Mathieu van der Poel casually celebrates big cyclocross win with (very quick) 7km run; Driver crashes into guardrail and Twitter blames cyclists; Saudi Arabia coach compares Argentina win to bike classic; Ineos curse hits Pidcock + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Weekend roundup
From takeaway triathletes to the demise of the Shakedry jacket, here’s what you may have missed on road.cc over the weekend:
> Pro triathlete and Ironman champ Joe Skipper turns Deliveroo cyclist
> Drink driver who ploughed into cyclist with friend riding on bonnet jailed for 14 months
> Emily Bridges: Documentary on transgender cyclist to be broadcast on ITV next week
> Tour de France stage winner in court after allegedly threatening to stab his brother-in-law
The curse of the Ineos cyclocross bike strikes again: Tom Pidcock forced to abandon World Cup after breaking wheel
What is going on with the Ineos Grenadiers’ cyclocross bikes this month?
First, the British team’s marquee signing Pauline Ferrand-Prévot – and her new Pinarello Crossista F – endured a turbulent debut at the Koppenbergcross at the start of the month.
The 13-time multi-discipline world champion’s opening lap in Ineos colours was derailed by a jammed chain and a botched bike change, while yet more gearing issues forced the French rider to shoulder her malfunctioning bike and run up the steep final ascent of the Koppenberg.
Jammed gears were the order of the day almost three weeks later too, as Tom Pidcock’s return to World Cup racing in the rainbow bands at Overijse last weekend was almost scuppered as soon as it got underway by his bike’s refusal to co-operate.
However, an impressive and dramatic effort saw the world champion regain, and then blast clear of the front of the pack – before disaster struck again. On the penultimate lap, Pidcock crashed, breaking his shoe in the process, and letting eventual winner Michael Vanthourenhout slip away for a narrow victory.
Pidcock was on his way to the 2️⃣nd place but a broken wheel forces him to abandon the race! 😱 #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Sz9PPC4sVj
— UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (@UCIcyclocrossWC) November 27, 2022
Well, the Ineos Grenadiers will be hoping that bad luck only comes in threes, as the 23-year-old Yorkshireman suffered yet another bout of bike-related bad luck in Hulst yesterday.
Pidcock – who stormed to victory at the X20 Trofee Kortrijk on Saturday, securing his first win in the rainbow bands – continued his flying form in an epic head-to-head duel with four-time world champion Mathieu van der Poel during the seventh round of this winter’s cyclocross World Cup.
After a mammoth tussle on the brutal, muddy circuit in Hulst, an unfortunate mid-race slip on one of the course’s many steep ramps allowed the Dutchman to finally power clear of his British rival for a winning return to the ‘cross field.
Nevertheless, Pidcock looked set for a strong second place until the Ineos curse struck once again on the last lap. A crash on a tricky descent into a fencepost saw the Ineos rider’s Shimano back wheel buckle and bend like an non-EU-regulated banana.
Man, what is it about the Ineos CX bike that means it doesn’t work in cyclocross races? 😅 https://t.co/5OkEbviJno
— Mathew Mitchell (@MatMitchell30) November 27, 2022
This season’s latest untimely mechanical mishap forced the world champion to initially press on by foot, with his bike draped over his shoulder and the broken wheel waving forlornly in the cold Dutch air, before he finally, and unceremoniously, exited the race by hopping over the barriers and into the crowd.
“I don’t know exactly what happened either,” Pidcock told Het Nieuwsblad after the race. “I think I hit something, maybe that post or maybe something else.
“I’m not quite sure. My wheel broke after that. I walked for a while, but it was still far, and it was of little use.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time this season that Shimano’s wheels have buckled under the pressure. At Paris-Roubaix, two of Jumbo-Visma’s Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 carbon rear wheels folded under their riders on the harsh, cobbled roads of northern France.
> What’s going on with Shimano’s wheels? Two carbon Dura-Ace wheels fold in half at Paris Roubaix
Shimano dead set on promoting this whole non-circular wheel thing but I’m not sure it’ll catch on pic.twitter.com/W8YKPMmoXB
— Ryan Duff (@RyanDuffCycling) November 27, 2022
Commercial tie-in with Pringles?
