“Obviously designed by a motorist”: New “Kerplunk-style” slalom barriers on cycle path divide opinion; Bizarre Wout van Aert/Tory party crossover; Cyclists blast party’s call for bus lane suspension; Footballers who ride Lime Bikes + more on the live blog

Warning: Our usual Monday morning roundup of all the weekend’s cycling news may contain a disappointingly necessary reference to a retired, bang average, faux-intellectual professional footballer-turned-scattergun social media shock jock (and no, I still haven’t forgiven him for that sending off at Man City on the last day of the 2011/12 season)…

To be honest, I’m actually surprised it took him that long to turn his attention to cycling. Anyway, here’s the roundup:

> Four cyclists fined as police force shares footage of group ride stopped for ignoring red light

> Joey Barton’s latest unhinged cycling-related social media rant tackles “road tax, insurance and MOT” for cyclists

> Shimano is developing AI suspension adjustment

> “Come pedal in our shoes for a day and see what we experience”: Cyclists urge safety action after driver smashes into group ride in shocking collision

> Safety works confirmed for “optical illusion” cycle lane behind more than 100 injuries, as infrastructure branded an “utter pantomime”

> Road rage motorist arrested for dangerous driving after knocking cyclist over and throwing bike away

> Delivery driver who hit cyclist and blamed low sun found not guilty of causing death by careless driving

> Check out the anti-theft light that uses Apple technology to “locate your bike anywhere in the world” + more tech news from Shimano, Garmin, Lazer, Enve…

> Green with Enve: Spoon Customs’ head-turning limited edition XCR Izoard with Enve components

Some players go home in a G-Wagon.

Kenny Tete catches a lime bike 😂

📹 TT: Scottish69 pic.twitter.com/Qz6JgSmbbT

— Fulhamish (@FulhamishPod) January 13, 2024

Our Fulham-supporting live blogger and news editor Dan will be particularly pleased with Dutch (what else?) full back Kenny Tete’s latest bid to make our coveted Footballers Who Cycle XI. Not sure he’ll be able to dislodge Lee Dixon though. I’ll have a word with Neil and Roberto in the gaffer’s office…

It may only be the middle of January, but we seem to have already hit that sweet spot in the calendar, when bike races are coming at you thick and fast from a whole host of disciplines and from all over the world (yes, it’s also that one time of the year when we can empathise with our fellow cycling fans down under).

So, just in case you’re struggling to keep up with the pace – don’t worry, you’ll get used to it by classic season – here’s a quick roundup of all the weekend’s racing action…

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

At the Women’s Tour Down Under, 23-year-old Sarah Gigante put years of illness, crashes, injuries, heart problems, and contract turmoil behind her with an emphatic, cathartic win on her home race’s hallowed ground of Willunga Hill, beating Nienke Vinke, Neve Bradbury, and Amanda Spratt to secure the overall victory, possibly the biggest of her young and turbulent career so far.

What’s more, the AG Insurance-Soudal rider is heading back to Willunga on Saturday to race a time trial against the climb’s retired king Richie Porte, in a bid to break her own Strava QOM – which she set in 2021 – after a strong headwind prevented her from recording a new fastest time during her Tour Down Under-winning ride at the weekend.

“I’m coming back on Saturday, for a new attempt. There’s a Willunga time trial, against Richie. He’s retired but I’m not, so look out,” Gigante said. Talk about setting a marker down.

Dutch 🇳🇱 champion @lucinda_brand @Baloise_Trek #nkveldrijden pic.twitter.com/BoXQqceJr0

— Bart Hazen (@Bartoli84) January 14, 2024

Away from the road and the heat of Australia, and onto the freezing, muddy fields of northern Europe, where Lucinda Brand revealed that a broken nose could be her season’s secret weapon, as she recovered from her horrific crash at last Sunday’s Zonhoven World Cup to beat Puck Pieterse and Annemarie Worst and secure her third Dutch national cyclocross championship title in Hoogeveen.

Meanwhile, in Falkirk, Cameron Mason and Anna Kay put in two supremely dominant performances to blow the field away at the British championships, as Kay secured her maiden national senior title and Mason, riding on home turf, doubled up on his inaugural success last year to nab another 12 months in the British stripes.

(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

And, speaking of British stripes, Josie Knight won the individual pursuit on the final day of the European Track Championships in Apeldoorn, ensuring Team GB ended up at the top of the medal table with six golds and 14 overall – the nation’s best ever performance at a Euros. Which certainly bodes well for a certain rendezvous in Paris later this year…

Over on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Luke has raised an interesting point about the oft-cited argument that cycle path barriers – such as the slalom-style ones installed in Salford – are put in place to keep pedestrians using the route safe: 

The argument that they’re good for slowing cyclists down and making pedestrians safer on the route would be more compelling if the only place they were installed wasn’t at the point that cars entered the equation.

