Cyclists “maim thousands a year”, apparently; A whole lotta love… for cycling: Robert Plant on why he loves his bike; Bernal back riding outside; Active travel funding cut for tory councils; “Today’s nonsense” from Jeremy Vine + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Funding withheld for Tory some councils as one councillor says "the car is king"
If you ride to work, take the kids to school by bike, or just prefer to cycle for short trips then you might not like the news coming out of some Conservative-controlled councils this morning.
The Guardian reports that the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead lost funding for cycling and walking infrastructure plans last year after two proposed low-traffic neighbourhoods were sidelined.
Just this month, the borough said that it was set to scrap pavement widening schemes in favour of increasing space for car parking and in a Town Forum, which you can watch at your leisure, a councillor declared that “the car is still king” in Maidenhead.
West Sussex, meanwhile, has also had funding withheld. The council made headlines for all the wrong reasons after the council’s cabinet member for highways, Roger Elkins, decided that a cycle lane should be removed despite it having yet to be completed.
> Cycling UK heads to Court of Appeal over scrapped Shoreham-By-Sea pop-up cycle lane
The decision was taken in spite of a 6:2 vote from the scrutiny committee in favour of him reconsidering. Insult was added to injury when it emerged that Elkins had never actually been to see the cycle lane in question, which linked five schools and had been used for 30,000 cycle trips.
Though the evidence points to the contrary, both councils have made noises about being supportive of active travel measures.
Girmay wins - the reaction
If you were busy actually riding a bike, doing a bit of gardening or just soaking up the sun on Sunday, then you might have missed the news that Biniam Girmay won Gent-Wevelgem. In doing so, he became the first African rider to win the race and many believe that this could be a turning point for men’s pro road cycling.
Anyway, while my heart continues to melt, here’s some of the reaction…
this is how eritrean celebrate https://t.co/5ddpA46YIW
— Team BIKE AID (@bikeaid) March 27, 2022
See the magic happen @GrmayeBiniam 🇪🇷😍 #GWE22 pic.twitter.com/KnqFQfOuUf
— GentWevelgem (@GentWevelgem) March 27, 2022
Any possibly the most important thing…
Xylon van Eyck on Biniam Girmay’s win: ‘This win is significant because there are so many bike riders watching this who will see a rider like them, at the top of the sport, and from today they’ll believe that they can do it. He will be relatable to them. It’s so significant.’
— Daniel Benson (@dnlbenson) March 27, 2022
And from the man himself...
He has no words, but this picture says it all. Could Girmay’s victory herald a new era of African champions in professional cycling?
Just two months after being in intensive care, Egan Bernal is back riding his bike outside
In what is proving to be at least as remarkable as the recovery of his former teammate Chris Froome, Egan Bernal has gone from intensive care and saying he had a 95% chance of becoming paraplegic to being back out on the bike in just two months.
Bernal suffered a fractured vertebrae, fractured right femur, fractured right patella, chest trauma, a punctured lung and several fractured ribs in the collision with a parked bus while riding his time trial bike in late January of this year. The latest unfortunate incident in which a pro cyclist has suffered potential life-threatening injuries led to a debate about the use of increasingly aggressive time trial bikes on open roads, with Chris Froome calling for a time trial bike ban in pro cycling. We also discussed this on the road.cc Podcast, with no less than the current LEJOG record holder Michael Broadwith joining us to discuss.
> Are time trial bikes safe to ride on open roads?
Of course, we haven’t seen all the painful rehab Bernal has had to go through to get to this point, but the post above from a couple of weeks ago gives you an idea in cartoony sketch form.
Bernal’s full words to accompany the pics of his return to the roads translated are:
“The happiest day of my life.
“After 2 months and 20 broken bones, here I am, and I want more! See you guys on the road.”
They've begun...
good morning pic.twitter.com/cldXl02mxT
— Robyn (@robynjournalist) March 28, 2022
I won’t go trying to explain why Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars. Instead, I’ll make it today’s mission to bring you all of the best memes.
