Van driver intimidates female cyclist… doesn’t realise she’s plain-clothes cop; Would this cyclist be fined for using the pavement?; Colbrelli needs “miracle” to race again; What does it take to ride 1000km in 24 hours?; COBBLES + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
What does it take to ride 1000km in 24 hours?
What does it take to ride 1000km in 24 hours? Good legs. Case closed, thanks for reading…
Okay, there’s a bit more to it than that. Last July, Austrian ultracyclist Christoph Strasser rode 1,026.215km at an average speed of 42.75kph to smash the world record for greatest distance ridden by a cyclist in 24 hours.
The six-time Race Across America champ hit the record at the Zeltweg Air Base to beat the road record, he already holds the track record, in just 21 hours 6 minutes, before clocking an extra 26km, presumably just for fun?!
Strasser’s record was aided by the support of his INSCYD coach Markus Kinzlbauer, who has now broken down exactly what it took to perform such an outstanding athletic feat…
Speaking to the athletic performance software company, Kinzlbauer, who also won two Paralympic medals in handcycling during 2021, said the effort was highly dependent on nutrition. We all recognise when we haven’t eaten enough on a ride, the legs start to fade, the speed drops, until eventually you’re crawling home pedalling through mud.
Well, if you’re trying to ride for 24 hours, let alone at an average speed of 42kph, Strasser needed: “116g/h (grammes of carbs per hour) in the first 12h and a total of almost 105g/h in the 24h.”
“Such a performance is highly dependent on the energy demand and intake. We experimented with nutrition intake. We tried a lot with sugar mixtures. During the race, we fed 116g/h in the first 12h and a total of almost 105g/h in the 24h,” Kinzlbauer explained.
In total Strasser took on 13,450 calories, roughly five times the recommended daily intake for men.
“One of the puzzle pieces in the training prior to this historical benchmark was the INSCYD PPD test. We used the fat and carbohydrate combustion graph to calculate nutrition intake and pacing, and saw that the results were extremely reliable,” Kinzlbauer continued.
The crucial balance was making sure Strasser has enough energy to complete the distance without suffering digestive issues.
Stats: 24 hours, 1026km, 42.75kph, 272w average power, 136bpm heart rate.
Check out Strasser’s mind-boggling Strava file here…
Flanders dress rehearsal: E3 Saxo Bank Classic
Sun is shining!☀️The cobbles are waiting #E3SaxobankClassic. C’mon @qst_alphavinyl!
📸@jeredgruber pic.twitter.com/cWpg5mCYBH— RENSON (@RensonWorldwide) March 25, 2022
One of my favourite racing days of the year — E3 Saxo Bank Classic. The Flanders dress rehearsal: harder than Omloop — 204km, Kanarieberg, Taaienberg, Paterberg, Oude Kwaremont, Tiegemberg, plus many more of Flanders cobbled beasts. With Flanders next Sunday it’s time to find the form…
We’re getting ready for one of the most challenging classics of the spring!
🚩 Harelbeke
🏁 Harelbeke
📏 203.9km
🕰 12h15-17h
📺 @sporza_koers (13h30) @eurosport (14h35) @tipikrtbf (14h20)Preview 👉🏼 https://t.co/STjMbfZVp6 pic.twitter.com/imgG8V3t5Q
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) March 25, 2022
Nine times in the past 22 years, the winner of E3 has gone on to win Flanders. Will we get a tenth this year?
On the startline: Kasper Asgreen, Wout van Aert, Zdeněk Štybar, Florian Sénéchal, Tiesj Benoot, Victor Campenaerts, Greg Van Avermaet, Oliver Naesen, Bob Jungels, Gianni Moscon, Matej Mohorič, Stefan Küng, Jhonatan Narvaez, Luke Rowe, Dylan van Baarle, Sep Vanmarcke, John Degenkolb, Søren Kragh Andersen, Jasper Stuyven, Mads Pedersen, Peter Sagan, Anthony Turgis…now that’s not bad, is it?
