Driver moans about cyclists on the road…doesn’t get the reply she wanted; Biggins or Wiggins?; Rod Ellingworth: We’re against one of greatest Grand Tour riders ever; Jeremy Vine has a chuckle; Bicycle mayor; A very Belgian vid + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Driver moans about amount of cyclists on the road...doesn't get the reply she wanted
the amount of cyclists on the road today should be considered a crime
— faif (@KaithShplala) October 17, 2021
Nothing like a social media pile on to start a grey-looking Tuesday. But hey, it’s an educational pile on…
You can’t expect to put something like this out there and not get anything back. The replies mainly consisted of neat pictures showing how much road space people in cars or buses take up compared to those on foot or riding a bike. Exhibit A…
Elsewhere in the replies the fun started…yes, the amount of cyclists should be “considered a crime”…
100% agree with this, the low number of cyclists on the roads in Hong Kong is criminal, given the climate and congestion crisis.
— Transit 💉 💉 Jam (@Transit_Jam) October 18, 2021
Couldn’t agree more. With the majority of journeys less than 5km, there should be much more. Councils need to up their game and make cycling accessible to everybody, not just the brave.
— Clive Matthews (@hexhome) October 18, 2021
I’m not sure this is quite going how she intended. Anyway, if nothing else it’s another addition to the amusing anti-cycling live blog genre…
Wait until you have seen how many cars there are out there.
— Richard Cooley🚴🇮🇪🇬🇧🇫🇷🇪🇺😷 (@crackling_rose) October 18, 2021
No words needed. 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/faiY2RPNYr
— Bike Law Idiocracy (@Bikelawidiocra1) October 18, 2021
At least she took it well…
To all the cyclists from yesterday. 🖕🏼
— faif (@KaithShplala) October 18, 2021
I assume Surrey Roads Policing Unit’s admin was up to something more important at the time, but this would have been right up their street. They made our summer with that reply to a driver complaining about “dickhead” cyclists. Mimicking her style to a T, they delivered the mic drop moment: “Dear Meg, We’ve DM’d you. Yours sincerely, The Police x” 10/10.
More recently (and more seriously) they advised cyclists to steer clear of dangerous door zone cycle lanes, saying: “The lane is yours, use as much of it as you safely need.”
Bath's first bicycle mayor appointed by Amsterdam-based social enterprise
🎉 A big welcome to the #BicycleMayorNetwork @SaskiaHeijltjes! Saskia is excited to raise awareness among decision makers about the need for safe cycling infrastructure and, through @KidicalMass, get more families on their bikes in #Bath!@WalkRideBath
👉https://t.co/d0iJMnQCqf pic.twitter.com/IebsunLmbH
— BYCS (@BYCS_org) October 15, 2021
Saskia Heijltjes has been appointed as Bath’s first bicycle mayor, a role created by an Amsterdam-based social enterprise promoting cycling as a means of transforming cities around the world. Somerset Live reports Heijltjes put herself forward for the voluntary role which is independent of political groups and is part of a network of 100 bicycle mayors in 30 countries.
In her own words, the role will “accelerate the progress of cycling in Bath by highlighting and supporting the role of civil society in enacting lasting, community driven change.
“Bicycle mayors are the human face and voice of cycling advocacy in a city. My task as bicycle mayor will be to work across all parts of the community to identify the most pressing issues, and then bring people together to work on implementing practical solutions. Cycling in Bath is safe to a certain extent in certain areas, such as the canal towpath, river towpath, Two Tunnels path, Bristol-Bath railway path.
“These paths are lovely for leisure trips, but do not allow you to cycle safely for everyday trips. These paths are also not suitable for cycling in the dark for some, including many women and children. Most importantly, it is not safe for all ages and abilities to cycle in Bath at the moment. An eight-year-old child can’t cycle safely (with their parent/carer) to many places in Bath, including their own school.”
