Local paper letter warns of speeding “muscular” cyclists; Ineos 1-2-3; Motorist bingo; World record attempt; I hear you’re a racist now, Chris! Boardman laughs off former racist cyclist typo; Mini Sagan; Groenewegen’s return + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Local paper letter warns of "muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds"
In this letter published on The Argus’ website, Richard Williams starts by saying he wholeheartedly agrees with the proposal to make new cycle lanes on Old Shoreham Road and elsewhere permanent. Later on, he added that he wants to see more cycle lanes on busy roads too…where Richard does not want to see any cycle lanes, however, is anywhere next to pedestrian spaces.
“The cyclists who use the lanes are often muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds, and they are a danger to pedestrians,” he wrote. “The markings indicating the lanes are not always intuitively obvious to the casual walker and we should remember that many pedestrians in Brighton will be tourists who are not familiar with the area.
“Young children, too, are not good at spotting or understanding the markings on the pavement and they are, of course, particularly vulnerable if a cyclist collides with them. I would, therefore, support more cycle lanes on busy roads but I believe that all cycle lanes on pavements should be suppressed.”
Thoughts? There was briefly a pop-up cycle lane in one of the empty lanes, seen in the picture above, before it was removed and cyclists wanting to use the cycle lane were pushed back next to the seafront pavement…
We also could not let this pass without having a chuckle at the reference to “”muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds”. Muscular? Muscular cyclists? I wonder what they are feeding them down in Brighton?
I hear you are a racist now, Chris! Boardman laughs off former racist cyclist typo
Hi guys, think your editor might have missed something in a bad way here.
Either that or you have opened up my eyes to something I had no idea about
Is this true @Chris_Boardman ? pic.twitter.com/xXq4a33iwl
— 🐯 hydeunited.com 🐯 (@hydeunited_com) April 27, 2021
Chris Boardman may have spat out his coffee when he opened Twitter this morning to discover he had been called a “former racist cyclist” in a Manchester Evening News story. The article has since been amended to “former race cyclist”…
Boardman saw the funny side and pointed out at least he was a former racist…the Father Ted memes have been flooding in…
— Brendan O’Keefe (@prosinecki_PFC) April 27, 2021
— CyclingWeakly (@alanstobart) April 27, 2021
Shocking video of raging motorist driving at horse rider
No bikes involved, just one very angry motorist and a horse rider…
Josh Quigley world record attempt underway
DAY 2: 82 MILES / 402 MILES TOTAL / 18% OF RECORD
7 DAY CYCLING WORLD RECORD 🚴♂️🥇
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS: GREATEST DISTANCE CYCLED IN ONE WEEK – UNPACED 🏆🌎
Sponsor: @Thomas_Franks_
Charity: @Arthritis_ACTN pic.twitter.com/3A0UyVWemK
— Josh Quigley (@JoshQuigley2026) April 27, 2021
Spare a thought for Josh Quigley who is out on the roads again today for the second day of his week-long cycling distance world record attempt. Josh racked up 320 miles on day one with four laps of his 80-mile loop in Aberdeenshire, averaging an impressive 18mph (29km/h) for just shy of 18 hours…
With 2,177 miles the current record, Josh has seven more 320-mile days ahead of him…
Last September he broke the record for riding the North Coast 500, a 516-mile route across the Highlands and north-west coast of Scotland, by five minutes. The achievement was even more impressive considering it came just nine months after he suffered a fractured skull, pelvis and ribs when he was hit by a driver in Texas during his around-the-world attempt.
Change of plan for Dylan Groenewgen who will return to racing at the Giro d'Italia following nine-month suspension
Ciao Italy! I’m looking forward to make my comeback and debut in this beautiful grand tour 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/KkykBQBfvL
— Dylan Groenewegen (@GroenewegenD) April 27, 2021
Dylan Groenewegen will return to racing at the Giro d’Italia next month in a revised comeback from his nine-month suspension. Groenewegen has been banned since November for his involvement in the crash that left Fabio Jakobsen in a medically-induced coma. The ban was retroactive so will be lifted on May 7, the day before the Giro starts in Turin.
The Dutch sprinter had originally been scheduled to ride lots of smaller races, starting with the Tour of Hungary, while he finds his feet in the peloton again. However, Jumbo-Visma announced their Giro d’Italia team this morning with Groenewegen replacing Chris Harper who is out with an eye condition.
