Antiques store describe missile attached to van as “anti-cyclist modification”; Police say no group cycling on IM weekend; Disabled cyclist shows TransPennine bike rack flaws; School’s cycling ban due to lack of storage + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Extinction Rebellion protests: Met Police confirm a number of arrests after cyclists blocked Lambeth bridge
Officers have so far arrested dozens of protesters who blocked Lambeth Bridge, including those who locked on.
Officers continue to make arrests and clear the bridge of disruption pic.twitter.com/1rVUYdad74
— MPS Events (@MetPoliceEvents) September 3, 2020
✊🏻🚴🏼✊🏽🚴🏾♂️✊🏿🚴🏻♀️ We have a right to peaceful protest in this country. This evening, police kettled (completely surrounded) 200 peaceful cyclists on Lambeth Bridge, and arrested them all. This is an abuse of police power. Love & Solidarity to all involved!!
❤️🧡💛💜💚🖤💙 pic.twitter.com/LPLM5q7ndG
— Extinction Rebellion Brent 🌍🕊💚 (London) (@XRBrentLondon) September 3, 2020
Update on Lambeth Bridge. Police have surrounded 200 cyclists and are not letting anyone leave. They are arresting everyone!
Our peaceful right to protest is being trampled on.
— Extinction Rebellion Brighton (⧖) (@XRBrighton) September 3, 2020
Yesterday protests took place across London which saw Mayfair, Trafalgar Square and Lambeth Bridge blocked, and now police have said that “dozens” of arrests were made over the blocking of Lambeth bridge. There were reports over 200 cyclists in support if XR attended, with some complaining that they were being kettled by police. Others argued that the protestors were breaking the rules on large gatherings during the pandemic, and were blocking routes for emergency services.
More updates if and when we get them.
School allegedly bans cycling for lower school students on 'health and safety' grounds... because there isn't enough cycle storage
First day at school.
Sad to see that secondary school Grey Coat Hospital in Victoria is banning cycling to school for most students
“Not enough cycle parking spaces”@willnorman maybe can have a word with the Headteacher?@Heidi_LDN @citycyclists @CarolineRussell pic.twitter.com/T0KcHLh1nR
— Vision Zero London (@V0LDN) September 3, 2020
The letter is reported to have been sent to parents from Grey Coat Hospital – a secondary school for girls in Westminster – saying that bicycle storage is only to be used by sixth formers, and that space is “extremely limited”. The letter continues: “Younger students are not permitted to cycle to school due for health and safety reasons and we will not allow them to store a bicycle at school.”
They say that staggered arrival times and earlier finishes will “ease pressure on rush hour traffic”, which presumably means the school expect children use public transport or get a lift from parents/guardians.
Simple. Convert half a dozen car parking spaces to create 60+ spots
— Person, woman, man, camera, tv (@BarryShawkins) September 3, 2020
Thanks for the tag. Certainly space constraints are often a challenge in London schools.
We’ve worked with many schools to figure out creative solutions for enabling student cycling. If there’s a way we can support, please email london@sustrans.org.uk
— Sustrans in London (@SustransLondon) September 3, 2020
Some have suggested that the school convert parking spaces, while Sustrans’ London branch have offered their assistance to facilitate students cycling to school.
We’ve contacted The Grey Coat Hospital for comment.
Car Free Day 2020 campaign launches, with free Santander Cycle trips and prize giveaways including Brompton e-bikes
London’s Car Free Day is on 22nd September this year, and Transport for London have announced that free hires on Santander Cycle hire bikes will be available all day. Londonders are also encouraged to share their journey on social media using the hashtag #MyCarFreeTrip, and a lucky few will be selected to win prizes such as Brompton bikes, packages from GoPro and free one year Santander Cycle memberships. There is also a special 25% off offer on annual Santander Cycle memberships using the code CFD25OFF, which is valid on 22nd and 23rd September.
James Austin of Sustrans London commented: “It is unacceptable that over two million Londoners live in areas blighted by dangerous and illegal levels of NO2, including thousands of young people who deserve a healthy start in life.
“Air pollution is a real threat to our health and wellbeing and until we end our reliance on motor vehicles and walk and cycle more for local journeys, the terrible consequences of the pollution in our streets will continue.
