“Don’t leave your bike for 10 minutes or Network Rail will be out to get you!” Cyclist slams warning letter for illegally-parked bike locked to railing – but station scolds him for ignoring cycle parking zone + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
You know what the world needs right now? Another 2025 review… on a podcast
In case you missed it last week, the latest episode of the podcast saw us all congregate around some cheese, chocolate, and a bottle of Baileys to reflect on the biggest cycling stories of 2025, before getting the inside scoop on how the Cycle to Work scheme was ‘saved’:
> How Cycle to Work was saved: The battle to stop Labour’s Budget spending cap and “dispelling the myth” that Cycle to Work is for rich Surrey MAMILs + The year in cycling reviewed
Now that’s what I call cyclocross
When you take your bike to get serviced and they replace the chain… and ignore everything else
Posts from the justridingalong
community on Reddit
“I feel so guilty – it wasn’t my intention at all. I love cyclocross very much, so this is the last thing I wanted to happen. I would like to apologise to Mathieu once again”
Here’s the full story on Mathieu van der Poel and ‘punchgate’ at yesterday’s Loenhout-Azencross – and why, for once, it was all a big misunderstanding…
> “I feel so guilty – it wasn’t my intention at all”: Fan who almost caused Mathieu van der Poel crash questioned by police, but no charges filed
“I really felt like going to the bus, but I couldn’t do that. I only rode for the supporters”: Wout van Aert rues double puncture on same rock that curtailed much-anticipated “battle” with Mathieu van der Poel in Loenhout
You have to feel for Wout van Aert.
Midway through yesterday’s X²O Badkamers Trofee race in Loenhout, the Belgian was putting in the ride of his winter so far, locked in what looked set to be a titanic tussle with his eternal rival Mathieu van der Poel. This is what we’d been waiting for. Game on.
Then, he punctured. With the nearest pits, and his spare bike, located on the other end of the universe (or at least that’s the way it seemed for Van Aert), that was that. Another dominant win for Van der Poel. And another near miss for the Belgian hero.
And, just to rub salt into the wounds, as he tried to weave his way back through the chasing group, Van Aert’s rear tyre popped again. On the same bloody rock.
While most riders would have taken an early trip to the bus at that point, the Visma-Lease a Bike star ploughed on, however, eventually crossing the line in tenth, 1.26 down on his old mate Mathieu.
“I wanted to take the initiative, and I succeeded because I got ahead with Mathieu. I had a hard time following him, but I believed I could turn it into a battle. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It’s a shame,” Van Aert said after the finish.
“I really felt like going to the bus, but I couldn’t do that. I only rode for the supporters. I’ve been coming to this race since I was five years old.
“I cursed really loudly under my breath. It was really frustrating to get a flat tyre twice.”
Tell me about it, Wout.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have put myself on that list”: Tadej Pogačar crowned the 2025 ‘Champion des Champions Monde’ by L’Équipe – but world champion says “I can’t place myself that high”
He may have been snubbed by the BBC for the second year running, failing to even earn a place on the shortlist for Sports Personality of the Year’s 2025 World Sport Star prize (won by pole vaulter Armand Duplantis, in case you were wondering).
But at least Tadej Pogačar knows he can always turn to France to shower him in meaningless end-of-year accolades.
Yesterday, French sports paper L’Équipe crowned the Slovenian superstar its ‘Champion des Champions Monde’ for 2025, alongside Canada’s teenage swimming sensation Summer McIntosh.
Perhaps surprisingly for a newspaper so intrinsically associated with bike racing, Pogačar is only the second ever cyclist to be awarded L’Équipe’s top prize, after Greg LeMond in 1989.
The four-time Tour de France winner beat the Beeb’s favourite Duplantis and tennis player Carlos Alcaraz to this year’s award, joining a prestigious list of past ‘champions of champions’, including Usain Bolt, Lionel Messi, Serena Williams, and Michal Jordan.
Not that Pogačar ranks himself among that exalted company just yet.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have put myself on that list. I can’t place myself that high,” the 27-year-old said when awarded the prize by L’Équipe.
“I see some really cool names. Champions… I am very honoured and happy to be part of this list.”
