Cycling group ‘strongly oppose’ making wearing a helmet mandatory; Brooks releases statement addressing ‘misleading claims’ about post-Brexit sales; Olympic Champion delivers Tesco shopping to the elderly; Driver rams LTN planter + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Driver filmed ramming LTN planter off the road
@ManCityCouncil Need to get the planters in Levenshulme active neighbourhood bolted down ASAP. Delinquents are moving them and damaging them. pic.twitter.com/UzSuFGktKS
— James Stafford (@Jamesdestafford) January 5, 2021
These planters in Levenshulme, Manchester, were only installed on Monday but have already featured on the live blog twice. Two days ago it was a video of drivers mounting the pavement to get round and today it’s a driver ramming the planter off the road…This video was originally posted in a Facebook group for the area by a man claiming to be the perpetrator. It was shared with the title ‘Fucking plants’ and in a second post he suggests the planters on nearby Gordon Avenue are next.
Now threatening further vandalism and criminal damage.@MCCLevenshulme @basat_m @Dzidra78 @bernardstone @gmptraffic will any action be taken? pic.twitter.com/zGnZafxSaQ
— Sam 🚴🌱🍻Ⓥ (@MCRCycleSam) January 5, 2021
Community comes together to repair vandalised planters
Residents have been out again to restore filters that have been vandalised.
This evening a large truck is going round the neighbourhood ramming planters.
What are you going to do about it @ManCityCouncil? pic.twitter.com/iPkfrIS0FB
— Streets for People – Levenshulme and Burnage (@s4plb) January 6, 2021
It seems this story has a happy ending, for now. Last night, residents and the Streets for People community campaign group came together to restore the planters in Levenshulme. They also fixed the filters in other parts of the area after they were reportedly pushed off the road by a large truck. Streets for People said: “The community won’t stand for vandalism, and it does your cause no good. These filters are public property, supported by the vast majority of residents. Well done to all who got these plant boxes back standing proud in a couple of hours.”
Some people are going round trashing filters, others are going round improving them. pic.twitter.com/rMtxfmHoS4
— Streets for People – Levenshulme and Burnage (@s4plb) January 4, 2021
Marc Hirschi to UAE Emirates?
The usually reliable Dutch website Wielerflits reports that Marc Hirschi is close to joining UAE Emirates following his departure from Team DSM yesterday. The 22-year-old is supposedly in contact with UAE team manager Mauro Gianetti and, according to sources close to the team, a deal is close.
A move to the team would see Hirschi join forces with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar. The pair shared some exciting battles on the road in 2020, including on stage 9 of the Tour when Pogačar pipped Hirschi in the sprint after the Swiss rider had been in the breakaway all day.
Pictures from some of the other LTN planters in Levenshulme that were moved last night
Some of the filters have now been moved and stacked on top of each other, proving this isn’t just bored teens, but a criminal group with access to heavy machinery.
MCC MUST secure the filters now. https://t.co/pIw3ew4pwR pic.twitter.com/GX7PUKLooc
— Sam 🚴🌱🍻Ⓥ (@MCRCycleSam) January 6, 2021
Paris-Nice route announced
☀ Voici le parcours de la 7⃣9⃣ème édition de #ParisNice !
☀ Here is the route of the 7⃣9⃣th edition of #ParisNice! pic.twitter.com/02IIKio3wu
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) January 6, 2021
The Race to the Sun, Paris-Nice, will take the riders on a traditional looking route this year with a couple of windy sprint stages in northern France, one individual time trial, a summit finish at Valdeblore La Colmiane and the usual final stage in Nice. Last year’s edition was shortened due to the pandemic but Nairo Quintana won at Valdeblore La Colmiane as Max Schachmann hung on to the overall lead.
This year will also see the addition of a new punchy finish on stage four. Following a day with 3,500m of climbing, the peloton will take on the ascent to Chiroubles which has two kilometres north of 10%.
📈 Chiroubles: 7,3km, 6%
⛰ L’ascension finale au cœur du vignoble n’aura rien d’une partie de plaisir !
