MGIF driver ignores blue flashing lights police car; Jeremy Vine correctly predicts congestion figures were “completely garbagified” for anti-cycle lane headlines; Ned’s nose wasn’t at No10 party; Specialized shower; Cav’s TDF + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Jeremy Vine correctly predicts congestion figures were "completely garbagified" for anti-cycle lane headlines
I think it’s safe to say not too many of you were surprised by yesterday evening’s news that traffic data firm Inrix had distanced itself from the anti-cycle lane angle of London being named the world’s most congested city. Inrix said the headlines were “not accurately representing what we have said” and they even added that one journalist admitted deploying the anti-cycle lane angle as it “gets more readers”. Who saw that one coming?
Answering that rhetorical question is…Jeremy Vine. The Vine on 5 presenter and broadcaster can proudly point out his tweet from lunchtime yesterday where he said the report had been “completely garbagified” because “the one way of getting publicity is to attack people who cycle”. Meet Mystic Jez…
Exactly, Ruth. The report by @INRIX_UK has been completely garbagified by a PR unit because they know the one way of getting publicity is to attack people who cycle. And lo, all the haters pile in. Cyclists are a vulnerable minority and the haters should be ashamed of themselves.
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) December 7, 2021
Imagine his shock, when a mere five hours later, this popped up on his timeline…
You lot weren’t too surprised either, cue the GIFs…
— 🚴♂️🚙Carlton💙🐩🚶♂️ (@carlton1512) December 7, 2021
https://t.co/uWm0elNf5t pic.twitter.com/GJQ0WoHHVR
— Deryck Wallace (@thecooker) December 7, 2021
https://t.co/XV9yZ4Qej0 pic.twitter.com/2aSeiMcqeU
— Bill Hulley (@billhulley) December 7, 2021
Ned Boulting nose he wasn't at No 10 party
I’ve just looked back through my photos to check for hypocrisy.
On the day of the Downing Street party, the 18th Dec, I was literally trying to play Last Christmas on a recorder through my nose. pic.twitter.com/I62vUn3KCa
— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) December 7, 2021
As lockdown alibis go, that’s a pretty strong one…
Specialized shower...just don't tell your landlord
From the smorgasbord of opinions on this: your landlord will hate you…but with water pressure like that it’s the least they deserve, your drivetrain will hate you more, it’s one way to keep plumbers in business…
Anyone else turned their bathroom into a bike cleaning station?
Behind the scenes with Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Mark Cavendish at the Tour de France
The Tour was good this year, wasn’t it? That first week we had Wout van Aert, Julian Alaphilippe and Mathieu van der Poel going head to head, seemingly oblivious to the other 181 riders in the race. Then we had Cav winning once, twice, three times, and a fourth. Looking back, what a three weeks that was for Deceuninck-Quick-Step.
> Mark Cavendish to stay at Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl for one more year
Probably all that was missing was a Merckx record-breaking 35th Cav stage win on the Champs-Élysées. No wonder the boys in blue have been so keen to get this behind the scenes look at their three weeks in France out to the masses.
Sheffield Council targets 80 per cent more active travel and public transport journeys by 2030 to combat climate change
Yorkshire Live has reported Sheffield Council’s latest messaging on tackling climate change, including a major increase in cycling, walking and public transport use. The city will follow Birmingham and Bristol in enforcing a Clean Air Zone from next year, which will charge drivers a daily fee for entering the city centre if their vehicle does not meet emissions standards.
The council said car use would need to be reduced by 66 per cent, with public transport and active travel needing to increase by 80 per cent by 2030.
Limited-edition Brooks saddle supports AMANI project for African Cyclists
Brooks England is celebrating Kenya’s first official gravel event, the Migration Gravel Race, with a special edition C17 saddle that’s limited to just 50 pieces and costs £120.
The inaugural 2021 event welcomed top gravel riders from Africa and around the world in an effort to raise the profile of cycling in Kenya and increase opportunities for African cyclists.
“By purchasing this limited edition saddle you’ll be directly supporting the Maasai in their effort to maintain their beautiful cultural practices as well as the AMANI project in their laudable goal of making the sport of cycling more accessible to athletes from East Africa,” says Brooks.
