... that's one hell of a jazzy bike Arnie is riding! Anyone got any idea what it is? 

05 November 2019, 10:36
Alexandr Vinokourov cleared of race fixing charges due to lack of evidence
Alexandre Vinokourov wins the 2012 Olympic road race (copyright www.britishcycling.org.uk)

Sporza has this morning reported that the current Astana general manager and former world champion was cleared of corruption charges relating to the 2010 edition of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, due to lack of evidence. The prosecution accused Vinokourov of striking a deal with Alexandr Kolobnev to the tune of €150,000 to allow him to win the race, with Kolobnev finishing six seconds behind in second place - if found guilty Vinokourov could have faced six months in jail and heavy fines. 

He relied on three key grounds to clear his name, firstly that TV images shown nothing suspicious about the performance. The second was that it was proven Vinokourov had his email account hacked by a competitor who wanted to become the Astana team manager in place of him, and styled certain emails to discredit him. The final point that led to the acquittal was that Vinokourov admitted putting money into the Kolobnev's account, but this was because of previously made business agreements. Kolobnev has also been fully acquitted of any wrongdoing. 

05 November 2019, 11:01
Two-time Tour of Flanders winner Stijn Devolder announces retirement at the age of 40
Tour of Flanders 2013 - Stijn Devolder Trek Domane

Devolder has finally called time on his long career, having rode his last season at the pro continental team Corendon–Circus. He won Flanders in 2008 and 2009, and bagged two Tour of Belgium wins plus numerous national titles between 2007 and 2013.

05 November 2019, 10:23
Bikes > cars

Clearly we've a way to go before we can match Copenhagen. Still, could be worse. Could be LA... 

05 November 2019, 09:31
62% of Copenhageners now commute by bike
Copenhagen rush hour still from Morning Ebb and Flow.png

The LA Times reports that 62% of journeys are now made by bike in Copenhagen - other takeaway facts are that there are more bikes than people, and five times more bikes than cars since Copenhagen started their project to transform it into the "best biking city in the world" in 2012. Back then the percentage of bike commutes was at 36%. 

Soren Jensen is one resident who has converted in that time, telling the LA Times that he has since sold his car, lost 50 pounds in weight and bike commutes an hour daily: “The hour on the bike is time I don’t have to spend in a gym. I got healthier and look forward every day to all that fresh air. Life’s good.”

Meanwhile in the UK it's estimated that just 3% of people make a journey by bike daily - and in London, although bike commutes have doubled since the turn of the century, 730,000 journeys are estimated to be made by bike daily, which is relatively small compared to Copenhagen given London's large population. 

05 November 2019, 09:48
The pros are back from the off-season...
05 November 2019, 08:56
Sam Bennett answers 'intimate' questions ahead of time on having three ribs removed

Speaking to Cycling News, Bennett says he had three ribs removed to deal with 'slipping rib syndrome', that caused stitches and stabbing pains in his side; and following a couple of well-publicised tales in the past of what people claim they are able to get up to after having ribs removed (Marilyn Manson anyone?) Bennett says it hasn't given him the same powers, and it genuinely is to fix his injury problems. We believe ya George... 

05 November 2019, 08:42
A petit error...

In fact France had simply named the wrong Petit, and it was Marlène Petit who they had meant to register for their women's team at the European Cyclocross Championships. 

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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24 comments

Avatar
Samtheeagle | 4 years ago
1 like

Sam Bennett could do an Adam and make himself a new mate or 3 even.

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Organon | 4 years ago
1 like

Vino would never fix a race; what a waste of good drugs that would be.

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londonbrick replied to Organon | 4 years ago
0 likes
Organon wrote:

Vino would never fix a race; what a waste of good drugs that would be.

Yeah,you would think so. Desperate man... .

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burtthebike | 4 years ago
3 likes

Really like Mikey's script at the end of his vid; should be widely distributed.

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bobbypuk replied to burtthebike | 4 years ago
1 like
burtthebike wrote:

Really like Mikey's script at the end of his vid; should be widely distributed.

 

Except it is not true, the days of driving how you like are still with us. For those of us outside London there's no change, its just that now police forces are having to come up with reasons not to do anything with video evidence

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Awavey replied to bobbypuk | 4 years ago
1 like
bobbypuk wrote:
burtthebike wrote:

Really like Mikey's script at the end of his vid; should be widely distributed.