Shhh, Tadej. Don’t let the BBC think they were right.
Zac Williams/SWpix.com
And after 20 wins from 50 race days, a fourth Tour de France triumph, a second consecutive world road race title, a European championships, the Tour of Flanders, an unprecedented fifth straight Il Lombardia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Strade Bianche, Flèche Wallonne, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the UAE Tour, and now a prestigious L’Équipe award in 2025, you’d be forgiven for assuming we’ve reached peak Pogačar.
Not according to Tadej, however.
“There’s always room for improvement, to see how I can be even better, how far I can go,” he said, sending chills down all his rivals’ spines.
“So it’s not very difficult to stay motivated, even more so when you know I have a long contract with my team and many years ahead of me. And when you have good results, motivation comes easily. It’s more complicated when you don’t win much or at all.”
Gulp.
Pogačar wasn’t the only cyclist who topped L’Équipe’s end of year charts. In the Champion des Champions France award (basically the paper’s version of SPOTY), Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won for the fourth time, following her historic Tour de France Femmes victory, while paracyclist Alexandre Léauté secured a third career prize.
BBC, take notes.
What’s the next big cycling tech craze set to sweep 2026 (and probably make the UCI angry)? We dusted off our crystal balls to hazard a few wild – and not so wild – guesses
> The return of the Specialized Venge, the end of hookless wheels, and more sub £1,000 bikes: our top 2026 cycling tech predictions
“Bumper year” for cycling in Glasgow, as bike trips rise by 43 per cent compared to 2024
A Glasgow City Council chief has hailed 2025 as a “bumper year” for cycling and active travel infrastructure, with the number of bike trips in the Scottish city rising by 43 per cent compared to 2024.
Glasgow is currently rolling out 270km of protected cycle lanes, including the recently completed George V Bridge, while St George’s Road, Dumbreck Road, and Battlefield Road are all set for new bike routes, as part of the council’s City Network.
11km of City Network cycle lanes and infrastructure are in the design stage for Greater Govan, with more improvements to East City Way on London Road set to be consulted on in early 2026.
Meanwhile, 720 new secure on-street cycle hangars were installed across the city in 2025, bringing the total number of bike storage spaces in Glasgow to over 1,700. The council aims to install 3,000 hangars as part of its current five-year programme, with 2,300 residents currently on the waiting list for a space.
“This has been a bumper year for the delivery across Glasgow of high‑quality active travel infrastructure that makes walking, wheeling, and cycling easier for everyday journeys,” Angus Millar, Glasgow City Council’s convenor for climate and transport, said in a statement today.
“With 4.65 million cycling trips recorded between January and August this year, a 43 per cent rise on the same period in 2024, it’s clear that more Glaswegians are choosing active travel, and that our investment is making a real difference.
“This significant growth follows major milestones in extending the active travel network with the extension of Connecting Battlefield across the southside, improvements to the George V Bridge, and new routes completed in the north, west and east of the city.
“Construction is well underway on Connecting Yorkhill and Kelvingrove, and Connecting Woodside, while major schemes such as Connecting Greater Govan and Phase 5 of the East City Way will be consulted on early next year.”
“Safety doesn’t stop where cars do”: How to sum up ‘car-brain’ in four snowy images
Toronto looks, err, ‘fun’ at this time of year:
Over the last month we’ve noticed that bike only areas of our cycling infrastructure have turned into icy hazards while bike lanes and roadways leading up to them are cleared in Toronto. Meaning, you have to get off your bike and walk, or risk serious injury 1/2
— The Biking Lawyer LLP (@thebikinglawyer.bsky.social) December 30, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lane? #30,762
Speaking of bike lanes in Glasgow:
You can build good mobility infrastructure, but the destructiveness of car culture still threatens. Which is why full pedestrianization is always best practice.
— John Munro (@johnmunro.bsky.social) December 30, 2025 at 12:49 PM
I’m not sure this is what Angus Millar had in mind when he talked about “high‑quality active travel infrastructure that makes walking, wheeling, and cycling easier for everyday journeys” – except when a motorist crashes into it, of course.
