“Vine you p****!”: Jeremy Vine recognised by angry delivery driver; Anyone got the route? Bizarre Romandie standstill; 1 in 10 UK drivers experience road rage EVERY TIME they drive; UAE confident Tadej back for the Tour + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"There is enough time": UAE Team Emirates confident Pogačar back for Tour de France
UAE Team Emirates’ sporting manager Joxean Fernández Matxin is confident Tadej Pogačar will have recovered sufficiently to join his teammates at their pre-Tour de France altitude camp.
Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws, Matxin explained the team’s star rider will take three weeks of rest, skipping the planned wind tunnel testing and recon of key stages, instead hoping to be fit in time to join the team in the Sierra Nevada from mid-May to early June.
> Tadej Pogačar forced to abandon Liège-Bastogne-Liège after early crash, suffers fractures
The surgeon who operated on Pogačar’s wrist said: “Pogačar is a top athlete, with an incredible medical environment. He has the best cards in terms of recovery. In the best case scenario, he will be ready in time for the Tour. The scaphoid is a special bone, so we have to wait for the scan. But all expectations are that it should work out.”
One in ten UK drivers experience road rage EVERY TIME they drive
Research from business comparison site iCompario suggests that one in ten UK drivers experience road rage every time they drive… not occasionally, not when they are stressed… every time.
Of course these sorts of surveys aren’t always the most, how shall we say it? Reliable? Accurate? Comprehensive? Maybe that’s too harsh, in short they are carried out by surveying 2,000 people, in this case 2,000 UK drivers to get an idea of what the numbers could be.
And yep, of the 2,000 UK drivers, 65 per cent said they experience road rage at least once a month, while one in ten (10 per cent) said they experience it every time they get behind the wheel. Taking the first figure and applying the percentage to the number of full driving licence holders it suggests 27 million people in the UK experience road rage once a month or more frequently.
On the ‘factors most likely to give drivers road rage’ fortunately/unfortunately (depending on your outlook) cyclists weren’t included. 35 per cent said witnessing other drivers using a mobile phone caused them road rage, while fast drivers (31 per cent), middle lane hogging (28 per cent), slow drivers (30 per cent) and tailgaters (49 per cent) were the other factors.
In a final section we certainly didn’t expect to be reading iCompario spoke to a doctoral researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh who suggested drivers should listen to music as close to 60bpm as possible to “have a calming effect on the body, reducing heart rate and muscle tension”.
Yes, there’s a playlist… Beyonce, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Bruno Mars, Paolo Nutini, Bon Iver, Radiohead, Lana Del Ray, Celeste, Oasis, Tame Impala, Whitney Houston, Sam Smith… ‘Siri, define hit-and-miss’…
Anyway, make of this blog post what you will, don’t all angrily dive into the comments at once…
Drum & Bass on The Bike goes international (again)... if you happen to be in Berlin this weekend
Drum & Bass On The Bike – GERMANY, BERLIN Sunday 30th April starting from BRANDENBURG GATE at 14:00Hrs. *THE ROUTE* pic.twitter.com/Jp6LGXgQdM
— Domonic (@domwhiting) April 27, 2023
From Bristol to Berlin…
> Cyclists take over Bristol for “mind-blowing” Drum & Bass on the Bike ride
C̶h̶a̶t̶G̶P̶T̶ ChatDSM: AI Giro d'Italia team announcements
C̶h̶a̶t̶G̶P̶T̶ ChatDSM 😎
We let AI come up with our @giroditalia line-up announcement, so it’s now time to reveal who we’re taking to the start in Fossacesia with us! 🇮🇹
🔗 https://t.co/41IWrYQr7b#KeepChallenging #Giro pic.twitter.com/awM5kyMltk
— Team DSM (@TeamDSM) April 27, 2023
The second team to confirm its Giro line-up after Jumbo-Visma’s stacked support crew for Primož Roglič, including Sepp Kuss and TT world champ Tobias Foss. Shame DSM didn’t let ChatGPT actually pick the riders, that would have been fun… ‘Sorry, Romain, plans change… computer says Giro’
Jacob Rees-Mogg calls "optical illusion" cycle lane a "failed experiment" after 59 injuries in a year
“Talking of failed experiments”…
“If so, similar consideration is also deserving in other decisions, wouldn’t you agree?”…
“Oh.. so you do recognise the concept of failure. Now, conquer self reflection and you might just have a realisation”…
Just a few of Jacob’s replies on Twitter… no idea what they’re referencing…
Ned Boulting enjoys London's latest low-traffic neighbourhood
Enjoying this LTN. pic.twitter.com/NbEL6GOwk6
— Ned Boulting 🏳️⚧️ (@nedboulting) April 27, 2023
Anyone got the route? Bizarre scenes as Tour de Romandie standstill after group takes wrong turn
About as relatable as pro cycling gets, a scene repeated up and down the country every weekend as another group ride curses leaving the navigation to *insert unreliable rider* again…
“Did we take a wrong turn?”
