Driving without insurance? Probably don’t go down a cycle lane in front of police…; Trainline adds bicycle bookings to app; Canadian cyclist clears cycle lanes with homemade cargo bike snowplow; G’s presents; Larry’s late gifts + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Larry Warbasse cracks Christmas
I’m pretty sure that the allotted budget for Christmas gifts is inversely proportional to the amount of days left until Xmas… the bigger the crisis, the nicer the present 😂
— Larry Warbasse (@larrywarbasse) December 22, 2022
Geraint's giving out Christmas presents
Back home in Cardiff I’ve got a spare pair of Tour numbers hanging about, so let’s do another Christmas giveaway 🎁
Just RT to enter and send me a pic of your Christmas tree, I’m feeling festive 🤣🎄 #12daysofGmas pic.twitter.com/G5p7GNWF3E
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) December 22, 2022
Unfortunately you’re too late if a set of Tour numbers was on your Christmas list (I mean, why wouldn’t it be?)… they’ve gone to a great cause and will be used to raise funds for the Velindre Cancer Centre…
Well I think we have a winner… no not mine 🤣🎄 @Velindre do incredible work for cancer patients in Wales. Merry Christmas guys 👍 https://t.co/VMtPQijT37 pic.twitter.com/fx4Gp0SAZg
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) December 22, 2022
Canadian cyclist clears cycle lanes with homemade cargo bike snowplow
As our US-based readers face weather that puts last week’s very British snow-related meltdown into perspective, here’s some ingenious cargo bike versatility from a cyclist up in Canada…
Credit where it’s due a cargo bike snowplow is almost certainly a better choice of ride than 25mm summer tyres for your ride into town… I mean, I can only imagine that’s the case… who would be silly enough to ride across snow and ice on 25mm rubber? Yeah, how stupid…
Giro d'Italia's monstrous TT
Giro stage 20. I’m sure Roglic is looking forward to this. pic.twitter.com/6KTz0BJMD5
— Send Riders to the Right Races (@SendRaces) December 23, 2022
Trainline adds bicycle bookings to app
A Christmas gift from the Trainline as discovered by road.cc contributor Laura…
Xmas has come early for people carrying bikes on trains… somehow you can now book a bike space with @trainline via the app. The hours I’ve wasted to call centres, no joke the last one took 45 minutes, one bike space… so this is disproportionately exciting pic.twitter.com/b3JBrB25ax
— Laura Laker (@laura_laker) December 23, 2022
Whilst booking directly with rail operators adding one of the limited few bike spaces has long been an option… it seems booking through Trainline for those sweet sweet savings has until now meant ringing up to add your bike spot to the booking. No more!
I noticed the wee little bike sign next to trains in the website, too. A good start. Next: actual space on the train.
— thenewlove (@thenewlove) December 23, 2022
— SHallam @shallam1@toot.wales (@Shallam1) December 23, 2022
Floating bus stops
Brings new meaning to the term “floating bus stop”, I suppose pic.twitter.com/TT3vGm7Nl3
— Danny Williams (@citycyclists) December 23, 2022
Geraint Thomas' Geraint Thomas curse strikes again
And now I’m getting random trees in my DM’s. https://t.co/7pFWylDfex
— Geraint Thomas (@geraintthomas) December 23, 2022
Yesterday it was the Giro d’Italia account dropping him a follow, today it’s many enthusiastic ‘fans’ after a Christmas giveaway…
Wout van Aert to prioritise winning Flanders or Roubaix, Worlds and Tour stage wins over the green jersey
[A.S.O. / Pauline Ballet]
Speaking to Sporza at Jumbo Visma’s 2023 team presentation, Wout van Aert said he’s after more big wins next year, and isn’t too bothered about giving the three-week-long battle for the green jersey at the Tour de France a miss… or at least be a tad more conservative in when he burns his matches…
“Green was a great adventure, but stage victories are more memorable and the World Championships (two weeks after the Tour) is the higher goal,” he explained. “That’s why I don’t want to focus on the points for green from the start. That can become a goal during the Tour, but I will choose my days much more and in the final week you still have many opportunities. You can then make choices and it is much more sensible that way.
“I want to win the Ronde and/or Roubaix. So that goal has not changed. They are high, but also logical ambitions. And I am extra motivated after what happened this year.”
Who's doing the Festive 500?
Apologies all, just been finishing up something special for Boxing Day…
Anyone doing the Festive 500 this year?
If you are... here are some of our last-minute top tips...
Driving without insurance? Probably don't go down a cycle lane in front of police...
In fairness, that headline could probably include insured drivers as well…
When you drive down a cycle path in front of a marked traffic car 🤦♂️
…WITHOUT INSURANCE🤦♂️🤦♂️
… having had had the same car seized for no insurance less than a month ago 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️
Reported & seized again🚓
Disqualification now likely!#Team2East
Inc 1172 • @SWPCardiff
^5825 pic.twitter.com/apaWCYumPm— South Wales Police Roads Policing Unit (@SWP_Roads) December 22, 2022
Anyway, they really don’t come easier for South Wales Police than this…
Appreciate where you’re coming from. We can only continue to target out patrols to intercept these drivers (including those who are disqualified) and put them before the courts! If someone continually drives whilst disqualified, they may end up with a custodial sentence.