— Lynne Aldridge (@littleblueshed) November 27, 2022
Never mind the curse of the rainbow jersey, Pidcock will surely be hoping that the ‘curse of the Ineos mechanical’ can be exorcised before his next meeting with Van Aert and Van der Poel…
‘Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lanes?’, Part 3,592
Not sure who would be responsible for this. @MyNottingham or @NottsCC. A driver has driven into the safety barrier on Woodhouse way and it’s sticking out into the Cycle path. Hard to see in the dark!! pic.twitter.com/MXZmKbNUGb
— CycleNotts² (@CycleNott) November 27, 2022
What do you see when you look at the above photo?
The aftermath of some dangerous driving? A safety hazard for cyclists using the bike path?
Nope, not on Twitter you won’t… Over on Elon Musk Island, it’s all the fault of cyclists using flashing lights, apparently.
At least that’s the view of the anti-cycling brigade, who have taken advantage of yesterday’s warning about Nottingham’s new pedestrian barrier of death to indulge in a rare spot of future victim blaming:
Bikes should have lights, if the front one wasn’t flashing you’d see what’s in front of you! Look where your going and take responsibility for your own life!
— supersonic (@eweK97946472) November 28, 2022
Try putting some lights on your bike then.
— Lord Wally of Welly. (@MagnaWatch) November 28, 2022
Try having a light on your bicycle!
— Chris Weldon (@we75376474) November 28, 2022
“Hard to see in the dark” – especially if you’ve not got any lights on your cycle (lots are like this).
— Michael Roots (@MichaelJRoots) November 28, 2022
Must’ve been “hard to see” for the car driver who smashed into it too. Maybe they didn’t have their lights on or more likely not looking where they were going as usual.
As yet no cyclist has hit it.— CuriousDuck (@Wil_bike) November 28, 2022
New desks for the road.cc office?
How cool is this? A library in #Utrecht where you can charge your electric device by cycling!! 🚲 pic.twitter.com/4rZMUDe41D
— Michele Bryans (@Michele_Bryans) November 25, 2022
“It was like a classic, and we were with Van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogačar”: Saudi Arabia manager compares historic victory over Argentina to pro cycling
If you’ve spent any time on Cycling Twitter™ over the past two weeks, you’re bound to have come across bike racing fans cheerfully displaying their ignorance of the great sportswashing kickaround in Qatar by asking their fellow two-wheeled enthusiasts to explain what was happening on the pitch ‘in cycling terms’.
You’ll perhaps be surprised to learn that one of the breakout stars of this most controversial of World Cups, Saudi Arabia manager Hervé Renard, has happily obliged.
Frenchman Renard, who had a spell managing Cambridge United back in 2004, oddly enough, masterminded Saudi Arabia’s sensational comeback win over pre-tournament favourites Argentina (of Lionel Messi fame) with a superb Mike Bassett-inspired halftime team bollocking.
And now it turns out that one of the World Cup’s greatest ever upsets was inspired by the dream of a smash-and-grab breakaway win in one of professional cycling’s monument classics.
No, really.
Magnifique interview d’Hervé Renard, sélectionneur français de l’Arabie Saoudite 🇸🇦 qui compare sa victoire face à l’Argentine 🇦🇷 à une classique de cyclisme 🤩
Merci @Bat pour l’information.
🎥🎙 Interview @beinsports_FR pic.twitter.com/DT2xrcgQVi
— Vélofuté (@VeloFute) November 27, 2022
In an interview with beIN Sports, the dapper 54-year-old revealed that he and his staff are big cycling fans, before comparing his side’s shock win to a Johan Vansummeren or Mat Hayman-style triumph on the road.
“It was a classic, we were with Van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogačar too. And then they looked at each other, and we managed to get away and we crossed the line as winners,” Renard laughed.
More of this please.
Perhaps he’s angling to replace Neil Warnock and Roberto Mancini as the manager of road.cc’s Footballers who Cycle XI?