This group of riders encountered some unexpected complications on stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie today, as they took a wrong turn on the finishing circuit around Lac de Joux.
Watch the full race replay over on GCN+ 👉 https://t.co/b1mOJ5qItX pic.twitter.com/OvcWRp1XaB
— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) April 26, 2023
This was apparently the gruppetto of yesterday’s stage who took a wrong turn and would have emerged at the wrong point of the finishing circuit so were quite understandably stopped by the race marshals. Still, good to see even at WorldTour level the usual faces you’d see in the ‘group ride gets lost’ scenario…
Astana rider: Arms outstretched, nattering away, almost certainly making an entirely predictable joke about ‘who left them in charge again?’
Israel rider 195 Giacomo Nizzolo: On the ball, very keen, has the route on his device even thought its not his ride, notices the mistake, communicates effectively. Underrated member of the group ride.
Team Arkéa Samsic rider 161 Kévin Vauquelin: Tired, fed up, started cramping an hour ago and just wants to be home. Annoyed at the extra mileage.
Elia Viviani: Too old for this nonsense. Makes mental note to stay in bed next week and head out solo.
DSM rider: Couldn’t care less, he really needed a piss so the stop’s very welcome…
Is that French for “I’m sure there used to be a cafe here somewhere”?
— PeteThePaddler (@PetePaddler) April 26, 2023
Shimano's first quarter sales not up to forecast, despite already lower projections
> Shimano’s first quarter sales not up to forecast, despite already lower projections
What is an all-road bike? Is this new bike breed really an N+1 killer?
Further safety measures at Oxford roundabout where cyclist was killed
Yesterday we reported that Oxford City Council had signed up for further safety measures, requiring developers of construction sites to plan their HGV journeys to avoid busy or high risk areas, such as around schools at home time.
Well, Oxfordshire County Council has today announced further safety restrictions to be implemented at The Plain, a notorious roundabout where a cyclist, Dr Ling Felce, was killed by an unlicensed HGV driver under the influence of cocaine last year.
The roundabout is used by around 12,000 cyclists each day and underwent initial safety works at the end of last year, with amendments to road markings and traffic signs and the installation of light bike lane segregation, road studs and bollards.
> Improvements to notorious roundabout will benefit both cyclists and motorists, campaigners say
Today, the county council has announced loading restrictions at the roundabout, meaning there will be a peak hour loading ban, between 7-10am and 4.30-7pm, to “improve safety, particularly for the most vulnerable road users”.
Councillor Andrew Gant said: “We know that any measures to improve safety and visibility at this busy roundabout will be welcomed by the thousands of people who use it every day.”
Ethan Hayter wins stage two of Tour de Romandie, takes race lead
Two road stages, two wins for the British riders. Yesterday it was Ethan Vernon, today Ethan Hayter… (yes, I did just check to see if there was a third Ethan in the race due tomorrow’s stage)…
😤 Never in doubt.
@ethan_hayter wins the second stage at this year’s Tour of Romandie! ✨@INEOSGrenadiers | #TDR2023 pic.twitter.com/4QNx8cIlPA
— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 27, 2023
And just as dominant as Vernon’s win yesterday. Continuing the surprising names in the places theme (after Romain Bardet was fourth yesterday), Juan Ayuso and Bardet again (!), second and third. Maybe the Frenchman’s found his calling after a winter of bulking up?
Hayter takes the GC lead too thanks to his consistency so far, Tobias Foss the first of the GC challengers, is in second place, six seconds back.
"Vine you p****!": Jeremy Vine recognised by angry delivery driver
Jeremy’s got a fan…
I know @AmazonUK say they give a personal service, but this is bloody ridiculous pic.twitter.com/0rjomASi67
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) April 26, 2023
Vine said he had “no idea” why the outburst, adding that he had never seen the courier, hands full with Amazon parcels, before. The video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times though, Vine telling the Mail…
“I can’t be sure the guy was Amazon but he walked to a front door behind me and waited with the parcels for someone to answer. It’s lovely to be acknowledged in the street but this is not quite the personal service Amazon promise. I’m hoping they’ll get in touch and explain if he’s one of theirs. The weird thing was, the insult came without any explanation and I’ve never seen the guy before, so I have no idea why he got his boxers in a twist. Just another day commuting in London.”
