Police slammed for telling cyclists to “find another method of transport if you don’t want to cycle on the road”; Lance Armstrong sent to Mars… for reality TV show; Wout Van Aert rides an OVO bike in Glasgow; Are LTNs vote-winners? + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Has Travis Tygart gone too far this time? Lance Armstrong is being sent to Mars… for a reality TV show (hosted by William Shatner)
A substantial and vocal portion of the cycling community appears to have been finally granted their wish, after all these years – Lance Armstrong has been sent packing to Mars.
But, before you all rush to your keyboards, this isn’t some new draconian punishment dreamed up by Travis Tygart during a particularly bad bout of the flu.
Instead, Big Tex, Mellow Johnny, Juan Pelota etc. will be taking part in a new reality TV series called ‘Stars on Mars’. Yes, you read that right.
‘So you know what I did then? I took a photo with all my yellow jerseys! That showed them…’
The imaginatively titled show, which is set to air in the US on Fox (where else?) in June, will feature a dozen celebrities (and disgraced former Tour de France winners, apparently) who will compete, while dressed in very snazzy spacesuits, to colonise a simulated version of the Red Planet. So far, so very American.
The crew members – who also include UFC and WWE star Ronda Rousey, Super Bowl winner Marshawn Lynch, Modern Family’s Ariel Winter, actor Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin!!!!), and some other people I’m not as familiar with – will receive their assignments on ‘Mars’ from none other than Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner.
Although, for some reason, the producers went with a Star Wars reference for the promo clip, shared by LA. Because space, I think…
Greetings from Mars. Doing well up here….for now. https://t.co/AzSH2bXju5
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) May 5, 2023
Anyway, each week the celebrities will send one of their teammates “back to Earth”, before the “brightest star in the galaxy” is left. Let’s just hope that Lance doesn’t employ his old persuasion tactics to avoid being booted out again, eh?
> Why was Mark Cavendish riding with Lance Armstrong this week?
Most importantly, however – what’s Big George going to get up to when his buddy’s away on Mars?
“Maybe LTNs just aren’t that controversial?”
Remember how, over the course of the last year or so, activists opposed to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods have vowed to boot those responsible for them out at the next local election, and prove once and for all that LTNs are deeply unpopular?
I know it’s still early in the day, but let’s see how that plan is panning out so far:
A fascinating result for active travel folk:
Bath’s Tory candidates made opposition to the city’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) central to their campaign, but lost 8 seats, and pro-active travel Green @SaskiaHeijltjes was elected.
Maybe LTNs just aren’t that controversial? https://t.co/4JUiB0Yi9v
— Jon Owen (@anotherJon) May 5, 2023
“We’ll vote them out,” to get rid of Jesmond’s LTNs, said the antis. How did that pan out? The anti-LTN candidates (Fish & Evison) got 5 percent of yesterday’s vote. #LocalElection2023 Labour holds. (Fish not local, but still part of Jesmond LTN protests.) pic.twitter.com/4cO8nvHBix
— Carlton Reid (@carltonreid) May 5, 2023
Are you sure about this? I thought that the vast majority of people were just waiting for the opportunity to vote out the globalist local neighbourhood low traffic 15-minute metropolis fanatics. Perhaps they weren’t allowed park their cars near enough to the polling stations.
— paul gannon (@paulgannonbike) May 5, 2023
Yes, that must be it…
There’s a guy works down the chip shop swears he’s Fausto Coppi…
Huge if true. pic.twitter.com/Hy1V4r8u4s
— Herbie Sykes (@herbiesykes) May 4, 2023
“This cap was worn by Fausto Coppi in 1973.”
Errr, do you want to tell the seller or should I?
One day until the Giro starts… So get your DS caps on, because it’s Fantasy Cycling time!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when we spend hours and hours ignoring work and loved ones while studying stage profiles, start lists, and stats websites, desperate to stumble upon the perfect mix of quality, form, and value in order to stand on that virtual podium in Rome (okay, your living room) three weeks later.
> Join us for Fantasy Giro d’Italia!
Who are you picking for your road.cc Giro fantasy team? Are you willing to blow the budget on Remco or Primož, or are you favouring stealthier underdogs like Vlasov or Tao?
What about the sprinters? Are you backing Cav to wind back the clock once again (without a lead-out train in sight as well)?
And, like me, are you ruing the fact that the in-form, electric Ben Healy is no longer the unknown Fantasy Cycling quantity he was a few short weeks ago?
Right, I’m off to pick my team – I’ll see you all in six hours or so…
“Leave space for a life”: Cycling Scotland launches powerful new safe passing campaign
Today we launch our new #GiveCycleSpace safety campaign, supported by @PoliceScotland, to remind people driving to give at least 1.5 metres when passing someone on a bike. Leave space for a life. pic.twitter.com/8mRKj835ZN
— Cycling Scotland (@CyclingScotland) May 4, 2023
Powerful stuff.
