Highway Code changes criticised in bizarre “I’m a cyclist, but…” Spectator article; Chris Froome channels his inner Steve Irwin; Atlético Madrid could host Vuelta stage…during a La Liga match; Count the cyclists + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Chris Froome channels his inner Steve Irwin
Crikey! She’s a beauty 😍🐍 pic.twitter.com/62mywRd2wr
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) June 1, 2022
We have a caption contest winner…
Snakey watch flex
— socialism and pizza enjoyer (@henderslam) June 1, 2022
Count the cyclists
A bike-lane moved 2.5X as many people as a regular traffic lane in a @TFL study, & given that they are half the width, the study concluded that bike-lanes are 5X as efficient as vehicle traffic lanes. HT @urbanthoughts11. Mobility in cities is about space. pic.twitter.com/RExumvz8sw
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) June 1, 2022
E-scooter operator "highlights the absurdity of single drivers hogging the capital’s roads, when other forms of transport are openly available" by giving cyclists car-sized cages
I think the penny might have just dropped. pic.twitter.com/B7j2j9InGZ
— Bike Rogers (@bike_rogers) May 31, 2022
This (above) is our favourite thing to come out of Micromobility firm Dott’s project in Hammersmith, west London, this week.
Speaking about the eye-catching project, Dott co-founder and chief executive Henri Moissinac said it “highlights the absurdity of single drivers hogging the capital’s roads, when other forms of transport are openly available and so much better for both the individual and the community.
“It’s time we reimagined how we travel across our cities, which is why we’re here to unlock London with clean rides for everyone”
Highway Code changes criticised in Spectator article which "perpetuates all the worst myths and misunderstandings about the recent Highway Code changes"
I’m a cyclist, but I give way to cars. Maybe you should too… I explain why in @spectator: https://t.co/ptVk7FoopY
— Jake Wallis Simons (@JakeWSimons) May 31, 2022
“I’m a cyclist, but…” rarely ends well…
Yesterday, that foreboding phrase popped up in The Spectator in an opinion piece written by Jake Wallis Simons, titled: ‘The cycling habit most hated by drivers’…
In the following 1,000 words we’re told: “While everyone loves a knight, everyone hates a cyclist.” And despite admitting to being a “member of the brotherhood of Lycra” who has “ridden thousands of miles and competed in several amateur races”, Simons goes on to say he believes the new Highway Code changes have made the roads more dangerous. So, what other nuggets can we find?
“Before taking up the hobby myself, I hated the middle-aged man in Lycra as much as the next man. So unlike some of my fellows, perhaps, I feel I can relate to drivers. Think about it from their point of view. Suddenly, we live in a world in which cyclists are entitled to hog the highway, even two abreast, while ignoring the very cycle lanes that were created – at great public expense – for their own benefit. What could be more infuriating? It’s as if the government was intentionally designing a policy to stoke the fires of hate.” Right…
Simons cites a 2002 Department for Transport study which found that being unable to overtake a cyclist was a “key source of rage” for motorists, before he concludes that is why he does “not follow the new Highway Code” when he rides and “rather than riding in the middle of the tarmac, I trace my line along the margins.”
Interestingly, having earlier said, “cyclists are entitled to hog the highway, even two abreast”, Simons now adds: “although my cycling partner and I form up two abreast when there are no cars about, we fall into single file immediately on sight of one. To do otherwise would feel deliberately obnoxious.”
Perhaps he does ride to the Highway Code after all? Because rather than demanding cyclists must become monstrous two abreast road hoggers, as some national newspapers would have you believe, the Code actually states:
Be considerate of the needs of other road users when riding in groups. You can ride two abreast and it can be safer to do so, particularly in larger groups or when accompanying children or less experienced riders. Be aware of drivers behind you and allow them to overtake (for example, by moving into single file or stopping) when you feel it is safe to let them do so
Maybe Simons is a fan of the Highway Code after all?
Anyway, the reaction has been…well, as you’d expect really…
It’s also worth noting that academics *have* looked into the causes of some drivers’ ire towards cyclists and their resultant actions, and that it doesn’t seem to be connected to how anyone rides. It’s much more fundamental and complicated.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 1, 2022
I’m not saying don’t be courteous (though spending all ride hogging the verge is perhaps less courteous than self-harming). But if you do, you’ll still get nasty incidents. I once had a driver steer deliberately at me when I had my then-infant son on the back of the bike.
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) June 1, 2022
Sadly, it will be read by people who want their prejudices confirmed, and someone who claims cyclists status justifies their prejudice.
— Tim on two wheels (@2wheelsgoodBrum) May 31, 2022
And by me, I’m afraid…
I’m sorry, Jake, but that’s an appalling article. It perpetuates all of the worst myths & misunderstandings about the recent HC changes. If you carefully read the new guidance, & the research behind it, you will see that your approach is actually more dangerous.
— Andrew Thompson (@Xymbl) May 31, 2022
But I guess we’re used to this by now…
> Press misrepresents Highway Code changes – just days before they come into force
Atlético Madrid could host Vuelta stage...during a La Liga match
[Image: Roberto, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons]
Spanish newspaper Marca is reporting the organiser of the Vuelta a España is hoping to bring the race through Atlético Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano during the final stage on Sunday September 11. The processional stage ends in the Spanish capital and the race’s organisers think bringing the riders through the ground at half time of a La Liga match in front of nearly 70,000 fans would be a showpiece finale to the Grand Tour.