“Sustrans is encouraging Londoners to take part in Car Free Day 2020 and choose a healthier future.”
Richard Freeman tribunal: former British Cycling and Team Sky doctor ordered to have medical examination before trial resumes next month
Freeman is accused of ordering testosterone for British Cycling athletes – which he denies – and is now ordered to undergo an independent medical examination before his hearing resumes next month, after mental health issues caused length delays to the trial previously.
According to the BBC’s Dan Roan, Freeman’s QC Mary O’Rourke says Dr Freeman is now in “robust good health, thank goodness”, and has returned to working five days a week at a GP’s surgery. The tribunal has demanded that Freeman be made available to undergo a medial examination in the week commencing 14th September, by “an independent expert appointed by the General Medical Council”.
Freeman’s QC has also been asked to produce a redacted copy of the statement from her source, a journalist, who claimed to have seen an alleged affidavit from the Daily Mail, which was signed by former Team Sky and British Cycling coach Shane Sutton (Freeman claims Sutton bullied him into ordering testosterone to to treat erectile dysfunction). According to Roan, O’Rourke said she was struggling to persuade the journalist to give evidence.
The hearing was convened for one day, and there will be another preliminary hearing on 25th September 2020 due to the request for further case management. The hearing will then reconvene in public session on 6th October 2020.
Andy Burnham saddles up to head back to the office
Today I’m returning to the office for the first time in five months – by bike!
Most of Greater Manchester remains under temporary restrictions on home gatherings & it’s important we follow them.
But it’s also important to support our city. So I’m hoping others will do the same. https://t.co/WhxN4T6AOO
— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) September 4, 2020
Ensuring that he’s taking heed of the advice from his Cycling and Walking Commissioner, Burnham has returned to his office after a lengthy WFH period by bike.
Dutch parking problems
Dutch parking problem:
Secondary school Pantarijn in Wageningen. pic.twitter.com/nqLYvrdjWy— Cycling Professor (@fietsprofessor) September 3, 2020
In stark contrast to the cycling ban imposed on students of Grey Coat Hospital school in London, it doesn’t appear this school in Wageningen believes there are any “health and safety” issues when it comes to rammed bike storage areas.
Disabled cyclist shows once again how hated vertical bike storage racks on Hitachi-built trains are unusable
Love the cycle racks which mean that as a disabled person I can never use your service independently with my bike @TPExpressTrains
👍👍👍 pic.twitter.com/rFbX2W4Hdq
— Harrie Larrington-Spencer (@harrielspencer) September 4, 2020
In the video, a man is attempting to get Harrie Larrington-Spencer’s bike onto one of the cycle storage hooks in vain, the latest in a long line of passengers who are unable to use the storage sections as intended (read our experience here).
The problematic bike storage sections are installed on new high-speed trains built by Hitachi for Great Western Railway, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and TransPennine Express, and were slammed as “awful” by Cycling UK back in October; although in the comments section underneath Ms Larrington-Spencer’s post, it appears there could be some light at the end of the railway tunnel…
Hi Harrie. I’m sorry you had trouble getting your bike on board today. We can make sure your comments are passed on to our fleet team. If you do need assistance in the future, our friendly team would be more than happy to support you – https://t.co/3AhHyiAp2u ^MO
— TPE Customer Assist (@TPEassist) September 4, 2020
We are currently in the process of redesigning the cycle racks on our Azuma trains after much feedback from customers. We also can’t guarantee a reservation near to the cycle storage area at the moment with social distancing in operation. ^SH
— London North Eastern Railway (@LNER) September 4, 2020
TransPennine’s customer assist team say they will pass the feedback on, while LNER say that they are looking to redesign the bike storage sections on their Hitachi-built Azuma trains… does this mean the other operators will be changing theirs too? We’ll be making some enquiries.
InternationElles near completion of challenge to ride this year's Tour de France distance and elevation in just one week
The fearless @InternationEll2 have been powering through their Everest climb for over 7 hours and it’s only just past 11am. We will be here following their journey until sunset on Instagram Stories. Show your support with #ThisIsOurTime and our Instagram stickers and gifs! pic.twitter.com/Cqf82OIHzE
— ŠKODA UK (@SKODAUK) September 4, 2020
As we reported last week, the group of female cyclists usually ride the Tour de France route one day ahead of the men to campaign for gender equality in cycling and a women’s version of the event – and this year, riders are doing the distance and elevation of the three week Tour in just one week as a relay team, all without leaving the UK.