And, of course, it wouldn’t be E3 without Oli Naesen memes…
Tomorrow it’s time for greatness. @OliverNaesen will get his revenge and will destroy his rivals on the Tiegemberg. Here is the trailer for tomorrow’s #E3SaxoBankClassic pic.twitter.com/GaJOmmN4m7
— Cycling Memes (@Cycling_Memes1) March 24, 2022
Another record-breaking month — Santander Cycles celebrates six record breaking months in a row, with more than 750,000 hires in February
🚲🚲🚲Santander Cycles celebrates six record breaking months in a row, with more than 750,000 hires in February – the most hires ever. 🚲🚲🚲 pic.twitter.com/FlCgIxZG1f
— Will Norman (@willnorman) March 25, 2022
> E-bikes finally coming to London’s Santander Cycles hire fleet from next year
Magical memes
Add this to the folder alongside Oli Naesen…
‘Yeah no it’s going to be tough for sure, but I do think Jumbo can do it this year. I’m just hoping they don’t ride defensively and really bring the fight to Tadej you know? Primoz can absolutely do it, he just has to stay on the bike and not crash’ pic.twitter.com/1SIey7OkWM
— janina (@jeanine______) March 24, 2022
Would this cyclist be fined for using the pavement?
Our big live blog story of the week was Wednesday’s video of a cyclist getting pulled over by police for using the pavement during a lane closure. Despite saying the manoeuvre was to let motorists pass during the extended roadworks, it “buttered no parsnips with this PC”.
General consensus in the live blog comments was that the optics of the situation probably didn’t help and, if the rider had waited for the temporary lights to turn green before waving traffic through as he moved onto the pavement, it probably would have been fine.
Well, there’s another video doing the rounds today, highlighting the other side of the badly-timed traffic lights/but not using the pavement coin…
Stick to the rules of the road to the letter and you might end up with this less-than-ideal predicament. You go through green, light turns red before you’re fully through, next light turns green, you’re now riding into oncoming traffic presumably with everyone and their dog shaking their heads at your ‘red light jumping’…
Presumably (we’re doing a lot of that this morning) our PC friend would have been alright with the cyclist hopping onto the footpath? That seems like common sense?
But maybe again we’re back to the optics of the incidents…not slowing down riding straight onto the pavement while the light is red vs faced with oncoming traffic having waited for the light to turn green…surely no PC with common sense would fine a cyclist for riding on the pavement here?
Either way, it goes to show an underlying problem cyclists often face with temporary lights and lane closures. Do you break ‘the rules’ to get out the way or don’t and struggle to make it through in time?
Anyway, who knows if any of that made sense to you reading it? Get in the comments with your thoughts…
Sonny Colbrelli needs "another [miracle] to get back on the saddle"
Sonny Colbrelli has commented for the first time since collapsing in the aftermath of the opening stage of Volta a Catalunya, having suffered an unstable cardiac arrhythmia. The Italian collapsed shortly after sprinting to second on the uphill kicker in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, and admits it is a “miracle” he is alive.
> Sonny Colbrelli in stable condition in hospital after collapsing at Volta a Catalunya finish
“It’s already a miracle that I’m alive, now it would take another to get me back on the saddle,” Colbrelli told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“We will evaluate day by day. There are so many people who love me.”
Bahrain Victorious released a statement on Thursday saying the team had “no further news” about the rider’s condition, saying he remains in hospital in Girona.
Max Walscheid airlifted to hospital and "lucky to be alive" after collision involving driver in Germany — avoids serious injury
Cofidis rider Max Walscheid is being treated in intensive care in Germany after being hit by a driver while training. The 28-year-old says he is lucky to be alive after the incident, and luckily avoided serious injury.
Walscheid did not lose consciousness and has not suffered any broken bones.
