Stedman sets British Everesting record; Do you prep your bike for autumn?; Council installed “dangerous” barriers on cycle route due to Strava KoM; Quintana denies doping; Chris Hoy in cake form; ‘Shimeng’ cassette + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
The winning bake from week one of this year's Great British Bake Off was an edible bust of Chris Hoy
Great job Peter, thanks for choosing me! 😁👍🏻👍🏻 https://t.co/62Hhwz48U3
— Chris Hoy (@chrishoy) September 22, 2020
The somewhat disturbing task saw the latest line-up of bakers in the famous tent ordered to make a famous person’s head out of cake for the ‘showstopper’ round… and the star baker emerged as young Peter from Edinburgh, who rustled up a Chris Hoy to beat other notable heads such as Louis Theroux, David Attenborough and Freddie Mercury. Unfortunately for Peter, some viewers thought Chris Hoy in cake reminded them of something else entirely…
chris hoy the sex toy #gbbo pic.twitter.com/Hdpw16dRSg
— three steaks pam (@alexandrakuri) September 22, 2020
Also, surely a Victoria Pendleton sponge would have been more appropriate? (dad joke courtesy of Jo Burt).
Bloody cyclists again
Apparently, cyclists don’t know the Highway Code. pic.twitter.com/oWDQImQC28
— Tommy (@Wombletom) September 22, 2020
No respect for the rules of the road…
Roglic, Kuss and Dumoulin to ride the Vuelta?
According to reports in Spain, Team Jumbo-Visma are set to send Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin & Sepp Kuss to La Vuelta 🙌#ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/IsjD6GRmsf
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) September 23, 2020
Spanish media are reporting that Jumbo-Visma will be sending their big guns to the Vuelta after failing to secure yellow at the Tour de France – which could be bad news for Chris Froome and other red jersey hopefuls, unless someone young and plucky comes along and beats the lot of them again.
Stockport Council installed "positively dangerous" barriers on popular cycle route after becoming aware of Strava segment and receiving two complaints
And there I was thinking Manchester hadn’t invested in cycling infrastructure during lockdown…
They’ve managed to put in barriers on one of the only decent cycle paths around (airport bypass). 3 sets on straight bit for some reason. Great. @ManCityCouncil @allpartycycling pic.twitter.com/74tkMEXmgU
— Tom Timothy (@tom_timothy) July 29, 2020
So literally one person complained twice in 1 year and the risk assessment is the fact strava exists. That is wild. Wish I had that much power about my local road traffic.
— Tom Timothy (@tom_timothy) September 22, 2020
Back in July, Tom Timothy took to Twitter to complain about barriers installed on a segregated cycleway next to the A555 extension in Greater Manchester – and now James G has shared an FOI request from Stockport Council outlining their reasons for installing the chicanes.
The council say that there were “safety concerns raised by pedestrians directly related to cyclists travelling at speed along this section”, particularly where the footway and cycleway link near a local primary school… and it turns out there were three complaints in total throughout the whole of 2019. Two were from the same individual, and one was a letter sent to a local MP.
When asked what they had done to research the supposed issue of speeding cyclists, the council say they were made aware of a Strava segment “with a leaderboard for the fastest times using the route”; while this does exist, it appears they fell short of investigating the matter aside from recognising that there is in fact a Strava segment on the route for justifying the installation of the chicanes.
The council say they didn’t consult with local cycling and walking groups, and link to an Equality Impact Assessment from 2013 to suggest that the barriers can be navigated by disabled path users and handcyclists. Addressing possible safety concerns, they say: “chicanes of a similar arrangement are in place as safety measures elsewhere on the A555 footway/cycleway and we are not aware of any concerns being raised previously regarding these chicanes.”
Mr Timothy added: They [the barriers] are positively dangerous how they are positioned so colour blends into background with no warning, and on a straight bit so possible to approach at speed.”
Cycling up 162% during UK lockdown, reports Strava
It appears cyclists – or at least the ones who use Strava – cycled a lot more during the bleaker months of lockdown in the UK, with the social fitness giants reporting a 162% rise in two-wheeled activity in May 2020 compared to the same month in 2019.
In an analysis of Strava Metro data from ten major UK cities, Liverpool topped the list with a whopping 220% rise in the number of individuals cycling. Manchester was second (169%), followed by Glasgow in third (146%). London (119%) cam in fifth, just below Birmingham in fourth (139%).
