“If you make life difficult for me, I’ll return the favour”: Frustrated cyclist opens car door to “teach a lesson” to driver; Pfeiffer Georgi suffers fractured neck in Tour de France crash; Can the T-Rex survive the Vuelta sun? + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“Cycling is a weird sport”: Spare a thought for the poor soul who has to put on the T-Rex suit for Soudal Quick-Step in 40-degree Vuelta heat
If you somehow missed this outrageous update from yesterday, Soudal Quick-Step is now T-Rex Quick-Step for the Vuelta a España, the Belgian team showcasing the T-Rex glue manufactured by its title sponsor Soudal and even featuring the cartoonish apex predator on its kit (full points for that in my opinion).
While we had barely recovered from the shocking team announcement, in which the team listed its riders names morphed into a jaw-dropping(ly bad) play on dinosaur names: Mikel Landismosaurus Rex, T-Knox, Asgreeniraptor, T-Knox, Mattiasaurus, Pedesaurus, Louisaurus… Yeah I’m going to stop there.
> Soudal-Quick Step unveil line-up for Jurassic Park… Sorry, I mean the Vuelta a España
Another video from yesterday evening shows team leader Mikel Landa, who finished fifth in the Tour de France, giving an interview as someone in a giant T-Rex suit bobs away beside him, ending the whole thing with a loud groan that you probably haven’t heard since your last visit to the Natural History museum.
Have a good night, everyone 😁#LaVuelta pic.twitter.com/SUVXw2ZZDz
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) August 15, 2024
And as Jo Burt pointed out in our road.cc group chat, “Cycling is a weird sport… Who’s the poor schmuck who has to be in a dinosaur costume in 40-degree Vuelta heat?”
How much does that Olympic track bike cost again?
Not us sharing posts about how much does an Olympic track bike cost after taking the mickey out of other websites that would pull this shtick in our firmly tongue-in-cheek article last week… something something about the Ouroboros.
> 13 things you didn’t know about track cycling SEO articles during the Olympics
The V-Izu TCM-2 track bike is manufactured by Toray Carbon Magic, which is owned by Japanese carbon giant Toray. According to Toray’s official site, they produce carbon components for everything from Super GT monocoques, NASCAR seats, Olympic-grade bobsleds, WEC prototype and Formula 3 body panels, and even competition wheelchairs and winged rockets. But yeah, if you didn’t know, now you know that Japan’s new Olympic bike costs around £108,000.
No, you won't be able to hack pro cyclists' electronic gears — Shimano shuts down cheating concerns over £175 jamming device, with immediate firmware update to "enhance security" already in use by pro cycling teams
Could one of the world’s best professional cyclists lose a bike race because of nefarious hacking or jamming of their electronic shifting? That’s the question thrust into the spotlight since US-based researchers revealed a radio attack technique that can target and hack into Shimano Di2, causing a cyclist’s gears to change, or even be disabled, via a £175 device up to 10 metres away.
Shimano told us they have been working with the researchers to “enhance the communication security for all riders using our Di2 wireless platforms”, a collaboration which has led the manufacturer’s engineers to have “identified and created a new firmware update” to deliver on that enhanced security aim.
Pfeiffer Georgi out of Tour de France Femmes with fractures to her neck and hand
British road race champion Pfeiffer Georgi, who was involved in the horrible crash in the final 10 kilometres of yesterday’s stage of Tour de France Femmes which saw a number of riders hit the deck and suffer injuries, as well as Demi Vollering lose her maillot jaune under controversial circumstances, has abandoned the race after suffering fractures to her neck and hand.
The Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rider who had helped her teammate Charlotte Kool get the green jersey with great sprint lead-outs in the first two stages of the Tour, was one of the two riders to abandon the race yesterday, along with EF-Oatly-Cannondale rider Magdeleine Vallieres who also suffered a concussion and were taken to a hospital.
The team has now announced that she will be out of action for four weeks as she heals from her injuries, with the team doctor saying: “After her hard crash yesterday at the Tour de France Femmes, Pfeiffer went to hospital to thoroughly assess her injuries. The evaluations showed fractures of the neck that fortunately do not require surgery and a fracture in her right hand.