Robert Plant says cycling with his dad helped them to "discuss the meaning of life together"
Lead image: Licenced under CC BY 3.0 by Egghead06 on Wikimedia Commons
Led Zeppelin legend Robert Plant sure does have a silky smooth voice and a way with words, and we’ve just been alerted to some of the best ones we think he’s ever said that happen to be about cycling… yes this episode of Desert Island Discs was published a week or two ago, but we’ll just pretend the blog isn’t so ‘live’ for a moment to recap on Plant’s wise words.
As presenter Lauren Laverne mentions that Plant is known to have a love of cycling, he replies: “My father before the war he did several tours of the British isles.
“He had this deal about cyclocross, so he would cycle and then carry his bike. He would take photographs of the most amazing chains of hills and across the Pennines and into Cumbria.
“As I got older I used to cycle alongside him and he taught me how to conserve my strength. I started track racing, which was fixed wheel racing and it was really good.
“To share the same fascination and attraction to something when you have this generational thing which was radical then, but not so much now between me and my kids at all. But it did help us to discuss the meaning of life together as well.”
A bike ride where you discuss the meaning of life certainly sounds like a peaceful and joyous one, and a lot less hectic than Plant’s rock and roll lifestyle during his Led Zeppelin heyday. He’s not the only rock star who loves cycling either: Rush drummer Neil Peart was known to like a bike ride, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons was spotted riding an e-bike in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and David Byrne of the Talking Heads even penned a book about cycling.
What bike do you reckon is at the end of Plant’s Stairway to Heaven? Something steel and handsome from back when he was a lad, or perhaps a roomy cargo bike to collect up all the TVs he lobs out of hotel windows? Maybe those wild days are behind him, who knows…
[YOUR NAME HERE] - Gazprom-RusVelo change name to 'Professional Cycling Team'
The Russian-registered team, Gazprom-RusVelo, has today changed its name to Professional Cycling Team, with the Russian state-owned energy corporation stepping aside as title sponsor.
While this has left the team, which has rebranded on social media as simply ‘Professional Cycling Team’, with a sizeable €3.5-€4m gap to fill in its funding, the departure of Gazprom has not meant that the team is able to return to racing.
We will continue searching for a new title sponsor. Together with a new team partner we will be able to immediately come back to racing under a new name and together decide which country our international team will be representing. pic.twitter.com/K9jrimhD6P
— Professional Cycling Team (@RusveloTeam) March 28, 2022
As the UCI has banned all Russian and Belarusian teams from racing, the team’s Russian-registered licence means that even a move to a blank team kit and neutral team status couldn’t sway the UCI.
The team’s management released a statement on Monday that read: “We will continue searching for a new title sponsor. Together with a new team partner we will be able to immediately come back to racing under a new name and together decide which country our international team will be representing.”
Thanking Gazprom, who had sponsored the team since 20216 through subsidiary Gazprom Germainia, the statement continued, pointing to numerous successes. “Throughout the years, we achieved numerous victories, became highly recognisable in the world of cycling and helped many riders to become professionals. Now it is time to move further.”
Towards the end of the statement, the management sought to distance the team, which has riders and staff from numerous countries, from the invasion of Ukraine, going further to suggest that the team could be a tool for peace.
We are certain that politics should be kept away from sport and sport should be a platform for unity of nations.
Cycling and our team, in particular, could be a messenger of peace. We stand for peace in the world and do not support any wars. pic.twitter.com/7PYVd3rLVC
— Professional Cycling Team (@RusveloTeam) March 28, 2022
“We are certain that politics should be kept away from sport and sport should be a platform for unity of nations,” the statement read. “Cycling and our team, in particular, could be a messenger of peace. We stand for peace in the world and do not support any wars.”
