“You can ride ten abreast if you like”: Are ‘Parkrun for cyclists’ events the future?; Mark Cavendish racing in 2025 “makes no sense”, says Astana boss; Lachlan Morton’s 460km ‘easy’ day; Bike lane manholes; Vingegaard to the Giro? + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“If you told me the SAS fast-roped out of a helicopter and did this, I’d believe you”
In case you missed it last night, here’s our story on C6 Bikes in Cambridgeshire, the cycle shop that was the victim of an extraordinarily organised targeted break-in which saw 90 per cent of its stock taken and left the business fighting to claim insurance money due to the lack of any trace left by the thoroughness of the raid.
Read more: > Bike shop loses almost all stock in staggering break-in “like Hatton Garden heist”
‘So you just cross the road, head straight down the manhole, and the cycle lane carries on through there’: Why cyclists don’t use the cycle lane, #15,678
A classic example of the UK’s top quality, extremely safe “elite level cycling infrastructure”, courtesy of this death trap route posted on Twitter by Brighton-based cyclist Anthony Pope:
I imagine in this instance the shared-use path sign actually refers to the order of people and bikes currently stuck at the bottom of the conveniently opened manhole right beside it. The pothole Pot Noodle guy would have some difficulty covering that one up, anyway…
Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard can rest easy, as former Ironman and Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt performs abrupt U-turn on plans to win the Tour de France by 2028
What’s that I hear? Oh, it’s the sound of Tadej Pogačar breathing an enormous sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge his plans for Tour de France domination remain intact, after it was revealed today that Ironman and Olympic triathlon star Kristian Blummenfelt has abruptly pressed pause on his rather audacious bid to switch sports and win cycling’s biggest race by 2028.
Ahead of the Olympic Games in July, Blummenfelt – a former Olympic champion and the reported holder of the highest recorded absolute VO2 max in history – was busy making headlines in the non-swimming and running cycling world, after his coach Olav Aleksander Bu said the big Norwegian was “90 per cent” likely to turn pro as a cyclist in 2025.
With his star pupil heavily linked to a move to Jayco-AlUla, Bu rather confidently predicted that the 30-year-old would be able to race the Tour de France by 2026, be in a position to win some jerseys and stages by 2027, and win the entire thing by 2028.
However, after a disappointing 12th place in the triathlon in Paris, those, let’s face it, overly ambitious plans to enter the peloton and almost immediately start winning have been shelved for the time being, with Blummenfelt now likely to continue his swim-bike-run focus until LA ’28 at the earliest.
“After the Paris review we have decided to aim for Los Angeles 2028,” Bu told Velo this week. “Despite the results in Paris, we are more confident after the race that going back from Ironman to Olympics is possible. We want to give it one last shot.”
So, with one last tilt at another Olympic triathlon gold taking precedence over racing the UAE Tour next year, any hopes of conquering the Tour de France will have to wait until 2029, when Blummenfelt will be 35. To put that into perspective, Gino Bartali and Cadel Evans are the Tour’s oldest post-war winners at 34 (though I’m sure Primož Roglič reckons he’s capable of eclipsing that record next summer).
In any case, somehow I reckon Pogi isn’t worrying too much about someone entering the sport at 35 and challenging him for the yellow jersey, regardless of their VO2 max score…
The Zwift Racing League is back! And it’s even more brutal than Dave remembered
While I’m busy putting off a return to the shed for as long as possible, Dave has already powered up the turbo, fiddled with the WiFi connection, and recalibrated his lungs and legs after a summer of long, slow rides for another season of hard and fast racing on Zwift with our new road.cc teams:
> Zwift Racing League. I remember now, it’s hard
Each to their own, I suppose…
And if you’re desperate for a winter of pain and suffering (like Mark Cavendish if he performs another retirement U-turn), we’re still looking for more riders to fill out the rosters of both the B and the C teams. Head to this form to register your mad, mad interest…
Lachlan Morton’s idea of an easy day on the bike? 460km on long, straight roads in the baking Queensland sun
Unsurprisingly, Lachlan Morton isn’t really easing into his attempt to complete the fastest ever full lap of Australia – it is just 14,200km and five weeks of riding, after all.
On day six of his latest mammoth bike touring extravaganza, the EF Education-EasyPost pro woke up with the aim of taking an “easier” recovery day, after almost a week of slogging it out on the continent’s wide, open, flat, and unforgivingly hot and straight roads.
