London cabbie blames cycle lanes for flooding; “Oversized bike lanes”; Connor Swift’s Roubaix epic on Strava — 300w for six hours; PM rides bike at Tory conference…cue clown jokes; Gun-wielding prisoner robs cyclist…in Corrie + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Connor Swift uploads epic Paris-Roubaix Strava file — British rider averaged 300w for six hours (+ a bad day for KOM chasing)
Want to know how hard Paris-Roubaix is? Ever wondered how much power it actually takes to ride across the cobbles at race pace? Connor Swift has done us a solid and uploaded his full file to Strava, including that all-important power data. Wout van Aert, Michal Kwiatkowski, Kasper Asgreen and plenty others all uploaded their rides, just without the juicy details. Come on, guys, give the people what they want…
Swift’s activity shows what we already knew. Sunday was a brutal day out. The Brit was on the bike for just shy of six and a half hours and averaged 300w…even as a well-built rouleur, that’s got to be some pretty impressive power to weight. Strava estimates he burned 5,114 calories in the miserable conditions. Good luck recouping that when you’re soaked through and can’t go back to the team car as it’s still two minutes behind. Best hope you spot your soigneurs.
On the Arenberg, Swift rattled across the stones for 4:06 at 33kph. Nobody in the race managed to crack the segment top ten because of the unfavourable weather, race winner Sonny Colbrelli and teammates Fred Wright and Heinrich Haussler went 40 seconds quicker than Swift during their dry Friday recon.
> The bikes that won Paris-Roubaix – Tubeless, disc and aero for Colbrelli and Deignan
On the next five-star sector, Mons-en-Pévèle, the pros went two minutes slower than the best dry times of the last ten years. It was a similar story at Carrefour de l’Arbe where Swift’s time was a full minute slower on the 2km sector than his PB…
After 260km of hell, the Arkéa–Samsic rider still managed to hold 340w around the famous velodrome to beat reigning champion Philippe Gilbert to 28th place, and earn a historic Strava suffer score of 466. Chapeau.
road.cc Recommends - Episode 8: The best products in cycling from Fairlight, Ribble, Cube, and more
Our latest monthly round-up of all the best kit we’ve tested is out now. The YouTube episode has all the usual good stuff. Our ride of the month is along the Suffolk and Essex border, including a climb up the amusingly named Burnt Dick Hill, a cafe stop review and some lube chat…
If you’d rather read all about it, the Recommends section of the site is just a click away…
Gun-wielding escaped prisoner threatens cyclist...in leaked Coronation Street filming
#Coronation Street: Harvey Gaskell threatens cyclist with a gun as Will Mellor shoots explosive… The actor, 45, who plays Harvey Gaskell in the ITV favourite, looked tense as he shot explosive scenes in Manchester… [Mail Online] https://t.co/FSv2bnfWAJ
— Confused (@conued) October 3, 2021
The tabloids and online soap sites have been all over this one…pictures emerged of a shocking incident where a gun-wielding escaped prisoner was spotted threatening a cyclist and stealing his bike. Don’t be too alarmed, it’s just the latest filming for Corrie…
Here at road.cc we prefer French or Belgian cobbles, but according to the showbiz sites, Harvey Gaskell is set for a dramatic return to the ITV cobbles after breaking out of jail and nicking a bike. Full disclosure, I have zero idea who any of these people are, or their history on the show…just that there’s a ‘cyclist’ involved and the gossip sites are getting very excited about an “explosive comeback”…
Nicolas Roche announces retirement from pro cycling
Nicolas Roche will hang up his wheels at the end of the season after 17 years in the men’s pro peloton. Son of Irish great Stephen Roche, Nicolas won two stages of the Vuelta a España and finished fifth on GC at the race in 2013. The 37-year-old spent the majority of his career in the service of others and was part of the Team Sky squad that helped Chris Froome win the Tour de France in 2015. Roche’s cousin Dan Martin is also retiring at the end of the season.
“After 17 years and over 1,270 professional races days, with a lot of great memories, it is time for me to retire and look to a new horizon. My last race was the Irish championships, at home, with my friends and family,” Roche said in a statement released by Team DSM. “I want to thank you all, everyone who is reading this, for the incredible support I received during my cycling career. Thank you!”
"Was he juggling?": Boris Johnson takes a spin through the Conservative Party Conference
A friend first, and a boss second, probably an entertainer third pic.twitter.com/mwUQoC1LUC
— David Wilding 💙 (@drwilding) October 5, 2021
The Tory Party Conference seems to be going well. Giving off strong circus vibes here. Plenty of replies asking if the PM was juggling or on a unicycle?