Chris Boardman commented: “During lockdown, roads were quieter and people felt safer so we saw a real surge in the number of people cycling and walking their journeys. Now we need to enable them to continue to travel on foot and by bike, making it part of their everyday routine.
“The data we receive from Strava Metro is helping us to get a greater insight into where, when and why people are cycling and walking. This sort of data is invaluable when making decisions about developing future infrastructure.”
Unfortunately Strava data also appeared to be invaluable to Stockport Council when making the decision to install dodgy barriers on a popular cycle route, but that’s another story…
Shimano? Shimeng.
Look at the product photo on the box. pic.twitter.com/JIkaOH3FCq
— Richard Masoner 🚴♂️ (@cyclelicious) September 22, 2020
If you’re not familiar, the ‘crappyoffbrands’ Reddit thread is a mystical treasure trove of copyright violations… including this’ Shimeng’ 6-speed cassette with a photo of what looks like a genuine Shimano product on the box.
Why don't cyclists use the cycle lane? Or the bit just outside of the cycle lane?
Install error with the bicycle prints? @WandsLS @JohnLocker_UK pic.twitter.com/mysPS4RbRA
— Andrew Mac (@humantravl) September 23, 2020
Wandsworth has had a few stinkers as of late, with their council accused of causing mass panic by encouraging people to prepare ’emergency grab-and-go’ bags, and being the centre of aggressive resistance to LTNs from drivers.
This cycle lane appears to be the latest mishap in the London borough, with the bike symbols appearing on the outside of a strip of white paint that marks out the lane.
Somerset police sergeant to visit homes of youths accused of anti-social cycling
In his statement shared by PCSO Steve Hill on Facebook, Sergeant Dan Bishop says there has been “an increase in reports of youths on pedal cycles pulling wheelies through Wellington town centre”, and the same youth were reported for not stopping at traffic lights and “narrowly missing” pedestrians on pavements.
He added: “Anti-social cycling is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. The team are currently reviewing photographs of some of the youths involved. We will be visiting identified individuals at home and speaking to them with their parents present. There is both road traffic and ASB legislation that can and will be used to tackle this problem if it continues.
“I would encourage anyone who witnesses youths behaving in this way and putting themselves and others at risk of harm to bring it to the attention of the Wellington Police Team. This can be done by calling 101 or reported on line via the force website.”
Strava segment used as reason to install "dangerous" barriers on cycleway: your thoughts on social media
I can’t wait for @StockportMBC to put similar safety measures on roads to prevent motorists speeding ….
— Leve_Pavement_Parking (@LeveParking) September 23, 2020
Would the council install similar barriers on all the roads? considering that speeding veicles is common everywhere.
— Andy L (@Andy_Lyw) September 23, 2020
Yeah, so you flag the segment as dangerous, everyone loses their virtual leaderboard, life goes on. You dont install stupid, dangerous ableist barriers.
— cyclinggrump (@cyclinggrump) September 23, 2020
While some have said that it could be seen as irresponsible to have a Strava segment on a shared cycling and walking route, others say that installing barriers that could cause harm are not the answer. Mark Johnson added: “The route is not dangerous, the barriers certainly are. Imagine coming across these horrors in the dark for the first time.”
What do you think?
Yay, autumn...
Liam here, just jumping onto the blog while Jack is away for a moment or two.
It seems like autumn decided to happen overnight. There are leaves on the roads and we’ve entered that steady state of rain. I’ve looked at my mudguards a couple of times this morning. They need fitting but I want to know what you’re doing to prep your bike for autumn.
Do you go down my route of getting the winter bike out now? Do you cling onto the summer bike until the roads get icy? Or do you just ride one bike all year round?
Let us know in the comments below.
Shots fired
Where is Zakarin?!! Still descending Peyresourde…
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) September 22, 2020
Poor old Ilnur Zakarin has missed out on selection for the Russian World Championships squad for this week’s race.
He was last seen getting dropped on the descent of the Peyresourde so who knows, he could still be there…
Stedman fails in Everesting world record attempt, but lowers British record
That was INSANELY hard. Provisional British Record! Went out for the World Record and was 8 minutes under at half way, but fell off a massive cliff, 36×32, turns out is too big. CANNOT thank everyone who helped out today. Incredible support. 💥 https://t.co/h8HqdfPgQs
— Max Stedman (@MaxStedman_) September 22, 2020
We’ve all been there, you’re casually dropping the watts then bam, your legs say “no more.” Well, maybe not at the speed that the Canyon dhb’s Max Stedman climbs at, but we can all relate.