“The first thing that comes to my mind is that I was incredibly lucky to survive this accident. Even though we haven’t done all the x-rays yet, I obviously don’t have any broken bones. I was just doing classic training after Brugge-De Panne. I was on a calm road, in perfect conditions.
“Fortunately, I was not advancing very quickly, on the side of the road. A car came from the opposite direction. She suddenly turned to the right, without blinking, rushed at me and hit me. I didn’t even have time to do anything, nor to be afraid before the accident happened.
“So I was hit in the face. I jumped over the car and fell a few meters away, luckily in the ditch and not on the asphalt. My bicycle was completely destroyed, 10 meters away… People quickly came to help me, the ambulance and the police too. I was then transported to the hospital and admitted to the emergency services where they made a scan of my whole body.
“Even though they didn’t detect anything broken, I had to spend the night under observation. We will continue the tests and examinations this Friday, in particular for my head and to check my breathing and my electrocardiogram.”
Surprise!
When your flight home gets cancelled twice last year, you miss your window for a break & your mum surprises you on the other side of the world 😍😍 So good for Mumma Edmo to get one up on @alexedmo ahead of his Classics campaign! #sogood #covidtings #surprise @GreenEDGEteam pic.twitter.com/MYjGzW4NWa
— Annette Edmondson (@NettieEdmo) March 25, 2022
Changes to law regarding using phone while driving
From today the law has changed, expanding the meaning of ‘using’ a phone behind the wheel. Offending drivers will now get a £200 fine and six points for:
- Illuminating the screen
- Checking the time
- Checking notifications
- Unlocking the device
- Making, receiving, or rejecting a telephone or internet based call
- Sending, receiving or uploading oral or written content
- Sending, receiving or uploading a photo or video
- Utilising camera, video, or sound recording,
- Drafting any text
- Accessing any stored data such as documents, books, audio files, photos, videos, films, playlists, notes or messages
- Accessing an app
- Accessing the internet
Wout van Aert being Wout van Aert...
80km to go? Wout’s bored…time to start racing…
Van driver intimidates female cyclist... doesn't realise she's plain-clothes cop
Some delicious karma for your Friday afternoon…
This van driver decided to try and intimidate a woman riding a bike on Tuesday in Doncaster by getting far too close, revving his engine and sounding his horn. She was a police officer on a cycling course. He didn’t believe us when we told him. I wonder if he does now.. pic.twitter.com/AdItf52RbX
— Sheffield North West NPT (@SheffNW_NPT) March 25, 2022
Now it would be a real shame if this tough guy had his phone number and email address plastered all over his van, wouldn’t it? Sheffield North West said they were only too happy to instruct the driver’s employers on his attitude towards cyclists…Notice of Intended Prosecution in the post…
This is why we do cycling courses in plain clothes. Some people out there are bullies who shouldn’t be on the road. Remember people, if you choose to bully a vulnerable road user the chances they are a cop is increasing daily. The chances they have a camera too. You do the maths
— Sheffield North West NPT (@SheffNW_NPT) March 25, 2022
The Sheffield North West Neighbourhood Team has done a detailed write up of the incident over on the Strava activity, including: “Having been briefed to take primary early and manage the approach to the pedestrian refuge things went well and the traffic had to slow and give space to the cyclists controlling the lane.
“All good. But there’s always one. One driver seeing a woman cycling in primary position who responds by getting too close, loudly revving the engine and sounding the horn.
“One driver who will be receiving an NIP [Notice of Intended Prosecution] through the post very soon. He should remember the incident as several rather annoyed cyclists approached his van and claimed to be police. But he left before we could badge him.
“Fortunately his van is fully sign written and now we know which company not to go for for roofing services. We will also be in touch with the phone number on the van and it won’t be to book a job.”
How not to enjoy your birthday...