Rod Ellingworth admits it's back to the drawing board for Ineos Grenadiers in search for Grand Tour victory against Tadej Pogačar
Ineos Grenadiers director of racing Rod Ellingworth has reflected on the season just finished, and concluded it was “one of the best seasons we’ve ever had from an actual winning point of view, and the quality of wins.” In an in depth interview with Cyclingnews, Ellingworth cited the team’s Giro d’Italia win, succession of early season week-long stage race wins, as well as Olympic and World Championships success with Tom Pidcock and Filippo Ganna as evidence they are still one of the best in the business.
Ellingworth did admit it was “back to the drawing board” on their Tour de France ambitions and had plenty of praise for Tadej Pogačar…”We are against perhaps one of the greatest Grand Tour riders ever seen in Pogačar, so we don’t take it lightly. It’s not like we can just waltz in without any thought. Like most teams, we’ll go back to the drawing board and have a damn good look at it. We’re going to come back fighting next year, that’s for sure.
“It’s a big challenge but a good one. UAE and Jumbo-Visma are doing a brilliant job. We’ve already started looking at what it’s going to take to win these bike races. The racing style is changing, people are going at it earlier. Look at [Mathieu] Van der Poel and [Remco] Evenepoel. It’s phenomenal. It’s great to see these young guys racing.”
Lotto-Soudal confirm Victor Campenaerts' return with one of the most Belgian signing videos you'll ever see...
Look who’s back 👀
Let’s give a warm welcome to @VCampenaerts 🙌 pic.twitter.com/DRmG0tOAhf
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) October 19, 2021
Arguably all that was missing was a mysterious shot of him arriving by city bike…and a nice swig of one of the local favourites at the end.
A quick afternoon edit: It’s not just Victor C who’s going to be at Lotto-Soudal for the foreseeable…the team has extended its partnership with Ridley for another four years, with the team riding the brand’s Noah Fast Disc, Helium SLX Disc and the new Dean Fast Disc time trial bike in 2022. I wonder if that new TT machine had a say in Campenaerts’ return?
"I know I shouldn't laugh at this. But it is just such desperate nonsense": Jeremy Vine ponders road positions explained (not very well)
I know I shouldn’t laugh at this. But it is just such desperate nonsense pic.twitter.com/Np67CvyLJc
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) October 18, 2021
Annemiek van Vleuten back on the bike two weeks after breaking shoulder and pelvis in Paris-Roubaix crash
Just two weeks after suffering a broken shoulder and double break to her pelvis at Paris-Roubaix, Annemiek van Vleuten is back on the bike. The Movistar rider has been out and about on her city bike and is still planning on taking a trip to Colombia in December for some winter miles.
Writing on her website, Van Vleuten said she still expects a fairly standard 4-6 week recovery before returning to training…obviously pootling around town on a city bike doesn’t count when you’re a three-time world champ…
“I have already been out three times on my city bike. There I sit so upright and also on a very soft and wide saddle, it was actually painless. Last Tuesday I took my first ride. After 16km I was completely exhausted, but I went!”
Moral of the story: pro cyclists are tough.
Biggins or Wiggins? How do you say hello to fellow cyclists?
Are you a Wiggo or Biggo? Surely we’d all rather be a Tour de France winner with an Olympic gold medal and job for life analysing bike races? When the alternative is being a ‘public entertainment figure’ now making headlines for talking to Nigel Farage on GB News and bashing cyclists on daytime radio, I think there’s only one answer? Well, not according to reader Rob whose group ride has a game now known as Biggins or Wiggins…
The rules: you must predict if the approaching rider will give a cheery hello or an icy pro stare. The former being a Biggins, and the latter a Wiggins. The more extreme the reaction, the more of a Biggins or Wiggins said rider is…
What’s your go to greeting? Are you a cool nod kind of cyclist? The penguins from Madagascar-inspired smile and wave (niche reference, I know)? You can’t go wrong with a smile and nod, in my opinion…
CHPT3 launches Dirt clothing range
The CHPT3 Dirt clothing that Anna told us all about when she went riding gravel with company founder David Millar in Girona a couple of weeks ago has now been officially launched.