Post-‘cross warm downs, part two: Tom Pidcock rides home with brother after World Cup disappointment
Some extra training for Tom Pidcock and his brother Joe pic.twitter.com/2PVh6ddpTb
— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) November 27, 2022
As Mathieu van der Poel prepared for his ‘warm down’ run following a triumphant return to cyclocross at the Hulst round of the UCI World Cup, world champion Tom Pidcock attempted to put the disappointment of a last lap crash and bendy back wheel behind him with a relaxing 40 mile spin home.
“It was planned to ride home with my brother,” Pidcock said before heading off with 20-year-old brother Joe, who raced this year for Groupama-FDJ’s development squad and is rumoured to be joining Tom’s alma mater Trinity for 2023.
“Today the ‘cross was done early, so we had that chance. I think it’s about 60km home.”
Hopefully the back wheel of his winter Dogma proved a touch sturdier than the one he raced on earlier in the day…
Where’s that meme when you need it?
You can’t have Low Traffic Neighbourhoods if there are no houses! https://t.co/gYxOXSx6Ra
— Töby Édwãrds (@IsSaddleThereIs) November 28, 2022
Good Vibrations: Bert Van Lerberghe and Grace Verbeke win Belgium’s biggest beach bike race
It’s been a bit cyclocross crazy on the live blog today, so I thought I’d mix things up a bit by sharing the results of yesterday’s… err, beach race in Belgium.
A sort of cross between road racing and the sandier aspects of cyclocross, with a bit of mountain biking thrown in, the De Panne Beach Endurance race is one of the most prestigious events in Belgium and the Netherland’s (where else?) winter beach racing season.
Move over Baywatch, it’s the De Panne Beach Endurance race. Less than 10km to go, livestream at https://t.co/zHrjBGYXaV pic.twitter.com/HwP5ZXRNan
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) November 27, 2022
Attracting over 1,000 participants every year, the De Panne Beach Endurance features 54km – yes, 54km – of windy, beachy brutality, and mixes up the tactical nuances of road racing (unsurprisingly, there are plenty of echelons) with ‘head down, ride hard’ off-road sensibilities.
> Beach slapped: Things to do on a Dutch beach in December… VecchioJo goes beach racing
It even attracts some of the best pros too: the mercurial Frank Vandenbroucke won the second edition in 1997, future Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren took the junior title in 1999, and Canyon-Sram’s Pauliena Rooijakkers (who had a very strong 2022) has won the women’s race twice.
Even the Lion of Flanders Johan Museeuw has raced it, for goodness’ sake.
The eccentric nature of it all was underlined by yesterday’s sprint in the men’s race, which saw Quick-Step’s Bert Van Lerberghe (on a road bike) hold off Bingoal Pauwels Sauces’ veteran Timothy Dupont (on a mountain bike) for the win.
BEKIJK: Wegrenner Bert Van Lerberghe zegeviert in loodzware De Panne Beach Endurance voor Timothy Dupont #beachrace #DePanneBeachEndurance https://t.co/X1IIlzU2Ls pic.twitter.com/50yz3XHxWB
— Sporza 🚴 (@sporza_koers) November 28, 2022
Tim Declercq also proved that ‘El Tractor’ can power over the sand on his way to fourth, while Tour de France stage winner Tim Merlier took fifth, and perennial classics contender Sep Vanmarcke ninth.
In the women’s race, 2010 Tour of Flanders winner Grace Verbeke took her sixth win on the sands of De Panne.
Impressive stuff. Can’t say I want to rush to the seaside to try it, mind you…
“It was a crazy idea”: French football fans finally make it to Qatar for World Cup… after cycling 7,000km in three months
Avid readers of the live blog will remember Mehdi Balamissa and Gabriel Martin, two French football supporters who decided to show their undying love for Les Bleus (and sustainable transport) by cycling almost 7,000km from Paris to Doha for this month’s World Cup.
Balamissa, a documentary filmmaker, and TV producer Martin came up with the idea of riding their bikes to Qatar after cycling the still-considerable journey to northern Italy for the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals.
And, after setting off from the Stade de France on 20 August, they’ve finally made it to world football’s greatest “spectacle” (alright, today’s matches have been decent I suppose).
“It was a crazy idea, but we’re the kind of people that have big ideas and don’t want to have any regrets,” Balamissa told CNN after triumphantly arriving in Doha.