Amazon has not yet commented on the footage.
They have however become live blog regulars, although not necessarily for the best reasons, after an Amazon-branded van was seen blocking an Edinburgh bike lane for 15 minutes.
The cyclist who spotted the blockage waited for the driver to return, was told to “deal with it” before we contacted Amazon and were told they would investigate… but Amazon Logistics engages independent delivery providers to provide delivery services, meaning it’s “important to note” that Amazon does not own the vehicles nor employ the drivers, so it would be “wrong to say Amazon driver”. Make sense?
Oh, and then it happened again…
> The sequel nobody asked for — bike lane Amazon van is back
27 April 2023, 08:05
27 April 2023, 08:05
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Latest Comments
Laudable effort. Will a full review of the bike be following?
By their very nature the dockless bike schemes will result in bikes being parked in stupid places. The user has little incentive to find the correct place to park it. More so if they are tourists with a cruise liner to catch and only 3 hours to explore. So, if the operation can't be made to fit within the councils required operating method, then it should be removed. I'm pretty sure another operator will come in and propose a system acceptable to the council if they believe they can make money. I strongly suspect that the current operators can only make money by tacitly allowing bikes to be left where the tourist money wants to leave them, so time to rethink the financial model me thinks!
@bikercub "If they are good enough to be supporting the Groupama-FDJ United World TourCycling team, we should be looking at them as a contender." No, that only means that they paid enough to become a sponsor. Let's put the "pros use better stuff" myth to sleep, finally. And by the way, the trickiest part of a GPS computer is not data collection - that can be done by absolutely all of them. The hard part is the general user interface and turn-by-turn navigation, none of which really matters for a pro cyclist - and that brings us back to why any GPS computer could be good enough for just about any pro cyclist.
@mdavidford Absolutely, I am assuming that the OP means those lanes where it's so tight it's actually impossible for a cyclist to get through if there is a large vehicle, obviously if they can squeeze by each other nobody needs to go back.
You are quite correct about uniform signage. However this seems to be a fairly atypical set up. Having experience and knowledge of it would in theory make mistakes less likely. Part of my job involved writing operating and maintenance procedures for food manufacturing machinery. I quickly learnt that people need to be given direct, simple, non-conflicting, non-ambiguous instructions. If it is possible to make mistakes, then they will be made. The best of of avoiding a mistake is to design flaws out of the system.
I do not in anyway support the Daily Telegraph's continually mad anti-cycling journalism but, it must be said, that this particular section of cycle lane on King Street in Hammersmith has been an absolute disaster ever since it re-opened. It certainly wasn't perfect for cyclists before but ever since they remodelled the cycle lane to run as a two way lane on one side of the road it has become much much more dangerous and confusing for pedestrians, drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists alike. I'm not saying that all cycling infrastructure is badly designed but, on my 12 mile commute from home in South London to work at the West end of King Street, this cycleway is where I feel most unsafe. It's not an inditement on active travel but it should be a lesson in planning because it's been closed on 5 or 6 occasions since to be remodelled to correct issues that should've been obvious before it opened. I have been using this road to get to work since long before the re-modelling and it has definitely, in my opinion, worsened not just the safety of cyclists but also the relationship between drivers and cyclists in this area.
In principle, it shouldn't matter if you're familiar with a particular junction - that's precisely why we have (relatively) uniform signage across the country (I had this from a driver recently - Him: sorry, I don't know the area. Me: but a no entry sign is the same everywhere...). But in practice in a busy environment like this, simply adding another sign saying look out for cyclists is limited help. I don't love cycling on contraflows / a two way cyclelane on a one way street for that reason. In fact there's a crossing I don't love as a pedestrian which is look right (bikes) look left (bikes) look right (cars), island, catch breath, look left (cars), look left (bikes). (Yes, you could wait for a green man, but then it's still look everywhere (Deliveroo)).
I'm not familiar with Jeremy Vine's favourite cycle lane. However I do have sympathy with drivers if they have to deal with "Look both ways for cyclists" as well as "One Way" and "No Entry" signs. Especially if the driver is not familiar with the junction.
@mitsky Alas for a second there I was awarding the motorist in the window there points for wearing hi-vis in their car, then I realised they were also wearing a motoring helmet...
