The joy of British bike lanes in autumn — leaves and puddles aplenty; Daily Mail columnist calls LTN supporters “Traffic Taliban”; Who’s seen the worst bike rack?; Don’t talk to Thomas De Gendt about Elon Musk; S-1; Friday fun + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
The return of 'who's seen the worst bike rack'...
Yesterday we shared a road.cc reader’s petition to make bike storage pods a requirement for all new building developments, prompting a few comments of your own — starring more hilariously sad, grim and disappointing bike storage from your two-wheeled travels…
Woldsman got the ball rolling with this classic — a place to park your bike which comes with free foliage…
I’m sensing a Friday game of ‘whose seen the worst bike rack?’
“At least they made an effort,” Woldsman told us about this next one… now just to work out how to get your bike over the spiky fence… that’s a big bunny hop…
And finally, “the unloved and unused wheel benders”… courtesy of Homebase…
Roll up, roll up… anyone for a crap bike rack?
Don't talk to Thomas De Gendt about Elon Musk
Ah yes, the Elon Musk blue bird app era… there are seemingly two types of people reacting to this news… those like Adam Hansen and those like Thomas De Gendt…
Instant blocked.
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) October 28, 2022
Just the 52 Grand Tours between the two, by the way… 46 of those completed!
Anyway, back to Musk. The new Twitter owner (who, in everyone’s favourite joke this morning, spent $44billion on a free app…) has popped up on road.cc before, mainly for his Tesla antics…
By antics I mean deciding the best way to solve congestion in big cities is to send traffic…underground in great big tunnels…
Also on Musk’s greatest hits… claiming Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Beta (FSD) had not been responsible for a single collision since its release… only for a YouTuber to capture footage of his vehicle smashing into a cycle lane bollard weeks later…
Oh, and then there was the 2016 comments about it being “morally reprehensible” to delay the release of autonomous vehicles.
You've heard of N+1, but what about S-1?
Quite extraordinarily considering how grim the comments over on Facebook can be sometimes, I’m thinking I should be giving comment of the day to one from there…
Talking about yesterday’s N+1 chat, Michael Irwin introduced us to a whole new phenomenon… S-1…
Commenting on the road.cc reader’s bike-packed garage… Michael told us “the S-1 formula can save you. Where S is the number of bikes results that in separation. It’s where your spouse says, ‘If you get one more bike, so help me, I’ll…!’ Of course finding that threshold can be a little tricky.”
Write that one down…
Also from Facebook, Pete Whelan told us: “N+1 peaked at 36 for myself — wife and two children. Three of them were tandems. Now down to more manageable levels now it’s just two of us, though two recumbent trikes take up a lot of space.”
Lawrence Hallett says he’s “managed to get to N+8″…
Halloween inspiration
Time for more of these memes… we’ve had a couple on the live blog already, but get ready for the next batch…
— Gasstationfoodcyclist (@thegsfc) October 24, 2022
I know what I want to be for Halloween #cycling pic.twitter.com/fiEVASF1XN
— mistress of hellvetica (@sexandtheswiss) October 26, 2022
Even Park Tool got in on the act…
Dress your best this Halloween season. pic.twitter.com/rVSRWD2dp7
— Park Tool (@parktool) October 26, 2022
Round Two... Worst cycle rack contenders from Crystal Palace Football Club, Aldi, local medical centre, an Aussie car park and apartment buildings
You’ve been getting your submissions in for a couple of hours now, so let’s take a look…
My personal favourite so far…”The builder refused to change these,” nniff told us…
Must be something about apartment buildings trying to do bike storage because this from VanDerBike is an instant classic…
“When stored vertically, can’t lock anything other than the wheels. Hence it’s used like this…”
Next up, Steve K shared a snap of the ‘official’ bike parking at Crystal Palace Football Club…superb stuff…
Tom_77 shared the “bike rack outside my local medical centre. Someone screwed a floor-standing bike stand to the wall. Bent wheels and a blocked pavement. Obviously I use the green metal things instead.” We can see why…
hirsute offered an Aldi favourite…
Lastly, antigee sent a contender in from Down Under, Melbourne to be precise. Found right at the “far far end of massive car park probably a 1km walk to the numerous shops/eateries it was intended to serve. Presumably the ‘no cycling’ sign was added to confirm that it was underutilised and so could be removed to add more car parking spaces.”
