Cyclists don’t pay ‘road tax’! (Except this one slapped with £1,500 bill); CyclingMikey interview; Maxine Peake talks Festive 500 on The One Show; Jan Ullrich rubbishes rehab rumours; Injured Van der Poel ends CX season; Cafe ride + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Injured Mathieu van der Poel ends cyclo-cross season early, hopes to recover in time for Classics
World champion Mathieu van der Poel will not defend his cyclo-cross world title later this month, Alpecin-Fenix have announced. Van der Poel’s winter has been blighted by injury, and following the latest flare up of his back injury, the 26-year-old has decided to prioritise recovery, hopefully in time for the spring Classics.
The news is not particularly unexpected. Yesterday, Van der Poel’s father, Adrie, told Sporza that his son would not be competing this week and hinted that the remainder of his cyclo-cross season was in jeopardy.
This morning, in a team press release, Mathieu confirmed the news, “I can’t say much about it, it is what it is. Because of that back pain I haven’t been able to reach my desired level since the Tour. I just want that to be in the past.
“The only remedy turns out to be a longer rest period. It would therefore be foolish to interrupt this period again and still try to make it to the World Championships. We all agree on that. Even though it is very bitter – I have participated in the World CX Championships 10 consecutive times – not being able to defend my title in the States is a real downer.
“I’m not worried about the future of my career, but of course it frustrates me now not knowing how long this rest period will last. We’ll only set a date and goals if we can do so in a substantiated manner. Until then, I’ll do what I can.”
How it started vs how it's going...
Elect people who bicycle.
— Mayor John J. Bauters (@JohnBauters) January 4, 2022
Wait for it…
Yes, yes … EXCEPT Boris Johnson. 🤦🏻♂️👎🏼
— Mayor John J. Bauters (@JohnBauters) January 4, 2022
Maxine Peake talks Festive 500 on The One Show
Maxine Peake was on The One Show last night talking about her new BBC drama Rules of the Game…AND more importantly the Rapha Festive 500.
Maxine completed the challenge with seven rides, mainly around the Manchester area and down into Cheshire, averaging 71.46km per activity.
And before she began talking to Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas about her new show, the actress addressed the important business — riding bikes.
“It can get in the way of your Christmas a little bit,” Peake admitted. “You’re taking your bike everywhere and constantly checking your Strava to make sure you’ve made the miles, but it’s good because it plateaus off the weight gain.”
Anyone else complete the 500?
CyclingMikey interview
We can all play a role in reporting dangerous driving to @metpoliceuk using dashcams & headcams. @MikeyCycling has been a pioneer in using headcam tech to help make our streets safer for all
You can submit camera footage to the Met Police here: https://t.co/BDZXPKgKjV https://t.co/pH0aD4BGrY— Will Norman (@willnorman) January 5, 2022
The Guardian has done a feature with CyclingMikey (and kindly linked back to our story on his points victory over Chris Eubank)…
It’s well worth a read for a look at what makes Mikey tick, and the story of why he started filming law-breaking drivers.
“I just like to think that with the power of one I’m trying to change a little bit of road safety,” is a particular favourite from the interview. Have a read here…
Jan Ullrich says hospitalisation was due to "severe blood poisoning", not alcohol relapse
A report which surfaced the week before Christmas in German newspaper Bild claimed 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich had been admitted to hospital after relapsing into alcoholism.
However, Ullrich has addressed the reports, telling the German news outlet, “I had a thrombosis and very severe blood poisoning. I escaped death again.
“To dispel all speculation: At the start of the treatment, I had a drug test done – and of course it was negative.”
It turns out Ullrich spent time in hospital in Mexico and has continued his rehab on returning to Europe. The 48-year-old also thanked Lance Armstrong for his support.
“He was the first person who came to see me in the hospital. He helped me a lot. I want to thank him for that,” Ullrich continued, before explaining his ongoing back problems have caused him to shrink.
“Three or four intervertebral discs have completely collapsed in the meantime. I’m only 1.81 meters now, I used to be 1.83 metres.”