While I understand it in context, I quite liked this to conclude a bike light review: "it’s a reliable set for the price, so long as you aren’t looking to ride in the dark"
50 thoughts on ““Vine you p****!”: Jeremy Vine recognised by angry delivery driver; Anyone got the route? Bizarre Romandie standstill; 1 in 10 UK drivers experience road rage EVERY TIME they drive; UAE confident Tadej back for the Tour + more on the live blog”
Anybody like optical
Anybody like optical illusions?
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/local-news/anger-optical-illusion-keynsham-cycle-8388105
I put this on the ‘Drivers
I put this on the ‘Drivers and their problems’ thread earlier, Peter.
Sorry, I didn’t spot that.
Sorry, I didn’t spot that.
hawkinspeter wrote:
De nada. We don’t have a separate thread for ‘Pedestrians and their problems’… 😀
hawkinspeter wrote:
Chapeau! Hopefully you weren’t injured?
Is the illusion that it looks
Is the illusion that it looks like a council cares about active travel?
I’m confused – are they
I’m confused – are they tripping over the kerb or tripping over the painted white line they think is a kerb ?
White line, I reckon…
White line, I reckon… 😉
brooksby wrote:
Don’t do it!
Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Guess they haven’t got *the
Guess they haven’t got *the message*
Oldfatgit wrote:
You asked for this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK_MLA01YrU
That’s pretty well done …
That’s pretty well done … someone had really put a lot of thought in to it.
Hirsute wrote:
It’s not very clear, but the cycle lane has now been painted red to try to fix the issue though that hasn’t been successful. Apparently, the kerb and white lines look similar to each other, so maybe people trip over the kerb thinking that it’s just paint.
There’s more info here: https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/anger-optical-illusion-somerset-cycle-8386356
Also, there’s this article about when they painted it red: https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/high-street-cycle-lane-still-7878317
Seems to confirm that the kerb is the problem.
On the “red” – I’m all for
On the “red” – I’m all for this. I mean – I don’t really care which colour but the UK uses, but a) make the cycle track, footway and carriageway different colours already and b) pick one colour for the whole country! (Hint – we use standard signs with standard colours for the roads).
I do think that differences in height are a useful feature of cycle tracks – and they’re certainly a feature of these in most places where there is mass cycling. The height difference and kerb here don’t look excessive. However it is “change” and anything new will cause problems to some people unfortunately. Mostly severely affecting those who already have difficulties e.g. the old / those with disabilities etc.
Perhaps there could be an extra levy on motor vehicles to cover advertising to advise people of such changes? After all – they’ve been made necessary by the eventual ubiquity of the phenomenon of mass motoring (very profitable for some, heavily subsidised, politically pushed)?
It’s ridiculous. In the
It’s ridiculous. In the original photo I can see a perfectly good zebra crossing with NO kerb. If specific facilities are provided for pedestrians to cross the road it should be law that they have to use them. Just a bunch of entitled snowflakes that should have to be insured to be allowed out of their homes, they don’t even pay pavement tax.
EDIT: apologies I inexpicably slipped in to my drivist persona, it won’t happen again
IanMK wrote:
Actually, they abolished pavement tax in the 70s, so no one pays it. You pay tax according to your emissions….
HoldingOn wrote:
Better avoid the lentil stew… 😉
Hirsute wrote:
the kerb I think. It is not clear why a kerb between the pavement and the cycle lane is so much more problematic than a kerb between a road and a pavement, but talk of expecting a flat surface and finding space sounds like stepping off the kerb, only to be surprised to find that it is a kerb.
Agreed. Having a low kerb
Agreed. Having a low kerb (that looks a bit like a line) combined with the white line on the other side being a flat transition, people must be reading it as ‘all flat’. Not sure of the best way of making the kerb more obvious?
I can see a dolphin. Or maybe
I can see a dolphin. Or maybe it is a squirrel?
SimoninSpalding wrote:
That’s clearly a coconut
That’s clearly a coconut riding a duck.
SimoninSpalding wrote:
ChuckSneed wrote:
It’s funny – we’ve had a couple of people on here before who dived straight in by insisting Rendel was “cyber stalking” them every time he replied to them.
Could they be related?
Could they be related?
I agree
I agree
I seem to remember at one
I seem to remember at one point we were all cyber bullies too, and they changed their username to reflect that view…
What’s even stranger is that
What’s even stranger is that there are a small number of accounts which come on here regularly to decry the site as an echo chamber (well… yeah?). And most of those same accounts then later mysteriously vanish! Often in the middle of an ill-tempered thread or immediately after posting slanderous / racist / anti-semitic / non-UCI-compliant* comment.
