Van blocking (former) Kensington High Street cycle lane finally moved after three days; Cav found investor to fund Quick-Step move; Ripping out bike lane doesn’t improve congestion; Pedalling Picasso’s festive Strava art + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Geraint Thomas dislocates shoulder in training crash
Geraint Thomas suffered more bad luck on the road yesterday. The 2018 Tour de France winner dislocated his shoulder in a crash while training but expects to be back on the turbo today. Posting on social media, Thomas explained that he had not suffered any fractures. He said: “Not the Sunday I was expecting. Crashed on some ice and dislocated my shoulder. It’s back in now, after a rather painful 2hrs, but no fractures. So all good to get on the turbo tomorrow.”
The Welshman’s 2020 season ended prematurely after the third stage of the Giro d’Italia due to a fractured pelvis sustained in a crash in the neutral zone. In an interview with BBC Wales after teammate Tao Geoghegan Hart had won the Giro, Thomas said he hoped to target the Tour de France and the Olympics in 2021.
“The [targets next year are the] Tour de France and the Olympics, but I’ll have to sit down with the team and go through everything properly first. The Giro as well is also in the back of my mind, especially after this year,” he explained.
“Tao is a great rider, full of potential, he was there to help me try to win initially. Obviously I had to go home after three days so he had the opportunity so to finish it off and deal with the pressure which was great for him and the team.”
Festive Strava art
The Pedalling Picasso is back with another Strava masterpiece. Last Christmas he gave you a picture of a reindeer, the year before that a giant Santa and this year a festive message. Anthony Hoyte put in the winter miles on this 9-hour and 78-mile ride around London. Here’s the best of his Christmas portfolio…
Kensington High Street still congested despite removal of bike lane that caused 'gridlock everyday'
#KensingtonHighStreet
That used to be a cycle lane on the left.
The guy on the bicycle is now squeezed, so that @rbkc @jthalassites can “balance” the needs of all road users.And the van on the right? That’s been parked there since lunchtime on Friday. pic.twitter.com/3a6be2gADH
— always last (@lastnotlost) December 5, 2020
A couple of weeks back, Chariots of Fire actor Nigel Havers accused the bike lane on Kensington High Street of causing ‘gridlock everyday’. Now, after the segregated lane has been ripped out and the full road opened to motor vehicles again, the videos and photos from the weekend suggest not much has changed. Cyclists using the route this weekend were faced with parked cars where the bike lane used to be and congestion in two lanes rather than one.
The video above is from Saturday afternoon and shows at least three parked vehicles and queues of cars in both directions. One person posted another picture on social media of the old cycle lane blocked with parked cars…
So you take away a safe cycle lane used by thousands a day so a few ‘entitled’ SUVs can park restricting the entire lane anyway🤔. Great decision making @RBKC @jthalassites @betterstreetskc @London_Cycling. Kensington High Street today. pic.twitter.com/ns63oav05c
— Rafela FitzHugh (@RafelaFitz) December 5, 2020
West Highland Way cycling record broken by former Commonwealth Games athlete Rab Wardell
In August, we told you about the record being broken by Scottish cyclo-cross champion Gary Macdonald who set a new best time of nine hours, 28 minutes and 34 seconds for the 96-mile trail. Well it’s been broken again, this time by Rab Wardell, a cyclist who competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Wardell completed the popular trail from Milngavie, near Glasgow, to Fort William in nine hours, 14 minutes and 32 seconds.
The BBC reports that this year marked the West Highland Way’s 40th year anniversary. It follows the old cattle drover routes and 18th Century military roads along the eastern shores of Loch Lomond, before travelling north west to Fort William via some of the UK’s most picturesque scenery.
Tough crowd
Good luck planning a route that spells Eyjafjallajökull…
Komoot introduces Tour search feature to let users follow popular routes
Route planning app Komoot has announced a new feature that allows users to search for thousands of Tours across the UK. The feature means you don’t have to plan a route from scratch and can instead follow popular routes and see Highlights from other Komoot users. Tours will be available free to all users and has filters for sport type, duration and difficulty. As they are location-based, Komoot Tours will enable you to adjust your start point to wherever you are to help you connect with more popular routes from your home.
