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Ford becomes title sponsor of RideLondon – and cyclists aren’t happy; Santos Tour Down Under protest: Extinction Rebellion pensioners arrested for gluing themselves to pile of bikes; UK’s most flooded cycleways; Pinot set to retire + more on the live blog

It’s a wet and windy Thursday (at least where I am), and Ryan Mallon’s back with another helping of the live blog
Thu, Jan 12, 2023 09:49
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Ford becomes title sponsor of RideLondon – and cyclists aren’t happy; Santos Tour Down Under protest: Extinction Rebellion pensioners arrested for gluing themselves to pile of bikes; UK’s most flooded cycleways; Pinot set to retire + more on the live blogford park the car initiative - via Ford
12 January 2023, 11:22
ford park the car initiative - via Ford
“The whole point is to get people out of cars, not promote them”: Ford becomes title sponsor of RideLondon – and cyclists aren’t happy

So, it looks like the spectre of greenwashing will continue to hover over the cycling world today, whether it’s on the streets of Adelaide or the roads of Essex, as London Marathon Events, the organisers of RideLondon, announced this morning that one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers, Ford, has become the event’s title sponsor.

Last May, you may remember, Ford joined up with RideLondon as its ‘presenting partner’, which the American motor company said would help push its ‘Park the Car’ initiative, encouraging people to ditch the car and cycle or walk if the journey is under three miles.

> RideLondon announces... one of the world's biggest car manufacturers as presenting partner

And with RideLondon making a huge loss last year – the first time that the event was held since the dawn of the Covid pandemic, and the first in partnership with Essex County Council after moving from its former home in Surrey – thanks to the absence of a major sponsor, the car giant has now stepped up to front the three-day event, as well as becoming its official electric vehicle supplier.

The undisclosed three-year deal gives Ford the naming rights to all three of the RideLondon Essex sportive events (the routes of which were announced last month), the RideLondon FreeCycle through eight miles of closed roads in the capital, and the RideLondon Classique, a three-stage UCI Women’s WorldTour race, won last year by Lorena Wiebes.

> Route for RideLondon-Essex 2023 sportive confirmed

Unsurprisingly, the words ‘active travel’ featured heavily in RideLondon’s announcement with Ford this morning.

“This is a landmark day in the history of RideLondon as Ford becomes the title partner of the world’s greatest festival of cycling,” said Hugh Brasher, the Event Director of organisers London Marathon Events.

“We worked closely with Ford last year to amplify their work in promoting active travel and Ford’s innovative Park the Car initiative, which encourages car users to cycle or walk rather than drive short journeys. We look forward to building on our very successful partnership to build active travel into everyday life.”

Lisa Brankin, Ford’s Managing Director in Britain and Ireland, added: “Partnering with RideLondon, the world’s greatest festival of cycling, is a clear way for us to connect with a wider audience and share the countless benefits of cycling and walking.

“It’s also a fantastic opportunity for us further support both our Park The Car initiative, promoting smart choices around which mode of transport to use, especially for short distances, and also raise awareness of Ford zero-emission vehicles.”

RideLondon Freecycle (picture credit TfL)

RideLondon FreeCycle (Transport for London)

Meanwhile, London’s cycling and walking commissioner Will Norman was as equally effusive, saying: “We need to reduce the number of car journeys taking place by supporting people to switch to active travel options like walking and cycling, and the car journeys that do happen need to be cleaner.

“This way we can not only tackle the challenges of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion, but also help to build a safer, greener and healthier London for everyone.

“RideLondon is a brilliant event which will inspire people to take advantage of an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and fun way of getting around. With Ford’s support we can now continue to deliver this world-class event and encourage even more people to cycle around our city.”

However, over on social media, not everyone was as impressed with Ford jumping on the cycling bandwagon.

“This is a terrible, terrible decision by RideLondon that goes against everything the cycling movement stands for,” wrote active travel advocate Charlotte Baker.

“The whole point is to get people *out* of cars. Not promote them.”

“A multinational motor vehicle manufacturer sponsoring a pedal cycle event. Irony, as they say, is dead,” writes Paul.