Easily the worst Birthday I’ve ever had https://t.co/BxhuRtHIfJ
— Liam Cahill (@liamcahill1) March 25, 2022
Wout van Aert being Wout van Aert II (ft. Christophe Laporte)
It’s Paris-Nice all over again. There have been several splits and regroupings since we last checked in with the racing in Belgium, but the main facts are: Wout van Aert smashed his way up the Paterberg, taking teammate Christophe Laporte with him. The pair have been sharing the work since, in a two-up TT…
Their gap is over one minute, and the team’s biggest headache looks like deciding which rider gets the win…(sorry Jumbo-Visma if that jinxes it)…
Anyway, my money’s on Van Aert ‘letting’ Laporte have the win as a thank you for being an invaluable teammate. We’ll see…
Behind, Benoot is in the chasing group, who aren’t doing much chasing, including: Kasper Asgreen, Biniam Girmay, Matej Mohorič, Stefan Küng, Valentin Madouas, Jhonatan Narváez and Dylan van Baarle.
Wout van Aert wins E3 Saxo Bank Classic
It’s another photo for the Jumbo-Visma scrapbook…
Wout van Aert crossed the line first, followed by Christophe Laporte. Behind, Stefan Küng’s late attack earned him a spot on the podium, while Eritrean Biniam Girmay sprinted to fourth on debut.
What a race. What a win… Can anyone stop Jumbo-Visma next Sunday?
Obligatory Jeremy Vine comment...
More of this please https://t.co/AW5nH55Lwy
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) March 25, 2022
And with that we’ll ride off into the sunset of another week on the live blog. Ryan’s back on duty for you next week, enjoy the sunshine!
25 March 2022, 09:09
25 March 2022, 09:09
25 March 2022, 09:09
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
52 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
Would recommend looking elsewhere if your head is on either the smaller or larger ends of the scale. The cap will either be too loose and peak will tend to flop down annoyingly, or it will be tight and uncomfortable. For contrast the GripGrab ones are not only less money but they are at least available in S/M, and M/L.
Damn Forester. He's the Thatcher of cycling.
GBTV is effectively Reform TV, so it was never going to be an easy ride for Dave. As for speed limits, we all have a duty to drive/ride in a safe manner.
I think 'Ben Graham' may well be a Lancashire Constabulary officer, because they are similarly mystified about ASLs as they are about most aspects of traffic law such as handheld mobile use, or unbroken white lines or whether a valid MOT certificate is reallynecessary when a vehicle is being driven on public roads. In practice, in Lancashire these disputes about the minutiae of crossing the SL and the ASL on amber or red are futile because the police believe you can just carry on across the junction if you were 30 yards away when the lights turned red, as I have demonstrated on here only too often
Khan's ulez extension is having real world beneficial effects on the lungs of London's children. Though of course it's more of a pollution charging zone...
@Nigel Garage What we can leave aside is the tedious and untrue claim that we are not undergoing extreme heatwaves, given that the three hottest recorded years in UK history have come in the last four years and that this year is likely to surpass even them. To address your last bit of drivel, for the 40,000 people who die premature deaths in the UK every year due to air pollution, to which in urban areas the largest contributor is motor traffic, and the millions of children growing up with developmental difficulties, both mental and physical, as a result of the same pollution, it is indeed, quite literally, "an existential argument".
This is a common sense idea that could and should have been implemented 50 years ago. Unfortunately successive governments just haven't had the guts to do it. Hopefully a younger and more climate-aware electorate will give them the support they need for this measure. I've noticed a lot more young parents teaching the kiddies to cycle on our local bike trail recently and our office cycle parking (120 spaces) is nearly always full, even with WFH. There would inevitably be pushback from the petrolhead/entitled motorist/Far Right/NIMBY lobby, there was some pushback in the Netherlands in 1974; but this last 6 months has shown just how vulnerable we are to oil supply disruption and climate change. It's set a lot of people thinking.
I suggest that you look up "physics", particularly the bit about the difference between a 10kg bicycle and a two-tonne tin box on wheels.