West Midlands Police release footage of thieves breaking into shed to steal Specialized mountain bike
West Midlands Police has appealed for information about a break-in in Wollescote at around 5pm on Tuesday 8 December, sharing this footage of thieves breaking into a shed and making off with a Specialized electric mountain bike.
“Thieves broke into a shed in the garden of a property near Pedmore Lane, Wollescote, around 5pm on Tuesday 8 December,” the force stated. “We’re working hard to find the bike and identify those responsible, and we’re asking for your help.
“If you have any information that could assist our enquiries, call us on 101 quoting crime reference number 20/469589/25. You can stay completely anonymous by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”
“A special path for those that prefer not to cycle too far”: Seaford’s super-short cycle lane reaches the Dull Men’s Forum
Cue a predictably tedious discussion about jug handles…
Anyway, I’m off to watch some evening ‘cross action under the floodlights on the telly. That’s what this week’s all about, isn’t it?
Never change, comments section... never change
Here’s our top tech predictions for the next 12 months…
To which one of you cheery lot replied…
“Don’t leave your bike for 10 minutes or Network Rail will be out to get you!” Cyclist slams warning letter for illegally-parked bike locked to railing – but station scolds him for ignoring cycle parking zone
If 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that if you park your bike for over two hours in a supposedly secure facility at a train station and it gets nicked, there’s not much you can do about it.
But if you leave your bike chained to a fence for a few minutes while you pop to the shop, the railway authorities will swoop in straight away, armed with a sternly worded warning.
Or at least that was Manchester-based cyclist Andy’s experience during a post-Christmas trip to Edinburgh, anyway.
“Don’t leave your bike even for 10 minutes in an out-of-the-way place while you get some food and drink or Network Rail will be out to get you!” Andy posted, after returning to his bike, which he’d locked to a railing next to a platform at Waverley station, to find a note informing him that his machine was “illegally parked”.
Not very Christmassy, that.
“Network Rail reserves the right to immediately remove illegally parked bicycles (under Railway Byelaw 14.5) and charges may apply for its return,” Network Rail’s warning read.
While some of Andy’s fellow cyclists expressed their exasperation at Network Rail’s lightning-fast reflexes, his public criticism of the warning notice, perhaps unsurprisingly, also prompted accusations of “entitlement” from X/Twitter’s motoring community – and even a few cyclists.
“Come on. They didn’t take any action, they just attached a reminder, and to be fair, it’s not a proper bike rack,” Black Forest Cyclist wrote in the comments.
“The bigger question is whether the station provides sufficient facilities to properly park your bike.”
“Exactly,” replied Andy. “A few Sheffield stands could easily be placed by the railings, making use of a dead space.”
However, just like their warning-wielding staff on site, Waverley’s social media admin was soon on hand to guide Andy to the station’s proper, secure cycle parking facilities.
“Our cycle parking area is located between Platforms 2 and 3,” the admin replied, with some helpful images.
“We ask that people don’t chain their bikes to railings around the station; it’s best to store them in the dedicated area. Thank you!”
“Thanks, but I just wanted to nip to the shops and thought it wouldn’t be in the way for 10 minutes,” Andy replied.
So, the moral of the story is: Leave your bike for 10 minutes in the wrong place at a station and someone will immediately take action (which is fair enough). Leave it for over two hours in the right place and nobody cares, even if it gets stolen. That makes sense, right?
“We thought: they can say no, but they can also say yes”: Cyclocross race organisers try (and fail) to convince Tadej Pogačar to swap a sunny winter training camp for the mud of Belgium
Meanwhile, in other Pogi news…
Each winter, one of cycling’s favourite niche subplots rears its head every few weeks: Will Tadej Pogačar ever decide to race cyclocross and take on Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert in a muddy field, on knobbly tyres, and surrounded by beer and frites?
The four-time Tour de France winner is, of course, no stranger to road racing’s offbeat, rough and ready, and endearingly eccentric cousin. The 27-year-old spent quite a bit of his youth racing ‘cross, before winning the Slovenian national elite title in the discipline in 2019. He also took part in some races back home in Slovenia in 2021 and 2022.
And at the start of November, UCI director of sport Peter Van den Abeele suggested that if it weren’t for his commitments to UAE Team Emirates, Pogačar would start racing cyclocross “right away”.