While the Russian team begins the search for a new backer, the UCI continues to allow Igor Makarov to sit on its committee. Russian riders on German teams, such as Aleksandr Vlasov, continue to race without issue and Vladyslav Pohorelov, a Ukrainian pro on the banned Belarusian Continental team CCN Factory Racing, is unable to race.
Tony Martin is auctioning off his Olympic medal to help children in Ukraine
The German is auctioning the silver medal he won at London 2012 (with the gold going to a certain Bradley Wiggins) with the current highest bid at 10,000 euros already.
Martin says: “It’s not easy to separate me from the biggest trophy I could win in my career but considering the fact that millions of people lost almost everything, it is something I really want to do!”
Check out the auction here.
Rock stars who love riding: a quick additional round-up
A fleeting mention of other musicians who cycle on our post about Robert Plant further down the page quickly turned into a discussion about who we missed out, so here’s a quick round-up…
Bono (above) was known to enjoy a bike ride… that’s until he had a bike crash in 2015 that shattered his arm, leaving him unable to play guitar, which we reckon might have put him off somewhat.
Richard Coles, once of the Communards and now a vicar, once told the Guardian that he “always loved cycling” and often goes exploring by bike. Other mentions go to Mick Jagger (who apparently didn’t talk about his love of cycling much in the 60s because it wasn’t considered very groovy), Madonna, Nigel Blackwell of Half Man Half Biscuit, Usher… and of course this mini list would not be complete without mentioning Ralf Huetter and Florian Schneider of techno pioneers Kraftwerk, who made an entire song and then album dedicated to the Tour de France – they also collabroated with Canyon for a rather fetching special edition bike to mark the race departing from their home city of Düsseldorf back in 2017.
Perhaps the most dedicated of all the rock star bike riders is Housemartins and Beautiful South icon Paul Heaton, who twice passed on a tour bus to cycle between gig venues instead. The original Pedals and Beer Pumps tour covered around 750 miles, but for his next in 2012 he was said to have covered 2,700.
Niche Robert Plant/Led Zep cycling jokes
I’ll admit we were stuck for puns and imaginative headlines on this one, but cheers to Secret Squirrel and mark1a for coming up with the goods down in the comments.
Lloyds CEO John Neal involved in a collision while riding his bike
According to a source, Neal was involved in a collision with a car driver, sustaining “serious injuries”. He is undergoing treatment in hospital, however he is expected to make a full recovery.
Snake Pass to reopen to motorists, but with 20mph speed limit and weight limit for larger vehicles
After the last three weekends have seen cyclists take to the temporarily traffic-free climb in Derbyshire, local news outlets are reporting that the road will reopen to motorists, but with temporary lights controlling traffic and a 20mph speed limit. HGVs over 7.5 tonnes will have to continue to follow a diversion – we’ll have a full story on this soon.
The silliest anti-cycling comment ever? Cyclists "maim thousands a year", apparently
Cyclists injury & maim thousands of people a year,usually the elderly,and they are normally never ever traced having no numberplates,and even if they are they at most get a small fine,but have no insurance for the injured person to claim against, often for life changing injuries.
— Stupid shit people say on Facebook about cycling (@AntiCyclingFB) March 28, 2022
The Twitter account ‘Stupid shit people say on Facebook about cycling’ scans the world’s largest social media site for anti-cycling drivel so you don’t have to… but even so, we thought this gem was worthy of some attention.
It’s a big claim indeed that cyclists “injury [sic] and maim thousands of people a year” – and one that probably can’t be true even accounting for a lot of under-reporting, being as there were only 616 reported incidents of a collision between a pedestrian and pedal cyclist in an entire year according to the Reported Road Casualties Great Britain Annual Report 2020.