While others linked the sponsorship to Shell’s controversial deal with British Cycling:

Others, however, appear more willing to give Ford the benefit of the doubt:

What do you think? Is Ford’s sponsorship of RideLondon the antithesis of what cycling should represent? Or is it just money at the end of the day? Let us know in the comments… 

12 January 2023, 09:43
Tour Down Under Extinction Rebellion protest (Extinction Rebellion)
Two Extinction Rebellion pensioners arrested after gluing themselves to oil-covered pile of bikes in Santos Tour Down Under protest

Two women in their 60s have been arrested after gluing themselves to a pile of bikes on an Adelaide street, in what appears to be the first wave of Extinction Rebellion’s plan to disrupt the upcoming return of the Tour Down Under – and, more specifically, to highlight the apparent ‘greenwashing’ activities of its main sponsor, Santos.

The two women, aged 67 and 68 and dressed in cycling clothing, were charged by police with unreasonably obstructing the path of a driver or pedestrian after blocking a lane outside oil and gas producer Santos’ HQ for half an hour, ABC reports.

The protesters also covered themselves and the bikes in fake oil, which symbolically led to the front door of Santos’ building.

Today’s protest is the first of what the South Australia branch of Extinction Rebellion hopes will be a series of disruptions to the Tour Down Under, which returns to the international cycling calendar this weekend after a three-year Covid-related absence.

Last year, the group targeted the race’s little brother, the Santos Festival of Cycling, to protest a company which they believe is “driving global emissions to tipping points from which there is no return.”

> Extinction Rebellion to target Santos Festival of Cycling

Gas and oil producer Santos, which has sponsored the Tour Down Under since 2010, is one of Australia’s worst greenhouse gas emitting companies. Its status as the race’s naming rights sponsor has long been viewed as one of cycling’s most egregious forms of ‘greenwashing’ (which is saying something at the moment).

2020 Tour Down Under peloton rides through bushfire-affected area (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The bunch rides through an area ravaged by bushfires during the most recent Tour Down Under in 2020 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

However, when asked by Procycling magazine in late 2021 about the race’s relationship with Santos and its environmental impact, Events South Australia executive director Hitaf Rasheed said: “While none of our sponsors have any direct involvement in the organisation or running of [the Tour Down Under], we value these partnerships as they allow the race to continue to grow and elevate the event to a world-class offering.”

While insisting that they are not against cycling or bike races – just the companies seeking to profit or launder their image from them – Extinction Rebellion’s South Australian spokesman, Chris Johnson, said that the Australian government should be taxing companies like Santos more, rather than striking sponsorship deals with them.

“I think people are smart enough to understand that we are targeting Santos at this race, and if we’re there with a presence and we have banners that say ‘dump Santos’ or ‘disrupt Santos’, then it’s pretty clear that we're targeting Santos,” he said.

> "We respect the public's right to protest": British Cycling addresses Extinction Rebellion protest over Shell deal

On the other hand, South Australia’s tourism minister Zoe Bettison described plans to disrupt the Tour Down Under (a race that ventured through areas decimated by bushfires during its most recent edition in 2020) as “galling”, and claimed that Santos was committed to achieving net zero emissions.

2020 Tour Down Under peloton rides through bushfire-affected area (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The 2020 Tour Down Under peloton passes a house destroyed by bush fires (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“I think people are free to share their concerns; the disruption is what is outraging me,” she said.

“We’ve seen them hold up traffic before, we’ve seen them protest this way, but why are you going to do this at an event that is such an important event for South Australia?”

Maybe the tourism minister is just a massive Chris Froome fan…

12 January 2023, 17:45
RideLondon Ford
“In defence of Ford” and other comments about greenwashing

While Ford’s deal with RideLondon has sparked something of a backlash against both the company and the event online, today’s live blog comments section is – perhaps surprisingly – rather more balanced in its appraisal of the arrangement.

road.cc reader Legin, for example, wrote “in defence of Ford Motor Company”, pointing out that “most cyclists also drive cars; motor manufacturers are long term sponsors of cycling; historically they have been the largest private employer in Essex; they have their own cycling club for employees; and prior to Covid restrictions they allowed use of the facilities at the Dunton Test Centre for go-ride racing and coaching.”

Similarly, Off the back asked “if these people who are protesting also refuse to watch any pro cycling? AG2R Citroën, Team TotalEnergies, Team Ineos. Car and petrochemical companies sponsor cycling all the time.”