@Rendel Harris yup - it's about the big picture, balancing safety, convenience, what we can actually persuade people to do and all the other things we want from transport. But clearly many people with no particular interest in cycling or active travel *are* open to the surface arguments about "same rules for everyone, fair's fair" *. Ideally in a stable system (eg. behaviour in public spaces - the roads) perception and facts should be in reasonable if imperfect alignment... * Indeed that's one reason why I very much doubt that the "just share the road" arguments get us very far - cyclists simply can't follow some (unwritten) rules (keep at or near the speed limit) and others aren't helpful - or even needed if cyclists have their own space eg. no need for traffic lights or roundabouts!
52 thoughts on “Van driver intimidates female cyclist… doesn’t realise she’s plain-clothes cop; Would this cyclist be fined for using the pavement?; Colbrelli needs “miracle” to race again; What does it take to ride 1000km in 24 hours?; COBBLES + more on the live blog”
Surely…. a green light
Surely…. a green light means: “GREEN means you may go on if the way is clear” (taken from: https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/light-signals-controlling-traffic.html ) Thus, the traffic should not have pulled into the lane which was not clear.
The local plod should be issuing penalty notices to all of the drivers who broke the law….
Yeah, yeah, I know….dream on.
The first couple of cars were
The first couple of cars were already in the roadworks when they would have seen the cyclist, still be nice if they slowed a bit. No excuse for the van though, definitely should have stopped
Ah…. I missed the fact it
Ah…. I missed the fact it was a corner….. and they let me out alone!
Agree with what you say. Perhaps Mr Plod would like to have a word with the van driver….
Bit of a difference between
Bit of a difference between the video of the cyclist going straight up on the footway on a red light and the instagram video linked above.
In the former, it’s an offence: mitigated by consideration of ministerial advice to chief officers to ignore otherwise considerate cycling when the cyclist rides on the footway out of fear of other traffic; but aggravated by the facts that the lights were on red and there was no sign of traffic of which to be afraid. That’s more than just optics: the imperative to go through is not there, but could be implemented to justify riding up on the kerb mid-roadworks later (on green) if necessary.
Int he latter, the cyclist has done nothing wrong. Most of the drivers haven’t either: they proceed on green woth nothing in view to consider otherwise. Once a cyclist comes into view, they should slow down: and it’s arguable that they were mostly proceeding carefully in that regard. However, the van driver proceeds into the roadworks when he sees a green light, and adopts the time-worn assumption that green = inalienable priority. He should not have proceeded; and he drove unnecessarily close to/at our cyclist.
The cyclist doesn;t have many strictly-legal options. But out of fear of that grunt, mounting the footway is definitely an option. So is adopting the lane and playing chicken with the driver – but that assumes the driver is not actually out to kill, and it will definitely open up confrontation that will feel figuratively and perhaps literally like banging your head against a wall.
The law on riding on the
The law on riding on the pavement may be black and white, but one would hope that the police would be able to apply their discretion. Indeed, even in Wednesday’s video, I believe the outcome was a stern talking to and nothing more, and the “optics” are far more favourable here (cyclist went through on a green light; clear danger from the oncoming traffic, and the relevant bit of pavement is a bridge with no possibility of pedestrians suddenly stepping out, unlike a narrow and be-hedged residential street).
I’ve worried about temporary
I’ve worried about temporary traffic lights turning green on me when in the middle of the works, but I don’t think it has actually ever happened. They have sensors to detect movement, don’t they?
Not for ppl in the works no.
Not for ppl in the works no. Some have sensors on the lights themselves to detect waiting vehicles.
I have a theory that badly
I have a theory that badly timed lights cause a significant proportion of ‘evidence’ for cycle haters.
Oncoming traffic meet the cyclist head on and assume they jumped the lights because the motorist went through on green.
Traffic behind cyclists who wait a phase to go at the front as soon as the lights turn assume the cyclists are selfish pricks who want to hold up traffic as opposed to not wanting to be flattened by oncoming traffic.