Some other observations have been made about the absurd rant too, here are our favourites so far…
No wonder the hospitals are so full, they had to open special wards just for the casualties from cyclists nearly incidents 😳 pic.twitter.com/LRRLrs8ncS
— Andrew 🏳️🌈 🇪🇺 🚲🏂 💙 (@monsieurballard) March 28, 2022
Must have been using this pic.twitter.com/XoDLgsoQ1t
— Mark (@Mark65589699) March 28, 2022
Took out roughly 20 on my way to work this morning. Some of them are surprisingly agile given their age.
— Dan (@DBirchett) March 28, 2022
28 March 2022, 07:57
The first of many, we hope
Biniam Girmay makes African cycling history at Gent-Wevelgem
The 21-year-old Eritrean rider outsprinted Christophe Laporte to become the first African winner of a major Belgian classic
28 March 2022, 07:57
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28 March 2022, 07:57
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28 March 2022, 07:57
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Latest Comments
I'm honestly amazed that horse riders dare take to our country roads. I have no idea what the actual statistics on collisions are but they are very slow moving, often 2 abreast and generally on the little twisty turny country lanes. With the way far too many people drive on these tiny roads, I wouldn't dare be on a horse on them. On my weekend ride this week a pickup driver (shocker eh) nearly crashed into a poor lady head on because he simply couldn't wait until it was safe to overtake. Poor womans ABS kicked in and she had to go into the side of the road to avoid him as he barrelled on through and she still only missed him by inches I reckon. All because too many people don't care. If he hits her he will have a crash on his insurance but he almost certainly wouldn't be banned despite it being a fucking braindead overtake that he clearly does as a matter of course. He is a danger on our roads but we will never treat him as one until he kills or seriously hurts someone and we can prove he was completely at fault. Even then it will have been a "one off" according to his lawyer. A lapse. About 2 minutes after this near miss a BMW flies past me giving me plenty of space and gently drifts back over to our side of the road. He was going about 45 and was on the wrong side of the road going around a blind corner while he drifted back in. If someone else doing the same speed was coming around that bend he would have binned it into the hedge or hit them. The mind just boggles. Absolutely zero reason he didn't pull back in faster. Just didn't occur to him I assume. This is why it scares me on our country roads. Far too many drivers who are just fundamentally dangerous, bad drivers.
There needs to be a change in the language used when reporting on things like this. If there is ever an incident involving a cyclist it is very much dehumanised. Cyclist = Inanimate object. Not a human being, with family and loved ones. its all so easy to make them look more like a statistic. The more people who understand that cyclists are real people just trying to live their lives and and not just an obstacle or inconvenience then we might have people treating them the way you would wish to be treated.
@OnYerBike Hmm, and when I click the links to "preferred partners" for a small sample of items, they are not found on the preferred partners sites. So... seems it is now defunct too, as you surmise.
If the riders want a parade lap, then let the organisers set an officially neutralised parade lap. If some of the riders just don't want to race, then that's between them. They don't get to badger the organisers to neutralise the end of the race. And anyway, if they take final GC times at X km to go, that just sets the race to end at X km to go. If a GC rider really wanted to, they could try attack before then (course, it would lack the course feature advantageous for getting away that the riders wanted excluded.. but still). The riders trying to bring in safety, when conditions were fine and the circuit was also fine, is just going to undermine their voice in the future when they try bring up safety the next time. Stupid.
@james-o Yes. The mountain bikers are still breaking the law. I saw two more yesterday.
@james-o Yes. The mountain bikers are still breaking the law. I saw two more yesterday.
@panda I don't think there would be a problem with maintaining a GC truce, because it only has to be maintained until the times are taken. In the case of Paris, everyone could ride in fairly easy, couple of parade laps up and down the Champs, times taken, and then if after that Pogacar wants to tow Del Toro round three laps of Montmartre, or indeed go for the stage himself, no worries. I too am of the generation when the organisers held that sort of sway, nothing like as important now when 90% plus of the top riders' salaries come from the team rather than prize money, indeed I believe it's customary for the winner nowadays to give their prize money away to the rest of the team. This is, I believe, a good thing; although rider power can sometimes appear a bit excessive in its demands (the main reason for asking for neutralisation yesterday, as explained by the rider representative, seemed to be "we're all knackered", which was pretty ridiculous) at least organisers can no longer dictate that they must go on in dangerous circumstances. As they were saying on commentary yesterday, what they need to do is for the rider representatives and the organisers to get together as soon as, or even before, the route is announced and iron out any problems then instead of waiting until the eve of the stage or even, as in stage of the Giro this year, to complain about the parcours while it is in progress.