“Dylan is one of our leaders, but he has not been able to race for a long time due to his long suspension,” directeur sportif Merijn Zeeman said. “We had mapped out a nice program for him that would allow him to return to the peloton in the shadows.
“However, due to corona, the Tour of Norway has already been postponed and it remains to be seen whether the other races he would ride will remain on the calendar. With this solution we opt for more certainty, because after nine months without racing it is the intention for Dylan to return to competition.”
Your comments on shared-use paths...
We jumped on the part of the letter which bizarrely called out “muscular” cyclists for causing a danger to pedestrians. However, as many of you have noted in the comments, there were actually some fair points made about how cycle lanes and pedestrian walkways can be better segregated for everyone’s safety…
Carior commented: “I was all prepared to grumble about the “muscular cyclists” too fast point but I think as cyclists we need to think about what we want. From personal experience (which includes riding along the pictured sea front) it’s about as useful as a chocolate tea pot for anything other than pottering very slowly on a touristy bike ride. Pedestrians (myself included) pretty much disregard the painted lanes and you certainly can’t ride at the type of speeds I expect many of us enjoy for fitness and fun along them and personally I would never use it – but then you get the “get in the cycle lane” crap from motorists.
“I don’t think anyone really enjoys using those shared-use paths for anything other than pottering from A to B. That said, I struggle to believe that people would be using them riding fast on expensive bikes!”
Jetmans Dad added: “The problem with shared-use facilities is that the local council puts them in and thinks their job is done, as far as cycling infrastructure is concerned. East Riding of Yorkshire Council has done a great job of turning roadside footpaths into shared-use by just adding signs that say they are.
“They are often way too narrow even if they were dedicated cycle paths, never mind accommodating pedestrians as well, but the council is proud of how many miles of cycleway they have put in, and drivers now have free reign to abuse me for getting in their way and holding them up by not riding on the “footpath”. Shared-use should not count as cycle infrastructure.”
EddyBerckx summed up the general mood in the comments well: “Despite the undoubted exaggeration (though ‘muscular’ is better than being called ‘fat’) I do agree with his point as do most cycle campaigners I think – pedestrian and cycling spaces shouldn’t be mixed…they only ever sort of work when there is little traffic (of both sorts) . They are bodge jobs and nothing more.”
Mini Sagan: Peter Sagan's three-year-old son shows off his skills
D-1 for @tourderomandie and everybody is getting ready!#LittleSagan #cycling pic.twitter.com/eJJ1v1w7i8
— Peter Sagan (@petosagan) April 26, 2021
As his dad prepares for the final warm-up race ahead of the Giro d’Italia, mini Sagan (three-year-old Marlon) has been showing off his skills…
Vincenzo Nibali back training ahead of possible Giro d'Italia appearance
A carbon brace, developed by @fabrifisio, will accompany me in my recovery path.
I don’t want to leave any stone unturned to be at @giroditalia, we are doing our best. But we need patience, lucidity and caution before any decision. Every day until May 8 will be precious 🦈 pic.twitter.com/f0VWPIDpl8— Vincenzo Nibali (@vincenzonibali) April 20, 2021
Vincenzo Nibali is back on the bike 11 days after fracturing his wrist in a training crash. The two-time Giro d’Italia winner had a plate and screws fitted to the injury and is using a specially-designed carbon cast to allow him to continue to train. He has returned to altitude to finish off his preparation for the Giro d’Italia, with his physio saying he is 100 per cent convinced Nibali will take to the start in Turin a week on Saturday.
Martino Donati said he had never seen the Sicilian so focused. “I’ve never seen Vincenzo so determined and so willing to work hard. The chance of him being at the Giro? For me it’s 100 per cent,” he told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Otherwise, what would be the point of doing all this extra work. When it was necessary, he came for a session at 6:50 in the morning. We’re working on his wrist but also on his arm and back.”
Cheltenham Police put up 'pass cyclists safely' signs...let's play Driver Logical Leap Bingo
Before I read the replies can I have some fun playing Driver Logical Leap Bingo please?
– But cyclists don’t ride in single file
– Wear helmets
– Wear hi-viz
– They all jump red lights— Dan Harte (@DanHarte) April 25, 2021
You know the drill with these…it all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to motorists about overtaking cyclists safely. Motorists then inundate said reasonable request with “but what about” and general anti-cycling comments.