And it’s those team commitments that appear to have put the brakes on a potential surprise foray into the Belgian ‘cross scene, after the organisers of the Gullegem round of the Superprestige series told Sporza this morning that they were oh, so close to snapping up the double world road race champion for this weekend’s race.
The Superprestige round in Gullegem, which will take place on Saturday, is currently light on star names, with Van der Poel, Van Aert, and Thibau Nys all set to skip the race, which comes at the end of a packed festive schedule.
So, organiser Stijn Tant decided to get creative.
“We went looking for another figurehead for our race. A very good rider, let’s say. That description fits Tadej Pogačar quite well,” Tant told Sporza.
“We thought: they can say no, but they can also say yes.”
Tant said a few phone calls were made in a bid to secure what would have been the coup of the winter, including with Pogačar’s agent Alex Carera, with a potential financial package being discussed.
“We wanted a sum that was representative for someone like Tadej Pogačar,” he said. “But we never got to really specific agreements. Still, you always have to believe in it.
“Ultimately, we were told no, because Pogačar is on a training camp at the time. So it didn’t fit into the schedule.”
There’s always next year, Tadej…
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Latest Comments
Regarding the lack of diversity in the femmes, yes there should absolutely be equal opportunities for all regardless of ethnicity, but (as with all equality arguments) this should absolutely not be at the cost of ability and achievement. Having equal representation for all ethnicities is totally unfair for the riders who earn their place. Equal opportunity is not the same as equal representation.
@chrisonabike All the political parties are populist - they don't exist to serve their community/area/country, they exist to serve themselves and their party. There's a word I'd use to cover them all beginning with c but I won't spell it out here.
Keep up the good work Jack
The HSE has undoubtedly reduced injuries in the work place. Why shouldn't some of the principals / evidence they've gathered in achieving this be run out to the public. It's really just common sense.
"If London can do it, Exeter can too" While ignoring that London would now have the cycle path having priority OR install traffic lights requiring drivers regularly stop. They pretty much never require the cycle path give way to cars on a parallel carriageway now. Something to do with the idea that drivers know they are crossing the cycle path and the most common case is them approaching from behind at higher speeds than the majority of cyclists can achieve...
@lemonenema Sorry about that and thanks for the spot... fixed!
@mdavidford "Hmm – the way you’ve edited your post to tone down the suggestion that they were saying something they weren’t suggests even you don’t believe that." Nope, and tbh, I couldn't care less about what you think. Anything positive to add? Nope! just your usual nonsense, so bore off.
@mdavidford OK. So maybe my question should be amended to: are those rates ring-fenced? ie, I'm not paying a lot more for my insurance due to drivers of larger/more dangerous/more expensive vehicles andor the drivers with points.
Hmm - did the people whose data is in that 'substantial database' agree to that? Nothing in their privacy statement says "we may flog off your data to a random third party".
Insurance cost already does vary with vehicle and associated risk profile though.
24 thoughts on ““Don’t leave your bike for 10 minutes or Network Rail will be out to get you!” Cyclist slams warning letter for illegally-parked bike locked to railing – but station scolds him for ignoring cycle parking zone + more on the live blog”
Well, I suppose it’s nice to
Well, I suppose it’s nice to know that they were keeping an eye on Andy’s bike, are they quite so alert regarding the bikes parked legally? Are they kept under close scrutiny? How many have been stolen from the bike racks?
Ah, ever-vigilant railway
Ah, ever-vigilant railway staff keeping us all safe…a few weeks ago I locked the bike to some platform railings whilst I nipped into the Gents to wash up after fixing a chain problem; I emerged one minute later to find a disapproving member of station staff, who must have been watching on CCTV, standing by to explain that it was forbidden to use the railings for that purpose “because it could be a trip hazard if there’s an emergency.” Not only was the platform a good three metres wide with the bike taking out 40 cm of that width, I was one of only three people on the whole station and the only one on that side of the tracks.
You’re lucky they didn’t blow
You’re lucky they didn’t blow it up in a controlled explosion as a suspected bike bomb, the moral of the story is take it into the gents with you next time.