The Migration Cambium features a colourful design inspired by the event and comes in a special set including a beaded saddle charm handmade by local Massai craftspeople.
Tom Pidcock targets historic hat-trick: "I want to be world champion in all three, all in the same year"
He’s an ambitious young lad is Tom Pidcock…the 22-year-old has spoken about his goals for next season and couldn’t help himself suggesting, if not next year then sometime in the future, a triple world champs tilt could be on the cards.
“I want to be world champion in all three, [cyclo-cross,mountain bike, road] all in the same year. I just need to wait for when all the courses suit me – next year, we still don’t know the course for road worlds, so we’ll have to see,” Pidcock told VeloNews.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot is the only rider to have ever won all three, albeit across two seasons. “I want to go to ‘cross worlds to win,” Pidcock continued. “I want to win some classics next year, and the Giro is the grand tour I want to ride. Then I want to focus on mountain bike in the second part of the year and try and win mountain bike worlds.”
The pro-LTN hall of fame
Should I ever have grandchildren & they ask me what I did to help fight climate change in the early 21st century I will spend ages rooting through drawers looking for this & my glasses. pic.twitter.com/9y4Agd7lZd
— Jo Rigby (@Jo_Earlsfield) December 8, 2021
Get your magnifying glass out…
Must get in front driver narrowly beats blue flashing lights police car to overtake
What would make you accelerate to overtake a cyclist after seeing a police car with it’s blues flashing coming the other way but complete confidence that no action will be taken against you whatever the report or outcome pic.twitter.com/1WNoTq1G6J
— ReCyclingDave (@cycling_dave) December 7, 2021
We’ve all seen/experienced plenty of MGIFs in our time. Those drivers who just have to get ahead of you, often without a thought for that left turn they’re about to make, or those traffic lights, or those stationary vehicles ahead. It gets them nowhere and often all that it achieves is handing you the inconvenience of now being stuck behind them and having to casually roll past with an annoyed look on your face…
> Near Miss of the Day 673: “Way too close to ignore” – impatient driver brushes past cyclist
In this case, even a blue flashing lights emergency service vehicle doesn’t stop this driver from simply having to get ahead of that pesky slow-moving cyclist. The overtake saves the motorist a couple of seconds, and they’ve barely returned to their side of the road when the police vehicle flashes past.
ReCyclingDave speculates the only thing that could motivate you to pull this manouvere is the “complete confidence that no action will be taken against you whatever the report or outcome”.
That’s the bad news…Dave also had some good news…here’s how it should be done…
Some Vroomer was (wrongly) banging on about ride recording and saying no one ever shows good driving the other day
These drivers had been behind me for about 1 mile, no tailgating, no horns, both waited until there was enough safe space to overtake, exemplary driving pic.twitter.com/JLtMwvPOpe
— ReCyclingDave (@cycling_dave) December 7, 2021
DIY bicycle H pattern shifter
First WorldTour problems: Ben Swift overheats
Getting that pre-season sweat on 😅@swiftybswift underestimating how nice the Mallorcan weather can be at this time of year. You’d think he’d know by now… 🙈 pic.twitter.com/HfTa14BvAE
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) December 8, 2021
Oh to have the problem of being somewhere too sunny…poor Ben Swift has been worn down by an autumn of training rides on the Isle of Man. Now in sunny Spain (Mallorca to be precise), and Swift swiftly realised it’s not the weather for long sleeves and tights.