 

Except it is not true, the days of driving how you like are still with us. For those of us outside London there's no change, its just that now police forces are having to come up with reasons not to do anything with video evidence

I binge watched some of Mikeys videos as they become addictive to see just how often he catches people using mobile phones,, its unbelievable youd think the police would blitz these places as its just like catching fish in a barrel it seems,  makes you wonder how bad the rest of London is let alone the rest of the country.

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SNS1938 | 4 years ago
0 likes

"Sam Bennett answers 'intimate' questions ahead of time on having three ribs removed"

 

Wow, i knew George Bennett had three ribs removed, but now Sam Bennett is having ribs removed too ... Rib-doping?

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burtthebike replied to SNS1938 | 4 years ago
1 like
SNS1938 wrote:

"Sam Bennett answers 'intimate' questions ahead of time on having three ribs removed"

 

Wow, i knew George Bennett had three ribs removed, but now Sam Bennett is having ribs removed too ... Rib-doping?

Not sure about rib doping, but three ribs = three Eves.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
3 likes

Interesting looking at the historic streetview pictures for that Hackney building. Seems the area the cars are parked on was originally just part of the normal pavement. I guess it might still have been part of the property of the building...but are there no planning laws relevant when such land has been used by the public pedestrians for a long time?

Generally am sick of how land constantly gets repurposed for car storage. There's not going to be room left for anything else in the city at this rate. We'll all have to move out of London to make room for a giant car park.

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Awavey | 4 years ago
1 like

Google maps would suggest that Hackney setup has been like that for a while, whilst turning that space into car parking does seem stupid,I'd question how secure any bikes being left there basically on the side of a pavement and road completely accessible by anyone wandering by all school day were. If theyve replaced it with better secure bike parking inside the school gates,which then displaced those cars...which is the worse problem to have?

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quiff | 4 years ago
3 likes

Hackney school story - I'm betting (hoping) that the cycle parking was popular but there were concerns about security, so they provided secure spaces inside the school instead...  

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billymansell replied to quiff | 4 years ago
1 like
quiff wrote:

Hackney school story - I'm betting (hoping) that the cycle parking was popular but there were concerns about security, so they provided secure spaces inside the school instead...  

I like your optimism but suspect they just saw it as an easy(lazy) way for parking their cars.

Anyway, I see a local councillor has reviewed their planning conditions and they are in breach so planning enforcement will now act on the school.

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quiff replied to billymansell | 4 years ago
0 likes
billymansell wrote:
quiff wrote:

Hackney school story - I'm betting (hoping) that the cycle parking was popular but there were concerns about security, so they provided secure spaces inside the school instead...  

I like your optimism but suspect they just saw it as an easy(lazy) way for parking their cars.

Anyway, I see a local councillor has reviewed their planning conditions and they are in breach so planning enforcement will now act on the school.

I claim my prize from the future. Tomorrow's live blog shows 100 parking spaces inside the school grounds.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
1 like

Would be good if more could be found out about that Hackney school story (which is just appalling). Is there any truth in the comments on the thread that the space used now for car-parking has been public access for decades? And where RantyHighwayman says "In 2017 it was an office with highway paving up to the boundary. It's since been replaced with the red paving" - does that imply any established right to public access?

Also - is this down to the council, or one of those oligarch-run academy empires, or is it a private school?

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londonbrick replied to FluffyKittenofTindalos | 4 years ago
0 likes
FluffyKittenofTindalos wrote:

Would be good if more could be found out about that Hackney school story (which is just appalling). Is there any truth in the comments on the thread that the space used now for car-parking has been public access for decades? And where RantyHighwayman says "In 2017 it was an office with highway paving up to the boundary. It's since been replaced with the red paving" - does that imply any established right to public access?

Also - is this down to the council, or one of those oligarch-run academy empires, or is it a private school?

It's an academy so it's not directly accountable to the council. I can hardly imagine a Hackney Learning Trust school doing this.That said, apparently the planning conditions have been breached, so fingers crossed.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
1 like

Where is that Max Wakefield video filmed?  With that long mandatory cycle lane that's wide enough to fit the whole width of the handlebars? 

