Jeremy Vine mistaken for Cycling Mikey; Reading high street cycling crackdown after 2 cyclists killed in 24hrs; British Cycling’s race return plan approved; Garmin debacle continues; Cracking GoCycle x Clarence Court comp + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"The torture stopped": Puncture comes to the rescue to save Paddy McGuinness from riding with Chris Hoy
I could’ve sworn I saw him reach into his pocket and throw a handful of something onto the road in front of me… 🤔😂 https://t.co/wRtrvpbNoG
— Chris Hoy (@chrishoy) July 23, 2020
An act of sabotage? Hopefully Sir Chris didn’t lead Paddy onto a road to nowhere and got him home in one piece.
Cycling Mikey still labelled a 'snitch' by some corners of social media... but plenty leap to his defence
The story here should be one of a driver penalised for using a phone whilst driving which greatly increases the chance of a fatal crash and the devastation that follows. @MikeyCycling should be praised for vast public service and considerable help and support to #RoadSafety. https://t.co/TTm2zwcycX
— Andy Cox (@SuptAndyCox) July 23, 2020
I have met @MikeyCycling a few times, George, and he’s a sensitive chap, so you have to ask the question — do you really want to hurt him? https://t.co/ZP2WqAcCLq
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) July 23, 2020
So whilstle blowers are sneaks? Witnesses are sneaks?
Where do you draw the line?
Seems like for a lot of ppl it’s when they start the engine— pcarpo (@pcarpo) July 23, 2020
Is it really a good look to defend drivers who are texting at the wheel? Some people seem to think so, including 80’s popstar Boy George amongst other people. We’ll be picking out some of the best takes on this ‘debate’ throughout the day.
Sadiq Khan unveils unfortunate 'cycleskillsonline.tfl.gov.uk' website... before the URL is swiftly changed
agreed!!! i’ve dropped TfL a line 😬😬😬
— Amy Lamé (london.gov.uk/coronavirus) (@amylame) July 23, 2020
A number of people on social media spotted that taken out of context, the URL could be taken to mean something entirely different… so they’ve now added a hyphen and the website can be found at cycle-skillsonline.tfl.gov.uk, after the Mayor’s Night Czar Amy Lamé put a word in with TfL.
The online course includes a number of useful tips for new cyclists or those who just want to brush up on their skills, with four modules to complete and a reward of a 24-hour access code for Santander Cycles at the end.
Meanwhile, the London Mayor has been enjoying his new electric Brompton, accompanying Cycling and Walking Commissioner Will Norman on a ride yesterday…
Bike ride with the boss! Really enjoyed being out and about with @MayorofLondon this morning, trying out more of London’s new cycle lanes. #StreetspaceLDN 🚲🚶🏽♀️🚲🚶🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/QXXQBJQ0Zx
— Will Norman (@willnorman) July 23, 2020
An even better Garmin workaround
Here’s how to fix your Garmin problem. Easy work around so you don’t get annoyed
Go to settings
Sign out pic.twitter.com/hVDitJoOf4
— 80% vegan runr (@80percentvegan) July 24, 2020
Hey presto! You can now mark yourself safe…
“I want to change the behaviours”: Cycling Mikey on Jeremy Vine On 5
— ⚫ CyclingMikey aka Bike Gandalf 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇿🇼 (@MikeyCycling) July 24, 2020
On yesterday’s live blog, we reported that film director Guy Ritchie was given a six month driving ban after being caught texting at the wheel by camera cyclist Mike van Erp; something that seemed to rile a number of people on the Internet who accused Van Erp – who goes by the name Cycling Mikey on YouTube and Twitter – of being over-zealous with his reporting.
Well, Van Erp has now appeared on the Jeremy Vine On 5 show on Channel 5 to explain why he does what he does. He said on the show:
“I want to change the behaviours”
“Enforcement is the key. Traffic policing in the UK has suffered from terrible cuts.”
“Drivers who are using their phone while stationary are also using them while moving.”
“My dad was killed by a drink driver many years ago, that’s my main motivation.”