“It’s all so tedious,” says PRSboy. “Cycling is not a 'movement'. I do it because I enjoy it, others do it to get around. On longer journeys I take my car because it’s cheaper and more reliable than public transport.

“We are not going to make the energy transition without the incumbent companies' involvement, and it’s naive to think they can change on a sixpence. Until then, it’s surely better to engage and hold them to account to their promises rather than shunning for eternity.”

Extinction Rebellion Santos Tour Down Under protest (9News)

Meanwhile, a few of our readers disagreed over Extinction Rebellion’s methods down under.

“I'm all for protest, but honestly I think my wokeness stops at environmental protestors targeting cycling events,” says espressodan.

“Yes, sportswashing is a thing, yes, stage races are hardly low emission events, but for goodness sake, choose your enemy. Literally everything else you could possibly target isn't something that at its roots is an emissions free transport machine.”

MattieKempy relied: “At first glance, yes, maybe, but then when you consider the environmental impact of cycling events on that scale, it's a bit more obvious.

“Consider the flights to get the 20-ish teams (140+ riders) and staff (probably more than 250), their bikes and kit to Australia, then factor in the carbon emissions of the race convoys, the spectator journeys to and from the stages, the plastic sh1t thrown at people by the caravan (if it's anything like the Tour de France), then multiply that by every WorldTour event, which I believe is approximately 40 events, the cause for a protest becomes much more evident.

“Cycling as a pursuit is quite environmentally friendly; cycling as an elite sport and business is definitely not!”

12 January 2023, 17:18
12 January 2023, 16:45
2022 Tour de France, Thibaut Pinot (A.S.O._Charly_Lopez)
Thibaut Pinot announces he will retire from cycling at the end of 2023

It’s a sad day for lovers of goats, panache, and tearful exits from grand tours, as Thibaut Pinot has announced that he will retire from professional cycling at the end of this season.

The 32-year-old, who has won six grand tour stages, Il Lombardia, and finished on the podium of the Tour de France (a race he came agonisingly close to winning in 2019) during his 13-year professional career, told L’Équipe today that he is “ready for real life”.

I’m not crying, you’re crying…

By announcing his retirement early, the popular Groupama-FDJ rider says he can ride every race “knowing that it is the last time, before I go to bury myself in my hole”.

Speaking of which, Il Lombardia, the Italian monument he won with an impressive solo attack in 2018, will mark Pinot’s last race in the pro peloton, while he is also scheduled to head to Italy for the Giro, the scene of another of the Frenchman’s devastating late abandons while in a strong GC position.

And surely – surely – there will be one last crack at the Tour in July. Come on Thibaut, do it for all the romantics out there…

12 January 2023, 16:34
A live blog hero and a BMX legend pop up on the podcast this week…
12 January 2023, 15:54
2022-23 awards - 1
The countdown to the road.cc Recommends awards begins

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

Yep, that’s right, Monday marks the start of our prestigious end-of-year (yes it’s January, but you know what I mean) road.cc Recommends awards.

> Starting next week: road.cc Recommends awards 2022/23

Throughout next two and a half weeks, we’ll be revealing the best bikes, components, accessories, and clothing that made into the tech team’s grubby little hands during 2022 – and, according to tech editor Mat, there are going to be a few surprises.

I can’t wait…

And, just to whet your appetite, here are the winners in the road bike category from last year’s awards ceremony/YouTube video:

12 January 2023, 15:27
I wish they’d come up with a snappier title…

> Netflix Tour de France documentary could take sport "to next level", says Patrick Lefevere 

12 January 2023, 14:58
Miguel Angel Lopez on his way to winning Stage 17 of the 2020 Tour de France (picture credit Alex Whitehead SWpix.com)
“I didn’t dope, my biological passport is clean”: Miguel Ángel López breaks silence over Astana sacking

Grand tour stage winner Miguel Ángel López is adamant that he’s clean – and that he’s got the biological passport to prove it – despite his sacking by Astana-Qazaqstan for his alleged links to a doping investigation in Spain.

Speaking to Colombian cycling outlet ADN, the 28-year-old, who was unveiled by third-tier squad Medellín earlier this week, continued to deny any association with the alleged doping doctor Marcos Maynar, and said that he hopes to return to the WorldTour once his stint back home – away from the intense glare of the European racing scene – is finished.