The challenge has culminated in an everesting attempt today, with riders taking on the challenge individually up the Bwlch – they will all have to tackle it 26 times to complete the required 8,848 metres of elevation for a successful everesting.
The riders started at 4am this morning and are expected to finish at 8pm this evening, having gone past the halfway point at lunchtime. More info on the InternationElles can be found here.
Police ask would-be Ironman Wales competitors not to cycle in packs ahead of cancelled event weekend
IRONMAN WEEKEND | We’re aware some people are planning to travel to Tenby to race the IRONMAN route this weekend, and…
Posted by Heddlu Dyfed Powys Police on Thursday, September 3, 2020
Although the Ironman Wales triathlon in Tenby is cancelled this Sunday, Powys Police are advising those who plan to travel down to do the route independently with no road closures or support in place.
They have advised that cyclists should not ride in packs, because visitor numbers are high and therefore the roads are “very dangerous”. They’ve also asked anyone planning to take on the sea swim to ensure conditions are appropriate, and runners to consider the need for social distancing.
The comments section is mixed, with some saying triathletes should stay away, and others who were booked on to the cancelled event saying they are unable to get refunds on their accommodation, so are making the most of the situation.
Tour latest: Thomas de Gendt makes a break for it
🏁 51 km to go !
🇧🇪 @DeGendtThomas ⬅️ 25″ ➡️ Peloton#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/B3p6RSI6dR
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 4, 2020
After yesterday was rather tedious until the last few kilometres, the Belgian has injected a little bit of excitement to proceedings with around 50km to go. In other news, the yellow jersey group has more than a five minute gap on the green jersey group, with the split forming during a climb.
Brooks saddle executive and former L'Eroica president Andrea Meneghelli dies aged 49
Andrea Meneghelli.
1972 – 2020#eroica @Eroica_Official pic.twitter.com/Cu1Sunx3Gj— Cyclinside (@cyclinside) September 3, 2020
Meneghelli previously served as president of the L’Eroica events and was still heavily involved in the company, and was most recently a consultant for the Selle Royal group, which also owns Brooks. According to Corriere Del Veneto, Meneghelli passed away on Wednesday after falling ill during a training ride in his hometown of Dolo.
The town’s mayor Alberto Polo said: “He lived his passion for cycling privately, but always made himself available to the local community. Just a few weeks ago, at the end of July, he made spaces available in his family’s villa for a meeting dedicated to children with disabilities and their families.
“To leave us at 49 is not possible.”
Meneghelli leaves behind a wife and two children, and his funeral is expected to take place shortly at the church of San Rocco di Dolo.
De Gendt gets reined in
The peloton sees 🇧🇪 @DeGendtThomas.
Le peloton voit 🇧🇪 @DeGendtThomas.#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/KngwVAfbLh
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 4, 2020
His efforts were in vain, but it’s not like he’s cared too much in the past. In whipping crosswinds, riders in the GC group are now trying to split the pack and it’s every man for himself.
Wout van Aert 'probably the best cyclist in the world', says Bradley Wiggins
Speaking on another episode of his podcast, Wiggins thinks the 25-year-old Belgian is the real deal after storming to victory on stage five of the Tour de France, after setting up teammate Primoz Roglic for the win on the previous day.
Wiggins said: “He (Van Aert) is probably the best cyclist in the world after everything that he has done: three-time world cyclocross champion, San Remo winner, Strade Bianche winner, time-trial winner in the Dauphiné last year.
“He just possesses everything, and he seems to do it with such ease as well. He makes it look easy.
“He has ridden 15 races since the end of lockdown, has won five of them and the rest of the time he has done a job for the team. And what a job he did yesterday on that summit finish, pulling for Primoz and then today he wins a bunch sprint.”
Van Aert wins Tour de France stage 7
Wout van Aert takes #2. Adam Yates keeps yellow jersey. #TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/gXx67ZN95r
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) September 4, 2020
It looks like Wiggo is being proved right, as Van Aert thunders to a third Tour de France stage win of his career and his second this year. Adam Yates will stay in yellow going into stage 8.