You’ll get no sympathy from us, Ben. Back in Britain at the moment, I’m lucky to get out the door without a snood, hat, gloves, arm warmers, thermal base layer, winter jacket, two pairs of socks and the rest of your standard kit…and none of that is fancy free team stash…
A day riding bikes with Francis Cade
8 December 2021, 09:07
8 December 2021, 09:07
8 December 2021, 09:07
8 December 2021, 09:07
8 December 2021, 09:07
8 December 2021, 09:07
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Latest Comments
"I see many children in the ER with life altering injuries caused by crashing bikes while not wearing helmets. I also hear stories from paramedics about children who don’t even live long enough after a crash to get to the ER. Same with adults, but less so." Again, observer bias writ large. Do you also see the many, many more people who die because of obesity and associated illnesses because they didn't cycle? The health benefits of cycling outweigh the negatives by a huge margin, but this is never acknowledged by ER staff who only see dead/injured cyclists not the people who die from not cycling. Just because you see something doesn't mean it is universal, and there is much more too it than just ER. "Listen to the people whose job it is to scrape you off the road." Why would I listen to people with such a narrow viewpoint that they can't acknowledge that there is more too it than just what they see? People who literally don't understand that it's far bigger than them and their skewed views. "Wear a helmet, don’t trash people who do, and don’t nitpick about whether a helmet saved a life – if she thinks it did, that’s her right." No, I won't wear a helmet, that's my choice and having read a lot about it, that is completely justified. I don't tell people what to do, maybe you could do the same? I do suggest that they go and look at the evidence and data, otherwise, like you, they might be arguing from a false premise. She is entitled to think that a helmet saved her life, and it isn't nitpicking to say that is extremely unlikely, given the data. It also isn't nitpicking to point out that her sponsors likely include the company that made the helmet.
I'd rather listen to the people who are working to prevent so many traffic collisions. There's no clear evidence that helmets do anything to make cyclists safer (though there is limited evidence to suggest that bike helmets make cyclists less safe) though they do provide a small amount of protection that is likely ineffective in multi-vehicle collisions. You're using a strange logic really. I wouldn't head straight to rubbish collectors to inform me about the best shopping decisions, though it is clearly their job to collect the remnants of my shopping. Similarly, I wouldn't go to a sewer engineer to get the best health advice to keep my toilets regular etc. To be honest, your mention of "children in the ER" seems like an emotional distraction technique to prevent people from thinking clearly.
I see many children in the ER with life altering injuries caused by crashing bikes while not wearing helmets. I also hear stories from paramedics about children who don't even live long enough after a crash to get to the ER. Same with adults, but less so. Listen to the people whose job it is to scrape you off the road. Wear a helmet, don't trash people who do, and don't nitpick about whether a helmet saved a life - if she thinks it did, that's her right.
Likely due to the right wing oligarchs that almost all our media. Even the BBC is right wing and will even frame questions using a far right wing world view when interviewing Greens or Lib Dems (are they even still around?).
Alas, the immediate UK response to increased petrol prices after decades of "we have to drive" is more likely to be cycle lanes blocked by drivers! Those would be a) protesting about paying fuel taxes when fuel prices go up and b) parking in the cycle infra to avoid driving around looking for a legal parking spot. We collectively missed an opportunity in the 1970s with the oil crisis. That was one of the factors that propelled the course correction by the Dutch. (The outlines of that story told here. https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2021/11/17/how-did-the-dutch-get-their-cycle-paths/ They were primed by them being a bit behind the UK in the adoption of the car ahead of all other modes. And indeed the bulldozing of cities to make room for it, and the spike in road deaths resulting from it. Plus they still had mass cycling and reasonable public transport. Indeed they already had some "cycle infra" albeit the primary purpose may have been for the safety of moped riders.)
Give them the sugar sandwich treatment: 1) they have to cycle around London - as likely many / most have simply no idea of the cycling perspective, and the few that do are perhaps "cyclist myself" occasional roadies. 2) then send them for a few days in somewhere cycling is normal so they understand how or could be. So NL - or perhaps better Copenhagen, Seville etc. so they don't simply say "that could never work in the UK". 3) ... and finally they have to do some rides back in London to see just what all the blockers to safer, more pleasant urban areas are.
Straits of Hormuz closed. Petrol predicted to rise to £2.00 a litre. Let's see how underused cycle lanes are now!
exactly - cyclists generally don't need saving from themselves hopefully, this will mean more resources put into general roads policing
If a spell cycling around london were to be a prerequisite for traffic officer and video reviewer posts I suspect we would see a huge improvement in the police response to poor driving around vulnerable road users.
“ In 2026, I can get from almost anywhere in the capital to the various centres of London using separated bike paths” Sorry, but that’s not true. If you cycle in central London there are lots of separated paths. But they are far from contiguous. For example, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea don’t offer much, if any. In some outer boroughs there are also CS lanes (but only in a minority of boroughs) and they are not ‘separated’. They are often ‘quiet ways’ or paint. But it is loads better, I agree. I started cycling to primary school in London about half a century ago, so I have experienced a lot of change, indifference, neglect and improvement.