We’ll try and find some video evidence to clear up the “it was a clown car” accusations…
Women's Tour stage two + next year's Tour of Britain dates confirmed
Three… two… one… go!
Stage two of the @AJBell Women’s Tour rolls out from Walsall Arboretum. #WomensTour #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/T18CjYNNom
— AJ Bell Women’s Tour (@thewomenstour) October 5, 2021
At a quick first glance I read this as Women’s Tour rolls out from Walsall Abattoir (it must nearly be time for lunch)…Walsall Arboretum, not Walsall Abattoir, is the start point for today’s stage. 102km around a lumpy circuit before a town centre finish.
Some quick dates for your diary. Next year’s Tour of Britain will take place from Sunday 4 September to Sunday 11 September, starting in this year’s finish city, Aberdeen, and ending on the Isle of Wight.
> Man throws traffic cone at Women’s Tour riders as race heads through Oxford
Motorist takes aim at "oversized bike lanes"
2-way bike lane “oversized” https://t.co/qAi9FcxpOu
— Take That, Cyclists! (@TakeThatCycIist) October 5, 2021
There’s plenty to unpack here. Firstly, I quite like the idea of cycle lanes causing “cues”. We could all stop for a quick game of eight-ball at the traffic lights…also, the similarities between Wimborne Minster in Dorset and EC1 are frightening.
Onto the less facetious points. We’d be interested to see quite how narrow this motorist believes all two-way cycle paths should be, and his thoughts on those ’empty’ railways, tube lines, runways and bus lanes.
Much of the discussion has been about the irony of a person sat in a two-tonne metal box complaining about people on a bike taking up too much space on the road…
Surely, if you need drag that big thingy about… you want everyone who doesn’t need to do the same to have an alternative way to get around!
— Thomas O. Cornwallis (@UrbanistTOC) October 5, 2021
This photo of 4 people show how ridiculously inefficient cars are (because they’re oversized)
— 🚴♂️ Jim Ⓥ (@itsjim84) October 4, 2021
We’ve had this before. Jeremy Clarkson had a similar pop at apparently empty bike lanes in the capital, but then again maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise. Last November, Clarkson shared a photo to his four million Instagram followers of a cycle lane next to the congestion he was sat in. “It’s a beautiful day so where are the bloody cyclists?” he asked…
Over half of UK cyclists started riding within the last 18 months, but one in five still don't feel confident on the road
Research by Vodafone, to mark the launch of the Curve Bike Light & GPS device, found that more than half (53 per cent) of cyclists in the UK took up the habit within the last 18 months. However, the study also found that one in five (22 per cent) don’t feel confident on the roads and two-thirds said family and friends worry about them while they are out.
The research also found that 12 per cent of cyclists have been in a road accident and 39 per cent have had a “near miss”. One in five (19 per cent) said they’d had a bike stolen. Other safety data showed that 44 per cent of riders feel most unsafe when cycling on busy roads and 68 per cent are nervous about increased levels of road traffic as the pandemic restrictions have eased.
Amy Pieters sprints to victory in Walsall on stage two of the Women's Tour
🏆 @AmyPieters 🇳🇱 (@teamsdworx) wins stage two of the @AJBell Women’s Tour in Walsall!#WomensTour #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/UbHNIOvyKZ
— AJ Bell Women’s Tour (@thewomenstour) October 5, 2021
In the end it was a group of ten who contested the finish in the West Midlands. Home rider Pfeiffer Georgi’s late bid for glory was pegged back by the chasers, leaving SD Worx’s Amy Pieters to spoil the party and take the sprint. Yesterday’s third place Clara Copponi went one better and will take the leader’s jersey for stage three thanks to her bonus seconds from finishing second.
The peloton was 42 seconds back, giving the riders in the front group a decent chance of contesting the overall race victory. Eight of the escapees, including Pfeiffer, Pieters and Demi Vollering are now within ten seconds of the lead. Exciting times. Tomorrow it’s TT day…
Hey, @lizziedeignan, who’s your friend? #WomensTour #UCIWWT pic.twitter.com/F3iYW8Id3J
— AJ Bell Women’s Tour (@thewomenstour) October 5, 2021
Our favourite meme from the Facebookgate
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) October 4, 2021
London cabbie blames cycle lanes for flooding
Anyone else noticed this has only happened since the cycle lane has been in south carriage drive I’ve seen this 4-5 times in the last 2 yrs but never in the previous 12?
