“I’d get rid of every bloody bicycle lane – they drive me mad”: Christopher Biggins’ Radio 2 rant; Global warming on show at Flanders; Deliveroo strike; Fasted 500; Cycling boom: bicycle journeys up 47 per cent; Buoyancy Bikes + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Scottish cycling boom continues as bicycle journeys up 47 per cent
The latest figures from Cycling Scotland found there were 47 per cent more cycling journeys recorded between 23 March 2020 and 22 March 2021 compared to 2019-20. Using 47 cycle counters across the country they found that cycle journeys increased by 68 per cent in April, 77 per cent in May, 63 per cent in June, 44 per cent in July and 33 per cent in August, compared with the same months in 2019.
STV reports that the numbers still rose through the autumn and into the winter with a 32 per cent increase in September, 22 per cent in October, 7 per cent in November and 4 per cent in December. A 14 per cent decrease in January has been put down to the particularly bad weather before cycle journeys rose again by 20 per cent in February and 52 per cent in March.
Counters in Girvan, Callander and Dunoon recorded more than 100 per cent increases. Cycling Scotland’s chief executive Keith Irving said: “It has been a horrendous year, but one of the few bright spots has been more people getting back on their bikes.
“To get even more people cycling, we need to invest more in infrastructure so people feel safe to cycle. We need more dedicated cycle lanes, separated from vehicles and pedestrians. We need to reduce traffic, especially on residential and shopping streets. And we need to increase access to bikes and storage to tackle the barriers too many people face so anyone, anywhere can enjoy all the benefits of cycling.”
Fasted 500: the Ramadan cycling challenge
You’ve probably heard of the Festive 500 already…The annual Rapha event involves riding 500km over eight days between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Well, the Fasted 500 is similar and an extra challenge for Muslims observing Ramadan. Anyone who’s suffered the dreaded bonk will know all too well how hard riding without the energy from food can be. So the Fasted 500, riding 500kms over 29 or 30 days while observing Ramadan and fasting during daylight hours, is an intriguing challenge…
In their own words, the Fasted 500 team want to “encourage more Muslims to keep active during Ramadan (and hopefully continue the habit afterwards!)” In addition to the satisfaction of completing the challenge, all riders who complete the 500km (310 miles) target can buy a Fasted 500 roundel, with all profits going to Cycling Sisters Bristol.
We are proud to be supporting our friends over at #fasted500 who have created a world first Ramadan cycling challenge to encourage cycling in the Muslim community. We’d love to hear from any club members taking part! Check out @fasted500 on Instagram for more details.
— Bristol South Cycling Club (@BristolSouthCC) April 6, 2021
UCI releases statement condemning racist abuse of Arkéa–Samsic sprinter Nacer Bouhanni
UCI statement concerning Nacer Bouhanni
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) April 7, 2021
Floating bike hire launches in the Norfolk Broads
A Norfolk start-up has taken cycling to the water…Laura Calver and her husband Simon are launching Buoyancy Bikes in Wroxham, on the Broads, to make cycling a water sport…They told the Eastern Daily Press their fleet works by mounting a bike on two pedal-powered hard-shelled floats with a fin connected to the handlebars…
The source of this idea?…Apparently it came to Simon in a dream. His wife said: “My husband woke up one day and said ‘I wonder if you can get a water bike on the Broads?’ He says it came to him in a dream. The Broads Authority told us there was something very similar back in the 1990s but it never really took off. So as far as we’re aware, it’s just us.”
The bikes are made in China and will be rented out for £25 per hour. They’ve got a top speed of around 5mph and apparently bookings for the rides, available from April 24, have “gone crazy”.
Your thoughts on Humber Bridge being closed to cyclists
There’s been a fair bit of confusion since the Humber Bridge was closed indefinitely to cyclists and pedestrians over the Easter weekend. A spokesperson for the Humber Bridge Board said: “Due to a recent incident, we have taken the decision to close the footways on both sides of the Humber Bridge for an indefinite period.”