However, as some have noted on Twitter, Police Scotland’s involvement in an initiative designed to encourage motorists to leave cyclists more space would be greatly enhanced if it got round to finally introducing its long-awaited online road safety reporting portal:
What happened to the Police Scotland national dash cam safety portal?
— scott (@scott_edinburgh) May 4, 2023
Advertising campaigns have improved significantly over the years and I like the personal angle of this one. However, the reality is that without an online reporting system the vast majority of drivers know that they can drive too close without consequence. @PoliceScotland https://t.co/24Hhw8DY6n
— David Brennan @magnatom@mastodon.green (@magnatom) May 5, 2023
> Delays to introduction of online road safety portal putting cyclists “at risk”, says Cycling UK
Potentially decisive Giro mountain time trial in doubt as teams raise concerns about inability of support cars to follow riders
The Grande Partenza of the 2023 Giro d’Italia may only be taking place tomorrow, with a seaside 18.4km time trial between Fossacesia and Ortona, but the race’s penultimate stage – an individual effort finishing at the top of Monte Lussari – is already being called into question.
Giro organisers RCS Sport are planning on sending the riders, after an opening 10km on flat roads (where normal TT rules on support cars apply), up a steep, narrow path for the final 7.5km – which means teams won’t be able to follow by car, with RCS expecting to provide any assistance in the case of a puncture or mechanical, by motorbike.
This has raised concerns within the peloton (just imagine if the Giro was decided by an untimely Evenepoel bike change in the final kilometres?), and a letter seen by Cyclingnews suggests that the UCI – acting on behalf of the teams – has asked RCS to modify the stage or risk cancelling it altogether.
The Giro organisers have apparently studied the matter prior to meeting with the team managers today.
There are rumours that the stage could possibly be moved to another nearby, and more car-friendly, summit finish, such as the iconic and notoriously steep Monte Zoncolan.
“It is a bit of a shame that they are only now realising that there are problems,” world champion and pre-race favourite Remco Evenepoel told Sporza when asked about the issues surrounding the proposed penultimate stage.
“We can still ride to the foot of the final climb and finish there. Then it’s an 11-kilometer time trial. I find it difficult to completely cancel that ride. But they can still make something else out of it.
“There are plenty of climbs nearby that we can get to the top of. They’ll find something, I don’t expect there won’t be a stage 20 in this Giro. And preferably a similar time trial on a course that can be ridden by all types of vehicles. It is a pity that they would only come up with that decision now. Because they could have known this longer.”
Clear the middle aisle! Trek-Segafredo rumoured to become Lidl-Trek in time for Tour de France
Are we about to see a lovely new Trek Madone sitting in the middle aisle, beside a garden chair and some colouring books, while we do our groceries this summer?
Probably not, but there are currently rumours flying around Belgium and Italy that Lidl is set to take over as title sponsor of the Trek-Segafredo team, just in time for this year’s Tour de France.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the supermarket giant – which sponsored the QuickStep team for five years from 2016 and currently backs the Flanders Classics races – will replace Italian coffee company Segafredo, whose contract with the US-registered squad, home to Mads Pedersen, Elisa Longo Borghini, Lizzie Deignan, and Giulio Ciccone, is set to expire at the end of this year.
The Belgian paper reports that, while little is currently known about the terms of the deal, with Trek keeping schtum, it will result in a “hefty budget increase” for the team, which will be known as Lidl-Trek from 1 July.
Lidl-Trek, isn’t that the kind of bike Gaia Realini asks her mechanics for? I’ll get my coat…
‘Ah, so that’s where my headset bearings ended up…’
I wondered where my head bearings had got to.https://t.co/2crDL9imln
— 𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 (@overlandertheb1) May 5, 2023
Is there a doctor in the lead group at the Vuelta? Yes, three actually…
Three (medical) doctors in the first group: Marlen Reusser, Erica Magnaldi and Elise Chabbey #LaVueltaFemenina
— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) May 5, 2023
And another doctor, Anna Kiesenhofer (a postdoctoral fellow in mathematics), chasing back to the front. Impressive stuff…
Serene Demi Vollering beats battling Van Vleuten on Vuelta’s first summit finish
⭐️Demi Vollering wins on the Mirador de Peñas Llanas!#LaVueltaFemenina #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/pubzIGo9QL
— UCI_WWT (@UCI_WWT) May 5, 2023
It’s not too much of an exercise in hyperbole to suggest that this afternoon on the Mirador de Peñas Llanas, the first summit finish of this year’s revamped Vuelta Femenina, the past and present of women’s cycling collided.