As far as traffic lights are
As far as traffic lights are concerned, green means you may go on if the way is clear. If you head off when something is coming the other way – due care and attention at least I would say
I was wondering about that
I was wondering about that too. It seems obvious, but (as has been said) the drivers of those oncoming vehicles would probably all just assume that the cyclist had jumped the lights and so it’s on them…
.
.
Correct.
.
Green does not mean ‘go’.
.
It means ‘proceed if safe to do so’.
.
I a cyclist is still in the lane, coming towards you as your lights turn green, then clearly it is NOT safe to proceed!
.
There is a light near my
There is a light near my house which I often go through when it is red: even though it is on a suburban B road, it has a sensor under the road, so it only turns green when it detects a large lump of metal waiting. Needless to say, it doesn’t detect my aluminium bikes, let alone my carbon bike. So I either wait an eternity for a car to come along and activate it, or I go through on red.
There was a set of traffic
There was a set of traffic lights that I had to deal with directly outside a police station in my old home town that were exactly the same. They would never turn green for a bike, which was a bit of an issue when I was cycling to a 6am spin class with hardly another soul on the road at the time
I had this when commuting
I had this when commuting into Chester at 6.30 am in the mornings. I found out that if you unclip one foot and lean the bike over at roughly 45 degrees, the sensors do a better job of detecting you.
You’re welcome
Is that because you are now
Is that because you are now flat on the ground ?
…not slowing down riding
Wait for the light to turn green then get on the pavement if necessary, if penalised one could produce the unrescinded Boateng guidance of 1999: “The introduction of the fixed penalty is not aimed at responsible cyclists who sometimes feel obliged to use the pavement out of fear of the traffic, and who show consideration to other pavement users.” Once you’ve gone through the red (even if, as in Wednesday’s video, it doesn’t really make any substantive difference) then all bets in claiming mitigation are off.
There’s surely a case for pavements to become temporary shared use in any contraflow where the width and footfall makes it feasible?
This cyclist obviously did
This cyclist obviously did nothing wrong.
I believe the previous pavement user was using his e-bike on the throttle only as I didn’t see his legs moving (I’m guessing after looking at his shadow). Legally he was jumping a red light by riding the equivalent of a moped on the pavement so I think the Police were totally right in stopping him. He was also passing peoples homes, some of which had high hedges blocking his view, where a child could easily have run out in front of him. If he’d been pedalling slowly, showed caution, waited for the light to turn green and then glanced behind him to see if he was holding up traffic then I think the Police would have just continued on their way.
While waiting at temporary lights in the past I’ve been asked multiple times by motorists and pedestrians why don’t I just ride up the pavement. I just reply I expect motorists to follow the rules so I do too. I have also got off and walked up the pavement at times if I know the lights have a really long delay.
YEStotheEU.
YEStotheEU.
Did you see that photo of
Did you see that photo of Johnson looking a bit lost at the NATO meeting t’other day? Showing how important the UK is in the world now…
.
.
What a wally you are!
.
Children ignoring our PM, so that ‘proves’ that UK has lost importance.
.
Yes, sure, right – I see your impeccable logic.
.
Flintshire Boy wrote:
Didn’t say it proved it. Just thought it kind of demonstrated how well thought of we are. We’re no longer being called “Plague Island”, so I guess that’s something, but Johnson (and you, it appears) needs to remember that we are no longer in the Premier League of Nations and we need to act (and expect to be treated) accordingly.
brooksby wrote:
Would be interested to know what metric you used to reach that conclusion?
Flintshire Boy wrote:
Children ignoring our PM, so that ‘proves’ that UK has lost importance..
Yes, sure, right – I see your impeccable logic..— Flintshire Boy
Flintshire Boy wrote:
.
.
LOL! Wally is as Wally does, Trendy.
.
And we were getting on so well this year.
.
Oh dear, never mind.
.
.
.
Nah. No to you, no to EU.
.
It’s gone. Get over it. It’s only been – what – six years or so.
.
That ship has sailed sonny.