The decision comes after several deaths at the bridge during March. As a sign of the confusion, yesterday a cyclist was told he could ride across on the carriageway by staff before being told he couldn’t at the other end by police.
This is the alternate route via Goole that Google Maps recommended…
Several readers compared the situation to the Dartford crossing of the Thames which doesn’t allow cyclists and the Tyne foot/bicycle tunnel which has been shut for maintenance. qwerty360 said in the Tyne’s case, alternatives for cyclists had been arranged: “When the Tyne foot/bicycle tunnel is shut (e.g. for maintenance), they run a shuttle bus through the toll road tunnel.
“Something to do with the road authority, in this case the Humber Bridge Board which is why they can close the right of way, having a legal obligation to consider alternative routes as part of doing closures. In this case they could close a lane and use it as a foot and cycle path. Of course that would mean inconveniencing motorists. Both in Tyne and Dartford, the alternative routes are a fraction of the distance you have to travel here!”
Coinneach Canavan explained when works were done on the Erskine Bridge “one side was closed at a time to allow cyclists and pedestrians to use the other side.”
4-caster added: “What is a pedestrian or cyclist expected to do? Go round by Goole? Or not commute to work? The Humber Bridge Board should provide a shuttle service to carry people who are banned from crossing the bridge through no fault of their own. It says on their website ‘the Humber Bridge is currently open to all traffic, except for abnormal loads wider than 4 metres (13.1ft) or heavier than 44 tons.’ Some people say that cyclists should catch a bus, but that doesn’t help those who need the bike to reach their final destination.”
Deliveroo riders strike in London
Striking @Deliveroo riders in London ✊🔥✊🔥 pic.twitter.com/tJ92GRwduk
— alex marshall (@alexjkmarshall) April 7, 2021
How the Tour of Flanders demonstrates global warming
The early spring landscape of Flanders is the backdrop at the annual battle on the cobbled climbs for the second Monument of the season. However, Pieter De Frenne, a botanist at the University of Ghent, is more interested in the trees than the racing. By making notes on specific trees along the route he can compare their leaf cover at the same point every year…and consequently whether species are reacting to climate change. Very clever.
“There are not many professional sports that are displayed on television annually, on the same routes, in the same places,” De Frenne told the Wall Street Journal. “And it’s also exactly the right time, April, when the trees start to flush their leaves.”
In 2018, researchers at the university published a journal with results finding that between 1981 and 2016, leaves were appearing on trees and flowers were blooming earlier…
Appeal for witnesses to fatal collision in Bridgwater
Avon and Somerset Police are appealing for witnesses to a fatal collision on the A39 Bath Road in Bridgwater just before 11am this morning. A driver of a black Vauxhall Corsa was involved in the fatal collision with a cyclist who died at the scene. His next of kin have been informed but the man in his 40s hasn’t yet been formally identified.
A 20-year-old man was arrested and remains in police custody on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drug driving. Avon and Somerset Police has asked anyone who witnessed the crash to come forward by calling 101 and giving the reference number 5221073941.
The home of the Chelsea Tractor really is Chelsea...but what's the need for an SUV in a city? Asks head of motoring organisation
“It is right to question if drivers need a car capable of ploughing over rivers, across fields and up steep hills just to pop to the shops.”
A bike with a basket is the right technology for a ‘pop to the shops.’
https://t.co/NVqlicBgyL— Jennifer Keesmaat (@jen_keesmaat) April 7, 2021
The BBC picked up on some quotes from the head of the RAC Foundation who said motorists should think twice before buying a large SUV for use in cities. “It is right to question if suburban drivers need a car capable of ploughing over rivers, across fields and up steep hills just to pop to the shops,” Steve Gooding said.
His words follow research which showed that the ‘Chelsea Tractor’ really is most common in affluent, built-up areas such as Chelsea…The report found that three quarters of all SUVs sold in the UK are registered to people living in towns and cities. The largest SUVs are most popular in three London boroughs: Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Westminster. And, one in three new private cars bought in these areas is a large SUV.
