Welcome to Wednesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
BBC presenter’s “bet you all love cyclists” Tweet gets a response; 20MPH for Wales; “Watch out for dumb f*cks on bikes” fake road safety campaign hits headlines; Chicken in a basket… on a bike… wearing a helmet; Skoda women only cycling academy +lots more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Wed, May 08, 2019 18:31
SUMMARY
8 May 2019, 18:31
Buffy the chicken loves the wind on her feathers
Maria Arima from Denmark, Western Australia, adopted Buffy from a poultry auction two years ago, and since then the inseperable pair have started going on weekly bike rides with Buffy up front. Of course Australian law dictates you must wear a helmet to ride a bike, so Maria has made sure Buffy complies with the rules…
(Background info via Storyful)
8 May 2019, 18:31
Oh dear...
Not sure I’d want to use this bike box #londontraffic pic.twitter.com/ARPuyIgczd
— cyclistobservations (@cyclistobserve) May 7, 2019
8 May 2019, 18:31
Melbourne police offering huge $50,000 reward to find menace who has been placing tacks on cycle paths for over five years
It’s almost worth flying over there to catch the bugger yourself, as police in Melbourne, Australia are offering a $50,000 reward to anyone who helps them catch a saboteur who has been placing tacks on cycle paths and roads in the city since 2014.
Yahoo News Australia reports that it’s led to hundreds of tyres being punctured and some cyclists sustaining serious injuries as a result of the tacks, placed mostly in and around Yarra Boulevard. Pedestrians and dogs have also been injured, according to Police.
It’s hoped that the chance of a huge payoff for someone, plus CCTV cameras being installed along Yarra Boulevard, will eventually lead to catching the culprit after a five year hate campaign, presumably with cyclists as his/her main target.
8 May 2019, 18:31
Tern are giving away five of their GSD bikes to help non-profit companies move goods and people sustainably
UK bike brand Tern are going to give away five of their GSD e-cargo bikes to non-profit organisations, with applications being taken now and the winners announced in August. More over on eBikeTips.
8 May 2019, 18:31
Nothing is impossible...
RIEN N'EST IMPOSSIBLE pic.twitter.com/G4PO3xPEks
— Dans la Musette (@DansLaMusette) May 7, 2019
Add Quintana to the banner while you’re there…
8 May 2019, 18:31
Anti motorbike barriers on Notts cycle path will stop cyclists too say campaigners
What we learnt 5… You can ask people if they are happy to have their photo taken with your big sign. This is easy, fun and low-committment and results in nice photos! (Just remember to ask people if they are happy for their photo to be used.) pic.twitter.com/zhi1FGVg4G
— Pedals: Campaign for a Cycle-friendly Nottingham (@PedalsNottm) May 4, 2019
Cyclists have been protesting against new barriers scheduled to go up on the path in Rushcliffe, as they will prove restrictive to people with tricycles, adaptive bikes, e-bikes and cargo bikes. The idea is to prevent illegal motorcycling on the path, however opponents say it’s not worth doing at the expense of others using the path perfectly legally.
Matt Turner, the chair of the Pedals cycle campaign group, told Nottinghamshire Live: “If you take the approach of physically trying to block out these nuisance motorcycle riders, rather than catch the individuals involved, then you block out lots of other people too and you make a crucial part of the cycle network unusable. We are asking Rushcliffe Borough Council to reconsider.”
8 May 2019, 18:31
The owner of the 'Drivers for the registration of cyclists' account is rearing his confused, hateful head again
And his latest viral post has been picked up a similarly hateful UK tabloid, with the title “Cyclists fall for fake road safety awareness campaign using the slogan ‘watch out for dumb f***s on bikes’” (we won’t link to it here). The sign on the bus was actually photoshopped, but of course it was created to stir up antagonism and division online which unfortunately, DFROC seem to have succeeded in doing.
The mysterious Facebook account was the subject of a feature by Cycling Tips (read the excellent investigative piece here) that revealed the owner is actually a cyclist who began his bitter feud due to various altercations with his former cycling club. The account disappears and reappears periodically, depending on how many people report the posts.
8 May 2019, 18:31
New La Passione collections launch
The PSN Lightweight, Vichy and Check collections are now available, all Italian-made and all suitable for the summer months. The Lightweight jersey is £68, the Vichy is £70 for men’s and £66 for women’s and the Check is £68 for men’s and £65 for the women’s. There are also bib shorts and socks in the Vichy collection – head over to the La Passione website to take a took.
8 May 2019, 18:31
Dame Sarah Storey to launch women only Skoda DSI Cycling Academy
Skoda UK is launching an initiative that aims to provide an intensive training program for five female cyclists aged between 17 and 25. Applications close on May 24th and 50 riders will then be invited to a testing day on 10th of June at Lea Valley VeloPark undertaking four tests including a flying lap, a peak power test, a three-minute maximal test, and a 12-minute steady state challenge.