“The T-shirt (£59) is designed for adventure, cut like a T-shirt and made to perform under physical effort,” says CHPT3. It is said to be made from a highly breathable next-to-skin fabric and is fast drying.
The Dirt Tech Shorts (£119) feature two standard and low side pockets. Mesh is used inside to keep things breathable.
The undercover shorts (£69) are designed to be worn under the Dirt Shorts (above) when riding off road. They’re made from a micro-mesh that “compresses while delivering stretch and repelling heat and moisture” and the seat pad is said to be made for comfort and distance.
Selle San Marco reveals new Shortfit 2.0 saddles
Italy’s Selle San Marco has unveiled its Shortfit 2.0 saddles, an evolution of the original Shortfit design that has been around since 2017. We’ve reviewed several Shortfit models over the past few years, most recently the Selle San Marco ShortFit Dynamic Saddle which Stu awarded an overall score of 8.
There are six Selle San Marco Shortfit 2.0 saddles:
• Carbon FX (carbon rails) £179.99
• Racing (Xslite/Ti rails) £134.99
• Dynamic (manganese rails) £79.99
• Sport (steel carbon) £54.99
• Supercomfort (Xslite/Ti rails) £144.99
• Comfort (manganese) £89.99
The Comfort model features an extra layer of padding made of Pullfoam, a low density foam with variable thickness that is said to follow the movement of the pelvis during the pedalling motion.
The Supercomfort saddle features thick Biofoam Plus padding, a gel insert, and shock absorbers to increase comfort.
Shortfit 2.0 is 255mm long and comes in two widths: narrow (140 mm – idmatch S3) and wide (155 mm – idmatch L3), and only in Open-fit central cutout.
Selle San Marco’s UK distributor ZyroFisher will have the Shortfit 2.0 saddles but it’s unsure exactly when. We’ll keep you updated on that.
Reaction to the now-deleted rant that's our main story today...Fear and Loathing bats, rational discussion on Twitter and entitled drivers
Time for some reaction to our top story this morning…
There was a nice picture of the tweet here, although unfortunately it has now been deleted. Boring. Anyway, the tweet did say, “the amount of cyclists on the road today should be considered a crime.”
Graham Snook’s got the top comment over on Facebook: “They moan about people on bikes on the road, they moan about spending money on a dedicated cycling infrastructure to get people on bikes off the road. They moan if we go too close to their cars and moan if we keep a safe distance away from them. They moan that they want us to obey the traffic laws, but also moan when we ride two abreast. What they want us to be is Schrödinger’s cyclist.”
It wasn’t all bad though. Without out the tweet, Captain Badger and the rest of us would never have seen this…
eburtthebike reckons the driver’s attitude is similar to many: “She’s merely demonstrating the attitude of so many drivers; they’ve paid for the roads so cyclists shouldn’t really be using them, and they get in her way. Drivers are the legitimate users of the roads, and everyone else is there by drivers’ permission and tolerance.
“Pity someone didn’t try a little gentle questioning before she shut up shop, something like ‘Why do you say that?’ or ‘Too many cyclists or too few?’ or ‘What’s wrong with them?’ It might have brought out the reasons for her statement which could then be disproved; not that proof has every changed a driver’s mind.”
hirsuite replied: “Someone did ask why? No reply except for an offensive gesture. I don’t think Twitter is aimed at rational discussion burt.”
I think hirsuite might be onto something there…
And we thought that saddle yesterday was bad...
Here’s the scariest thing you’ll see all week: pic.twitter.com/BeQscshBSS
— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) October 18, 2021
Yesterday’s live blog was something of a component failure special, including one reader’s less than ideal saddle situation. We thought that was bad, then we saw this…
One reply speculated that this could be what happens if you use mayo as chamois cream…that’s enough to put you off that particular condiment for life.