Dan Harte has christened it Driver Logical Leap Bingo and his money is on single file riding, helmets, hi-viz clothing and they all jump red lights…that is a fairly strong bingo card there, Dan.
Here we go, in the comments we have…
A thumbs down for “pack/race cyclists”…
I give space & indicate when passing in a vehicle, but you still get cyclists riding side by side chatting away oblivious to the traffic that builds up behind them.
Causal/Commuter Cyclists 👍, Pack/Race Cyclists 👎 https://t.co/pnmGdjfror
— Darin (Zol.) (@DC_Zol) April 25, 2021
Cyclists need to give drivers the same space too…
Cyclists need to give cars the same distancing. Too often they squeeze up the inside in slow traffic
— Andy Clarke (@babsandy60) April 25, 2021
And there we go, a single file riding complaint as well…
And if cyclists can do their bit and try and stay in single file whist out in groups that would really help for the safety of drivers too.
— stuart folley (@stuartfolley) April 25, 2021
Bike share firm Donkey Republic to be floated on Nasdaq First North stock exchange
Crowdsourced bike share brand Donkey Republic believes inner city construction and traffic congestion will make bike sharing a common part of city life in the near future. Their target is to have 50,000 “donkeys” by 2024 which would hit the numbers required to make the venture profitable.
To secure extra investment, Cyclingindustrynews reports Donkey Republic will be floated on the Nasdaq First North stock exchange in Copenhagen with the aim of reaching an IPO target of DKK100m (£11,686,244). The company currently has 13,000 registered bikes across 60 cities in 14 countries.
Cycling UK want local cyclists affected by a change in the right of way at Bolton Abbey to get in touch
Have you been affected by the decision to stop people riding over The Wooden Bridge, Bolton Abbey leading to the Cavendish Pavilion tea room? 🚳 We’re investigating this and would like to talk to Yorkshire #cyclists about their experiences. Please email publicity@cyclinguk.org pic.twitter.com/UqQrEhQerv
— Cycling UK (@WeAreCyclingUK) April 27, 2021
Ineos Grenadiers 1-2-3 as Rohan Dennis wins Tour de Romandie prologue ahead of Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte
Tour of Romandie Prologue — Rohan Dennis wins Tour of Romandie Prologue ahead of Geraint Thomas. Richie Porte 3rd.
24 Owain Doull
42 Alex Dowsett
43 Stephen Williams
64 Charlie Quarterman
89 Jake Stewart
119 Harry Tanfield
124 Matt Holmes
130 Chris Froome#Provisional pic.twitter.com/Ul2dZ0sh5k— British Cycle Sport (@VeloUK) April 27, 2021
Filippo Ganna was not even in Ineos’ top-three riders on this afternoon’s Tour de Romandie prologue. Over the 4km course, Rohan Dennis was flying, winning the stage by eight seconds from his teammates Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte. Rémi Cavagna was just behind in fourth, while Marc Hirschi did enough for a top-ten finish too.
Our Drink at Your Desk Live! guest from Friday, Alex Dowsett, probably would have wanted a longer, flatter course to help him better 42nd place. Chris Froome has said he is treating the week as a training race and appeared to be taking it relatively easy at times during his 130th place ride…only ten riders went slower than the four-time Tour de France champion.
When there is a bike race on but you really need to get to work...
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) April 27, 2021
The road.cc sock/sandal game is strong
Get with the vibe folks. If you fancy looking this cool then do scoot on over to the road.cc shop to get your very own pair of legendary road.cc socks.
27 April 2021, 08:11
27 April 2021, 08:11
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 £1.99. 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.
77 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
"Up to 24hrs riding per charge" according to the kickstarter. As if that was a good thing. I used to get 3000km, so ~120hrs at my slow speed, from my Quarq.
You seem to be completely oblivious to the main difference between this and a Quad Lock (and a bunch of others) - that this type of mount does not necessitate any type of patches or covers with proprietary locking mechanisms to be stuck on your phone to actually work. For example I rate that feature highly, and therefore for me e.g. Quad Lock is far inferior compared to the SKS mount.
I’m sorry, where did the article say cassette? “…and five sprockets at the back…” Every bike had the potential problem of bent (or broken axles, held together by the force of the quick release) not just Trek. We had to fix them!
So its 3% accurate, its single sided, its going to wear out, it looks hideous, its a kickstarter that you may never receive, and it costs more than the wave of spider based power meters on AliExpress (including the GeoID PM500, which is a rebadged version of the highly rated Magene PS505). I'm out....