— South Wales Police Roads Policing Unit (@SWP_Roads) December 23, 2022
Cardiff Council – “Use the Cycleways or we’ll fine you”
The Cycleways – … https://t.co/DJE0TjOwME
— G (@gomedia91) December 22, 2022
Anyway, plenty more from this genre…
> Jeremy Vine films motorist driving down Hyde Park cycle path
> London cyclist films bike lane motorist driving straight at oncoming riders
> Cyclist despairs as Amazon van driver takes cycle lane shortcut before parking on pavement
Cycling home for Christmas
Merry Christmas to all of you from everyone at road.cc!!! Have a great weekend…
23 December 2022, 09:03
23 December 2022, 09:03
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Latest Comments
"All that's required is an to roads policing" - that's a big all... Although no doubt the "idiots just keep coming" aspect does apply: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9lel2wz93o "Man charged after car crashes through bowling alley" - luckily they only skittled over skittles.
Almost any change to roads and streets is accompanied by a period of heightened danger, and in the UK "look out for cyclists" will need to be learned... practically. And over the time it takes for cyclists to become a regular feature. OTOH once (if...) good designs are in and frequent enough such that drivers encounter them AND the cyclists on them regularly (another big if) I don't think they should be much more difficult than a footway to deal with. These things are all over NL - don't have the collision stats but they should. (NL isn't perfect but collecting info on the safety of designs to feed back into better designs as required is part of the "sustainable safety" philosophy - if they're really a killer I think they'd be altering these.)
I'm in the happy position of agreeing with everybody here! I've never considered a bike with a stand, yet I'm impressed by the ingenuity and adaptability of this axle. I tow a Yak Bob with a Robert Axle, employing my El Cheapo Vitus gravel bike and I just have to be very careful where I stop. Hedges are generally a dead loss, and I seek walls, telegraph poles and signposts and generally lean the widest part of the Bob against it. One very awkward task is removing the two steel pins which lock the trailer arms onto the special mounting slots on the Robert axle, and when you have one out, the sodding weight in the trailer can twist the whole caboodle and bend the Bob fitting before you can get the other out and unhitch. I doubt if a stand would help with that. You can imagine that this combo is a real pain when you have to get it over the bridge at railway stations, and it nearly resulted in Merseyrail nearly parting me and the trailer on the platform from the bike on the train. It's a long story for another time. Another axle example recently featured on here, with a 12mm front axle bearing the Herculean weight limit of a monster American front rack.
This has nothing to do with the type of bike - it's the type of behaviour that's the problem. Banning the sale of such bikes will not curtail the behaviour. They'll just find another type of vehicle and continue to drive dangerously as there's such a lack of enforcement. I'd sooner see them ban the bally. But really, all that's required is an improvement to roads policing.
The EAPC Bill is welcome, but full of holes. What's to stop an overpowered but temporarily limited e-bike being sold and subsequently delimited? This is often a trivial process.
@KiwiMike Yeah, in my over four decades of riding all over Europe I've never 'been for a ride in the countryside'. That must be it. Or, and I know this is a wild concept, you just accept that I just voiced my personal experiences and never missed a kickstand, like I wrote. Anyway, what's the big horror of laying your bike on its side for the very few occasions where there is nothing to lean your bike against?
They may have looked, but did they see?
Ds2025: where they are going wrong is that they are crushing the motorbike rather than the person sat on top of it. If they did the latter this issue would be solved in less than 24 hours.
I came this way today with the car boot sale in operation. There was a marshal at the entrance, who stopped a car turning right across the cycleway as I was approaching. So that certainly works. I think it necessary for the marshal to be there, I couldn't say if the driver would have turned if he hadn't been there but you always have to suspect the worst. Unfortunately there is no marshal at the exit, and there was certainly a car stopped across the cycleway as I was approaching it. But he pulled onto the road before I reached it, and the following car stayed off the cycleway as I went through. Ideally there should have been a marshal there too. On the whole, though, it's a really high standard piece of infrastructure. Just a pity it doesn't extend a bit further.
“absolute carnage” So right! Just look at the bodies piled up, blood running in the gutters and injured people limping away. It's a bit of a problem with a road, delaying some people for minutes at a time: it isn't carnage, let alone 'absolute carnage'. Anyone who exaggerates so ridiculously really shouldn't be allowed to comment in public, unless they want to demonstrate their idiocy to all and sundry.
30 thoughts on “Driving without insurance? Probably don’t go down a cycle lane in front of police…; Trainline adds bicycle bookings to app; Canadian cyclist clears cycle lanes with homemade cargo bike snowplow; G’s presents; Larry’s late gifts + more on the live blog”
Quiet here today!
Quiet here today!
How about I kick off a discussion?
Cycle helmets, road tax insurance…
Or failing that, can I say Happy non-sectarian winter holiday to one and all, thanks for the lively discussions once again, see you all back here on the 3rd January?