— lukebmtb.bsky.social (@LukeB_MTB) January 15, 2024

> YouTube driving instructor Ashley Neal visits new CYCLOPS cycling junction… and calls it an “absolutely awful waste of time and money”

I wonder if over in Oulu they have frothing social media debates about skiers and skaters putting cyclists and pedestrians in danger on shared-use ice paths? Hmmm…

> Unveiling the ultimate cycling bargains: check out the road.cc Recommends Bargain Buys of the Year 2023/24

Happy Pothole Day, to all who celebrate the annual reminder that Britain’s roads are crumbling fast and creating an ever-present danger for cyclists and road users around the country.

And to mark the occasion, Cycling UK is relaunching a refreshed version of its pothole reporting tool, Fill That Hole, which first launched way back in the misty realm that was 2007.

According to the cycling charity, around 200,000 potholes have been reported using the app, which sends the reports directly to the relevant highway authority. If the authority fails to take action, these reports can then help others in the future to claim for damage or injury against the local authority if the neglected road defect causes a crash.

> “Britain’s pothole crisis costs cyclists’ lives”: Campaigners say new funding to fix road defects – which the government claims will alleviate “misery” for motorists – “must not ignore” people on bikes

“Thanks to reports made by Fill That Hole’s thousands of users over the years, dangerous stretches of our roads have been identified, fixed, and made safe for all road users,” Cycling UK’s chief executive Sarah Mitchell said of Fill That Hole’s update, which was secured through funding and support from law firm Fletchers Cycle SOS.

“It’s important to report road defects when we find them for the safety of us all, and Cycling UK hopes that everyone who cycles will make these reports more easily than ever using  Fill That Hole.”

It’s fair to say that yesterday’s story about the group of cyclists who received fines for ignoring a red light sparked something of a controversy online, with many cyclists, including Leigh Day lawyer Rory McCarron, pointing out that Surrey RoadSafe’s oddly truncated footage of the cyclists’ misdemeanour failed, in fact, to actually show the riders passing the stop line while the lights were red.

Why is this video unnecessarily cropped to show the cyclists already passed the stop line and not crossing this when the light is red? Surely more dangerous for them to wait in the junction? HC: “Red means ‘Stop’. Wait behind the stop line on the carriageway”. pic.twitter.com/0O0DMmdrPg

— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) January 14, 2024

However, in a bid to quell the backlash, this afternoon the road safety partnership released a much fuller version of the original, “unnecessarily cropped” clip.

“Following on from yesterday’s post, there were a lot of questions raised as to whether the cyclist had travelled over the stop line when the lights were red,” the account wrote.

“As you can see from the downloaded cleartone, the lights were red when they crossed the stop line and then continued.”

Following on from yesterdays post, there were a lot of questions raised as to whether the cyclist had travelled over the stop line when the lights were red.

As you can see from the downloaded cleartone, the lights were red when they crossed the stop line and then continued. https://t.co/ChHvVmOMRU pic.twitter.com/v8UqkXSkkt

— Surrey RoadSafe (@SurreyRS) January 15, 2024

As road.cc reader Rendel Harris noted in the comments of the original article, “bang to rights, I’m afraid”.

The men’s Tour Down Under kicks off tonight/tomorrow (oh, I don’t know), which means only one thing – the road.cc Fantasy Cycling league is back!

And following on from my top 10 result at last year’s Tour de France, your favourite live blogger – no, not Dan – is aiming for some Pogačar-style dominance this season.

So, if you reckon you can beat my world class fantasy cycling tekkers, make sure to pick your team over at fantasy.road.cc before the TDU’s theme tunes starts playing tonight, and I’ll see you in October (when you’ve all invariably thrashed me because I forgot about Tirreno-Adriatico…).

Good luck!

A new study from researchers at the University of Edinburgh has highlighted the beneficial impact on mental health that cycling to work can have, with those who commute by bike less likely to be prescribed antidepressants.

The research, published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology, is the work of Chris Dibben, Laurie Berrie, Zhiqiang Feng, David Rice, Tom Clemens, and Lee Williamson, and is titled: ‘Does cycle commuting reduce the risk of mental ill-health? An instrumental variable analysis using distance to nearest cycle path’.

Linking commuting data from Glasgow and Edinburgh, accessed via the Scottish population census, with mental health prescriptions from the National Health Service Prescribing Information System records, researchers were able to note cycle commuters had a lower level of mental health prescriptions than among other commuter types.

Read more: > New research finds commuting by bike can improve mental health, with those who cycle to work less likely to be prescribed antidepressants

As new data reveals that almost 630,000 potholes were reported to councils in England, Scotland, and Wales between January and November 2023 (with the total number expected to be much higher due to only half of the local authorities releasing their figures), British Cycling has joined forces with road safety and industry groups to call for urgent action on Britain’s decaying roads.