So what did he do? He ended up riding 460km, egged on apparently – according to Morton himself – by the favourable winds and a flock of birds which kept him company.
“Lachy is heading further and further inland and the heat is starting to become a factor,” EF said on their dot-watching page dedicated to the 32-year-old’s massive lap of Australia.
“He started the day in flat pedals after struggling through some hotspots on his feet yesterday. The barren landscape and straight roads offered no shelter from the beating sun.”
Well, despite what sounds like the worst cycling holiday ever, Morton has already passed the 3,000km mark, less than a week after setting off from his hometown of Port Macquarie in New South Wales. Just another 30-odd days to go to beat the record…
‘Ach sure, don’t worry about doing anything about all the driving offences in these videos. It’s the red light-jumping cyclist who submitted them we have to worry about…’
> Camera cyclist fined after footage submitted to Irish police showed him riding through red light – while clips of drivers caught using phones and parking illegally ignored by officer
“Whenever my friends show a slight interest in cycling”
Thanks DSM for supplying Cycling Twitter with this meme goldmine:
Whenever my friends show a slight interest in cycling: pic.twitter.com/fAgCA9hQD5
— Thomas Harvey 🚲 (@_ThomasHarvey_) September 11, 2024
Jonas Vingegaard “seriously considering” riding Giro d’Italia next year – but Visma-Lease a Bike deny rumours
It’s been quite the week for rumours concerning pro cyclists’ plans for 2025, hasn’t it?
With Mark Cavendish’s future in the peloton once again up in the air, it’s now the turn of Jonas Vinegegaard to be the subject of some (probably unsubstantiated) conjecture, after reports in the Belgian and Italian press claimed that the Dane is apparently considering emulating Tadej Pogačar Giro-Tour double and making his debut at the Italian grand tour next year.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, whose owners RCS Sport organise the Giro (so they’ll want to get the ball rolling if Vingegaard lining up at their race is a possibility), the two-time Tour winner “would like to make his Giro debut and the team are seriously considering the idea”.
Vingegaard on his way to winning the Italian stage race Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this year (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Meanwhile, Het Laatste Nieuws claimed that Vingegaard “reportedly indicated internally that he would like to ride the Giro”.
However, just like Vino putting the brakes on a possible Cav 2025 campaign, Visma-Lease a Bike have been quick to quash these reports of a Giro-Tour double attempt for their star rider, whose season was derailed by his horrible crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April, a month before Pogačar’s grand tour dominating summer kicked off.
“I really don’t know where it comes from. It certainly does not come from our team,” Visma’s communications manager Sander Kleikers told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.
“We haven’t even started the evaluation of this season. I don’t know where it comes from. It is very surprising.”
Probably for the best if you want exciting racing at the Giro, if we’re honest.
Cyclist killed in collision with lorry driver in west London, the fourth cycling fatality of 2024 in the capital
A cyclist in his 20s was killed this morning following a collision involving a HGV driver in west London, emergency services have confirmed.
The tragic incident took place at around 9.30am on Staines Road in Feltham, at the junction with Green Lane, and marks the fourth reported fatality of a cyclist on London’s roads this year.
The circumstances surrounding the collision are not yet clear, though the Standard has reported that the cyclist was trapped under the lorry in the wake of the crash.
“Police were called by the London Ambulance Service at 09:37hrs to reports of a collision involving a lorry and cyclist on Staines Road in Feltham,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“Emergency services attended and provided first aid. Despite their efforts the cyclist, who is believed to be aged in his 20s, died at the scene.”
“We were called at 9.34am this morning to reports of a road traffic collision in Staines Road, Feltham,” a London Ambulance spokesperson added.
“We sent a number of resources to the scene including an ambulance crew, paramedics in fast response cars and an incident response officer. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance. The first paramedic arrived in less than five minutes. Sadly, despite the efforts of our crews, a person died at the scene.”
We’ll have more on this story as we get it.
Lotte Kopecky beats three-time world TT champion Ellen van Dijk by 43 seconds to win European time trial championships
WHAT A RIDE! 👏
Lotte Kopecky is the new ITT European Champion 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/WcVT9ysj2o
— Eurosport (@eurosport) September 11, 2024
Beating time trial specialist Van Dijk by 43 seconds and everyone else, including Christina Schweinberger and Riejanne Markus, by over a minute on a 31km course?