“So, since we are both self-employed, we decided to block off three months of our time and come to Qatar.”
The pair hope their mammoth trip, which took them through 13 countries, will help promote the benefits of sustainable transport (as you long as you forget all the oil-based sportswashing going on at the World Cup itself of course) and said that they plan to offer cycling workshops to children from disadvantaged backgrounds when they get home.
As well as riding their bikes for the greater good, the lads’ epic journey also earned them a few, more tangible, benefits: the French Football Federation (FFF) has invited the pair to meet the team and has given them tickets for all three of France’s group games, while manager Didier Deschamps also presented each of them with a national jersey signed by the players.
“Everything here is revolving around the World Cup. We’re very excited to keep discovering the country,” Balamissa said.
“Many French people are super nice with us here and are proposing to take us places: to restaurants to visit different things.”
While Balamissa and Martin are enjoying the Doha life, the trip to get there was far from straightforward. At one point, the two cyclists were forced to travel 15 hours to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to find a bike repair shop… before taking another 15 hours just to get back to the spot where one of their bikes had broken.
“We had many troubles, but we fixed them as we went,” Martin told CNN.
“In this kind of trip, you have to be really flexible. In fact, the main part of the trip is to be flexible and to just adapt to every situation the best you can. I think we did well, actually.”
Balamissa added: “There were so many best moments. For instance, when we finished crossing Europe. It was absolutely fabulous. We crossed from the European part of Istanbul to the Asian side across the bridge.”
“Usually, that’s forbidden [by bike],” Martin said, “but we negotiated with the local police for hours and hours and they just followed us to protect us on the bridge. People along the way were so generous and kind.”
“It was very special when we got to Qatar because it meant it was the end of this crazy trip and this lifestyle that we actually enjoyed a lot,” Balamissa said.
“We’re staying until the final because France is going to win, of course,” Martin joked to CNN. “We wouldn’t have come on our bikes otherwise.”
I hope they have their mudguards on…
Rein Taaramäe & Madis Mihkels are preparing the new season in Estonia ❄️ pic.twitter.com/v0sRo5TASq
— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) November 28, 2022
Cyclists who run: From Pidcock and MVDP to Yates, Dumoulin, and – of course – Chris Froome
Mathieu van der Poel’s staggeringly quick sub-27-minute 7km run – he had just finished rampaging around a cyclocross course for an hour, after all – got us thinking about other pro cyclists fond of donning their running shoes during the off-season.
Back in February 2021, MVDP’s ‘cross rival, and current world champion, Tom Pidcock famously wound up the entire running community by uploading a post claiming to have run a 13:26 5km, just five seconds slower than the British record.
The greatest running achievement by a pro cyclist of all time, or a just a simple case of a dodgy GPS? I’ll let you decide…
But while cyclocrossers tend to incorporate running into their training – those bikes aren’t going to shoulder themselves – even some of the peloton’s road-only contingent have displayed some serious running chops during the colder months.
10 kilometer in 32 minuten en 38 seconden! Het leverde Tom Dumoulin een tweede plaats op in zijn Maastricht.https://t.co/8VypQG0fCI
🇳🇱 #wielrennen #hardlopen #GroeneLoperRun #Maastricht pic.twitter.com/zuUT6vHdRT
— WielerFlits.nl (@WielerFlits) November 14, 2021
This time last year, Adam Yates clocked a sub-three-hour effort at the Barcelona Marathon straight “off the beach”, while a week later the now-retired Tom Dumoulin finished second at the Groene Loper Run in his hometown of Maastricht, covering the 10km in a blistering time of 32:38, just 17 seconds behind the winner.
Meanwhile, any running-cycling crossover can’t be complete without the inclusion of L39ION of Los Angeles pro Freddy Ovett, the son of Olympic-winning middle distance runner Steve, and friend of marathon icon Eliud Kipchoge (who also, it turns out, likes to go for a spin on his bike).
Last year, Ovett proved he inherited some of his father’s running legs too, clocking an impressive 2:48.55 at the Los Angeles Marathon (sorry, Adam…).