Completely normal. Leather saddles are supposed to mold to your bum.
— Aidan (@aidanjh) October 19, 2021
New Deceuninck-Quick-Step contract for James Knox
A member of the Wolfpack since 2018, a top 15 finisher at both Il Giro and La Vuelta, and one of the most hard-working guys out there, @JamesKnoxx has signed a new contract with Deceuninck – Quick-Step: https://t.co/IFdaiu4j7W pic.twitter.com/8pYdiePXRB
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) October 19, 2021
One Briton has signed a new deal with Deceuninck-Quick-Step today, no not that one…yet. It’s James Knox. The 25-year-old has signed for another two years with the Belgian team he has represented since leaving Team Wiggins at the end of 2017. Knox’s best results include an 11th place at the Vuelta a España in 2019 and 14th at the 2020 Giro d’Italia.
“I am really happy to come to an agreement with Patrick and the team, and it was an easy decision to make,” Knox explained. “I had a nice talk with Patrick, where things went smoothly and we took it from there – agreeing to stay did not take too much thinking. I have now been with the team for four years and it will be six by the time I have finished, which is a long time when I think about it – I will have spent half of my ‘cycling life’ so far, with the team, which is crazy to think about, but I am really happy to stay and feeling more and more comfortable.”
If Cav stays there’ll be three Brits on the squad next year, after 21-year-old Ethan Vernon also announced he’ll be joining the team soon-to-be called Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl.
$1000 Prada cycling shorts: The bargain of the century
The Prada store in Aspen sells $1000 bike shorts and I tried to try some on for my video and compare to the $40 ones from The Black Bibs, but they kicked me out.
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) October 18, 2021
A quick look online found UK outlets selling £890 Prada cycle shorts. That’s $1,222 across the pond…
Why? Well according to one retailer selling them…it will “elevate your casual collection”. Who doesn’t pay near 900 quid for their casual wear?
But don’t worry, they’ve got a “flattering high waist and elasticated band for an easy wear” and have the “iconic logo embroiderd to the hem”. They’re not bib shorts though are they? Then again, I think these are better for being taken for a ride rather than actually going for one.
19 October 2021, 07:59
19 October 2021, 07:59
19 October 2021, 07:59
19 October 2021, 07:59
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Latest Comments
It must have been a very difficult decision, but I'm sure Lael made the right call.
Ridiculous. Because someone is not deterred from buying an SUV it does not follow that they don’t care about cyclists or pedestrians!
You'd have to be mad to back this
New party game. Find a generative AI picture and the first team that circles 10 obvious problems wins a shot of rum.
Say what you will about the braking efficiencies of both rim and disc brakes. Or of seemingly having only one pedal and crank. Or of the angled-in brake hoods on flat bars. Let alone the rearward facing handlebars. I'm so impressed though, by the chain that traverses one side of the bike, to switch side somewhere around the dropouts, to the other side of the bike! Every side's a drivetrain side!
@chrisonabike We live in terraced houses, so no garage.
@Shades They have a 5 bedroom house for the 4of them (2 parents, 2 children). Admittedly, the hall isn't wide but it's not as if they're short of space. I keep 2 of my bikes in the cellar.
In other news, researchers prove beyond doubt that water is indeed wet.
And why are they not heavily de-starred by NCAP? The rot started with the Nissan Qashqai which used loopholes on bonnet safety regulations that didn't adequately include the headlight lenses, they put deep soft tissue penetrating ridges into the lens mouldings that increased their height and the aggressiveness of the look of the car but made it much more dangerous to any vulnerable roaduser. Unfortunately the raised stance and batmobileish looks appealed to buyers, particularly women and the whole industry surged in that direction. Now much worsened with the seeming unstoppability of the Range Rover look.