Daily Mail columnist calls LTN supporters "Traffic Taliban"
LTNs are back on the hit list in the Daily Mail today as features writer Louise Perry called for the “ill-conceived schemes” of the “Traffic Taliban” to be scrapped to “undo the anguish” they have caused…
Am I the traffic taliban? pic.twitter.com/o7m2UMNTmc
— Hirra حرا (@hirr4) October 27, 2022
Despite:
– A 2021 study showing road injuries were halved in low-traffic neighbourhoods when compared against areas without the schemes
– Transport for London analysis showing that LTNs in Hackney had not caused a rise in traffic on nearby main roads (and encouraged a quarter of residents to cycle more)
– Ambulance trusts saying the schemes, along with pop-up cycle lanes, did not slow their response times
Perry wrote that LTNs in south London were hitting businesses and residents, and cited Department for Transport figures which “reveal that LTNs have spectacularly backfired, actually increasing the total number of vehicles miles travelled”.
What the Department for Transport figures showed is that the total vehicle miles driven in ten inner London boroughs that introduced LTNs or equivalent schemes in 2020 rose by 11.4 per cent (an average of 41 million miles) in 2021 compared to 2020…
The two inner London boroughs that did not implement the schemes saw an average rebound of 29 million miles or 8.9 per cent. But are LTNs the sole reason for a traffic increase? The Department for Transport did not comment, The Times newspaper admitted “the figures do not prove a link between LTNs and more miles being driven”.
> 10 of the most hysterical anti-cycling Daily Mail headlines
Anyway, Perry’s “Traffic Taliban” column goes on to suggest families in London have to drive, and cycling with children, in a cargo bike for example, would be “nearly impossible” and you would be “lucky” to have a bus going where you want to go…(apparently)…
Commenting on similar schemes in Oxford, Perry writes:
Oxford politics has always been skewed by the presence of its two large universities.
During term time, almost a quarter of Oxford adult residents are full-time students — the overwhelming majority of whom are childless, able-bodied, and not looking after elderly or disabled relatives. Of course these young adults are going to be in favour of the council’s war on cars, particularly when it’s presented as a woke, eco-friendly endeavour.
They can virtue-signal without any cost to themselves. But across the country, these measures are causing so widespread misery, dividing neighbourhoods and only making traffic worse.
Now that we have proof that they do not achieve their environmental aims, councils across the country must think again. It’s time to scrap these ill-conceived schemes — and undo the anguish they have caused to so many.
"So you must be the new Head of Uncertainty...nice to meet you, I'm Dave from HR"
Fitting. The Department for Transport is hiring a “Head of Uncertainty” pic.twitter.com/UTq592JGzt
— Josiah Mortimer (@josiahmortimer) October 26, 2022
Required:
– Must know ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ off by heart
– Must have at least five years in a similarly ambiguous, undefined role
– Clear strategy and planning will not be required, we like things uncertain
Benefits:
– Competitive salary (well, it is sometimes, other times not so much)
– 14-25 days paid holiday (maybe)
The school run — Glasgow-style
The school run, Glasgow-style (with added ghouls) https://t.co/JXvvoH8ZSw
— Danny Williams (@citycyclists) October 28, 2022
DIY tubeless inserts for less than £10 - cheap gravel bike upgrade
Round three... An Italian (half-arsed) job and a back alley bike rack
Two more challengers enter the ring…
First up, road.cc Simon’s Italian adventure took him to Ferrara, Emilia Romagna, which — while a terrific city for cycling — had this bike rack leaving a fair bit to be desired…
“There was row upon row of these wheel-benders, hundreds upon hundreds of spaces (this was late on a Saturday evening, it was a bit busier come Monday morning). Quite a novel way of locking, too (also bonus team sponsor top right, big old Fassa Bortolo hopper)”
What about this back-alley offering from Brian Haugh? Nothing says you’re a valued road user like having to go park your bike out back with the bins and empty bottles…
“This is the bike parking at my office, in theory it’s quite good being a courtyard yard with swipe access but our neighbours — the pub/nightclub — seem to feel that it would be a better space for bin storage. You can imagine the broken glass.”