After a new report criticises people for driving off-road SUVs in towns and cities, owners insist they do go ‘off-road’ a lot, mostly when parking on pavements during the school run.
— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) April 7, 2021
‘Annual emissions from SUVs rose to more than 700 megatonnes of CO2. If SUV drivers were a country, they would be the seventh in the world for carbon emissions’
Three quarters of all SUVs sold in the UK are to people living in towns and citieshttps://t.co/CbdETpI6yx
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) April 7, 2021
"I'd get rid of every bloody bicycle lane – they drive me mad": Christopher Biggins' Radio 2 rant
Spot on @onebiggins #London has become a nightmare to get around, those poor #BlackCabs delivery drivers &frankly people needing to get around. As for air quality – given it’s all gridlocked I can’t imagine the consequences to that! https://t.co/VutUlGROGJ via @MailOnline
— Susan Hall AM (@Councillorsuzie) October 4, 2020
Christopher Biggins’ BBC Radio 2 interview this lunchtime was a bizarre 20 minutes of listening. We need more laughter, he suggested. “I just love life, I love people, I love everything about life,” he added…And then with the final line of his time on air, answering a question about whether he would go in to politics, he cracked…
“I wouldn’t mind being mayor. Being Mayor of London would be fantastic. Certainly the first thing I’d do is get rid of every bloody bicycle lane. They drive me mad”…
It’s not the first time the actor has spoken out against bike lanes. In October he penned a Mail on Sunday column titled, ‘Your bike lanes will kill the London I love, Mr Mayor’. In the column he described himself as Mr Toad whizzing around London in his electric car and complained Sadiq Khan’s bike lanes meant he had to allow two hours to get around…
“Cyclists take your pick. Drivers wait your turn. And all this while drivers pay tax, insurance and carry licence plates that mean we face fines if we break the rules. Cyclists? None of the above. Apart from the breaking the rules bit, which we see them do every day. So have the people who run London declared war on motorists? It’s a yes from me,” Biggins complained.
Cav third at Sheldeprijs as Jasper Philipsen wins
#SPmen After a hard day of wind and echelons 💨, a fast @jasperphilipsen wins the sprint! Congrats 🙌 #SP21 pic.twitter.com/xHnk2fygfM
— Scheldeprijs (@Scheldeprijs) April 7, 2021
Cav went close to winning a first race since February 2018 at Scheldeprijs this afternoon taking third place. Deceuninck-Quick-Step had two on the podium with Sam Bennett second behind the winner Jasper Philipsen. The Alpecin-Fenix sprinter held off the Quick-Step charge in a sprint from a select front group, heavily controlled by Cav’s teammates. Over in the Basque Country the riders are minutes away from a brutally steep final climb with prolonged stretches above 20 per cent. Tasty.
Tadej Pogačar wins in the Basque Country
Primoz Roglic 🆚 Tadej Pogacar
The two Slovenians go for it and break away from Adam Yates.
What a finish in store. pic.twitter.com/qNTeJmnZIq
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) April 7, 2021
Tadej Pogačar beat Primož Roglič to win stage three of the Tour of the Basque Country. Just take a look at those gradients…
7 April 2021, 08:02
7 April 2021, 08:02
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Rumor has it that riding the MMR gives you autism.
Well this looks ominous: real possibility of Tour stages being cancelled due to extreme heat. I'll put the link in a reply otherwise this whole comment will be quarantined - it's on the Guardian if anyone wants to search for themselves.
Having used the street multiple times since it was opened just over a month ago, I can report two issues which are preventing the improvements from working to their full potential. Firstly, there is no signage other than the painted bikes on the road itself, so there is nothing to indicate that cyclists have priority. The second is that the double yellow lines stop about two-thirds of the way down the road, meaning that from that point onwards, there are multiple cars parked half on the pavement and not in the designated parking places, reducing the width of both the footpath and the road to what it was before the improvements were made.