“It was a heavy fall so we will continue to assess and monitor her as she returns home. It’s likely we’ll see her off the bike for at least the next four weeks, but we are in no rush and her health and recovery is paramount.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Albert Timmer added: “We are very sad to lose Pfeiffer due to yesterday’s hard crash. She is not only important during the race as our road captain but also off the bike she brings a lot to the group, so this is a big loss for us as a team. She will take the rest needed now to heal up and we are confident that she will fight back and come back stronger than before.”
Bicycle road safety markings burnt off Dublin residential street because they were “too big and intrusive” and “confusing” drivers, councillor says
Painted bicycle markings on the road – the kind that prompted the Daily Mail to ask if there was “any room left for cars” when the road safety logos popped up in Boscombe two years ago – were burnt off a residential street in Dublin after residents and councillors complained that they were “too big”, “too intrusive”, and were confusing drivers in the area.
Last day in the hills before the mountains, will it be a day for the stage hunters or will we see Vollering hit back?
One more day until we go into the mountains, and it looks like the large breakaway is currently struggling to get rid of the peloton which is being paced by an unlikely Arkea-B&B Hotels.
The stage began in Remiremont and it’s a set of rolling terrain, with the front of the race nearing the end of that stretch now. From there on now, the peloton will have to go through a set of climbs — nothing in the realm of category 1 or double digits gradients, but a swift and steady hills beginning with the Col de Ferrière and the Cot de Laviron, before the final two climbs of La Roche du Prêtre and Cote des Fins, finally onto the descent and then a flat run up to the finish line.
We might have a dual race on our hands now, as Vollering, who lost out on her yellow jersey yesterday after the nasty crash which saw Pfeiffer Georgi abandon with fractures to her neck and right hand, will be keen to close the one minute gap to the leaders before the last two stages, meanwhile a break fights it out for the win.
A large breakaway is formed with a 30-second lead
Un groupe important s’est formé avec 30 secondes d’avance🇳🇱 Fem Van Empel
🇩🇪 Franziska Koch
🇱🇺 @C_Majerus
🇳🇱 @ellenvdijk
🇳🇱 Maaike Coljé
🇫🇷 @velopipoire
🇫🇷 @CordonRagot
🇦🇺 Amber Pate
🇦🇺 Anya Louw
🇫🇮 Anniina Ahtosalo
🇱🇺… pic.twitter.com/NrXKmNhGf3— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) August 16, 2024
"Demi really has the mountains to make up for it": Lorena Wiebes backs teammate Vollering after yesterday's crash as SDWorx descends into disarray before final three Tour de France Femmes stages
Oh to be a fly at the SDWorx team debrief. The team, one of the most successful teams cycling has ever seen with an arsenal of riders who can win at any stage at any time of the year, had somewhat of a confusing day.
While its Hungarian national champion Blanka Vas, who just missed out on an Olympic medal in Paris this month, lodged the biggest win of her career so far outsprinting some of the best riders to win stage five of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift yesterday, Demi Vollering lost the yellow jersey after a nasty crash caused by touching wheels with her teammate Lorena Wiebes, losing almost two minutes to the new maillot jaune, Kasia Niewiadoma under controversial circumstances with the Polish rider attacking while the yellow jersey was down.
But as Vas and her teammate Mischa Bredewold went after the stage, only Wiebes stayed back to pick Vollering up. The Dutch rider, brimming with emotions after a stage she had hoped to win herself, told NOS: “Demi would be my last lead-out on the climb, so I said to Demi ‘I’ll stay with you,’” Wiebes opened, panting. “I have no idea what happened because the moment we turned into the bend they were all on the ground.
“I was very lucky that I stayed on my bike. When I looked back, I saw something yellow on the ground. That really sucks. We shouldn’t stress and panic too much. I think it’s just abrasions and Demi really has the mountains to make up for it. Moreover, I’m also happy for Blanka that she won today.”
"They might not be perfect, but they’re a step in the right direction... More than a path, they offer kids freedom to explore and stay active"
Cycling lanes segregated by bollards are a gamechanger 🚲💫
They might not be perfect,but they’re a👣 in the right direction. These lanes keep mini cyclists safe, reduce accidents & give grown-ups peace of mind.
More than a path, they offer kids freedom to explore &stay active pic.twitter.com/tvV7bO9VIk
— Francesca Savage 🚲💕 (@francesca_kms) August 16, 2024
Do wide ratio cassettes for lower gears have any place on performance road bikes? Why the pros are moving away from smaller sprockets
Years ago, the choice of gears available on performance road bikes was pretty much made for you, with a standard 53/39t chainset often the only way to go, and cassette choice limited to whether you wanted a measly 23 or 25 teeth on your back sprocket… or even a 21. Ouch!