Lotte Kopecky sure isn’t messing around at these European championships, while laying down a marker for the Zurich worlds at the end of the month – and a possible tilt at a rainbow jersey double… Well, in this form, would you bet against the flying Belgian?
Oof… RideLondon cancelled for 2025 and refunds sent out to entrants as organisers say they’re working on “new concept” for event
Three months on from the cancellation of the 2025 RideLondon Classique – which the race’s organisers blamed on the UCI’s decision to shift its place in the calendar, making it “impossible” for it to be held in central London – the curtain has, rather inevitably, fallen on next year’s edition of the hugely popular RideLondon-Essex sportive.
Refunds are already being issued to early entrants for the 100-mile event, while organisers say they are currently working on a “new concept” to mark RideLondon’s apparent return in 2026, which will “engage more riders of all ages and abilities and inspire hundreds of thousands more people to cycle more often”.
Read more: > RideLondon to take “hiatus” in 2025 for organisers to work on “new concept”, with all entrants receiving full refunds
Cycling events in the UK just can’t catch a break, can they?
Edoardo Affini stuns Stefan Küng to win European time trial championships
🚀 Le roi européen du contre-la-montre, c’est Edoardo Affini ! L’Italien devance Stefan Küng et son compatriote Mattia Cattaneo.
🇪🇺 Suivez les Championnats d’Europe de cyclisme sur Eurosport avec #LesRP pic.twitter.com/gNDFZJv7Em
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) September 11, 2024
There was to be no redemption story for Stefan Küng at the European time trial championships this afternoon, as the Swiss rider – who finished the event last year bloodied and badly concussed after a horrific crash into the barriers – lost to a flying Edoardo Affini by just nine seconds.
A rampant final 10km from the Italian was enough to prevent Küng from securing his third career European TT title, while Affini’s compatriot Mattia Cattaneo pipped Daan Hoole to secure the final spot on the podium in Hasselt.
Visma-Lease a Bike rider Affini’s win marks only the second TT triumph of the 28-year-old’s career and, rather shockingly, the first victory secured by a pro cyclist wearing those stupidly large, Star Trek-style Giro time trial helmets.
Maybe they only work at European championships?
“It makes no sense” for Mark Cavendish to continue racing in 2025 says Astana boss, after Tour de France record breaker raises doubts about retirement plans
Just when you thought it was all over, it turns out it’s time – once again – to set your phone updates and dig out your Vino+Cav4ever t-shirt, as we settle into a third straight winter season of ‘Will Mark Cavendish continue racing next year?’
And yes, I know what you’re thinking – back in July, after finally securing that elusive 35th Tour de France stage win, Cavendish himself described the final stage of this year’s record-breaking Tour as “likely” his last race as a professional cyclist (give or take a few ASO crits in the Far East of course).
> Mark Cavendish bows out at Tour de France, admits it was “likely” his last race
But last week, a few rumblings began to emerge in the Italian press that the 39-year-old is considering signing on for another year at Astana Qazaqstan, the Kazakh squad which piloted him to that historic triumph in Saint Vulbas (though these rumours of yet another retirement U-turn for the Manx Missile, after his Tour-ending crash in 2023 also saw him reverse his plans to quit the sport last autumn, were swiftly rebuked by British cycling journalist Daniel Friebe).
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
However, while attending a ceremony at the Tour of Britain to mark his illustrious and staggeringly successful 18 years in the peloton, Cavendish was noticeably coy about his job prospects for 2025, insisting that he doesn’t know “what happens after” the end of the season – though he did rule out ever returning to the Tour de France again.
“I’m still racing in a couple of months, and I’m definitely not finished for this year. I still don’t know what happens after,” he told ITV4 during the Tour of Britain’s final stage in Felixstowe on Sunday.
“I know that I won’t be doing the Tour de France again. I said that before the Tour, and I said it after the Tour, but I’m just taking time with my family actually and been chilling.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
“I have actually really taken time off before getting going on the bike again, and I’m training again now. When I’ve had time to process, we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Cavendish was then asked if he could potentially return to the Tour of Britain Men in 2025, prompting the mysterious reply: “Perhaps, I don’t know.”