It remains to be seen if it can be pulled off this year, but the organisation remains keen to schedule a La Liga pitch invasion in the future, even if it can’t be organised in time for the 2022 edition. A 15-minute window to arrive in a football stadium mid-stage? What could possibly go wrong?
"I'm a cyclist, but...": A meme experience...
“I have ridden thousands of miles and competed in several amateur races.” https://t.co/vuurSedzDZ pic.twitter.com/MycpD0xXVD
— Elisabeth Anderson 🚲🐺 (@velobetty) June 1, 2022
NEW road.cc kit is out now — pre-order your brand new Stolen Goat custom road.cc kit
"I’m not saying road riding is boring but when I get to change, it keeps me on my toes": Tom Pidcock enjoying multi-discipline competition
Tom Pidcock disappeared from road racing after the Classics season and spent the late spring competing in mountain bike races, winning World Cup rounds in Albstadt and Novo Mesto.
And it seems the 22-year-old enjoyed his time away, based on this interview with PA: “It’s been a nice couple of weeks’ racing,” Pidcock said. “The mountain bike world is a pleasant place to be. Everyone is chilled out, friendly. It’s nice to be back and also to be winning.
“The Classics season is quite full on. It’s nice to get away into my own little world and do my own thing. I enjoy it, and I’m pretty good at it. Mentally it’s nice and refreshing.
“It stops the monotony of just road riding, it changes things up. I’m not saying road riding is boring but when I get to change, it keeps me on my toes. When I’m on my toes I respond the best. For example before the Olympics, when I broke my collarbone I was not in a good place to try to win, but I was so switched on because I knew I had limited time. Everything was 100 per cent.”
Pidcock did hint at Grand Tour GC as his future, but insisted he’s “not in a rush to do that.”
“Grand Tours, I’d say they’re the pinnacle of the sport. Once you start focusing on them, that’s quite a one-way road.”
Another I'm a cyclist special
All this morning’s “I’m a cyclist, but” chat got me thinking about this zinger I decided against including in our live blog coverage of Countryfile’s cycle safety segment…
#countryfile I ride a bike and drive a car and rarely have problems with other road users whilst riding my bike. Perhaps it’s because I keep my sensible head on and don’t act like an entitled prat
— David Hardwick (@Dave6754) May 29, 2022
Fair play to David, he’s got one of the best Twitter bios I’ve ever read: “National Trust member at the moment, but for how much longer?” The suspense…how cryptic?! Maybe I’ll shoot the National Trust an email for a comment…
Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Laura and Sir Jason Kenny to lead Jubilee peloton down The Mall
A 300-strong peloton will ride vintage bikes, from across the Queen’s seven-decade reign, down The Mall as part of the Jubilee pageant on Sunday. Sir Chris Hoy, Dame Laura Kenny and Sir Jason Kenny will lead the group, headed by six ‘hero cyclists’ riding towards Buckingham Palace before compelting a 360-degree circuit of the Queen Victoria Memorial.
Paralympic gold medallists Lora Fachie, Kadeena Cox and Tom Pidcock are also said to be part of the peloton…as well as, strangely, Strictly Come Dancing professionals…(is this line-up like the hoax Jubilee concert featuring Limp Bizkit and Morrissey?)…
Sheffield LTN vandalism
Looks like it’ll have to be concrete barriers instead. @sccstreetsahead @SheffCouncil @SheffSW_NPT could this be classed as criminal damage?@SheffieldGreens @PeterG4NES2019 pic.twitter.com/Q6UR0kQqdV
— Cllr Maroof Raouf – NE&S (@MRaoufNES) June 1, 2022
Women's Tour will be broadcast live for the first time
The rumours are true: the Women’s Tour will be broadcast live for the first time in 2022!
Watch daily live coverage worldwide on @eurosport Player and @gcntweet.#WomensTour #UCIWWT
— The Women’s Tour (@thewomenstour) June 1, 2022
Good news for those post-Giro blues…next week, the Women’s Tour will be broadcast live for the first time. The UCI Women’s WorldTour race gets underway in Colchester on Monday, and the organisers have confirmed all six stages will be broadcast live on Eurosport Player and GCN+, with a highlights show each evening on ITV4.
SweetSpot says the broadcast has been made possible by self-catering accomodation provider cottages.com, event stakeholders, Eurosport and GCN.
Hugh Roberts, Women’s Tour executive chairman said: “Delivering a live TV broadcast for the Women’s Tour has been our biggest target ever since the event’s inaugural edition back in 2014. We hope that it proves transformative for women’s sport in the UK, as well as being something that further enhances the worldwide reputation of our race.
“We thank all of those partners and stakeholders who have come forward to support us with this, and hope that it inspires more major brands to showcase their support of women’s sport by joining up with our event for 2023 and beyond as we continue to look for a headline sponsor.”