"It's those canalists hogging the road space again when there's a perfectly good waterway"
canalist’s, there’s a perfectly good canal just up the road but do they use it. no. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/6SKPNFjrvB
— Christopher Lang (@langoo) October 27, 2022
Where is the worst place to ride a bike?
A cyclist from Guildford has made the bold claim that Surrey is “the worst place in the world” he has ever ridden. Not because of the rolling climbs or anything else landscape-based, nope, but because of the standard of driving on display.
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“I’ve cycled on-road and off-road and raced all over the world as well. There are good and bad drivers everywhere — but certainly in the south-east the standard of driving falls below a level that any sane person would want to see on the roads,” Jon Sharpe told Get Surrey.
“If I’m honest, I think Surrey is the worst place in the world I’ve ever ridden. That all comes down to the quality of driver and I’ve ridden in a lot of places you’d think cycling would be a worse experience, but Surrey is by far the worse place to be on the road.
“There are no excuses for putting people’s lives in harm’s way and you shouldn’t be on the road if you’re driving like this. We have a duty of care to protect those that are vulnerable, on the road or in wider society, and that message really needs to get out there.”
I’m sure there’ll be no shortage of suggestions… where is the worst place to ride a bike? I’ll go first — indoors.
The joy of British bike lanes in autumn — leaves and puddles aplenty
Despite the unseasonably mild temperatures this week some things never change…
Q. Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lanes which “cost millions”?
A. Because they are full of leaves and water.
Hoping @OneTrafford will sweep the whole length of Talbot Rd & Stretford Rd – feel free to add your own leaf strewn stretch pic.twitter.com/3wNYeRc8of— Deborah (@UrmstonDeb) October 27, 2022
You can always count on a British bike lane to become a treacherous ice rink of leaves and standing water come the time we turn our clocks back…
Deborah asked the council to get sweeping, something one reply suggested they had been doing on the other side of the road at another stretch. A bit more of that would be greatly appreciated up and down the country I’m sure…
Anyway, let’s have a Friday throwback to another unbeleafable bike lane (also in Manchester)…
“Where do you reckon the boss wants us to sweep these leaves to?”
“Oh, just push ’em into the leaf collection lane…”
Have a good weekend everyone!
The live blog will be back on Monday…enjoy your weekend riding! We’ll leave you with this…
📢 WHOSE STREETS?
📢 OUR STREETS.We’re in #TowerHamlets outside Chisenhale Primary School where this morning young protestors have faced down workmen and diggers coming to rip out their School Street. 1/6 pic.twitter.com/Snjq12rNGl
— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) October 27, 2022
28 October 2022, 08:11
28 October 2022, 08:11
28 October 2022, 08:11
28 October 2022, 08:11
28 October 2022, 08:11
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Latest Comments
@Mr Blackbird Fair points, though I was wondering if doing the climb and descent on a standard bike and swapping to TT for the flat section would have been worth it? Certainly quite a few riders seemed to be having handling difficulties maintaining the best line on the descent with their TT machines.
No. The climb wasn't severely steep and allowed a reasonable speed to be maintained on a TT bike, his bike handling skills on road or TT bike are outstanding for the descent and on a road bike he would have lost a lot of time on the flat last 9k section. Terrific performance by him though!
Would he have performed better on his normal bike?
the National Bus and Rail Union told the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) the following month, saying the requirements (making the cyclist scum wear helmets and HiViz) would, “make the roads a safer place, as it would make potential hazards easier to spot.” Nothing to do with driver behaviour then? Stagecoach is even putting intimidating threats against cyclists on the side of the buses now! ttps://upride.cc/incident/px60beo_stagecoach41-closepass/
.......the government was focused on the “enormity of the e-scooter problem” Just wait until they find out how absolutely effing gigantic the car problem is. The whole thing is just motornormativity at government level, and while Ciarán Cannon talks sense, Seán Canney is fecking eejit.
40% of fatal road incidents (70 deaths p.a.) in Ireland involve excess alcohol. Pass a law mandating compulsory alcohol interlocks for all motor vehicles and see what that does for road safety first.
@mitsky I didn't say it was applicable in this case or that I thought it should be, I was simply answering your question as to whether anyone had ever shot someone and been charged with anything other than murder or attempted murder, to which the answer is yes.
@perce The new troll, my friend, is solely piss and wind, the new troll is solely piss and wind.
