Scaffolding firm sent one star reviews after parking in cycle lane; Cyclist awarded £17k after crash on “nightmare” roundabout; Tom Brady inspired Chris Froome; Alistair Brownlee backs towpath campaign; Disc brake fail; New Raleigh + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Did disc brake failure cause this cyclo-cross crash?
Here is the video of the crash with some nice edits from Hernâni Broco 🤹♂️😂 pic.twitter.com/CWtFDrmVBy
— Bogangalho (@bamgangalho) February 22, 2021
Poor Miguel Salgueiro crashed out of the Portugese National Cyclo-cross Championships while contending for the win on the final lap. At least he got third… This video shared on Twitter suggests it might have been his disc brakes that failed him. In the clip he can be seen pulling on the brake lever without much effect, before missing the turn and tumbling over the steep bank…
Chris Froome will be licking his lips at this one, two weeks ago Froome claimed that disc brake technology isn’t where it needs to be for road cycling and that he isn’t completely convinced.
For a diagnosis of Froome or Salgueiro’s problems, check out our ‘What’s wrong with Chris Froome’s disc brakes?’ feature. Maybe you’ve seen something we missed, if so, let us know what caused this crash?
Incredible picture from today’s NC of cyclocross in Portugal 🇵🇹
Here is Miguel Salgueiro crash while he was fighting for the victory with the winner, Mário Costa.📸 https://t.co/62cqtNUrFX pic.twitter.com/vBJoqLJFbI
— Bogangalho (@bamgangalho) February 21, 2021
Trek-Segafredo rider withdraws after bizarre crash
Update: Antonio has suffered multiple abrasions across both sides of the body at multiple points. The most severe was the right knee which required cleaning and stitches at hospital. (1/2) #UAETour
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) February 22, 2021
Trek-Segafredo confirmed that 19-year-old rider Antonio Tiberi has withdrawn from the UAE Tour after his bizarre finish line crash during yesterday’s time trial. The Italian was flung off his bike in the final 10m of the stage, sliding across the finish line. He suffered multiple abrasions and required stitches in one particularly bad wound on his right knee. His team confirmed last night that despite returning to the team hotel from hospital, he wouldn’t start stage three this morning.
Stage three is underway with the peloton preparing to tackle the first of two summit finishes this week. Tony Gallopin (AG2R Citroën Team) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) are up the road and have a 5:48 advantage on the main bunch with 120km left to race.
Raleigh launches new leisure bike and refreshing colourways for old favourites
Raleigh has launched its new Hoppa leisure bike as well as new colourways for its Classic models. The British bike brand says the new leisure model mixes traditional design with vibrant colour and modern components to make it the ideal ride for rolling around town. The Hoppa’s colourway is inspired by Venice Beach and comes in a one size fits all 45cm frame, 24-inch wheels and a 3-speed Sturney Archer derailleur. Raleigh says the bike has been stripped back to keep maintenance low and is affordable at £450.
Their Classic range has also got new colourways for 2021. The Willow now comes in Cherry, Bronze and Dusty Pink, and the Sherwood in Navy and Sage.
Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee backs campaign to make towpath more accessible
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee has backed a campaign by the Leeds Cycling Campaign to make a towpath more accessible. The steps from the Skelton Grange Road Bridge down to the Calder Canal are steep and often slippy which has led to the triathlete backing calls to make them less dangerous and more accessible. Leeds Cycling Campaign’s petition had 2,510 signatures at the time of writing. The campaign says the steps have been a problem for at least 30 years and the pandemic has highlighted the accessibility issues with people often having to queue to use the narrow steps in order to maintain social distancing.
Brownlee said: “The Aire and Calder canal towpath has just been resurfaced and is a fantastic active travel corridor. It makes up part of the TransPennine Trail and the Sustrans’ National cycle network and is a great commuter route into the city centre. It is a quiet and traffic-free path that winds its way through natural and green habitats even though the user is never far from habitation. Unfortunately, at the moment, access to it is restricted to users who can make it down a steep and narrow flight of steps. The creation of a new bridge here would be a very positive step for all of the current users and more importantly open up the path to many more.”
Councillor Peter Carlill, the district chair at West Yorkshire Combined Authority said they are working with stakeholders to find a “suitable, accessible and safe solution” to the longstanding issues.