@MaxiMinimalist Really? So this applies only to drivers from Bouches-du-Rhône, Haute-Garonne and Vaucluse, drivers from the other sixteen départements that make up the south are fine?
Yeah, it's great isn't it........
Handling a bike across a bit of grass is a bit different to descending rock gardens, and drop off in a XCO World Cup....... The top XC guys are on another level to elite road racers.......(Pidcock is an outlier) MvdP has struggled in recent years after spending too long away from it.
45 years without being hit wasn't a bad run. I hope you are back on the bike and are dealing well with the fear.
I’m pretty much expecting this is a restructuring and everything will continue as it was before. Whether pricing and discounting stays the same I don’t know, but the business was acquired recently and this feels like part of that rather than the end. I’m surprised by the negative comments - I prefer my lecol bibs to my Rapha ones. Our club use lecol for our kit and I’ve found the quality is pretty good - I don’t know who else does club kit but I’ve been pretty happy with what was produced for us.
Given how rubbish Wandsworth Council is for active travel they actually did surprisingly well on the Healthy Streets Scorecard: https://www.healthystreetsscorecard.london/results/your_borough/wandsworth/ but this score seems to be mainly based on the roll out of (widely ignored) 20 mph speed limits. I suspect this is a temporary lull and the score will shortly plummet as even other similarly apathetic car-centric boroughs will start to outperform WBC. And the Blade Mews debacle is just ridiculous institutional anti-cyclist bias.
In my 5th year with a pair of their Roubaix gloves. They are starting to look a bit tatty not but have outlasted, by 2 my Castelli winter gloves.
34 thoughts on ““I’d get rid of every bloody bicycle lane – they drive me mad”: Christopher Biggins’ Radio 2 rant; Global warming on show at Flanders; Deliveroo strike; Fasted 500; Cycling boom: bicycle journeys up 47 per cent; Buoyancy Bikes + more on the live blog”
Quote:
Amen to that.
Also need every architect, planner, project manager, Councillor, MP, Headteacher and CEO to think “how will this work for people arriving by bicycle?” I love cycling for pleasure, but most of the utility journeys need somewhere to park the bike in a safe, secure and civilised fashion.
Most places I’m [i]lucky [/i]if someone thought I like to jostle my precious bike in amongst other bikes and stripped frames, locked against some rough galvanised metal tubes somewhere at the back and beyond of the site out in the rain by the wheelie-bins. It’s like expecting customers to throw their bag and coat onto the heap on the floor with all the others instead of having a proper secure attended clean cloak room.
City drivers ‘should think
City drivers ‘should think twice’ before buying SUVs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56647128
(edited) however
City drivers ‘should think
City drivers ‘should think twice’ before buying SUVs
The sort of “city driver” who buys a large SUV is unlikely to think even once.
brooksby wrote:
TBH the AA quote shows far
TBH the AA quote shows far more awareness of the subject matter than the RAC one does. Very few modern SUV’s have any offroad capability, and they include diddy ones like the Juke to monsters like the Audi Q8, and electric cars like the iPace to pollution nightmares like the Nissan Qashqai – whose official emissions data appears to be “optimised” compared to IRL. Saying SUV’s are bad is about as useful as saying all cyclists jump traffic lights.
The elevated driving position on an SUV may give greater situational awareness for example.
My two cents:
My two cents:
It’s clear that “SUV” is a catch-all term that covers a wide range of cars, some of which are larger than others, and some of which are more polluting than others (not necessarily correlated).
Even small SUVs tend to have quite high bonnets – I would be interested to know what impact that has on pedestrian safety in the event of a collision. Car safety tends to be very much focused on the occupants, although I appreciate there has been some movement towards also considering the other party.
Emissions aren’t the only factor at play. While I think fully electric is better than ICE, a vehicle contributes just as much to congestion, storage space issues and risk to other road users whether or not it is also polluting at the same time. “many large SUVs are too big for a standard UK parking” isn’t going to be solved by putting an electric motor in.