⛰ The final climb up Chiroubles won’t be one that the riders are looking forward to! #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/DjjsYQu5Fg
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) January 6, 2021
Olympic gold medallist Callum Skinner delivered shopping for Tesco to help vulnerable customers shield during lockdown
Rio Olympics gold medallist Callum Skinner helped deliver food to the elderly and vulnerable during lockdown last year by taking a job as a Tesco delivery driver. Skinner said that like many he found opportunities hard to find due to the pandemic but made the best of a bad situation to help those less fortunate. He originally planned to use his time to volunteer with the NHS but found opportunities scarce.
Skinner said: “I started to see if I could volunteer, seeking work with the NHS or Trussell Trust to help those most affected by COVID. Opportunities were slim. In the end, I took an opportunity working for Tesco as a delivery driver. The proposition didn’t appear as satisfying as volunteering, but I found taking up a role as a key worker immensely gratifying.
“I met many elderly, vulnerable or shielding customers for whom the Tesco driver was their only face to face contact sometimes for weeks at a time. The efficiency of a large grocer meant we helped a lot of people in the day. Perhaps more than if I had loaded up my car with food parcels?”
The Scot also used the shutdown to expand his 5 Rings coffee business that he co-owns alongside fellow Olympic Champions from the track Owain Doull and Philip Hindes. In 2021, Skinner will start a new chapter at The Hut Group Ingenuity as a sales development lead having retired from cycling in 2019.
Consultation on traffic in London's parks closes soon
Is this how we could use the roads in #RichmondPark?
Take a moment to ask @theroyalparks to make a park for people, and stop it being used as a rat-run. Consultation closes soon!
Photo h/t @westcountrytim https://t.co/wPH4bviI47 pic.twitter.com/lIw9ED5Ra2— Richmond Cycling Campaign (@RichmondCycling) January 5, 2021
Reaction to 'stay local' lockdown cycling rules
There may have been a reason at the beginning when the law was shorter and simpler, to expand in guidance. But now law is long and complex, why diverge?
It makes communications far more difficult as ministers etc have to know two different regimes and account for differences
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) January 6, 2021
This thread from human rights barrister Adam Wagner is quite interesting. He notes the distinction in the government communications between guidance and law, and suggests both should be clearer…
This is not a new issue – in face, the exact same mistakes are being made as in March. This was the first @HumanRightsCtte report on lockdown (April 2020)i which I worked on https://t.co/iZ1EqkuUGk
The *exact same* issue pic.twitter.com/Jit076YBiu
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) January 6, 2021
The report says: “There have been significant inconsistencies in public communication about the new regulations. There are a number of different sources of information, in particular: (i) the regulations which set out the law; (ii) Government guidance that is intended to try to explain the regulations, for example to give examples of what might be a ‘reasonable excuse’; and (iii) Government advice that has no relation to the regulations.”
Every time I have spoken to a police officer about what powers they think they are exercising (I do this sometimes! I am weird) they cite a mishmash of guidance and law to me. Never accurate so far
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) January 6, 2021
Brooks England releases statement addressing 'misleading claims' about UK sales post-Brexit
Brooks England has released a statement responding to ‘misleading claims’ that the saddle manufacturer is no longer selling products in the UK post-Brexit. On Sunday, Brooks suspended sales from orders made through the brand’s website but confirmed on Monday that this would not affect products sold through their premium dealers. They cannot sell products in the UK through their website as the company is owned by Selle Italia and despite products being made in the UK, they are dispatched from Italy. Consequently, changes in the UK’s cross-border VAT rules, that coincided with Britain’s departure from the EU single market, led Brooks to temporarily suspend sales to the UK.
The iconic saddle brand reiterated this message this afternoon saying in a statement: “Recent news reports, stating that Brooks is no longer selling products in the United Kingdom post-Brexit, have given us the opportunity to respond to misleading claims and clarify the situation.
“Due to changes in the UK’s cross-border VAT rules, that coincided with Britain’s departure from the EU single market, we were forced, quite unfortunately, to temporarily suspend e-commerce sales to the UK as of 1 January to properly analyse the situation and react to the new changes and bureaucracy.