Today, road bikes now come with increasingly wide cassettes and seemingly more gearing options than ever, with the leading groupset manufacturers now offering at least 12-speed cassettes to reduce the gap between each shift. So, why has the move to wider cassettes as a default setting happened? Are there still some circumstances where a tighter cluster is the way to go, or is something like an 11-34T truly better in all circumstances? Let’s weigh up the pros and cons.
Take a bow, Cédrine Kerbaol! Former national time trial champion becomes first French rider to win a stage at Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift
Talk about pushing the limit! Well, Cédrine Kerbaol has surely pushed them to the max and in fact, gone beyond with a brave, daring solo ride on a very technical descent to win the sixth stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and become the first French rider to do so.
The Ceratizit-WNT rider was the first one to launch an attack with just 15km to go, with Pauliena Rooijakkers eventually bridging the gap to her. It looked like the group behind, with Demi Vollering and yellow jersey Kasia Niewiadoma would surely not let this attack go by, as Karbaol was fourth in the general classification before the start of today’s stage.
But that’s exactly what ended up happening, with no one being able to pull back the gap to the 2023 French time trial champion, who with her inch-perfect and at times, a bit mad descending prowess managed to gain time on her rivals, and climbed to second place in the GC, just 16 seconds behind Niewiadoma.
Meanwhile, Demi Vollering who yesterday suffered a last-minute crash after touching wheels with her teammate Lorena Wiebes and lost the maillot jaune, looked content to just come home safely today, hoping to inflict some real damage in the upcoming mountain stages.
Although the yellow jersey stayed with Niewiadoma, the polka dot and the points jerseys changed hands after today’s eventful stage, with Justine Ghekiere getting her hands on the former while Marianne Vos took the green jersey from Charlotte Kool after winning the bunch sprint behind Kerbaol and crossing the line in second place.
"Erm, this is not what we meant when we said we'd like you to launch our bike..."
“People who cycle don’t use cycle paths because they aren’t very safe”: Plans for traffic-free cycle route criticised due to prospect of dog walkers and pedestrians “having to jump out of the way of cyclists trying to do Personal Best times”
Calls to establish a traffic-free active travel path along the route of a disused canal have been dismissed by local politicians, who claimed that the proposed greenway would be underused by cyclists “who don’t use cycle paths” and “will always want to use the road”.
Meanwhile, other councillors argued that those cyclists who would take advantage of the infrastructure would force pedestrians, parents with pushchairs, and dog walkers to “jump out of the way” as they speed past at 30mph “trying to do Personal Best times”.
road.cc tech editor Mat Brett making "phenomenal progress" in recovery from life-threatening cycling incident
A little update on road.cc tech editor Mat Brett, who had been involved in a serious cycling incident while on his regular lunchtime ride six weeks ago. Since then, continuing his superhuman penchant for everything he does, Mat’s made “phenomenal progress”, which has been remarkably good and “defying medical science”, as our co-founder Tony Farrelly put it!
Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe to race in Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men
After making history as the first male cyclist to win both gold medals in road race and time trial at the Paris Olympic Games, Remco Evenepoel will be coming to the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men, which begins on 3 September, just three weeks before the road race world championships in Zurich.
And joining him at the starting line in the Scottish Borders at Kelso will be his Soudal Quick-Step teammate, former world champion and winner of the 2018 Tour of Britain Julian Alaphilippe, making his third appearance at the race.
Meanwhile, making his Tour of Britain Men debut will be Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility). The 28-year-old Norwegian leapt to prominence in this summer’s Tour de France, featuring strongly in the days’ break on each of the first two stages to hold the King of the Mountains jersey for the first 10 stages.
Earlier this season Abrahamsen took his biggest career win to date in the Brussels Cycling Classic UCI ProSeries race, while also finishing runner-up in the UCI WorldTour Dwars door Vlaanderen one-day race a few weeks before.
British pro cyclist Leo Hayter to step away from cycling and Ineos Grenadiers after revealing five-year struggle with depression and anxiety
Ineos Grenadiers pro Leo Hayter says he will not ride for the team next year and that he will temporarily step away from his career as a professional cyclist after revealing a five-year struggle with depression and anxiety.