And while the two-time Tour de France green jersey winner was careful to leave his answers open to the kind of interpretations usually reserved for Bob Dylan fans (Is he only referring to his racing schedule for the rest of the year? Does he mean he’ll return to the Tour of Britain as a spectator, a racer, or a DS?), one man at least offered a much more definitive answer concerning Cav’s future in the sport.
(ASO/Billy Ceusters)
Astana boss Alexandre Vinokourov may be currently dealing with the fallout of one of his most promising development riders, Ilkhan Dostiyev, being suspended after testing positive for CERA (the kind of noughties throwback drug Vino himself would have been familiar with), but he took some time out to speak to journalist Daniel Benson about the Manx Missile’s plans for 2025.
And unlike Cav himself, Vino got to the point quickly.
“No, no, no. I think he’s retiring at the end of the season,” Vinokourov told Benson.
“It makes no sense. Our goal was this year, I think that was all clear for everyone. But you can call Mark and ask him directly. I don’t think he races with anyone next season but that’s just my opinion. It doesn’t make sense to ride but you can call Mark directly.”
So that’s that wrapped up then. Or maybe not… Let the Cavendish winter contract rumour saga 3.0 commence! Or should that be 4.0, considering it all started with his late move to Quick-Step from Bahrain-Victorious back in 2021…
“You can ride ten abreast if you like”: Mountain bike champion creates Parkride, a “safe, car-free Parkrun for cyclists” event
Confidence on a bike is a consequence for the habitual practitioner of what is known as…
Parkride!
Or at least that awful attempt at a Blur parody is what former Scottish mountain bike champion Kerry MacPhee is hoping to achieve with her new cycling-themed take on the unbelievably popular Parkrun phenomenon (you know, the thing where people spend their Saturday mornings running around a park for fun).
Riffing on that very concept, but with bikes, MacPhee, now a gravel enthusiast and cycling development officer with Bike Trossachs, started the UK’s first ‘Parkride’ as a summer pilot scheme in Aberfoyle, Stirlingshire earlier this year, in a bid to help parents and children enjoy car-free riding gravel trails together.
And following the success of the pilot scheme, which was funded by Stirling Council’s community grants scheme, the free event will now run on the last Sunday of every month at 10am, with participants able to choose between a 10km or 20km loop in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, following the ‘Gravelfoyle’ way-markers that were introduced in 2022, making the area arguably the UK’s ultimate gravel destination.
> Want to ride some US-style gravel in the UK? Check out this guide with some epic UK gravel routes
According to MacPhee, “Parkride is for everyone” – as long as they have a suitable off-road bike and helmet – and can be used to build confidence for beginners, while also enabling children to ride with their parents or behind or beside them in trailers.
The timed (but non-competitive) rides also include a ‘sweeper’ rider – essentially a pedalling broom wagon – who will support any nervous newbies if they puncture or suffer a mechanical, and make sure they get back to base safely.
Adding to the family-friendly atmosphere, budding junior off-roaders can also take part in the concurrent Bairns on Bikes coaching sessions for five to twelve-year-olds.
“There are no cars, it’s really safe, and you can ride ten abreast if you like, and we’ve seen a huge, huge upsurge of people coming to Aberfoyle because of the way-marked trails,” MacPhee, who last year set a new women’s record for the 338km Badger Divide off-road route, told the BBC.
“One of the girls’ mums said her daughter had improved in confidence over the last few weeks just from coming along to this and you can kind of watch them coming out of their shells… and again that fitness thing becoming routine,” coach Sarah Cairns added.
One of the parents who attended the summer pilot scheme, Judith McVinnie, also described her experience getting to grips with the gravel trails in the Parkride environment as “absolutely brilliant”.
“Over the last three weeks I’ve seen my time get faster, which is really encouraging,” she said.
“I am definitely not an expert cyclist or anything like that, but half of it is just showing up with your stuff on and doing your best. The bacon roll afterwards has been the best thing of my week.”
Bacon rolls? Where do I sign up? Oh here, this is where you sign up, as registration is mandatory.
Because after all, it appears that all the people, so many people are already really enjoying Parkride.