“It’s a new experience, I’m motivated, I’m looking forward to a new season with beautiful experiences,” he said. “It’s a bit different to what I expected [for 2023], but I’m sure I’ll feel the support of the supporters here. This is the best team here in Colombia.”

> Miguel Ángel López drops down to third tier after Astana sacking

López, who was initially suspended by Astana last summer when his name popped up as part of the Spanish police’s Operation Ilex anti-doping investigation, before his contract was abruptly terminated last month, says his move to Medellín was “something nice after what happened, and sometimes you have to take a small step back to take a major leap forward”.

Reflecting on his turbulent 2022, the mercurial climber continued: “There hadn’t been a problem, things moved forward and we were looking forward to 2023 without any concerns.

“It [the initial suspension] had just been a bad moment that happened, a misunderstanding. I have nothing to repent about because I’m not doped, my biological passport is clean.

“Then from one moment to another it was as the ground had gone from underneath me. It was very hard, suddenly I found had no team, it was December 15th, almost Christmas.

“With the support of my friends and family I could get through. The key thing is there are no issues, so I decided I’d have to race in a non-WorldTour team and hope things go back to normal.”

The Tour de France stage winner also praised his new teammate, 46-year-old Óscar Sevilla – whose own career in cycling’s top flight ended after he was sacked by T-Mobile in 2006 thanks to his involvement with Operation Puerto doctor Eufemiano Fuentes – for “telling me I had to keep my head high and not to let the little things get to you. He’s one of the best riders in Colombian cycling, I’m proud to be racing with him.”

He concluded: “For me these have been various complicated years. Movistar [in 2021] wasn’t great for me either, so neither 2021 and 2022 have been easy and staying focused has been hard.

“But I’m 28, going on 29, so I can still see myself doing battle in the World Tour. Nobody’s perfect, everybody makes mistakes, so you have to get over them, keep going and move on.”

12 January 2023, 14:27
“There is a myth circulating amongst cyclists…”
12 January 2023, 14:20
12 January 2023, 13:33
“Great news for Ford, terrible for everyone else”: More reaction to THAT “absurd” RideLondon-Ford deal, as cyclists threaten to boycott event

The backlash against RideLondon’s sponsorship deal with Ford continues (and will probably continue for a while), with several of the event’s former participants taking to Twitter this lunchtime to declare that they’re “never taking part again” while the car giant remains as title sponsor.

Here’s a selection of some of those, shall we say, less than supportive thoughts and comments popping up on social media today:

And finally, an obligatory reference to Shell… 

12 January 2023, 12:58
“This doesn’t work as an active travel route whilst underwater”: Is this Britain’s most flooded cycleway?

With the most prestigious and hotly-anticipated awards of the cycling calendar set to be announced next week (more on those later), road.cc reader Bob got in touch to recommend – see what I did there? – that we launch an altogether different kind of cycling-themed contest.

“Can we have a competition for most flooded cycleway?” Bob asked, before submitting his own entry from Dunham Massey in Trafford, Greater Manchester, where three sections of the Trans Pennine Trail currently more resemble something you’d find Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse filming beside than they do a National Cycle Network route.

“The third section is more like a river where the water flows from the embankment beside the gas works.” Bob told us. “The first two sections are blamed on blocked drains.

“I do report to the council every year, more in hope than expectation. Obviously, this doesn’t work as an active travel route whilst underwater, and unfortunately the only alternative by bike involves an A road and a B Road.”

Is this Britain’s most flooded cycleway? Or do you reckon you could trump it with your own underwater commute?

Bob thinks he has another contender on his hands near Stretford, so watch this space…

12 January 2023, 12:36
“Ford is serious about preserving the planet”: Car giant responds to criticism of RideLondon deal

It looks like it’s going to be a busy day for Ford UK’s social media team, who are already on the case, dealing with angry cyclists and active travel campaigners critical of the car company’s deal with RideLondon:

Of course, I think it might take more than a pre-drafted tweet to appease everyone:

12 January 2023, 12:08
Dating advice from Wout van Aert’s Strava

Or maybe he’s just a big Motorhead fan…

12 January 2023, 10:54
12 January 2023, 10:36
Come on, show us your numbers Valtteri…

See, Netflix was right – cycling really is the new Formula 1.