Sigma Sports' 'The Cafe Ride' returns after two-year hiatus — Pippa York first guest back
Two famous faces from the cycling world having a chat over a spin around the south-west of Glasgow, featuring, of course, the obligatory cafe stop…it wouldn’t be a very good cafe ride without a refreshment stop, would it?
Pippa York is Matt Stephens’ first guest back. Expect stories from the peloton, discussion on the inclusion of transgender athletes in sport, and Pippa’s perspective on her new career in front of the camera and behind the mic.
Just saw two cyclists refuse to use this perfectly good cycle lane
Just saw two cyclists refuse to use this perfectly good cycle lake. pic.twitter.com/9KZagPaiFc
— Sam Clifford (@samclifford) January 5, 2022
American police officer faces lawsuit after tackling man for not having a light on his bike
Norfolk Virginia-Pilot newspaper recently got hold of this footage from December 2018, in which a Virginia cop is seen tackling a man riding a bicycle to the ground, apparently due to his lack of lights.
Derrick Rountree was killed earlier this year in an unrelated daytime shooting, and his family are pursuing a $1.5 million excessive force lawsuit against the officer on his behalf.
The body cam footage shows the officer chasing the man at around 2.40am on Christmas Day before tackling him to the ground.
“Why you do that to me, bro? For what? I ain’t do nothing,” the cyclist says. To which the cop responded: “You have no light. We tried to stop you. You tried to run.” Before another officer added, “You need a light.”
Rountree required surgery to reset his leg which was broken in multiple places during the incident. He was later charged with a headlight offence and obstruction of justice.
In court the officer’s attorneys asked Rountree why he had not stopped. According to the Virginia-Pilot, he replied, “Because I’m on a bicycle. What would he stop me for?”
Christina Birch talks life as a NASA astronaut
Bicycling sat down with retired pro cyclist turned NASA astronaut Christina Birch to talk about her transition from racing to spacing…
“It’s fulfilling in a way I wasn’t expecting, beyond, you know, just the pursuit of a tough performance like in a race,” she explained.
“Also, there’s this other critical piece, which I found in teaching, that I felt like I was really making a difference. And I’m so excited to be returning to a career where I can inspire people to pursue math, the sciences, whatever it is they are passionate about.”
The full interview is here…
Wout keeps winning...but is Tom Pidcock now favourite for cyclo-cross rainbow jersey?
Back on 🔝! @WoutvanAert 🇧🇪 delivers another knockout 🥊 blow as he dominates the field to win the @X2OTrofee in Herentals!
🥇 @WoutvanAert 🇧🇪
🥈 @Tompid 🇬🇧
🥉 @ToAerts 🇧🇪A preview of the podium at the World Championships 🌈 in Fayetteville? pic.twitter.com/ByfdwXsNxv
— GCN Racing (@GcnRacing) January 5, 2022
Wout van Aert did what Wout van Aert does…winning the cyclo-cross in Herentals this afternoon. BUT the big news, following on from Mathieu van der Poel’s announcement that his cross season is over, is that Van Aert has in the last few minutes confirmed he won’t be travelling to the US for the World Championships later this month…
No Van der Poel or Van Aert wearing the rainbow bands in 2022-23. Whisper it…but it’s looking like as good a chance as ever for Tom Pidcock. The Brit was second behind his Belgian rival this afternoon.
Van Aert said he wants to prioritise being in top shape for the spring campaign on the road, something the world champs in Fayetteville, North Carolina, would hamper. He also had some kind words for his injured great rival…
🗨️ Wout van Aert: “It’s a shame that Mathieu isn’t in the races anymore and that he is struggling with an injury. I wish him the best from here. I hope that he will be back soon because cyclocross and the whole cycling world needs riders like Mathieu.” pic.twitter.com/DHWE72RhR3
— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) January 5, 2022
Useful things bikes...