@mdavidford Most importantly, will someone name a range of exotic (well, exotic for the 1980s) snacks after me?
54 thoughts on “Driver moans about cyclists on the road…doesn’t get the reply she wanted; Biggins or Wiggins?; Rod Ellingworth: We’re against one of greatest Grand Tour riders ever; Jeremy Vine has a chuckle; Bicycle mayor; A very Belgian vid + more on the live blog”
Question – is it an offence
Question – is it an offence to drive an SUV around with a flat tyre?
Coming in this morning, waiting at a crossing, heard this awful noise and saw a big black SUV (aren’t they all?) drive past with the passenger side rear tyre flopping around. Crossing lights changed so I sped down the queue of traffic, said to the bloke driving (with a young teenager in the passenger seat, wearing school uniform) “I think you’ve got a flat tyre!” “Yeah, I know” he replies, and just carries on…
I would have thought that driving along with a shredded tyre might be a teensy bit dangerous…?
Might have been a run flat.
Might have been a run flat. Might have been an arsehole.
Question – is it an offence
Question – is it an offence to drive an SUV?
No but it should be!
I’d say that could be
I’d say that could be classified as driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition and therefore potentially a upto a £2500 fine and 3 points.
DrG82 wrote:
Well, he was in the queue to go over the Clifton Suspension Bridge and I noticed that there was a police car parked up on the other side of the bridge (I went over before he did). I wonder whether they had a quiet word with him…
brooksby wrote:
TFTFY
So not only is he damaging
So not only is he damaging the long term future of the teenage passenger by driving a planet-wrecking Chelsea tractor, but putting his immediate future at risk by driving him around in a defective vehicle.
Moron isn’t a strong enough word.
Had the same a few years back
Had the same a few years back with a guy in a Golf. Caught up with him, and he just kind of chuckled, said he knew about it and sped off. Hope he didn’t need to make an emergency stop any time after that.
About ten years ago now a car
About ten years ago now a car drove past our then flat on a main road in the early hours of the morning with the rear nearside wheel completely missing, dragging the axle along the ground, leaving an impressive trail of sparks and a massive gouge in the road. I ran out and shouted helpfully, “Mate, your wheel’s missing!” to which he replied, “You think I don’t fucking know?” and continued on his merry way. Shortly afterwards a Blues-Brothers-style convoy of patrol cars shot up the road in the same direction, so hopefully he was brought to a safe stop…
Rendel Harris wrote:
Surely a huge smash up?
brooksby wrote:
Maybe punctured it on a few spokes?
Quote:
I’m glad she said this. If she hadn’t I wouldn’t have seen this….
Can’t stop here Cap’n, this
Can’t stop here Cap’n, this is bat country.
RE: Bristol bicycle mayor –
RE: Bath bicycle mayor – has road.cc taken over?
? with more to follow if she’s got any power to sort this out!
I kinda get what they are
I kinda get what they are doing – but I think calling their Champions/Representatives “Mayors” is going to be almost as inflammatory as putting “bicycle” in front of it.
Feels like a concept that maybe hasnt translated very well from the Dutch version – Im not against it in principle but the implementation leads a lot to be desired.
“Dear Gammon
Those jonny foreigners in the Netherlands that you Brexit’ed against have unilaterally appointed your new cycle mayor.
Enjoy your rabid foaming
Love the EU.”
In the words of the
In the words of the philosopher, haterz gonna hate.
True. But picking and
True. But picking and chosing the approach so that the inclination to Hate isnt maximised makes sense if you are trying to get a point across.
That was my first thought –
That was my first thought – any statement by these people will be prefaced in many quarters by “so-called”, “self-appointed”, “unelected” etc, and to be fair I would have the same cynicism if a pro-motoring/anti-LTN group did the same thing. Poor choice of name. “Cycling champion” or similar might have been a better choice.