Hopefully all that training with his partner, Canyon-Sram’s Tiffany Cromwell, as well as a certain Texan, paid off for Bottas during his annual trip to the lab…

12 January 2023, 10:10
Tom Pidcock: Cyclocross world champion, Olympic gold medallist, Tour de France stage winner, and… Dino Boy

From accusations of greenwashing and important questions about the future of the planet to… well, Tom Pidcock wearing a dinosaur-themed helmet while training in Mallorca:

Never say you don’t get variety on the live blog…

Or maybe Pidcock was actually trying out an alternative punk version of the as-yet-unreleased Kask Elemento that tech editor Mat has been banging on about all week?

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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58 comments

Avatar
Rome73 | 1 year ago
3 likes

Could Ford, as part of their sponsorship, also put stickers on the dashboard of all new Transit vans sold saying 'please do not drive like a reckless idiot'

Avatar
IanMSpencer replied to Rome73 | 1 year ago
2 likes

You are assuming literacy. Having interacted a few times with drivers who are challenged by the concept of safe driving, I wouldn't be so confident in the usefulness of that sticker to convey the message - if they could see it past the phone in their face.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Rome73 | 1 year ago
2 likes

BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:

Could Ford, as part of their sponsorship, also put stickers on the dashboard of all new Transit vans sold saying 'please do not drive like a reckless idiot'

Just chop off the last four words and you're definitely onto something.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
2 likes

Ford Static vans?  Sounds hair-raising!

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Organon | 1 year ago
2 likes

Lets go maximum toxicity: bring back the Tour de Trump.

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
2 likes

If Ford was serious about encouraging active travel, why couldn't they just anonymously donate the money to RideLondon without all the publicity?  Unless it's all about greenwashing of course.

Avatar
Owd Big 'Ead | 1 year ago
2 likes

RideLondon?

The biggest festival of cycling in  the world?

According to whom, Hugh Brasher and Ford?

RideLondon is, to me at least, the antithesis of what cycing is all about, especially if we really want to encourage the mainstream to leave the car at home for those local journeys where a bike is quicker, cheaper and greener. All this dressing up in lycra and donning helmets just reinforces the idea that cyclists are outliers and won't encourage the masses to get on board, regardless of who the title sponsor is.

If we are really serious about creating a modal shift away from the motorcar, then cycling needs to be portrayed as a simple option, just transport in another form, ,rather than being about expensive equipment, training plans, lycra and sport.

Avatar
fenix replied to Owd Big 'Ead | 1 year ago
0 likes

There is the freeride on the Saturday?

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Owd Big 'Ead | 1 year ago
1 like

Owd Big 'Ead wrote:

If we are really serious about creating a modal shift away from the motorcar, then cycling needs to be portrayed as a simple option, just transport in another form, rather than being about expensive equipment, training plans, lycra and sport.

Absolutely agree, however blaming RideLondon, similar sportives or indeed any sports cycling as responsible for limiting the uptake of transport/utility cycling (as certain people, or at least a certain person, have been doing ad nauseam elsewhere today) is about as logical as blaming the London Marathon for discouraging people from walking because it makes them feel they can't travel on foot without running shorts and trainers. People aren't as stupid as some patronisingly assume, they know not only the benefits of cycling but also that it doesn't have to be done on special bikes or in special clothes or anything else; survey after survey after study after study has shown that the biggest barrier to people using bicycles as transport, by a huge margin, is their fear of being injured or killed on the roads by motor vehicles. If every sport-centred cyclist in Britain were to give up tomorrow and no racing bike or lycra was ever seen on the roads again it wouldn't increase cycling uptake one iota, only better, more protected cycling infrastructure will do that.

Avatar
lonpfrb replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
3 likes
Rendel Harris wrote:

only better, more protected cycling infrastructure will do that.

No, "the answer is infrastructure" is a slow, hugely expensive 'answer' that might apply to inner cities. The only National solution is to break the perverse, automotive influenced, myth that cars matter more than people, and people using bicycles don't have the right to do so, without danger, on the public highway.