Useful things bikes. On this one hour bike patrol covering some 14km the bike not only allowed me to cover a large amount of ground, but came in as a useful yardstick (if I can’t get a bike past your parked car, a pram or wheelchair can’t get past either). pic.twitter.com/Sgg8JnrW3e
— Sheffield North West NPT (@SheffNW_NPT) January 5, 2022
Cyclists don't pay 'road tax'! (Except this one slapped with £1,500 bill)
One cyclist now has the perfect response to any online troll brandishing ‘cyclists don’t pay road tax’ in defence of (usually) very bad driving…because he does pay road tax…well, not really, because the summon from India’s Dibiyapur municipality has been scrapped and there is an investigation into why they were served the £1,500 bill…
Suresh Chandra from Sehud owns just a bicycle but was slapped with a notice to stump up Rs 1.5 lakh (roughly £1,500) as a motor vehicle tax between June 2014 and September 2021.
DNA reports the security guard took the note to his neighbours as he and his son could not read the letter, and were surprised to find out it had been issued in the name of his 16-year-old son, Sudhir.
An ARTO official said the notice had been incorrectly issued and that the matter will be thoroughly investigated and action taken against the persons responsible.
And they didn’t even need a loophole-specialising lawyer to get them off the charge…
Some interesting thoughts for your Wednesday afternoon...
Live in London? There’s no good reason to own an SUV. https://t.co/kMrpFuNQmQ
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) January 5, 2022
"World of pain" caused by Belfast party bikes, according to Northern Irish police official
.jpg)
A Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) official has claimed that Belfast’s party bikes have no place on the city’s streets and are causing a “world of pain” for authorities. The bikes, described as “pubs on wheels”, can hold up to 18 people who pedal along while drinking and playing music.
However, a PSNI official expressed concern in an email seen by Belfast Live: “As regards the party bike – that’s a whole other world of pain that neither BCC (Belfast City Council) or police have managed to crack either through application of construction and use legislation or on-street drinking bye-laws.”
“I honestly don’t see any safe place for that contraption, but finding a legal remedy has so far failed.”
Belfast City Council has always insisted responsibility falls to the police to enforce by-laws against street drinking.
Riding the entire Festive 500...in one ride
5 January 2022, 08:52
5 January 2022, 08:52
5 January 2022, 08:52
5 January 2022, 08:52
5 January 2022, 08:52
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
70 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
Laudable effort. Will a full review of the bike be following?
By their very nature the dockless bike schemes will result in bikes being parked in stupid places. The user has little incentive to find the correct place to park it. More so if they are tourists with a cruise liner to catch and only 3 hours to explore. So, if the operation can't be made to fit within the councils required operating method, then it should be removed. I'm pretty sure another operator will come in and propose a system acceptable to the council if they believe they can make money. I strongly suspect that the current operators can only make money by tacitly allowing bikes to be left where the tourist money wants to leave them, so time to rethink the financial model me thinks!
@bikercub "If they are good enough to be supporting the Groupama-FDJ United World TourCycling team, we should be looking at them as a contender." No, that only means that they paid enough to become a sponsor. Let's put the "pros use better stuff" myth to sleep, finally. And by the way, the trickiest part of a GPS computer is not data collection - that can be done by absolutely all of them. The hard part is the general user interface and turn-by-turn navigation, none of which really matters for a pro cyclist - and that brings us back to why any GPS computer could be good enough for just about any pro cyclist.
@mdavidford Absolutely, I am assuming that the OP means those lanes where it's so tight it's actually impossible for a cyclist to get through if there is a large vehicle, obviously if they can squeeze by each other nobody needs to go back.
You are quite correct about uniform signage. However this seems to be a fairly atypical set up. Having experience and knowledge of it would in theory make mistakes less likely. Part of my job involved writing operating and maintenance procedures for food manufacturing machinery. I quickly learnt that people need to be given direct, simple, non-conflicting, non-ambiguous instructions. If it is possible to make mistakes, then they will be made. The best of of avoiding a mistake is to design flaws out of the system.
I do not in anyway support the Daily Telegraph's continually mad anti-cycling journalism but, it must be said, that this particular section of cycle lane on King Street in Hammersmith has been an absolute disaster ever since it re-opened. It certainly wasn't perfect for cyclists before but ever since they remodelled the cycle lane to run as a two way lane on one side of the road it has become much much more dangerous and confusing for pedestrians, drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists alike. I'm not saying that all cycling infrastructure is badly designed but, on my 12 mile commute from home in South London to work at the West end of King Street, this cycleway is where I feel most unsafe. It's not an inditement on active travel but it should be a lesson in planning because it's been closed on 5 or 6 occasions since to be remodelled to correct issues that should've been obvious before it opened. I have been using this road to get to work since long before the re-modelling and it has definitely, in my opinion, worsened not just the safety of cyclists but also the relationship between drivers and cyclists in this area.