Five will then be selected and will get the chance to ride the 215Km Rheims stage of this year’s Tour de France in the company of the Donnons Des Elle Au Vélo J-1 cycling team – who will be riding the whole Tour a day ahead of the men’s race. They will also get an extended trial with Storey Racing – Dame Sarah’s professional team with the chance of securing a professional contract.
“ŠKODA is a strong advocate for gender equality in professional cycling and I am proud to support them on their latest initiative,” said Storey. “The ŠKODA DSI Cycling Academy is about promoting women within our sport, creating opportunities and clearing a path to race on a professional level. I’d urge any woman who has a passion for the sport and a desire to succeed, to apply.”
To apply for the ŠKODA DSI Cycling Academy, head to: www.skoda.co.uk/discover/cycling-academy
8 May 2019, 18:31
The BBC's John Beattie attracts criticism for with "bet you all love cyclists" comment, including Callum Skinner
3 points if you pass a bicycle with more than .75 metres clearance.. we shall discuss on @BBCRadioScot . I bet you all love cyclists.
— John Beattie (@BBCJohnBeattie) May 7, 2019
Beattie continued to defend himself for bringing the issue up, with Callum Skinner and West Midlands Police responding…
Just out of interest do you write your own tweets? We deal with the fall out from the way #mainstreammedia play on conflict between road users & people's #unconciousbias / #transportpredujice It's about time the media became #thesolutionnottheproblem #protectingthevulnerable
— West Midlands Police Road Harm Reduction Team (@WMPRHRT) May 8, 2019
Flip this argument. You should do your cycle proficiency before you can sit your car test. Some drivers have no appreciation for what it's like to be a vulnerable road user. It'd also defuse this argument, most cyclists are drivers. Most drivers aren't cyclists. Gains perspective
— Callum Skinner (@CallumSkinner) May 8, 2019
8 May 2019, 18:31
Scotland needs to invest in active travel to help tackle climate emergency, urge professors
Two professors in Scotland have outlined how they believe encouraging more people to cycle, walk and use public transport can dramatically improve the lives of people in cities through reducing air pollution and promoting healthier lifestyles.
Adrian Davis, professor of transport and health at the Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University and Professor Chris Oliver, a retired surgeon who was chair in Scotland for Cycling UK from 2012-14, shared their thoughts in a column for The Scotsman today following Edinburgh’s first car-free day last Sunday.
“With the declaration by Nicola Sturgeon of a ‘climate emergency’, we outline here why sustainable transport must be understood as critical in any strategy for Scotland to go ‘further and faster’ in tackling climate change,” they wrote, going on to describe transport as an “Achilles’ heel” in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
They cited a Sport England study that found that “town and city-wide active travel interventions are the most effective at increasing walking, cycling and overall physical activity,” as witnessed for example by the uptake of travelling by bike in three former Sustainable Towns, Peterborough, Darlington and Worcester/Redditch, which benefited from increased investment from 2004-09, with cycling and walking levels maintained in the ensuing years.
“The major mode share for sustainable travel across much of continental Europe is not culturally driven,” they continued. “It is because decade in, decade out funding has been at over £10 per head of population.
“In urban areas cycling could be a normal, everyday activity by 2040. The latest Sustrans Bike Life report predicts in Edinburgh alone, with adequate funding, that by 2040 just by more cycling, 47,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions would be saved annually, equivalent to the carbon footprint of 10,000 people,” they added.
You can read the full article here.
8 May 2019, 18:31
Wales to make 20mph the default speed limit in residential areas
First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford has unveiled plans for 20 mph to be made the sefault speed limit for residential areas acrosss the country, in a move that has unsurprisingly been welcomed by the campaign group 20s Plenty and its founder, Rod King, who said on Twitter: “The time has come to abandon the 30mph and 50kmh national urban limits in favour a 20mph/30kmh urban standard as advised by @WHO as the safe speed limit where motor drivers wish to mix with pedestrians and cyclists. Well done Wales for its 21st century vision on liveability.”
First Minister of Wales makes historic announcement of plans to implement default 20mph limits for residential areas in Wales – 20’s Plenty for Us –
See our Press Release at https://t.co/SOralWCR4o
See the announcement at https://t.co/LXbupiRI9c— 20’s Plenty for Wales (@20splentyWales) May 8, 2019
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
Gm_Crop 7 hours ago
I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
IanGlasgow 7 hours ago
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
Rendel Harris 8 hours ago
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Bill H 9 hours ago
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
pbunyon 9 hours ago
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
chrisonabike 9 hours ago
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
belugabob 9 hours ago
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
Astralstroll 11 hours ago
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
Mr Anderson 13 hours ago
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
MaxiMinimalist 13 hours ago
When I was a kid (that was during the previous millenium when phones were connected to a plug in the wall), I rode my bicycle to school, music academy, sport grounds, parties even during the winter. The government didn't have to spend, correct that, didn't have to think of spending massive amounts of money to build cycling specific infrastructures. Over the past 3 or 4 decades, cars have grown bigger, taller, safer (for their drivers) and faster. Meanwhile, motorists have become abusive, aggressive, hypersensitive to people moving on two wheels, aka cyclists. Spending billions upon billions on new infrastructure won't address the crux of the matter. Sadly.