I’ll get my coat…
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I don't know why the writer inaccurately describes the light output selection on this light. Three different things are conflated without properly first differentiating between them: The light mode (constant vs flash or "pulse"), power output (lumen rating), and the method of choosing these. Exposure combines the first two into three programs where each program has an individual output for the modes. So the copy-pasted text refers only to selecting the programs. Selecting between modes is as simple as in the Knog: "To cycle between the Constant and pulse options in each program press the function button once." Granted this might seem confusing at first but after that it is dead simple. The benefit of Exposure's choice is keeping things simple - once you've turned on the light you click either between constant and flash. In most cases FOR A COMMUTER LIGHT, this is just fine - when you ride a relatively short distance in most likely illuminated surroundings what the actual lumen output is is secondary. Connected to the above, marking as negative that the light puts out "only" 400 lumens in constant mode, is illogical. As the reviewer states, that amount is "a truly useful amount of light". There is ablosutely no challenge for Exposure in getting the light to put out 600 or more lumens in constant. But a) that would be more than "purposeful" and b) drain out the battery in an instant. The light has been designed as an ultra compact commuter light - where does it fail in that? Conversely, if you ride in "unlit rural voids" blame yourself and not the light if you chose this as your illuminating device. Furthermore claiming that the new alum. anti dazzle shield "makes zero difference" and is no upgrade is baffling - which do you think protects the lens better in an impact? Finally, moaning about the cost of the light without even mentioning what obviously plays a major role - the fact that it is manufactured in the UK, is appalling. So yeah if you "value" buying a light by Knog, Cateye and the likes that manufacture their lights in an undemocratic country where the list of ongoing human, labour, international law and environmental violations is nearly endless, and wish to support manufacturing processes where products are shipped across the world to endulge your "needs", then feel free to ignore all the above, and just focus on "user-friendliness".
Once again the CPS and Police are at fault There may be occasions in which the police and the CPS are independent entities, but in most of the cases on here, the CPS is just an excuse deployed by the police to excuse inaction over really blatant offences. What police officers are violently opposed to is people reporting offences, particularly when they send indisputable video, because the reports could take matters out of the hands of the police. They like to prosecute people they don't like, such as cyclists, and to have the option of forgiving people they do like, such as drivers in big cars or people they know. Whataboutery is getting a Bad Press on here, but it's a perfectly reasonable objection when, for instance, video is provided of drivers committing MUST NOT offences such as RLJs and they're forgiven by the police 'because everybody does it', yet a big thing is made of the offence when cyclists are involved. The assertion may not be palatable, but there are a lot of lying, crooked b******s in the Police.
I have both a Scott Spark RC and the Scale Gravel RC and find the Dangerholm builds really interesting by exploring what different directions can be achieved with a mix of imagination, DIY and professional resources. Probably not for the staid British mindset as shown by previous comments.
Once again the CPS and Police are at fault. They don't really worry about the law as they can usually find one to fit around their needs. And once again it's only when they are stood up to that they are forced to run away.
Lol. I’ve been saying the same to my watch. It keeps prompting me I need to do more calories on certain days and I tell it - but I did some gardening in the afternoon which included digging but u don’t let me record that. And then I have another biscuit with my tea.
"~15% of the riding time that I’m forced to use the road(because the infrastructure for cycling is insufficient or nonexistent) " Amsterdam?
Same here. I have a helmet with built in front and rear lights and have a red light clipped onto my bag plus lights attached to my bike front and rear but still have drivers putting me in danger. My commute is about two miles and I normally have around four incidents a week where I have to brake hard or take other evasive action to avoid being hit by distracted drivers. A big percentage of these are drivers coming on to roundabouts when I am already on them.
Glasgow's South City Way sounds great, does it not? As a user from before and after I wholeheartedly welcome the construction of the segregated route, but so much of the detailed construction is poor, if not unsafe. I provide a link to a presentation I made when construction was half complete (a personal view) and the construction errors remain outstanding to this day: crossed by high speed flared road junctions, poor colour differentiation, car door zone risks and so on. And yet cyclists come because they feel safe. It's a complex subject but IMHO the feeling of safety (or lack of) is a critical component. https://drive.proton.me/urls/B67AK44G90#CFueBGjscoWr
I can only conclude that you haven't been into a city in the last few years. Food delivery riders in particular are riding overpowered "eBikes" that are basically mopeds ... powered only via the throttle without pedalling at significantly more than 15mph. Problem is they look like normal bikes/ebikes and not like mopeds so that is what people describe them as. My reading of the article is that it is those vehicles that are being talked about here.