In principle, it shouldn't matter if you're familiar with a particular junction - that's precisely why we have (relatively) uniform signage across the country (I had this from a driver recently - Him: sorry, I don't know the area. Me: but a no entry sign is the same everywhere...). But in practice in a busy environment like this, simply adding another sign saying look out for cyclists is limited help. I don't love cycling on contraflows / a two way cyclelane on a one way street for that reason. In fact there's a crossing I don't love as a pedestrian which is look right (bikes) look left (bikes) look right (cars), island, catch breath, look left (cars), look left (bikes). (Yes, you could wait for a green man, but then it's still look everywhere (Deliveroo)).
I'm not familiar with Jeremy Vine's favourite cycle lane. However I do have sympathy with drivers if they have to deal with "Look both ways for cyclists" as well as "One Way" and "No Entry" signs. Especially if the driver is not familiar with the junction.
@mitsky Alas for a second there I was awarding the motorist in the window there points for wearing hi-vis in their car, then I realised they were also wearing a motoring helmet...
While I understand it in context, I quite liked this to conclude a bike light review: "it’s a reliable set for the price, so long as you aren’t looking to ride in the dark"
70 thoughts on “Cyclists don’t pay ‘road tax’! (Except this one slapped with £1,500 bill); CyclingMikey interview; Maxine Peake talks Festive 500 on The One Show; Jan Ullrich rubbishes rehab rumours; Injured Van der Poel ends CX season; Cafe ride + more on the live blog”
TAX (ROAD) YOUR PAY. Did Yoda
TAX (ROAD) YOUR PAY. Did Yoda write this?
andyp wrote:
I suspect swldxer
American roads have marking
American roads have marking like this. Where the words are written in this order
The rest of the world writes
The rest of the world writes their on road signs with the words as you come to them (considering you’re not in a helicopter looking down; you’re driving on a flat road).
And for some reason they
And for some reason they assume that you can only read one word at a time without a break.
Or perhaps they’re trying to generate a bit of mystery and excitement to keep the driver’s attention on the road.
mdavidford wrote:
You
SimoninSpalding wrote:
Mean
SimoninSpalding wrote:
You
SimoninSpalding wrote:
Don’t
SimoninSpalding wrote:
?
Ever creative – sometimes at
Ever creative – sometimes at the expense of good sense – The Netherlands can offer you a musical road in place of boring scrolling text (listen here). Unfortunately the downfall of this good idea was residents who were insufficiently patriotic to appreciate the same bloody tune being played by cars at various pitches all day every day. Wouldn’t happen in China!
America has some of them but
America has some of them but out on some remote freeways and roads.
The combination of multiple
The combination of multiple cars and the doppler effect did make it reminiscent of some of the concerts I enjoyed (endured?) after my middle one took up the trumpet
I can see how this might make
I can see how this might make sense for Chris Froome and other stem-gazers. I think the rest of us tend to look up the road somewhat.
I agree, this effect works
I agree, this effect works better when you’re reversing:
Re Boris – I never considered
Re Boris – I never considered what I saw him doing as “cycling”. It always looked like a somewhat awkward union between the pinnacle of human invention and an old Etonian trying desperately to look like a man of the people.
does it matter though ? he
does it matter though ? he still rode more miles than people sitting in a car or on the sofa do, he did the Ride London 100 miles as well, thats something Ive never done,thanks to its cancellation. But so frankly I wouldnt care if half the population looked like clowns on bikes, theyd be riding bikes and thats for me the far more important thing.
Awavey wrote:
Exactly! We need to get as many clowns as possible out of cars and onto bikes (though I do worry about their oversized shoes clipping the front wheel).
hawkinspeter wrote:
At least there’s no need to worry about whether they have a bell fitted – a quick squeeze of the nose should do the job.