Mathieu van der Poel cleared to return to the Netherlands and prepare for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
🇳🇱@mathieuvdpoel of 🇧🇪@AlpecinFenix wins stage 1 of 🇦🇪@uae_tour #UAETour (📺@adsportstv) pic.twitter.com/6JCXVWS2NM
— World Cycling Stats (@wcsbike) February 21, 2021
Reports from the Netherlands suggest that Mathieu van der Poel may take to the start line for the Opening Weekend of the Classics at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this Saturday. Wielerflits reports that the Alpecin-Fenix rider was able to leave the UAE and return to Amsterdam having tested negative twice. Van der Poel’s team were forced to withdraw from the UAE Tour on the morning of the second stage after a staff member tested positive. It is believed that two riders, Jonas Rickaert and Gianni Vermeersch, came into contact with the staff member and therefore must quarantine in the UAE.
Providing the Dutch champion can submit a negative PCR or rapid test within 24 hours of Saturday, then he will be allowed to race. Flanders Classics’ CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel confirmed that if the protocols are met then he will have no issue welcoming Van der Poel to the start line in Ghent.
Disc brake diagnosis
Possible explanation for the crash in the opening blog post of the day…
Tadej Pogačar wins summit finish at Jebel Hafeet to tighten grip on UAE Tour
Tadej Pogacar gagne la 3e étape du #UAETour #uaetour2021 #uaetour21 #cyclisme #uaeteamemirates pic.twitter.com/HAEm7k0lq1
— Les Rois du Peloton (@LRoisDuPeloton) February 23, 2021
Tadej Pogačar took a step closer to securing overall victory at the UAE Tour this lunchtime by winning stage three’s summit finish at Jebel Hafeet. The Tour de France champion followed Brit Adam Yates’ repeated attacks before beating the Ineos Grenadiers’ climber in the sprint for the line. João Almeida, Pogačar’s closest rival after yesterday’s TT, finished 47 seconds down in a group with Sergio Higuita, Emanuel Buchmann and Harm Vanhoucke. Chris Froome was dropped with around 6km left to climb.
The result leaves Yates more than 40 seconds down on the Slovenian, with Almeida 1:03 behind with one final summit finish on Thursday. Tomorrow should see the sprinters back in contention with the first of three flat stages from the four days remaining.
Why cyclists don't ride in the bike lane
Peckham cycling infra meets scaffolders universal permit to park anywhere at any time. 🤷♀️ pic.twitter.com/b52Vz0ej86
— J.G. Bollard (@JamesNonchalant) February 23, 2021
Cyclist awarded £17k after crash on "nightmare" roundabout
A cyclist was awarded £17,500 in damages after being hit by a driver on a “nightmare” roundabout in Hull. Steve Redgrave needed surgery on a broken collarbone, which was fractured in three places. Hull Daily Mail reports the driver did not dispute the legal action after they hit Redgrave as he cycled around the roundabout. The cyclist was wearing a high visibility jacket at the time of the collision.
59-year-old Redgrave is a former BBC Humberside presenter and received £17,500 damages following the personal injury claim. He also suffered a fractured thumb and severe bruising to his ribs and knee.
“It was obviously a huge shock to be hit, especially given it was a bright sunny morning and visibility was good,” Redgrave explained. “I was on the roundabout and approaching my lane to leave it, when suddenly, I was hit from the left and sent sprawling onto the road. You are just left in shock when something like that happens.
“As a commuting cyclist for many years, I have always found roundabouts in the city a nightmare to negotiate. They’re very busy at peak times and I’m sure many car drivers simply don’t see or think about people on their bikes.”
Chris Froome inspired by Tom Brady
Chris Froome told The Guardian he hopes to remain in the sport for the next five years and believes he can win a fifth Tour de France title. The 35-year-old said he took inspiration from watching Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady win a seventh Super Bowl aged 43. The similarities between Brady’s situation and his own weren’t lost on Froome, who noted he too was looking for longevity at a new team having moved on from Ineos Grenadiers where he was previously successful.
“We are seeing more and more examples in professional sport with the most recent being Tom Brady, which was a pretty incredible story. That’s due to a host of reasons but mainly because of nutrition and physiology. Everything is evolving. We’re learning more and more about our bodies and I certainly believe it’s more to do with mindset in your late 30s,” Froome explained.
The Israel Start-Up Nation rider’s recovery continued today at the UAE Tour, where he finished 40th on the stage, exactly five minutes behind Tadej Pogačar and Adam Yates.