Max Stedman’s effort yesterday fell short of the Everesting world record, though his provisional time of 7hrs 32mins netted him the British record.
An official time of 7hrs 32mins gives @MaxStedman_ the British Everesting Record! pic.twitter.com/Q0andGTly8
— Canyon dhb p/b Soreen (@canyondhbsoreen) September 23, 2020
Stedman found his 36×32 lowest gear too heavy in the latter stages of his ride, but was helped out by Swift Pro Carbon’s Tristan Robbins who provided a much-needed 34T chainring.
23 September 2020, 08:22
"Not our bike", say Amazon...
Amazon denies “Prime Bike” launch and distances itself from connected fitness brand Echelon
It appears Echelon put a bit too much spin on its description of the product
23 September 2020, 08:22
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Latest Comments
@quiff How did you manage to determine that it was uncomfortably tight, the police are constantly telling us they can't measure distance from a video, can we now use this as a precedent that if it looks close the motorist can be prosecuted?
As I have commented a number of times on the frankly pointless but constant "discussion" around doping, its not "sure, sure, they're just eating better, wink wink, nudge nudge" that the brightest and best who claim they are all doped up to the gills like to rely on for their argument. Everything has improved since the dark days of doping. Literally everything. Faster bikes, more comfortable bikes (less fatigue), more aero kit, better training, better nutrition, better recovery, eating up to 150g/hr of carbs (and potentially even more in future) vs 60g/hr, no long training break, everything being optimised from a much younger age. Its frankly a testament to the powers of doping that we are only just seeing these records being beaten. The idea that all the top guys are doped up to the gills along with all these improvements to every single area of cycling performance and are only just beating these old records occasionally is absurd. Its the worst part of the TdF. That you have to deal with the wall of "yeah, but they're all doping" whenever anything is talked about.
@mctrials23 You'd hope that there's a record of warnings. But my point is, how are they implementing this new policy - are they even checking their records to see if someone has already had a warning letter - or do they look at the report, and say "ah, this is a [zig-zag line] offence - normally that would just get a warning letter, so new policy says I should NFA it." Of course the result is that most people just stop reporting them, giving a false impression of incident rates. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them hail the success of OpSnap because it was getting so many reports they couldn't cope, and then also champion their success when the crime report rates go down...
I spoke to a TVP prosecutor many years ago. He said, he played my footage to the court and heard a gasp from those present. He knew then that he had won.
@quiff Surely their system will have any action that has been taken against them with regards to the law.
@the little onion I saw that today too, and came here looking for reaction - it got a little bit of attention on the live blog a couple of days ago. I also don't have a problem with the police looking at a submitted clip in its totality, and if you've done something you shouldn't have, don't expect to get away with it. (Am I right in thinking they also looked at other, totally separate clips you had submitted too over the offensive language thing?) But I'm in two minds about the actual cycling that got the fine. Yes, it's uncomfortably tight, and if I'd done that I'd have a had a word with myself afterwards about self-preservation, but I'm not convinced they posed any danger to the driver of that tank, at the speeds involved and going uphill. However, sounds like the charge was careless cycling, so danger not required.
@mctrials23 totally agree, I think the problem is perhaps finding a police officer these days with a basic grasp of maths - or at least the authority to deploy it without being bestowed with the title of "trained forensic specialist".
"The net result of this confusion was police forces in Wales no longer issuing warning letters to drivers who dangerously overtake cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, despite there being no formal policy change." That is one result, but my understanding is that it's wider than this - they were getting so many submissions that they are no longer taking action on *any* offence where the action would be a warning letter. So, for example, zig-zag line offences, where South Wales Police previously acted on OpSnap reports, are now NFAd. That begs a further question though - if you've already had a warning letter for an offence, a repeat offence should potentially result in a fine or prosecution. Are they checking each report to see if the reported driver has previously had a warning, or just NFA-ing all offences of a particular type? Any thoughts, wjts?!
The leader's team would get on the front and block the roads through Montmartre and completely kill the spectacle. Let's face it, the last stage has always been meaningless apart from the sprint, now it's meaningless apart from a superb and thrilling triple lap of Montmartre followed by a sprint. Neutralising GC helped that spectacle - imagine if Tadej had needed to go back and help bring Del Toro up. The roads are too narrow to allow for really fair racing, if we want the wonder of the Montmartre loop then GC neutralisation is the price we have to pay, and one well worth paying in my view.
