Garmin Dis-Connect – site is STILL down; Guy Ritchie handed driving ban after cyclist caught him using his phone at the wheel; Huge support for pop-up bike lanes; Driver crushes planter on West London road supposedly closed to motorists + more
SUMMARY
Driver crushes planter on West London road supposedly closed to motorists
This from my colleague Simon, who points out it’s, “one of the battleground streets just off the High Road with the Chiswick Tories.”
Devonshire Road, London W4, supposedly closed except for access.
What will it take for certain local councillors to support safe space for cyclists and pedestrians?
A child, not a planter, being crushed next time?@theJeremyVine @RuthMayorcas @LBofHounslow @ChiswickHighRd pic.twitter.com/dZMvfYIpPq
— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) July 22, 2020
Professional European road racing is (just about) back
Incidentally, today’s prologue at the Sibiu Tour is 2.5k long. That’s not really very long at all, is it?
— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) July 23, 2020
The cost of transport infrastructure
As Copenhagen’s former Mayor of Technical and Environmental Affairs, Morten Kabell, once put it…
“While Mayor, I was often asked ‘how have you been able to afford this in #Copenhagen?’ I’d reply, ‘how have you been able to NOT afford it?’ 25 years ago we were a few days away from going bankrupt. So the city invested in the cheapest infrastructure…bycycling.”— @mortenkabell pic.twitter.com/Wpcv5FZtoL
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) July 18, 2020
Countdown to the Olympics
The final countdown?
One year to go! (Again 😅) pic.twitter.com/ueFd6YLp4Q
— Elinor Barker (@elinorbarker) July 23, 2020
For every person objecting to a pop-up bike lane, more than six support it
New data from YouGov released by us today shows the public is overwhelmingly in favour of measures to encourage walking and cycling with 6.5 people supporting changes to their local streets for every 1 person against.
Read more 👉 https://t.co/ZlVFfxFLkO pic.twitter.com/8o18ytoHEW
— Bike Is Best (@BikeIsBestHQ) July 23, 2020
TfL offering free online cycle training
🚴 Boost your cycle confidence with our new Cycle Skills course!
🚲 Free online training
🚲 Getting road ready
🚲 All levels welcome
👇👇👇 https://t.co/TshJzm1fuu pic.twitter.com/YbFMdTbhNL
— Transport for London 😷👌 (@TfL) July 23, 2020
Any interest in cycle tourism?
Might be worth filling this out. The aim is to help tourism businesses gear themselves towards cyclists.
Do you want to help tourism businesses better meet the needs of people who cycle (no matter how far or fast)?
Thank you to everyone who has shared their cycle tourism interests in our survey – if you haven’t yet, please complete it by Friday 24th July: https://t.co/r5vWBuMs7C pic.twitter.com/Gb7VXL5LJ8
— Cycling UK (@WeAreCyclingUK) July 23, 2020
Leicester's pop-up cycle routes - 11 miles' worth in 10 weeks
We said we’d do 10 miles of pop-up cycling & walking in ten weeks.
We’ve done *11*. Covid safe, low carbon & health giving. Here’s our hot-off-the-press ‘tube map’ of routes. We’re now moving into the next stage: #watchthisspace. Get your ideas on https://t.co/jlRTHm7hBO pic.twitter.com/aynYvP4zXD— Cllr Adam Clarke (@OweniteAdam) July 22, 2020
“You cannot get hold of Evans and I feel I was duped”
There was an interesting consumer tale in the Guardian this week: a person who ordered a bike from Evans in May who still hadn’t received it just over a week ago.
In April, Evans was slammed for not telling customers about delays on ‘in stock’ bikes. This was not long after it had done a U-turn on above-RRP turbo prices following a customer backlash.
Writing to the newspaper’s consumer affairs page, MR said they ordered a bike in May and on June 1 were told it was still being built but that it would be shipped in two to four days.
They never got it.
The Guardian contacted Evans about the problem but were ignored.
“It saddens me to write this because Evans used to be a great store full of helpful, knowledgeable staff,” says the Guardian’s consumer affairs writer, Miles Brignall. “But since Sports Direct took over, things seem to have gone rapidly south.”
MR subsequently took the matter up with PayPal – which is how they’d paid.
Evans emailed last week to cancel the order, claiming an “internal system error” and promising a refund in seven days, plus a £25 e-voucher to say sorry.
Brignall’s verdict is damning: “I would not buy anything from this company unless I could pick it up, there and then, in person. When a company the size of Evans – it has 50 stores – can’t be bothered to get its press office to investigate letters like this, it says to me that it doesn’t place any value in talking to its customers.”
Guy Ritchie handed driving ban after cyclist caught him using his phone at the wheel
Film director Guy Ritchie – probably still best known for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels – has been banned from driving for six months after cyclist Mike van Erp shot footage of him texting at the wheel of his Range Rover.
The footage is over at the London Evening Standard.
The incident occurred in November in Hyde Park.
Van Erp said: “I spotted this driver texting on his phone. I stopped and whilst waiting for traffic to clear could clearly see the driver typing on his phone. I then crossed to the driver’s side where I saw his iPhone lit up with the classic blue and grey message bubbles of Apple iMessage, with text, and a message in process of being typed but not sent.”