Very correct price for a basic, no-frills frameset. Older and wiser -after a warranty case on a '100 year' Ti frameset that lasted 5 years before a drive side chain stay weld said sayonara- I'll never again purchase a really high cost Ti frame. If the replacement -3999 Euro at retail but I paid 800, which is what it took for them to +- honour the warranty- fails, I'm done. Firstly because they do fail. Titanium is very finicky where welding conditions are concerned and good luck with that warranty, better read the wording very carefully. Secondly, often the price is justified with 'it's a frame for life'. Errrr....yes, unless you decide you want something different after 5 years, it breaks or technology evolves to a point where your frameset becomes aa anachronism and after 10 years you can start hunting for spares(UDH and disc brakes, anyone?). Third: I'm getting a bit tired reading about these so-called 'magical' properties of Ti. The only magical thing about it is the corrosion resistance. All that absorbing of vibrations etc is mainly function of frame design/geometry. If you want vibration damping: larger tires, lower pressure, done.
True,but I can't count thé number of times I've seen him on TV as an invited expert for comments since
60 thoughts on “The joy of British bike lanes in autumn — leaves and puddles aplenty; Daily Mail columnist calls LTN supporters “Traffic Taliban”; Who’s seen the worst bike rack?; Don’t talk to Thomas De Gendt about Elon Musk; S-1; Friday fun + more on the live blog”
I did post this before –
I did post this before – ‘customer choice’
This may not look like a bike
This may not look like a bike rack, but it is the official bike parking at Crystal Palace Football Club.
Steve K wrote:
That’s an interesting design. Presumably totally approved by health and safety experts.
Absolutely. Especially when
Absolutely. Especially when it’s full with bikes up both sides of the stairs.
Good grief.
Good grief.
A couple of more recent stadiums are much better … I’ve parked my bike at the Emirates (you need to know the secure parking is there, though, it’s not exactly advertised) but the best I’ve seen has to be the nearest ground to me, Brentford, double-deck parking with lots of space.
Having said that, when I cycled over there with my friend to go to the Germany v Austria QF in the Euros, I decided we should park at the rack on the east side of the stadium (near the away end), turned out that was very isolated and a bit of a schlep round to our entrance, I’d have had misgivings about leaving the bike there were it not for the fact there would be a security presence there throughout the match.
The bike parking on the other side (NW corner, shown in the pic below) on the other hand is 20 metres from the stands and due to presence of stewards etc on a Brentford matchday is about as secure as it gets.
I’ve cycled to 23 different
I’ve cycled to 23 different football grounds. Parking varied massively. As you say, Brentford is excellent. I hadn’t realised there were racks at the away end, so parked at the home end and had to walk three quarters of the way round the ground to get to the away end. But I agree the away end ones felt very isolated.
Much that I hate to say it Brighton was also excellent (although the police wanted to kettle me with the rest of the away fans back to the station!).
But the best was Liverpool, who had free, manned parking and would even supply a lock if needed. This was 2017 – no idea if they still do it.
Most UK clubs don’t provide
Most UK clubs don’t provide any cycling park facilities at all, rarely promote active travel, and will happily delay kick off due to traffic congestion around grounds.
Dutch cliche alert, but I believe Ajax have 3000 cycle spaces around the Amsterdam arena you can use.
stonojnr wrote:
I’d prefer it if they completely ignored active travel, rather than putting this on the website with a straight face. I expect they want to be able to point to evidence that they are encouraging active travel for the planning application for the new stand at the ground.
Got my COVID jab at the
Got my COVID jab at the madgesky, foolishly followed the drivest signs and ended up in a really shitty car park. After riding back to the stadium I locked up my bicycle to a giant lamppost, right in front of the shop, big chain lock.
Before the booster I checked out Google maps, still couldn’t find anything virtually. Even went around the stadium twice.
Went to get the booster, rode to the front of the stadium like any normal cyclist (ignoring drivist instructions) and there they were, well secured Sheffield stands, many too. Nice. Good and close too.
Is that the actual bike that
Is that the actual bike that you took to a whole season of Palace matches?
SimoninSpalding wrote:
In the Liverpool pic? Yes, a 2012 Charge Juicer Hi.
The bike rack in my apartment
The bike rack in my apartment building…
VanDerBike wrote:
That rack looks like it’s designed to hold bikes vertically. Space-saving (when used correctly) but also difficult to use with non-standard bikes such as tandems or if someone has upper body mobility issues.