Mark Cavendish found investor to fund his Deceuninck Quick-Step return
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Cyclingnews reports that Deceuninck Quick-Step could not have afforded to re-sign Mark Cavendish if it hadn’t been for the Manxman finding someone to pay his contract for 2021. The 35-year-old announced his return on Saturday. In an interview with Patrick Lefevere, the team manager told Cyclingnews how the deal came about: “After the last race in De Panne he [Cavendish] was at the hotel in Kortrijk and I invited him to my office and he said: ‘I don’t want to stop like this. I want to come back.’ I told him, ‘Mark I really don’t have one Euro. My budget is already done.’
“He said that if he could find someone to pay his contract then he could ride. I maybe believed that he could join us but that it would be difficult to find someone, but a week later someone called and said that they’d spoken to Mark and that they were interested. We started talking and in the end, it happened.
“My heart said yes and my brain said no. It’s a risk but he brings a lot to the team. He’s still very famous and we’ve only had positive reactions on Twitter. I’m happy everyone is happy and I’m glad that he has this chance. I don’t think that he deserved to stop cycling in the way he did his last races.
Cavendish rode for Deceuninck Quick-Step between 2013 and 2015, when the team was known as Omega Pharma-Quick-Step and Etixx Quick-Step, winning 44 races including three stages of the Tour de France.
Tao Geoghegan Hart and other pro cyclists from London talk to 2,000 children to try and inspire young people to ride bikes
Some of the advice we got from our #cycling greats today:
“There’s so many beautiful things to be had just from getting on a bicycle” 💖@taogeoghegan pic.twitter.com/1dlFTAyQ6N
— Dulwich Safe Routes (@DulwichWheels) December 7, 2020
Tao Geoghegan Hart spoke to 2,000 children on a Zoom call hosted by Dulwich Safe Routes to tell his story of getting into cycling while growing up in London. Tao was joined by fellow London pros: Fred Wright, Abi Van Twisk, Alec Briggs and INEOS Grenadiers’ teammate Ethan Hayter. Commenting on the event Tao posted on Twitter: “We are here, LDN. Everyone doing it in their own way. But there. Know many more from this city will follow… Riding bikes for transport, enjoyment & also sport. WE have a responsibility to inspire all manner of different people to swing their leg over the humble bicycle.”
Since winning the Giro d’Italia in October, Tao has used his platform to promote cycling issues in the capital such as expressing his support for the campaign to keep the Kensington High Street bike lane.
Is the van on Kensington High Street still there?
Yes pic.twitter.com/fQca9bv65D
— Is the van on Kensington High Street still there? (@KensingtonVan) December 7, 2020
What a world we live in. A Twitter account has been set up to give updates on the van that’s parked where the cycle lane used to be on Kensington High Street. As far as I’m aware it’s been parked since Saturday and yes, it’s still there…
Essex Police help man seen riding to work on a kid's bike
Here’s a feel-good story from the weekend. After receiving a call from concerned members of the public about a man cycling on a dark road, officers found that he was riding a child’s bike. The cyclist told the officers that he was struggling to get by after moving to the area and that his only way to get to work was by using the child’s bike. Yesterday, officers from Braintree Police surprised the man at work with a new bike to help him out as well as some lights to keep him safe on the road.
Nick Ferrari hosts anti-LTN debate despite apparently living in one for years
“We all have photos of ambulances or police cars stuck before these giant plant pots.”
The leader of Bromley Council tells LBC why he is “sceptical” over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.@NickFerrariLBC | #LTN pic.twitter.com/87Fojpf2nK
— LBC (@LBC) December 7, 2020
Nick Ferrari’s LBC radio show covered the LTN debate this morning by, in the words of one commenter, listening to ‘one positive call from Sustrans and six to eight rant calls from motorists’. Ferrari complained: “These giant plant pots have caused a lot of problems for emergency service vehicles as well. That’s what they are, a damn nuisance.”