I think the fietsorkest
I think the fietsorkest should open the show – they’ve got several horns and no doubt bells could be incorporated.
Awavey wrote:
I can confirm I passed Bozzo on Boxhill. As to whether he did the whole thing?
I had an early start, and whilst I am not the fastest, I was a bit surprised that he was at least half way round before I caught him.
I said something witty and derogatory as I passed, but can’t remember what it was now. If I had been able to see the future…
Yep, I missed out on that in
Yep, I missed out on that in 2020 as well even though I had got it through the flukey extra chance method.
Cycling infrastructure
Cycling infrastructure advocates, those generally in favour of active travel etc, are going to miss Boris when he is gone. Before his second term as mayor the only half decent infra on my commute was in Camden. As PM he has funded LTN’s and authorised the installation of pop up cycle lanes across the country.
I cannot think of another politician who ‘gets’ cycling like Boris does. With him in power active travel gets a sympathetic hearing and routes have been pushed thru’ despite opposition from the highways authority and dinosaur local authorities.
When Boris goes, cycling will be wholly ignored again. Sadly, cronyism and short-term thinking will not be going with him.
Boris is a vanity project
Boris is a vanity project enthusiast and that is the driver for “infrastructure” not cycling. The fact that led to a few bits of road being painted blue in London (rather slippery when it rained if I recall) does not make him a supporter of cycling. He has done nothing to improve safety of cyclists outside of urban areas, and is completely in hock to oil funded car obsessed back bench tories, like my own “representative” John Hayes.
Ultimately paint and bollards solves nothing until legislation is updated to recognise the seriousness of driving offences, and the fact that he has found no means to do this in 2 years with an 80 seat parliamentary majority says everything I need to know about his commitment to cycling. He has however managed to bring forward repressive legislation that if passed will make it an offence to be annoying.
I far prefer riding along the
I far prefer riding along the Embankment on a fully segregated cycle lane to the promise that if I am struck by a vehicle that the driver will be held to account!
YMMV but record numbers of trips on the Embankment and Royal College Street etc point to a demand for better infrastructure.
CyclingMikey has an interview
CyclingMikey has an interview/article with the Gruandia this morning:https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/jan/05/filming-cyclingmikey-dangerous-drivers-mike-van-erp-motorists-britain-roads-safer
hawkinspeter wrote:
Came here to post the same! Although I was going to include a trigger warning as it is (a) Guardian and (b) Cycling Mikey and I suspect I can hear the distant rumble of troll footsteps approaching
stomec wrote:
Dan’s now included it into the Blog as well.
I found it quite encouraging to read this bit:
Apart from the Met being poor with cyclists (not even going to mention their racist tendencies), it shows that us camera users are having a sizeable impact. We just need better support from certain police forces (cue WTJS) and harsher sentences for motoring crime – especially the loopholes concerning leaving the scene and ‘exceptional hardship’ which really rankles as the judiciary rarely consider the exceptional hardship caused by injuries and deaths to cyclists and others.
the day Ill be convinced it
the day Ill be convinced it has any impact is when a driver begins an overtake when its clearly unsafe to do so, but then pulls back and decides against it, simply by recognising Im likely to be carrying a camera, so theyd better make it a good pass.
till then its just supposition backed with no data, Suffolk & Norfolk for a while were reporting stats, which showed roughly only 20% were prosecuted, and nearly 60% of submissions were being rejected out of hand as not even meeting their submission criteria.
Awavey wrote:
60% rejected? That sounds like they don’t have the requirements laid out clearly or they’re too strict.
I like to think that anyone that does receive a letter or fine from camera evidence is likely to complain about it to others and hopefully several drivers will then be wary of cyclists that may or may not have cameras. But like you say, there’s scant data on the actual effect on whether road casualties are lessened because of it.
Awavey wrote:
I don’t carry a camera, but someone did actually pull back from a stupid move this morning.
It was dark, and there’s a pedestrian refuge pinch point ahead of me, visible for a long way. I could hear a car revving up behind me, clearly thinking they’d overtake. As we approach the pinch point I was getting ready for ‘having to do something’ when suddenly they noticed the island, braked, and went through behind me before overtaking once we were both through.