That ship has sailed sonny.
Those roadworks are a prime
Those roadworks are a prime example of why active travel is never thought about in temporary traffic lights.
The only reason there wasn’t a bigger issue was the fact that in the initial stretch of roadworks the lane was wide enough for the vehicles behind the cyclist to pass. In a similar set of roadworks, where the traffic lane was narrower meaning vehicles following the bike could not pass and a vehicle behind the cyclist also turned left it would have been chaotic at best.
mmm, let’s think. Police
Ref: Van driver intimidates female cyclist
mmm, let’s think. Police taking a very different stance on investigating/prosecuting an offence committed against a serving officer when compared to an average cyclist…no, can’t see that happening ever. oh, wait…
Interesting to see that when
Interesting to see that when a driver intimidates one of their own colleagues there’s no shortage of resources / delay to reviewing video evidence / “sorry our process only allows us to send a warning letter” / “sorry the cps have tied our hands” / “sorry you can’t know the progress because you’re not a victim” / “sorry the officer was in sick leave” etc etc.
It’s almost as if they have one rule for themselves and a different one for everyone else who receives abuse whilst cycling.
Yes, it is interesting to see
Yes, it is interesting to see that, by going plain clothes, the officer got to experience how cyclists are treated by motorists – and yet failed to follow through to experience how they are treated by the police. Odd logic.
Why not submit the report incognito to get the full experience?
Unless someone has experience
Unless someone has experience they can post of the Sheffield North West Neighbourhood Team treating their close pass video submissions with indifference, then its irrelevant, not all police forces,teams or individuals are the same.
All I suggested is that the
Why wait – most organisations mystery shop themselves. This situation seemed like an ideal opportunity.
The point is you can’t use
The point is you can’t use your or even my experience of our local police force reactions to close pass submissions and judge them by how this was treated, because they just aren’t the same people.
I mean other than the fact
I mean other than the fact that I can point to literally dozens of times I’ve personally prosecuted people for exactly this when it has happened to other local cyclists what evidence is there?
I appreciate the cynicism, but you might want to think about if you can find a more pro cycling outfit than the one I run.
First team to do a close pass operation involving a group of cyclists worldwide
first team to try and keep up with a patalympian cycling commissioner and use her to publicise close passes
Going out across the police force to train officers across force about how to cycle, the benefits of cycling operationally and what it feels like to be a vulnerable road user
personally intervening when people experience close passes that have been mishandled
worked to introduce Nextbase portal
attending active travel meetings on behalf of the force to improve road safety measures
provided training on how to deal with cycling footage
working with local universities to do research on close passes and driver behaviour
But yeah, we don’t really care about cyclists do we ? /glib mode off
Also I didn’t need to mystery shop our portal because I did that last week. And I have to say, they were pretty good. Or much better than we used to be for damn sure.
Thanks for responding. It is
Thanks for responding. It is great to have your input, and clearly your team is doing a good job.
Hopefully, if you have seen some of the other stories on road.cc especially (but not only) nmotd, you understand why people might be cynical having seen the response of other forces to similar or worse incidents.
Please could you do everything in your power to make the police response to these incidents more uniform? Wjts would like you to start with Lancashire police I would guess. I know they are the wrong side of the Pennines though…
Hi as a Sheffield resident
Hi as a Sheffield resident please can I say thank you for your thoughtful posts, and indeed for engaging on a cycling forum.
Generally I think the standard of driving with respect to cyclists is fairly high in Sheffield at peak commuting times, although the infrastructure is appalling. Please continue to engage with cycling groups and do all you can to improve active travel generally.
P.S. if you can have a word about formally opening Snake Pass that would be fab…
Sounds like you’ve really
Sounds like you’ve really been doing a terrific job – so a genuine thanks for your efforts.
Having said that, your efforts do seem to be an outlier – road.cc reports almost every day on the police inaction / obfuscation and in some cases outright lies in relation to their apparent reluctance to police the roads.