But when stored vertically,
But when stored vertically, can’t lock anything other than the wheels. Hence it’s used like this
VanDerBike wrote:
Vertical bike storage is always a bad idea in public spaces, though can be fine in a locked garage etc.
I don’t understand why public bike parking is over-designed to take up as little space as possible, yet car parking bays are usually designed around the largest vehicles and don’t seem to be optimised at all. There’s also the issue that a lot of bike park designers seem to be on crack and just love to come up with crazy designs even though they can barely remember what a bike looks like.
Multistory car parks are
Multistory car parks are wrong on so many levels.
chrisonatrike wrote:
The iRobot advertorial film showed the future of car storage:
However, ICE vehicles can’t be stored like that as the engine oil sludge gets moved around.
That idea was tried during
That idea was tried during the early 1970s in the US, to move new cars by rail. I wouldn’t like to write the risk-assessment for this now …
The 1960’s version of that at
The 1960’s version of that at the “futruristic” Bull Ring Shopping Centre
Bull Ring Centre Opened (1964) – YouTube (36 seconds in)
Bike rack outside my local
Bike rack outside my local medical centre. Someone screwed a floor-standing bike stand to the wall. Bent wheels and a blocked pavement.
Obviously I use the green metal things instead.
These are amateur. The
Those are amateur. The builder refused to change these…..
Wow. Is that future-proofing
Wow. Is that future-proofing for hover-bikes?
Excellent rack…far far end
Excellent rack…far far end of massive carpark probably a 1km walk to the numerous shops/eateries it was intended to serve presumably the “no cycling” sign was added to confirm that it was underutilised and so could be removed to add more car parking spaces (South Wharf retail, Melbourne, Aus)
Are you expected to shoulder
Are you expected to shoulder your bike and carry it to the bike stands?
…how about narrowest shared
…how about narrowest shared path?
The approach to Clifton
The approach to Clifton Suspension Bridge from, er, Clifton (in Bristol).
I haven’t got photos, but my
I haven’t got photos, but my dentist (on a small industrial estate) used to have some wheelbenders bolted to the ground in a car park round the corner, hidden away behind the big commercial wheelie bins (I used to have to actually move bins out of the way to be able to use the parking).
The last time I went, I went round there as usual and the bike stand had gone.
Quickly trying to work out where I could lock my bike up, I found the stand. It had been unbolted and moved to a grass verge round the corner where it stood, not bolted to anything and (for some reason) covered with ants
I spent some time in Ferrara,
I spent some time in Ferrara, Emilia Romagna last month, and it is a terrific city for cycling, pretty much Dutch (and nowadays, Parisian) levels of people on bikes.
But some of the cycle parking … my walk to and from the centre took me past some of the university faculties, and there was row upon row of these wheel-benders, hundreds upon hundreds of spaces (this was late on a Saturday evening, it was a bit busier come Monday morning).
Quite a novel way of locking, too.
(Also bonus team sponsor top right, big old Fassa Bortolo hopper).
Re the story of the OAP fined
Re the story of the OAP fined £100 for cycling in Grimbsby. The story has made it to the House of Lords
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/lords/?id=2022-10-27a.1545.0&s=cycling#g1545.5
The Earl of Clancarty Crossbench
My Lords, Kingdom Security issued 553 fines on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council in the last year alone. One of those £100 fines was to a pensioner who was cycling in Grimsby town centre—something he had done for the last 40 years and there was no clear signage to say that anything had changed. It may be that the cycling ban is a good thing, but surely a warning would have been sufficient—except that the more fines that are issued, the more the company is rewarded. The Government need to take a look at this increasingly common but unnecessarily aggressive approach.
More tragic news from South
More tragic news from South Wales yesterday. Just under two weeks after the death of Lucy John near Bridgend, another cyclist has died following a collision with a car. Very little detail has been made public so far.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgrqg6gg23jo
South Wales Police is investigating a fatal road traffic collision which happened on Thursday 27th October 2022, at around 6.40am in Port Talbot.
The collision occurred on Cwmavon Road at the junction with London Row and involved a cyclist and a beige Vauxhall Astra.
Sadly, the 38-year-old male cyclist from Margam died as a result of the collision
A 33-year-old man from Maesteg has been arrested.