Coinciding with National Pothole Day, the launch of the new Pothole Partnership – formed by the governing body, along with the AA, the National Motorcyclists Council, IAM RoadSmart, the British Motorcyclists Federation, and manufacturer JCB – includes a five-point plan to government for tackling the issue, with a core focus on guaranteed funding and delivering high-quality repairs which last.

“We know from our members that potholes are a longstanding frustration and concern,” says Caroline Julian, British Cycling’s External Affairs Director.

“They have tragic and fatal consequences that cannot be ignored. If we’re serious about fulfilling our ambitions to get more people cycling, we simply must ensure that our roads are safe and comfortable for them to ride on, and not the crater-filled carriageways they currently face.

“As we begin a General Election year, today’s call sits alongside our work with the Walking and Cycling Alliance to ensure that the interests of our members are heard, understood and represented by parties and candidates ahead of polling day.”

Now, retired pro cyclists have long dabbled in the dark art of electioneering once they’ve hung up their bikes – Sonny Colbrelli and Claudio Chiappucci’s unsuccessful forays into Italian regional politics two recent notable examples – but here’s one professional cycling/politics crossover I’m sure you never expected to see ahead of this year’s (probable) general election.

According to the Financial Times, Isaac Levido – the man charged with the frankly terrifying and daunting task of steering Rishi Sunak’s faltering Conservatives to a highly unlikely fifth straight election victory – is apparently obsessed with Wout van Aert.

What Wout did to deserve that dubious accolade, I’ll never know.

Blue or red, Wout – which one is it? (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

The FT notes that campaign director Levido is particularly smitten with the Belgian’s ability to swap from world-class leader in the classics to a domestique de luxe at the Tour de France, “half killing himself to protect his leaders and drag the team through the mountains”.

“The Australian political strategist expects similar Tory discipline and graft as he tries to get Sunak over the line,” the FT notes.

Can’t say Sunak is much of a Jonas Vingegaard, mind you.

And, considering Wout’s penchant for second place finishes and their recent head-to-head record on the road and in the ‘cross field, I reckon it would be rather prudent right now of Labour’s campaign director to let it slip that he’s a massive fan of Mathieu van der Poel…

Over in Northern Ireland – where, as regular live blog readers will know, the track record on active travel isn’t mightily impressive – the prospect of major strike action on Thursday, which will see tens of thousands of public service workers, including bus and train drivers, walk out, has prompted one political party to call for bus lanes to be suspended for one day only.

> “Stop victim blaming”: Government’s New Year’s call for all road users to “share responsibility” for safety slammed, as new figures reveal cyclists, pedestrians, and motorcyclists account for over half of all road deaths in 2023

“Bus lanes should be suspended for the duration to ease any expected congestion from private car usage, which would also bring an environmental benefit from reducing the number of cars idling in traffic,” David Honeyford, the infrastructure spokesperson for the cross-community Alliance Party, the third largest party in Northern Ireland, told the BBC.

“It would be a sensible approach in terms of maximising traffic flows, especially during rush hours, and minimising air pollution, until the industrial action is finished and bus services resume.”

However, Alliance’s call to suspend bus lanes during the strike – to accommodate motorists – has been heavily criticised by cyclists and active travel campaigners on social media, who claim the stance is “yet more proof our politicians only think about people in cars”.

So use a protected space for bikes?? @allianceparty please no

— Stephen Esq. (@IsMiseStiofan) January 14, 2024

“Bad move, Alliance,” Athena said on Twitter. “Protect the bus lanes for cyclists.”

“There will be a lot less traffic in general if schools are closed and lots of healthcare staff on strike. Bus lanes aren’t just for buses. Another own goal by Alliance. I thought you were cycling supporters!” wrote Niall, while the Belfast Urbanist described the statement as “a policy straight out of the Conservative Party playbook”.

“And what about all the cyclists who use the bus lanes to escape the perils of the quite frankly shocking level of general driving here?” asked the Holywood Cyclist account.

“Buses are not the only users. Yet more proof our politicians only think about people in cars.”

> “I love it when drivers harass me for breaking rules they made up in their head”: Motorist tells cyclist he’ll “get a ticket for being in the bus lane”… while driving an untaxed car

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure – known for its active travel faux pas over the years – secured a rare PR win in the eyes of cyclists for the government body, telling Alliance that bus lanes, regardless of strike action, encourage people to consider other sustainable travel methods, including walking, cycling, and car sharing.

“Bus lanes will remain operational during the industrial action for cyclists, motorcyclists, permitted taxis, any operating buses, which could include buses provided by health and education authorities, and the emergency services,” the DfI spokesperson said.

“Bus lane enforcement will continue as normal. Maintaining safe spaces for cyclists and motorcyclists, as well as providing ease of access for the emergency services, is always important but even more so when traffic volumes are high.”