Surely the more logical solution for preventing shoplifters getting away would be to remove the shops.
That's one option, and let's hope that's exactly the case. Otherwise they might wake up to a very unpleasant surprise.
Street trees being overblown does seem like a reasonable thing to be concerned about. Particularly this time of year.
Apologies JOHN5880.
At least the good folk of Clevedon can see that £ 425 k to reverse some painting and chuck away a few bollards was, relatively speaking, a bargain. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp9rv0nxv54o
Concerns over street trees are often overblown. Many older trees are not species that would now be planted as street trees, which also points to the fact that many large trees are actually at or near the end of their reasonable life. Trees are important. Street trees can perform multiple roles (though those roles are not often maximised). However, not all trees perform well as street trees. Street trees should serve the use of the street. If they don't, they should be replaced appropriately.
77 thoughts on “Local paper letter warns of speeding “muscular” cyclists; Ineos 1-2-3; Motorist bingo; World record attempt; I hear you’re a racist now, Chris! Boardman laughs off former racist cyclist typo; Mini Sagan; Groenewegen’s return + more on the live blog”
Despite the undoubted
Despite the undoubted exaggeration (though ‘muscular’ is better than being called ‘fat’) I do agree with his point as do most cycle campaigners I think – pedestrian and cycling spaces shouldn’t be mixed…they only ever sort of work when there is little traffic (of both sorts) . They are bodge jobs and nothing more
Agree. The focus on the
Agree. The focus on the physique of the cyclists is odd, but the problem is real. If “muscular pedestrians” were given to jogging at speed through heavily used promenades, jostling any who impeded their progress, I guess it would present the same issue. I see these mixed use paths more as a route to “promenade” on my bike without being obliged to dismount. But they are not really suitable for making decent progress, they’re no good if you’re on a mission.
Which means we’re stuck with
Which means we’re stuck with roads and drivers with commuting cyclists.
Tho’ I do enjoy a good pootle 🙂
I wonder how many times he
I wonder how many times he has seen muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds on those paths though.He states it is “often” but I doubt it unless the cycling clubs in Brighton solely contain asshats.
I reckon he has seen them riding along the main road and assumes they ride on the prom as well.
I agree – many years ago as a
I agree – many years ago as a pedestrian I was at a conference at the Grand and popped over to the prom for lunch. Had never seen a shared use path before, crossed the road and headed straight for the prom railings, right in front of a fixie rider who did an impressive job of avoiding me. Shared use paths are more common now so it’s probably less of an issue but as a cyclist I wouldn’t dream of doing much more than walking pace in such a space.
Came here to post something
Came here to post something along the same lines but you summed it up perfectly.
I’d say the problem is not so
I’d say the problem is not so much the presence of shared use or pedestrian-proximate cycle spaces. They’re fine for people who are happy to pootle along and share the space considerately.
The problem is the lack of alternative higher speed routes. If those cycle lanes on busy (read – direct) roads were built, likely most of those ‘muscular’ cyclists would choose to use them anyway, as they’d be more convenient, and the problems of mixing would largely evaporate.
It’s when authorities use the existence of those mixed spaces as an excuse not to build dedicated cycling facilities that it all falls apart.
Nail on the head – the core
Nail on the head – the core issue is that planners still see cycling as a leisure pursuit and are bemused when cyclists actually want to get places at more than walking speed. Shared use spaces only work when the speeds are approximately the same. If I want to commute, go shopping, or just get to where I’m going on a bike, I don’t want to travel at walking speed…otherwise I’d have walked.
It would help if charities like Sustrans and the Greenways group would stop treating ‘roadies’ and ‘fast commuters’ as if they’re a problem because they want to travel by bike, rather than “meander around to a pretty little independent coffee shop”. For example, the new greenway opened up in the Wye valley could have been tarmacked. It has been intentionally gravel/slimed (that nice hard-packed grey-brown mud that turns to sticky suicide surface at the slightest hint of rain) to prevent ‘roadies’ from riding it… Upshot, a potentially good commuter route has been rendered functionally useless except in summer because the organisers feel like traffic free routes shouldn’t be used to get places.