We are appealing for witnesses to the collision or anyone who may have been travelling in the area at the time and who has any dash cam footage to contact us.
The road was closed for several hours and we thank the community for its patience and understanding during this time.
Please contact the Roads Policing Unit on 101 quoting reference number 2200363911 or go to: https://orlo.uk/pv5eB
Bike storage: another area
Bike storage: another area where simply copying “what I’ve seen in pictures” from e.g. The Netherlands leads to cargo-cult facilities.
I believe in NL because bikes are traditionally a) heavy and b) come equipped with a rear wheel ring lock* it’s common to have the “wheel bender” bike racks as simple storage for shorter stops (e.g. shopping). So people tend not to lock to the rack. This likely works because it’s harder to lift / carry away a Dutch bike (because heavy and the back wheel’s immobilised). Places where bikes are stored are often more “visible” in NL. Finally if you’ve got tons of people cycling you need very space-efficient (and cheap) designs.
In the UK racks tend to be hidden somewhere out of sight. (Also inconvenient – often you can park a car closer than you can store a bike in the “designated” storage.) People everywhere don’t understand security. I discovered both things recently (grr) when a thief found that if you pried some bars (turned out they were only held on by tacks) next to the gate of our bike storage you could just reach round and turn the latch to open the lock. They then had a convenient private space to take their time over angle-grinding locks.
* Many wheel ring locks allow you to plug in a chain so you can properly immobilise such a bike relatively easily also, although I personally would probably carry a second lock. However I’ve found to my cost angle-grinders will go through most things so it’s more about the security of where you leave it.
The plug-in chains that work
The plug-in chains that work with the ring locks don’t provide much extra security for a determined thief. The ring lock on one of my stadsfiets seized up (ring lock open, but chain plug stuck in the lock). Borrowed a cordless grinder from the LBS and cut through the shackle in less than 10 seconds. Considering the money I paid for that chain, it was utter crap.
I’d say very little – other
I’d say very little – other than your own bank vault – provides security against a determined thief. Angle grinders have definitely changed the landscape. In the UK bikes (other than obviously cheap ones) tend to stand out because there are not many visible bikes.
Sadly I believe I can only protect against opportunists (someone pinching an unlocked bike or armed with single-hand cutters). Or make a slightly more determined thief overlook my bike or preferentially steal another. So it’s having a bike that looks (or is) less valuable than the next one, or is better secured. Obviously too well secured and that stands out – plus stops you cycling very far!
I’ve learned to my cost that if you have something that “looks valuable” it’s only really sensible to store it in your home. Anywhere where people won’t see or interfere thieves will take what they like.
The worst kind of bike rack
The worst kind of bike rack is usually none at all, although some of the examples given are admittedly worse than none.
I had my covid booster last week, and rode my ebike rather than use the car, to get to the community centre. When I arrived, I looked for the cycle parking, but there isn’t any, but there was a very nice, recently surfaced car park, with a sign banning bicycle riding. I locked my bike to the railings on the pedestrian ramp.
I’ve asked the council, which owns the place, to install proper cycle parking and to remove the ban on cycling.
Daily Mail out here
Daily Mail out here threatening us with a good time again.
Imagine a world where other options were prioritised so much that you didn’t want to get in your car!
This is the bike parking at
This is the bike parking at my office, in theory it’s quite good being a courtyard yard with swipe access but our neighbours the pub/nightclub seem to feel that it would be a better space for bin storage. You can imagine the broken glass.
Re the “Traffic Taliban”
Re the “Traffic Taliban” article, I live near East Dulwich Grove, the road the author claims is “permanently choked with traffic” due to the LTN; this little video I made back in June in response to a challenge from another anti-LTN person may prove instructive.
https://twitter.com/Rendel_Harris/status/1585902647391195136
(Sorry the audio’s a bit indistinct, the important bit to note is that it’s 10.43AM on an ordinary working Friday; sorry also about the dreadful brake rub, it was a warped rotor that I replaced that weekend!)
You’d think someone with a
You’d think someone with a cycle carrier would have a bit more care around cyclists.
NSL, blind bend, SLOW, chevron sign. At the decision to overtake, the red van was blocking the view (not that it was a good idea anyhow).