The discussion then turned to the inevitable debate over whether cyclists should be registered and insured, with a caller labelling Van Erp a “snitch”, claiming someone who wanted to report a cyclist for dangerous riding would be harder to catch. Van Erp also defended Ritchie for the way he conducted himself when he was caught, saying he was “very polite.”
Meanwhile, Mr Van Erp says he is getting inundated with media requests this morning, some of which he has decided to turn down…
My phone is going wild this morning. I’ve already refused Nick Ferrari as his views on cycling are well known.
— ⚫ CyclingMikey aka Bike Gandalf 🇪🇺🇳🇱🇿🇼 (@MikeyCycling) July 24, 2020
Greatest cycling rivalry?
Movistar vs Movistar
— Freddie Shires (@fshires) July 23, 2020
And we could well have Ineos vs Ineos (sorry, The Ineos Grenadiers) at this year’s Tour if three previous winners line up together.
The Transcontinental Race is cancelled, so this video will have to do
The eighth edition of the self-supported epic across Europe would have started today, but obviously things happened… so instead, riders who would have been at the start line such as TCRNo7 winner Fiona Kolbinger tell us what they’re getting up to instead.
TCRNo8 is now provisionally set to take place in July/August 2021.
Cycling Mikey continued: more support for camera cyclist despite 'snitch' comments
At the same time though, the story here is that Guy Ritchie has been saved from becoming a perpetrator of a tragedy, and a victim and their family have been saved too. The real crime would have been if @MikeyCycling hadn’t submitted his evidence. Well done Mikey. Keep it up.
— LolPEd (@loled1967) July 23, 2020
If you feel so strongly then perhaps you should campaign to make it legal to text and drive at 5mph, until then Mikey isn’t the twat here.
— Iain Meh (@Sprungbogart) July 24, 2020
Ego driven? His dad was killed by a drink driver. A vigilante is someone who takes the law into his own hands. Mikey handed the footage to the law for it to be dealt with in the proper manner. Publicity for himself maybe, but by doing so it highlights the dangers to others…
— Ciano (@ciano125) July 24, 2020
We’ll repeat: Mikey isn’t the bad buy in all of this…
Crackdown on town centre cycling in Reading begins - a month after two cyclists were killed by drivers within 24 hours
The Reading Chronicle reports that the Reading Town Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team have started to “engage with people riding bicycles in Broad Street” to discourage cycling in non-permitted areas, which includes the west side of Broad Street in the city centre.
One witness told the Reading Chronicle: “I’ve witnessed so many close encounters as well as a few collisions with pedestrians and cyclists.
“Some of them whiz through Broad Street and some are also on their mobiles, with heads down!
Not everyone thinks it’s the best use of police time though, with some saying little has been done to crack down on dangerous driving in other parts of the city.
Remember the crackdown on motorists after two cyclists killed in a single day last month?
Meanwhile zero actual problems with cyclists on Broad Street leads to this. https://t.co/JFKbHVpCnn— Mutant Ninja Kayaker (@KayakBikeHappy) July 24, 2020
As one of the comments above cites, the ‘crackdown’ also comes just over a month after two cyclists in Reading were killed in two separate incidents within 24 hours.
On June 11th at around 7:50am, a 22-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving whilst unfit through drink or drugs following a collision with a cyclist.
At 7.25pm the same day, a Deliveroo cyclist died following a collision in Addington Road, after which a 26-year-old man from Wokingham was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving, and driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.
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Garmin update: still down, people still mad, and Strava graphs show the huge affect of the outage
Can’t believe people are still talking about COVID when we are living in a world where you can’t update your Garmin activities to social media!!! pic.twitter.com/3JL1pmrDd4
— Hodge (@The_Hodge75) July 24, 2020
Garmin at the moment pic.twitter.com/o25JRtCtqu
— Freddie Shires (@fshires) July 24, 2020
It’s looking more and more like the GPS giants have suffered a serious cyber attack as we reported this morning, with still no official update from Garmin themselves following a brief statement yesterday.
As many Garmin watch and cycling computer users sync their activities directly with Strava, the latter’s Status page has inevitably shown a huge drop in uploads. There was a strange spike in the early hours of this morning, with no explanation yet as to why that might be. The page is reporting that Strava hasn’t received activity uploads from Garmin Connect since 22nd July.
