Two abreast advice does TikTok; Shut lanes that aren’t being used!; Police search Bahrain Victorious Tour de France hotel; Giro Donne TT fail; EF’s crocs; Triathlete reunited with bike lost at Heathrow; Cav’s at the Tour (kind of) + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Throwback Thursday: Dawn raids at the Tour de France return as Bahrain Victorious hotel searched by police this morning
I know Tour de France organisers ASO are always looking for ways to pay homage to the race’s history and heritage, but this seems an odd way of going about it…
The dawn police raid – a much-loved staple of the Tours of the late 1990s and 2000s – appears to be back in vogue this year, before a pedal has even been turned in anger.
Team Bahrain Victorious have confirmed that their Copenhagen hotel was searched at 5.30am this morning by Danish Police at the request of French prosecutors.
This latest raid follows a visit from police officers to several Bahrain Victorious riders and staff at their homes on Monday, which the team described as “intentionally damaging” their reputation before the biggest race of the year.
Bahrain Victorious’ Tour lineup includes Milan-San Remo winner (and dropper post salesman) Matej Mohorič, British classics rider Fred Wright, Dylan Teuns and Jack Haig, as well as Damiano Caruso – who served a backdated doping suspension in 2011 – and Luis León Sánchez, sacked by Belkin (now Jumbo-Visma) in 2013 over his links to the Operación Puerto doping case.
This week’s police searches form part of an ongoing investigation into doping allegations at Bahrain Victorious, which was opened during last year’s Tour de France and resulted in a raid at the team’s hotel in Pau (a classic of the genre) after stage 17.
Marseille’s prosecutor’s office said at the time that it was looking into the possible “acquisition, transportation, possession and importing of a prohibited substance or method for use by an athlete without justification by members of Team Bahrain Victorious.”
Nobody was placed under formal investigation following the night-time raid involving around 50 officers, although team boss Milan Eržen confirmed riders’ training files had been taken.
Two days later, the team’s Slovenian superstar Mohorič took his second win of the race into Libourne and celebrated by pulling an imaginary zip across his lips, a response which sparked some unfavourable comparisons with a certain Texan and could charitably be described as naïve, at best.
Possessing, selling or using doping products are all criminal offences in France, but nobody was arrested during the initial investigation last year and since the fallout over Mohorič’s controversial celebration, it largely slipped out of the spotlight until Monday’s raids.
In a statement released this morning, Bahrain Victorious confirmed that police officers had searched all team vehicles, staff and riders’ rooms, and that the team had “fully cooperated with all the officers’ requests”.
No items, the team says, were seized during the two-hour long search.
“Following the police search, the team is now looking forward to focusing on the world’s biggest and best cycling race, Tour de France,” the statement reads.
“The team will make no further comment on the subject.”
Maybe Matej will need to buy some more zippers for the next three weeks…
Tinky Winky or Tour de France time trial?
What is ASO trying to tell us?
First stage of the #TDF2022 is literally shaped like Tinky Winky’s face from Teletubbies pic.twitter.com/w4IHf8aLaK
— Cycling What Ifs ❓ (@cyclingwhatifs) June 29, 2022
After tomorrow’s TT and two pan-flat, exposed and potentially windy stages over the weekend in Denmark, this year’s almost constantly lumpy Tour route means that the sprinters will be in for a long few weeks before they’re ‘over the hills and far away’… (I’ll get my coat).
road.cc’s esteemed founder Tony Farrelly reckons the Copenhagen TT route looks more like Monkey… wearing one of his pyramid teabags on his head…
However, my all-time favourite piece of subliminal messaging from ASO has to be the 2009 Tour route, which seemed to depict a bear on its hind legs ready to attack:
2009 route looked like a bear dancing pic.twitter.com/e2xPB5oEh8
— FPL Cyclist (@itsFPLCyclist) June 29, 2022
The ghost of green jerseys past
They didn’t 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/KBevM96vxP
— Hélène Colonne (@reathina) June 29, 2022
Well, that was awkward…
Two abreast advice does TikTok
We’ve been banging on for years that riding two abreast is the safest and most sensible way of cycling in a group on the road.