— No plate pc! #UTAG17 (@King61B) October 5, 2021
Another cracker from the ‘silly things being said about cycle lanes’ genre…we thought lunchtime’s one about “oversized cycle lanes” causing congestion would be the winner today — how wrong were we? Faced with images of flash flooding in London, one cabbie decided there could only be one explanation…climate crisis? Nah, it’s those cycle lanes…
Apparently, ever since the bike lane was built on South Carriage Drive, 50 metres away and with buildings in between, there’s been more flooding than the previous 12 years. Asked to expand on this theory our cabbie explained: “Majority of that water came from the park through Albert Gate like a river. I believe some drains were disrupted when cycle lane was put in.”
The reaction has been as you’d expect…disbelief, but also exceptionaly entertaining. If we’re looking for a culprit who wasn’t around two years ago, Benjamin reckons TikTok is a better shout…
all those pesky cyclists and their leaky water bottles innit?
— Pete Little – Max Vax & Mask. 🏴 (@PeteLittle1970) October 5, 2021
Flooding is not caused by increasing extreme weather events, but by the building of a cycle lane. https://t.co/ALwouWMpDa
— Borghert Jan Borghmans (@StripyMoggie) October 5, 2021
It’s the weight of all the extra cars making the road sink 😉
— Kevin Clarke (@Kurako76) October 5, 2021
This can't be good
We’ll have a full story shortly…
In the meantime, I was going to point you in the direction of our back catalogue of Peloton-related content. And by catalogue I mean that time one of their instructors told paying members to climb in honour of their dead relatives. Unfortunately, the video evidence of that has disappeared from social media. What a shame…
5 October 2021, 07:54
5 October 2021, 07:54
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Latest Comments
@Bungle_52 Some on here think advisory letters are a waste of time ... I think most drivers genuinely think they have done nothing wrong but a letter from the police is a real wake up call I'm at least one of them, especially if they are as you describe them, 'a suggestion that they might like to look at the Highway Code sometime'. Those go straight in the bin, which is the fate the police have in mind for them. They now seem to have stopped sending even advisory letters for close passes as they are short staffed That solves the question. Gloucestershire and Derbyshire have abandoned any action for close passing, no matter how close. Kent and Essex won't look at any video unless there's a collision, and what they really mean is 'unless there's a KSI'. Lancashire bins all reports- they ignore phone use, RLJs, 'No MOT and failed MOT but still on the road', unbroken white line offences. It's all blamed on 'short staffing and lack of resources'. Cycling Mikey assumes that 'a NIP-issued email' is evidence that the offending phone user 'got 6 points and a fine'. I think he's deluding himself and the Met. will be clutching at any excuse to bin most of those cases. Meanwhile, we get this (Ford Kuga FE20 YRO, yesterday), day in, day out- NMotD has had no effect, close-passing is getting worse, the police forces are vying with each other for the most efficient way of binning all the cases and sticking two fingers up at cyclists, and it's just a matter of chance whether any of us is the next one to be murdered by being dragged under a car for miles. The police certainly won't lift a finger to deter close-passing.
@Rendel Harris Yes, but I think it's easy to underestimate the level of mental "change" and "risk" this represents (as a regular or even irregular adult cyclist). With e.g. cars, you just go online (was going to say "go to a dealer/garage...") and a car which will carry you and others around, carry the shopping, keep the weather off, allow you to drive at night and can be secured is not hard to find. And all your friends / relatives / contacts likely done so and are possible points of contact if you need advice (or just reassurance). Bikes? Much less (although thankfully as easy as riding a bike...). It's not like most people spent their childhood being carried around by adults on different bikes. Indeed the age most people stopped cycling (if they started) is probably getting lower. Outside of the e-(moto)(-(r)bike) riders. Of course there's more paperwork and expense for the car (optional in some areas / counties...) but so many things are familiar or guides are present. It's even simple to work out how to get to where you need. You just drive wherever you can (ideally on the roadway...). Even less thought using a satnav!