The two riders representing this collision of epochs (though in reality, it was a hilltop sprint): 26-year-old Demi Vollering, the star of the spring whose story is currently being written at breakneck speed; and Annemiek van Vleuten, the 40-year-old world champion and an era-defining talent whose own tale has largely, now, been told – though she’s confident that there’ll be a few more sentences penned before retirement beckons at the end of the year.
Age is not the only thing that separates these two superstars, who battled it out for the stage win today at the Vuelta, and who will – I’m sure – contest the overall victory this weekend.
Having dispatched Ricarda Bauernfeind, the young German enjoying a breakthrough ride, FDJ’s Évita Muzic, and the most exciting pure climber in the sport right now, Gaia Realini, whose legs were dulled by setting the pace for most of the long, draggy climb, Vollering and Van Vleuten slugged it out in the final 300 metres.
¡ES LA MEJOR! 💫 THE BEST!
🔥 ¡ @demivollering – @SDWorx se impone en el Mirador de Peñas Llanas!
🥇 Vollering wins the 5 stage!📽️ ¡ÚLTIMO KM gracias a @TurismoAsturias y Deporte Asturiano.
📽 LAST KM thanks to @TurismoAsturias and Deporte Asturiano.❤ #LaVueltaFemenina pic.twitter.com/klb3nV9s9A
— La Vuelta Femenina by Carrefour.es (@LaVueltaFem) May 5, 2023
In terms of style, the pair represented the two ends of the sprinting spectrum. Vollering, seated, composed, constantly in control. Van Vleuten, always on the pedals, almost ragged, wrestling with the bike.
It takes more than one way to win a bike race – and potentially dominate an era of cycling – but this time the stage, and quite possibly this year, belonged to Vollering, whose win takes her into the red jersey, which she inherits from another of cycling’s legendary figures, Marianne Vos.
Despite being distanced on the first mountain of the day, shipping four minutes at one point, the Jumbo-Visma star put in a ferocious chase (in a group containing Liane Lippert and the unfortunate, frustrated Niamh Fisher-Black, who crashed out of the front group following a botched bottle exchange with Vollering) to come within 30 seconds of the leaders before the fireworks started on the final hill.
Most importantly, however, Vollering’s serene sprint ensures that she now sits five seconds ahead of the never-say-die, always fighting Van Vleuten on GC.
The stage is now tantalisingly set for an epic tussle on Sunday between two of the sport’s defining talents on one of its defining climbs, the Lagos de Covadonga.
I can’t wait.
“Can’t we do better than this?”
I know, I know. I must sound like a broken record by now when it comes to Belfast’s horrific approach to active travel. But I really can’t help it when the city continues to live up to its lofty standards…
This is our ‘pedestrianised’ city centre this morning.
❌️Shop fronts blocked by cars.
❌️Pedestrians/bikes squeezing around lorries.
❌️Industrial bins and other street ‘clutter’
Can’t we do better than this? pic.twitter.com/uYhUHgfWZU
— North Belfast Cycle Campaign (@NBCycleCampaign) May 5, 2023
Cars all the way down.
And I know that some people will say, “There’s plenty of space! Just go around”
But that’s not really the point.
Our public spaces have been completely overrun by cars and we need to redress the balance by creating spaces where cars can’t go. pic.twitter.com/bLeksr2SFo
— North Belfast Cycle Campaign (@NBCycleCampaign) May 5, 2023
This should be so much more than a car park 🌿🚲🛴🌳🚶♀️👩🦽 pic.twitter.com/XVHpvOl7s7
— North Belfast Cycle Campaign (@NBCycleCampaign) May 5, 2023
“Looks like today is going to be a rest day”: Cycling riding to Ukraine for charity hospitalised after crashing on tram lines
Tom Hashemi, the cyclist riding across Europe to Lviv, Ukraine, to raise funds to help clear landmines in the war-torn country, and doing so on a snazzily-painted Giant Defy, has hit an unexpected speed bump on his 2,000km journey – or, to be more precise, he’s hit a tramline.
Tom, a CEO of a communications consultancy with colleagues in Ukraine, was riding through Nordhausen, slap bang in the centre of Germany, this morning when his wheels got caught in the tram line, bringing him down with a thud, and leaving him with a pretty painful looking shoulder.
He’s currently in hospital, where he’s being monitored for 24 hours for concussion symptoms, and is chalking up today as a fairly unforseen “rest day”.
Slight delay…https://t.co/LswEaeWyQF pic.twitter.com/ghB1dJ8nEH
— Tom Hashemi (@tomhashemi) May 5, 2023
Get well soon, Tom!