@Riggers No single option has really filled the void. For clothing, Sigma Sports probably has the best range, but tends to be higher end brands at RRP (or close to). They also have the Universal Colours brand, but my impression is that leans towards form over function (i.e. looks nice but isn't actually great quality). For steep discounts on brand name stuff, Merlin is probably the best bet. Beyond that, a lot of googling and shopping around - Tredz, bikeparts.co.uk, Condor, SJS Cycles etc. Van Rysel at Decathlon is probably the closest comparison to dhb for good quality "own brand" stuff at a sensible price.
@Paul J As I understand it, the sale did include the IP for the dhb brand, and I think Frasers/Evans claimed to have been planning to keep the brand going. That said, there's no reason to think that the brand has/will retain the quality or value credentials it was formerly known for - I don't believe any staff were retained, nor any obligation to retain or restore relationships with the suppliers that had previously manufactured dhb-branded kit. Far more likely dhb becomes another "brand" plastered across the cheap tat that is the hallmark of the Frasers empire. I note the dhb website you link to doesn't appear to have been updated since February 2024 (based on Wayback Machine archives).
@Rendel Harris I think it says a lot about the previous two days that not many guys chose to race for the sake of racing. If the win is prestigious (like Paris) and/or the previous stages haven’t been so brutal then more teams and riders will choose to race. It’s a shame because Paris the last couple of years has been great and I can see what they were thinking! Few minor tweaks and I think it works. I’m also from a generation where an organiser could just say “the course is safe, if you want your prize money, race. No tears” and it would have happened unless Hinault didn’t fancy it. Which he would’ve. I could also see a situation where a GC contender wants to work for one of their team-mates who has worked for them for three weeks so a GC cordially agreed truce wouldn’t be possible, but how big would the time gaps be, anyway?
44 thoughts on “Cyclists “maim thousands a year”, apparently; A whole lotta love… for cycling: Robert Plant on why he loves his bike; Bernal back riding outside; Active travel funding cut for tory councils; “Today’s nonsense” from Jeremy Vine + more on the live blog”
Don’t bother listening to
Don’t bother listening to politicians – just watch what they do.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Good advice although I don’t think any of those in the story have given any false indications that they’re remotely positive about bikes…
chrisonatrike wrote:
Precisely the opposite:
“Though the evidence points to the contrary, both councils have made noises about being supportive of active travel measures.”
Almost all councils have transport, health, pollution, congestion and climate change policies that prioritise alternatives to the private car, which describe cycling in glowing terms, they just never actually get them down off the shelf and look at them. As the CUK rep where I used to live, South Glos, I regularly used to quote these policies to the councillors, but it was less use than Canute trying to stop the tide. They all have these pro-cycling policies, just no intention of actually carrying them out.
Hypocrite; thy name is tory.
My local tory councillor just
My local tory councillor just looked dumbfaced and shook his head when I asked him if he was aware of his own councils active travel policy document.
Imagine if businesses were run like government? You recognise a potentially catasrophic problem, declare a (climate) emergency, write policy documents to head off the crisis (like gear change) and then set no short/medium term targets for implementation.
My elderly parents live in
My elderly parents live in Windsor and sadly the council’s car is king view seems true. Probably so they can make more money – the OAP parking discount has been significantly reduced and limited to a named car park in the borough. The council has also installed what could be the UK’s shortest cycle path (if you’re cycling at 20mph it would take a second to start and finish it) near the hospital.