Now, thanks to Devon and Cornwall Police’s Sgt Owen Messenger, the message has been passed on to Gen Z, on the bewildering – at least to me – world of TikTok:
Here’s why people cycling two abreast is actually better for people driving motor vehicles.
It’s quite simple really. pic.twitter.com/PdlqJiJxlR
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) June 30, 2022
And yes, I did just use a copy of the video posted on Twitter. I’m old, okay? Where’s Dan when you need him?
Triathlete reunited with bike and gear lost in Heathrow Airport for a week
A triathlete who had travelled from Australia to compete in an Ironman event in Bolton of all places, only to find that her gear had been lost in transit at Heathrow Airport, has finally been reunited with her bike – a week after it went missing.
Sian Hurley, originally from Morpeth, flew last week from Brisbane to Newcastle with her family to take part in this Sunday’s Ironman UK race in Bolton.
However, while the family’s luggage made the connecting flight from London, Hurley’s bike and gear did not.
Though officials insisted that the bike was on board the Newcastle flight, according to the triathlete’s tracking device the equipment remained in Terminal 2 at Heathrow, where a technical malfunction had resulted in a mass luggage pile up.
> Triathlete’s bike and gear lost in Heathrow airport
After over a week of stress and frantic phone calls to apathetic airlines, the 40-year-old intensive care nurse was finally reunited with her bike on Tuesday.
“It’s brilliant to have my bike returned, I’ve been out this morning and being back on it was like putting on my shoes,” she told the BBC.
“The staff at Newcastle Airport were lovely, I got reassurances that BA were sorting it and while it’s very disappointing it took so long to get it back I’m very glad to have it.”
Hurley, who has raced six Ironman events in the past, including the 2014 Worlds, added that she feels “fresh and good ahead of the event but the stress hasn’t helped.
“A friend loaned me a bike to train on while I was staying in Morpeth and although I’m grateful, it wasn’t the same as my bike, which was specially fitted for me. But now I’ve got it back I’m feeling positive and relieved.”
The triathlete says she only discovered that airport staff had found her bike when it was on its way to Morpeth.
“That was the most frustrating part – I couldn’t get to talk to anyone at Heathrow’s baggage hall, every time I called I got put through to a customer centre which was miles away from the airport.
“I still haven’t spoken to anyone at BA or Malaysia Airlines. The first I knew about it was returning to my family home in Morpeth after a few hours out and – seeing my mum crying – I knew then my bike had been found.”
Croc ‘n’ roll (and dragons) for EF Education-EasyPost
Speaking of EF Education’s fabulous fashion sense – which 61 percent of our live blog readers aren’t too keen on, apparently – eagle-eyed viewers spotted the two-wheeled crazy gang’s riders wearing some rather fetching footwear during yesterday’s team presentation in the Tivoli Gardens…
Absolute hypebeast shit pic.twitter.com/EuSWh7aUbO
— kate wagner @ le tour (@derailleurkate) June 29, 2022
While crocs have become the must-have style accessory of the 2020s (or so I’ve been told), EF’s new shoes are certainly statement pieces, in more ways than one.
Not sure I would have fancied riding my racing bike with them on, mind you…
‘Good job I was wearing a helmet…’
Looks like Lotto Soudal’s Mieke Docx is due some good luck during today’s final stage of the Belgium Tour…
I thought a stone hit my helmed during the race, turned out it was a bird shit. 🥹💩 pic.twitter.com/Qa7eCbwZn4
— Mieke Docx (@MiekeDocx) June 29, 2022
“Hey look, that’s me at a traffic light”: Giro Donne rider falls off prologue start ramp
A less than auspicious start to the Giro d’Italia Donne for 22-year-old Czech rider Markéta Hájková, who managed to fall off the start ramp of today’s 4.7km prologue around Cagliari…
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) June 30, 2022
Hey look that’s me at a traffic light
— RH1984 (@RH19841) June 30, 2022
Penalty? pic.twitter.com/X9GDyazJto
— Sinibmaz (@Sinibmaz82) June 30, 2022
It didn’t take long for the young Chris Froome comparisons to come rolling in:
That you Chris Froome?
