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'Cycle lane parking puts lives at risk': Cyclist's sticker justice for bike lane van driver; Will you be paying Strava's increased price? (POLL); Another short cycle lane classic; Bizarre Argentinian mountain stage; New bike day + more on the live blog

Happy Wednesday everyone (yep, it definitely is Wednesday this time)… Dan Alexander is on live blog duty for the rest of the week, bringing you all the must-read news from the cycling world (plus some less must-read news, of course!)...
Wed, Jan 25, 2023 09:09
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'Cycle lane parking puts lives at risk': Cyclist's sticker justice for bike lane van driver; Will you be paying Strava's increased price? (POLL); Another short cycle lane classic; Bizarre Argentinian mountain stage; New bike day + more on the live blogCyclist's sticker for bike lane parking (Twitter/@Mad_1nventor)
25 January 2023, 16:55
'Cycle lane parking puts lives at risk': Cyclist's sticker justice for bike lane van driver

Parked in a bike lane? Might get one of these...

Or one of these...

We've seen plenty of similar public-spirited responses over the years, like these homemade parking tickets which... well, didn't go down very well with those who feel entitled to stop wherever works for them...

Homemade parking tickets

 > Cyclist leaves homemade parking tickets on cars in the bike lane...gets told to f*&! off

Or how about the slightly more extreme approach of that self-professed vigilante over in France...

"Live to annoy the annoyers"

Vigilante cyclist's graffiti attacks on cars blocking bike lanes (@50_euros)

> Vigilante cyclist's graffiti attacks on cars blocking bike lanes

Or perhaps the inspiration was the now-famous YPLAC stickers? Yep, that's 'you park like a ... ' and yes, the 'c' is exactly what you're expecting...

Bike lane driver YPLAC (Lollercake/Twitter)

> Bike lane van driver gets 'you park like a c***' sticker

25 January 2023, 09:56
Cyclist catches 12 drivers using phones behind the wheel in an hour

Nothing like the return of an old favourite...

As Deacon alludes to above, Police Scotland last year announced funding for a new National Dashcam Safety Portal, but the yet to be rolled-out scheme has since been under review and could be axed, prompting a campaign from Cycling UK to save it.

Submissions from Scotland presently should go through the time-consuming Police Scotland Online Reporting Form, full details of how to report can be found in our handy feature...

> Here's what to do if you capture a near miss, close pass or collision on camera while cycling

On the topic of riders catching phone-using motorists, yesterday we shared the story of a road.cc reader who was assaulted and knocked off his bike on Christmas Eve 2021 after challenging a driver for their phone use...

> Driver assaulted cyclist for questioning mobile phone use 

Akil James was sentenced at Westminster Magistrate's Court in November and received five penalty points on his driving licence, a £2,000 fine, £620 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service, £200 victim surcharge and £500 compensation to the cyclist (still unreceived).

25 January 2023, 17:35
Poll results: 70% WON'T pay new Strava subscription price

In another of our, as always, accurate and representative polls (how big do you want your pinch of salt?) 70 per cent of you said you wouldn't be paying the new price for a Strava subscription...

2021 Strava app

With that we'll leave it there. Same place, same time tomorrow...

25 January 2023, 17:15
25 January 2023, 16:29
The BIG question from Quintana's press conference

Any questions?

"Sí, ¿Sabe Rishi Sunak que has estado asaltando su guardarropa?

(Feel free to correct that in the comments)

Full image uncropped...

Quintana press conference

 

25 January 2023, 16:06
Tom Simpson to have Doncaster housing estate named after him
Tom Simpson (cropped, source Panini).PNG

Simpson Park in Harworth near Doncaster has been named to pay tribute to the British cycling legend Tom Simpson. The rider who paved the way for so many greats of the sport from our little island, Simpson wore the rainbow bands of World Champion in 1966 having won the title in San Sebastián a year earlier.

He also won three Monuments during his career (Tour of Flanders 1961, Milan-San Remo 1964, Il Lombardia 1965) but tragically died on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux during a stage of the 1967 Tour de France.

The Doncaster Free Press today writes that Simpson's name will be given to the new development of 132 two to five bedroom "stylish, spacious homes".

25 January 2023, 15:53
Presidential pedal parking
25 January 2023, 15:33
Nairo r̶e̶t̶i̶r̶e̶s̶ ain't going anywhere

Well, that was a fun press conference. The announcement widely expected to be Nairo walking away from cycling for good turned into a remake of Leo as Jordan Belfort and that famous Wolf of Wall Street scene...

"Today I want to tell you that I am in very good shape to continue (...) I do not give up and I continue forward"...

Quintana thanked the domestic teams for their interest but stressed he wants to continue at the top level. Let's see if there's anyone keen with the budget and space for a diminutive enigmatic Colombian climber... 

25 January 2023, 14:05
Cardiff velodrome where Geraint Thomas first trained is now closer to demolition
Maindy Cycle Track - picture credit Seth Whales via Wikimedia Commons

The BBC reports Maindy Park Velodrome, where Geraint Thomas first started cycling, is a step closer to demolition after an independent committee ruled a land swap can go ahead.

The land swap between Maindy Park and Caedelyn Park, Rhiwbina, would see the velodrome demolished to make way for an expansion to Cathays High School, and now just needs to be approved by the Charity Commission.

Once approved the velodrome will be relocated to Cardiff Bay's International Sports Village. Speaking at the meeting Ian Vincent, on behalf of the Cardiff Civic Society, opposed the move.