This year’s Women’s Tour begins on Monday 6 June with a stage from Colchester to Bury St Edmunds. Following stage two in Harlow (Tuesday 7 June), subsequent legs will visit Gloucestershire (stage three, Wednesday 8 June) and Wales (stages four and five on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 June).
The race will conclude in Oxfordshire on Saturday 11 June with a stage between Chipping Norton, in the Cotswolds, and Oxford.
Team ORCC | EP. 05 Dirty Reiver, a rainy enduro and a big mistake
Happy bank holiday folks
Don’t have nightmares…
1 June 2022, 08:08
1 June 2022, 08:08
1 June 2022, 08:08
1 June 2022, 08:08
1 June 2022, 08:08
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Latest Comments
@kinderje Are you aware that -ise endings are actually the newer form, having supplanted -ize (as used by Shakespeare, the King James Bible and Jane Austen, amongst many others) in the mid 19th century? Etymologically there is a far better argument for -ize endings for words with Greek and Latin roots than the -ise ending which arose from Victorian publishers imitating French verb endings. Both endings are now regarded as acceptable in British English, although the Oxford style guide recommends -ize. It is most certainly not incorrect.
@Backladder Given that the makers are selling it as being useable on any ride on open roads, it doesn't seem unreasonable to try to test it in those conditions.
'Leasting'? That's a whole 4 letters less.
Although usually the easiest thing of all would be for them just to stop for a few moments while you cycle past them (which requires a lot less space to do safely than them passing you), but most people seem allergic to stopping, even for the briefest time.
@Backladder Oh I think I can guess - the nearest indoor velodrome to road.cc HQ looks to be some distance away in Wales, whereas Odd Down Cycle Track (where this test was conducted) is just 2 miles away.
There are a number of causes of "the divide between motorists and cyclists". Only one is to do with the technology (of bicycles and cars) and that's the nature of the car, which is designed to induce the sort of dangerous and careless behaviours that providing humans with a lot of power and glamour fetches out of us. Other causes are much more insidious - A culture of hyper-individualism bordering on solipsism, with violently ultra-selfish and aggressive anti-heroes being promoted in every mass media channel as the ideal. A "news" media that overwhelmingly seeks, creates and offers pariahs and scapegoats to the rabid individualists, which pariahs and scapegoats includes all kinds of those perceived as less powerful and therefore easy victims, including cyclists. The near complete lack of any curb upon the dangerous antics of vast numbers of media-maddened motorists by the forces of law and order, many of whom are actually members themselves of the mass media maddened motorist ilk. ******** No amount of a more rational discourse about active travel or the means of making it safer will change these root causes of the vast numbers of deaths and maiming due to inept, incompetent and deliberately violent antics of vast numbers of motorists allowed their dangerous "weapons of choice". Yet many other highly damaging aspects of modern societies would be solved by a much more effective curbing of mass media mob-building and goading along with a serious attempt to prevent motorists and a whole range of other damagers from behaving as badly as so many do. It'll not happen, of course. Large and powerful elements of the modern world obtain far too much ultra-riches and power from current conditions for them to allow any significant change. And vast numbers of the population have long had their minds, attitudes and behaviours captured and directed by various oligarchical monsters and their mass media propaganda horns. About the only chance of safe active travel becoming extant is for the population at large to become mostly too poor to afford a car, ironically one other likely outcome of the machinations of those same power and money-mad monsters that have created the car-issue in the first place. Their need for zero-sum socio-economic arrangements degrades everything, including the wallet-contents of the masses.
@Astralstroll The hierarchy of road users does not mean priority of road users except in certain circumstances, e.g. stopping to let pedestrians cross junctions before turning. It doesn't mean that cyclists have priority over motor vehicles at all times any more than the pedestrians have priority over cyclists at all times. It certainly doesn't mean that you have priority in the circumstances you describe; personally, unless the driver is being a complete dick, on a narrow country lane I accept that it is easier for me to turn around and go back to the nearest passing place, which is never that far if you're on a bike, than for a tractor or other large vehicle to reverse back down the road for my benefit.
If you were spending that much money on the device the obvious thing to do is to book a couple of hours in a velodrome for testing in a stable environment, I can't understand why Road.cc tried to do it outdoors.
@Astralstroll The Hierarchy of Road Users, announced with great fanfares in 2022, has been rendered into complete fiction by the attitude of the police: there is this hierarchy/ priority list but we don't take it seriously and if drivers ignore it we don't care! The same applies to the ludicrous notice of close-passing - No KSI'd cyclist = No Offence ttps://upride.cc/incident/lwa190_minicooper_hierarchy/
77 thoughts on “Highway Code changes criticised in bizarre “I’m a cyclist, but…” Spectator article; Chris Froome channels his inner Steve Irwin; Atlético Madrid could host Vuelta stage…during a La Liga match; Count the cyclists + more on the live blog”
Oh dear. Jake doesn’t seem
Oh dear. Jake doesn’t seem to have outgrown his windscreen perspective and although he might ride a bike, his attitude hasn’t developed from his petrolhead mistaken assumptions.
I think a top ten of stories that start with “I’m a cyclist myself but…..” would be highly entertaining, and I’m pretty sure this one would make it on the list.