No, the moral is piss like
No, the moral is piss like the pros!!!
Backladder wrote:
Got a telling off from a cleaner at Clapham Junction for doing that very thing recently!
Don’t take any of that, tell
Don’t take any of that, tell him your bike is cleaner than his toilet!
Backladder wrote:
Andys bike parking antics
Andys bike parking antics dont half sound alot like but Ive just parked my car here on the pavement, its not blocking anyone, and its got blinking lights on, Ill only be a few minutes…
and Im guessing Andys note he left to the staff claiming he was only going to be a few mins so it didnt matter if he left his bike there, just blew away in all the confusion.
stonojnr wrote:
Yes, because he’s certainly blocking access for people with pushchairs and the disabled who want to…um…climb over the railings, isn’t he? Exactly the same, spot on.
Or just partially sighted
Or just partially sighted people walking along the walkway using the railings as a guide? Better to moan about the lack of bike parking provision (it appears 90% full even between Xmas and New Year when passenger numbers are a fraction of normal so I don’t hold out much hope of getting a spot on a normal weekday) if you must moan at something and just accept that Andy parked like a pratt.
When there is a lack of
When there is a lack of infrastructure, cycling activists complain, righfully so. When there is adequate infrastructure, cyclists shall be compelled to make use of it (unless the said infrastructure puts their lives at risk). Illegal parking shall be fined without exception, regardless of the number of wheels and size of vehicles.
MaxiMinimalist wrote:
Unfortunately the adequacy of the first is normally judged by non-cyclists, and certainly by people who won’t be using it year round as a major component of their transport needs. So while the best example that i know – NL – *does* mandate that some cycle infra is used …
a) that doesn’t apply everywhere and
b) I think that’s only a good deal as they mostly have genuinely world-beating cycle infra *
c) *AND* cycle *networks* (choices of equally good routes, or nearly so).
As to the latter point, bring it on, but before that happens consistently for the four+ wheeled motorised kind I’ll be looking to incorporate the new flying pig transport option…
* The kind that is not just safer but more convenient than the road!
When there is adequate
When there is adequate infrastructure, cyclists shall be compelled to make use of it
This, like the other Straw Men occasionally trolled out for responses such as cyclist numberplates and insurance, is not going to happen. More disturbing are the increasingly common Cyclist Attack Dogs deployed by dimwits, such as Cyclist Without Helmet, Cyclist Without HiViz / Without, or With Too Bright, Lights. Disturbing, because the malevolent dimwits think these real or imagined errors give them not only the right but the duty to mow down the cyclists and to get away with it.
Adequate? Do you mean like
Adequate? Do you mean like the narrow murder strip of infrastructure along the Epping New Road, which ‘protects’ me along a big, 3 car wide, arrow straight stretch of single carriageway. I don’t need protection here, there is enough width for two cars and a bike to pass comfortably and not break the rules. That’s all except where they provide centre hatchings to assist cars turning into forest car parks. Here, the road narrows significantly due to the hatchings and I need protection because cars are turning across my path, both into and out of the car parks. But here, the murder strip ends and I have to mount the narrow shared pavement, cross the car park entrance and then rejoin the carriageway 50m beyond. But as that isn’t enough of an assault course, they decided to use large (18″ diameter) tree trunks laid along the path to stop cars using the pavement for overspill parking. Cracking infrastructure that, large logs laid along an overly narrow shared path on an unlit road. What could possibly go wrong?
https://maps.app.goo.gl/U45Ag8brSagFqGrr7?g_st=ac
The rotting remains of one of the trunks, now overgrown with weeds, can be seen approx 50m along on the left in the above link.
You can tell me to use that all you like, it simply won’t be happening as I am far safer riding in the road.
Or just build cycling
Or just build cycling infrastructure that is good enough that cyclists choose to use it, without needing to be “compelled”.
OnYerBike wrote:
Just this! Its not rocket science, if its better than using the road cyclists will use it, if its worse than using the road they won’t.
Which is exactly what the DfT
Which is exactly what the DfT tried to do a few years ago, force cyclists to use whatever ‘facilities’ the authorities provided, no matter that they were more dangerous and less convenient than nothing. Fortunately, CUK and others fought it and prevailed.