"Caedelyn Park, the proposed substitute, is already a public recreation area and the proposed land swap offers no gains whatsoever for residents," he argued.

25 January 2023, 13:34
"We need individuals, as well as the wider system, to stop victim blaming. Instead, let’s relentlessly target the cause of road harm, while supporting crash victims"

You might have seen Ryan's story by now. DCS Andy Cox had this to say...

Full story here: Cyclist hit by truck driver has compensation cut after judge says lack of helmet contributed to injuries 

25 January 2023, 12:39
25 January 2023, 12:01
Another short cycle lane classic
Short cycle lane

 

25 January 2023, 12:00
New bike day?
25 January 2023, 10:32
Quinn wins

A little update from the racing over in Argentina yesterday...

Trek-Segafredo's Quinn Simmons getting his first win of the year, holding off a surging bunch led home by Max Richeze and Sam Bennett. Today, things tilt upwards, the peloton taking on a bizarre stage, climbing to 2,221m up a fairly easy climb for the pros, topping out with 112km of descent and gentle uphill to the finish...

25 January 2023, 09:24
Your thoughts...

Plenty of comments on Strava to round up. A real mixed bag, many pointing to the annual price rise being equivalent to 58p per month, but for others this seems to be the straw-va that broke the camel's back...

OnYerBike: " I'd happily apply Hanlon's razor in this case. Strava have always had a complicated relationship with subscriptions. I think the fundamental issue is that the success of Strava is built on the fact the 'everyone is on it' which relies on a good, free option. And yet they rely on people paying for the premium option to bring in revenue.

"Take away the free option, or take away too many features, and you lose that 'community'. But the better the free option is, the less motivation people have to upgrade to premium. 

"And of course there is constant competition and innovation. A particular limitation of Strava is it only captures 'workouts', where as more and more people have devices on 24/7 recording things like heart rate and steps, and want that information to be integrated too (as done by e.g. Garmin Connect)."

Off the back: "Its fair to say that most people who subscribe to Strava ride regularly and probably spend a fortune on all manner of bike related things. The cost of £2 a month more is less than I pay for a coffee on a longish ride of which I probably do more than 3-4 times a in that time frame. I doubt many will notice that much of a change for what you get. 

"I still maintain that Strava needs to streamline a lot of its service. Its database must be enormous now and that's probably costing them more to maintain and keep running. They could do a lot to keep costs down ie remove all rides from over five years (or so) keeping KOM records only. Get rid of the pointless local legend. it serves zero purpose. They could also do more to improve the AI on dodgy KOMs removal and flagging any obviously done in vehicles or on e-bikes. If Strava is anything, its a leaderboard for egos. If that single USP data isn't reliable in that area than what is Strava for?"

S13SFC: "I've concluded that I don't really need premium as all the data I really need is on Garmin Connect anyway. I really only used it for route planning and RWGPS does that just as well for free."

On Facebook, of 32 comments, more than a few said they'd cancelled their subscription or would be soon. However, there were almost as many comments to the same effect as Gary Bradbury's... "When we put percentages on it, it can sound like a huge rise. My annual subscription hasn't changed since about 2014. It's now going up from £48 to £55. It's hardly worth getting your knickers in a twist about. It's gone up £7. Many of us happily pay £2.70-£3.50 for a cup of coffee, or £6-£7 for a pint of beer. My subscription has gone up from 92p to £1.05 per week. For me, it’s still quite a cheap product that I like using."

25 January 2023, 08:57
Will you be paying Strava's increased price? (POLL)
2021 Strava app

Strava, Strava, Strava...

The app which conquered the cycling world faced something of a backlash to start 2023 after fairly substantial subscriber price hikes were communicated to users, not by the company directly but through media reports, something Strava apologised for yesterday...

> "Our intention was not to hide these changes": Strava apologises for price hike controversy

But with the price now £8.99 per month for a monthly subscription or £54.99 annually (plus the sickener of not being told) we thought we'd ask you lot if you'll be keeping your subscription...

Poll Creator

25 January 2023, 09:14
TOP 5 ebikes | The Electric Bike Awards Show 2023

> road.cc Recommends Bikes of the Year 2022/23: the best electric bikes

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

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67 comments

Avatar
nosferatu1001 replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

Income goes to the treasury and not them.  
if they go on awareness courses that's when the police get a cut. 

Avatar
Backladder replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

There is no point in filling in the Police Scotland Online Reporting Form, you only need to say the acronym out loud and you will know what they want you to do!

Avatar
wycombewheeler | 1 year ago
1 like

I pay annually, so the increase won't come through for me until July. Don't think I will cancel in response. If this price increase had happened in increments over the last four years, no one would raise an eyebrow.

Avatar
bobbinogs | 1 year ago
8 likes

That strava poll...probably needs a "I am unaffected since I use the free Strava" option.  Maybe also a "I am unaffected since I don't use Strava, so none of my rides have ever happened" option.

Avatar
Car Delenda Est replied to bobbinogs | 1 year ago
1 like

What about a "I installed it but never used it so I might delete my account in protest if I have one"?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to bobbinogs | 1 year ago
1 like

bobbinogs wrote:

That strava poll...probably needs a "I am unaffected since I use the free Strava" option.  Maybe also a "I am unaffected since I don't use Strava, so none of my rides have ever happened" option.

Why would someone visit here if they've never ridden a bike, though?

I'm with you on the free Strava option though.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
5 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

Why would someone visit here if they've never ridden a bike, though?

Because they wanted to have a go at cyclists and couldn't find any on the roads?

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