“If you make life difficult for me, I’ll return the favour”: Cyclist tries to “teach a lesson” to driver who made an illegal turn and cut him off by stopping, opening rear car door and riding away
Here on the live blog, we’ve seen plenty of incidents where cyclists have vented their frustration at motorist driving carelessly or dangerously. But this latest response — all the way from Auckland, New Zealand — is a new one even for us.
The cyclist who goes by the name of Captain Pinchy on Twitter, shared this footage of a driver making a turn across him, completely ignoring the oncoming rider in front of him, making him brake, come to halt and go around. But in the middle of all that, the cyclist decided to tug on the rear door handle of the car and leave it open, before riding away.
“Dude. If you make life difficult for me, I’ll return the favour (opens back door),” read the caption.
Dude. If you make life difficult for me, I return the favour (opens back door). pic.twitter.com/l1KzrxoJ9s
— Captain Pinchy (@captain_pinchy) August 13, 2024
Most of reaction on social media has, as usual, was one to probably ignore, given most commenters were quick to jump on the cyclist-hating train which obviously veered into death threats very quickly.
“If this happened to me and I was in a car I would have just slowed down and waited. Why do cyclists expect to never have to stop?” wrote one person, to which Captain Pinchy replied: “Oh we do. We’re just sick of f***wits trying to kill is and actually have the balls to point it out.”
Meanwhile, another person quoted “If you make life difficult for me” followed by a few question and exclamation marks; the cyclist replying: “It’s called ‘underselling it’. Please insert ‘if you try and kill me with your shitty driving’ if it was hard to understand.”
One more person pointed out: “Slowing down is also an option,” which was followed by Captain Pinchy’s rebuke: “I did, but where is the lesson for the illegal turning driver if I just ignore it?”
It would be good to note here that in the UK, there’s no legal offence of opening someone’s car door without permission, however, depending on the circumstances, it could potentially be committing an offence of disorderly behaviour and vehicle tampering/interference.
And obviously, by doing so you’re making physical contact with their car which we know most motorists aren’t too keen on. Case in point, this latest near miss, in which a cyclist was passed by a motorist on solid white lines while barely even leaving his own lane, and the distance was so little that the cyclist could give a tap on the car with just a flick of his shoulder as it was close passing him.
But the driver then pulled over a few hundred metres ahead, got out of the car and started screaming at the cyclist, while claiming that he gave “loads of room”, even proceeding to physically assault him by shoving him and his bike down to the ground.
Now we can debate all-day long whether that move is one that’s warranted and makes complete sense as a harmless act of retaliation against the driver, or does it teeter on the edge of decency, or maybe even spill over into the territories of “Yeah, I’m never doing that to anyone”, but…
Wait, there’s no but, because guess what? That’s what we’re here to do. Let me know what you make of this in the comments.
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
21 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
Just call them electric motorbikes, or e-motorbikes. Stick a battery in a car and your still a motorist, but stick a battery in a motorbike and suddenly you're a cyclist - why?
Note: These saddles might not work for you if you don't meet all of these requirements: A. Ride at least 30 hours per week. B. Have a minimal amount of your weight on the saddle because 1) your bars are super-low for maximum aerodynamics, 2) you're pushing 300+ watts into the pedals most of the day, 3) you weigh at most 65 kg. If these things aren't true for you, then you should ignore what saddles pro' riders are using and find something that's more appropriate for your type of riding style, frequency and physique.
The last competitive cycling event I entered also happened to be a warm-up for the Paris Paralympics for Sarah Storey. She had the quickest time in a 10-mile time trial. It's fair to say I didn't trouble the leaders' board (something of an understatement...). A legendary athlete. I'd have Pogačar, though, obvs!
@ktache Sickening, ain't it? Someone should take him aside and say look mate, you're already pretty much guaranteed GOAT status, do you have to be the coolest and seemingly one of the nicest as well? Didn't go to my predictions today, anyway, I thought he and Jonas would summit Tourmalet together and then Pogacar would take maybe 25-30 seconds on the final climb. He's unpredictable in his predictability, shall we say!
It may be a little predictable, but he is magnificent. He even looks good in white shorts...
This is an expensive vacuum flask, and as a water purification system, it's a non-starter compared to: https://www.pureclearfilters.co.uk/filters/ This also deals with viruses
@GravelIsNothingNew Just finished watching the whole stage today flag to flag, really enjoyed seeing Pogacar showing us how he thinks winning is irrelevant. Definitely couldn't have cared less about winning, no sir.