I’m not sure it’s just a high
I’m not sure it’s just a high speed route thing, I’ve highlighted before on pieces about that route along the prom, the volume of pedestrians you deal with along there at certain times of day,months of the year, the way you cross the road with the sea and beach in front of you to find you’ve walked straight into another lane of traffic unsighted,and it only takes a few individuals whose approach to getting around slower cyclists or an oncoming group is just to jump into whatever gap they see, can create real problems, and then you get to the widest part where most of those things wont be an issue and they ban cyclists from using it, which the ‘muscular’ (they mean fat dont they? ) cyclists ignore,which just ups the ante.
Absolutely a cycle lane on the road I think is a must and would help thru cycling traffic, but I dont think it would solve the issues with that prom
The presence of a shared use
The presence of a shared use path can also make car drivers more aggressive towards cyclists who choose to use the road as it’s faster as the drivers feel that all cyclists should be on the path.
In my experience some
In my experience some motorists will complain about cyclists not matter what :-
You go too slow on national speed limit roads, too fast on urban roads, you dont use the cycle lanes *irony alert* that their road tax pays for. Cycle lanes create more traffic jams, and cyclists keeping up with traffic are holding up traffic cause cars MGIF
Exactly – which pushes those
Exactly – which pushes those faster riders towards using the shared path, which is unsuitable for them.
Whereas, if there was proper dedicated provision, the motorists wouldn’t be able to bully them, and they would have no need to use the shared space, so the only people left there would be the slower riders who can mix more safely anyway.
I’ll give you a £ to a penny
I’ll give you a £ to a penny for every reported incident in the Argus involving a cyclist injuring a pedestrian v a vehicle driver injuring a pedestrian.
I agree too. Mixed use
I agree too. Mixed use spaces like promenades – where there is significant pedestrian footfall is an accident waiting to happen. They are a bodge and if there is a enough space to mark in a bike lane there should be enough space to put some physical seperators in.
I get the romance and freedom of aimlessly pottering on a bike along the promenade but when its also used as transport route where speed is desired then bad things are bound to happen.
In these sort of cases I’d actually be in favour of Australian style speed limits – although not above segregated cycleways.
Re Local paper letter warns
Re Local paper letter warns of “muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds”
I’ve been spotted again – knew I should have left the hi-viz at home…
Captain Badger wrote:
Is that you ROFLYAO?
eburtthebike wrote:
Pretty sure it is, trouble is we all look the same…
PS I might amend to ROFLMMAO…
No rank slide – are you sure
No rank slide – are you sure you’re a captain? Or is that just a field promotion?
GMBasix wrote:
Oh very good sir, chapeau!
The problem with shared use
The problem with shared use facilities is that the local council puts them in and thinks their job is done, as far as cycliung infrastructure is concerned. East Riding of Yorkshire Council have done a great job of turning roadside footpaths into shared use by just adding signs that say they are.
They are often way too narrow even if they were dedicated cycle paths, never mind accommodating pedestrians as well, but the council is proud of how many miles of cycleway they have put in, and drivers now have free reign to abuse me for getting in their way and holding them up by not riding on the “footpath”.
Shared use should not count as cycle infrastructure.
Exactly. It’s the easy but
Exactly. It’s the easy but useless waste oF money option because cyclists don’t use them.
The ‘brains’ at Surrey County Council put a few metal studs in pavements, paint a few bikes here and there and a white line and hey presto a shared use path.
The fact that there are drives from properties on some every few yards making the paths dangerous (not to mention dog walkers with long leads and all sorts of other things) passes them by. There needs to be proper infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians (plus dogs!).
I was all prepared to grumble
I was all prepared to grumble about the “muscular cyclists” too fast point but I think as cyclists we need to think about what we want. From personal experience (which includes riding along the pictured lane of cycline sea front) its about as useful as a chocolate tea pot for anything other than pottering very slowly on a touristy bike ride. Pedestrians (myself included) pretty much disregard the painted lanes and you certainly can’t ride at the type of speeds I expect many of us enjoy for fitness and fun along them and personally I would never use it – but then you get the “get in the cycle lane” crap from motorists.
Whilst he is coming at it from a slightly different perspective, based I do agree that some paint on the pavement isn’t a helpful cycle lane and personally I would rather have paint on the road that at least notionally allows me to be on some of the road, than paint on the pavement and either get yelled at by motorists for not using it or to be frank cause angst to both myself and pedestrians. I mean, I don’t think anyone really enjoys using those shared use paths for anything other than pottering from A to B. That said, I struggle to believe that people would be using them riding fast on expensive bikes!