I live in a small market town
I live in a small market town where parking is free. My local town council turned down funding for active travel because some local shop keepers were worried about loss of parking spaces. That’s despite the evidence from around the world and DfT, that says footfall and spending will increase if you make the environment more conducive to walking and cyling.
This lunacy goes much deeper than just making a few extra quid on parking, it can only be incompetance and poor leadership.
IanMK wrote:
I think it goes beyond that. I’d love someone to do a deep dive into this in the UK*. My take – there are several factors keeping politicians big and small from doing anything much. I believe there are arguments / ways round these but I think they loom large:
1) No-one’s calling for it. That’s obviously not true but while there are lobbying groups, companies and even local governments (eg. Manchester) asking for change these are drowned out by the bigger voices and the “crisis” issues of the day.
2) It’s a long term change. Politicians think – probably rightly – it will take a lot of years to get unambiguously positive results to show. They might not even be around to reap the rewards. It’s easy to reverse initial changes as we’ve seen with many Covid-era cycle lanes.
3) We’re talking “transport change” – that will affect the majority of people. Major political risk! Also any of the changes needed can immediately be thrown back at you by political opponents as a negative. Because this entails “fewer motor vehicle journeys” or “paying a more realistic amount to drive”. Ideally “and more rules / enforced safer driving”. So in the short term “less convenience” and “changes”.
4) By the nature of cycling it’s unlikely any one organisation gets to make huge pots of cash – or certainly less when compared to e.g. (electric) cars, road transport or rail. A few organisations making a killing seems to be required for major changes (Big Bung theory). Yes, cycling overall generates money. It certainly saves money too. Maybe cycling’s just too efficient? Or too decentralised / democratic?
5) (Mass) cycling is not “exciting”. It’s not new technology. Cycling’s slow! It mostly doesn’t involve anything very grand to look at. It’s not so easy to sell as an improvement compared to “now you can go at 70 mph in total comfort while checking Tiktok”. It’s not all going to happen spectacularly in one place, like a garden bridge or an airport or a faster rail line. (Because we need a network of standard boring infra). So you’re trying to sell “we’re going to spend quite a bit of money cleaning up everyone else’s mess. At the end of a multi-year period of disruption we hope you the public will change your lives and take on making some extra effort”.
6) Cycling seems to be more than just a “marmite” issue. More like the “drugs” issue; there are some incredibly loud voices on this subject attached to ideologies. Some of those are very rich / powerful groups. It’s interesting to note though that if you succeed cycling stops being a party political issue cf. The Netherlands.
So although all the numbers say “this is an open goal politically” and there may be majority support it’s a gamble that looks like the pioneers can only lose.
* I’m aware of a few historical and current analyses (care of Carlton Reid, Ian Walker and a few others).
Aren’t you forgetting taxes?
Aren’t you forgetting taxes? Not to be confused with taxis, although their drivers can also be part of the problem. .
Surreyrider wrote:
Hmm. Last week Grant Shapps – supposed to be in change of transport, no? – was asked about what happens as electric vehicles come in and taxes on fuel / VED fall. He basically shrugged and said that it was a matter for the Treasury. You’d think that would be an important part of his purview if not under his control? Now I know it’s politics and all (he’d just wriggled round P&O questions) but it seemed very much like “we can get to that if we get through the next election – if not let the others worry”. So why waste energy and maybe make a mess on a long-term issue? Going with the flow (people are already buying them and more will) on electric cars is enough already! There’s the push of events too – like the cost of living going up, so the chancellor’s bunging in a fuel duty reduction. That probably doesn’t help anyone very much and the environment / future the least but “something must be seen to be done”.
Everyone in the road
Everyone in the road transport business know road user charging is inevitable, particularly as EV numbers grow. Grant Shapps isn’t quite as stupid as some of the other cabinet members (nearly, but not quite) and he even he knows that road user charging will be as popular with the electorate as a sexually transmitted disease. He wouldn’t say so as he knows the upset it’d cause.