My flabber was well and truly gasted! 😉
Northamptonshire Police do
Northamptonshire Police do publish statistics monthly.
https://www.northantspas.com/PAWeb/Public/Content/23
Doesn’t tell you what action has been taken but it does tell you why action wasn’t taken. They seem to be getting over 100/month. The majority are still from drivers and around 50% are rejected/not processed.
I surprisingly had an email
I surprisingly had an email from WMP from a submission I made last night. The email was asking for me to resubmit as the Statement page hadn’t loaded properly. The ref number I was told to append already showed over 30 submissions to them from the start of the year that they had accepted. At least I know my submissions are being looked at which is something I never had sight of before, I’m more inclined to add to the number.
Bedfordshire have a new
Bedfordshire have a new system and seem very keen. The response is very generic but it was sent back literally within hours of the submission. As you say it’s encouraging.
IanMK wrote:
This looks similar to Herts (I think actually they might both use the same portal along with Cambs)
Beds, Herts and Cambs have a
Beds, Herts and Cambs have a combined Road Policing Unit.
Yes, that’s the dodge letter,
Yes, that’s the dodge letter with ‘these options include the following…’, which then allows them to comply with it but do nothing at all, or give ‘words of advice’. The Lancashire version is even more suspect as it cunningly slides in the phrase ‘may include’.
I wasn’t trying to make it
I wasn’t trying to make it sound like it was a great response, it’s just “encouraging” to get a fast response to tell you that they’ve reviewed the footage and they are taking positive action. TVP by comparison feels more like a black hole for footage.
I got a “Positive outcome
I got a “Positive outcome letter” from Lincs police within 2 days, and the wording was stronger with the phrase
“we are satisfied that one of the following actions is necessary to proceed with this matter:
Warning
Conditional offer of a diversionary course
Conditional offer of fixed penalty
Proceed to court”
As you say, not perfect but at least someone is reviewing the footage and recognises a close pass when they see one.
SimoninSpalding wrote:
Does that mean they’re made to take the long way home?
I think so. Hopefully the
I think so. Hopefully the conditions are that it is on a unicycle wearing a pink sock on their head.
“we are satisfied that one of
“we are satisfied that one of the following actions is necessary to proceed with this matter:
Warning
Conditional offer of a diversionary course
Conditional offer of fixed penalty
Proceed to court”
Good for Lincolnshire. It is possible to produce a simple non-evasive letter, so the forces which persist with the evasive ones are presumed to be going for ‘nothing’ or ‘words of advice’.
Yep, WMP always felt like a
Yep, WMP always felt like a Black Hole so to at least know they deifinitely have seen it is an uplift.
Yes, with the wtjs hat on, it shows nothing and you never find out if they followed through but at least it states they think it is bad enough. And if it is a warning letter or even the words of advice is given, it might make the driver more aware in future.
wtjs wrote:
perhaps, although speaking directly with Herts it means that they will take action. They told me that they are specific in their communication if they decide NFA.
Interesting rear camera set
Interesting rear camera set up.
Anyone know how it is done?
hirsute wrote:
Probably some kind of Nut-R
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/04/gopro-bike-wheel-mount.html
I hope their engineering is better than their website as their certificate expired back in May (for the love of Chris, automate your certificate renewals!)
https://www.nut-r.co.uk/
It’s an excellent piece and
It’s an excellent piece and explains his motives really well.
Did anyone complete the
Did anyone complete the Festive 500 ? what after telling us it was all pointless, selfish of us to devote any time to it over the holiday period, and no one cares how far we ride anyway
no, but I rode as much of it as Id targetted, so I completed my goals for it.
95km for me. I was planning
95km for me. I was planning on more as i wanted to complete my 4k miles for the year but was just too wet so missed out on the latter by 140 miles. Shame the NYE/NYD weather didn’t come earlier in the week.
I did 3/5ths, which was over
I did 3/5ths, which was over halfway, which was my goal, so I was happy with that, if the weather gods had been more favourable Id like to think Id have completed it.