— Benotti (@benotti69) June 30, 2022
For those of you who can’t quite remember the U23 time trial at the 2006 world championships in Salzburg (what do you mean, you don’t have it on tape?), here’s a clip of Froomey’s close encounter with a race official in all its gangly glory:
While some on Twitter have speculated that Hájková’s start ramp fail may be the worst ever beginning to a grand tour, it still falls far short (sorry!) of Pedro Delgado’s tardy start to his Tour de France defence in 1989…
Police on e-bikes “more visible to communities”, says Cornwall officer
Riding e-bikes, instead of patrolling in cars, has helped increase the visibility and engagement of police officers in Cornwall, as well helping cut the force’s carbon emissions.
Supt Ian Thompson, of Devon and Cornwall Police, says public feedback on a recent scheme which encourages officers to use e-bikes when on patrol has been “absolutely superb”.
Introduced after the Tour of Britain visited Penzance last September, the scheme is operated in conjunction with Cornwall Council and funded by the Department for Transport.
police and police community support officers are now using e-bikes to engage with residents and curb anti-social behaviour across the county, Bodmin, Camborne, Hayle, Falmouth, Liskeard, Newquay, St Ives, Torpoint and Truro, as well as the Isles of Scilly.
“Riders are coming back and saying that they are enjoying using the bikes, and the engagement with the community is far stronger than it would be in a vehicle,” Supt Thompson told the BBC.
“People are stopping them in the street to talk to them and they can get into areas they wouldn’t get otherwise if they were in a vehicle.”
“sHUt LAnES THat ArEn"T BeInG UsED”, Part 593
sHUt LAnES THat ArEn”T BeInG UsED pic.twitter.com/JIui1ZwQdx
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 30, 2022
Cue 5,000 replies – mostly from people who regularly post photographs of unoccupied cycle lanes – along the lines of: “But a ten second clip doesn’t tell the fully story…”
When’s rush hour if it’s not 5:55?
— danbam (@danbamb) June 30, 2022
But a still photo of an empty cycle lane can be proof of lack of use, can’t it?
— Paul Le Bihan (@plebihan100) June 30, 2022
Of course, but I was just parodying the cycle lane argument
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 30, 2022
And a classic anti-cycling bingo line here from this absolute ‘legend’:
All the cars are probably backed up on another road that has 5 cyclists riding side by side.
— David Griffiths (@DavidGr74375396) June 30, 2022
The Tour de Covid? Virus hangs over grand depart as cases mount, while Van Aert talks dodgy knees
It seems as if the 2022 Tour de France may prove the edition most affected by Covid-19, as Bryan Coquard and Daryl Impey were added to the growing list of riders forced to pull out of the race after positive tests.
Cofidis have lined up Pierre-Luc Périchon to replace Coquard – who was aiming for his first ever Tour stage – while the in-form Impey will be replaced on the Israel Premier Tech squad by Guy Niv.
Impey is the second Israel Premier Tech rider to pull out before tomorrow’s grand depart, after Omer Goldstein came into close contact with a positive case, with Guillaume Boivin taking his place.
Tim Declercq, Matteo Trentin and Jumbo-Visma DS Merijn Zeeman have also tested positive for Covid in recent days, with Zeeman planning to work remotely before joining the race at a later date.
AG2R-Citroën’s Bob Jungels also produced a positive Covid test yesterday, but has been given the green light to start in Copenhagen under the UCI’s relaxed rules, after a PCR test taken today revealed that the Luxembourg rider was “not contagious”.
Not entirely sure sending someone racing the Tour de France while positive for Covid with a shrug of, “He’s not contagious, what’s the problem?” is a model of workplace health and safety thinking, even in a sporting context. https://t.co/IzXmrUMNAd
— Tim O’Connor (@timoconnorbl) June 30, 2022
Meanwhile, Wout van Aert has only increased speculation about the knee injury that kept the Belgian superstar out of the national championships and off his bike for a few days.
“I missed one hard training block, and I missed some training, but I had to listen to my body,” he said.
“I don’t feel any pain, but we have to be careful every day. It’s not ideal. I just hope on Friday on a short effort like this that all the training from the previous months has not completely disappeared. I go in with full motivation, mentally it’s not the easiest way to approach the Tour, but I want to give 100 percent like I always do.
“Everything related to pedalling is not really good. Standing on the pedals is less tension because the angle of my knee is less.