49 thoughts on “Stedman sets British Everesting record; Do you prep your bike for autumn?; Council installed “dangerous” barriers on cycle route due to Strava KoM; Quintana denies doping; Chris Hoy in cake form; ‘Shimeng’ cassette + more on the live blog”
Thats my FOI response – at
Thats my FOI response – at most 2 complaints (one person via council, another via MP – possibly the same?). Plus no evidence of actual collisions.
An accessibility assesment that relates to the original scheme, not the new barriers.
Mind you if it takes 1or 2 complaints to put barriers in, surely several dozen complaints against will see them removed?
So, come on, south manchester cyclists write to Stockport Council to complain – lets see if we can get these stupid barriers removed.
CygnusX1 wrote:
Grey barriers against a grey background, no reflectives…they would never, ever in a million years install something so dangerous on a road. Pretty typical on cycle paths up and down the country though.
Which segment are those
Which segment are those batters on? I rode the length of the A555 recently and don’t remember seeing them.
I don’t think that the path is appropriate for Strava segments as it’s well used by pedestrians and people cycling with young children. There are many examples of inappropriate segments near where I live including one through a park which passes an under 5s playground and is 50% on a path barely wide enough for 2 people to walk abreast. The KoM is 19 mph!
I’m in agreement with the
I’m in agreement with the council on this one. The argument is nothing to do with how many people or the number of times they complained, but that the council have been made aware that some people are competing in a speed related activity in a facility provided by them as part of their local infrastructure system, and the said speed related activity (in this case cyclists trying to post the fastest time on Strava) has the potential to cause conflict with slower users. I agree the barriers are a bad design and they really need some form of reflective signage to make them stand out in the dark, but all the council are doing is their bit to protect vulnerable users.
Don’t blame the council for protecting the said vulnerable users, blame the cyclists who think it’s a good idea to race on a shared path AND then publish their record attempt on a freely availably platform.
Thats a pretty daft statement
Thats a pretty daft statement given the ubiquity of Strava, pretty much every piece of cycle infrastructure has a segment – should we put blockages on them all?
Should all cyclists be inconvienienced for the sake of a few idiots? Put up a warning sign or 2 first.
If we use the roads as an example “traffic calming” or warnings are not put in place until there is an actual incident.
Then they should also be
Then they should also be required to install chicanes on any road where more than 2 convictions for speeding occur within a year (A far tougher standard than 2 complaints about speed with no other evidence…)
The kind of chicanes that
The kind of chicanes that oblige the driver to get out to reposition the car by picking it up to get through….
Christ, what a load of ill
Christ, what a load of ill-informed nonsense. There’s a hardly a stretch of tarmac anywhere that ISN’T a Strava segment.
What is it about cycling that makes people who don’t do it and know F-all about it feel able to pronounce their dumbass views on it. It’s maddening.
It is true that Strava
It is true that Strava segments are everywhere but should they be?
I think Strava has some responsibility to police it, banning segments from shared use paths and pedestrianised areas would be a good start.
Rich_cb wrote:
I was under the impression that they do ban a load of shared use path segments, but people just keep re-creating them.
Though Strava may get some of the blame for this, we should step back and deal with the actual problem of collisions on the paths. If they are a real problem, then I would consider that to be a police issue rather than randomly putting obstacles on the paths. Random obstacles affect everyone on the path though it’s only going to be one or two people being reckless on it.
It can also cause more
It can also cause more conflict issues as now everyone on the path has a part where they all have to be to continue in both directions rather then pass each other on either side.
Surely it’s not beyond the
Surely it’s not beyond the capabilities of Strava’s coders to blacklist pedestrianised areas and shared paths so new segments can’t be created?
I suppose the difficulty the council have is that they’ve received a report of dangerous cycling and there is objective evidence to back up the report.
They are probably concerned about liability if they don’t respond.
Obviously would be nice if they were so proactive about dangerous roads.
Rich_cb wrote:
I suspect they could and also would if they had enough pressure and bad coverage (look at the Army base fiascos), however as strava just records runs and biking on routes made by its members in the whole world, I’m not sure they would have the manpower to bring it in properly, espcially as GPS is not exactly accurate.
And tbh, people would be speeding their bikes down there whether strava was there or not. I like to think that the majority do it when blatantly empty but some won’t.