In the video, Ritchie winds down his window and says, “Hello my friend.”
Van Erp says: “I don’t think you should be using your text messages while you are driving. I saw you doing it back there as well.”
Ritchie then pulls away.
Ritchie already had nine points on his driving licence, from three previous speeding offences.
After pleading guilty to using a handheld mobile phone/device while driving a motor vehicle on a road, he was given six more points and banned from driving for six months.
He was also ordered to pay a £666 fine, as well as £166 in prosecution costs and court fees.
Van Erp – who regularly submits footage of drivers to police – added: “I had no idea it was him. I pulled up beside him on my bicycle and told him he was using his mobile. He said he had stopped in traffic. Drivers should not be doing this and people like me serve as a deterrent.”
Garmin Connect down for "maintenance"
Plenty of people are venting their frustrations online because Garmin Connect’s down – seemingly worldwide.
Pretty much all of the firm’s online services have been affected.
Garmin says there’s ‘maintenance’ going on.
Dear Garmin Users,
Our servers are currently down for maintenance & it may limit the performances of Garmin Connect Mobile & Website, and Garmin Express. We are trying our best to resolve it asap. We seek your kind understanding & apologise for any inconvenience.
Thank You
— Garmin India (@Garmin_India) July 23, 2020
More to follow.
2020 RideLondon: Not been there, not done that, got the jersey
On sale at Evans.
Team Ineos to again ride lightweight wheels at the Tour de France
Team Ineos Grenadiers, technically, but it’s probably going to be a few more weeks before we can fully come to terms with that one.
Seems like INEOS will be using Lightweight wheels during the TdF, just like last year #marginalgains pic.twitter.com/CbFMbC1wrb
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 23, 2020
They were using the 935g Meilenstein Obermayer last year. More here.
Grinduro Wales to take place in October
Grinduro Wales is now on October 10, 2020.
Tickets cost £120 (plus booking fee) for what the organisers bill as, “a full weekend of Maxin’ and Relaxin’.”
Manuela Fundacion now being linked with CCC
Remember that sponsorship deal involving GreenEdge/Mitchelton-Scott a few weeks ago?
We weren’t especially surprised when the GreenEdge deal fell through, but Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the Manuela Fundacion is now being linked with Team CCC.
The Manuela Fundacion is a pretty small Spanish non-profit funded by husband and wife team Francisco Huertas and Maria Angustias González.
They’re reportedly ready to invest €10 million a year.
The Manuela Fundación is due to launch in Spain on October 4, and a pro cycling team is apparently seen as the ideal way to promote its charity work.
Former Giro d’Italia winner Stefano Garzelli is advising them.
A pithy-yet-understated headline for these Wiggo photos
Maybe you can come up with your own because we’re struggling to find the words.
The presence of four former national champions on the ride almost seems the least remarkable element.
The lads! Best ride I’ve ever done! Didn’t stop laughing for 2 days with these boys x pic.twitter.com/4yGZ84Wsfi
— Brad Wiggins (@SirWiggo) July 22, 2020
Team Ineos Grenadier's secret strategy REVEALED
Live bike racing anyone?
You probably wouldn’t be up for the prologue of the Sibiu Cycling Tour any other year, but there’s that whole pro-cycling-is-actually-happening angle today.
They’re not going overboard though. They’re kicking things off with a colossal 2.5km prologue from 3.45pm.
All stages of the #SibiuTour will be live on https://t.co/NDn3GWvzk6, https://t.co/HS52ivslIf & https://t.co/yYY5sMPoK3 (all times UTC+3):
22-7 Team presentation 20:00
23-7 Prologue 17:45-20:30
24-7 St1 10:00-16:00
25-7 St2 13:00-18:00
26-7 St3a 10:00-13:00
26-7 St3b 17:00-21:00 pic.twitter.com/D6gf5IO4Mx— Sibiu Cycling Tour (@SibiuTourEN) July 17, 2020
Garmin Connect is STILL down
@Garmin pic.twitter.com/wapG9swIPF
— ToppledColumbus-19 (@TweedDriftwood) July 23, 2020
Hi there! The tip of the day: host your status page ( https://t.co/A6wGaM15OU ) elsewhere than on your own servers 😅 Cheers guys, keep the good work (and release the edge 1040 soon ❤️)
— Tiemblo Alain (@ninsuo) July 23, 2020
Hey Garmin! I slept last night but I don’t know how many hours? Usually my Garmin 935 tells me if I slept okay or not. Now I just don’t know what to tell my kids if they want to play som outside games with me. Because I can’t answer them if I’m tired or not. Please help.
— Kim (@kimpangnan) July 23, 2020
Garmin says the outage is affecting its call centres...
Hmm…
This outage also affects our call centers, and we are currently unable to receive any calls, emails or online chats. We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and apologize for this inconvenience. (2/2)
— Garmin (@Garmin) July 23, 2020
Cycle lane repairs
Suppose it’s an improvement.