Even small SUVs tend to have
Even small SUVs tend to have quite high bonnets – I would be interested to know what impact that has on pedestrian safety in the event of a collision.
I have read that it is detrimental to the safety of pedestrians, as they are more likely to be hit on the chest and knocked down/run over.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
Exactly, a sloping front is safer in the event of a collision as it directs fall towards the vehicle and some impact is taken up by the bonnet and/or windscreen. This is before considering the poorer visibility from SUVs due to their design.
A high bonnet is bad, especially for children as the impact is at head height, and the victim is then thrown forward for a secondary impact on the tarmac.
My understadniong is that SUV 3rd party safety requirements are lower than ordinary cars, due to them being essentially classed as vans.
So there we have it. SUVs being aggressively marketed by manufacturers so that they can bypass the safety regs that are incumbent on ordinary cars, thereby deliberately putting a larger number more dangerous (yet unnecessary) vehicles on the road. Classy.
TBH the AA quote shows far
SUV’s are all bad in that they are vehicles that pollute in both manufacture and use. As such when compared like for like they are very much worse than other vehicles that are smaller and lighter.
The question is need – what use are they filling? For most people none at all, they are a status symbol whose journeys would be adequately covered by active transport, public transport or a smaller lighter safer vehicle
The elevated driving position on an SUV may give greater situational awareness for example.— Secret_squirrel
Course it does. We all know how well SUV drivers are aware of their surroundings (see picture). In addition their “elevated position” blocks lines of sight, and their size, weight and design seriously increase risk to other road users.
They are absolutely not justifiable for the vast majority of users based on the resources required for manufacture, for the space they take up in use, for the damage they do to roads, for the injuries they cause other people.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
Which aids the driver of that vehicle; but, unless you have incrementally larger vehicles lined up in order of height, the advantage to one immediately disadvantages the one behind, negating any collective benefit.
I would suggest that “situational awareness” is a product of attitude of your skill, not the altitude of your skull
Regardless of which, the purpose of many Ridiculowagen SUVs is not to provide any safety advantage: it is to convey internal comfort and outward status, and to make money for the manufacturers who profile them on that basis.
Maybe we need a new bike
Maybe we need a new bike category – tall bikes
GMBasix wrote:
But of course you do, each year’s model is bigger than the last one.
As to the better situational awareness, Land Rover love calling it the “Command Driving Position”, and come up with self aggrandising strap lines like “Above and Beyond”, with all the puerile connotations of military achievement, duty and valour. Truly, the people with whom this chimes must be so far up their own arsenal.
https://www.landrover.com/vehicles/range-rover-sport/overlays/key-command-driving-postion-gallery.html
If customers want a higher
If customers want a higher vantage point, and also want to seem pseudo-military, just start equipping them with periscopes.
andystow wrote:
Don’t joke, they already fit them with f*cking snorkels…
Secret_squirrel wrote:
I’m reading that, but all I can see is that scene at the beginning of the first Despicable Me when the little old lady in a compact is overtaken by a bloke in an SUV, who is then overtaken by Gru in the Gru-mobile…
IMHO elevated driving
IMHO elevated driving position confers not safety but a completely unwarranted sense of entitlement.
As occasional driver of small, cheap and rather beat-up car I rather enjoy watching SUV drivers cringe for fear of scratching their expensive status symbol when they find I won’t back down in the face of bullying.
Had one recently travelling in opposite direction who decide to overtake a row of parked cars in a narrow street despite oncoming traffic (me) … driver actually got out and screamed at me to get out of their way. I declined to drive up onto the kerb to make space (probably would have done if requested politely), but Ranty McRantface insisted they wouldn’t back down. I didnt see any point continuing the “conversation” so just locked my car and made to walk away – was only half a mile from home at that point.
The inside lanes of the
The inside lanes of the Humber Bridge have been closed to traffic for months due to maintenance anyway. Cyclists could easily use them.