“You have to hug the kerb so
“You have to hug the kerb so cars can squeeze past at great risk to your safety, because being stuck behind a bike for a few seconds is annoying.”
Yet apparently it’s us cyclists that are ‘entitled’…
I was thinking about this as
I was thinking about this as I was put at risk by a dangerously close pass for the third time on my 10 minute commute last night.
Why should I care at all about the feelings, convenience or attitude of a group of people who think 5 seconds of their time is more important than a human life? Of course I don’t respect them enough to make my journey less convenient to benefit them. They don’t even respect me enough to spend 5 seconds to avoid risking my life.
To answer the Spectator
To answer the Spectator article seriously, until you’ve tried it, you don’t understand how “hogging the lane” counterintuitively helps motorists.
My unscientific take is that 80% of motorists are essentially incompetent. By taking a central position in the lane where there are obstructions, you help an incompetent and hasty driver avoid making a poor decision. A cyclist has a vested interest in optimising safety… which includes conceding ground where appropriate. I would suggest cyclists read the road better because we worry more about junctions and driveways and doors on cars – hazards that many drivers don’t consider because they “have right of way” and imagine the other party will observe and concede to them.
The problem comes with the 5% risk takers and the 1% evil. The 1% are going to try and give you grief for existing, they will rarely make contact deliberately but being in the gutter means they can deliberately close pass you and blame you simply for existing. The 5% naively think that if they don’t hit you there in no problem… until the day comes
This is pretty much how I’ve
This is pretty much how I’ve always thought of it/explained it too. I view drivers as belonging to two groups: “inept drivers” and “psychopaths”. The inept drivers make up around 95% of drivers in the UK and they aren’t out to get you, they’re just useless. They’ll happily try and squeeze their 1.8m wide car through the 1.5m gap between you and the traffic island to your right and they don’t understand why that makes you angry. They’re not trying to hurt you, but if you let them control the situation and they screw up, they will. Taking the lane stops the inept drivers from trying anything stupid and keeps you safe.
The rest are psychopaths, and you can’t do anything about them. They hate you just for being there and they’re happy to take massive risks to teach you a lesson.
When people say that cyclists shouldn’t take the lane because it winds up the psychopaths and they’re likely to lose their patience and hurt you, they’re probably right to an extent – but if you don’t assert yourself and take a controlling road position when required, you’ll be killed by an inept driver long before you meet a psychopath.
Quote:
I had a perfect example of this on my cycle home the other day. Approaching this junction I noticed a couple of ‘youth’ cyclists approaching the tight bend with also a pedestrian on it. As can be seen it get very tight there on the pavement, especially when the foliage is not cut back. I was ready for the rear one to come in into the road to avoid the ped so slowed slightly. He looked behind, came into the road and then took a full 90 turn across it to go the other side. His friend, who had stopped to wait so had no momentum then went to follow him and then stopped perpendicular to me as a car approached. As I had anticpated an issue (maybe not that exact sceanrio but something), I could stop without colliding. I imagine most drivers would have been looking at the lights instead of the pavement.
I would bet that if you did a
I would bet that if you did a fake Twitter post about two incidents: a pedestrian stepping into the road to avoid something and getting run over by a car, the Twitterati would blame the pedestrian (how stupid not checking for a car, it’s their own fault), but if they were hit by a cyclist, they would blame the cyclist, not the pedestrian (the cyclist should have known they were going to step out and swerved to avoid them (in front of the car, no doubt). Oddly, if you consider the outcomes, this would still be true (one being life changing injuries for one person, the other being a robust argument and bruises for both parties).
Very well put
Very well put
IanMSpencer wrote:
I think you are being generous!
Going by all the times I’ve been a passenger in vehicles I’ve only known 3 drivers who were not. One was an ex professional rally driver, one cycles and motorbikes and the last one drives gritter lorries, construction equipment and motorbikes and is trained in case they attend a serious motorway incident before the emergency services get there so he’s seen his fair share of carnage.
I assume all drivers either haven’t seen me or are actively trying to kill me except when I occasionally take the lane which confuses them or they think I’m a car.
Old enough to remember when
Old enough to remember when there were milk floats hogging the lanes. The world didn’t end. That was before mobile phones or the internet though; I’m not suggesting returning to a time when you couldn’t get even something the next day without visiting a shop.
I worked in W H Smiths in
I worked in W H Smiths in Forest Hill in the 70s and we did book orders. To order a book could take a month, and customers would dutifully walk in every Saturday from about week 3 onwards to see if it had arrived. It wasn’t considered late until about 6 weeks had passed.
When Amazon started and delivered a book in a few days, it was amazing – a paltry 20 years ago.
And there was me thinking the
And there was me thinking the new HC re-wordings were to protect people in the order of vulnerability. Nope, according to the Knight (who curtails and bows down to agressive bullies which doesn’t seem to be knightly behaviour) it was only for cyclists. And what law changes is he talking about?
Quoting a 20 year old study seems strange as well. I’m sure if the same questions were asked about caravans, learner drivers, bikes, pedestrians and anything else which might cause the driver to moderate their speed down, they would also cause “rage”.
And for someone who suffered catastrophic injuries when wrapped in a cocoon of steel, surely he should be calling for more consideration by drivers rather then victim blaming cyclists.
