Councillors call in the cops to "assist" with cyclists ignoring dismount signs; Not Near Miss of the Day: "A most excellent overtake"; Dave Brailsford arrives at Old Trafford for Man United takeover talks; Who'll win San Remo? + more on the live blog

Legin wrote:

still Blue Passports eh......

Even that 'benefit' is going to be a bit flakey; passport office are going on strike for FIVE WEEKS!: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64981979

Northern Ireland is doing OK. - even your PM admits to the unique and privileged position NI is in with unrestricted access to the EU Single Market. 

BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:

Northern Ireland is doing OK. - even your PM admits to the unique and privileged position NI is in with unrestricted access to the EU Single Market. 

He's not my PM, I don't vote for fascist governments. As for Northern Ireland I do care about maintaining the peace, I'm ****ing outraged that to do so one part of the UK is given patently preferential treatment above the rest. It's a bit like a government only interested in feathering the nest of 1% of the population. 

eburtthebike wrote:

Councillors call in the cops to "assist" with cyclists ignoring dismount signs

I hope some kind soul has pointed out to the police that the round "No Cycling" sign isn't legal because it doesn't have a diagonal red line through it?  Or maybe that's why they weren't enforcing it?

It doesn't need a diagonal line, the red circle means prohibited. 

mark1a wrote:

eburtthebike wrote:

Councillors call in the cops to "assist" with cyclists ignoring dismount signs

I hope some kind soul has pointed out to the police that the round "No Cycling" sign isn't legal because it doesn't have a diagonal red line through it?  Or maybe that's why they weren't enforcing it?

It doesn't need a diagonal line, the red circle means prohibited. 

Welcome to satire.  What did you think the grinning emoji meant?

eburtthebike wrote:

Councillors call in the cops to "assist" with cyclists ignoring dismount signs

Is this a good use of police time?

We're told that budgets have been cut, resources are stretched and it takes too much effort to prosecute illegal smartphone use, speeding, vehicles reported with no tax or MoT etc etc... but CYCLISTS causing some bother madam? We'll be down right away and teach them little bastards a lesson!

I wonder whether they asked why some people might choose to cycle along the pavement instead of on the A316.

Simon E wrote:

eburtthebike wrote:

Councillors call in the cops to "assist" with cyclists ignoring dismount signs

Is this a good use of police time?

Of course it is!  I have it on good authority, well, from some other posters on this site, that cyclists mow down and kill thousands of people every year, so the first call on police time should be controlling them.  Definitely not wasting it on stopping drivers for tiny, insignificant infractions like knocking off cyclists.

I would have been more impressed to see a picture of our intrepid councillors leading by example and cycling along Lwr. Mortlake Road. (...not in the useless stop-start cycle lane over the road.)

Awavey wrote:

Are bike shelves empty ? Can't say I'd noticed that. But I do enjoy a good lecture from someone who rides for a team owned by a billionaire, who is so bored with his money wants to buy a football team (old joke but its true whats the quickest way to become a millionaire, be a billionaire and buy a football team), whilst complaining about lack of funding for British teams and racing calendars which is squarely on British Cyclings shoulders, Tao youre hearts in the right place but maybe have a chat with Jim and the folks in Manchester about it.

I'm really no fan of JimBrexitIneos but I don't get your rant? He's put his money into a British team in order to save it...maybe he could / should spend more on some lower level teams to save them too but not sure what Tao can do about it?

An english team, plus Radcliffe is a brexit supporter who lives in Monaco

Awavey wrote:

Are bike shelves empty ? Can't say I'd noticed that. But I do enjoy a good lecture from someone who rides for a team owned by a billionaire, who is so bored with his money wants to buy a football team (old joke but its true whats the quickest way to become a millionaire, be a billionaire and buy a football team), whilst complaining about lack of funding for British teams and racing calendars which is squarely on British Cyclings shoulders, Tao youre hearts in the right place but maybe have a chat with Jim and the folks in Manchester about it.

He is lecturing nobody, you don't have to read it. Having chosen to read it you then link his employers financial status and investment in a pro team to the decline in UK racing, a link I am struggling to see. Then by suggesting Tao has a word you imply he is part of the problem. I think you lost me at "are".

Are you having a bad day?

the Qataris have bid 4.5 billion pounds to buy Man Utd, Jim Ratcliffe will have to at least match that bid if not exceed it just to buy the club, then he probably has to invest as much again, the stadium really needs to be modernised, buy and sell alot of players, sure he'll probably leverage debt against the club like the Glazers did. But no one ever really gets rich owning football clubs, they are money pits that you simply burn money investing in.

and yet for only 1% of that 4.5billion pounds, which is almost an accounting error or currency fluctuation, its loose change when you are dealing with sums of money that large Jim Ratcliffe could solve alot of the problems with sponsorship for other British teams and races in Britain in the blink of an eye

but he doesnt, theres no Team Ineos women's team,and no Ineos sponsored races, and never likely to be, has Tao ever asked Jim or Dave why not when he clearly has the money ?

the reality is its because it comes down to as thisismyusername says its a better business investment to spend 4.5billion pounds on a football club than put just a fraction of that money into pro cycling

and thats because as Jonathan Vaughters endlessly reminds people every year the financial model for pro cycling is fundamentally broken, the only people who make any money out of it are people like the ASO, everybody else loses.

fix that problem, and fix a governing body who dont really care about road racing, and things might improve.

His money, his choice.

If the track walk is open to the public, as the photo suggests, I can understand FIA stance as there are a lot of people wandering all over the track possibly not expecting anything other than walkers (so don't need to look where they're going).

But I'm happy to be corrected.

They're not usually open to the public, Spa might be the exception there.

It will either be some issue around providing medical back up/track personnel in case someone had an accident, and F1 (note not the FIA) are worried about liability, or they think its an advantage to complete laps at more than walking pace.

I wonder if the running events (media & team personnel have a running non competitive kind of parkrun thing around all the circuits track) have been stopped as well ? Might be a clue as to the issue.

I get why the post exists but it's a sad world where we have to 'praise' the minimum acceptable standard and being anymore more. 

It's peaks and troughs I think, some days you will be pleasantly surprised, other days you wonder if someone's taken a contract out to kill you.

There seems no rhyme or reason to it, it just happens. I did 3 rides last week where I was in double figures each ride for close passes, some worse than others.

I think my tolerance also varies. I had 2 very close passes on on one stretch of road this morning. I became very critical/sensitive to other passes that weren't the full 1.5m, whereas on other occasions I might not have noticed.

I invested in a Garmin Varia rear radar light last year. I have to say, unless it is extremely coincidental, I have noticed much safer overtakes since using it. Whereas I used to get regular close passes, they are now thankfully much rarer. If it is anything to do with the light, which flashes the light faster and brighter when it detects approaching traffic, then it was a very worthwhile investment.