Muscalar cyclists riding too
Muscalar cyclists riding too fast on the pavements is not the problem. It is normally the de-limited electric bikes that are the arseholes on pavements at the moment.
Quote:
Those thick white painted lines and pictures of bicycles can be so hard to see, can’t they?
The amount of pedestrians who
The amount of pedestrians who just step into the totally seperated cycle paths without looking in London is something to behold. Even though they are mostly like small roads with drop curbs and their own crossing lights.
Same here in Bristol. I
Same here in Bristol. I suppose my point was more that this is down to their ignorance/obliviousness, rather than to any failings in the signage…
I agree that, particularly in
I agree that, particularly in the UK, there is public ignorance of correct behaviour around shared paths. That should be no surprise to what is a relatively new experience for many.
Surely answer is education, and part of this needs to be an old fashioned government TV/ online education campaign. Charly the cat or “meet Mike he swims like a fish”. For those of us old enough to remember.
But perhaps the current government would label this the nanny state.
Not from the other side of
Not from the other side of the road they arent, you cross as a mass of people towards the prom and find you’ve walked straight into the cycle lane,you stop as you arent sure if the bikes will stop,they should but it’s easy to get the timings wrong and hesitate enough to lead a misjudgment,and theres a bunch of people behind you not sure why you’ve stopped and dont want to be stuck on a dual carriageway when the lights go green and so push you forward or past you ,then find they are also on a cycle path, maybe you get across and join the other mass of people avoiding the lane or you use the lane to avoid the mass of people as technically pedestrians are allowed to do on shared paths.
Plus the picture quoted above demonstrates the other problem, 2 riders side by side, but the lane is bidirectional,the paint just shows slow towards them there because they are approaching a bus stop/shelter (not even bus bypass loop) so what does a rider going the other way do ? What normally happens is one of those riders takes a gap through the pedestrians.
So now pedestrians arent sure if even walking on their bit means they dont come into conflict with cyclists.
It’s just a bad setup there imo
OK. TBH I’m not defending
OK. TBH I’m not defending these shared-use/segregated-shared-use areas, because on the whole and on principle I think they’re rubbish. But in my experience the signage isn’t so bad on most of them (maybe I have confirmation bias because I tend to look out for it?).
tbf, once in Germany,
tbf, once in Germany, strolling out of work chatting with colleagues, I didnt notice that I’d strolled into an adjoining cycle lane. There was lot’s of shouting and bell ringing and I never made the mistake again. Every day is a school day.
Well, yes actually!
Well, yes actually!
I did go that way 4 years ago and could see it was a problem. You have pelican crossings which lead into the shared area, but a pedestrian would just see a pedestrianised area and filter the rest out. The same when coming off the beach or prom and heading to the crossings
Re cycle lanes on pavements.
Re cycle lanes on pavements. In my opinion these are there for cyclists who lack the confidence to cycle on the road, muscular or otherwise, and are happy to accept longer journey times in return for relative safety. If you want to travel more quickly you need to take your chances on the road. You have a perfect right to be there and you deserve to be treated with respect for reducing congestion, pollution, road wear and pressure on the NHS. Unfortunately many motorists don’t see it this way and this needs to change. If you want to do something about it get a camera and submit as many incidents as you have time for and be prepared for the long haul. I can’t see any other way to begin to solve the problem of ignorant, inconsiderate and/or dangerous motorists.
Finally, if you want to time trial go to a track. The road, or pavement, is not the place for racing in my opinion.
I’d be so proud of her if
I’d be so proud of her if that had been my daughter on that horse.
Car driver obviously a frothing loon.
Lets hope the police get involved.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
If they aren’t now it is unlikely that they will be, the vid was uploaded last Sept. But yes, hope they were
If he’s local (which I
If he’s local (which I suspect he isn’t) I’d be more than happy to dump a couple of bags of manure on his hedge for him. Stables give it away for free, surprised the rider didn’t consider doing that…
Equally, you have to be some special sort of deathwish weirdo to take on a horse on foot. Given all the effin and jeffin she had it under impressively close control but as we know from previous horse-related posts they’re a mind unto themselves
Thats a very good point. The
Thats a very good point. The young lady appear to have excellent horse(wo)manship skills and a well trained horse.
kil0ran wrote:
— kil0ranThe horse was the second most intelligent animal in that scenario.