Jumbo-Visma Giro chaos continues as Jan Tratnik crashes in training
The terrifying curse of the pre-Giro period has continued to strike Jumbo-Visma, whose aim to put Primož Roglič in pink in Rome has been dealt a further blow by the news, confirmed by the team this afternoon, that Jan Tratnik has crashed in training near Pescara and is currently in hospital.
Tratnik riding the opening TT of the 2022 Giro d’Italia in Budapest (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
According to Tutto Bici, the Slovenian – a former Giro stage winner who has looked impressive since his winter move from Bahrain-Victorious – suffered a very swollen knee in the crash and at the moment appears a major doubt for tomorrow’s opening time trial to Ortona.
🇮🇹 #Giro
Jan Tratnik has been involved in a training incident. He is now in the hospital for further examinations.
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) May 5, 2023
Tratnik’s late injury scare marks what Jumbo-Visma surely hope will be the end of a tumultuous run-up to the Giro. First, Wilco Kelderman was ruled out through injury last month, while Tobias Foss, Robert Gesink, and Jos van Emden (a replacement rider himself) have all contracted Covid this week and won’t take to the start ramp in Fossacesia.
Jumbo Visma haven’t had this much chaos since this iconic moment. And look how that turned out. #Giro pic.twitter.com/5DK6XZ5YjF
— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) May 5, 2023
Well surely, Roglič hopes, that’s all the bad luck over for one race. Right? Right?
Comment of the Day: Lance Armstrong and Accidental Partridge
Ah, it all makes sense now.
‘Stars on Mars’, the new reality show featuring seven-time Tour de France winner and everyone’s favourite happy-go-lucky kind of guy, Lance Armstrong, is the brainchild of Britain’s most celebrated cycling commentator (“Like cattle on bikes!”) Alan Partridge…
Right, that’s it for another week on the live blog, folks. Enjoy the start of the Giro – I mean, the Bank Holiday weekend…
(Spoiler: I’ll be swearing my allegiance to the true king, Gianni Savio.)
Glaswegians, hide your Strava PRs! Wout Van Aert is beating them... on a NEXT bike!
No one is safe! The now moustache-toting Belgian was out collecting KOMs in Stirlingshire today morning, before hitting the streets of Glasgow on a rental bike and experiencing the “risky business”, ie. cycling in Great Britain.
Gone are the days when you would have to fear for your KOMs (if you have any) when a three-time cyclocross champion was in your area. Now Wout Van Aert, as if to add to your miseries, is destroying locals’ personal records on Strava whilst riding the boat-like NEXT bikes.
So @WoutvanAert was doing a recon of the Glasgow @CyclingWorlds RR circuit today.
He took nearly a minute off me over 290m on a NEXTBIKE! pic.twitter.com/EMoW2FpWXg
— John A (@Jengo_) May 5, 2023
“Build more cycle lanes instead of threatening folk!” Police slammed for telling cyclists to “find another method of transport if you don’t want to cycle on the road”
Well, this is certainly one way to annoy people who ride bikes in your area…
Police in Lancashire have been roundly condemned online after what could best be described as a clumsily worded Facebook post warning cyclists against riding on pavements in the seaside town of Lytham St Annes and advising them – if they don’t feel safe cycling on the road – to “find another method of transport”.
The post from Fylde Police, shared yesterday afternoon by Officer Rowe, noted that that the force has apparently “been receiving an increase in complaints around cycling on the footpath in and around the St Anne’s area, including the town centre and all the way up to Heyhouses Lane, and we are concerned that someone is going to get seriously hurt as a result of this happening.”
The statement continued: “Please can we remind you that, if you choose to cycle on a footpath and not on the road, then you are in fact committing an offence (aside from shared footpaths, Clifton Drive North etc) which will be dealt with via a fixed penalty notice.
“If you don’t want to cycle on the road, then I suggest you find another method of transport.”
It’s fair to say that the advice hasn’t gone down too well with local cyclists, with some reaching for their calendars to check the date.
“Is this actually for real, or a joke?!!” asked an incredulous Graeme. “The path along Lytham prom is actually a SHARED PATH… supposedly! It’s not ideal for that, admittedly, because it’s narrow, but it IS a shared path, and part of National Cycle network 62.
“If this is a joke by Fylde Police then it’s not a very funny one… and April 1st was last month.”
Meanwhile, Gareth was suspicious about how the police came about their data, and accused the force of adopting an anti-cycling attitude.
“Can I ask for your actual stats on this as you say increased… how have you been monitoring this?” he asked. “And how have you correlated the actual evidence? It seems far-fetched at best and your post seems very anti-cycling rather than balanced in its nature.”
> Why do cyclists ride on the pavement? New study explores why
Others, meanwhile, astutely noted that perhaps Fylde Police would be better off exploring why so many cyclists don’t feel safe riding on the borough’s roads.