Of course, it would be remiss of us if we neglected to mention the single greatest cyclist running moment of all time.
Cue the Benny Hill theme…
A day in the life of MVDP: Mathieu van der Poel casually warms down with (very quick) 7km run after winning cyclocross World Cup race
He’s back 👋🥇
Matthieu Van Der Poel takes the win in the Men Elite race in Hulst 🇳🇱 #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/GUtoIxGqV4
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) November 27, 2022
This Mathieu van der Poel fella’s a decent bike rider, isn’t he? I reckon he could go places…
After a rather inauspicious end to a tumultuous road racing season, it didn’t take long for the big Dutchman to get back to doing what he does best: destroying the field at cyclocross races.
At yesterday’s World Cup event in Hulst, Van der Poel – starting his first ‘cross race in over eleven months and despite an inconvenient fourth row start and two early crashes – looked like he’d never been away from a muddy field, storming through the pack on the diabolically difficult Dutch course.
Former World Champion van der Poel 🌈 didn’t miss his start in 🇳🇱 Hulst. After a fast start he is one of the seven riders in front of the race after the first lap. #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/4zFbVQZEVb
— UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (@UCIcyclocrossWC) November 27, 2022
Capitalising on a mid-race mistake by Tom Pidcock (more on the world champion later) on one of the course’s desperately steep, wall-like ramps, Van der Poel powered away to secure his first win on the cyclocross bike since he took the rainbow bands in Oostende, way back in January 2021.
👑 Mathieu van der Poel is back!
📍Hulst 🇳🇱
✅ First race of the season.
✅ First win. #CXWorldCup pic.twitter.com/uRCfOaSCJ9— UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup (@UCIcyclocrossWC) November 27, 2022
So, how did the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider kick back and relax after his sprightly return to the ‘cross field, on a brutal course that involved as much running up massive mud walls as it did bike riding?
By running a further seven kilometres, that’s how.
The 27-year-old took to Strava last night to share his ‘tempo celebration run’, which saw him cover his 7km ‘warm down’ in just under 27 minutes.
Not quite as quick as Pidcock’s infamous 13:25 5km run from February 2021 – the result of a GPS error and not Olympic track athlete legs, it turned out – but I’m sure he’s happy with his nice ‘race and run’ day out…
28 November 2022, 09:41
28 November 2022, 09:41
28 November 2022, 09:41
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Latest Comments
The death of this young lad is a tragedy, and my thoughts are with his family. While Adam Hansen is right about the system used to control external traffic on a race, his comments about helmets are misplaced. “One thing we have to look at is helmets,” Hansen said. “They need a major upgrade. Bike helmets only need to meet standard testing like all helmets, EU standard CE EN 1078 is only rated for 19.5kph and I do not believe this is enough for road racing.” He's right that the standard is insufficient for road racing, but it is also insufficient for daily use, as all the reliable data shows that they don't reduce deaths. We don't know what the collision speed was in this incident, but assuming that the driver was doing 50kph and Finlay was doing something similar, a combined speed of 100kph, there is no helmet on earth that would have prevented the death. Even if such a helmet existed, it seems likely that other injuries would have been serious enough to have caused death. Another problem is that any helmet that could prevent brain damage in a 100kph collision would be the size of a transit van and weigh about the same, completely impractical to use. I haven't looked at the figures recently, but last time I did, the helmet rule for professional riders hadn't reduced the death rate, with the obvious caveat that the figures are too small to be reliable. I can understand Adam Hansen's immediate reaction to the needless waste of a young life, I hope calmer reflection will lead to the problems with the system being addressed, not a futile attempt to make helmets effective.
@Clem Fandango - I feel like some of the bands at ArcTanGent belong in this discussion
@mikeclarke Well, no, "pedelec" is not really that helpful a term because it doesn't actually refer to a 250 W 25 km/h electrically assisted bicycle, it can refer to any electrically assisted bicycle where the power is only supplied when the pedals are being turned. In many jurisdictions, including the UK and EU, the power and speed are legally restricted to the above mentioned figures, but that does not apply everywhere plus it's very easy to buy 500 watt or even 1000 watt pedelecs in the UK, they're just not legal for road use. Pedelec has no legal status as a term in UK law, the correct term for a 250W 25km/h electrically assisted bicycle that requires the pedals to be turned before power is supplied is an EAPC.