Alas you may be right. Can’t
Alas you may be right. Can’t (yet) say “cars bad”, can’t say “bikes good” (or even “bikes”). I could do with some encouragement though! So even if it’s closeted I still want some “bicycle champions” for us “unconventional transport lover” types – even if for the majority it will remain “the mode that dare not speak its name”.
Cycling ambassador.
Cycling ambassador.
andystow wrote:
Logical since we’ve got an embassy: https://www.cycling-embassy.org.uk/
chrisonatrike wrote:
Do they get cycling diplomatic immunity?
Two news posts in two years – are we sure they’re an embassy, and it’s not just a front for lycrist infiltrators?
You get press immunity if you
You get press immunity if you ride into another cyclist – because the papers will too busy pointing and laughing / saying “Gotcha! We told you so!”
CEGB – mostly not-particularly-lycrist types that I can see. Just good activist folks but as many here will know activism takes up a lot of your time and can wear you down over the years.
chrisonatrike wrote:
Are they in competition with https://www.cycling-regalkingsize.org.uk/ ?
Smokin’! ? Chapeau!
Smokin’! ? Chapeau!
I don’t really understand
I don’t really understand what bike mayors actually do, tbh. I know we have a Bristol bicycle mayor, whose day job is as a bike courier, but I’m not sure what influence or connections she has with the council…
What i want to know is, do
What i want to know is, do they get a gold chain?
You knows it! (Goldie Lookin
You knows it! (Goldie Lookin chaingang reference).
mdavidford wrote:
and does the tricorn hat double as a helmet? The cloak must make it really difficult to pedal though…
She’s merely demonstrating
She’s merely demonstrating the attitude of so many drivers; they’ve paid for the roads so cyclists shouldn’t really be using them, and they get in her way. Drivers are the legitimate users of the roads, and everyone else is there by drivers’ permission and tolerance.
Pity someone didn’t try a little gentle questioning before she shut up shop, something like “Why do you say that?” or “Too many cyclists or too few?” or “What’s wrong with them?” It might have brought out the reasons for her statement which could then be disproved; not that proof has every changed a driver’s mind.
Someone did ask Why?
Someone did ask Why?
No reply except for an offensive gesture
I don’t think Twitter is aimed at rational discussion burt
hirsute wrote:
Just as well I’m still banned from it until they decide my appeal for calling Cristo a cretin; ten months and counting.
eburtthebike wrote:
I think you need to move on from Twitter (or create a different account). Use of the word “cretin” is offensive to people with congenital iodine deficiency and also to people from Crete (Cretans).
Factually you are correct, so
Factually you are correct, so why the ban?
rct wrote:
I don’t know. I appealed immediately, but have never had a response to the couple of times I tried to contact them.
eburtthebike wrote:
I’m with HP. Cristo may be an utter shit, but use of the word cretin as a pejorative is not dissimilar to using, say, spastic in the same context.
I know your meaning, and echo those sentiments, but it may not be the offence to Cristo as such that lead to twatter’s verdict (if it was, shame on Twatter for casting him as a victim)
Captain Badger wrote:
I suspect you may be giving them too much credit in thinking that they gave much thought to it either way. More likely, “Complaint #736,235… …234,345 *flips coin* – heads – hit them with the ban stick. Complaint #736,235…. “
mdavidford wrote:
I fear you may be correct
Captain Badger wrote:
Cretin is nothing like spastic, and it is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as “a very stupid person”. There may be medical conditions associated with it, but these do not define it, unlike spastic.
But nothing explains the 10 month wait for an appeal which they claim will be done “as soon as possible.”
Taken it mentioned Dated term
Taken it mentioned Dated term which is why Cambridge didn’t mention it but this is from simply doing a Google Search and taking the top suggestions offered direcly.
1.
OFFENSIVE
a stupid person (used as a general term of abuse).
2.