“It’s tricky this,” wrote Michael. “I agree hurtling at speed on the pavements is dangerous.
“Though as per the advice from Fylde police – should you not feel safe cycling on the road, then the PCSO suggests finding alternative transport – sadly it’s dangerous for cyclists on the road. So as per the advice – jump in your cars.
“Maybe a review by LCC and council to make the problem of dangerous roads a priority. As I say, I agree that speeding on a foot path is wrong, but a parent taking a young child out on a bike… I don’t believe that the majority of cyclists, particularly those with a young child, feel entitled. They and I feel the roads are just too dangerous [thanks to] speeding motorists.”
Gill added: “I have to cycle from St Annes to Whitehills Business Park for work and on, especially at the moment with the state of Queensway, have no choice but to cycle on the pavement.
“I am always very careful and I do stop if there are people walking on the pavement. I only wish car drivers were as thoughtful. I feel as though sometimes, especially on School Road, that some drivers go as fast and as close to me as they can just to frighten me.”
Finally, Rob offered a simple solution to the whole thing: “Build more cycle lanes instead of threatening folk!”
5 May 2023, 08:32
5 May 2023, 08:32
5 May 2023, 08:32
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Latest Comments
Do you work for INEOS by any chance? Each to their own but the INEOS kit has been widely derided, on cycling forums opinion is 90% against at least. No idea why you think Steve's kit in the profile picture is so bad, it's a perfectly neutral black and grey top with a yellow band, you could say it was boring but that's about it. The Grenadier is a foul machine that shouldn't be allowed on sale for numerous reasons, including its disgraceful fuel consumption (15-20 mpg for the petrol version) and its extreme size and weight that puts other road users, particularly cyclists, in danger. Oh and it is totally a Land Rover wannabe, when Jaguar Land Rover announced that they were ceasing production of Land Rovers at their Solihull plant Jim Ratcliffe asked if he could buy the tooling and carry on producing them, when he was told to get lost he started planning to build his own, so that comment is perfectly justifiable.
I am entitled to express my opinion. I don't like the idea of the INEOS association with cycling or the way Ratcliffe and INEOS treat their staff and do all they can do avoid taxation in the UK. I think my comment is very relevant.
Burt actually said above (somewhat to my surprise, I admit) that helmets "probably do" protect against injury, but not death. Something with which I agree.
I actually like the INEOS kit this year. They stand out in the peloton and orange is just an awesome color overall. Light grey is a much better alternative to white, and makes for one of the best kits in the pro peloton this year to my eye. I think the worst kit I’ve seen recently is the one the author, Steve Thomas is wearing in his author profile picture. It basically removes all credibility for him making any fashion or design related statements. Also, maybe learn a little about the Grenadier before making uninformed, derogatory comments that aren’t really necessary or applicable to the subject at hand.
Looking at the casualty statistics it's far more likely that you will suffer death or serious injury riding to Tesco's than participating in racing, primarily because of the presence of cars. If you don't think helmets offer any protection then fine, don't wear one; if you believe they do offer some protection you're probably more likely to experience the benefit if you wear one for everyday commuting and leisure riding and leave it off for racing than vice versa. Certainly if I was offered a choice when riding to my local Herne Hill velodrome of wearing one to ride through traffic to get there but taking it off to ride round the track or vice versa I would choose the first option.
Here is where Burt has a very good point. The stats just don't support the claims of safety benefits, especially when combined with the effects of speeding motor vehicles.
"I think I nearly died doing extreme sport and my main takeaway is that the rest of you should all wear PPE to go to tesco". BBC loves helmet stories. I blame that Dan guy.
Ah yes. Because what a gravel bike needs is a shed ton more weight. None of the 32 tyre options are likely to be in Gravel friendly widths and weights.
Did he also make you wear a helmet for taking a shower, changing a lightbulb or being a passenger in a car? Statistically, those are also very likely to result in possibly fatal head injuries and the exact same argument applies to protecting your head for those rare accidents. Also, what was his opinion on traffic safety and separate infrastructure? I suspect his views and observations were coloured by the media's constant focussing on bike helmets and not actual effective methods to reduce danger.
By far the worst of these is Footon Servetto - probably the cycling equivalent of football's Coventry City brown away kit. The INEOS kit is unpleasant because I associate it with Ratcliffe. I own a HTC Columbia jersey. It looks OK, but I admit I bought it for £10 on a bargain rail in my LCS. I also used to own an Astana jersey and my performances always improved by 5% whenever I wore it. I got rid of it when my heart nearly stalled in bed one night🙂 Personally, I don't mind the Bogota Humana kit. It seems ok as long as all of the riders were happy to wear it. I'd like to think they were given the opportunity to approve the design beforehand.