I have the Trace and Tracer, which have essentially the same design, albeit smaller and less powerful. The controls are a little complicated but only because there are loads of options. In reality, once you've chosen your level of brightness, you'll only cycle through 1 or 2 options and it's dead simple. The lights are rock solid, bright, with good runtimes. The only thing I find annoying is charging them - if your fingers are slightly wet or greasy, getting the rubber out of the way of the charging port is a pain in the arse.
27 thoughts on ““You can ride ten abreast if you like”: Are ‘Parkrun for cyclists’ events the future?; Mark Cavendish racing in 2025 “makes no sense”, says Astana boss; Lachlan Morton’s 460km ‘easy’ day; Bike lane manholes; Vingegaard to the Giro? + more on the live blog”
This morning – police van
This morning – police van parked in quiet residential street in a marked parking bay, but with two wheels on pavement. “Excuse me officer, I can see you’re dealing with something, but did you really need to park the van on the pavement?” “You can whine all you like fella, I’m responding to a call so I parked in the quickest way”. But, but, wouldn’t it have been quicker not to mount the kerb? I despair, it’s just so normalised.
Yes. I decided to check The
Yes. I decided to check The Code (for what that’s worth).
242. You MUST NOT leave your vehicle or trailer in a dangerous position or where it causes any unnecessary obstruction of the road.
243. DO NOT stop or park [ a long list of places – but this is not mandatory ]
244. You MUST NOT park partially or wholly on the pavement in London, and should not do so elsewhere unless signs permit it. Parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience pedestrians, people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs.— Highway Code
So … we all know 240 is plain ignored. I think it’s less “bloody cyclists, never use the facilities anyway” and more “it’s all pavement to me…”
244 is tricky – good for people in London (in theory) but everywhere else this is not mandatory. (Scotland has at least set the foundations here and Edinburgh council has said they will enforce).
However I bet that – if pressed – people are going to fish up rule 242 – that’s mandatory – over 244. Of course, they could simply park where they neither obstructing the road nor the footway / cycle facilities…
There is of course also Rule
There is of course also Rule 145 (no driving on pavement) which both makes you wonder why 244 (no parking on pavement) is even necessary, and gives the police an excuse:
145. You MUST NOT drive on or over a pavement, footpath or bridleway except to gain lawful access to property, or in the case of an emergency.
But I have to admit that in most cases I see, pavement parking is unnecessary and irritating rather than actually an obstruction – in this case a buggy / wheelchair etc could still have passed, and (with experience of the former but not the latter) the quality of the Victorian pavements is probably more of an impediment.
quiff wrote:
The problem with 145 is that the police will only take action (if they ever will anyway) if they see the car in the process of being driven on the footpath. The fact it is stationary on the footpath is not sufficient evidence it was [I]driven[/I] into that position – it could have been lower by crane or helicopter in theory! So 244 is necessary for that reason, at least until someone one creates a Highway Code that is not ambiguous or open to wild interpretation by whoever sees fit, including those tasked with upholding or prosecuting the law.
Being pedantic, my
Being pedantic, my understanding is that the “road” in Rule 242 applies to the whole highway (including the carriageway and the footway).
The RAC say:
The RAC say:
If you are parking along a narrow road, where parking wholly on the road would stop other cars, and particularly emergency vehicles, from getting through, then it is a sensible option to park partially on a pavement, providing there are no parking restrictions and providing you are not blocking a wheelchair user or pram from using the pavement.
If there are restrictions, or your parking would cause wheelchair users or people with prams to have to walk into the road, then you should find somewhere else to park. — RAC
This is reasonable … except that people’s opinion of “I had no other option” and their choice to park on a narrow road is entirely predicated on “can I be bothered to accept extra inconvenience / do more that is ‘necessary’ ” – to which the answer is often going to be “no” because humans. (All your passengers will be moaning at you also!)