“The most friction I have is with the deep squat, on top of the kneecap when I had the impact on the handlebar on the wrong place.
“It’s more painful on the TT bike. On the other hand the most pain I will have is with the really long rides. The longer I have to pedal the more stress I have on the knee, so the short TT is not a disadvantage for me.”
Of course, when Van Aert has won five stages by this time next week, all this speculation about his knee will be a distant memory…
Objects in the rear-view mirror
🇫🇷 @LeTour
🕞 17:02 @AurelienParetP
🕞 17:03 @GannaFilippo
🕞 17:04 @WoutvanAert
🕞 17:05 @TamauPogi⬇️@AurelienParetP quand il regardera demain dans son rétro 😅
What @AurelienParetP will see tomorrow in his rear mirror 😅 pic.twitter.com/dxufgAhimV
— AG2R CITROËN TEAM (@AG2RCITROENTEAM) June 30, 2022
Aurélien Paret Peintre’s ominous-looking start time tomorrow is giving me flashbacks to my own time trialling days.
Nice show of faith from his team too…
“No more questions”: Bahrain Victorious abruptly ends pre-Tour press conference – after only eight minutes
If you were a leading cycling team under investigation for doping, how would you react? By refusing to answer any questions on the subject and shutting down a pre-Tour press conference in less than ten minutes? Yeah, sounds fair enough.
Bahrain Victorious, fresh (or not so fresh) from a 5.30am visit from the police this morning, turned in a press conference this afternoon so quick that even Filippo Ganna would struggle to keep up, fielding only three questions after the team’s performance manager Vladimir Miholjević opened with a short statement on the ongoing Europol investigation.
“We would like to share more information about the investigation but we have nothing more to say than was already said in our press release,” Miholjević announced.
“We’d like to have more details from the investigators so we can understand such action. At this moment the team is fully focused on the biggest cycling race in front of us and on achieving our goals over the next three weeks.”
Miholjević then told reporters that Jack Haig and Matej Mohorič would only be answering questions about the race itself (the team’s other leader, Damiano Caruso, was not present, but confirmed to Cyclingnews earlier today that he was one of the team’s riders who received a home visit from the police on Monday).
However, a question from a Belgian journalist about how this morning’s 5.30am start would affect the squad’s preparation was batted away. VeloNews’ Daniel Benson then asked via Zoom if the team was confident about the outcome of the investigation.
“As we just said the guys won’t be answering any questions about the investigation. If you have any questions about the race, please go ahead,” a spokesperson said.
Benson then asked if the riders felt sure that they would even start the Tour tomorrow.
Mohorič laughed at this line of questioning, while Haig turned to those around him and said: “You can answer that”.
“Look, we have no reason to doubt on that,” Miholjević said. With no more questions forthcoming, the event was quickly wrapped up, less than eight minutes after it started.
“The usual mish mash of anti-cycling bingo with some real gems”: Reaction to TikTok two abreast video causes a stir
It seems that Sgt Messenger’s TikTok video extolling the virtues of riding two abreast has wound up a few of the usual anti-cycling brigade.
Here’s what our readers had to make of some of those pro-single filers…
Yep, the comments on the TikTok video doing the rounds on Twitter are completely depressing.
It’s the usual mish mash of anti-cycling bingo with some real gems appearing and this one is my favourite so far…
“That’s bullshit. If I come around a blind bend [and] there are cyclist [sic] side by side there is no chance to avoid them if car going other way.”
Somehow it’s the cyclists’ fault that they are being overtaken on a blind bend.
So does that mean it’s fine to plough in to people because you’re going too fast round a blind bend, just so long as they’re going single file?
Apart from cyclists this is exactly how dozens of horses are killed on our roads every year.
I’ve recently made the mistake of getting sucked into anti-cycling discussions on that Next Door app and I had someone make exactly that point. What would they do if there was a tractor or other slow moving traffic? Posts like that should lead to automatic confiscation of driving licences as the posters clearly are not safe to be on the road.
Police officer: If it is safe to overtake one cyclist, it is also safe to overtake two, if it is not safe to overtake two cyclists side by side, it is not safe to overtake two in single file or a lone cyclist.