'Pictures of the end' does cycling
— pictures of the end (@neighbours_wifi) July 24, 2020
The Twitter account is all for anything dark and dystopian, and here’s their latest cycling-themed upload.
British Cycling's 'Way Forward' plan approved, with sportives likely to return in late August
British Cycling have now published full guidance with updates following approval from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Currently they’re in stage 3 of a six-stage recovery plan, with sportive-style events and road racing still banned. British Cycling have provided an estimation of when that will change though, saying in part 7.7 of The Way Forward document:
“Non-competitive events in their traditional form (sportives on the highway) are not permitted at this stage. This is subject to ongoing review.
“It is our expectation that sportives and other non-competitive events that use the highway will be possible by the end of August with hygiene, social distancing and consideration given to start and finish areas. We will update in due course.”
BMX, cycle speedway, mountain biking, cyclocross, road time trials and closed circuit events and track events are all permitted, with social distancing guidelines in place. The British Cycling Behaviour Code says competitors must not spit or shout, and must bring their own equipment and refreshments as catering facilities may not be available.
Two GoCycle GX e-bikes up for grabs in Clarence Court Eggs competition
Fancy a GoCycle GX, but don’t want to shell out for it? Well c-lucky you, because the e-bike brand have teamed up with Clarence Court to give away two bikes plus accessories worth over £3,000 as part of a cracking campaign to “raise awareness of the health benefits of e-bikes amongst UK consumers”.
Over 600,000 Clarence Court egg boxes will have GoCycle inserts inside, although you don’t need to actually buy the eggs to enter as it’s all via an online entry form… we’re sure people will be scrambling to sign up for it.
Clarence Court’s CEO Adrian Gott commented: “We are delighted to be collaborating with electric bike specialists, Gocycle, to give our customers the chance to win one of two Gocycle GX bikes. Our customers lead very health conscious lifestyles and with bike culture booming in many towns and cities across the UK now seems the perfect time to run such a fantastic competition.”
If you want the chance to poach a GoCycle for yourself, you can enter the comp here.
"Are you Cycling Mikey?" Driver and passenger disappointed to find broadcaster Jeremy Vine isn't now-famous camera cyclist
Thought I’d been recognised while cycling home today. Couple wind down window and this exchange takes place. pic.twitter.com/Kxhky7zzNA
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) July 24, 2020
It’s been quite the 24 hours for Mike van Erp, aka Cycling Mikey, and from this exchange it seems some people are hoping to catch a glimpse of him in London (to congratulate him for the sterling work, hopefully).
While the pair in this car didn’t happen across the man himself they were talking to Jeremy Vine; and judging from the tone of the female’s voice, they weren’t very impressed. Maybe though, we should all claim to be Cycling Mikey…
We are all Cycling Mikey. pic.twitter.com/qXKPlABj7G
— Better Call Paul (@paul_beattie) July 24, 2020
Amazing, this just shows even with the negative type of coverage that some of the media outlets have pushed there is a positive side from Mikey’ work. Many more drivers won’t risk it incase there is a cyclist around to evidence them being dangerous.
— Andrew Disley (@andrewdisley) July 24, 2020
24 July 2020, 08:37
Numerous employees are reporting that this was the real reason behind Garmin's global outage
Garmin Connect ransomware attack – site still down after 24 hours
US firm yet to officially confirm cause of downtime with several of its other services also hit
24 July 2020, 08:37
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Latest Comments
@ajuk.uk@gmail.com Coming next from ajuk, there's no point in having a drink drive limit of 0.80 BAC, let's increase it to 2.0 and then we'll catch the really drunk people without bothering those who have just had a few drinks. Honestly, what a lot of nonsense, "lots of people are ignoring the law" is an argument for stricter enforcement and harsher sanctions, not "oh, people don't like it so let's not bother". Speeding is not "normalised and socially acceptable" because of 20 mph limits – the majority of motorists admit to ignoring 30 mph limits as well – it's because successive governments, councils and police forces are reluctant to enforce perfectly reasonable laws for fear of being labelled "anti-motorist". Meanwhile every year 1750 people are killed by drivers (with 56% of fatalities having excessive speed as a factor) and 25,000 more seriously injured.