22 thoughts on “BBC presenter’s “bet you all love cyclists” Tweet gets a response; 20MPH for Wales; “Watch out for dumb f*cks on bikes” fake road safety campaign hits headlines; Chicken in a basket… on a bike… wearing a helmet; Skoda women only cycling academy +lots more”
$50,000. So that’s what all
$50,000. So that’s what all the fines on cyclists were for.
burtthebike wrote:
If that were true the reward would be millions.
Rick_Rude wrote:
There can’t just be one person putting tacks on cycle paths in Melbourne – Australians seem to be pretty high up on the cycle hating scale. There’s every chance that they might have to make dozens of payouts.
I’m presuming that there’s
I’m presuming that there’s supposed to be an ASL under those HGVs?
brooksby wrote:
I can’t help but wonder how many cyclists there are under those HGVs.
On a slightly related note, I was driving in London a few weeks ago and stopped at traffic lights next to a police car (I was in the left lane). Whilst the lights were still red, it crept into the ASL box, then past the second stop line. When the lights turned green, the driver turned left in front of me (from the right/straight lane) and put the left indicator on. I really wish I had a dash cam for that.
The watch out for dumb fucks
The watch out for dumb fucks on bikes thing I wouldn’t mind, if they actually looked out for dumb fucks on bikes, but having made the mistake of going to that facebook page, I think it’s just an excuse to call people on bikes dumb fucks.
The story of Mr X and the
The story of Mr X and the Drivers for the Registration of Cyclists website is utterly bizarre, and compulsive reading; I’ve read thrillers less entertaining. Many thanks for posting this item.
https://cyclingtips.com/2018/08/finding-mr-x/
“3 points if you pass a
“3 points if you pass a bicycle with more than .75 metres clearance.. we shall discuss on @BBCRadioScot . I bet you all love cyclists.”- John Beattie
Errr, shouldn’t that be less than?
ktache wrote:
Thats alright then: I thought it was me being dumb, when actually it was mr beattie 😉
ktache wrote:
What do you bet that he hates the idea you can get points from speed cameras, too?
rkemb wrote:
Outrageous that drivers should be punished simply because they got caught breaking the law. It’s PC/Health and Safety/ Broken Britain gone mad!
I wonder why there isn’t much
I wonder why there isn’t much news on Ignacio Echeverría, the cyclist that went to help police stop the knife wielding terrorists back in 2017 and posthumously received the George Cross, given how much media the attack has had recently.
Oh and don’t read the FB page of the fake Drivers for Registration of Cyclists, it really highlights how Australians think about people on bikes/human lives, their entitlement as drivers and their total lack of understanding of road safety.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
Two of the stories here seem to be about Australian cyclist-haters. Was Australia founded by people from Peterborough? It sounds like a literal ‘Daily Mail Island’.
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
Probably because he used his Skateboard so they have jumped on that aspect instead. Maybe he should have thrown his bike at them instead so he would have been known as “The Immigrant who assautled a Pedestrian with a bicycle”.
In all seriousness I was at a National Police Citizen Bravery awards ceremony on 30th October as my wife was recieving an award and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when him and the nurse were awarded theirs posthumously as well (accepted by family members).
In the UK people have been
In the UK people have been charged with hate speech for less
These people and sites are deliberately divisive
In the UK people have been
In the UK people have been charged with hate speech for less
These people and sites are deliberately divisive
In the UK people have been
In the UK people have been charged with hate speech for less
These people and sites are deliberately divisive
In the UK people have been
In the UK people have been charged with hate speech for less
These people and sites are deliberately divisive
In the UK people have been
In the UK people have been charged with hate speech for less
These people and sites are deliberately divisive
Good on the Welsh Assembly
Good on the Welsh Assembly taking this move. Meanwhile the Scottish Govt has stepped back from their plans for a default 20mph urban speed limit leaving it to the local authorities to decide. So we’ve non existent infrastructure, no urban speed limit, a justice system that sides with the motorist and the govt expect the modal share to leap from below 2% to 10% in six months. The country is facing a health meltdown due to obesity and diabetes and car use is climbing and all they can do is widen roads and build bridges to encourage vehicular transport rather than active travel. It’s enough to make your blood boil.
If we simply swapped from mph
If we simply swapped from mph to kph for all national speed limits our world would be a much better place. Of course the Daily Mail brigade would go potty.
workhard wrote:
No it wouldn’t because people will still speed if there is no/little enforcement and/or punishments that act as a deterrent.
I don’t want to go to kilometres, there’s no need to, simply changing the limits ie, lowering them and then enforcing them or even better designing motors that absolutely have to obey speed limits 100% of the time and scrub off a % for when it rains/wet ground, when around schools, built up areas, where pedestrians or people on bikes are in close vicinity, roads with parked cars etc etc so that there’s a margin of error and hence why it’s a maximum limit not a target as so many driving instructors and the gov seem to forget!