Scaffolding firm sent one star reviews after parking in cycle lane
Peckham cycling infra meets scaffolders universal permit to park anywhere at any time. 🤷♀️ pic.twitter.com/b52Vz0ej86
— J.G. Bollard (@JamesNonchalant) February 23, 2021
Millennium Scaffolding has been sent several one star reviews after one of their vehicles was pictured blocking a cycle lane in Peckham. FORS, the leading accreditation scheme for fleet operators, were notified on Twitter and confirmed the details of the incident had been passed on for investigation.
After a Twitter user linked their Google page, several negative reviews started to appear. One from Tomas Hardy said: “Parking in a segregated bike lane is ILLEGAL. The reckless actions of your staff forces vulnerable road users onto the path of traffic. This is the height of ignorance and arrogance.”
Another from Noel Claremont said: “Your driver ILLEGALLY parked in a segregated bike lane and forced vulnerable road users, including families with children to ride on a dangerous roadway. Your driver is the definition of callous entitlement.”
23 February 2021, 08:53
23 February 2021, 08:53
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Latest Comments
@Motivated You're using an utterly meaningless single statistic there with so many variables it proves nothing. What were the weather and wind conditions for each time? What was the race context? How far had each ridden that day? With all due respect to Demi, if you put her and Tadej racing against each other on the Mur on the same day having ridden the same distance to get to it at the same speed she's not coming within one second, or even 10 seconds, or maybe even 20 seconds of him.
PS re the cyclist ringing a bell (or as a sports cyclist more likely shouting a warning), they would have no reason to: the lady wasn't "approaching the road", she had got to the island in the middle of the road and was standing still, then she stepped out. As far as I can see there was no reason to think anything but that she had seen him and was waiting for him to pass before crossing the lane.
@bensynnock We, and car drivers, must indeed exercise the utmost care for vulnerable road users, but if you take it to the logical extreme the only way you can absolutely guarantee never hitting a vulnerable road user is not to cycle or drive at all under any circumstances. As the Highway Code makes clear, "The hierarchy places those road users most at risk in the event of a collision at the top of the hierarchy. It does not remove the need for everyone to behave responsibly." In a case like this where the pedestrian has made an absolutely suicidal move by stepping onto the roadway into the path of a fast-moving cyclist when they were two metres away you can't say that the cyclist has failed in their duty of care, the cyclist was approaching on a clear straight road in good visibility, the lady was standing still on the island then suddenly stepped out when he was so close that he had no time to make any reaction at all, let alone brake or swerve round her. She, sadly, for unknown reasons, failed in her "need to behave responsibly". Unless duty of care encompasses coming to a complete stop when one sees a pedestrian waiting to cross (when there is no marked crossing) I don't think it was breached here.
@C3a Presumably it's to do with turnover stability while moving. I saw a Tentbox today, just being driven through Garstang. I can certainly see the advantage of these boxes over tents, because I have suffered lifelong from the 'Get orf my land' brigade, and there's a much greater tolerance among them for those 'camping' in vehicles than for those much more worthy real campers in tents. Add to that the convenience of just stopping in any old free spot by the roadside, where there isn't a decent site for a tent, and you can see the attraction.
Most of the cars that I have owned have had a roof-box limit (bars, box and contents) of 70kg. How does a textbox fit with that? Is the limit only applicable when the vehicle is moving?
@Chris RideFar For starters, by being 1,5 m above the ground you are mostly protected from dew. In many countries it also protects you from frost or really low temperatures. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it actually makes. Bugs, ants, spiders etc. are another thing, as is the purely mental feeling of security by being isolated from the ground. You'd be surprised how much that means to some of us and our better halves ;-) Sleeping on the ground also means more mechanical damage to the floor from rocks, hard roots etc., which could make a big difference in some areas and on longer trips, where a ripped tent floor could really break your holiday. I'm not saying a roof tent is the answer to all one's troubles with camping. But these factors definitely to make a difference to many of us.
When was the last time you had a groundsheet with a built in mattress? The point is predictable comfort.
Is it because cars and driving are about convenience (for a price), so there is mileage in selling more (quite expensive) related things that are about convenience?
32 thoughts on “Scaffolding firm sent one star reviews after parking in cycle lane; Cyclist awarded £17k after crash on “nightmare” roundabout; Tom Brady inspired Chris Froome; Alistair Brownlee backs towpath campaign; Disc brake fail; New Raleigh + more on the live blog”
Euro brakes, so that’ll be
Euro brakes, so that’ll be the rear he’s pulling, something must have caused a massive loss of pressure in the hydraulic system and having worked CX, that normally happens when crap is stuck on the piston causing it not to retract fully and the next time you squeeze it can pop a seal.