I worked with Biggins years
I worked with Biggins years ago on a charity film – within minutes of arriving he had a full on tantrum because there wasn’t an autocue and made the PA’s write giant cue cards for him to hold under the camera lens. I later found out that he had been offered an autocue in advance of the shoot but declined – clearly he hadn’t learnt his lines and rather than own this behaved like a petulant child and made it someone elses fault.
His comment on cycle lanes seems entirely in keeping with my limited experience of him on this day, regardless of the fact that someone with his BMI would hugely benefit from getting on a bike. I’m not sure why he is allowed to spew his ill informed prejudice on a national radio show but that’s another matter…
Nincompoop. (Him not you).
Nincompoop. (Him not you).
Well, he’s clearly just stuck
Well, he’s clearly just stuck in a bit of a time warp…
“Being Mayor of London would
“Being Mayor of London would be fantastic. Certainly the first thing I’d do is get rid of”…
… Christopher Biggins.
Biggins – And all this while
Biggins – And all this while drivers pay tax
Drives BMW i3 and therefore pays no tax!
Fucking idiot thinks that
Fucking idiot thinks that because he’s been in a Dick Whittington panto it qualifies him to be mayor of London? Could do with riding a bike a bit more the vacuous arsehat.
Christopher Biggins could
Christopher Biggins could certanly benefit from some exercise. If I were him, I’d be worried about the extra weight and the increased risk of a heart attack. Given how stressed he seems to get behind the wheel of his car, switching to a bicycle would reduce that risk considerably.
That is a great picture with
That is a great picture with Biggins and Khan, clearly demonstrating the health benefits of cycling. Christopher, you are a fat bastard who should do some exercise, perhaps get a bike.
What’s with the body/fat
What’s with the body/fat-shaming of Biggins?
It wouldn’t make any difference if he were skinny and super-fit – he’s still talking rubbish.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Absolutely, there’s a rich enough seam of material to criticise him for being a tw4t. His BMI is utterly irrelevant
If an obviously obese person
If an obviously obese person suggests to a mass audience that they would get rid of all active travel infrastructure which has been implemented to encourage people to get fit and reduce obesity, then their obesity is relevant in any response to their comment.
Muddy Ford wrote:
No. Actually it’s not
Abusing an individual over a physical condition is not acceptable. As I said, there is plenty of relevant material to criticise him for.
Their body-shape has nothing
Their body-shape has nothing to do with it. Would you oppose an obese person who wanted to encourage cycling? Would you similarly support a skinny person that wanted to get rid of active travel infrastructure?
React to what they’re saying and not whether they’re fat, thin, tall, short, black or white.
Why did you feel the need to
Why did you feel the need to bring colour into this conversation? Being fat or thin are predominently a result of lifestyle choices. We have learned that a poor lifestyle choice that leads to obesity has contributed to the severity of the impact of Covid, and even now with vaccination there is growing evidence that being obese reduces the effect of any vaccine. So when an obviously obese person uses his large audience forum to suggest removal of active travel infrastructure that is being implemented to help tackle obesity I think it’s relevant to mention their obesity is the problem. Perhaps I could have phrased it better, and of course I wouldn’t oppose an obese person encouraging cycling as that is precisely what Biggins would be better doing.
I could just as easily
I could just as easily mentioned male/female, hair colour or colour of eyes. They’re all irrelevant to what he was saying.
I’m not saying that being obese is healthy or desirable but I just don’t see why it should be relevant to the discussion of active travel. I’ve seen obese people cycling around and I’ve seen thin people sat in cars. It’s just not helpful to discriminate against him because of his weight – argue against his views instead.
Just think about it – if he was thin would you suddenly start agreeing with him? If not then it’s not his weight that’s relevant, is it?
So Muddy, what did you think
So Muddy, what did you think of the Shimano video of a few days ago?
Muddy Ford wrote:
Citation please
You are trying to squeeze morality judgements now into what people should or shouldn’t express (in your opinion) based on no more than their physical appearance.
Dude, it doesn’t look good, and I’d stick to attacking the idea (relevant), not the individual (aka ad hominem)