It does irritate me how, in
It does irritate me how, in all the media articles about the benefits of BEVs, the main benefit is usually given to be dramatically lower running costs, centred on how little it costs to recharge compared to petrol/diesel, 5% VAT on domestic elec, the zero VED, etc. I’ve yet to see an article that projects a few years to when the tax-take from ICEs is transferred wholesale to BEVs, as must surely happen. What do the numbers look like then?
Edit – found one article… 10p/mile tax
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/electric-cars-road-tax-miles-b2007604.html
Which will make the ABD et al
Which will make the ABD et al all get even madder, thinking that cyclists are using the roads that ‘they paid for’…
Yeah – I get that. Fact of
Yeah – I get that. Fact of life but it’s a bugbear of mine that many important issues just can’t be discussed in good time or sensibly. Those ones that everyone thinks (and maybe right) that the first person to bring them up or propose tackling them will lose.
Oh it does indeed. In Windsor
Oh it does indeed. In Windsor, they decided to do a U-turn on LTNs cos some vociferous people spouted s*#t.
congrats to Biniam and look
congrats to Biniam and look forward to the increasing steps to widen participation at all levels.
Somewhat ironic today to see the different stories here in the Tory councils compared to the pro peleton, not to mentioned Will Smith being a hypocrite in his speech when talking about love..and ticking so many cliche boxes that send society backwards not forwards….
Another JV video
Another JV video
The number of comments based on “well, I watched the video, so I know what he should have done” are disappointing.
Apparently it is ok to ignore a give way if you are in a motor vehicle.
“What are brakes for? You clearly see a vehicle with its intention to turn right yet you move further right closer towards it. @theJeremyVine a Militant Cyclist on a ride to nowhere, fakes a narrative then tweet’s about it.”
Reply surrey road cops
“Hi Philippa, The car breaches the Give Way lines (offence) the cyclist moves out and away from danger (correct) the driver keeps going (new offence), the cyclist sounds his horn (legal), the cyclist moves to nearside to avoid collision. To use your wording – what are eyes for?”
So at least I know that I
So at least I know that I shouldn’t move right to make myself more visible if a car is at a side junction, but instead stop and wave them out as indicating to pull out take priority.
I also liked how someone stated he was “speeding” along on his bike.
Although looking at Pippa, is there any surprise that a cyclist is blamed (and she is happy enough to ignore Police advice on the wrongness of that) when she is also a climate change denier, atheist hater, NWO believer, conspiracy spreading, far right supporting, anti-“woke”, Putin supporting “useful little idiot”.
New camera coming to the
New camera coming to the market soon but £250
Would be interested in reviews, although maybe one for motorcyclists.
Ghost XL Pro
4K (4096 X 2160 17:1) 25 FPS
4K UHD (3840 X 2160, 16:9) 24 / 25 / 30 FPS
2.7K (2704 X 1520 16:9) 24 / 25 / 30 / 60 FPS
1080P (1920 X 1080 16:9) 24 / 25 / 30 / 50 / 60 / 100 / 120 FPS
720P (1280 X 720 16:9) 25 / 30 / 48 / 50 / 60 / 200 / 240 FPS
7 hours recording time in 1080p, or 4.5 hours in 4KUHD resolution
MicroSD up to 256GB
I had an earlier iteration of
I had an earlier iteration of the Drift Ghost when I ran a motorbike. I really liked it and regret passing it to another biker when I stopped riding motorbikes.
I didn’t realise that I would have more use for a helmet cam on a bicycle than a mororbike!
Image quality was really good, low light wasn’t bad either. Mine could only do 1080 60 fps. So it could struggle depending on the relative speeds. 1080 at 120 fps on a abicycle should give you what you need.
I may needs to bite the bullet price wise and concider one of these.