Another suggestion:
Another suggestion:
Portugal normally dry so perhaps you’d use organic pads
This looks wet so organic pads won’t last and maybe he’d already used up the fronts and had been hoping the rear would get him by……
I’ve been up and down these
I’ve been up and down these steps a few times. The first time I was convinced that I must have strayed off the Trans Pennine Trail, as access was so poor, even for able- bodied me with a light bike.
I think I’d have a hard time following Hare Krishna’s advice to ‘Be Happy’ if I’d just slid down these steps on my arse with an e-bike over my shoulder.
The fact that this was
The fact that this was approved as an ‘official’ cycle route by Sustrans despite the fact that there was a massive flight of stairs just goes to show the complete inadequacies of both Sustrans and of towpaths as cycle infrastructure.
Over the last decade, millions have been wasted in yorkshire turning towpaths into cycle routes, with Sustrans approval. They are almost never tarmaced (re-surfaced with some stupid hard packed earth athat turns into the Somme every time it rains), include brand-new narrow A-frames that discriminate against disabled/infirm cyclists who can’t lift their bikes, brand-new speedbumps and many other horrors. And no measures are taken against bloody loose dogs. They are an abomination.
For god’s sake, stop trying to make shared use towpath-bike paths happen, and build proper infrastructure.
We have lots of Sustrans
We have lots of Sustrans canal towpath rubbish in the South West.
The Kennet and Avon canal is totally unsuitable for cycling with a mostly narrow path with a mostly rubbish surface.
However it is part of NCN 4.
https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/kennet-and-avon-cycle-route
How Sustrans can endorse this as acceptable for a National Cycle Route is beyond me.
South Wales is also riddled
South Wales is also riddled with cycle routes that would tax a full-sus MTB in all but the driest weather, and those bl**dy a-frame things! Total nightmare clearly designed by someone who either has never ridden a bike, or only rides a bike with 38cm wide drop-bars. They’re impossible to get round with a flat-barred bike with full guards (or any kind of recumbent, or any other non-standard bike). Shared use paths are not cycling infrastructure, they’re just an excuse to try and get ‘those pesky cyclists’ to stop asking for bike paths.
As an aside, why is it that when a road gets busy the immediate cry is ‘build more roads’, but when a cycle route is successful (i.e. the Bristol-Bath path) the only suggestions are to slow down/discourage cyclists.
sean1 wrote:
I am particularly fond of the sections that go under a low bridge on a narrow and stony path where the lack of headroom forces you towards the path edge which is crumbling into the cold dark water. If that doesn’t teach low speed bike handling, nothing will.
Every staircase is different,
Every staircase is different,
The HorseShoe bridge, over the end of the Kennet where it empties into the Thames, is quite shallow, but the steps do slope, which used to make it fun on the wooden steps in heavy rain and freezing conditions. I used it on my commute for well over a decade. It took them 3 goes to get the cycle “ramp” right, and a long time to fit the surface with grip.
I went to Cambridge for an interview and was impressed with the continuous wheel ramp on the stairs at the station of this cycling city.
I only ever climbed the staircase from the Basingstoke canal to the Deepcut Bridge a couple of times, when they closed the towpath to install a new staircase, and I almost fell down them twice. And I have lived in a first floor flat for a good 8 years with a steep narrowish concrete staircase, with rarely a stumble, and since first lockdown have had to use the stairs up to the bridge at Reading station a lot, lots of stairs there, far more with the new much taller bridge. (Only climbed the stairs from the Caversham side once, long time back.) (I am not going to get into a lift at the time of a worldwide pandemic…) The temporary stairs they installed were so much better, well sized and textured, though the bicycle wheel ramp was unuseable, too close to the uprights.
The new concrete steps look great, They let them set for almost 2 months(?) and are now installing the most impressive banisters and ballistrade I have ever seen on an outside set of stairs. So good they will probably be nicked. I hope they get the ramp right, I might have to use it if they close the other bit of the towpath for a bit of surface treatment, it is shockingly muddy, they have been fixing the “holes” in the bank, and it had been threatened for several years on the Canal website. The stairs have been paid for by the developers of a local housing development. Partly why they seem so flash…
Raleigh Hoppa – nice to see
Raleigh Hoppa – nice to see this style of bike coming with mudguards, rack, lights and wheel lock included.
And according to the article,
And according to the article, has a 3 speed derailleur, which would be very interesting if true.
My sister and mother had Raleigh 20 Shoppers in the 70s. If the Hoppa is more than half the weight, it’s doomed.