61 thoughts on “Police slammed for telling cyclists to “find another method of transport if you don’t want to cycle on the road”; Lance Armstrong sent to Mars… for reality TV show; Wout Van Aert rides an OVO bike in Glasgow; Are LTNs vote-winners? + more on the live blog”
Stars on Mars, from the team
Stars on Mars, from the team that brought you…
Youth Hostelling with Chris
Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank….?
My daughter watched that show
My daughter watched that show on C4 recently where a group of ‘celebrities’ were kept in a pitch black bunker for a week. Eubank was on that, and walked quite early on. He really couldn’t cope with people swearing.
brooksby wrote:
Nigel liked him though
Funny as though that was, it
Funny as though that was, it doesn’t seem so ridiculous now we’ve actually been treated to such entertainment concepts as “Extreme Fishing With Robson Green” I would imagine now pitching “Inner City Sumo” or “Cooking in Prison” to Channel 5 or DMax, they’d take it.
“Zip your lips, Captain Kirk”
“Zip your lips, Captain Kirk”
“I.
“I.
wonder whether.
Shatner.
has ever watched any.
cycling?”
(hey, its just occured to me that Flintshire Boy types like Shatner spoke (as Kirk)…).
brooksby wrote:
Has anyone seen this article
Has anyone seen this article yet, in the Grauniad?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/05/pollutionwatch-debunking-myths-low-emission-zones-health-air-pollution
Lancashire Police!
Lancashire Police!
Paging wtjs !
Lancashire Police!
Lancashire Police!
Paging wtjs !
I’m making a late reply: Lancashire Constabulary writes If you don’t want to cycle on the road, then I suggest you find another method of transport. They’re certainly consistent as this has been their view for all the 25 years I’ve been here, and the bit about them bravely trying to keep cyclists off pavements is typical lying LC bollocks, just like the stuff about Nicola Bulley being washed back up by the tide to near where she fell in. They completely ignored all these, where I definitely wasn’t on the pavement
https://upride.cc/incident/du61vhj_stuartbraithwaitebuilders_dwlcrossclosepass/
https://upride.cc/incident/pe69ooc_clio_closepassspeed/
https://upride.cc/incident/yn67mvj_sainsburys44tonner_closepass/
LC writes: if you choose to cycle on a footpath and not on the road, then you are in fact committing an offence which will be dealt with via a fixed penalty notice. They might actually do this ‘we’ll come down on you scum like a ton of bricks’ because of their institutional dislike of cyclists- lots of things are offences, but they do nothing about those, because that’s how the police work: they ‘do for’ people they don’t like, and refuse to enforce when it’s respectable folk in big expensive cars
https://upride.cc/incident/ds6972_porsche_redlightpass/
As a result of these expletive-deleteds ignoring offences against cyclists, close passing is everyday routine here (as it is in lots of places, I appreciate)- I rapidly collected 3 of these not-that-bad routine assaults – all immediately binned by LancsFilth, just like the case against anybody who hits a cyclist would be!
Simple response to Lancashire
Simple response to Lancashire Police – If you don’t want to police the roads properly, perhaps you should find a different job. It is your inactivity that is leading to people feeling unsafe and needing to ride on the pavement
https://road.cc/content/news
https://road.cc/content/news/108119-transport-minister-responsible-cyclists-can-ride-pavement
Not so very long ago, this was published not a million miles from here. Seems to permit pavement use in a civilised and considerate manner.
Women of Lancashire – fed up
Women of Lancashire – fed up with being sexually harrassed in public and the police doing nothing? Why don’t you find another place to be? Such as at home.
Edited: Yes, this is sarcastic
Shurely:
Shurely:
Please can we remind you that, if you choose to drive and / or park on a footpath and not on the road, then you are in fact committing an offence – which will be dealt with by ignoring it completely.
I sense the sarcasm and it
I sense the sarcasm and it perfectly shows how absurd the Police response is, but I can’t bring myself to like your post, as it feels I would be liking someone telling women to “be at home”….
Edited: more comfortable now
jumping on the “like” bandwagon
Not surprised at all sadly
Not surprised at all sadly with the comments from Lancashire Police.
They are IME completely useless when it comes to anything cycling related & genuinely couldn’t give a toss.
I don’t think you can say
I don’t think you can say LTNs are influencing voters one way or the other, its economy, health,crime and education consistently the top 4 voters concerns followed usually in locals by something specific to the local area,
The Greens have taken seats in Aldeburgh & Leiston, there are no LTNs around there but there are plans to build a new nuclear power station.