Drivers on Twitter: Yeah, I understand that, I am perfect in every way….However…., if I want to squeeze dangerously and illegally through a small gap to save almost no time and put others’ lives at risk you are making that slightly more difficult… Please don’t inconvenience me like that.
I saw that video shared on Facebook last night, it had 1.8k comments and pretty much every one of them was either disagreeing with the advice, “rOaD taX”, or just generally shitting on cyclists.
My favourite one was something along the lines of “our roads aren’t for cyclists anymore, they’re too congested already”. Completley beyond her comprehension that an average sized car takes up the same space as six cyclists or ten predestrians, and that the roads are congested because we’re a nation of lazy, selfish pricks who would drive to our own fridges if we could.
Came across this via the RantyHighwayman:
“But if the cyclists are riding 2 abreast in a national speed limit, it is impossible to give them the 2m gap required by the Highway Code. Please offer further advice on overtaking in this situation.”
Gets HC wrong as it does not mention 2m for cyclists. Thinks the road speed determines the gap.
And they are a driving instructor.
But cyclists haven’t passed a test!
Comment of the day, however – and quite possibly comment of the year – goes to mdavidford for this astute analysis of tomorrow’s Teletubby-shaped time trial at the Tour de France:
I suppose including Tinky Winky makes up for Pau not featuring this year.
Boom. Mic drop.
30 June 2022, 08:41
30 June 2022, 08:41
30 June 2022, 08:41
30 June 2022, 08:41
Incoming podcast alert... with more 105 chat!
Why aren't more people cycling and walking when fuel prices are at record highs? + Shimano 105 discussed on the road.cc Podcast
Psychologist Dr Ian Walker explains how human nature makes it hard to get people to break routines, plus we look at why the latest 105 groupset is electronic-only and the implications for bike buyers
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Latest Comments
How dare you road.cc. Now I'm back to "0 days without seeing a MTB" and my Friday evening biscuit is a total write-off.
Amazing value for 30 bucks. Add a few stars there rockafella
How much of Halfrauds profits are due to them charging 15% commission on the cycle to work scheme they somehow have tied up so many companies to? Profiting off local bike shops and making more off sales than the IBD does, all because some clueless person in HR doesn't care what cycle scheme they choose, and employees get charged more too.
I'm currently sat next to a bike - but I'm not riding it, not is it on the road. Nor in Surrey. Remove me!
@MaxiMinimalist I see you retain your strange obsession with the claim that the only way Decathlon, a global entity with €16.8 billion revenues for whom the cycle team is an essential primary promotional tool for their kit and bikes, will be able to keep Seixas with a sugar daddy cheque from the owner of their co-title sponsor. Why is this? Incidentally Seixas is not winning the next Tour in any case unless Jonas and Tadej both crash out, so the question is unlikely to arise.
@ChrisA Just for info it's Bishops Cleeve. I think the bus lane bit is about the section along Lansdown Road going out of Cheltenham towards Gloucester. This "cycle lane" has been in place for many years. The surface is bumpy due to tree roots and eroded surfaces, cyclists are expected to give way at junctions and it goes past many driveways so you have to be alert at all times. There are bus lanes alongside some of this section and, yes, I still use the bus lanes and the road where the bus lanes run out. This section is not green like the rest of the path and when the green runs out getting through Cheltenham and onto the Gloucester section is hit and miss to say the least. The new green section from Bishops Cleeve to just north of Cheltenham town center is indeed well used and is much appreciated despite the lack of any cyclist priority at beg buttons. Cyclists do have priority at side roads, as in the picture, and motorists seem to be getting the idea. I don't know if it has anything to do with the OpSnap reports I sent in on the occasions I had to brake to avoid a collision when it was newly opened, but things are definiteley improving.
@MaxiMinimalist Ah yes, the good old "You are but what am I?" argument beloved of schoolboys everywhere. Anyone who calls someone a fascist must actually be some form of fascist themselves or other form of oppressor. Hitler and his vermin used this to great effect, claiming that all they were doing was saving the nation from the oppression of communists, social democrats and trade unions, frequently portraying themselves as the victims of said oppression. There's even a name for it in the psychology textbooks, DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender.
It was when perce and that Clem Fandango bounced off one another that they both did their best work...