However, as one Twitter user pointed out, Ferrari has apparently lived in an LTN for a while. Mark Treasure wrote: “The next time Nick Ferrari is on the radio wailing about how ‘ghastly’ Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are, perhaps someone can point out that he… lives in one? This wedge-shaped part of Blackheath is a (pretty old) LTN, created by the addition of this fire gate with a cycle bypass (blue cross), which cuts out through motor traffic. Nice place for a critic of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to live.”
It’s not the first time the radio presenter has had a pop at cycling. In 2017, James O’Brien said: “Any argument against cycling is an argument in favour of pollution, obesity and death” after his LBC colleague criticised cyclists for red light jumping.
This wedge-shaped part of Blackheath is a (pretty old) LTN, created by the addition of this fire gate with a cycle bypass (blue cross), which cuts out through motor traffic. Nice place for a critic of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to live pic.twitter.com/13Ec70w9Jn
— Mark Treasure (@AsEasyAsRiding) December 2, 2020
It's still there!
Yes pic.twitter.com/vvnOvnOwpt
— Is the van on Kensington High Street still there? (@KensingtonVan) December 7, 2020
So, is the van on a former Kensington High Street cycle lane STILL there? No!
No! pic.twitter.com/2DjfX9uM44
— Is the van on Kensington High Street still there? (@KensingtonVan) December 7, 2020
Remarkably, after a mammoth 78 hours according to numerous locals… a van blocking what used to be a temporary cycle lane on Kensington High Street until it was scrapped by the council is gone.
Despite gaining its own Twitter account and hashtag, countless tip-offs to RBKC councillors and reports to traffic wardens, the van continued to block the left lane of Kensington High Street for around three days, totting up equal parts social media likes and outrage in the process.
The person(s) behind the ‘Is the van on Kensington High Street still there?’ Twitter account says a statement will follow – wonder if there will be a statement from RBKC Council too?
7 December 2020, 09:02
7 December 2020, 09:02
7 December 2020, 09:02
7 December 2020, 09:02
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Latest Comments
@HarrogateSpa could be. With some Labour / other socialist types I think it's: a) a historic reaction to the toff and/or mill owner and their horse-enhanced status. So "we'll damn well have cars also". ("Fairness", I guess). b) (partly related) many working people rely on their vehicles for work (or to get there). So "we'll fight anything that looks like them taking our independence". Of course I think excellent arguments against motor traffic dependence could be made for most political persuasions - but unfortunately it also seems that those for the status quo can also.
@kingleo but according to some posters here aren't those terrible places marred by very high cyclist fatality numbers, dreadful driving conditions, rampant drug use and (inevitably) "communism"? ("non-countries" eh Nige?) One major difference, which perhaps doesn't get enough attention, is that in NL they went through a process of deciding what all streets and roads were primarily "for". Then re-designating and indeed redesigning them and re-engineering the network to "make it so". "Monofunctional roads/streets". That means that it's much clearer where cycle infra is *required*, and where less obvious measures will do. That *would* be a major change for the UK. Our process has been that motor traffic appeared on streets which used to be foot / horse / carriage / cycle. We then had to add footways as it became clear the motor traffic was a danger (also as drivers demanded "their" streets). Then as the traffic got bigger / faster / volumes increased those non-vehicle spaces shrank... So now we commonly have a "high street" which is 1) a "place" or destination (so people want to drive and park there, but then will walk about) 2) maybe also a residential location 3) a major through route. And everyone complaining "our streets are too narrow to accommodate cycling".
@Rendel Harris Hold out for a Halfords Apollo* at least. * I did once own one. I bought it in skinter days to replace a Rudge 3-speed that I found in a scrapyard. Guess which one lasted me 4 years and which one lasted me 4 months.
@Mr Blackbird isn't it "this pub survived two World Wars, but will be destroyed by this ludicrous, dangerous cycle lane, which nobody wants and which will only be used by illegal immigrants riding unlicensed electric motorbikes..." ?
@Mr Blackbird The report on this case is on page 19 of today's Times. Maybe the more right wing rags didn't bother at all? It was on the BBC News website yesterday, but was not featured on this morning's Breakfast News.