Correcting 100 Years of Automotive industry propaganda is the required public good and something that the industry should be obliged by statute to do. That's how to deliver Active Travel, not giving barely interested councils Highways departments a few £Mn to have a go at it, despite their Car first attitude.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to lonpfrb | 1 year ago
1 like

Respectfully, the only "fast, cheap" 'answer' is the one we've been applying thus far * e.g. "encouraging" cycling.  Which has seen cycling continue to decline - although stabilising at a few % of journeys in some places.  In reality of course we are "encouraging" cycling with statements, posters and paint and the odd disconnected section of cycle path.  We actually encouraging driving by building a network of specialised high-quality expensive infrastructure - which feels safe and convenient to use.  We even subsidise this activity via tax (again - driving is expensive and drivers do pay tax - but not as much as it costs us all once all costs are accounted for).

Fundamentally - most people (apart from "cyclists") don't define themselves by their utility transport choice.   They just use what is most convenient and feels safe **.  Most people just don't feel safe walking / cycling around motor vehicles.  You can train a few but it's still not pleasant.  And since we've made driving easier than any other mode (and especially cycling) - in most cases - people drive.  They also find they have a car with them at points during the day, so they don't think "I'll just walk ... " so much because they already have the car, and the car is a general solution suitable for most transport tasks.  Other modes are much better in particular ways but less general.

In many places in the UK the majority of people have access to a car (OK - that should read "adults with certain physical abilities"...).  If you have one already and given it's often the most convenient transport and the cost for extra driving is low once you've paid the costs of ownership, you drive.

Conversely we even recommend that people cycle in the opposite manner to how they normally get about when walking, driving, on the bus, the train etc. e.g. single-file, one behind the other.  We recommend cycling be "anti-social"!

Finally - no realistic amount of training or more stringent laws / policing - at the population level - will get round the fact that humans are fallible.  (That doesn't mean we can't improve a lot on our current permissive system though!).  When we're using a motor vehicle any mistakes we make will have a huge impact (!) on other road users.  So unless interactions are very carefully managed - or avoided - the toll of death and injury won't change much.  Frankly few people are so reckless they want to risk death by driving into massive bridges, or houses - but we keep doing so!

"Correcting auto-industry propaganda" sounds good but these industries still have the politicians in their pockets.  Plus they've always got there first by e.g. inventing legal methods of victim-blaming a century ago!

* Or waiting until the oil runs out / we have a massive power outage and now "car not go" - that would be quick and cheap...

** Except under special circumstances e.g. "the only food is on the other side of the tiger enclosure".

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to lonpfrb | 1 year ago
1 like

By infrastructure I don't just mean protected cycle paths, which as you say take a long time to be installed and would be far too expensive to install everywhere, I also mean smaller projects to address the imbalance between cars and other road users such as rephasing of traffic lights, early release lights, traffic calming/speed limiting measures, more one-way streets that are two-way for cycles and so on.

Avatar
Awavey | 1 year ago
1 like

"Ford becomes title sponsor of RideLondon – and cyclists some people on twitter who have nothing better to do today, aren’t happy"

TFIFY.

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
5 likes

This is what Ford and riding in London means to me...Ranger passing so close the trailer touched my knee, a driver unable to cope with the ridiculously-oversized vehicle Ford produces and markets as suitable for urban living. Not keen on a ride associated with them really.

(Driver received an NIP but I was never informed of the outcome)

Avatar
Car Delenda Est | 1 year ago
1 like

I just realised that, between the spectacularising news coverage and the corporate woke-washing, cycling has become the new LGBTQI+.

Hopefully we redirect some flak and they see some benefit from all this.

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chrisonabike replied to Car Delenda Est | 1 year ago
1 like

Yeah ... at least some cycling sport organisations never managed to trigger everyone on that issue ... doh!

Maybe we should just keep on riding?  Quietly make your other car a bike, help fix someone's ride (if they ask), that kind of thing.  Give the bastards a smile.  Aside from shouting the odds here a bit, I like that one.

Avatar
lonpfrb replied to Car Delenda Est | 1 year ago
2 likes
Car Delenda Est wrote:

I just realised that, between the spectacularising news coverage and the corporate woke-washing, cycling has become the new LGBTQI+.

Except that people using bicycles are Not a protected minority, rathe the responsible government department does nothing at all to regulate the mainstream media or internet from their anti-cycle bias that puts legitimate road users in danger..