American conservative radio host Eric Metaxas admits to punching cyclist who was protesting Trump speech at Republican Convention
Protestor rides bike yelling “fuck you” past RNC attendees. A man decides to punch him in his face. A cop then starts pushing back the man punched, leaving the man who punched him alone. pic.twitter.com/drBR7Xum93
— Griffin – Live from Portland (@GriffinMalone6) August 28, 2020
The curious sequence of events began when footage emerged of a man punching a cyclist outside the Republican National Convention in Washington D.C., after US president Donald Trump had just given a speech. It has now emerged that the man who threw the punch was the author, evangelical Christian and conservative radio host Metaxas, who was accused of running away to hide behind police after punching the protestor in the back of the head.
Now in an interview with Religion Unplugged, Metaxas has claimed the cyclist was behaving in a threatening manner, and his actions were to defend himself and his wife Susanne: “I wanted to get away from him, but I didn’t even know there were cops or anyone nearby, which is what made it all so frightening”, said Metaxas.
“It was very, very unpleasant.”
Meanwhile, a man who identified himself as the demonstrator in question claims he was not being threatening or intimidating, and Metaxas attacked him: “I was on a rented bicycle! He clearly punched me from behind”, he told Religion News Service.
Metaxas is no stranger to controversy, causing anger and bewilderment in July when he tweeted that Jesus was white.
Antiques store cause offence by describing missile attached to van as "anti-cyclist modification"
Paul’s anti-cyclist modification to the van proves to be highly effective. If you had a sidewinder missile, where would you like to stick it?
Posted by On The Square Emporium on Thursday, September 3, 2020
It’s not clear if the missile is a large replica or a salvaged genuine military item – or if the van was actually driven with it attached to the side – but in any case some are not amused at the Belfast antiques store seemingly making light of cyclist’ deaths on the roads.
Others have seen the funny side, with On the Square Emporium adding in the comments: “Even the buses get out of our way now!”
4 September 2020, 09:01
How to get stiffer, deeper and lower (not a euphemism)
10 Tour de France top tips to sprint like a pro
Here’s what you can learn from the world’s best sprinters; get ready, get aero, get fast
4 September 2020, 09:01
Full story on yesterday's launch from Cycling UK
Maintenance, local knowledge and tips from new service billed as “AA for cyclists”
Cycling UK launches first Pumped Up Crews in Birmingham and Manchester
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Latest Comments
I use this cycle path regularly. It is used by commuters during the week but it is used more and more by families with young children evenings and weekends when the weather is fine. The car boot takes place on a Sunday which conflicts with this leisure use. One problem is with cars stopping on the cycle path to wait for a gap in traffic (as in the picture). Even if the car is stopped and there is space behind it, as in the picture, you can't be sure that the driver won't reverse or the driver behind won't close the gap so you have to slow down to almost a stop to get through safely. You would have to dismount as well as you would be using the footway part of the path. This isn't a huge problem going up the hill into Cheltenham, (coming towards you in the picture) as it is relatively steep and usually against the prevailing wind if there is any, so you are going slowly anyway. Going down the hill however it is easy to reach 30mph and this is where cyclists are going to be seriously inconvenienced by having to slow down and dismount. I don't think it's a huge safety issue but it will be annoying. Obviously the driver should not be blocking the cycle path at all and should wait in the entrance, which has good visibility, until there is a gap in both the road and the cycle path traffic. This is obviously beyond the skill set of the majority of motorists who would not dream of blocking the road but can't see any problem with blocking the cycle path. The main problem, however, is with drivers from Cheltenham crossing the oncoming traffic to enter the car boot sale. There may be nothing blocking the cycle path and the drivers will be looking for gaps in the (usually continuous) oncoming traffic. When a gap appears they will go but will they have checked that there are no cyclists on the track who will expect the driver to give them priority as instructed in the highway code. A cyclist coming from Cheltenham down the hill will be travelling at speed from behind the driver and the driver will cut across them from their left if they are not seen. Experienced cyclists will be watching out for this but that is not who the cycle path is intended for, it is intended to encourage new cyclists to get on their bikes. Another concern is when a driver is turning into the site and does notice a cyclist and does give way. The driver behind may not be expecting the car in front to stop and there is potential for a rear ending incident. The speed limit is 40mph but it is only adhered to in heavy traffic. I rarely drive but I did drive the road recently and I was doing exactly 40mph when I was overtaken. None of these would be a problem if drivers could be relied upon to obey the highway code but it seems to me that it is asking too much in today's "drivers come first" and "must drive as fast as possible" mentality. Finally one time I cycled when the car boot was on there was a person in a hi vis jacket directing the traffic. If the individual has received training then it should be safer but it will still inconvenience cyclists unless we are given priority.