“Again, to avoid confusion, we would like to restate that this measure ONLY affects the owned ecommerce website brooksengland.com, not our UK distributor, shops or online sellers. Passionate cyclists across the UK can rest assured that our products will remain available during this period, as we will continue serving the UK market offline through our Brooks Premium Dealers network and online through our best partners.”
On Saturday, we reported that Dutch Bike Bits, a bike parts website, had stopped shipping to the UK beacuse of the same change in VAT rules, meaning that they now ship to every country in the world except the UK.
Cristiano Ronaldo's agent moves into cycling, will represent João Almeida and Ruben Guerreiro
Thank You! It’s a pleasure to make part of @polarissports 🔥🔥 https://t.co/wYK1NtjPJT
— João Almeida (@JooAlmeida98) December 30, 2020
Jorge Mendes, one of the most successful agents in football, has moved into cycling with his sports marketing company Polaris Sports. João Almeida and Ruben Guerreiro are two of his first clients. The Portugese super-agent can name Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez and José Mourinho amongst his stable of footballing talent.
A press release from Polaris read: “Polaris Sports and Corso have just established a partnership agreement which aims to optimise the commercial perspectives of Portuguese athletes that work with [Corso] in an association that is expected to be fruitful and successful.”
Cycling group 'strongly oppose' making wearing a helmet mandatory
Galway Cycling Campaign’s deputy chair, Martina Callanan, told Newstalk Breakfast that they “strongly oppose mandatory laws for helmets for everyday cycling.” The question was posed following the release of a new study that found only two of 26 patients with cycling-related head injuries transferred to Beaumont Hospital’s national centre for treating traumatic brain injury were recorded as wearing a helmet at the time of the injury.
Callanan said: “We strongly oppose mandatory laws for helmets for every day cycling. For a person cycling, a camera is better for personal safety cause this can record road traffic offences and provide digital evidence to [the Gardaí].
“The solution to keeping people safe and feeling safe is two things: separate infrastructure for cycling – and this is being provided through the Programme for Government. And also we need to change our speed limits – we need to reduce the speed on our roads to 30 kilometers per hour in urban areas.”
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@Rendel Harris You know damn well what I mean, Rendel. The bikes here are just a nice angle to make their point about how tech has changed over the years. They could have easily used two other bikes for exactly the same purpose. They chose these because they already had an article that looked at the old bike in depth, and because Seixas' bike is new. You keep cherry-picking, to try to win this silly argument on semantics, but the intro actually says it quite clearly: "We compare Jaan Kirsipuu’s early-2000s AG2R race bike with Paul Seixas’ latest machine TO CHART A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF TECH PROGRESS". The article is not ABOUT these bikes, it USES these bikes to illustrate that tech progress, hence, the article is about that tech progress.
@Sreedlums That's hilarious, the article is literally about two Decathlon Tour de France bikes and comparing them. It says that everywhere, in the headline, in the subhead, in the body text. It says it's "a good excuse to look back at how Decathlon’s top-level race bikes have changed over the last 25 years", how on earth can you get from that to "this article was *not* about these two bikes"? Go on swearing black is white all you want, but you are totally wrong.
@Sriracha They have got what makes bicycles be recognized by the public as bicycles, and what motorbikes haven't got - pedals, that's why.
@Rendel Harris Oh wait, so now the article is only about Decathlon's TdF bikes? Because that's in the headline? That's funny, because in your previous comment you said "I think if you look really hard you can see this is an article about how Tour de France bikes have changed",. So, which is it? You can keep cherry-picking snippets of text, but it doesn't change the fact that this article was *not* about these two bikes, nor was it about TdF bikes. This article took these two bikes as examples of top road bikes of their time, to take a broader look at how road bike tech has changed in 30 years. And my original comment was about exactly that; road bikes then and now.
@Sredlums Did you miss this bit? See the words "Tour de France bikes" there? Easy to miss, only being in the headline and all...