39 thoughts on “MGIF driver ignores blue flashing lights police car; Jeremy Vine correctly predicts congestion figures were “completely garbagified” for anti-cycle lane headlines; Ned’s nose wasn’t at No10 party; Specialized shower; Cav’s TDF + more on the live blog”
Jeremy, I thnk you’ll find
Jeremy, I thnk you’ll find that your own employer is still running the bogus story about congestion and bike lanes in London News. Perhaps you should make a complaint on their website, as I have done.
(The more the merrier!)
Unfortunately the BBC rarely
Unfortunately the BBC rarely admits they were wrong – even when they are gratuitiously biased and half their own organisation objects.
This one is a great case in point – again coming from their regional news teams, they literally used quotes from someone themselves who had admitted sexual assault :
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/04/bbc-changes-online-article-at-centre-of-transphobia-row
Secret_squirrel wrote:
although as I recall some people did resign over correctly reporting that the government had exagerated the threat from Iraqi WMDs in an intelligence dossier.
Much water under the bridge
Much water under the bridge since then unfortunately. I do get why the Beeb behaves the way it does, and frankly its a good 100% better than the rest of the MSM in general, if only because it doesnt tend generate outrage for eyeballs.
It does score some spectacular own goals though, and currently suffers from too much fear of its political masters. I dont think appeasement works in the current culture war climate. I dont believe preserving the BBC at all costs until its Pravda should be their current mission. Better to call them out head on whilst the Beeb is still thought of relatively fondly and has allies.
Agree with you.
Agree with you.
It’s a bit like George Monbiot defending nuclear power: a bad day with nuclear power is better than a good day of coal power (DYOR; it’s a metaphor not an EIA).
Similarly, Auntie’s bad day is a whole lot better than the Daily Fail’s g… does the DF have a good day?
GMBasix wrote:
IAF, a bad day with nuclear power leads to everyone being told to duck and cover, and cities being abandoned…
brooksby wrote:
<Kryten> IAF? Are you sure, sir? The Inuit Art Foundation was completely absolved of most of the nuclear power plant disasters of the 20th century. </Kryten>
Those aren’t bad days for nuclear, they are catastrophic days, the cumulative global impact is modest to date. Meanwhile, good days with coal are resulting in countries submerging. As I say, I don’t think he intended it to be too literally analysed.
brooksby wrote:
Would make them better to ride in, nuclear fallout is probably safer than Britain’s drivers!
brooksby wrote:
not something that has happened on any nuclear plant in the UK or France. Something which could theoretically happen if you conduct experiments on a live power station as per Chernobyl.
Not even in the USA with low regulation.
Then there was the Fukishima incident caused by a tsuanmi flooding the deisel generators which were required to cool the reactor (even after shutting down)
Generally nuclear power has provided clean power safely to many millions of people, while coal power has caused climate warming which has impacted on the lives of hundreds of millions of people, without anything happening that was not intended.
Nuclear power is going to be part of the required energy mix unless we can significantly reduce our appetite for power
wycombewheeler wrote:
Problem with nuclear power is storing all the waste – think about Gilgamesh storing his nuclear waste and it still be sitting there dangerously now…
brooksby wrote:
Don’t remember him using nuclear power in his battles with the smurfs.
Better to make it
Better to make it subscription only, so that them as wants it can ‘ave it, and them as doesn’t are not forced to pay for it or risk going to prison.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
Aren’t you forgetting the recent incident of their environment reporter criticising low traffic neighbourhoods? And there are plenty of other examples.
— Secret_squirrelI’ve called them out head on for something like forty years, but it doesn’t matter how much evidence that unequivocally shows their bias and lack of honesty, they are judge and jury in their own cases and always find for themselves. Time their complaints process was scrapped and the whole thing was done by Ofcom.
Yep, Shaun on Youtube has
Yep, Shaun on Youtube has picked the original article, and the complaint replies apart for the story above.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
I’ve never heard the like! I’ll have you know that aside from virtually defining public service broadcasting they follow the highest standards of accountability and transparency!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57189371
I too have voiced my concern
I too have voiced my concern about the standard of their ‘reporting’
Peak Vine twitter content,
Peak Vine twitter content, retweeting a Road.cc tweet 🙂
Isnt there like a press complaints commission the likes of Cycling UK could raise this too?