Why do drivers hate learner
Why do drivers hate learner drivers so very much? It would seem even more than cyclists.
I don’t think they hate them
I don’t think they hate them more per se, just that they hate anything which might make them slow to safer speeds like with cyclists, caravans, tractors, buses, lorries (especially when they overtake one another)…..
But unlike the rest of the causes, everyone was once a learner driver which should make them forgiving of the nervousness or mistakes but that doesn’t seem to be the case for most of them.
They also hate other car
They also hate other car drivers, old ladies, men with hats, anyone sticking to the speed limit, anyone else driving too fast, anyone in the “fast” lane doing 70mph overtaking a lorry (my pet hobby when I see a car approaching fast is to extra carefully pull out and to extra carefully check my mirror and extra carefully pull over when safe just to see how hard I can get them to accelerate after I pull in), traffic in queues, drivers who push in, drivers who don’t let them push in, drivers on roundabouts they have to wait for, drivers who use the other lane at traffic lights when it goes down to one lane, drivers who won’t let them in after they’ve overtaken 50 cars in a queue and ended up in the cones, drivers who overtake them in a queue before the cones.
You get the idea.
Driving is isolated and encourages a selfish and self-centred mindset and the most peculiar factor is how we can ascribe malice to every action of another road user when most of the time they are oblivious to other road users.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
More likely it causes cognitive dissonance by reminding them that driving isn’t some innate skill, and that it’s therefore possible that their own driving education is incomplete and fallible.
ktache wrote:
Because learner drivers are quite likely to hold them up for a few seconds – possibly even up to a minute if the learner stalls the car and/or panics.
ktache wrote:
Anecdote alert.
Last week, I had the office window open. I could hear a car horn blaring for what felt like ages.
Looked out in time to see a Golf or similar overtaking a AA driving school car on the main road outside, then stopping right in front of it.
The driver leapt out (leaving his door open, which stopped a bus passing in the opposite direction). He ran round to the passenger side of the driving school car, pulled open the door and started screaming at (presumably) the instructor. I couldn’t hear it, except it started with “What the F do you F-ing think you are F-ing teaching people, you F”. This went on for a couple of minutes, then he stalked back to his car, tried (and failed!) to do a three point turn, then abandoned that and screamed off at definitely more than the 20mph speed limit.
A woman walked over and spoke to the driving instructor (I imagine, asking if they needed a witness…?).
The driving school car tried to pull away, stalled, then tried again.
I’ll tell you what, I hope that learner got their money back!
That just shows how bizarrely
That just shows how bizarrely people can behave when in a car and presumably stressed by the driving conditions. Imagine someone behaving like that at a supermarket if a new cashier was being trained.
I really think we need to be able to temporarily revoke someone’s ability to drive if they behave like a spoilt child – something like a yellow card/timeout to give the driver a chance to reflect on why they let their emotions control their behaviour.
Maybe give everyone a supply of yellow card stickers that they can use if they think a driver is acting up or if a car is badly parked. Once someone picks up two or three yellow cards, then they’re banned from driving for 24 hours or so. It’d be great to see someone park in a cycle lane, then return to see a flurry of yellow tickets over their vehicle. Maybe have a limit of 10 yellow cards in an hour which would lead to the vehicle getting immediately towed and confiscated for a week.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Having in my younger days been that new cashier being trained, I can definitely imagine someone behaving like that. Some people really are just simply that far gone, whether they’re behind a wheel of a car or not. Personally I put it down to a power thing.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I don’t need to imagine it, I lived it for four years during my part-time stint in retail whilst at school. I saw plenty of abuse hurled at trainees, fist-fights over the last parking space/tin of biscuts, I had a death-threat over pork loin ribs once, then there was that one time a guy threw a punch at me because I got his fresh loaf of bread sliced too quickly…
You’re right though – driving a car is just a “target-rich” environment for the sort of frustrations that can really push people over the edge. It also gives them the tools to present maximum risk to others when the red mist does descend.
BalladOfStruth wrote:
— BalladOfStruthWow!
eburtthebike wrote:
Yeah, retail is great.
.
.
Must have been bloody good pork loin ribs!
.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I’m pretty sure Harlan Ellison wrote a short story set in a near-future where you could challenge other road users to trial by combat, if you felt that they had been driving badly…
Quote from another driver
Quote from another driver
“Anyone driving slower than me is a ****ing idiot. Anyone driving faster than me is suicidal”
One argument I had went
“You need to get out of my way! If I hit you it will hurt you more then me.”
I responded” Not half as much as my fist connecting with your face after going through your window” Apparently I was rude!
A simple wave of the hand can
A simple wave of the hand can be enough to provoke road rage – somehow a gesture to indicate they have passed too close is several orders of magnitude worse than forcing a bike rider off the road and worthy of a threat of a beating, which clearly is not rude and entirely justified. I do not exaggerate, I have been assaulted simply for saying “You were too close” through an open window as I passed a right turning van I had been stuck behind in traffic after a MGIF close pass.
This idiot tried to run me
This idiot tried to run me off the road for waving my hand to show he was tailgating me! Luckily I’d already hit the brakes.