Specs say 16.9kg, it’s no
Specs say 16.9kg, it’s no lightweight. Not what I’d call a deal breaker though, that’s at least 5kg less than my steel frame Gazelle which serves the same purpose. The wheel lock would make up a kilo of that weight.
Raleigh’s own specs call it a 3 speed derailleur despite it obviously being an IGH, worrrying when the manufacturer doesn’t know the difference. Interesting that they opted for rim brakes on both wheels instead of being retro with a coaster brake. Still, good to see them dipping into their past and reviving a design that is quite practical for getting around town.
Sounds too much like a
Sounds too much like a lottery story. “Awarded” not “won” £17,500. Won the case maybe.
On that roundabout, it’s a
On that roundabout, it’s a 30mph limit, conveniently missed in the HDM photo used for illustration, the roads to the left and right are also 30 mph limits, the appoach road from behind the photographers position and directly opposite are 40mph limits, the 30mph limits are usually driven at 40mph plus unless it’s rush hour when people are looking for gaps in traffic,when they do a quick glance then “floor it” to get on the roundabout. AFAIK that roundabout is part of city ring road so comes under the Highways Agency and like several roundabouts maintained by HA in Hull has no adequate provision for cyclists so is an accident waiting to happen
Glad the cyclist received compensation but I would rather he had not been hit by the driver.
If Redgrave was coming from
If Redgrave was coming from the direction of Beverley, and as you say the 40mph stretch of road, cyclists are encouraged to use the shared use facility to their left, go all the way around the corner away from the roundabout, press the button on the crossing and rejoin the shared path and carry on to the left at the next roundabout along Sutton Road. But if he was going to work at the BBC studios he might have been taking a more direct route through Sutton Fields Industrial Estate. Not that any of this excuses the motorist, obviously, but does explain why I take the soft option and press that button. And there are worse roundabouts in Hull IMHO. I also fear that the current roadworks are going to add a few more 🙁
[edit: updated with screenshot showing roundabout]
Quote:
The article headline makes it sound like he called that roundabout a nightmare but the quotes further down showed he was calling most of the ones in Hull that.
Yes, that’s a fair assessment
Yes, that’s a fair assessment of many.
Exactly. “Won” was the word
Exactly. “Wins” was the word used in the Hull Daily Mail headline and trivialises the collision. Redgrave didn’t play a blinder in a quiz show or something – and he could have been killed. Liability was uncontested, only the amount to be awarded was in dispute until the settlement was made.
NPlus1BikelightsNJerseys
Yup. Being awarded £17,500 for pain and suffering caused by a driver really, really isn’t winning, and it demonstrates the appallingly low level of such awards in the UK; should be ten times that. From the newspaper article:
“My wife needed to help me get washed, dressed, and even eat as I couldn’t use a knife and fork for ages. It meant I couldn’t go to the gym and do a workout. It took quite a while before I could swim again and then not very well for ages.
“I needed two months off work. Thankfully I received my BBC pay, but had I been self-employed, as I used to be years ago, and unable to work, it would have been really hard, money wise.”
£17,500 is a joke for all that.
Well done for rephrasing the newspaper’s crass statement that “He also fractured his right thumb….” No, I’m pretty sure the driver did it for him.
I can find no reports of the original collision, and the articles do not mention the name of the driver, and Stephen Redgrave searches just throw up articles about the rower, so was the driver prosecuted, and if so, received what punishment? I’m guessing he was, because the liability wasn’t disputed, only the level of the award.
I suffer permanent pain and
I suffer permanent pain and minor upper body disability from a severe whiplash I got from a motor vehicle accident twenty years ago; the other driver was prosecuted for failing to give way. As one has to permanently lose significant use of ones body to make a successful personal injury claim in Australia, eg, lose a limb, people like me get a big fat zero.
I was “awarded” a big fat £0
I was “awarded” a big fat £0 after being mowed down by a “New-Age Traveller” riding a Hercules sit-up-and-beg bike under the influence of Haile Selassie in January 1992 in the dark. I suffered a broken collar bone. And a broken finger, fractured eye socket and cheekbone. I was in hospital for a week, in a vegitative state for about a month and spoon fed by my mother for most of that time. The police arrested the offender and released him without charge because it wasn’t worth their time pursuing him, as he wouldn’t have turned up at court, wouldn’t have paid any fines, etc etc.