At least he sounds like a cyclist and hopefully not just passing through as a step on the greasy pole like the last few.
PEDELEC is the correct name for a bicycle powered by human muscles via pedals assisted by an electric motor limited to 250 Watts that cannot exceed 15.5 mph under power. Why do the media insist on labelling these as E-Bikes thus confusing the general public and politicians. Strictly speaking, a pedal-assist bicycle limited to 250W and 25 km/h is a pedelec (pedal electric cycle), whereas a true e-bike can operate via a hand throttle without any pedaling. The media label everything an "E-Bike" for several practical reasons: Linguistic SimplicityShorter and punchier: "E-bike" has two syllables and is easy to say in headlines. Catchall umbrella term: General vocabulary evolves faster than technical or legal definitions. Public recognition: Most consumers already know the phrase "e-bike," making niche terms like pedelec or EPAC less commercially effective for broad communication. Media and Political Impact/Sensationalism: Lumping all motorised cycles together makes it easier to write dramatic stories about speed, weight, or pavement/sidewalk danger. Policy confusion: Politicians react to generalised media terms, sometimes blurring the legal lines between a gentle 250W pedelec and a high-powered throttle bike or a 45 km/h speed pedelec.
@andystow I think that hand beats the house, but I still wouldn't raise the bet. The only way to win is not to play
With all due respect to Adam Hansen, his comments regarding helmets are not helpful at this time. Thankfully it seems to be a minor part in his message to the more significant issue of how rolling road blocks are managed, but I question the inclusion of it in this brief. Measures for race course management may be immediately implementable, but any changes to safety equipment would take R&D, QC, and production time, and all that after the discussion of the minimum efficacy and overall role of helmets can be agreed. A topic infamous for never being resolved to anyone's satisfaction. The Tarling family don't need knee-jerk reactions to already contentious debates distracting from their grief, and the riders in the peloton need effective changes to give assurance that their safety is paramount in the minds of the race organisers. *Edit - I commented here before I caught up on the daily blog, seems the head of EF has similar concerns but in fewer words.
@ChrisA I don't see your point. A Tesla Cybertruck is common way for moneyed inbreds to self-identity in the US but they're illegal to import and register across western Europe. A to-code American suburban family home by UK building regulations is nothing but a glorified garden shed. Legal definitions of acceptable standards differ between different countries, bicycles are no different.
On a bicycle you say...
24 thoughts on “Mathieu van der Poel casually celebrates big cyclocross win with (very quick) 7km run; Driver crashes into guardrail and Twitter blames cyclists; Saudi Arabia coach compares Argentina win to bike classic; Ineos curse hits Pidcock + more on the live blog”
Was there a, now removed,
Was there a, now removed, crime article this morning?
.
.
Yes. But it’s been nicked, unfortunately.
.
Boom boom
Boom boom
hutchdaddy wrote:
One of my favourite Basil Brush jokes is…
Two terrorists walk into a bar…
https://twitter.com
“This is why cyclists ride IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. This happens so often here where drivers just don’t look before they pull out.”
CyclistInASkirt bemoans a car pulling out quite quickly and far from a line of parked cars.
There was an interesting drivist response:
“Nah it’s really difficult to see oncoming traffic from that parked position when parked. You have to pull out to get good view. Your responsibility to anticipate hazards.”
As I pointed out in response:
“The driver has a responsibility not to create a hazard. For example, parking against the flow of traffic is poor driving and inevitably leads to a problem when exiting a space. HWC 239: ‘do not park facing against the traffic flow’ Whose problem is it now?”
The interesting thing being that a commenter could think that it is reasonable for drivers to drive hazardously and a cyclist is responsible for dealing with it.
Edit: Another comment, representative of an attitude we see a lot, it is only a “DO NOT” park on the wrong side of the road so it isn’t illegal. That makes it OK then?
IanMSpencer wrote:
All that. But also cycling “in the middle of the road” like that is anticipating hazards, which was exactly CyclistInASkirt’s point that was missed by that particular drivist.