@KiwiMike Respectfully, I don't think "oh well people can afford it" is a valid excuse for blatantly overcharging for a product. Yes of course it's people's choice whether they want to pay for it or not, just as it's my choice to point out that in my opinion, as with so many cycling products, it's a rip-off.
I guess you’ve never been for a ride in the countryside, and wanted to stop somewhere there isn’t a perfectly-positioned tree, fence or wall? Or have always had the good fortune to have a bike rack or wall positioned perfectly where you need it, and been happy to balance your bike and trust no-one will nudge it. I accept that’s a valid use case.
If you can afford a £3000 ebike you can almost certainly afford this. Especially as it’s the last one you’ll ever need to buy. Of course people will value the utility in their own way, there’s no definitive right / wrong, there’s just choice.
@jackcycles "The idea that you need a dedicated cycleway in order to ride a bike is ludicrous and false" You might not need one because you're a brave cyclist. There are many people in this country who aren't brave, who don't like mixing with traffic, and who won't cycle if they have to. So they need a dedicated cycleway, despite your protestations. "Just be more assertive" will never, ever work as a tool to enable more cycling.
@neilmck Other studies have shown different results, however, e.g. a 2025 study in Barcelona showed injury rates on uni-directional cycle paths were slightly higher than on bi-directional ones - I'll post the link below as otherwise might end up in the black hole of link approval quarantine. The study you cite is from 1990 when in many areas cycle provision was very much in its infancy and drivers were much less accustomed to watching for cyclists in separate infrastructure than they are now. As ever, in my experience at least, the issue is not the cycle lane per se but junction design, with proper mitigating measures e.g. raised tables at junctions, different surface colours, warning signage, set back give ways etc there's no reason bidirectional lanes should be more dangerous.
Bi-directional cycle paths are very dangerous and councils should use extreme caution when deciding to install them. The problem is the complexity they provide motorists who have to cross them. There was a study made in Berlin that shows you are 12 times more likely to be killed at a crossing on a bi-directional cycle path than if you cycled on the road. https://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/sidepath/adfc173.htm
That - if it is like the photo - seems to be an inadequate and very poor entrance design. Where are the physical features to enforce behaviour? There will be a queue of cars sitting on the mobility track. The LHA could have CPOd a small slice of land to make it adequate and given a one or two car standing area by the carriageway with a bent-in mobility track. I'd say the designers have looked the other way.
I’m not sure this is a problem really. How often does the car boot sale take place?once a week at most, and not every week either? And not all day. I’m sure all users can manage and it would mean everyone taking car at the entrance / exit.
Many years since lived in Cheltenham but if the coach park is where I think it is there is another car park on the opposite side of Evesham rd also part of the race course and has an entrance off the main road and off a side road unlike the coach park it has no hard standing though ...
32 thoughts on “Antiques store describe missile attached to van as “anti-cyclist modification”; Police say no group cycling on IM weekend; Disabled cyclist shows TransPennine bike rack flaws; School’s cycling ban due to lack of storage + more on the live blog”
The XR protestors need to get
The XR protestors need to get pissed, grow beer bellies, add some tattoos, shave their head (if not already bald), make some nazi salutes and throw bottles and punches at the police attending. You can fucking guarantee they wouldn’t go near them with a bargepole
Lambeth Bridge is at
Lambeth Bridge is at standstill all day everyday at the moment because of the number of people choosing to use private cars, bikes blocking it have no effect on traffic levels and ease of moving through the highways
Just look at how many
Just look at how many bicycles the Police managed to get on that tow vehicle. I expect that they will also take up minimal storage at the car pound. Actually a pretty good advert for one of the many benefits to urban commuting by bicycle.