Your first paragraph has some
Your first paragraph has some merit. However, the council may well have leapt from “someone’s complained” through “something must be done” and landed at squarely at “this is something, we must do it”. I’d be interested to know whether they made any type of investigation before opening the public wallet, or for that matter whether they did an accessibility assessment.
They’ve also managed to bar use of this facility to disabled users, those with non-standard bikes, or those towing trailers. I suppose it could be said that they have protected at least this group of vulnerable road users by preventing their use of the track…..
Captain Badger wrote:
I specifically asked if they had made any effort to independently assess the risk rather than just going off the complaint:
3. Was any effort taken by the council to independently assess the risks resulting from the issue(s)? If so, what method was used to investigate this? Were observers sent to the location, if so on what dates and for how long? Was data from third party sites (e.g. Strava) used? What were the findings of any such investigation
The project team are aware that the link of footway/ cycleway is on strava with a leaderboard for the fastest times using the route https://www.strava.com/segments/18340121.
I also asked if they had performed an EIA on the barriers, but all they could provide was a link to the EIA for the original A555 scheme, not these new additions:
6. Was an assessment of the new barriers carried out to ensure that disabled users in wheelchairs, hand cycles etc could do so under your obligations of the Equality Act 2010? Please share the results of such an assessment if it exists.
The Equality Impact Assessment for the A6 to Manchester Airport Relief Road was produced October 2013 and can be found at http://a6marr.stockport.gov.uk/746597/760095/762707
As a cyclist who has with
As a cyclist who has with experience of the shared used paths in question, I do agree with the viewpoint that these paths are an acident waiting to happen.
Near the junction with the A5102 in Bramhall there is a very narrow tight 90 degree bend with zero visibility of who is coming the other way – whoever designed this corner never considered the safety implications.
The spot where the two barriers shown in the photo are looks quite flat but there are some pretty dangerous downhill sections where freewheeling cyclists will inevitably pick up speed. Couple this with joggers with headphones in , walkers, and people with small children and high levels of background noise from speeding cars – it’s a recipe for disaster.
I now avoid the A555 path if at all possible for this reason.
Shared use paths are great in theory but given the usual mix of unpredictable human behavior in my opinion they are unsafe.
PeterCee wrote:
I’m not sure there is much theory to them beyond “dump everyone who’s not in a car somewhere else out of the way”.
Just seen this from elsewhere
Just seen this from elsewhere. If only all road users had this guys attitude.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo3tSswZV7Q&feature=youtu.be
Worth watching all the way to
Worth watching all the way to the end, for the Prius-toric rap
That was pretty awesome!
That was pretty awesome!
Thank you sooo much for that
Thank you sooo much for that link. Magic!
That was really good.
That was really good.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
Papa John’s is the fourth emergency service of the apocalypse
His other two are good as
His other two are good as well although he is obviously learning on the first. The Purim events in the second one which he hinted at in this one is eye opening. Until the video I didn’t even know it was a thing.
That’s why, 1-2-1 Kev. That’s
That’s why, 1-2-1 Kev. That’s why.
God on a Quad….
God on a Quad….
Segment chasing on shared
Segment chasing on shared pathways is certainly anti-social and dangerous. But road users travelling too fast for the conditions is a widespread problem on our roads too. Some might even venture to suggest it causes numerous avoidable fatalities. I wonder if Stockport Council plan to install physical barriers similar to these to enusre the safety of all road users? Or is it only cyclists who will be obstructed for the greater good?…
The greater good!
The greater good!
The Greater good
The Greater Good!
Isn’t it amazing! It only
Isn’t it amazing! It only takes one person to complain about speeding cyclists for the council to spend thousands on aleviating the perceived risk, but it doesn’t seem to matter how many cyclists have to actually die before anything happens.
I’ve been using my ‘winter’
I’ve been using my ‘winter’ bike every second weekend in Edinburgh, in fact the only prep I need to do is replace the bits I’ve worn out through spring and summer!
Also turning the ‘touring’ gravel bike into a CX bike for the winter, so 1x, narrower tyres, one less layer of bar tape, rigid seatpost instead of Thudbuster. It should be nice to winter-ise a bike and lose 1kg in the process!
No-one has ever prepped their
No-one has ever prepped their bike for winter by making it lighter haha
Liam Cahill wrote:
Me! My winter bike is otherwise known as my commuter. It has mudguards and a rack, and industrial tyres. Over the past 6 months, it has done hardly any miles – my new circular ride to work at home has been very rain free this year – a well-timed holiday helped a bit. IN the light on new impending restrictions and no sign of a return to flogging up into London, I took the rack off. It now looks like a proper winter bike, and is a bit lighter!