@Rendel Harris Except of course, Rendel, it is not. This sentence is in the intro of this article: "We compare Jaan Kirsipuu’s early-2000s AG2R race bike with Paul Seixas’ latest machine to chart a quarter of a century of tech progress", and this is the sentence with which they end the article: "Would you like to have a soft spot for bike tech of the past? Or is it best left to history?". Nowhere does it say they are looking only at bikes from the TdF. They honed in on these two specific Decathlon bikes to compare bike tech then with bike tech now.
@Sredlums Well, Sredlums, I think if you look really hard you can see this is an article about how Tour de France bikes have changed, so if you were talking about road bikes in general (which you did not make clear) it was your comment, not my reply, that was not pertinent.
Looking at Google shopping results for 'road bike', and then at a variety of retailer sites (Halfords, Decathlon, Sigma Sports, Ribble, Winstanleys, etc. etc., plus a couple of our local shops with ecommerce presence), on none of them are more than about one in eight black or dark grey, and often that's just one of a number of colour choices. So if there are a preponderance of such bikes around, it seems like it's less because bikes have become more 'boring' than it is because the people buying them have.
@Rendel Harris Well, Rendel, I think if you look really hard you can see that I wrote "how much more boring road bikes have become" and not 'how much more boring road bikes IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE have become". Simply look around you, when you see a group of road bikers pass by. Look in the bike shops. It's black, black, more black, some dark grey, more dark grey, matte. And black parts, like on all the bikes you showed as an example.
Exactly. Agree. But that doesn’t give ProCycling a free pass – instead the UCI and all pro teams should be leading the way as ambassadors for cycling as the greenest sport. Pro cycling could be green, but it will take significant change. Frighteningly however, it’s greenwashing that is still the aim and motivation for the majority of pro cycling sponsors. It’s not good enough. Such sponsorships should be banned. Like tobacco and alcohol. It’s as simple as that. Our planet is sending a very clear message through ProCycling – not sustainable.
39 thoughts on “Cycling group ‘strongly oppose’ making wearing a helmet mandatory; Brooks releases statement addressing ‘misleading claims’ about post-Brexit sales; Olympic Champion delivers Tesco shopping to the elderly; Driver rams LTN planter + more on the live blog”
Police have released a CCTV
Police have released a CCTV image of the vehicle they are looking for.
It’d be hilarious if someone
It’d be hilarious if someone could find the culprits car and do that to it. Filling it with soil would be even better, the irony of turning their car into a planter box they can’t move would be just deserts.
I want to know who has dumped
I want to know who has dumped a caravan next to them?
I had a thought about the
I had a thought about the LTNs – seeing as no-one seems to mind when vans are parked in stupid places, the council could just leave two of theirs parked in the road for a couple of months until the fuss dies down…
I don’t know why the
I don’t know why the resedents don’t park across it to ensure its not ignored to be honest.
Shame nobody has shifted that caravan that is obviously stolen yet.
respect to the people
respect to the people repairing the vandalism.
now over to Manchester police to prosecute the vandal who filmed himself doing it – shouldn’t be too hard, Facebook etc keep records for years I believe even after users have deleted posts (they have to do this by law)
EddyBerckx wrote:
have died. Altho their accounts are locked.
At least we know what
At least we know what Socraticyclist’s real name is now.
Well I don’t. It’s not
Well I don’t. It’s not something like Santa Christ or Adolf Biene is it?
I read that Hirschi was
I read that Hirschi was joining Ineos?
Reported by a spoof account.
Reported by a spoof account. Not accurate.
It isn’t just planters and
It isn’t just planters and bike lanes that the petrol heads can’t stand. This guy was caught painting over a bus lane!
Seems a bit self-defeating –
Seems a bit self-defeating – surely by painting it all white he’s turned it into a (very) solid white line, which just means that no vehicles are now allowed to enter it?
Online link to the story.
Online link to the story. (Just watch out for the 10,000 adverts etc).