This goes back far further –
This goes back far further – the UK’s chance to tale a path like that of NL in the 1930s.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/carltonreid/lets-rescue-britains-forgotten-1930s-protected-cyc
This was resisted by cycling organisations because they felt the motivation was to *get cyclists out of the way of the motorists* … and they were right! At the time this was at least in part official thinking.
Unfortunately the promotion of motoring then meant that most people who would otherwise cycle were driven off the roads by fiat. Without an alternative (except “just walk / ride on the pavement, dismount, go round the houses trying to navigate on back streets…”)
There is still a strain of
There is still a strain of more-or-less conspiracy-theory-level concern by some cyclists that “they are trying to ban us from the roads”. Understandable as the support for cycling by many governments is at best lukewarm. And that it’s liable to be swamped because of the trillions of pounds in the motoring industries. Certainly believeable in the US!
As others have said, the response to “but they’ll confine us to crap infra or just ban cycling!” is to note that for the vast majority of people this is already the case.
Most people just won’t cycle among the sometimes terrible drivers on the UK’s busy, crumbling roads. And navigating huge junctions or waiting for minutes at lights is certainly not desirable.
And that it is in fact possible to make dedicated infra for cycling so convenient that everyone will use it by choice (see an increasing number of places in Europe, lead by NL). And that is even possible while providing for drivers and pedestrians.
(Further thoughts about “but the roads are good enough”: https://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2014/01/inadequate-infrastructure-causes.html
https://irishcycle.com/2022/02/19/poor-cycling-infrastructure-is-solved-by-building-better-not-by-abandoning-cycle-paths-and-switching-to-sharing-the-road/
)
Below self-satisfactory
Below self-satisfactory statement is missing a key information – total amount of investments, maintenance and repair works. Money spent over ridden miles is the only figure that truly matters.
With 4.65 million cycling trips recorded between January and August this year, a 43 per cent rise on the same period in 2024, it’s clear that more Glaswegians are choosing active travel, and that our investment is making a real difference.
“The bigger question is
“The bigger question is whether the station provides sufficient facilities to properly park your bike.”
Waverley Station does have bike parking – as shown in your pic. It’s at the far end of the station from the entrance and you have to walk there – you can’t cycle. If it was more conveninently located, more people might use it (I did, once).
Indeed – yet again “there is
Indeed – yet again “there is cycle parking at the station” covers vastly different situations. I can’t think of anywhere in the UK which remotely resembles the convenience and security of NL, even ignoring the orders-of-magnitude greater provision over there.
BTW the 2-level racks in Waverley are uniquely poorly designed – the upper ones basically fall on you when you pull them out, and neither upper or lower is remotely easy to properly lock to with a D-lock.
This is more frustrating because at Haymarket the 2-level racks are a far better design. But there they’re outside the station building so security is poor. The areas is now seedy / sketchy and I wouldn’t lock anything I couldn’t afford to lose there. Plus you have to juggle the dangers of the tram line and bus and taxi traffic.
“Plus you have to juggle the
“Plus you have to juggle the dangers of the tram line and bus and taxi traffic.”
Don’t forget the kamikaze pedestrians. Cycling on the kinked red cycle lane when a morning commuter train has unloaded you take your life in your hands. Few observe it and treat it like an extension of the pavement. No doubt due to the stupid design.
I also had my bicycle locked
I also had my bicycle locked by ScotRail, this time in Glasgow Central. Recently they opened a Miniso shop in the concourse, and I just had to pop in to get some Hello Kitty merch for my niece. My bicycle was literally five yards away and I was only in the shop for five minutes.
Quite worrying really that I did not notice my bike getting locked up, with sign added. It took me a while to get it unlocked, and I was contemplating picking it, since it was an Abus combination lock and I can do them, however, never commit a crime whilst committing a felony, so I didn’t try to pick it.
I did get to learn there is short term and long term cycle parking. But I just wanted two minutes in the Miniso shop, not a huge walk. As a cyclist I am lazy and expect to park within five metres of the shop I want to enter, if that is not possible then I will prefer to cycle a couple of extra miles than walk a hundred paces.