Fun article in the Grauniad
Fun article in the Grauniad about how we all subsidise motor traffic:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/04/treasury-raise-fuel-duty-chancellors-freeze
Takeaway paragraph:
brooksby wrote:
I’m generally in favour of a fuel duty rise (although I think that should be a lower priority than more targetted approaches e.g. congestion charging) but I do find the reporting around it odd sometimes.
Yes revenue from fuel duty would be higher if fuel duty was higher, but the fuel duty escalator in itself was an arbitrary policy – there’s no objectively “correct” value for fuel duty. There’s just one government making decisions that are different to previous governments – something that happens all the time.
Do we say income tax is “costing” the government money because it could be higher? VAT could be higher, inheritance tax could be higher etc. – the only difference with fuel duty is that previous governments put a number on exactly how much higher they wanted it to be.
when fuel duty stays the same
when fuel duty stays the same it’s always presented by them as a freeze and doing the ‘hard working drivers’ a favour, so the government can’t have it both ways. if you’re freezing it that assumes you were going to raise it, hence you lose money.
dave atkinson wrote:
Personally, I look forward to the Govt giving a **** about the hard working non-drivers too…
dave atkinson wrote:
I agree that you can’t have it both ways, but I think it’s equally disingenious when the government trots out that line!
“Officers have so far
“Officers have so far arrested dozens of protesters who blocked Lambeth Bridge”
If they’d been driving cars no one would have batted an eyelid…
Odd. I didn’t notice much
Odd. I didn’t notice much coverage of the gavvers nicking taxi drivers when they blocked London Bridge a couple of years ago…. Funny that.
Zebulebu wrote:
XR posted this on fb today, and are claiming that the police action was illegal:
“WE WANT TO LEAVE
Last night police kettled peaceful protestors on Lambeth Bridge
A critical mass cycling around central London was stopped on Lambeth Bridge, police closed the bridge to traffic, disrupting the emergency services, and stopping any pedestrians going on or off the bridge including press. They then arrested over 200 rebels who were trapped on Lambeth Bridge, and took them to a temporary detention centre to be processed, confiscating bicycles and banners in the process. Rebels were advised to chant WE WANT TO LEAVE and film evidence of the event
We are advised that this was an overstepping of police powers, and was illegal. If you or your friend was on Lambeth Bridge, please contact Extinction Rebellion legal team xr-legal@riseup.net with details, so they can help gather a case against the met police. The last time something like this happened to a critical mass bike ride was in 2012, it was illegal then too, and police had to compensate people. Please share this information, so it gets to those who need it.
And donate now, to support those arrested, in filing a case against the police
DONATE NOW
To support those on Lambeth Bridge and others in the courts:
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/extinction-rebellion-legal/
To support the rebellion to continue:
https://chuffed.org/project/extinction-rebellion-uk-2020
WE WANT TO LIVE”
I’ve just seen an car drive
I’ve just seen an car drive past my office window.
A normal estate car, with Uber stickers on the doors.
… and with ‘cyclists don’t pass this vehicle on the inside‘ stickers on the back.
Discuss
Because passengers will open
Because passengers will open the rear doors without checking. Mind you that would apply to both sides of the car!
hirsute wrote:
If passengers are alighting, the uber should be too close to the kerb for cyclists to pass on the inside. The Grayling manoeuvre should not be the standard method
Depends which side of the
Depends which side of the road the car stops or as I discovered on a 2 lane one way once – if the passenger gets out in the middle of the road !
I believe that the driver is
I believe that the driver is responsible for the actions of the passengers in some circumstances – eg whether they are wearing seat belts. I wonder if that principle applies here
brooksby wrote:
It would be very hard to pass it on the inside – clambering over the seats with your bike, then what happens when you get to the dash/bulkhead/engine?
Daveyraveygravey wrote:
You knew what I meant!
I suspect that they meant that you shouldn’t pass the vehicle on its left-hand side under any circumstances, because the driver might not see you and suddenly fling the vehicle sideways toward the kerb. Because everyone knows how bad the visibility is on a standard-sized estate car…
How can a school ban cycling
How can a school ban cycling to school? They have no jurisdiction over what happens outside of their property, so if I were a student, I’d be looking at cycling anyway and just locking the bike up outside the school if they insist on not converting some parking space to safe bike storage.