I don't believe that the Italian state under Mussolini was run particularly well. Their army were awful, their invasion of Greece failed, though their losses did draw Germany in because it threatened the flanks for Barbarossa. North Africa was also shameful, once again only saved by Rommel and the afrika corps. If your talking national socialist, I'm never going to dispute that German efficiency and bureaucracy, however stereotypical, will always rate highly, but the state was run on the whims of a madman, surrounded by sycophants enacting policies derived by attempting to ingratiate themselves from vague concepts and hints from the aforementioned madman. Often in competition with pointless duplication of effort.
Never mind that - they've gone and named the site road.cc instead of Surreyrider.cc - what were they thinking‽‽
37 thoughts on “Two abreast advice does TikTok; Shut lanes that aren’t being used!; Police search Bahrain Victorious Tour de France hotel; Giro Donne TT fail; EF’s crocs; Triathlete reunited with bike lost at Heathrow; Cav’s at the Tour (kind of) + more on the live blog”
I suppose including Tinky
I suppose including Tinky Winky makes up for Pau not featuring this year.
mdavidford wrote:
The Vulcan High Priestess?
Damn it, that’s good.
Damn it, that’s good.
5.30am this morning?!
5.30am this morning?!
Came across this vai the
Came across this via the RantyHighwayman
https://twitter.com/learnsmartuk/status/1542277609794506757
“But if the cyclists are riding 2 abreast in a national speed limit, it is impossible to give them the 2m gap required by the Highway Code. Please offer further advice on overtaking in this situation.”
Gets HC wrong as it does not mention 2m for cyclists. Thinks the road speed determines the gap.
And they are a driving instructor.
But cyclists haven’t passed a test !!
I think that’s what Ashley
I think that’s what Ashley Neal was quibbling about (and equally inaccurate) too. I appreciate the concern, but this appears to be “we’ll follow the rules – but this is crazy! Cyclists have the potential to hold us up for as long as they like!”. Only seeing things from the driver’s perspective is not surprising (even given “driving instructor”). This is (deliberately?) making mountains out of molehills though. Imaginary molehills at that given that the overtaking rules are (unfortunately) “should / ‘guidance'” so not actually legally binding…
So it’s a “nicer” version of “Oi! Move out the way!”
Massively trying to backtrack
Massively trying to backtrack by stating it was an open question to stimulate discussion. Well yes, but surely get the HC right first.
I thought it was not less
I thought it was not less than 1.5 metres clearance at 30mph or slower, and “more than that” at faster than 30 mph.
Googling found this on birmingham city council’s website at https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50122/cycling_in_birmingham/1396/driving_around_cyclists/3
which is funny, when you consider that many motorists think they can get closer and closer to just… sneak… past…, if they’re travelling in slow moving traffic.
Rule 163
Rule 163
give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders and horse drawn vehicles at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215). As a guide:
My main beef with the so called instructor is that they didn’t even know the rule correctly for distance and the relevant speed ie your speed not the max road speed !
As I have discovered as a ped giving any room on country lanes is very much optional for a lot of drivers, especially range rover drivers.
hirsute wrote:
I quoted this to a driver yesterday.
Was squeezed by a pick up truck, who I caught up with 200 metres later at some temporary traffic lights. After I distracted him from his phone I asked him if he knew what the safe overtaking distance was, and then advised him when he looked dumbfounded. His response “you’re shitting me”, to which I replied “no, read the Highway Code” .
Would have thought that someone driving a highways maintenance vehicle would know better.
Grahamd wrote:
No doubt he was thinking that if he left 1.5 metres then there wasn’t room for him to get past you, and hadn’t considered that THAT IS THE F-ING POINT.
Is there any other sports
Is there any other sports where teams are subject to police raids?
Daveyraveygravey wrote:
I think all of them when the World Anti Doping Agency is involved… however I’d be as interested as you to know if other sports might get as much media attention over ‘suspicions’.
Police officer: If it is safe
Police officer: If it is safe to overtake one cyclist, it is also safe to overtake two, if it is not safe to overtake two cyclists side by side, it is not safe to overtake two in single file or a lone cyclist.
Drivers on twitter: Yeah, I understand that, I am perfect in every way….However…., if I want to squeeze dangerously and illegally through a small gap to save almost no time and put others lives at risk you are making that slightly more difficult… Please don’t inconvenience me like that.