Unfortunately while we (probably) know what he means, technically if " BBC amends the language in the article so that it refers to ‘illegal e-bikes’ throughout, rather than just ‘e-bikes’ "... ... then they'll still be inaccurate. As (last I checked) it's the use of the machines for riding anywhere other than on private land that is illegal *. ... although that might be good propaganda? Certainly I wouldn't mind at all if there was also more done to steer sellers away from flogging them to the public with nothing but possibly a warning buried on page 94 of the manual. * That is, without them being type-approved. And then assuming that's done and they fall under the motorbike rules getting a suitable licence (driver would need to be old enough), insurance, paying any tax, then riding them *only* in accordance with those rules eg. only on (some) roads always wearing a suitable helmet and having the machine pass MOTs as required ... is this right? Obviously you could still legally use them as eg. a paperweight most places...
Presumably that just reflects what they normally get sent in for review, and this just got reviewed because the maker decided to send it. One of the first few reviews on their site is from someone who uses it for cycling, but they're using it as storage, and then filling bidons from it when they want to use it.
The technology works, has been in use for decades (e.g. google 'steripen'). That one got me safely through India over a 3-month period. Trust me, it works. The water has to be potable because if flocculent material is present, all bets are off (should be pre filtered first). Also, the liquid has to be clear (transparent to visible light). It works not by outright killing micro-organisms but by damaging their DNA/RNA so they can't replicate anymore. The idea is good but obviously, this has never been developed for on-bike use.
21 thoughts on ““If you make life difficult for me, I’ll return the favour”: Frustrated cyclist opens car door to “teach a lesson” to driver; Pfeiffer Georgi suffers fractured neck in Tour de France crash; Can the T-Rex survive the Vuelta sun? + more on the live blog”
Re the door opening, far too
Re the door opening, far too many what ifs:
– What if there’s an unsecured (yes shouldn’t be but might be) pet or child on the back seat that could fall out and be injured;
– What if the driver assumes you’re trying to get to them and reacts with violence;
– What if the driver panics and shoots forward or back, hitting someone else or indeed you with the open door;
– What if any of the above results in legal action and you’re clearly seen to be doing things not in self defence or the heat of the moment but in order to provoke a reaction, at best the case against the driver could fail, at worst it could be you in the dock.
I’m no angel and no stranger to hitting a roof or bonnet in the heat of the moment when someone’s put me in danger, but deliberately being an annoying dick in retaliation to a crappy but not really dangerous bit of driving (I think I would have just swerved round the back and muttered “arsehole” to myself and moved on) is not only overly provocative but also looks really petty.
Imagine if one cut up a pedestrian because one hadn’t looked properly and they leaned down and flicked your QR lever or brake caliper lever open, would you be OK with that?
Agree. Also many cars now
Agree. Also many cars now will auto-lock when driving off, so it’s just going to end up as grabbing the handle, which could still end up with outcomes 2, 3 or 4 above, “justified” by “touch my facking motor” response.
I just ride on with an internal expletive, swipe and hit “save clip” on the Garmin and submit to Op Snap later (assuming incident is bad enough). No point in engaging at the time, they already think you’re a c**t because you’re on a bike, submit footage and wait for the NIP notification. Had a NIP “keep the footage” message this week actually, it makes up for the original incident. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
agreed 100% – plus if you
agreed 100% – plus if you have the poor driving on camera, you don’t need to do anything further. Just send it to the police.
the little onion wrote:
…who will do the square root of nothing despite you spending over half an hour preparing a statement, uploading videos, and filling in a poorly designed form on a website that doesn’t provide you with an account to save your details. One does not simply send it to the police etc. And if the Police so wish then they’ll find an excuse not to prosecute even the most blatant reckless driving.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I’m not sure that’s an equivalent action, its more like what if the unzipped your saddle bag.
“ArE yOu TouChIN’ My BiKE?!!!
“ArE yOu TouChIN’ My BiKE?!!!”
Surely such conduct would justifiy immediate retribution / violence. At the very least a strongly worded letter to the Daily Mail explaining how the offender “damaged” your property in an entirely unprovoked attack. The tax dodging, non helmet wearing b@stard.
You keep children or pets in
You keep children or pets in your saddlebag?
john_smith wrote:
Carradice do make some pretty big saddlebags…
john_smith wrote:
ever since they made it illegal for them to ride on the crossbar 😉
Surely coming to a slow stop,
Surely coming to a slow stop, a good stare and a slow, despairing shake of the head would suffice.