Bah humbug! and other festive
Bah humbug! and other festive non-denominational, non-confrontational season’s greetings.
That’s me making a late bid for being nice so that Father Christmas brings me the present I want; an election.
I’m of an age (61) where I
I’m of an age (61) where I would love an election again.
Its been years. My wife is frustrated at the lack of a decent poll.
Have a nice time everyone. Christmas day looks a good one for knocking a dent in the Rapha 500.
essexian wrote:
On first sight I thought you’d written erection 🙂
Well, you know, auto-correct.
Well, you know, auto-correct…
mark1a wrote:
One of the greats who departed this year, Barry Cryer: “I got my liquid Viagra mixed up with the Tippex, I woke up with a massive correction…”
OldRidgeback wrote:
Indeed, and given the etymology of “poll” …
We are so woke and keen on
We are so woke and keen on cancel culture here that you’ll get banned just for posting that highly inappropriate and discriminatory picture!
Sorry, been sitting at an
Sorry, been sitting at an established red for ages….
Anyway. Happy winter holiday one & all. You lefty, tree hugging, wokerati, lycra clad, tax dodging, pedestrian killing, cyber bullies. 🙂 Hope you all have a good Christmas & New Year.
And let’s be careful out there
*starts humming the theme from Hill Street Blues*
Please accept with no
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practises of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practise religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2017, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society are equally of merit.
This wish is made without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee. This greeting is subject to amendment, clarification or withdrawal. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and no responsibility for any unintended emotional stress these greetings may bring to those not wishing to share in the holiday spirit.
And a Happy Winterval to you
And a Happy Winterval to you all.
ktache wrote:
Nice local one, love it
Merry yuletide everyone, even the PBUs… I’m ready for the spirit of Christmas to envelop me… by which I mean increasingly dubious concoctions of sugar and alcohol
its still the 23rd, so its
its still the 23rd, so its Happy Festivus (a holiday for the rest of us), as is traditional let us begin with the airing of grievances…
Not he article, more the
Not he article, more the picture.
Look at the happy Santa’s riding their bmxs.
And that happy lady has managed to find a bobble hat large enough to fit over her helmet.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/23/reasons-to-be-cheerful-boris-johnson-donald-trump-vladimir-putin
If the car driving down the
If the car driving down the cycle path was seized a month ago for no insurance, and it still doesn’t have insurance, how did the driver get it back?
If the car driving down the
If the car driving down the cycle path was seized a month ago for no insurance, and it still doesn’t have insurance, how did the driver get it back?
For the same reason that we don’t believe that a driving ban will be applied, or that if it is then driving while disqualified will result in a ‘custodial sentence’. The ‘legal process’ simply can’t be bothered, and has no appetite for removing the basic human right to drive what you like, where you like, when you like and collide with whichever cyclist you like- all with no regard for nanny-state over-regulation like driving licences, MOTs, insurance or VED
eburtthebike wrote:
I’d assume that the driver insured the car, got it back from the police, and then the insurance was cancelled – either by the driver or the insurance company.
eburtthebike wrote:
You can acquire car insurance for periods as short as a single hour, day, week etc. Seems stupid that the police would let it go on such a policy, but I guess if the requirement for return is simply to show that the car is insured and so legal to drive away they have to?
Probably the driver they
Probably the driver they stopped, isnt the registered car owner, and the owner is insured, so just reclaims the car.
Happy Pagan Tree Ritual
Happy Pagan Tree Ritual Worship Season
I’m hoping my next door
I’m hoping my next door neighbour will be a bit more considerate this Christmas. Two o’clock this morning banging on the walls. God only knows what he was doing. I’d have been pretty miffed if he woke me up – luckily I was up anyway playing my saxophone. No self awareness some people.
My neighbours had a cement
My neighbours had a cement mixer in the garden all through Christmas night last year, I was livid. If they’d turned it on I’d have been even crosser.
Just for Info, Canada isn’t
Just for Info, Canada isn’t in the US
Watson_robert wrote:
Yet. They tried several times.
Durin the war of 1812 forces
Durin the war of 1812 forces moved both ways across the border.
Watson_robert wrote:
To be fair, the writer doesn’t say or imply this, the article says our US-based readers are facing some really heavy snow this week, here’s how “a cyclist up in Canada” deals with it.
Cycling uninsured down a
Cycling uninsured down a cycle lane – reminds me of a time I was marshalling a led ride in central London. It was a Sunday and there were families and children and all sorts on the ride. A taxi driver took exception to this and drove right at a section of the ride. We all scattered and a few fell off their bikes. What the idiot hadn’t noticed was that there were also 2 police cyclists with us. The smartly blocked the cab and yanked him out. He was missing various ‘documents’ so back up was called and his cab was confiscated.
Interesting bit on parking in
Interesting bit on parking in the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/26/us-cities-parking-lots-climate-walkability
Well I suppose they have a
Well I suppose they have a lot of cars per household, so it makes sense to have 27 car park spaces per household.