@Mr Blackbird Definitely my experience in my brief and inglorious year as a motorcycle courier, delivering £10,000 of aeroplane tickets to someone in Belgravia, not a chance of a tip and the snottiest attitudes imaginable, taking work out to some freelancer in a council flat in Leytonstone often a tip, always a chat and an offer of tea. Many very rich people really do regard the rest of the population as a totally different species. I guess if they started thinking of them as equals that might lead to some uncomfortable thoughts that maybe they should be equally rewarded for the same level of work, and that would never do.
I think the issue about speed limits isn't actually a debate about what the speed limit should be. Moreover, It's people talking past each other because they working from different frameworks of what the speed limit is. There's one group of people who say the speed limit is a legal tool there to single out reckless drivers, and there's the other group who assume they're traffic calming by fiat, because, they don't understand how speed limits work. There is evidence to suggest lower limits work on the sort of narrow residential streets that already lend themselves to such speeds, when it comes to much wider main road where you see non-compliance rates of well over 90%, those people who limits were previously able to single out and target are the sort of drivers most likely to hurt of kill a cyclist. Meanwhile you help to make speeding normalised and socially acceptable instigated by people who claim to want the opposite.
If motorists stopped drinking and/or drug driving and driving faster than the speed limit, that would reduce the head injuries to cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists.
Our window cleaner told me that he rarely gets Christmas tips from his customers in the wealthier areas of town. Maybe it's part of the go getter / climb the greasy pole mentality. I once read that many Olympic gold medalists share a lot of common personality traits with psychopaths - the need to dominate, to come out on top, to soundly beat your opponents. Perhaps the same applies to some high fliers in business?
The only important characteristic for me is whether I can mount a front derailleur, so I can have my preferred 550+% gravel-bike gear range with no large gaps (for doing long, steep Alpine climbs and also have a gear for pedalling on the downhills)?
38x10T on 32in wheels? Sounds like some solid leg power there!
Imagine how their brains would react, if they ever visited the Netherlands (on so many other levels, too)
@mdavidford Perhaps it's for lycrist infiltration - or maybe they're doing anti-doping work with the UCI? Breaking into the peloton disguised as avid cyclists?
Hexlox to protect your bits. Pricey but oh so ingenious...
55 thoughts on “Jeremy Vine mistaken for Cycling Mikey; Reading high street cycling crackdown after 2 cyclists killed in 24hrs; British Cycling’s race return plan approved; Garmin debacle continues; Cracking GoCycle x Clarence Court comp + more on the live blog”
Not even going to touch the
Not even going to touch the obvious ‘karma’ joke then?
mdavidford wrote:
It’s a Miracle no-one has…
Karma karma karma karma karma
Karma karma karma karma karma karma carmeleon?
Quote:
I don’t get it…
cycles kill son line
cycles kill son line
or
or
cycles kills online
(This is the one where we see killer cyclists )
I just read it as ‘cycles
I just read it as ‘cycles kills online’.
Hmm, OK. So this was like
Hmm, OK. So this was like some sort of Rorschach test…?
brooksby wrote:
… and I’ll look down and whisper “No.”
Latest in a long list of
Latest in a long list of poorly resolving online addresses/hashtags, from http://www.penisland.com (a writing implement specialist) to #susanalbumparty (relating to Susan Boyle’s new album release).
jollygoodvelo wrote:
My favourite is Italy’s PowerGen site: powergenitalia.com
(Though I’ve heard that PowerGen deny the site is anything to do with them and they don’t even have an Italian division)
Not a patch on …
Not a patch on …
therapist.com
Which was a site for getting psychological therapy rather than any other potentially implied meaning.
Problem is there are a whole host of unfortunate URLs for those seeking to offer those services. A quick search threw up scalptherapist.com, righttherapist.com and the personalised rkntherapist.com. Sometimes using your job title for your URL needs a little forethought …
Vigilante? Didn’t realise
Vigilante? Didn’t realise cycling mikey was witness, judge, jury and executioner.