If Active Travel was a sincere objective of government they would need to start there.
#VisionZero
#WeRide

Avatar
Legin | 1 year ago
6 likes

In defence of Ford Motor Company:

  • Most Cyclist also drive cars
  • Motor Manufacturers are long term sponsors of cycling
  • Historically they have been the largest private employer in Essex
  • They have their own cycling club for employees
  • Prior to Covid restrictions they allowed use of the facilities at the Dunton Test Centre for go-ride racing and coaching
Avatar
brooksby | 1 year ago
3 likes

Quote:

After their baby was killed by a car crash, parents aim to end road deaths

The Louis Thorold Foundation, set up by Rachael and Chris Thorold in memory of their son, campaigns for safer roads

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/12/baby-killed-car-parents-ro...

(this was the case with the 'undiagnosed dementia' which meant that the woman who drove over the mother and baby was found not guilty by insanity).

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
7 likes

brooksby wrote:

Quote:

After their baby was killed by a car crash, parents aim to end road deaths

The Louis Thorold Foundation, set up by Rachael and Chris Thorold in memory of their son, campaigns for safer roads

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/12/baby-killed-car-parents-ro...

(this was the case with the 'undiagnosed dementia' which meant that the woman who drove over the mother and baby was found not guilty by insanity).

I think that referring to incidents as "road deaths" is missing the point - they're "deaths by driver"

I'll repeat my idea to deal with undiagnosed dementia (along with other conditions) - install black box devices that measure acceleration/deceleration statistics and assign a "smoothness" score that should correlate with competent driving. If someone's score starts to decline, then get them in for a health check as they're probably unaware that their reactions/vision/awareness is declining.

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
6 likes

Flooded cycleways?

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gallery/flooded-bristol-subway-sees-cyclist-7994295

//i2-prod.bristolpost.co.uk/incoming/article7994322.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/0_PHOTO-2023-01-04-11-51-40.jpg)

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
3 likes

Lawrence Hill Lido https://www.reddit.com/r/bristol/comments/109xvyj/the_lawrence_hill_lido/

BristolPost have an update on the Lido and it's due to be fixed at the end of the month: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/lawrence-hill-underpasses-flood-yet-8024265

It's interesting that Lawrence Hill and Barton Hill have low levels of car ownership/availability - approx 50%.

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PRSboy | 1 year ago
11 likes

Its all so tedious.  Cycling is not a 'movement'.  I do it because I enjoy it, others do it to get around.  On longer journeys I take my car because its cheaper and more reliable than public transport.

We are not going to make the energy transition without the incumbent companies' involvement, and its naive to think they can change on a sixpence.  Until then, its surely better to engage and hold them to account to their promises rather than shunning for eternity.

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HarrogateSpa replied to PRSboy | 1 year ago
7 likes

Motor vehicles are the main deterrent to cycling, so it's not a good fit.

I don't buy the argument that it's better to engage/hold companies to account. It tends to be an excuse for accepting the status quo. It wasn't engaging with South Africa that brought apartheid to an end.

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bob zmyuncle | 1 year ago
2 likes

Has Sir Brad commented on the XR protest yet? It's always good to hear his considered input.

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IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
0 likes

This Ford sponsorship wouldn't happen to ensure there is plenty of dosh to stick into Hugh Brasher's pocket by any chance?

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Off the back replied to IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
1 like

I wonder if these people who are protesting also refuse to watch any pro cycling? AG2R CITROEN, Team Totalenergies, Team Ineos. Car and petrochemical companies sponsor cycling all the time. 

 

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HarrogateSpa replied to Off the back | 1 year ago
4 likes

Car and petrochemical companies sponsor cycling all the time.

That doesn't mean it's a good thing.

And are people now banned from watching pro-cycling if they have an opinion about Ineos and whether it is an ethical company, or one that is actively contributing to the destruction of our habitable climate?

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lonpfrb replied to IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
0 likes
IanMSpencer wrote:

This Ford sponsorship wouldn't happen to ensure there is plenty of dosh to stick into Hugh Brasher's pocket by any chance?

Speaking as a Finisher of several RideLondon Surrey 100's and last year's Essex 100, I see a consistent reduction in the quality of the route, facilities and experience. Hard to say if money was the only consideration but I didn't think it worth getting a place this year..

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
3 likes

Clevedon has come up a few times recently.

It's a feature not a bug !

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