He literally quotes the
He literally quotes the evidence which says that cyclists’ behaviour does not change drivers’ attitudes, and then says cyclists should change their behaviour. He should be writing an article telling drivers to change their behaviour.
An alternative reading is
An alternative reading is that drivers are awful and will remain so so keep out of their way for your own good.
The point is that the HWC is actually telling cyclists to change their behaviour and get out of the gutter. How many close pass videos on this site are enabled by cycling too close to the edge or single file?
All fair points, Ian. One
All fair points, Ian. One simple change to his article makes the point
“Cyclists can now ride in the middle of the road
so thatwhen there is no room for cars to safely overtake us,”Close but no cigar.
Close but no cigar.
“Cyclists have always been able to ride in the middle of the road where there is no room for cars to safely overtake us.”
The HWC did not change that, it just brought it to other road users’ attention.
Hmm… “middle of road” or
Hmm… “middle of road” or “middle of lane”?
Seems Jake of The Spectator
Seems Jake of The Spectator took up cycling after a massive car crash left him injured. I think the story here is “bad driver becomes bad cyclist”.
At least on a bike he’s less of a risk to others and perhaps himself.
HoarseMann wrote:
That’s what we want – let’s celebrate the worst cyclists because they’ve chosen the most benign form of transport. (I sometimes wonder how bad a driver I would have made – most likely a MGIF type).
I’m curious about where these bike lanes built “at great public expense” are.
I nominate cycling bogeyman
I nominate cycling bogeyman Jeremy Clarkson, because he’s been seen on a bike several times, often without a helmet or hi-vis and even on “special” cycles.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I think he’s referring to the two-and-a-half tins of Dulux that someone’s spread along the gutters of a handful of the roads on my commute that entices drivers to pass me even closer.
” I’m curious about where
” I’m curious about where these bike lanes built “at great public expense” are.”
London.
Where else would they be?
Most of us have to scrape by on poorly maintained suicide lanes.
One of these between Leeds
One of these between Leeds and Bradford
Motorists! Avoid showing
Motorists! Avoid showing prejudice by blocking cyclists or pedestrians – by blocking both.
I did search him to see if I
I did search him to see if I could find details on the crash. Only found an autobiographical DM article where he states it is an accident blackspot in the area. Another local paper seems to mention this junction is known for lots of accidents including one in 2019 so I am assuming this is it. (comment on that story is very good and could have been written by one of us). Anyway he never mentions who shot the junction or what punishment the other driver got for it which is telling.
He then uses the rest of the article to essentially plug what items he uses like an influencer trying to get sponsorship, and to wheel out all the DM cycling tropes whilst winking (stroke caused him to change his personality, looked and realised I was now a mamil). Seems to take a snide potshot at the attending officer (upset when breathlyser showed not over the limit) and the NHS (my family members did better for me). Also seems his first amateur race was actually the New Forest Sportive. He came 40th out of 300 apparently in 2020. As he mentioned in his article, big up for ignoring Covid to ensure it went ahead.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
Agree. Plus the other statements about cars having no option but to hare around bends squeezing cyclists between wingmirror and hedge, don’t exactly speak of a competent and careful driver.
Quote:
All of which was true previously (assuming by middle of the road he means middle of the lane), which makes one somewhat doubt his knowledge credentials.
I think its important to
I think its important to recognise Jakes approach to cycling is clearly borne out of the (car I presume) crash he was a victim of that caused pretty serious injuries including a stroke, and that he couldnt work for 4months whilst in rehab.
and if thats what can happen to you in a car, we all know a layer of lycra is no protection at all on a bike, so you are obviously going to then ride with a mindset cycling is way more risky as theres no crash protection, and I think he even mentions it in the article, that he doesnt want to go through the trauma of that extent of injury again.
So as a cyclist now, naturally defaults to ride very defensively, tries to minimise the risks by literally keeping out of the way of traffic as much as possible and fwiw there are alot of cyclists out there who espouse that kind of riding as being the way to go cycling on UK roads, he isnt alone in that thinking.
But then he sees these highway code changes, even if he completely mucks up what the changes were, to be encouraging cyclists to place themselves at greater risk of harm, or certainly to do things he considers to be riskier.
there are ghost bikes, or flowers on roadsides I cycle past and I often catch myself thinking have I fully understood the risks of being here on my bike, there are certainly roads I wouldnt ride on highway code changes or not.
But I dont know how you unpick that trauma from his crash which is obviously still affecting him greatly, to show him that no its ok these changes actually make it safer to ride a bike, but dont attack him for his view, its not a Liddle/Littlejohn style anticycling piece at all imo.
I can’t go with that, it is a
I can’t go with that, it is a blame-riddled article which does not acknowledge any responsibility of a driver to share the road. It really is a Liddle/Littlejohn article.
I dont feel it is because its
I dont feel it is because its not a hit piece about cycling like theirs was, its this guy has never felt safe cycling on the roads and the highway code changes makes him feel other cyclists are putting themselves at more risk.