The placement of barriers on cycle paths – and their impact on encouraging cycling, along with accessibility for those with non-standard cycles – has long proved a source of discussion and debate on road.cc and around the wider cycling world.

Last March, delivery cyclist and ultra-cycling legend Steve Abraham criticised Milton Keynes Council’s decision to install a growing number of barriers and bollards on the city’s cycleways and shared use routes, which he claimed prevented them being used by delivery riders with large bike trailers – that were themselves supplied by the council.

And in September, a cyclist in Newcastle sent a legal letter to the city’s council to challenge the lawfulness of barriers on a National Cycle Route which prevent him from accessing the path on his recumbent.

> “Oh! Bollards!” Delivery cyclist says council’s new cycle route barriers are too narrow for cargo bike trailers… also supplied by the council

So, it was no surprise then when this attention-grabbing image – of a cycling and walking route in Salford, and its newly-installed barriers – popped up on social media, that it soon divided opinion and left many cyclists scratching their heads.

Apparently RHS Bridgewater are confused as to why no one is cycling there

This is the main route to the garden pic.twitter.com/6t9B1SnYXE

— Walk Ride Central Salford (@WRSalford) January 13, 2024

This, ahem, interesting set of barriers – the design of which seems to have taken inspiration from the marble-dropping kid’s game Kerplunk – are located on the walking and cycling route that connects  Boothstown, Walkden, and Worsley to RHS Garden Bridgewater, introduced over the past few weeks to improve traffic-free sustainable travel in Salford.

Not that the path’s layout is encouraging people to ride their bikes to RHS Garden Bridgewater, at least in the eyes of local cyclists.

“Apparently RHS Bridgewater are confused as to why no one is cycling there,” the Walk Ride Central Salford group tweeted at the weekend. “Eight chicanes on one stretch of path. This was not on the design spec.”

“Obviously designed by a motorist,” added Pete, while others called on a similar design to be instead implemented on the road, to slow down motorists.

Noting that the road the path intersects is a “dead-end access road”, Tom asked the rhetorical (but highly likely to have been asked by the planners) question: “Should we do something to slow cars on this tiny dead-end street, or should we do something to slow cycles on the much longer cycle route?”

When a municipality builds a cycle route https://t.co/A3Urf9bOtv pic.twitter.com/5npq3wY2G6

— J’trace (@Jtrace_a_stras) January 14, 2024

Others, meanwhile, saw the funny side in the barriers’ rather tricky placement.

“Are they remaking The Krypton Factor?” asked Gaz, while Sam said he “thought this was an equestrian events ground at first glance”.

“What’s it for? Ferret slalom racing? It’s certainly not for cyclists that’s for sure,” added Russ, and Pauline, oddly, reckoned it “looks like a giant scale eighties leg hair remover device”.

Did they model it on a potato chipper but for humans? 🤷🏻‍♂️ when will UK local authorities get Active Travel? pic.twitter.com/k50ff7D5m8

— Paul Bower (@paul_bower) January 13, 2024

“I think you’ll find that’s the official cargo trike Olympic slalom course, new event: Minimum two passengers must be carried at all times, so they can lift the trike over any barriers which have are totally impassable at ground level…” wrote road.cc Podcast guest Kate Ball, from disabled cycling charity Wheels for Wellbeing, providing a serious counterpoint to the impracticality of barriers designed purely, it seems, to slow ‘speeding’ cyclists.

“Do those barriers meet equality standards?” asked Dorinda. “I watched the programme on RHS Bridgewater’s construction, and I’m sure part of the agreement from Salford Council investing was that it would be accessible to the community. It should be easily accessible WITHOUT a car.”

> Why is the 15-minute city attracting so many conspiracy theories? Plus access for disabled cyclists in the latest episode of the road.cc Podcast

However, other social media users – you see where this is going – didn’t seem to have much of a problem with the barriers, believing their job of slowing down cyclists would keep pedestrians using the path safe.

“Imagine having to share it with pedestrians, the utter outrage,” Hilton wrote under Walk Ride Central Salford’s post.

“As a mountain biker can I say WTF …if a cyclist can’t be arsed to go around that then I doubt they will get on a bike for long anyway. It’s not difficult and it’s not hard,” said Rob.

Don’t see what the issue is? Is it to slow bikes down? If the case what is the issue?

— p9798 (@POck9798) January 13, 2024

“If you can’t cycle around them, perhaps you should be on cycle paths or road. They are there for the safety of pedestrians. If you have to slow down, so what,” added Gary.

“Shouldn’t have bikes on public footpaths, well done to the council, people can now walk safely and not have to jump out of the way for unlicensed uninsured untested cyclists!” wrote Si, filling up his anti-cycling bingo card nice and early in the week.

Eh, Joey, is that you?