Plus “but but access for ambulances and fire trucks” will be invoked to back up this tragedy of the commons. People in wheelchairs can go another way (why isn’t there support to drive them places…?). People with pushchairs can “just go round”…
And of course often “two
And of course often “two wheels up” is an outward show of consideration for your fellow motorists (or just protection of your own wing mirror) while not actually being effective to change the dynamic – it at least irritates if not obstructs pavement users, while not actually creating enough space for two vehicles to pass. Ok, rant over.
chrisonabike wrote:
Hmmmm. Access for emergency vehicles is an optional rule according to a significant minority of drivers. I think their hierarchy of rules goes something like :
1 Park in a free (in both senses of the word) spot that causes no obstruction right outside the takeaway / newsagent.
2 Park in the cycle lane right outside the takeaway / newsagent. Sod the cyclists.
3 Park on the pavement right outside the takeaway / newsagent. Sod the pedestrians.
4 Park in such a way as to make it difficult or impossible for a fire engine to get by, right outside the takeaway / newsagent. Sod everyone else.
5 Pay for a parking spot right outside the takeaway / newsagent. Sod it, I ain’t paying to park!
6 Park 50m down the road in a perfectly good parking spot and walk back to the takeaway / newsagent. Sod that, I shouldn’t have to walk!
Very rarely do they make it beyond option 4 before they park up.
chrisonabike wrote:
This is reasonable … except that people’s opinion of “I had no other option” and their choice to park on a narrow road is entirely predicated on “can I be bothered to accept extra inconvenience / do more that is ‘necessary’ ” – to which the answer is often going to be “no” because humans. (All your passengers will be moaning at you also!)
Plus “but but access for ambulances and fire trucks” will be invoked to back up this tragedy of the commons. People in wheelchairs can go another way (why isn’t there support to drive them places…?). People with pushchairs can “just go round”…— RAC
I’m in two minds about completely banning pavement parking. On the one hand, as a non-driver, I’d enjoy the better pavement access without having to deal with the parking issues. On the other hand, I can see that it’s going to cause issues on narrow roads. e.g. where I live, residential roads are narrow enough that cars parked on both sides reduce the available road space to just a single car width, so that means either restricting parking on one side (not popular with the residents) or making the roads one-way (not popular with drivers).
On balance, it makes sense to disallow cars on pavements as I see plenty of inconsiderate pavement parking and it’s not safe to force pedestrians onto the road.
Mounting the kerb can damage
Mounting the kerb can damage your wheels and/or tyres – or in the case of a police car, our wheels and/or tyres, as they are not theirs to damage. It will also damage the kerb and pavement – is not part of the regular wear and tear usage of the road, which is why designmated pavement crossings have dropped kerbs. Yet nearly every time I see a police car stopped, they are stopped this way, even though it rarely does anything to reduce any obstruction of the carriageway and often obstructs the footway.
Picture below from this very
Picture below from this very morning on Denmark Hill in Camberwell outside King’s College Hospital (it could be any morning of the week, to be honest), police car clearly not on emergency call*, either a follow-up interview at the hospital or more likely availing themselves of the Costa Coffee…they’ve obviously been told not to park in the bus lane (at least I have been promised numerous times by commanding officers that they have been told), so what do they do? Park in the nearest sidestreet (about 25 m away)? No, let’s park on the zigzags of the pelican crossing, that’s not technically in the bus lane…
*There is one or more police vehicle parked there virtually every morning around 7 o’clock, unless an emergency is happening there every single day at exactly the same time…
It boils my p***. Is it doing
It boils my p***. Is it doing any actual harm? Ninety nine times out of a hundred, no. But lead by example for goodness sake. There is a worrying number of such photos on my phone. I should quit caring, for my own health.
I’ve had several recently
I’ve had several recently whilst I’ve been walking on the pavement and the driver is driving at me on the pavement expecting me to move out of their way, I don’t.
But the one that really boiled my pee was I’m walking past some really big expensive houses with garages and driveways, they even had a two car width service road layby arrangement off the main road, plenty of room and space to park and people were still parking on the flipping pavement blocking the footways outside their homes.
About ten years ago, when I
About ten years ago, when I was riding my bakfiets, I needed to access a dropped kerb on a cycle route, which was blocked by a police vehicle, and it blocked the pavement, on double yellow lines, and white lines. It wasn’t an emergency vehicle, so I tried ringing 101, but gave up after ten minutes, but I did take a picture which I sent to the local rag with a letter, pointing out that it was not acceptable to block both the dropped kerb and the pavement and to park on double yellows and white lines, and all the responses were critical: of me, not the police.
eburtthebike wrote:
Entirely unsurprising; in the days before I quit the cesspit of Twitter I would post pictures/videos like the one above in order to tag the relevant forces, 90% of the responses were along the lines of “You ever had to face down a man with a knife? [Yes, as it happens, but that’s another story] Wind your neck in and let the police do their job then.” In vain would I explain that I was all for the police doing their job, and part of their job is that when they’re not on emergency call they have to obey exactly the same traffic laws as everybody else.