It is about what I would have
It is about what I would have gotten to if I got my 4k target. Unfortunately my Shimano winter boots were letting the water in via my ankles and because they don’t have the ventilation holes, it was staying in the shoes and had to be tipped out at the end. They then wouldn’t dry in time for the next days ride.
Neoprene gaiters – best rainy
Neoprene gaiters – best rainy day investment I’ve made in ages.
I’ve bought some of those
I’ve bought some of those Altura WP socks as used by the R.cc team when they did the longest night ride. Not rained since for me to try them out. But yes, that will be the next look at as the shoe itself is fine, but doesn’t seal well around the ankle.
Same with my SIDI winter
Same with my SIDI winter boots, lovely except no watertight ankle seal – £10 gaiters from Decathlon and not had a wet sock all winter!
“his actions are rooted in
“his actions are rooted in painful personal experience of the consequences of such driving: when Van Erp was at school, he witnessed a friend being struck by a taxi driving the wrong way round a traffic island. His friend survived, but was badly injured.”
Sound familiar…
I think the letters ‘SUB’ are
I think the letters ‘SUB’ are missing from that sign.
https://twitter.com/pcarlin70
Scenes today in North Queen Street, the buggy being pushed was a double one
Chris was once a Racer: “Babies riding 2 abreast? Shouldn’t be allowed.”
Regarding the “perfectly good
Regarding the “perfectly good cycle lane”. I actually though the council had done well to mark it as flooded and warn traffic of filtering cyclists then realised those signs are for some roadworks further up.
Id have ridden through that
Id have ridden through that 🙂
You don’t know what’s under
You don’t know what’s under the water. Might be a big hole…
Besides getting splashed if you have no mudguards (and even if you do but they’re too short and/or narrow).
marmotte27 wrote:
marmotte27 wrote:
In most cases I’d agree, but the surrounding tarmac looks new enough for me to believe the condition below the water is good too.
Although there is still
Although there is still potential bottles, bricks and other heavy detritus, especially as there is a ramp for the ped crossing area so could catch at the deepest section.
its fairly common round here
its fairly common round here at this time of year, even if it hasnt rained for a while to find roads like this, and yes I did ride through that,as it wasnt as deep as it looked, deep enough for sure,but the alternative was go back the way Id came and maybe waste an hour or more and likely just ending up in a similar position on another back road, or ride through it cautiously aim for the middle of the road, sometimes you can trek around these types of floods via the fields, so your feet just get muddy instead of slightly damp, but I just treat it as one of those things you just have to put up with sometimes.
so a big puddle on a fairly clean looking bit of tarmac in an urban setting, shouldnt really hide any real problems for you. Id not have been overly concerned about riding through it, put it that way, whilst treating it cautiously still, Im not saying ride with abandon through them.
Luckily we have footage of a
Luckily we have footage of a similar flooded lane and the consequences:
https://youtu.be/K_7k3fnxPq0?t=169
Re American police officer
Re American police officer faces lawsuit after tackling man for not having a light on his bike
Overzealous american cop targets black man for minor misdemeanour in the hope that he’s got drugs on him.
I’m just surprised he didnt shoot him.
And how the cop managed to run after him – must have had an energy drink with his donuts.
Have to agree with some of
Have to agree with some of the sentiment you stated above. The video certainly didn’t show either “”We tried to stop you.” or “You tried to run” sentiments. I never heard a stop request or saw the cyclist out sprinting the coppers but he certainly seemed to be riding at a normal relaxed pace of 8-9mph or so.
Watched the Matt / Pippa Cafe
Watched the Matt / Pippa Cafe Ride video yesterday. Great stuff.
Whilst confirming the NYorks
Whilst confirming the NYorks Police twitter was Inspector Kev (it was), I scrolled down some of his tweets and noticed Andy Cox, formerly of the Met is doing this challenge this year for Roadpeace charity AND to get stories out from road-death victims families.
Just goes to show that not all cycling-supporting Police Twitter people are, checks notes, donut eating wasters.
The Andy Cox Challenge 2022 – JustGiving
I would have thought that
I would have thought that ‘public nuisance’ would be the appropriate avenue to do away with those irritating ‘party bikes’ (bah, humbug, etc.).