Seems like a nice wide path
Seems like a nice wide path surely the answer is obvious
IanMK wrote:
The A555 looks quite new. We really need some proper cycling infrastructure design criteria, so that when new routes are built, we don’t end up with this sort of thing.
Currently, motorised transport gets the fastest and most direct route; a high speed dual-carriageway which looks awful to cycle on. All the non-motorised traffic is lobbed together on a meandering, obstacle strewn path.
I refer my learned friend to
I refer my learned friend to para 4.2, p30, of Cycle Infrastructure Design.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
Thanks for that – there is hope for the future!
I’ve only skimmed a bit, but this could be the best thing about 2020 so far. It’s a weighty document, so will provide some bedtime reading for a while 🙂
Ive always wondered on those
Ive always wondered on those split ones what is the point? Is it illegal to cycle on the ped side? Do cyclists have right of way on the cyclists side?
Birmingham have the new blue lanes seperate to the pedestrian footpaths on two main roads, yet more Peds are on them then on the footpath on my nearest one. They are alot smoother and in some cases, more direct but it just causes as much conflict anyway.
I once meandered on to the
I once meandered on to the cyclist side of a split path in Germany. There was lots of ringing bells and shouting and I didn’t make the same mistake again. Of course as our PM pointed out the Germans haven’t had 400 years of freedom so they don’t have issues with following the rules. At least I think that’s what he said.
If your “obvious” answer is
If your “obvious” answer is to paint a white line down the middle and denote one side for walking and the other for bikes, then your picture illustrates why this doesn’t work – I count more pedestrians in the bike side (3.5, the child in the distance is slap bang on the line so counting only half of her(?)) than on the pedestrian side (2.5)
While I have no problem with
While I have no problem with safety measures being put in place on any shared use path, they should be of a better standard than this. And I echo the sentiment of those that have stated that perhaps the council should adopt a similar approach to the roads in their area. Perhaps any road in a residential area should have no more than 200 metres without a chicane or speed bump being installed, they’re shared use after all.
Well it was the autumnal
Well it was the autumnal equinox this week,means we start to get less than 12hrs daylight,so shouldn’t be surprised the weather has followed suit,but winter prep for the bike? well I added a mud guard, err that’s it
Awavey wrote:
I replaced my brake pads and (properly) cleaned and re-lubed the chain. Does that count?
Shimeng – cassette vs
Shimeng – cassette vs freewheel.
Jeez, so much wrongness.
1. The packaging calls it a “freewheel”, yet has a picture of a cassette
2. Road cc calls the physical item a “cassette”, yet it’s actually a freewheel
Sheldon Brown must be turning in his grave. Sad day.
British cycling, or whatever
British cycling, or whatever their name is, used to advise that if you were doing over 18 kph (30 kph) you should be on the road not a shared use path. Have to say I agree. If you’re on a shared use path you should limit your speed to that of a fast runner, 10 – 12 mph, when you get onto a road do whatever speed you want
Those bicycle signs are
Those bicycle symbols are painted in the correct place. It’s the white line that has been painted wrong, too close to the kerb. Call Wandsworth Line Manager.
The problem with the A555
The problem with the A555 path there is not where the barriers are, but a few meters away where there is a blind corner around the back of someone’s garden. The Council are (rightly or wrongly,) trying to stop people coming into that corner at speed. The path should never have been constructed like that. The vast majority of it is very high quality. The one issue I have with it is no matter how it is built most pedestrians/dog walkers seem completely oblivious that it is/was designed as an alternative route for cyclists and they will have people on bike coming up behind them. The few people complaining to the council obviously don’t realise this sort of route would never be build just for pedestrians, but now that it is there… well dogs and horses need somewhere to poop, right?
I was out there on the A555
I was out there on the A555 recently, on the dual carriageway rather than the shared path. It’s a lovely bit of road, and very possible to pick up a decent lick of speed. Sadly my cycling buddy was stronger than me that day and happily ripped my legs off. Generally if I’m in danger of going over 25kph, I’ll get out on the road rather than risk running over someone’s pet labradoodle.
I’d love to try the road
I’d love to try the road there, except too many people treat it as a motorway. Maybe one summer sunday at 6am…