People take election results and always spin whatever narrative they believe for it, it doesn’t mean anyone voted for those reasons
The thing I’ve found quite
The thing I’ve found quite funny is how many candidates in the local elections are marked up as “Local Conservative” instead of ‘the Conservative and Unionist Party’ or even ‘the Conservative Party’.
One wonders if they think being linked to the (Real) Conservative Party might count against them…
It’s a fair point. Until
It’s a fair point. Until yesterday our local councillor was Conservative and, unlike the national idiots, worked hard for the area and local issues. If I were him I wouldn’t want to be associated with the national party. I suspect that was why he lost his seat yesterday.
brooksby wrote:
Loads of Tory MPs have changed their Twitter bios over the last year so they now only have “Member of Parliament for…” and no mention of party allegiance.
brooksby wrote:
Could it be that despite being in power (and having money and the aristocracy on their side) the Conservative party is now being “cancelled” and taken down by minorities? It can’t be their fault.
Is it a bit like Russian athletes competing under neutral flags? The candidates are sadly saying “but it’s not my fault there are also some nutters on the right giving us a bad name (like Boris, Liz …) …”
There was a young (18 yr old)
There was a young (18 yr old) Tory councillor from East Cambridgeshire on the local news. He claimed his success was due to his anti congestion charge stance. I thought it weird as I didn’t know East Cambridgeshire intended to introduce a congestion charge.
maybe it was I dont know the
maybe it was I dont know the area well enough, but if you take East Suffolk as another example, the Tories lost 24 seats, in fact most of Suffolk seemed to vote green party, but this despite that Tory council publishing a near 220 page strategy document on cycling and active travel improvements, which through the county council are intending to introduce an LTN in Woodbridge, the Tory in that ward lost their seat.
so how do those local Tories reflect on those results, do they think well its just national politics at play, or do they think we’re not doing enough to get our core support out to vote, turnouts of 35% are low and indicative lots of voters stayed at home, but maybe they think well this active travel stuff doesnt win votes does it ? even if you can then claim well the Green party wanted it to go further and people were voting for that by voting for them.
I suspect that the big issue
I suspect that the big issue in East Sussex is Sizewell. I’m not sure how much say local councillors get in this. Of course, if they get other green policies then they got what they voted for.
Must have been a hell of an
Must have been a hell of an explosion to move it to Sussex !
Haha. Suffolk.
Haha. Suffolk.
East Cambridgeshire and South
East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire are heavily dependent on the City of Cambridge, paticularly for employment, and Cambridge does have plans to introduce congestion charging. Friends I had lunch with this week in East Cambs were having a good rant about it. Funnily as the only non-driver I was the only one who had looked at the actual plans and knew that the P&R sites would all be reachable without going into the charge zone. They need to be, one bus per hour in and out is nowhere near adequate from here. Sadly NCN 11 & 51 which pass through Cambridge are usual Sustrans mixture of standards.
I get the problem but small
I get the problem but small government and devolution of power to a local level is a core Tory philosophy. This effectively means that those living in East Cambs don’t decide what Cambridge do. Given that’s a result of Tory decisions in the past it seems ironic that they continue to elect more Tories.
Dear Fylde Police – if you
Dear Fylde Police – if you don’t like going out without a stab vest, truncheon, pepper spray and tazer, may I suggest you find an alternative form of employment…
The officer who made the
The officer who made the statement was a PCSO, so they aren’t issued with a truncheon, pepper spray or tazer.
I don’t agree with what the officer said, however pavement cyclists are a signficant part of the problem, IMHO. The prohibition on cycling on the pavement exists for the protection of cyclists as it does for anyone else – cyclists who ride on the pavement or in the gutter put themselves at significant risk. Cycling on the pavement also reinforces the view all roads are motorways. I appreciate it is a chicken and egg scenario, but our only realistic hope of getting safer roads, is for more people to cycle on them.
jh2727 wrote:
My point was made for dramatic/sarcastic effect, but your point about the PCSO is somewhat valid.
The problem is that the statement fully acknowledges the main reason for people cycling on the pavement, whilst totally failing to address the cause of that problem. In my mind, this is victim blaming and responsibility avoidance.
As for chicken and egg, I agree, but also feel that those in authority are the chickens.
jh2727 wrote:
some enforcement against bad driving would help. It’s amazing how often the police make statements about people not feeling safe to use the roads in a legal manner, but fail to make the connection this means the police are failing to keep the roads safe.
So not even a real policeman!
So not even a real policeman!! He was not entitled to make comments like this. Only a proper officer should make police statements on social media and even then under supervision. This should be ignored.
A couple of days this week I
A couple of days this week I have cycled with my kids 11km to school and back. It’s mostly a good journey with off road cycle paths or shared paths or quiet-ish roads. For about 400metres however there is no cycle path alongside a fairly busy road … so we go on the narrow pavement. I know it’s a pain but it’s also a lot safer.