How do these people get to stay on the road with this level of incompetence ?
I have written on here about
I have written on here about a close pass from a car carrying 2 road bikes on its roof and wondering what the driver was thinking.
But I subsequently experienced the closest pass I’ve ever suffered from a car marked ‘Starley Racing Team’.
hirsute wrote:
I’ve found that the drivers of SUVs and people carriers/minivans with a bike rack on the back are among the most badly behaved motorists around cyclists. But then I imagine that they don’t ever cycle on the road (just drive to an off-road site to ride around on gravel and mud, then drive back home).
“Avid cyclist”
“Avid cyclist“
I wouldn’t be too hard on those who just don’t want to ride on the roads although in an ideal world most people would ride to the ride. If you’re driving though, I’m only interested in how you’re driving.
brooksby wrote:
— brooksbyOf course they don’t want to ride on the road where there are drivers like themselves.
S-1 has been in The Rules for
S-1 has been in The Rules for as long as I can remember…
The problem is, like the HC,
The problem is, like the HC, so few people actually read the Rules, and those that do forget most of them.
Once you get your head around
Once you get your head around making sure you have matching socks to your kit you are hit with making sure you don’t have matching kit unless you are a pro and then you give up on the whole rules thing and just ride your bike.
Louise Perry might want to
Louise Perry might want to refrain from referencing the Taliban as a source of road safety policy. Apparently they are no longer issuing driving licences to women.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/taliban-driving-licence-afghan-women-b2072058.html%3famp
PU Backer Rod is used to fill
PU Backer Rod is used to fill expansion gaps before sealing over with some sort of sealant. It’s made by – among others – Soudal (sponsor of Lotto Soudal).
Our Road Safety team in
Our Road Safety team in partnership with @PoliceScotland
are asking pedestrians, if you’re out walking this winter, don’t fade to GREY – Be BRIGHT, be seen!
https://twitter.com/GlasgowCC/status/1585996017937387524
Also watch out for drivers who ignore no right and no left turns and drive through ped crossing when the green man is lit.
hirsute wrote:
Also, try to jump out of the way of drivers who may be about to hit you – it makes a mess on their car and no-one likes that
And as they are crossing at a
And as they are crossing at a junction, HWC says that pedestrians should have priority, and they can’t lean on them being light controlled as they are green. Police should be doing them for driving without due care, even if they think that the turn infringement is minor.
The school I work in
The school I work in installed wheelbenders.
When we didn’t like those they made a lovely covered bike rack. It’s shaped like a football goal, is open at the front and is in the playground where kids play football!
Then they added insult to injury; the Sheffield Stands in it turned out to be attached to the ground by a few short bolts so they fell over. The school’s response… replace them with more wheelbenders.
This was my response.
Rack from Amazon.
Ten minutes with a power drill.
Nobody has told me I can’t, so I assume I can.
Nice solution. It is often
Nice solution. It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Pre-Covid, my workplace
Pre-Covid, my workplace designated an unused room as the “bike room” and installed one of those wheel-bender racks in it. The thing is, there’s no good way to get from that room to the shower (singular). I’m also the only person who commutes by bike regularly, so that bike room goes unused.
the daily Mail is so pathetic
the daily Mail is so pathetic. The bad news is so many people believe the lies and moronic stuff it prints – whether it’s idiotic lies about the EU or made up stuff about the Labour Party, or hateful ignorance about migrants and cyclists. It’s a truly hideous entity. But one that so many morons take seriously.
The world is a frightening
The world is a frightening and stupid place – read The Mail to find out how much so. Also, Instagram star stuns fans with revealing bikini snaps.
David9694 wrote:
Bus driver sacked after ped
Bus driver sacked after ped crossing fail
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-63437689
(initial report mentioned here 2 or 3 days ago)
hirsute wrote:
I’m glad they sacked him, but there’s no mention of him being prosecuted for careless/dangerous driving. He should at least get points on his licence.
I’m glad they sacked him, but
I’m glad they sacked him, but there’s no mention of him being prosecuted for careless/dangerous driving. He should at least get points on his licence.
Don’t worry about him- he’ll still be able to get a job with Stagecoach Lancashire
Given this discussion, I
Given this discussion, I thought I’d take a pic of the Crystal Palace bike parking before this Saturday’s match with a few more bikes there. Still, at least we won