The people who stick up for
The people who stick up for the police in posts like these will be the same ones knocking them down, saying they don’t do their jobs in the next post.
Why cyclists don’t use the
Why cyclists don’t use the cycle lane, #15,678
To be fair, there is no sign that the cover was raised for work or access, so it seems likely that it was left that way by vandals. Did the op report it?
RideLondon cancelled for 2025
RideLondon cancelled for 2025 – no indication of whether it will ever happen again unfortunately…
“RideLondon will take a
“RideLondon will take a hiatus for 2025.
The 100-mile, 60-mile and 30-mile mass participation rides, and FreeCycle, will not take place in 2025.
The pause will allow us to reimagine the world’s greatest festival of cycling going forwards.
Full refunds will be given to all those who have entered the 2025 RideLondon-Essex 100.”
I only imagine that their “re-imagine” is basically a massive downgrade, particularly for the Freecycle which was much less vibrant in 2023 and 2024 than previous years (pre-Covid).
https://ridelondon.co.uk/news-and-media/latest-news/2025-event-update
The Gravelfoyle post is
The Gravelfoyle post is missing the sign up link: https://biketrossachs.eventrac.co.uk/e/gravelfoyle-parkride-11577
More info here: https://www.gravelfoyle.com/parkride
Having done a couple of the trial events, it is really good.
According to MacPhee,
According to MacPhee, “Parkride is for everyone” – as long as they have a suitable off-road bike and helmet…….
Clearly not everyone, no helmet, no ride. Why do some ride organisers persist in this idiotic rule?
“There are no cars, it’s really safe…..” So why do you have to have a helmet?
MacPhee, now a gravel enthusiast and cycling development officer……
Someone tell her please: you can promote cycling or you can promote helmets, but you can’t do both.
Just managed to get my council to publish pictures of cyclists without helmets as well as with, after a considerable struggle with the helmet zealots of the Community Wellbeing department.
Quote:
Who’s that gut lord marching
You should cut down on your pork life mate
Get some exercise
(For clarity I’m not actually calling you a gut lord Ryan, but the quote opportunity was too good to miss)
On a tangent – I still reel
On a tangent – I still reel at the nerve of a friend who, in his groom’s speech, said his now father in law “knows his claret from his beaujolais”.
Got an email/offer from r3pro
Got an email/offer from r3pro, makers of the excellent brake caliper servicing blocks,, which Hope now publish their versions online, and found these bottle caps.
https://www.r3pro.co.uk/collections/bike-accessories/products/bottle-caps?variant=40492835078335
First thing I saw was a very interesting Hope light and battery mount, cheaper than Hope’s light mount but that is a marvel of engineering. About to look through some more of their innovations.
Why do people need a helmet
Why do people need a helmet for parkride? If cycling with little kids they’ll be going slower than people on parkrun, but presumably they’re not required to wear head protection.
I’d guess quite probably
I’d guess quite probably insurance requirements and/or fear of litigation, possibly topped up with a dose of prevalent cycle sport culture that Kerry MacPhee will have grown up with.
It is possible to find insurers and organisers who really understand stuff like different contexts within cycling carrying different risks and that helmets are not the significant life-savers they’re widely touted as being, but they’re the exception rather than the rule. Which is a shame, but much the same thing can be seen in a significant proportion of e.g. Bikeability lessons delivered up and down the country where the course has no need of a helmet but most participants are forced to use them if they want to take part because of fear, culture and insurance.
pjclinch wrote:
About twenty years ago, there were a lot of local cycling events that required helmets, and I asked the organisers why they had that rule, and the response from all of them was that the insurers demanded it. I found out who their insurers were and asked them if they had demanded that rule: none of them had. So not only were the organisers incompetent, they were liars as well.
I won’t go on a ride that demands helmets, after all, you don’t want to go on a ride organised by people who are both incompetent and liars, do you? Anything could happen.