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Jitensha Oni replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
1 like
brooksby wrote:

Where is that Max Wakefield video filmed?  With that long mandatory cycle lane that's wide enough to fit the whole width of the handlebars? 

 

A105 Enfield, one of the mini-Holland schemes:

https://goo.gl/maps/sKg4pNoMtKi1Ws1U6

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brooksby replied to Jitensha Oni | 4 years ago
0 likes
Jitensha Oni wrote:
brooksby wrote:

Where is that Max Wakefield video filmed?  With that long mandatory cycle lane that's wide enough to fit the whole width of the handlebars? 

 

A105 Enfield, one of the mini-Holland schemes:

https://goo.gl/maps/sKg4pNoMtKi1Ws1U6

Thanks; I'm a bit jealous of it 

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srchar replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes
brooksby wrote:
Jitensha Oni wrote:

A105 Enfield, one of the mini-Holland schemes:

https://goo.gl/maps/sKg4pNoMtKi1Ws1U6

Thanks; I'm a bit jealous of it 

Don't be, it has more than its fair share of poor design decisions (bike lane between bus shelter and bus stop, bike lane between pavement and parked cars, bike lane crossing numerous side streets etc)

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FrankH | 4 years ago
2 likes

Looking at that empty road in Copenhagen I'm surprised more people don't drive.

angel

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kil0ran | 4 years ago
0 likes

Ah, so that's what it is - didn't know it had a name (slipped rib syndrome). Sympathise with George, it's intensely painful. I've had it for a number of years in my right side, only gets triggered when sitting and bending forward (e.g. to do up laces) so it's not too debilitating for me. Pain is sharp and stabbing with a dull lingering pain afterwards. If you've ever crashed down on your crossbar, or caught your bollocks twixt inner thigh and the nose of your saddle, it's like that. I'd always assumed it was a muscle spasm because stretching out made it go away.

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fixedwhip | 4 years ago
0 likes

Now that Copenhagen has been mentioned, it's probably worth bringing up the wide bike lane that was mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It is absolutely awful. It is part of one of the routes that I can take to and from work, and it's a complete mess. I haven't heard a single good thing written or said about it, but plenty about how bad it is, to the point where the council have acknowledged that it is causing problems. The change has disrupted a perfectly fine route, created two huge bottlenecks (it's only wide on the bridge - it's quite narrow coming on and off it, making you need to squeeze up in advance), made people on bikes from one direction do U-turns to get on to it, forced people walking and cycling to cross paths with each other at a very busy point, and generally been shit. It was far better before, including when there were extensive roadworks during the process of the change.

One article online about it is here - https://www.tv2lorry.dk/koebenhavn/cyklister-melder-om-kaos-paa-dyr-og-r... - but there's plenty out there. It feels like the people who planned this have never cycled or seen the area. Just goes to show that even in a place with fantastic infrastructure, mistakes can be made!

Also, the bike lane didn't need to be 5 metres wide. It was never busy enough to justify the change and I'd say there are fewer people using it now than before, but now it looks busier because everyone is bunched up. The video in the article shows just a bit of how bad it is.

Avatar
burtthebike | 4 years ago
7 likes

"But London is not the same as Copenhagen." is the cry so often heard from petrolheads.  Well, neither was Copenhagen.  Like all western cities, it was gridlocked and more roads just made things worse, so it was very much like London.  The difference is that they acknowledged that trying to satisfy the car monster was never going to work and actively pursued the alternatives, especially cycling.

We could do the same, but while we have endless governments who simply refuse to look at those alternatives, except for some derisory crumbs off the road builder's table, it won't happen here.  There's an election happening, so all of us cyclists should be hassling the candidates and parties to commit to sign up to the BMA's proposal of £20/head/year for active travel, and to finally get around to the comprehensive review of road law, promised so long ago.   The BBC R4 prog "Today" is asking for subjects from the public for them to ask politicians, so take a minute and tell them to ask about those two subjects pm [at] bbc.co.uk

Avatar
visionset replied to burtthebike | 4 years ago
1 like
burtthebike wrote:

so take a minute and tell them to ask about those two subjects pm [at] bbc.co.uk

Done
I invite others to do the same  1

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