I dont have to agree with his views at all, but I can empathise with where he is coming from based on his experience
but as always with these social media arguments its either you are with us or against us. and it just decends into a rubbish shouting match and people scoring points whilst missing the actual topic under debate
The trouble is that the
The trouble is that the language he is using and the ideas he is purveying might be generated as you say, but the result is indistinguishable from yet another “cyclists are to blame for their own misfortune” hit piece.
There is an article to be written to express the confusion over advice because it does not make sense to some people, but that wasn’t it.
I would add though, that I often say 80% of motorists are incompetent – clearly a considerable proportion of cyclists are too. Riding to the HWC is quite sophisticated and therefore beyond the competence of some (many?) cyclists. For example, I don’t believe you can take the lane without using a mirror because you need to be able to assess the road behind continuously and anticipate. You can hear vehicles on quite roads before you see them, but in traffic, oncoming traffic will soon hide the sound of vehicles approaching from behind. How many cyclists use a mirror? I’d guess less than 20%, probably much less.
Similarly, I will also say that most driving mistakes can be ascribed to incompetence rather than malice, and that is true of cyclists too. I get very frustrated with certain members of my club who are incapable of responding to calls (doctors are the worst! Perhaps I need a receptionist on the ride?). The trouble is an incompetent driver inflicts damage, an incompetent rider gets damaged. Tolerance tends to be given to drivers in the media which is not given to cyclists.
IanMSpencer wrote:
I’d go further – 100% of us (drivers and cyclists) are incompetent. The 20% (or whatever it is) are those who have a better awareness of the bounds of their competence, and manage their ambition accordingly.
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Balanced, reasoned, nuanced comment.
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Will NOT go down well on here!
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At least not batshitcrazy
At least not batshitcrazy unhinged like your comments FB…
Nope – he’s writing it for
Nope – he’s writing it for “the common man” (as defined by the editor of the spectator) and as Clem Fandango has pointed out it’s a collection of “bad cycling tropes” from first to last, even with some misquoting of the HC (which was “overhauled in favour of cyclists”). The only “content” is he says “I stay out of the way of cars” – presumably because “better safe than dead” but that’s reframes as “not being obnoxious” or “releasing the pressure”.
So basically “two tribes” and “cyclists – don’t be idiots, get out of the way else people will get road rage”. Plus a quick mention that motorists sometimes kill and injure cyclists.
Nothing interesting here. Hardly any advance on Liddle, I’m afraid.
I know we’re all different ..
I know we’re all different … But.
When I was hit by an elderly driver in 2018, had life-threatening injuries (including needing CPR at the scene), I spent 4 months not being able to walk or lift an empty teacup; I spent a further 8 months unable to work full time; I’ve been left with life-changing physical injuries that affect my mobility and a brain injury that affects my mental ability.
Do I ride in the gutter? Do I feck.
I ride like I drive; I own that piece of tarmac that my bike is on, and the X number of meters in front I’m moving in to.
I’ve not turned in to a timid shrew. I don’t feel the need to victim blame.
If the author has been that affected, and is still that badly affected, then maybe being on the road – on any form of transport – isn’t where they should be.
I’m not sorry if that’s harsh . . But I’ve been there in the Lycra; I’ve had the air-evac, God knows how many hours in surgery.
I’ve been in two crashes with
I’ve been in two crashes with an errant/aggressive motorist this past year (close pass forced me off the road into a fence, t-boned when on a roundabout) and, yes, for a period of time after the crash I was on high alert. I don’t think I performed a single maneuvre confidently, was highly anxious around junctions and roundabouts and didn’t feel like I ‘owned’ the lane. As such, I have some empathy for the author’s position.
I think his error is not in espousing such views, but in voicing them unfiltered and not couching it in the blanket of “I only feel like this because I am shaken by my crash, and I hope I can feel different someday, car drivers who do this to people suck and I hate that my enjoyment has been ruined etc etc.” The assumption that riding in the gutter is being advocated as the norm and not merely an aftermath of his crash is problematic for sure.
I wonder if he does have an agenda, or was perhaps only an occasional or casual cyclist previously as it seems he lacks the roadcraft to realise how poor his advice really is.
That was a mistake, reading
That was a mistake, reading the article. Tony Satterthwaite, whose heartwrenching stoiry was told on Sunday on Countryfile, had a ghost bike placed at the scene (it seems to come and go, not sure whether the family put it up for birthdays and anniversaries or it gets removed on a regular basis).
This low-life writes:
On one of my regular routes, a white ‘ghost bike’ is tied to a tree beside a junction in memory of a cyclist killed by a car at that exact spot. It serves as a reminder to be considerate of motorists whenever I pant my way past; inviting their ire, however unintentionally, is simply not worth the risk.
Tony’s killer was not filled with ire, he just killed him with incompetence, didn’t even know he was there. To me it served as a reminder of just how at risk we are from drivers to which we have no defence.
Offensive in the extreme.
Yep. It’s a war on the roads
Yep. It’s a war on the roads* and the vulnerable road users are losing it to those who don’t know they’re fighting. It would be interesting to have some assessment of a “who causes the carnage”. “Wrong’uns cause a lot of crashes” seems a sensible assumption. However all the motorists driving into bollards, bridges, houses points to it being a fact of life when most adults are given charge of motor vehicles **. Hence me banging on about separation of modes.