I think they’re on to something.
* Is this right?
He’s just pissed off as
He’s just pissed off as support removed his libellous posts.
Wonder if he has been banned too ?
Posts on other subjects are
Posts on other subjects are still up: generally if one of these vociferous silly sausages goes quiet it indicates a suspension, if the full banhammer’s applied their posts vanish. In this case, given their general standard of posting, it may simply be that they don’t get out of school until 3.30, longer if in detention, so can’t post until later.
Surely pre-school !
Surely pre-school !
Hirsute wrote:
As a newbie – though long time reader of the road forum posts – I wonder if Mr Need’s accusatory post regarding ‘alleged’ steroid taking by a certain professional rider – was a deemed a touch too far.
I complained directly and I
I complained directly and I can’t imagine I was the only one.
As posted earlier, they have previously made libellous comments and ignored warnings from posters not to do this.
Hirsute wrote:
In my naiveté, I hadn’t considered complaining directly. Learn something new every day.
Only 1 in 10 ? These the same
Only 1 in 10 ? These the same lot of drivers who claim they’re above average skillz at driving?
Genuinely feared on my commute in today someone was just going to drive thru me, insane the number of dangerous close passes on such a short journey. And that’s with a 12×12 Passpixi on my panniers.
stonojnr wrote:
I thought it was 90% of drivers who thought that they were above average?
Yep so the 9 out of 10
Yep so the 9 out of 10 drivers who claim not to get road rage everytime they drive, synchs with it perfectly.
So, why exactly would
So, why exactly would cyclists be expected to dismount…?
(the footpath has been dug up, so the segregated cycle lane has been used as a pedestrian bypass – obviously – but there is still a normal traffic lane there)
brooksby wrote:
That’s just an advisory sign, not a round “order” sign, so I make a point of ignoring it. (I have been known to ignore the official signs too)
And second question – how did
And second question – how did this delivery van manage to get onto the footpath so as to (illegally) park there? Leaving about two feet between the side of the van and the building.
Appears to have BOLAS on
Appears to have BOLAS on though so you can’t touch me, mate.
One of the bollards appears
One of the bollards appears to be asleep on the job!
Vine should know that anyone
Vine should know that anyone who appears on TV in this country with any kind of regularity will inevitably be called a prick or a ponce (or anything with a similarly prominent plosive) by random people on the street. Probably even beloved “national treasures” like, say, David Attenborough or Maggie Smith encounter weirdos who are inexplicably furious at them for some reason or another (e.g. “Oi Attenborough, you twat, why did you let that cheetah kill that gazelle last night!?”)
So JRM thinks that the
So JRM thinks that the relatively short time the cycle lane has been in place and the fact that some people have tripped up on the kerb is a “failed experiment”. I wonder what he thinks of the past 13 years of tory failure?
eburtthebike wrote:
Ah but no-one has died from the Tory failure. Oh wait…
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_885099_en.html
Ref the Amazon van.
Ref the Amazon van.
it says that Amazon don’t own the vans so therefore are not liable. Not necessarily so.
about 6 years ago, I was knocked off my bike by a Yodel delivery driver who had walked into my path without looking. I came off breaking 2 bones in my back. I successfully sued Yodel because the judge agreeed that even though the van was the property of the driver and he was not a direct employee of Yodel, he was in the process of delivering their produce to a customer so they were still culpable.
I If I can dig out the court transcript I will post but Amazon are not cleared of any responsibility if their drivers cause injury to a cyclist or other road user. Maybe not in criminal law but civil law they are.
Yeah seems pretty
Yeah seems pretty straightforward that Amazon/Yodel are paying them to do what they’re doing.
“Ah you see, Judge, the hitman is an independent contractor and they’re using their own gun.”
A bit of information for
A bit of information for fellow cheapskates/Freeview and licence fee payers only, seen on an advert, the Giro highlights show (Eurosportish?) will be on DMax, and not Quest, maybe. Still a Discovery repeating channel.
ktache wrote:
Another thing of possible use to cheapskates is that Discovery Plus has a seven day free trial offer, so you could pick the seven days you wanted to watch most of the Giro and get free flag to flag coverage for that week. I do pay for Discovery Plus personally, at less than £6 a month for pretty much every major race including all the GTs flag to flag I can’t begrudge it, plus there’s quite a lot of other watchable stuff on there, sports and non sports.
Just seen a bit on this
Just seen a bit on this evening’s Ch4 news, on the drought in southern Europe.
The Giro may end up looking like a typical Vuelta.
The Po is very dry.