@Rendel Harris no no NO! Won't you think of blind pedestrians, who will be in danger of falling in, then being run over by the peloton, then drowning?! Not to mention people with limited mobility who might stumble in and then not be able to get out? Or just those walking around in a relaxed manner, not paying too much attention? No, what is needed is a dedicated area to support accessibility for all. We could call it a ... road! Those with sight impairment would doubtless be ok with that as they would be able to hear the motor vehicles (unlike those deadly silent cyclists). And they could get taxis also. In fact all those who *have to drive* could use it! Cyclists would have nothing to complain about, they could ride there if they don't get in the way of motor vehicles and come to a compete stop whenever they see a pedestrian looking like they might cross...
@HoarseMann I've probably given this too much thought, but alongside each of the bridges I was going to have little in and out ramps to allow cyclists to exit for the shops rather than be confined to a straight-through run.
@kingleo Just picture a lovely character pub with all the original internal features. Baskets of flowers hanging outside. It serves an excellent selection of real ales, craft ales, quality lagers and quality ciders. Todays menu includes a ploughman's lunch, seafood platter and a vast range of sandwich fillings ; all made using locally sourced foods. But wait! A new cycle lane has just been constructed in front of the pub. It is far too dangerous to cross and enter the pub. You turn around and trudge home. Stopping at Tesco to buy a 4 pack of Carling.
@Hollis Jones as Rendel said, the key difference here is there were two strong pieces of evidence distinguishing this from "we all *know* they were aware of the cyclist", one of them a human witness. Outside that it's simply "but the prosecution cannot prove they didn't notice..." and legally that must fail. Like a "he said, she said" but where one of the sides is absent, because they're dead.
11 thoughts on “Van blocking (former) Kensington High Street cycle lane finally moved after three days; Cav found investor to fund Quick-Step move; Ripping out bike lane doesn’t improve congestion; Pedalling Picasso’s festive Strava art + more on the live blog”
Now that it has been shown
Now that it has been shown that the cycle lanes didn’t cause the congestion, I’m sure Nigel Havers will be admitting his mistake and apologising profusely, and Kensington and Chelsea council will issue a grovelling apology and will immediately reinstate them, not to mention headlines in the DM begging forgiveness.
I would expect that to happen in a rational country where people are big enough and honourable enough to admit they got it wrong. I wonder if we’ll be waiting long?
eburtthebike wrote:
Don’t be impatient!! It’ll be fixed by the end of the week.
Not saying which week/year/decade however…
Nigel Havers you say? The
Nigel Havers you say? The actor and unrepetenant drink driver Nigel Havers? Just checking we have the right one.
the little onion wrote:
That’s him, although actor is a bit of a stretch…..
eburtthebike wrote:
Brexit…
Well that silver van is still
Well that silver van is still parked there at midday on KHS, all possible because ‘the cycle lane wasn’t working’.
I’m not interested in Nick
I’m not interested in Nick Ferrari – stop giving him publicity.
I thought they were saying he
I thought they were saying he lived in a Ferrari.
The frustrating aspect of the
The frustrating aspect of the LTN ‘debate’ is that, like the EU ‘debate’ so much misinformation and lies are being propagated that come the consultations a false impression will have been created in residents’ minds. I.e. LTNs mean more pollution, stuck ambulances, you can’t drive your car, old people will die, alone stuck at home – just replaces BS like 200K Syrians refugees will walk from the EU into brave blighty, the EU wants an EU army, the EU is a dictatorship, ‘they need us more than we need them’ etcetera.
I like the police story. They
I like the police story. They have hundreds of unclaimed stolen bikes which they auction. Many years ago I used to work on projects in central London with yoofs rebuilding bikes. The Police would give us the bikes and we had a great project / relationship going for many years. The yoof didn’t see the Police as ‘the enemy’ and vice versa. Plus they learnt bike maintenance skills and the police were able to engage on other matters with the yoof as a positive relationship was cemented. Unfortunately the cuts put an end to that and the Police started auctioning the bikes to raise revenue and the Local Authorities stopped paying the mechanics.
The tweet about ‘entitled
The tweet about ‘entitled SUVs’ just hits the nail on the head. Obvs for RBKC this is the right kind of congestion 🙁