I can imagine this is very frustrating to other officers / forces that are doing the “right” thing but the fact remains it’s more often than not the typical experience.
In my case having received a crazy stupid close pass (at speed) from a Police van, I landed up feeling I was about to be arrested when I **very** politely asked the driver to be considerate when I caught up with him a bit later on my journey. I’ve also reported a number of drivers for phone use (including one having a full on argument by FaceTime video) but in every case the police (Met Police) confirmed they took no action despite me making good quality video available.
Sheffield North West
Sheffield North West Neighbourhood Team
(now try doing all that when it is not a plain-clothed police officer…)
If only it were just
If only it were just temporary traffic lights where this was an issue.
I give you Longnor, Staffordshire
It’s too bad that the clip
It’s too bad that the clip shows the cyclists going through on red, because of course that gives a green light to all the irrelevant comments missing the point of the clip, successfully sabotaging the the comments section.
Sriracha wrote:
See, I’d have gone for a humorous ‘well the car driver was right, they did go through a red’. Given it was on (at least) the third phase by the top, it kinda misses the point.
Generally no time for RLJ, but where it’s impossible, fuck it.
Will the new mobile phone
Will the new mobile phone rules be applied to members of the building trade as enthusiastically as previously (i.e. not at all).
Nearly had the nose taken off my car at a roundabout by a builder who didn’t give way, and he took offence at my legitimate sounding of horn to alert him to my presence. As he hadn’t seen me he told me I was obviously driving too fast, even though I’d managed to stop in time as I had a clear view of him ear glued to phone not looking in my direction.
Just saw a transporter lorry
Just saw a transporter lorry driver thundering down my road with phone to ear. Sadly was carrying half a bed at the time otherwise would have tried to get vid ..
Interesting the new phone
Interesting the new phone rules.
I’d been considering just putting the phone in the boot when I get into a car anyway, so that might be the best bet to be able to prove that I didnt touch the phone. I’ve got wireless Apple CarPlay, so I make calls and dictate text messages etc from the front anyway.
I’m glad the rules are being tightened, don’t get me wrong, but do not want to get fined because I touched the phone and it lit up.
Alternately put the phone in
Alternately put the phone in the boot AND turn it off / airplane mode so you don’t distract yourself on calls / dictating text messages whilst driving. Yes the government state it is legal, but check the science on distractions uing phones and hands free can be just as bad.
Making calls and dictating
Making calls and dictating text messages still means you’re distracted and a risk to yourself / other road users.
Unless you’re in a genuine life or death type career (international spy, world statesman) whatever it is can wait until you’ve pulled over.
All the research shows the
All the research shows the distraction from phone use at the wheel is mental and not physical. The TRL has done a lot of research on the topic. Basically, you’re kidding yourself if you think these hands free tools are actually any safer than using the phone. Again, research says they aren’t.
Research also says that a driver having a conversation with someone in the vehicle is different to having a conversation on the phone, hands free or not. When a driver talking to a vehicle occupant has to think about something happening on the road, they’ll prioritise the driving function and pause speaking. But with a phone, the opposite is true.
Seriously, ditch these hands free kits. It’s only a matter of time before they’re banned anyway.
Just because they’re legal, it doesn’t mean they’re safe. They aren’t. Read the research and then bin your ApplePlay.
Says here crippled biker has
Says here crippled biker has died.
https://mobile.twitter.com/Doug_Paulley/status/1507475149687336961
Slightly different name on twitter but the same person as he confirmed this on here recently.
He was great knowing the legislation and advising people. Loved reading his comments.
hirsute wrote:
So sorry to hear that.
He enriched any discussion he was part of.
This is the last thread he
This is the last thread he posted in
https://road.cc/content/news/longleat-security-tell-cyclist-no-bikes-allowed-291091
Very sad indeed. His last
Very sad indeed. His last posts show his typical mixture of great in-depth knowledge of the law and robust good humour. RIP.