@ChrisA It's a different universe * but in NL while they have had building regulations requiring bike storage for decades, lots of the historic housing stock won't have them. As well as some creative solutions ** many people simply store their bikes outside. And indeed some of the "durability" of Dutch bikes relates to being able to withstand living outdoors in all weathers (heavier frames / more paint - but chaincase / enclosed gears and brakes also feature). Like so many things it's hard to imagine in the UK (theft and particularly vandalism). (But the number of "cycle hangers" is growing...) I hear there's plenty of theft in NL also - but with the numbers of bikes perhaps it's just like how people in the UK are used to leaving their cars parked on the street? * But also - only about half a century away to be recognisable, perhaps - especially in the few UK places where there is some passable cycle infra? ** See e.g. the BicycleDutch article "Home-side bicycle parking" on the Buurtstalling (Neighbourhood Bicycle Parking Facility). Plus of course the practice of many people effectively storing a bike at a train station as part of their commute.
@chrisonabike Some first class trolling from Callum... I love it.
I'm a big fan of Lucinda Brand, but it was a travesty to take that win from Marie Schreiber. From the overhead shot it was clear that Lucinda at no stage got alongside Schreiber, and it was clear from Lucinda's pedal strokes - which continued as they were - that she not impeded. Lucinda's own words to the jury confirmed that Marie had not impeded Lucinda, and based on that there was no reason to overturn Marie's win. It was ridiculous. A stain on the weekend.
Playing to the crowd again!
@This Wreckage I was thinking more of having space to put a bike store, which can be obtained relatively inexpensively these days, although I agree that's a fairly high level of commitment for someone who isn't certain cycling is for them. An Oxford ground anchor and a Topeak bike cover only cost £25 together so not an enormous commitment.
@chrisonabike Keeping your pride and joy, or at least a tool that you clean, maintain & use regularly, in your home is one thing. But many people who "have to" use a bike will have an old rusty boneshaker, or better, that they would, by habit, just leave outside (just look at all the shiny new kids bikes that are left lying around, which neither the children or their parents are minded to put away). Any if it is still working, rather than your rusty relic, eventually somebody is going to "borrow" it. It both depresses me that it is necessary and surprises me that people don't lock up things.
Much debate on this but the summary is the UK has one of the most toxic cyclist-hating highway cultures on the planet. Strangely lumped together with other English speaking nations; America and Australia. The media is saturated with highly obnoxious presenters who can freely suggest slicing heads off cyclists with a taut wire across a path, without any repercussions. Most drivers are broadly ignorant of the hierarchy of road users, passing distances and how VED is arrived at. The degree of arrogance on display from within 2 tonnes of potentially deadly machinery used on the public highway is widespread and police, CPS and judges' institutional bias is effectively complicit in the road rage pandemic. All bow to the Car god. The idea of sustainable transport and cycling for a healthy nation is dead in the water while this toxic culture remains so pervasive. I have no faith in the policing of dangerous driving, cycling or walking. How police resources are deployed is beyond a joke, where it is now a political weapon and jack boot on the throat of the Freedom of Speech and the Right to Protest.
@Zermattjohn This is one reason I loathe policing in our society. Illegal drugs cause no more (probably less) harm through their use than do alcohol and tobacco. The continuing war on drugs does itself cause enormous medical, social, economic and financial harms - many addicts refuse to seek help because of the real fear of being reported to the police, for example, and there might be less incentive for addicts to steal our bikes if they are enabled to manage their consumption.
30 thoughts on “London cabbie blames cycle lanes for flooding; “Oversized bike lanes”; Connor Swift’s Roubaix epic on Strava — 300w for six hours; PM rides bike at Tory conference…cue clown jokes; Gun-wielding prisoner robs cyclist…in Corrie + more on the live blog”
Coronation Street plans
Coronation Street plans explosive end to Paris-Roubaix
I believe Coronation Street
I believe Coronation Street features Setts rather than cobbles… which means you missed this opportunity:
“Harvey Gaskell is set for a dramatic return to the ITV setts after breaking out of jail and nicking a bike.”
ChrisB200SX wrote:
Are there relatives of the Captain living there?
Quote:
Presumably it’s the few that have broken down that are causing all the ‘cues’?
Presumably so.
Presumably so.
But as a serious point, the idea that everyone in a motor vehicle is travelling for work is wrong. TfN’s Decarbonisation Strategy says that “other” travel (non-commuter, non-business) represents 67% of car emissions.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
This document (albeit an older one) looks at car journeys’s in London http://content.tfl.gov.uk/technical-note-14-who-travels-by-car-in-london.pdf
50% of journeys in cars by london residents are under 3km, and a further 17% between 3km and 5km. Only 20% of car journeys are for work, with 58% either for shopping (29%) or leisure (29%). And 59% of car journeys are with a driver only.