DATED•MEDICINE
a person who is physically deformed and has learning difficulties because of congenital thyroid deficiency.
eburtthebike wrote:
Sorry Eburt, I think you’re wrong. Cretinism is actually a medical term, that’s where the slur comes from. It still exists today, is an avoidable yet devastating condition if not caught and treated. MW defines as such
Definition of cretinism
: a usually congenital condition marked by physical stunting and intellectual disability and caused by severe hypothyroidism— Merriam Webster
I don’t believe it is acceptable to use medical conditions as a slur – they effect real people, and their carers. In exactly the same way that it is not acceptable to use medical terms such as spastic, or mongol, retard, or any other for that matter whether or not the terminology is obsolete.
Eburt, I’m on your side regarding Cristo. Just not on the use of the word cretin
eburtthebike wrote:
Well…actually “cretin” does have its origins (from the French) in a specific condition, the dwarfism and physical and mental impairments associated with genetic deficiencies in Alpine families. Ironically it wasn’t actually an insult, it derives from “Christianus” and was meant to act as a reminder that the disabled were Christians, i.e. humans, not animals.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Quite an interesting article here (yes, should b working). The word fell out of favour in a clinical sense due to perjoritisation in the 20th century.
https://bigthink.com/health/history-of-cretinism/
More car share required?
More car share required?
That might be a start (not
That might be a start (not sure about how Covid guidance stands on it, though?).
How often do you see commuter-time cars with more than one person in them? (or, more than one adult, as you often see one adult plus a schoolchild).
Nigel Garage wrote:
Or even better – share in one really big car. We could call it, I don’t know, a bus?
Middle ground? I recall
Middle ground? I recall someone (rich_cb?) had reinvented the car as a bus (albeit I believe this was smart autonomous car).
Anyway it doesn’t matter. At the moment we’re on course just to replace cars with
cars“green electric vehicles” and declare job done. It’s just a problem of words really –oil and gas“electricity” (but not for ships which we’ll need to service our offshore wind farms and bring most things we consume) andcoal-fired“nuclear” powerplant. Anything else, we can ask people overseas to generate for us and make sure they plant some trees too. Simples!I don’t have the answers of course – my “use less stuff” and “try cycling” have been unanimously rejected.
It’s all fine to make
It’s all fine to make suggestions like these until you have to share your commute with the great unwashed…
Where is the indecent cyclist
Where is the indecent cyclist on that diagram?
Seen WIggins three times on
Seen WIggins three times on the road since moving to Lancashire (used to live three miles away). He’s let on all three times (all before he retired). Every other local pro or ex-pro I’ve seen out on the roads here (Gullen, Holmes, Pullar) has waved every time I’ve seen them as well. This ‘pros don’t wave’ shit is an absolute myth
Yeah, same here; I was riding
Yeah, same here; I was riding up there on a Friday morning about 4-5 years ago; and let on to an oncoming cyclist wearing a black Gabba; they duly returned the wave/nod. I only realised it was Wiggins when he was alongside….
I used to see Sky riders
I used to see Sky riders frequently when the team was based in Manchester and they always let on, most were going too fast for me to read the name on the jersey but I did recognise Geraint Thomas.
I used to wonder, maybe cynically, whether they were acting on instructions from the PR dept.
The average occupancy of cars
The average occupancy of cars in the UK is 1.1 – so it should be about 36 people in 33 cars, not 50 – also the length of the cyclists compared to the cars in the graph is about double what it is in the real world.
kingleo wrote:
Indeed. If you want to get realistic I’d probably look at the busiest cycle route that I’m aware of – at 4000 people on bikes per hour so busy that the authorities are essentially considering the equivalent of a bicycle bypass! I suspect this is similar to the highest pedestrian throughput. You could squeeze more pedestrians into a smaller space but they would be moving very slowly (indeed it becomes extremely dangerous). It might be possible to get higher throughput with bikes if you looked at a point on a “fast cycle route” but again if you’re interested in the “real world” aspect it’s whole journeys within a network that matter.