I saw that video shared on
I saw that video shared on Facebook last night, it had 1.8k comments and pretty much every one of them was either disagreeing with the advice, “rOaD taX”, or just generally shitting on cyclists.
My favourite one was something along the lines of “our roads aren’t for cyclists anymore, they’re too congested already”. Completley beyond her comprehension that an average sized car takes up the same space as six cyclists or ten predestrians, and that the roads are congested because we’re a nation of lazy, selfish pricks who would drive to our own fridges if we could.
BalladOfStruth wrote:
Exactly. When you ride, notice how many cars have just one person sitting in them, and remember that for the next time someone says that ‘cyclists are taking up too much room’…
Yep the comments on the
Yep the comments on the TikTok video doing the rounds on Twitter is completely depressing.
It’s the usual mish mash of anti-cycling bingo with some real gems appearing and this one is my favourite so far…..
“That’s bullshit. If I come around blind bend there are cyclist side by side there is no chance to avoid them if car going other way.”
Somehow its the cyclists fault that they are being overtaken on a blind bend.
So does that mean it’s fine
So does that mean it’s fine to plough in to people because you’re going too fast round a blind bend, just so long as they’re going single file?
Apart from cyclists this is
Apart from cyclists this is exactly how dozens of horses are killed on our roads every year.
TriTaxMan wrote:
Ah, so as well as disagreeing with the fact that cyclists are permitted to ride two abreast, he’s not that hot on highway code rule 126 either:
And as has been pointed out
And as has been pointed out by others on here before. If you are on a country road with reduced width and lots of bends “Drive at a speed that will allow you to stop well within half the distance you can see to be clear” so you can allow for the speedsters coming the otherway on the wrong side.
Very good point.
Very good point.
TriTaxMan wrote:
Shurely that should have been: “If I come around blind bend there are cyclist side by side I swear I’ll do time!”
Sadly the court anecdata provided by road.cc says “you probably won’t do time”.
TriTaxMan wrote:
I’ve recently made the mistake of getting sucked into anti-cycling discussions on that Next Door app and I had someone make exactly that point. What would they do if there was a tractor or other slow moving traffic. Posts like that should lead to automatic confiscation of driving licences as the posters clearly are not safe to be on the road.
Steve K wrote:
Yeah it’s quite scary how those people cannot see the issue is their driving not the other people on the road. It comes from that notion that a speed limit is a speed target and the fact that people are always in so much of a hurry that losing a few precious seconds by slowing down is just wrong and not something that they will ever consider
Steve K wrote:
FTFY
APC van.
APC van.
What you can’t see is a car the other side where the near side wheels are touching the verge.
Let’s see if Essex Police do anything.
Given the fact that an
Given the fact that an oncoming vehicle had to take evasive action that should be a minimum of a warning letter, but I’m going to guess its postcode/police officer lottery as to whether or not anything happens.
TriTaxMan wrote:
Was that comment posted by Dr Helen Measures?
Would that be killer driver
Would that be killer driver Dr Helen Measures, by any chance?
Well Bournemouth Echo are
Well Bournemouth Echo are proving that everything is car centric today…… This is their headline.
“Man dies following crash with car in Poole” with the sub heading of “AN ELDERLY pedestrian has died following a crash with a car in Poole.”
Was it a self driving car
Was it a self driving car without any people in it or, was it possible that a person killed another person by not properly controlling 2 tons of metal?
Patrick9-32 wrote:
Given it was a Vauxhall Zafira I’m going to go with the latter.
And the Bournemouth Echo are not the only ones at it…. The Royal Parks Police have this in a Tweet
“A car driver is currently in custody for drink/drug driving following a collision with a lamp post.”
Did the lamp post just jump out in front of them on the road?
Lampost was black !
Lampost was black !
I rest my case.
Did the lamppost have road
Did the lamppost have road-legal lights?
“Okay, the driver shouldn’t
“Okay, the driver shouldn’t have been drunk, but the blame is 50/50 because the lamppost doesn’t pay road tax”.
Re: Early morning raid on BV.
Re: Early morning raid on BV.
No smoke without fire methinks. The French Police have incriminating knowledge but appear to lack hard evidence. They should have waited until just before stages 11 or 12.