We need better enforcement also for the variable fraction of people who know they’re doing something wrong but think “no consequences”.
* Massacre is more apt.
** NB: that’s given the kind of infrastructure we’ve got now and the current rules. So trusting the motorist to self-police, only testing once per lifetime, wide straight roads with gentle turns where we have to “sign the speed”, allowing overtaking at all on fast single-carriageway roads especially with poor sight lines etc. (Unworkable crazy notion? The Dutch have started blocking just this.)
Well it’s something like 80%
Well it’s something like 80% of motorists fall into the “know they are doing something wrong”. Yet somehow the Government fell for the argument that catching people exceeding the speed limit was somehow unfair when there was an obvious solution to avoid being caught.
I’ve just read the (very male
I’ve just read the (very male and somewhat drivist centric) Spectator Article – I think I’ve completed a full line on my bingo card (no full house sadly due to the failure to mention ‘road tax’, insurance, helmets or hi-viz). I’m not sure what he’s trying to achieve – on the one hand a driver deliberatley swerved to clip his handlebars (terrifying and surely indicative of a pyscho that shouldn’t be allowed to operate a spoon in public let alone a car,) but yet cyclists should still act deferentially to the almighty car lest we “enrage” a drivist through our very presence, and hug the kerb (which as we know just invites close passes).
Anyway:
“As a cyclist myself”
“my ‘tribe'”
“Everyone hates cyclists”
“cyclists can ride in the middle of the road so there is no room for cars to overtake”
“it’s a hobby” (ie not a mode of transport)
“lycra”
“entitled”
“ignore cycle lanes”
“public expense”
“lycra” (again)
HOUSE!
oh any my favourite: “Motorists respond happily when I pull over, with a toot of the horn or a friendly wave.” – I think I’ve found another one of Nige’s identities….
Courtesy and politeness! All
Courtesy and politeness! All it takes…
Nah, you also need Thoughts
Nah, you also need Thoughts and Prayers. Works for mass shootings, so think how good it must be for cycling.
Why can’t the message be; if
Why can’t the message be; if we all just stick to the highway code then disputes between different groups of road users will be dramatically reduced?
Plot spoiler: the answer is not because of cyclists sense of entitlement.
It seems counterintuitive,
It seems counterintuitive, when two road users are competing for the same roadspace, to say that it is the smaller one who is hogging the road, whereas the larger one’s progress is impeded only due to its own size.
Cycle accident compensation
Cycle accident compensation pay kept secret by Welsh government (BBC)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-61646728
That is weird. Does the Welsh
That is weird. Does the Welsh Government control the big roads in Wales as I would have thought it would be a local council issue for most transport reasons. Or if a government officials vehicle was involved in an accident or something around an official gov building grounds?
They are saying, amongst
They are saying, amongst other things, that the cyclist wishes to remain anonymous and giving any details would lead to their identification.
Pair jailed over Hartlepool
Pair jailed over Hartlepool cyclist’s ‘senseless’ death (BBC)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-61661264
Wow – that’s pretty close to
Wow – that’s pretty close to the reported maximum I’ve seen. (Yes – they do get more because not guilty pleas but the theoretical “maximum” is 14 years, no?) I think sentencing in these cases – despite plenty guidelines – is a lottery.
It is very surprising and a
It is very surprising and a huge positive step to see actual, real jail time for a driver needlessly and foreseeably killing another road user. It will be interesting to see the mental gymnastics the carphiles on twitter employ to blame the cyclist for their own death.
I think it is because they
I think it is because they could be identified as yobs with wheels rather than motorists like wot we are.
Bit like we don’t like being lumped in with teenagers doing wheelies down dual carriageways the wrong way (but are).
“National Trust member at
“National Trust member at the moment, but for how much longer?”
I imagine that means he’s one of those who disagree with the NT pointing out how many of their large and pretty historical properties were paid for with – erm – ‘problematic’ commercial activities by their original owners back in the day…
Love the fact that he ‘rarely
Love the fact that he ‘rarely’ has problems with other road users. A bit too subjective for me.
I think he might be putting to much faith in not being a prat to protect him.
I wonder, and I don’t wish him any harm at all, if he gets knocked off by a dangerous driver he’ll say he wasn’t expecting it because he rarely has such incidents.
He probably cycles like he
He probably cycles like he drives – oblivious to the carnage he is creating around himself.
File in the box labelled
File in the box labelled “should have known”:
“Jake Wallis Simons is Associate Global Editor for the Daily Mail Online.”
Slightly off-topic, but does
Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know some good links for watching streaming international football?
My mate Jerry knows a thing
My mate Jerry knows a thing or two.
Slightly tenuous cyclist
Slightly tenuous cyclist/footballer story from the guardian, but hey…
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/jun/05/brazil-ronaldo-cycle-valladolid
ktache wrote:
450km. “Several dozen” kilometres a day. On an eMTB. It’s not exactly the Fred Whitton is it?
Weirdly, it’s 500 km at the
Weirdly, it’s 500 km at the top of the story, but 450 km further down.
Anyway, doing it in four days, apparently, so a little over 100 km a day. I suspect the ‘several dozen’ may be a lost in translation thing.