I think if I were her, I’d be
I think if I were her, I’d be very tempted to ride past his house on a regular basis in the hope that my horse would poop at the end of his drive.
She showed a great deal of restraint in her dealings with a dazed and confused gammon.
I hope the cops dealt with him appropriately. I’d have thought a charge of threatening behaviour would’ve been about right.
Wow, much kudos to the lass
Wow, much kudos to the lass on the horse – how calm and collected! The horse too, I would have expected it to be much more agitated
“Go to your mummy to change
“Go to your mummy to change your nappy” was a rather cutting insult from someone who is old and doddery enough that he probably needs Adult ones.
Lovely that he also goes around and clears up the horse manure, I bet his roses must bloom in his garden.
Captain Badger wrote:
Held up by 8 seconds, then spends 3 minutes arguing about it like a deranged wankmuppet.
What an utter Gammon.
I thought the horse rider was
I thought the horse rider was brilliant.
Just sent that to SiL who
Just sent that to SiL who works with a horse charity for the disabled.
Hilarious – although when he revved the car I was hoped he would end up with hoof prints in the bonnet !
Superb coolness by that young
Superb coolness by that young woman in the face of such aggressive behaviour from the deranged Gammon.
Someone with that utter lack of self-control should simply not be in charge of a car.
I thought that they were both
I thought that they were both obnoxious, really. The horse-rider was itching for an argument no less than the driver.
The horse rider was polite.
The horse rider was polite. How on earth do you claim she was obnoxious ?
Aapje wrote:
Can you qualify please? Obnoxiousness certainly from the old codger – insults, patronisation (or attempting to at least), imposition of superiority (again attempted if not actually achieved), not to mention use of car a s a weapon to intimidate.
Not sure what the rider did that was obnoxious, except for holding her ground and politely and calmly not accepting the above.
True, I might have told the old c*nt to f*ck off and walked/pedalled/trotted away. She did neither, so where was she being obnoxious?
It was the extended version
It was the extended version where she says ‘Ni’ repeatedly
hirsute wrote:
Asking for a shrubbery was when her behaviour really went beyond the pale. Indefensible….
Are you sure it wasn’t asking
Are you sure it wasn’t asking for another shrubbery ?
Young lady horserider vs
Young lady horserider vs outraged gammon; 10-nil to the lady and the horse.
For those who are bound to question why a horse is featured on a cycling website, just imagine how he treats cyclists. I would suspect that he claims to be an animal lover, and hence had some respect for the horse, but there would be no restrictions about running over any arrogant, lycra lout who held him up for a second.
Shared areas – there was an
Shared areas – there was an article from a few weeks ago (maybe Wales) where a lady filmed the cyclists on a 20mph road in the same sort of set up and moaned they should have been on the shared area !
You can’t win !
OT, but I found this
OT, but I found this referenced on slate.com
https://slate.com/business/2021/04/roundabout-kentucky-rowan-county-confounding.html
and it’s quite *funny/*worrying (*delete as appropriate)
https://twitter.com/OregonRolledA20/status/1386160018056093698
brooksby wrote:
Have some American friends from Pennsylvania. Whenever they drive over here they have the double whammy of having to drive on the correct side and try to understand roundabouts. It drives them bonkers
Yet bizarrely, about 75% of
Yet bizarrely, about 75% of the cars in the video seemed to have no problem whatsoever driving on the ‘correct’ side of the road (and to hell with any oncoming traffic).
pockstone wrote:
Oh I hadn’t thought of it like that – I shall show them the vid forthwith!
Josh was going some when I
Josh was going some when I caught up with him yesterday on his final loop out of Ballater, managed to pull alongside and have a word, looked metronomic, but did notice, he doesn’t wear any eye protection and looked rather sore. It’s pissing on rain here, so that’s not going to help with half the road covered in standing water.
Good grief, that man with the
Good grief, that man with the horserider… absolute comedy gold.
Best bit was when the horse started trolling him by eating his hedge.
And that horse/rider combo sets the standard of those who should be on the road. Talk about bomb-proof, total control and trust.
PRSboy wrote:
You’re so right; this would be a brilliant sketch; no need to pay a writer either, it’s all there!
Re. ranty road tax horse
Re. ranty road tax horse nutcase. I’ve had a few ‘road tax’ rants directed at me (None on this epic scale I’ll admit.).