So, you could say that around 8.5% of all car journeys in London are single occupant, under 3km for leisure purposes (50% x 29% x 59%).
mdavidford wrote:
Presumably it’s the few that have broken down that are causing all the ‘cues’?
Maybe it’s an autocue?
Motorist takes aim at
Motorist takes aim at “oversized bike lanes”
Why is it that drivers have to complain about any infrastructure for transport alternatives to the motor vehicle. Let’s face it, the width doesn’t matter, it’s the fact that space for his polluting, congesting, inappropriate vehicle has been reduced.
I’d love to hear their opinion on dual carriageways, motorways and other multi-lane roads.
What about this oversized
What about this oversized duck lane?
Why, because they think they
Why, because they think they’re entitled to it and you aren’t. The priveleged know in their heart they don’t deserve it but they have it and dammit they’re not going to give it up without a fight. Because they don’t see redistribution of road space more equitably to be anything other than stealing their privilege from them.
Its the point blank refusal
Its the point blank refusal to accept that traffic congestion is primarily caused by the volume of traffic. Surely that picture demonstrates that a high quality 2 way, protected cycle facility takes up no more than a single carriageway width and that in the same space taken up by just 4 working vehicles dozens of working cyclists could be travelling at a greater average speed, burning calories, improving their cardio vascular fitness, producing zero combustion pollutants and without having to take up vast amounts of storage space for parking when they get to where they are going.
“producing zero combustion
“producing zero combustion pollutants” – begs the question, what about cyclists combustible pollutants !?!
I was trying not to mention
I was trying not to mention farts.
The photo is suspiciously
The photo is suspiciously closer to the drivers seat then the passenger side, (although most vans have a three bench system so could be someone in the ‘biatch” seat.)
Wait until they see this; 45m
Wait until they see this; 45m wide.
I shall be interested to see
I shall be interested to see the outcome of this one
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-58787203
A 40-year-old man, from Loughborough, arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drug-driving remains in police custody.
hirsute wrote:
I’m puzzled that they’re asking for witnesses and dashcam footage – does that mean that they don’t equip the PCSOs with bikecams?
Anyhow, hope she makes a good recovery.
Probably want extra footage
Probably want extra footage for evidence. Plus as rendall found out one time, front facing cameras don’t always work as evidence takers.
just got back from the tour
just got back from the tour finish (I was just the other side of the finish line from the tweeted video). Rain and wind in some of the exposed sections were not nice for both the riders and spectators. But after the finish a few riders answered questions for a primary school class who were brought down to watch it by their teachers and posed for photos which was nice.
Maybe the flooding is a
Maybe the flooding is a result of the cycle lanes causing a surge in cabbies going in to meltdown.
Considering the poor quality
Considering the poor quality of “cycling provision” and without really wanting to defend cab drivers, it’s far from beyond the realms of possibility that contractors messed up and did something to effect the drainage when installing a cycle lane.
I’ve seen a tarmac laying machine go straight over a manhole cover without stopping, who knows if anyone came back and dug it out later.
DrG82 wrote:
[pedant on] affect [pedant off] If it effected the drainage, there wouldn’t be a problem with flooding.
eburtthebike wrote:
One of those things I just never remember no matter how many times I look it up to remind myself.
DrG82 wrote:
One of those things I just never remember no matter how many times I look it up to remind myself.[/quote]
My primary school teacher taught us “Effect is the End result, Affect Alters the result.” Still stuck with me forty years on!
DrG82 wrote:
I knows. They didn’t. Loads of tarmac’ed-over manhole covers, and much the better they are for it, far more cyclist-friendly. When was the last time you ever saw them actually open a manhole cover in the road? Until then, best tarmac over them.
So Lizzie was given a piece
So Lizzie was given a piece of the pave as a winner’s trophy? Nice.
brooksby wrote:
Every winner has since 1977.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I hadn’t known that; thanks, Rendel
Stuart O’Grady famously
Stuart O’Grady famously wandered into Cafe Racer in Melbourne back in 2007 with a very heavy bag. Sat down having coffee with the boys, after a while one asked what was in the bag, voila a big chunk of Roubaix cobble as a trophy…
I’m sure cycle lanes in
I’m sure cycle lanes in London haven’t caused flooding, but there is an issue with drainage in the lanes themselves. In particular, pretty much every humped zebra on CS7 had an accompanying pond this morning.