Snitches get stitches
Horrible little snitches all of them, just hateful because they’re not able to afford or drive a car.
You’re going to spit blood
You’re going to spit blood when you find out about speed camera and CCTV…
Perhaps I can ask for my
Perhaps I can ask for my other 2051 posts to be taken into consideration.
Fuck off
/
What a pathetic little man
What a pathetic little man/woman you are hirsute. So there is only one reason people report others, because you think they’re unable to afford a car!
‘Snitches get stitches’…come on then tough guy!
I thought Hirsute was being
I thought Hirsute was being sarky on other drivers comments, not actually meaning them himself.
Did you not think to read the
Did you not think to read the second and third sentences in light of the first?
Anyhow I saved you reading the DM twitter bollocks by extracting the worst ones I could find.
See also https://road.cc/content/forum/edit-out-reflections-274931
I’ll wind my neck in then!
I’ll wind my neck in then!
I was a bit confused with the amount of posts you have to the attitude I thought you had. Need to make it more clear you are quoting others, for dimwits like myself.
I’ll use quote marks next
I’ll use quote marks next time.
I’m ditching my plan to get a ribble ebike – I could buy at least 4 cars for the price of that, then I can say I have a fleet !
Can I just say that I
Can I just say that I understood your original sarcasm, is there something wrong with me?
NorthEastJimmy wrote:
Woooosh!
It appears you forgot to turn
It appears you forgot to turn on your irony meter this morning.
I love a good bit of
I love a good bit of snitching!
Riding to work this morning (un-furloughed) and I had a scaffolding truck overtake me on the dual-carriageway section of the A370 in Weston-super-Mare and the passenger was shouting and gesticulating at me as they passed (didn’t hear or care what he was saying). Just looked up the number plate and it’s registered as SORN and no MOT details.
If you’re going to have a dodgy vehicle, then maybe you should not attract the attention of others.
Edit: Have now submitted to A&S police.
If you do, I hope as a
If you do, I hope as a penance, you will be cycling up Vale St many times to give yourself a stitch.
hirsute wrote:
I think it’ll be my legs that give out first.
hawkinspeter wrote:
If it was Lancashire, you could expect no action or response whatsoever- that comment would have been completely justified until this morning. While I was out the Lancashire F***h came round and put a card through my door. Suddenly, there’s now an emergency about a couple of offences committed on 13th February and reported online the next day, “because Covid has affected the courts”. Suddenly they have to have a statement and the video, although there was previously no contact about the case and I assumed it was simply filed in the bin as usual. I think it’s a con, and I don’t see how this court action can possibly occur at this stage. The incident was over a month before the lockdown etc. You can’t trust or believe them!
To be charitable to them,
To be charitable to them, maybe they’re improving their handling of these offences and they’re now catching up with the backlog.
So did it happen, and was it
So did it happen, and was it your vehicle, and were you driving, and did you go over the speed limit? Forgive me if I got wrong end of stick. But in that case doesn’t that mean you are telling us all you did it and (we hope) you are going to cough up and not do it again. I guess you must have a speedometer or an intelligent speed adaptation device in your vehicle to prevent such instances. And by the way, how many cases of speeding have you had “Simply filed in the bin as usual” before this instance?
Not to mention you seem to be
Not to mention you seem to be driving over double lines, which is not allowed I think. So isn’t that two offences in one? Sweet!! What where you thinking of that day?
I’m pretty sure you have got
I’m pretty sure you have got the wrong end of the stick – wtjs is the one with the camera, not the one driving the car.
That photo was from wtjs
That photo was from wtjs camera from his bike
Part of his long running battle with Lancashire police to take these sorts of incidents seriously.
However now the possibility
However now the possibility has been mooted…. wouldn’t it be simpler if motorists did indeed shop themselves on this very website for offences such as crossing lines – along with accompanying incontrovertible evidence such as external shots of their vehicle in mid-contravention.
Yes I Did It Mate of the Day
Fair play if you can get
Fair play if you can get anywhere with Lancs Constabulary with stuff like this cos I’ve never been able to.