Having just taxed my car this morning, it occurs to me , perhaps the DVLA should put an explainer on their website and VED reminders about what people are paying for…and what they are not paying for…, and to remind people who need a license to use the roads that they do so on sufferance, not by right.
What a brilliant idea. Have
What a brilliant idea. Have you suggested it to any one who may be able to take it forward?
road.cc wrote:
Are we (the non-existent collective of cyclists) not guilty of this too? It all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to cyclists about following Highway Code advice on making themselves visible. Cyclists then inundate said reasonable request with “but when are you going to enforce speed limits and ASLs? When are you going to provide safe infrastructure”?
Don’t get me wrong, I understand why they’re different – e.g. a cyclist has very little control over their own safety compared to the person piloting a speeding lump of metal whilst speeding / drunk / Facebooking etc; and no perceived slight or inconvenience caused to a motorist by a cyclist justifies unsafe or aggressive driving). But it seems a bit high and mighty to complain about motorists’ whataboutery when it’s exactly the same instinctive reaction we have when police run the flip-side campaign.
quiff wrote:
But speed limits and ASLs are law, to protect vulnerable road users.
Practically all of the ‘what-abouts’ spat up on twitter threads like that one are personal opinion, ‘something I was told down the pub’ or ‘I would like to happen’, and not law.
I think that might be the difference.
Oh I totally agree there’s a
Oh I totally agree there’s a difference. I guess I was trying to make two points:
(1) we should recognise that we all seem to have the same instinctive reaction to police campaigns, i.e. “what I’m doing is fine, it’s the other guy who’s the problem”.
(2) It’s quite nuanced to explain why a cyclist’s “but what about” is legitimate concern, while a motorist’s “but what about” is whataboutery.
No because the motorists
No because the motorists ‘pile on’, I believe thats the social media term for it, is because they are misinformed & displaying intolerance.
The cyclists ‘pile on’ is because the source messaging is misguided, potentially blaming the victim as a cause and the most effective way to improve cyclists safety,which is the whole purpose of the messaging in the first place, is not to encourage takeup of ppe, but actually tackling any of the examples that put cyclists in danger every day that then get highlighted to them.
Totally agree, and very well
Totally agree, and very well put. I think the cynicism of the bit I quoted just rankled because it didn’t seem to recognise that cyclists and motorists often seem to react in the same way to these campaigns, and it’s hard to win people over by dismissing their concerns as whataboutery (even if that’s what it is).
For stupideness, look at the
For stupideness, look at the picture explaining why “single file is better” the one nutter is spreading around.
We might post pics of actual law breaking. They are posting pics which demonstrate bad driving which is then blamed on cyclists for some reason.
I did get lost down that
I did get lost down that particular rabbit hole. The weirdest bit was where he convinced himself that he (advocating compulsory single file cycling) and the cyclists (advocating two abreast) were actually in agreement.
There was also the bit when
There was also the bit when he decided he wasn’t going to continue “four day old arguments”. Someone said it was two from 25th to 27th and he stated Sunday, Monday, Tuesday to show he was right.
I like the way the brits look
I like the way the brits look at single file cycling..
It is a give and take between motoristst and cyclists.
We ride 2 abrest, a car comes up from behind, we give space and change to single file, car can pass.
Driver waves friendly all is well
Why can’t the driver use the
Why can’t the driver use the whole of the otherside of the carriageway?
It also means they spend less time on the wrong side of the road.
hirsute wrote:
My god! You want them to think logically???
Chris Froome: pay me €5
Chris Froome: Pay me €5.5million
ISN: Okay, but you have to try and win some things
Chris Froome: Sure thing
Also Chris Froome: finishes 130th
ISN: ?
There are plenty of shared
There are plenty of shared roads in The Netherlands, but these are in more rural areas where the number of pedestrians is usually limited. In busy areas, like the one pictured, it is not appropriate infrastructure.
As Aapje points out, even
As Aapje points out, even desegnated bike paths are not sutible for road cycling at speed.
The paths were not built with groups of cyclists riding at 35kp/h in mind.
Riding on a bike path is unsafe at speed.
Therefore we use the road, causing frustration to motorists.
But have to not to endanger children and older people on the bike path.
It works best if we cyclists avoid busy roads …
Slides. The only footwear to
Slides. The only footwear to make Crocs look fashionable…
I think there is a niche to
I think there is a niche to be filled by the inventor of SPD slides meself…