Complete joined up infrastructure please.
But how did you carry the
But how did you carry the long bows ?
Still scratching my head.
Still scratching my head. You’ll have to explain that one.
See road.cc from before: “Won
See road.cc from before – search this news article for “Won’t somebody please think of the children who can’t take longbows on the bus — latest bizarre congestion charge campaigning“
File under “I’ve built my life around the car like everyone does – and now I’ve heard on the twitters that the council are changing stuff and they’re expecting us suddenly to just use bikes public transport for everything!”
I’ve a tiny bit of sympathy for their alarm / lack of confidence. Most people can remember a bunch of stuff that councils did or didn’t do which inconvenienced them. On the other side it’s rare you hear people saying good things. Some folks have dark comments about injustice or graft – some of which are quite true.
Chrisonatrike explained first
Chrisonatrike explained first !
Hirsute wrote:
Presumably on the long hair?
Chris is that you?
Thanks for explaining.
P.S. Where’s Toto?
Grayson Perry – I don’t have
Grayson Perry – I don’t have the legs!
https://www.waterstones.com/book/grayson-perry/grayson-perry/wendy-jones/9780099485162
Apart from the PCSO / Officer
Apart from the PCSO / Officer difference isn’t the whole point why many people do become Police Officers is so they can wear a stab vest, carry a truncheon and taser and get all tin pot about it 😉
BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP wrote:
Whilst failing (mainly due to poor leadership, admittedly) to address the issues causing the issues that they focus on
Sad to hear of the untimely
Sad to hear of the untimely death of Tony Doyle at 64, just four weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Absolute unit on the track (double world champion and 26 six-day titles) and founder of a lasting legacy for UK cycling as the first director of the Tour of Britain.
Pull the other one Awavey it
Pull the other one Awavey it’s got bells on !
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/23503230.claims-puma-bit-cyclist-downham-market-among-big-cat-sights/?ref=rss
Police have been called out to reports of a big cat in Downham Market, including one incident in which a cyclist claimed to have been bitten by a puma.
NFN? ?
NFN? ?
Apparently not far south-west
Apparently not far south-west of there this kind of thing has been going on for generations.
indeed, Black Shuck is a
indeed, Black Shuck is a powerful local folklore legend in these parts, you really can see what look like scorch/claw marks on the door of the church at Blythburgh, and youll see hellhound/black shuck weather vanes and the name pop in lots of places locally, weirdly I think it has more resonance in Norfolk,even though it originated in Suffolk, because alot of the stories involved the broads, wherrymen seeing the demonic hound patrolling on the banks kind of stuff.
but yeah its a regular thing people report seeing even today, hence the newspapers interest to fill space I guess, never seen it myself 🙂 though its often been reported around the areas I ride, it just makes you mindful the countryside is still a mysterious place sometimes.
A bigger question for me is
A bigger question for me is why is there a pack of dogs there?
Foxes ?
Foxes ?
not guilty your honour thats
not guilty your honour
thats that weird part of Norfolk thats basically the bits of Cambridgeshire fenlands not good enough to be in Cambridgeshire.
Nothing to do with cycling
Nothing to do with cycling but is topical
made me laugh out loud !
Nothing to do with cycling
Nothing to do with cycling but is topical
Mordaunt did very well- didn’t move a muscle for hours!
wtjs wrote:
Once again, I found myself grateful to the Queen for holding on so long, so we had Penny M doing this role and no Jacob Rees Mogg. (Ditto Sunak and Johnson.)
wtjs wrote:
Years of practice in the House of Commons and the Cabinet never lifting a finger to help anyone.
.
.
Khan takes ULEZ to new level
Khan takes ULEZ to new level
https://theupperlip.co.uk/2023/05/breaking-sadiq-khan-to-hit-red-arrows-with-ulez-charge/
Sadiq Khan has announced that the iconic Red Arrows display team will be hit with a ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) charge. Khan, known for his progressive policies and determination to make London a greener city, defended his decision, stating that “nobody should be above the law – even if they’re above the ground!
Hirsute wrote:
Though it’s satire (right wing satire?) they’ve missed the far greater issue that aviation fuel isn’t taxed at all.
Hirsute wrote:
That seems unfair, they’re a bit polluting, true, but consider: if they’re still using Hawks the the whole of London could be turned into a 15 minute city (well, 4-5 min at top speed) OR you could keep the same “15 minute city” distances but just make the place 12-second city neighbourhoods! Well, minus some time to get up to speed and then stop.
Hang on, they’re about 10 metres wide? Parking will need a rethink. Maybe we could bring back a revised version of Boris Island for that?
I hope they did a local
I hope they did a local version like they had for the Jubilee also.