Steve K wrote:
Indeed, as by just about all the other drivists in the thread who jump through hoops to say the driving was ideal.
Dash cam you uk
Dash cam you uk
Couple of young oiks followed by a rather drunk cyclist !
https://youtu.be/A5lN60tZv00?t=28
This one made my blood boil. I hope the police driver has been removed from the roads until they can prove they can drive without putting people in danger.
Also within that episode there are some horrendous driving round roundabouts the wrong way, one of which could easily have been fatal.
That one also illustrates the
That one also illustrates the issue with the blind overtakes that a worrying amount of drivers see no issue with (e.g, the ones right before junctions) – what happened when he was presented with an oncoming vehicle? He panicked and swerved back towards the cyclist he hadn’t finished overtaking.
If the dashcam vehicle would have been a second or so “earlier” up the road, the overtaking vehicle would have hit the cyclist.
That’s one of my bugbears
That’s one of my bugbears with essex police. I submit the same blind bend (NSL, oncoming traffic 50+, passing traffic 45+, me up hill less than 10). They don’t give more than a letter but I’m the one who will be a KSI.
The driving-the-wrong-way
The driving-the-wrong-way-around-roundabouts were particularly terrifying.
On the pulling-out-in-front-of-someone-on-a-roundabout ones, the cynical part of me would love to see an exterior shot to see whether the dashcammer was correctly indicating…
Of course you should nto amke
Of course you should not make any assumptions on indicators alone…
Actually heard the indicator on one this week though but as you do, always wonder if there was an indicator on.
There are a few junctions
There are a few junctions near me where the occasional driver who correctly indicates actually takes me by surprise.
There did seem to be a spate
There did seem to be a spate of driving the wrong side of the road / islands / junctions. Just a coincidence they were mostly in the same video or a trend of driving behaviour getting even worse?
Although the one red light jump, wouldn’t in theory qualify if they initially went over the lines when green but got delayed.
I had to re-watch that. I
I had to re-watch that. I thought it was an Ambulance at first, not a police car.
On the subject of poor driving standard for Police, the other week I was commuting home along here. A police car, a normal car and a police van were driving ahead of me approching this mini-roundabout.
Now there is only one MUST rule in the Highway code in relation to any Roundabout, all the rest are just advisory. So guess which was the only vehicle of the four of us to follow that rule. (And I don’t mean just the right side wheels touching it, it was treated like it wasn’t even on the road).
https://metro.co.uk/2022/11
It was the first Sunday in
It was the first Sunday in Advent yesterday, beginning the season of goodwill to all men (obvs and any type of gender, gender identification etc etc).
So more of a plea than a request.
Can people stop feeding the usual suspects for a season. It is utterly tedious and a bit offputting to see a wall of disgreement down to minutiae repeated ad nauseum.
I’m not expecting people to ignore clear lies or misinformation but perhaps people could do a bit of triage and limit themselves to one or two rebutals of the most important disinformation posts.
And of course avoid telling then to eff off. We don’t want the police on here claiming public order offences !
hirsute wrote:
Well said. I’ve been trying to follow your sage advice, though I occasionally I fail.
hirsute wrote:
Indeed.
Haven’t bothered participating on the site in ages, it’s just become a wank-fest of intolerance. Surely there’s an ignore facility, so the regular offenders can be blocked?
You can ignore people with
You can ignore people with ublock origin and adding in a rule., however there is no forum facility as found elsewhere.
Thanks for the advice
Thanks for the advice @hirsute.
Perhaps road.cc could consider a fully functioning forum before offering a subscription service. Being able to block certain posters would be worth the subscription fee alone. Without such a feature, I’ll just take my views elsewhere, you know, to sites that value the interactions of their members.
Count me in.
Count me in.
There is a programme on
There is a programme on Talking Pictures tv tonight about cycling in the 1960’s as part of the Look at Life series. Might be quite interesting, it’s only on for fifteen minutes I think and it’s probably been on before (and will be again). 22:45 I think.
Sad to see how in France the
Sad to see how in France the advantages of front loading touring bicycles have been all but forgotten.