I’ve been waiting several
I’ve been waiting several decades to deploy this joke but sadly less scatologically than I was hoping for.
Do you think Robert Plant’s dad had to dismount when he came across a Big Log? Only Heaven Knows for sure.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
I would say almost certainly yes otherwise he’d have been on the ground Dazed and Confused.
His favourite cycling fabric
His favourite cycling fabric was Kashmir. I know….homophone based puns aren’t going to work written down…..
He’s a bit of a fair-weather
He’s a bit of a fair-weather cyclist – you’d be a fool in the rain – but still a keen tourist as he liked to ramble on over the hills and far away.
I know Rock Music fickle
I know Rock Music fickle business but don’t forget Joe Talbot:
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/idles-frontman-joe-talbot-taking-5831018
Add David Byrne (Talking
Add David Byrne (Talking Heads) to the list of cycling musicians, he’s even written a book about his experiences of riding in different cities while on tour.
Kapelmuur wrote:
You may ask yourself, where is that large automobile?
Well, I know where my
Well, I know where my beautiful wife is (because she just texted me) 😉
brooksby wrote:
Everyone should listen to some Talking Heads, at least once in a lifetime
I’m not a fan of anyone who
I’m not a fan of anyone who sings about Cycle Killers. Qu’est-ce que c’est?
The world was moving, she was
The world was moving, she was floating above it, and she was?
Fruitbat, from Carter USM,
Fruitbat, from Carter USM, was a bit of a cyclist IIRC…
Not true. He’s too much of a
RE Fruitbat – Not true. He’s too much of a Fat Bastard.
brooksby wrote:
I once saw Carter play in a back garden in Beckenham. (This is of no relevance to the rest of the discussion, I just like to mention it whenever I get chance)
Steve K wrote:
Fruitbat, from Carter USM, was a bit of a cyclist IIRC…
— Steve K I once saw Carter play in a back garden in Beckenham. (This is of no relevance to the rest of the discussion, I just like to mention it whenever I get chance)— brooksby
I used to drink in the same pub as Carter USM. I felt the need to mention that in response to your need to mention your story 🙂
I want to add Dave Lee Roth
I want to add Dave Lee Roth to the list. I’m not sure why I think he was a cyclist just something in the back of my brain.
I would chip in to a crowd
I would chip in to a crowd funding effort to get Professional Cycling Team to rename itself “Free Ukraine” or “Zelensky” or similar.
I was going to say that if
I was going to say that if cyclists really killed or maimed thousands of people a year, the cycles would be banned.
And then I remembered cars.
Don’t forget the late, truely
Don’t forget the late, truely great Neil Peart was an avid cyclist in his younger yeatrs and wrote a couple of books about his travels. Incidentall Geddy Lee (he’s god man!) first met Robert Plant in a hotel on Morocco when he and his wife were on a cycling holiday.
They didn’t talk with Robert
They didn’t talk with Robert for long – they were in a Rush ???
Anyone seen this ?
Anyone seen this ?
https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/local-transport-today/news/70894/-game-changing-smartphone-app-gathers-evidence-of-speeding
Smartphone app to provide evidence of speedsters.
Not applicable in Lancashire
I really can’t believe that
I really can’t believe that no one mentioned Ginger Baker in the list of cycling rockers!
shoko wrote:
Several people were about to but he hit them first. Some drummers were famed for their fast feet, others…
(I agree but I think after the initial cycling he was more into polo).
How can we have cycling rock
How can we have cycling rock stars but no mention of Peter Gabriel?
Here he is performing Solsbury Hill on a Moulton (he arrived on stage by cycling through the audicence on it).
https://youtu.be/tIl3bMRq0-c?t=65
Cycling rock stars – Bono
Cycling rock stars – Bono famously took a tumble out cycling in Central Park, smashing up his arm, shoulder and face, which led to a great Internet comment – “Tonight thank God it’s him instead of you.”