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/caught-white-handed-police-arrest-19563474
Well, at least he isn’t
Well, at least the planter pusher isn’t stupid enough to use his own name, unless he doesn’t have any web/social media presence. Time for a few vidcams to be set up covering these planters and when the culprits are apprehended, they should be made to put right the damage themselves, reinstalling the planters in full view of the local residents and media, the modern equivalent of the stocks. Not that I would encourage or condone egg throwing, but I’d understand it.
I see helmet wearing as
I see helmet wearing as similar to wearing masks for covid – yes people can wear them, and yes they might stop you injuring yourself (or contracting covid in the case of helmets), but unfortunately their wearers and society at large adjust their risk perception, nullifying their usefulness.
In the case of helmets by riding more dangerously or passing more closely because you are now “safer”, in the case of masks by ignoring social distancing or just not wearing them properly.
For the record I do wear both though, even masks where I strictly don’t need to such as outdoors, but that’s because I have enough common sense to still maintain the same risk profile.
Not a good analogy – masks do
Not a good analogy – masks do nothing to protect you (except possibly from being sued for assault), they are entirely about protecting others, from you. The argument for helmets is the other way around.
And for the avoidance of doubt, there is scant evidence that helmets protect you from contracting covid either. 😉
Oh yeah, I got my murds
Oh yeah, I got my murds wuddled there didn’t I
– The point I wanted to make was that people adjust their risk profile based on what they feel is “safe”, the net result being no gain.
Well, the risk-compensation
Well, the risk-compensation is one argument. More persuasive I find is the logic that we should work to eliminate the risk of injury at source instead of condoning it through accommodation:
https://chrisboardman.com/blog/index_files/e67d4b8aac0c709c5801ce466bdcd90e-1.html
Nigel Garrage wrote:
— Nigel GarrageRisk compensation is entirely unconscious and you can’t consciously eliminate it, yet you claim to be able to do so, which shows that you don’t understand risk compensation. Might be best if you stopped lecturing the rest of us.
Socrati again.
Deleted
Just what we need in cycling,
Just what we need in cycling, another dodgy person. Jorge Mendes is still under investigation for tax investigation and money laundering…Riders now seeing money money money as the only reason. Just look at Hirschi moving, that’s motivated by nothing but money…OR, he’s about to be suspended for doping…
“only two of 26 patients with
On the face of it, pretty damning evidence against the wearing of helmets – assuming these were the only two helmet wearers in the land. But of course, without actually knowing the second part, the first part is entirely meaningless.
You’re right.
You’re right.
There’s also the issue that some of the cyclists may have been wearing helmets and it simply not have been recorded.
Found this little analysis which puts the helmet wearing rate in Ireland at approximately 35-40% and clarifies the numbers to show 6 cyclists did not actually have their helmet wearing recorded.
If those 6 were wearing helmets then the referral rate for helmeted and non helmeted cyclists is about equal with their wearing rate.
If the non recorded weren’t wearing helmets then the difference between the two groups may be significant.
Unfortunately on such a small dataset with such a large amount of uncertainty you can’t really draw any conclusions.
There’s good UK hospital data on injuries suffered by cyclists however. Helmeted cyclists seem to spend less time in hospital and are less likely to die. That’s probably the best evidence for helmet wearing at the moment.
Irish data analysis:
https://irishcycle.com/2019/10/01/bicycle-helmets-the-irish-media-and-lies-damned-lies-and-statistics/#:~:text=However%2C%20according%20to%20a%202016,public%20and%20private%20bicycle%20combined).
I’m sorry, but as someone who
I’m sorry, but as someone who’s crashed twice this year and been saved from a nasty knock both times by my helmet – they SHOULD be mandatory. Sure, road reform and dedicated cycling lanes might help in specific instances of car – cyclist impact. But both of my crashes had nothing to do with a car, rather slippery roads and even a faulty chain. Who’s to say that won’t happen to you in a dedicated cycling lane?
Well, it never has, and there
Well, it never has, and there’s the thing – yours is not the only experience.