So much so I’ve given up even trying.
ibr17xvii wrote:
I’m still battling on! spokesperson below doesn’t seem to have thought this through, but I now know that this Polo is the one LC are on about. The other incident on the same report, which was a close pass and an unbroken line crossing, apparently replied to what I assume was a NIP but the Polo didn’t. I’m not told what happened to the other driver but it could be nothing (because LC doesn’t consider close passing cyclists to be an offence no matter how close and has never prosecuted anyone for it) or it could be the comedy driving course. I have loads of double white line crossing incidents worse than this on file which never received any response from LC. My suspicion is that this is just a pretend prosection, and no matter what I do over statements, providing video etc., the worst that could happen to the driver is the comedy driving course. However, we’ll see. I have now completed my statement over one of the red light crashing incidents which is supposed to be going to court. However, this is one of the less serious ones, and the 4 really bad ones of 20th June remain ‘too late to process’.
I did wonder if you’d been
I did wonder if you’d been hacked or cloned by Socrati.
Cycling Mikey and other
Cycling Mikey and other cyclists who film and report illegal driving are just catching all those people who’ve been getting away with it for years. It’s a bit like Black Lives Matter; now we’ve all got video cameras we can prove what has always been happening, while previously it was denied by those in power.
If you choose to break the
If you choose to break the law and get caught (no matter how it was detected or reported), face the consequences, learn and adjust your behaviour. Don’t get angry. If you’re not directly involved (not the cyclist, driver or campaigner in this instance), don’t join in with comments that make you look a little foolish. Think a little further forward than the outer edge of your ego. Actions have consequences.
Walking to work this morning, as I crossed a junction, a car was approaching the junction at a speed considerably faster than the 20mph limit. I shook my head is disblief. As the car went past me and rounded the corner, the driver made some sarcy comment about me being OK before speeing off down the road. But these people (Boy George included) will be the first to complain and get angry if they, or one of their family gets hit by a speeding or inattentive motorist.
Slow the ‘F’ down. Or put speed bumps everywhere!!!
Notbuilt2climb wrote:
Exactly. To all those motorists who claim that speed cameras are just out to get them and its a tax on the Hard Pressed Motorist (TM) or part of the War On The Motorist (also TM) – here’s a tip: just don’t break the speed limit!
Thought I’d drop some left
Thought I’d drop some left leaning selections in as we don’t have enough of those here.
“Nobody condones driving & using a mobile !My point is the irony of a cyclist taking a pic of someone in their car !Why weren’t his hands on his handlebars ? Tragically cyclists have killed people too & should comply with the Road Traffic Act !! Many in London are causing havoc !”
Dame Jacqueline (fmr MEP)
“That’s my point, you don’t text when you drive, period; but if the car is at a light that just turned red and you are in a long queue and something urgent is going on, you should be able to text responsibly”
Sabine
How about not texting at all? That sounds the most responsible thing to do.
See also cyclingmikey quote from the 0941 section
It’s no surprise people cycle
It’s no surprise people cycle through Reading town centre.
Minster Street and parts of Friar street are one way and essentially bus lanes anyway.
It’s shared access through the Oracle, but just as busy with pedestrians.
The alternatives are much further out, largely dual carriageway, partly 40mph and you’re mixing with lorries and slip roads.
Eggscrutiating.
Eggscrutiating.
mdavidford wrote:
I was going to learn French, but only got as far as learning the word for an egg. I think that’s an oeuf.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Why are French bread thieves never caught?
They’re painstaking.
Can someone clarify Boy
Can someone clarify Boy George’s attitude, is he saying that reporting a motorist texting whilst driving is wrong but holding someone prisoner and forcing them to be a sex slave is alright. Did he not note that Guy Ritchie also had 9 points for speeding. What an arrogant t0553r
Oh but don’t you know Boy
Oh but don’t you know Boy George was redeemed, by going on telly, wearing hats and talking about singing. This is all part of Guy’s ‘arc.’
I want to just send huge
I want to just send huge respect out to Cycling Mikey.