One for hawkinspeter (if
One for hawkinspeter (if about as far off topic as you can get…).
Man builds mini village for squirrels in his back garden, complete with a Christmas cabin and an infinity pool
https://metro.co.uk/2021/12/08/man-builds-mini-village-for-squirrels-in-garden-complete-with-a-pool-15734002/
brooksby wrote:
Nice! Eight foxes and a badger, too?
And the lion shall lay down
And the lion shall lay down with the lamb, and play in the infinity pool…
I’ve checked my Strava and I
I’ve checked my Strava and I have no idea where I was on the 18th Dec last year. However, I can categorically confirm that if it’s not on Strava it didn’t happen
Mine shows I was out on the
Mine shows I was out on the bike in south Lincs at 9:30 on the morning of the 19th (my wife’s birthday), so I am pretty sure I wasn’t in Downing Street the night before!
I was at a Christmas Party
I was at a Christmas Party for MP’s. A solo Must Pedal session on the Turbore.
Ned should be a politician –
Ned should be a politician – using a video dated Dec 7th as an alibi for where he was on Dec 18th ( or did I misread it?)
belugabob wrote:
Yes. Tweet date 07 Dec 2021. Nasal music date he says is 18 Dec 2020.
TheBillder wrote:
Perhaps he meant he hadn’t
Perhaps he meant he hadn’t been booked to play nose recorder as part of the entertainment. If he wasn’t booked who was? The truth is out there.
The reporting of the
The reporting of the congestion story is terrible. And wrong. But I do have a problem with Inrix. Its spokesman made the cycling comments in interviews, giving media the opportunity. Whether it was deliberate or not, who knows…
Did he volunteer it, though,
Did he volunteer it, though, or was it more like…
“You want me to say it?”
“I want you to say it, yes!”
“You’d like the word?”
“The word…”
“… ‘bicycles‘.”
For some reason I thought
For some reason I thought that was from the previous KYTV and not Day Today.
Nothing really wrong with
Nothing really wrong with that overtake. Gave room, got by with plenty of time, without causing either themselves or the police to change speed or line. I believe in reporting crap driving, but that is nothing. Too many people panic and stop when a police car is coming the opposite direction, when there is no need to. The only reason to do so is to make space if their lane is blocked
Totally agree on that
Totally agree on that incident. Didn;t think much in if for both the cyclist or the Police Car.
Although last week a Police Car and Van came shooting passed me on the way to something. As they approached the lights here they were on red for the Police, however the cars coming from the left had stopped to let them through. Didn’t stop some twonk come around the the cars past the refuge on the wrong side and almost t -bone into one of the cars. They had to carry on to where the original call was and twonk carried on ahead of the other cars, turned right and put his turbo chargers going to speed away. I really really hope the Polcie caught the reg on the vehicles cameras to do him afterwards.
Pyro Tim wrote:
Not sure how you can say that when the overtaking car blocks the camera’s view of the oncoming police car for a considerable period in which we can’t see whether the police driver slowed or not. One would imagine s/he at least had to lift off slightly to check that the oncoming driver was going to return safely to their lane. At the very least it was presenting a totally unnecessary distraction for the oncoming emergency vehicle that could have been avoided by waiting approximately two seconds for it to pass and then overtaking the cyclist.
Not stopping when an emergency services vehicle is approaching in the opposite lane is perfectly reasonable; pulling into that lane when you can clearly see they are coming, even if you think there is plenty of time for you to complete your manoeuvre, is not acceptable.
It’s in a 30mph zone so there
It’s in a 30mph zone so there is something wrong
Cav burgled !
Cav burgled !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/59585168
Bikes ok though !
Shitty, grim story.
Shitty, grim story.
It was a summary when I read
It was a summary when I read it but now has been fleshed out with some more serious details. Four blokes in your house at 2 am is nasty.
More BBC anti-cycling
More BBC anti-cycling propaganda !
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00127vg
(about 14 mins in)
I felt that was quite
I felt that was quite balanced – if anything, he was poking fun at the at naysayers.