Which one of your drunkards painted this path?! from r/CasualUK
Garmin Dis-Connect - site is STILL down
No sign of Garmin Connect coming back any time soon. Meanwhile …
I bet Jim's busy #garmindown #garmin pic.twitter.com/4D2zDXEJAP
— Steve Mott (@SidMott) July 23, 2020
23 July 2020, 08:11
23 July 2020, 08:11
23 July 2020, 08:11
An update on today's ongoing Garmin issue.
Garmin Connect is down worldwide – but there’s a workaround
Outage has lasted several hours now, causing frustration for users
23 July 2020, 08:11
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Very brief look at this but I'm not sure it says anything much new, or particularly useful. Yes, they point to "some women who rode a hire bike possibly didn't ride before but might ride after". OTOH the *number* of women vs men surveyed didn't appear to be stated (except for one graph with a n=... - which was a lot less than the 5000 mentioned, and there only about half as many women responding there). Otherwise I think it just covers what regularly comes up (albeit perhaps it has to be repeated): - much fewer women from minority ethnic backgrounds. - Women care about socially safe parking locations far more than men do. - Women feel less safe on the roads due to external issues that they have no control over: traffic, road conditions and infrastructure, and harassment.
Interesting counterpoint to the 'hire bike menace' narrative (obviously with the caveat that the report authors have a vested interest in selling the benefits, but...) Appears hire bike schemes go some way to addressing the cycling gender imbalance and, given the point about parking immediately outside the destination, dockless schemes particularly so. https://micromobilitybiz.com/forest-report-finds-shared-e-bikes-are-helping-close-london-cycling-gender-gap/
@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
19 thoughts on “Garmin Dis-Connect – site is STILL down; Guy Ritchie handed driving ban after cyclist caught him using his phone at the wheel; Huge support for pop-up bike lanes; Driver crushes planter on West London road supposedly closed to motorists + more”
Online cycle training hmmm…
Online cycle training hmmm… How is that going to help newcomers to cycling, particularly newcomers to cycle commuting? Cycle training is a specialised skill and involves imparting lots of hints and tips. It really needs to be taught person to person. I realise TfL has been starved of funds by the Tory government, who took away its grant, and has now been hobbled with meagre funds in exchange for draconian measures. But offering online cycle training has the danger of giving people a false sense of security. Restore funds for proper cycle training asap.
I’m sure TFL invest in the
I’m sure TFL invest in the Ride Safe courses for motorcyclists. Why can’t they do something similar for cyclists, rather than online training.
In normal times and for
In normal times and for several years TfL provided funds for a huge amount of Bikeability cycle training for school children and adults every year, via local boroughs. I think it has all been put on hold and that is the problem. The programme was very good and the cycle trainers were professionals. Really sad to think anyone would think online training is a substitute.
I don’t suppose anyone does
I don’t suppose anyone does think it’s a substitute (unless maybe they work for Sainsburys click and collect service) – more just that it’s what’s able to be offered right now, given, y’know, one thing and another.
Money is now also available
Money is now also available via TfL for Cycle Training in London with an instructor.
West London planter – it’s
West London planter – it’s the will of the British People. All together now, “How many roads must a man drive down…”
If Evans (a Mike Ashley
If Evans (a Mike Ashley subsidiary) won’t even talk to the consumer affairs department of a major newspaper, then something is very wrong indeed…
please visit my Gofundme page
please visit my Gofundme page to buy Guy Ritchie a hands-free for Christmas.
Guy Ritchie should have been
Guy Ritchie should have been banned from film making after that last Arthur film.
“For every person objecting
“For every person objecting to a pop-up bike lane, more than six support it”
Now, you might think that means that the majority view should prevail in this democracy, but under our system, the vote of a single tory MP counts more than all of their constituents who oppose him. Also, drivers’ votes count ten times that of pedestrians or cyclists.
Since the support outweighs opposition by six to one, why are so many schemes pulled because of the rabid petrolheads, who lie, exaggerate and misrepresent?
Because the 1 complains
Because the 1 complains loudest, whilst the 6 quietly accept the changes and then dont complain when it reverts
Awavey wrote:
So how do we motivate the silent majority to speak up?
eburtthebike wrote:
Burt supports the view of the majority and dislikes those who lie, exaggerate and misrepresent.
Tell us again about the Venice Convention (sic) Burt?
Shameless.
surely Guy Ritchie is
surely Guy Ritchie is probably still best known for once being married to Madonna?
Madonna? Oh, right – mega
Madonna? Oh, right – mega pop star from thirty odd years ago… Whatever happened to her?
Guy Richie, ooops should have
Guy Ritchie, ooops should have gone to Mr. Loophole.
(No subject)
I’m guessing we’ll see a very
I’m guessing we’ll see a very angry movie from Guy Ritchie in about 18 months time, in which Vinnie Jones stands on a traffic island, and headbutts any passing cyclists who have cameras into a nearby skip. While a band of pearly kings and queens plays “Knees Up Mother Brown”. For two hours. Still, it couldn’t be less entertaining than most of his films.
The Ritchie fan boys were
The Ritchie fan boys were going potty on twitter last night over his ban.