Some people’s reactions, out there in the world, seem complacent to all the offences he his catching. For me: don’t even get in your vehicle if you’re not going to drive with complete attention and consideration. The stakes are too high to treat it as a background task, whilst your mind is focused elsewhere. Nor to take risks and chances.
Looking today at the Cycling Mikey back catalogue of incidents he’s captured – I’ve got to say he’s unflappable, and always makes an intelligent case as to what the driver has done wrong, despite him then sometimes being on the receiving end of some pretty unnecessary hostile treatment for his troubles. I don’t think I would have had the courage to stand my ground in some of those encounters.
I have no connection or vested interests – other than I also want to see the roads made safer: ideally by people’s attitudes changing upfront. In 2020, do people really still need to be told/punished in order not to use their handheld mobiles whilst driving. Do people really need someone else to be the one to stop them driving over on the wrong side of the road to cut a corner rather than they wait in the line of traffic until they reach their junction. You can see similar risk-taking every day right across the country.
So I fully support Cycling Mikey in catching all these infractions, as clearly some drivers don’t understand why the rules are there, or perhaps think that the rules don’t apply to them. The injury and death on the roads is too serious for just giving people some slack for driving offences. So if a driver still wants to break the law despite all that, then I’m really pleased they’re getting filmed by public-spirited individuals, and that the evidence is being reported to the police. And shame on people who overlook the offending but take umbrage with the reporting of it.
If you abide by the rules
If you abide by the rules then you have no fear of what anyone does with camera footage of you, whatever you’re doing.
I think that many drivers know that they’re very unlikely to bump into a police car on the road, so have no problem with jumping red lights/close passes, etc.
I was blocked on Twitter by
I was blocked on Twitter by CyclingMikey, for daring to disagree that if you are riding down a busy road on a mountain bike, front wheel hoiked in the air, then you are not in full control of your bike.
He appears to be one of those people that can’t engage in a discussion if someone else has a differing point of view.
And the relevance of this?
And the relevance of this? (presuming it’s true)
Meanwhile why not tell us what you are doing personally to highlight or improve the standard of driving on our roads?
Relevant as the article is
Relevant as the article is about Cycling Mikey? I can dig the tweets out for you if you like?
As for what I’m doing to improve the standard of cycling on our roads, when I’m on two wheels or four, I’m abiding by the rules of the road.
You’re abiding by the rules?
You’re abiding by the rules? Well I guess it’s a start, and better than every single lawbreaker that Mikey reports to the police.
But him blocking you on twitter is not pertinent as far as I can tell. My MP blocks many of his constituents for daring to ask questions about his behaviour. I find that rather more concerning.
Instead of whining on here about it (which could be seen as an attack on his character) perhaps consider that Mikey just might not need your input in his timeline. You could always stop viewing his tweets and move onto other things. Plenty more fish in the twitter sea.
Yes, I can’t dop my job if I
Yes, I can’t do my job if I can’t drive, so I value my licence, and abide by the rules.
I don’t follow him on Twitter (he did follow me until he blocked me), I can’t see what he posts on Twitter (and really couldn’t care less about reading his posts), but I guess that you could take it as a reflection on his character (not an attack), that he blocks people that don’t agree with his rather narrow view on subjects. I tend not to get drawn into arguments on Twitter, but he took offence at me saying that a group of cyclists wheelying down a busy road were a danger to themselves and other road users.
Would you consider yourself in total control of your bicycle if you were wheelying down the road?
Nagai74 wrote:
Personally, I’m not concerned with his character – he’s documenting poor driving and enhancing road safety by doing so which is good enough for me.
I don’t think wheelying groups of cyclists are much of a concern – I’ve never heard of anyone injured by them and I’d guess that most collisions involve a bit of bruising and not much else. I used to ride a unicycle (on roads and pavements) and that’s very similar to wheelying and I was very much in control. It’s one of those things that you can’t really do accidentally for any length of time. The closest I came to a collision was when I was on a pavement and a 5-6 year old decided to run towards me – instant controlled dismount from me (step off and catch the seat behind you in a fluid movement) and the parent apologised (not that they needed to).