Ahh … the famous “If this
Ahh … the famous “If this happened to me and I was in a car I would have just slowed down and waited. ” **
Yeah right, of course you would.
You would have waited while leaning on the horn and swearing your fecking head off, safe in the knowledge that you’re surrounded by 2 tonnes of armour and lockable doors.
** but it wouldn’t happen to you … because *cars*.
I remember reading years ago,
I remember reading years ago, about how you could easily press the ‘engine off’ button on a bus if the driver acted like a twunt and you ended up behind it… Not sure whether that still works, cos ‘elf’n’safety innit’.
As regards this case:
(1) Oldfatgit is correct – motorists are far less likely to ever be in this position because the turning motorist would be far more aware of the damage that could be done to him or to his pride and joy by another motor vehicle, so takes a lot more care and (often) even follows the road laws about giving way etc etc. Whereas if its just a cyclist then most motorists will say sod the road laws and just bully their way through.
(2) I agree with what Rendel has said below: it would be very risky to open the car door, unless you can see inside and are absolutely sure there are no unsecured children, animals, luggage, shopping, etc, which are going to spill all over the road and leave you open to legal action.
brooksby wrote:
Still works I believe, for the very health and safety reasons you mention, the emergency services have to be able to shut the engine off as quickly as possible if the vehicle is on fire or leaking fuel. Don’t know if the new electric buses have an equivalent though.
Most engine cut offs have
Most engine cut offs have been removed from the rear outer skin and tend to be located under the engine access hatch.
Alas, the days of the big red mushroom are gone.
Probably because of too many stalled busses that needed a fitter to restart them ..
brooksby wrote:
This is from 2017, but buses don’t get replaced very often.
Glad to see those Japanese
Glad to see those Japanese track bikes were worth the cost. How many medals did they win in the cycling again? Oh yeah, a big fat 0
Smoggysteve wrote:
Not only that, but they seemed to have a hard time ‘sticking to their lane’, especially near GB&NI riders. ?
Do you actually think they
Do you actually think they did this for the medals? This is Toray. If you know, you know.
On a different note it would be cool to measure these in a wind tunnel against the other bikes. We might never get to know how good they actually are before they get consigned to a museum.
Those bollards look
Those bollards look nightmarish.
Just look at how hard you
Just look at how hard you have to work to keep vehicles off the footway (where it would be illegal for them to drive of course, never mind impolite). Given that, the (far fewer) wands “protecting” the cycle lane might as well be made out of foam, or paper.
RE: “They might not be
RE: “They might not be perfect, but they’re a step in the right direction… More than a path, they offer kids freedom to explore and stay active”
I find statements like this difficult. Don’t want to be critical (I’m aware just how much time and work goes into even something like this)! It’s true in the sense that in the UK it’s bold and brave to even whisper “There will be change. There is … another mode! And what’s more we will provide for it using a little of the riches currently spent accomodating driving”.
… but … that is exactly the problem. Our streets and indeed living systems are massively car-dominated. That is not sustainable (in all kinds of ways); and in fact already causes problems. Which we currently accept, because “that’s how it is”.
In fact “cycle lanes” and bollards are not a “game changer” *. – they’re a symptom of a car-dominated system. A single cycle lane – or even a couple in a “scheme” – will not “offer kids freedom to explore and stay active”. (Compare kids going to school here – or going to activities by themselves here).
Here’s what “not perfect, but a step in the right direction” looks like. (Yes – they’ve still got plenty bollards and a few “wand / orca” cycle lanes – but they have a *network* and e.g. cycle paths have priority over side roads.)
In the UK we know what doesn’t work – we’ve done this many times before. What we haven’t done is chosen to reduce motoring convenience slightly while seriously increasing cycling convenience and attractiveness across a network. And not build in fatal compromises from the start and/or roll things back after a few months because “concerns”.
* What would be a “game-changer”? Establishing the basics for mass cycling. Those are: a network of sufficiently safe and attractive cycling routes connecting destinations (e.g. shops, schools, workplaces…) which have secure parking.
Not doing that? It’s a bit like we’re saying “while we’re obviously not going to restrict people exercising their lions and tigers in public in any serious way, we’ve now dug a big pit next to the footway to keep people safe (and put a small fence next to the cycle lane).”