If I wanted to pursue him in a civil action, his name was S***** L***** and his address was “no fixed abode”. Lovely. I did try to claim some compo from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, but my claim was rejected as “no crime had taken place”.
I’m hoping Millenium
I’m hoping Millenium Scaffolding were reported to the authorities and that no-one seeing that would even contemplate for a milli-second ever employing them.
I’d ask on twitter myself, but I’m still suspended until they decide my appeal for calling Cristo, the cycle-hating shock jock, a cretin. Still, it’s only been two months so I’m sure they’ll look at it soon.
The infra there is less then
The infra there is less then a few months old as Sept 2020 streetview has it as a normal street. The house on the end has scaffolding in that pic supplied by another company so I suspect it was doing something there. The stupidness is there is a very large entrance / exit to a small industrial complex right next to there but oh no, lets block vehicles and kids off.
I always notice Lyndhurst Way
I always notice Lyndhurst Way as the building on the corner (where it meets Peckham Way) has a Trotter’s Independent Trading Reliant van in its grounds.
markieteeee wrote:
Yes it’s an hotel…local opinion is divided about it!
eburtthebike wrote:
How on earth would that get you banned? Particulary seeing as Cristo is a vile bully.
Yet people like George Hindle post hateful crap like this and are still on twitter – see screengrabs in second tweet.
imajez wrote:
I wish I knew, but I appealed immediately two months ago, and I’ve sent them an enquiry a few weeks ago, but they will neither explain why I was suspended nor resolve my appeal, merely giving me the option of withdrawing my appeal, which I ain’t gonna do.
Obviously not defending the
Obviously not defending the lorry parking in the cycle lane in any way at all, but that lane is two streets from my house and it’s one of the crappiest pieces of infra I’ve seen, never use it. The lane is about 50 metres long, riders coming from the southern end have to cross two lanes of traffic to enter it and then if they want to turn right have to come out and immediately cross two lanes again. Cars have been allowed, as you can see, to park on the outside of the lane, so what was a three lane section and, for me at least, was perfectly safe has now been cut to a single narrow lane between parked cars, with massive dooring risks, in which one is continually shouted at to “get in the farking cycle lane.” If any Road CC reporter fancies a trip to deepest Peckham be glad to guide you round it, it’s a prime example of a badly designed scheme that has done nothing to improve rider safety and raised local antagonism towards them.
Here’s a thought; the
Here’s a thought; the relevant authority could issue the scaffolding company a permit to close off the bike lane while they used it. I regularly see traffic lanes coned off for builders to park their vehicles for private construction works on abutting land. One recent unit construction site got a permit to completely close off the road so they could park trucks and use a crane. The scaffolding truck may not have had a permit but the point is they could have got one, so the fact remains that cyclists have to be a bit flexible with their route.. still unhappy? footpaths are sometimes blocked off for various works with signs put up to use the other side of the road reserve – this would be far more inconvenient for disabled users than able bodied cyclists having their path blocked.
grOg wrote:
This frequently happens and I’ve never heard a cyclist complain about it, we understand that sometimes it’s necessary. However it didn’t happen in this case so not sure what point you’re making.
grOg wrote:
Oh come off it grOg. This isn’t for essential works to the road. This is a lazy scaffolder trying to get as close to the property as possible on a private job, and f*ck anyone else.
Permits are attainable for necessary functions. This clearly is not the case. However, with the damage they’ll have incurred to the kerb, that may become necessary at a later date…
Ah, but a permit might have
Ah, but a permit might have cost them some money. Why would they bother paying for a licence to do something that they can do for free with no repercussions…?
(OT – I sent a photo to a removals company yesterday, of their two vans parked up on a shared use footway/cycle path in such a way that I had to dismount, walk my bike on the carriageway on a busy A road facing the oncoming traffic; I suggested that’s generally not considered best practice…; I got a response back within the hour apologising and saying they’d told their drivers to sort it out)
grOg wrote:
As an aerial fitter, I sympathise with the need of the scaffolders to get their heavy equipment close to the job, and the blockage may have been (in their eyes at least) short-lived, just while they unload. But with a bit of forward planning it could have been so much better. With a permit they could have coned off a traffic lane (or what looks like space where cars are parked, not even a running lane) to the right of the cycle lane in advance and left the cycle lane free. The disadvantage there would be that they would have to carry the scaffolding across the cycle lane. Or diverted the cycle lane onto the coned off traffic lane/parking space, though the kerb would have made that awkward for cyclists, necessitating some sort of ramp. Such issues should be noted during an advance site visit and the necessary permits obtained.