So maybe consider the wider picture than your own misadventure and read Boardman’s argument which he makes very well.
https://chrisboardman.com/blog/index_files/e67d4b8aac0c709c5801ce466bdcd90e-1.html
Just to argue… Mopeds being
Just to argue… Mopeds being so much more fuel-efficient than cars would save thousands of lives due to reduced air pollution if the majority of car drivers switched.
But people could possibly be dissuaded away from riding a moped in the pissing rain and freezing cold because they would be forced to wear a helmet, more likely for people to switch from car>motorbike than car>bicycle.
Additionally, correlation vs causation argument, Western Australia took 4 years to reach that 30% reduction in cycling after it became law, is that the only thing that affects those cycling numbers
Subsidising public transport? Tax or fuel price cut for motor vehicles, the fact that there was a recession in the early 90’s in Australia where 11% of people were unemployed at its peak in 1992/1993 so may more people HAD to cycle for transportation?
Just to state do think making it law is maybe a little heavy but do think people really should invest in a helmet.
andyp363 wrote:
And that’s perfect, because in the main it is the compulsion to wear, rather than the act of wearing, that deters people from cycling.
vthejk wrote:
I’ve got an idea; let’s use science to analyse what happens when helmets are made mandatory. Wow! Those kind Aussies and Kiwis did it for us, and the results were a disaster. Not only did cycling not become safer, it actually became more dangerous, and huge numbers of people gave up cycling entirely, losing the massive health benefits, getting sick and being a burden on the health service.
First post eh? Socrapi? is that you?
“I’m sorry….” You should be.
I wear a cycling cap, and
I wear a cycling cap, and haven’t fallen off or crashed my bike for years. And I ride some “challenging” roads and off road routes.
Just a suggestion – if you want to reduce the likelihood of injury, learn to maintain and ride your bike safely. Bikeability or other bicycle training courses might be available in your area.
Argos74 wrote:
There are arguments for and against helmets which it’s not worth rehashing, but “I’m not going to fall off” is not one of them. Nobody can legislate for the actions of other road users or even animals (I once came off on an off-road ride trying to avoid hitting a wild boar that ran across my path in the Forest of Dean, and years ago I was knocked off my motorcycle by a car driver who ran straight into the back of me whilst I sat stationary at a red light because, “I thought it was going to change so you’d move.”). Not wearing a helmet because you think the protection they offer isn’t worth it is logical (although I personally don’t subscribe to that school of thought), not wearing one because you think your experience and skills will prevent you being involved in an accident isn’t.
However, most people use some
However, most people use some variation of the “I’m not going to hit my head, so I don’t need to wear a helmet” argument every day. It’s why people don’t wear them in the shower or walking downstairs even though those activities can easily lead to a head injury.
hawkinspeter wrote:
True, but then again I know only one person amongst a fairly wide circle of friends and acquaintances who’s ever injured themselves falling down stairs, whereas not a single one of my cycling mates hasn’t injured themselves in a crash at some point.
Where they all head injuries,
Were they all head injuries, though?
It’s just a question of balancing the perceived risk against the inconvenience of wearing a helmet. Personally, I’ve bumped my head more often inside my own home than when out cycling and when I have fallen off my bike, I’ve luckily avoided any head injury.
Argos74 wrote:
Well that seals it for me – casquettes should be mandatory for all cyclists.
“we need to reduce the speed
“we need to reduce the speed on our roads to 30 kilometers per hour in urban areas.”
FUCK OFF!!
Why not? Not much of a change
Why not? Not much of a change in speed for the ones who follow the current limits and more chance of saving life in any accidents. And during rush hour you would struggle to get 30 anyway.
Personally I wear a helmet in
Personally I wear a helmet in the wet, if its icy or if it’s the dark. I usually don’t at other times but I’m wondering whether I should wear one in the pandemic to reduce the chance of ending up in A&E when the NHS is already stretched. The equivalent of wearing a mask to protect others I suppose.
The current situation makes
The current situation makes it less of a hassle to wear a helmet – cold temperatures make you want to wear something on your head and it’s not like helmet hair is a big issue when you’re avoiding other people anyway.