When this came up before, it
When this came up before, it was clear they have no powers at all to tell people they can’t ride to school. The nearest anyone got to squaring the circle was around having powers as a highways authority (which they clearly are not).
It really grinds my gears
It really grinds my gears when uppity teachers overstep their bounds. I think they suffer from dealing with children and imposing arbitrary rules (e.g. disallowing certain haircuts or hair colours) so much that they get confused about how the real world works and their place in it.
That said, I actually believe that teaching should be elevated as a profession and we should be pumping a lot more money into education in order to invest in the country’s future. Currently, if you become expert in a field (e.g. computers; economics) then teaching will be at the bottom of your career trajectory whereas we should be looking to encourage the more competent into those kinds of teaching roles. Hopefully, this will also push out the control freaks who wish to prevent kids from cycling.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I appreciate the sentiment, however being an expert in one’s field does not make you an expert at teaching – it’s a whole different skill set. And therein lies the difficulty; to be a decent teacher you need mastery of your subject, which already opens its own career opportunities, then you need to upskill in a whole new field of expertise – teaching – just to take a pay cut.
OTOH teachers have a hell of
OTOH teachers have a hell of a powerful union, guaranteed annual pay rises, and – oh, yes! – the holidays!! 😉
The holidays bit was tongue
The holidays bit was tongue in cheek I take it.
I do know someone who worked in IT in a senior position but is now an ICT teacher. Although as Sriracha outlines, my friend is a bit of an anomaly.
brooksby wrote:
As a teacher I can confirm that my “very powerful union” finally managed to negotiate a three year pay deal which dones’t even come close to replacing the real terms pay cuts we’ve suffered for over a decade.
Add to that my pension contributions have increased twice, my retirement age has been increased, my final pension has been decreased – all of which occurred after a government commissioned report which concluded that the pension scheme was sustainable without making any changes.
Maybe you’re referring to teachers in some other country. Are you in Finland?
Sriracha wrote:
You’re totally right. I consider myself good at what I do, but I have no patience for instructing other people and would suck at being a teacher.
I’d like to see teaching as a profession to be considered at a similar level to being a doctor or engineer and people shouldn’t have to reduce their pay to become a teacher. The big problem is that our political system favours short term thinking and not planning for the long term.
Sriracha wrote:
Mostly agree, but you need a reasonable amount of competency in the field – not necessarily mastery of it. Some of the best teachers I had were those who were prepared to admit the limits of what they knew, to explore those limits, and to learn along with the students.
Sick to death of “Health and
Sick to death of “Health and Safety” being used to excuse bad behaviour of those in authority. H&S 1974 is one of the greatest pieces of legislation produced by a british govt, and is a template for similar legislation the world over. It does not tell a headteacher that younger students aren’t allowed to ride to school.
FFS!
You know things are ill-used
You know things are ill-used when the H&S website has to have a special page of myth busters given as h&s when they are nothing of the sort !
The best one was when my wife was told certain shoes were banned in the office. So she pointed them to case 34 on the HSE site !
If schools don’t teach
If schools don’t teach children to cope with bureaucratic jobsworths who get a kick out of banning harmless things (or mandating useless things), are they really preparing children for adult life?
Re XR arrests on Lambeth
Re XR arrests on Lambeth Bridge: can confirm that 200 cyclists were arrested, that most cyclists would have moved off the bridge if the police had let them but were prevented by a police kettle. If the emergency services had wanted to use the bridge, we would have moved (during the critical mass cycle that lead up to the arrests, the whole of the cycle group moved to allow an ambulance and a motorcyclist with donor blood to pass). The Met’s claims of ‘dozens’ is a severe underestimate, and the claim that they were removing a disruption is equally disingenous (they were causing a greater disruption by kettling and preventing cyclists from leaving; then claimed that the cyclists were obstructing the highway, refusing to move and therefore arrested them and confiscated their cycles)
Steeley eyed missile man –
Steeley eyed missile man – isn’t there something in the law you know about carrying weapons or what look like weapons – in N. Ireland of all places?