Anger as BBC report that ambulance was ‘blocked’ by cycle lane; Decathlon to sell refurbished bikes; Contador breaks everesting record; Usain Bolt’s “newfound respect for cyclists”; Cardiff named top UK cycling city + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Temporary bike lanes are opening up the road to cyclists like never before
He turned 2 last week, rode on Sheffield ring road this week.
I asked her, 3: (“Do you like riding on the special new bike-only road?”) “Yeah! … I want to go further.”
🥰
Thanks @Bob_of_Hills, @SheffCouncil, @CycleSheffield etc… pic.twitter.com/hv4atcKglP
— Sam Wakeling (@samwake) July 9, 2020
This clip shows two kids balance biking on one of the busiest roads in Sheffield, which would have been unthinkable before the installation of a pop-up bike lane. Still a way to go though…
A reality check: we could only give them this taste as I could ride them down there in our cargo bike, and I can cope with riding in traffic.
Got to start somewhere, but it won’t change anything for them until it joins up, and the filters appear in their own neighbourhood too.
— Sam Wakeling (@samwake) July 9, 2020
1.8 million bikes sold in UK lockdown... but theft is on the rise
The figure comes after it was found that around 9% of the 20 million cyclists in the UK bought a bike after the lockdown started; but comparethemarket.com warn this has led to a spike in thefts according to their new survey, with 11% of respondents noticing higher levels of bike theft in their area since late March.
Wales had the lowest amount of reported bike theft, with 72% of respondents describing it as “non-existent” in their community. In London, 24% observed that bike theft was ‘high’ in their area.
Usain Bolt "has a newfound respect for cyclists" after taking up cycling in retirement
The 100m and 200m world record holder spoke to Variety about life in retirement; and says that after first getting a Peloton indoor trainer, he’s now taken to the road:
“I have a newfound respect for cyclists because you see the Tour de France, they make it look easy. It’s not,” Bolt said.
Bolt also said he was disappointed with the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021, and hopes to be in Tokyo to watch:
“The only good thing about is that I actually get to take my daughter next year if the world gets back,” he said. “One of my moments is to have my first born just to walk on the track with me. That’s something that I always thought about.”
He’s apparently started to up the mileage on his weekly bike rides with friends. Bolt for Le Tour? Heard there’s a vacancy going at Team Ineos…
£27bn road-building plan will cancel out 'green recovery', warns new report
“Sustained lobbying for more money for roads, leaving less for public transport, cycling and walking, is one of the reasons we now face a climate emergency. We can’t afford to indulge this Toad of Toad Hall model of mindless road-building.”
📰 @BBCNews https://t.co/v6NltvRNeu
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) July 10, 2020
Using data from Highways England, the report by Transport for Quality of Life says that the huge road-building plan announced in Rishi Sunak’s March budget would cancel out 80% of the emission savings from electric cars, and the money would be better spent on public transport, walking, cycling, and remote-working hubs. The report also says that electric cars will still add to pollution levels through ‘brake dust’ – particles eroding from the tyres and brakes – and that building more roads will simply lead to more traffic.
Although the government accepts overall mileage driven should be cut, a spokesperson told the BBC that the report “doesn’t take into account the benefits from the massive surge in electric vehicles”, adding: “The Road Investment Strategy is consistent with our ambition to improve air quality and decarbonise transport.”
The report’s lead author Lynn Sloman said: “More roads just mean more cars. Decades of road investment have not solved congestion.
“Sustained lobbying for more money for roads, leaving less for public transport, cycling and walking, is one of the reasons we now face a climate emergency. We can’t afford any more to indulge this Toad of Toad Hall model of mindless road-building.”
Brighton needs your help to keep Old Shoreham Road pop-up lane permanent
The e-petition also calls for a city-wide cycle network in Brighton, after a 1.7 mile pop-up on the A270 Old Shoreham Road has transformed cycle commutes for cyclists in the city; however, a petition against the lane has currently garnered more signatures. If you want to help tip the balance, you know what to do…
BBC report that ambulance was "blocked by a new cycle lane in Sheffield"... but footage appears to shows the lane being used for the ambulance to proceed
This footage shows the moment an ambulance’s path was blocked by a new cycle lane in Sheffield.
Paramedics had to leave the vehicle to move the bollards out of their way.
Read more: https://t.co/9rpC3vNAU3 pic.twitter.com/49RhnanDHG
— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) July 8, 2020
The words that accompanied the footage have provoked an angry response on social media, as BBC Yorkshire reported that the ambulance was blocked by the new cycle lane in Sheffield. It continues: “Paramedics had to leave the vehicle to move the bollards out of their way on Shalesmoor in the city centre.
“The temporary cycle lane has now been criticised online as a result.”
Terribly short-sighted journalism.
If it weren’t for the cycle lane, both lanes would have been blocked by cars.
— Maximus von Radfahren (@CultOfCyclists) July 10, 2020
Looks to me like it was stuck behind traffic and used the cycle lane to bypass it.
— Neil Meadows (@Neilythere74) July 9, 2020
so cars are blocking the ambulance, they use the cycle lane to get round, and this is how you report it?
— Stan (@geckobike) July 10, 2020
If you don’t either take this down or actually report accurately what led to them needing to do this you have zero credibility as an organisation. How you’ve managed to put this slant on this story is baffling beyond belief.
— NSP66 (@NeilPugh5) July 10, 2020
As you’ll see above many think the BBC very much got the wrong end of the stick, as the ambulance was actually using the cycle lane to proceed because the other lane was blocked by motor traffic; there was the issue of removing the bollards, with some noting that this arguably took less time than trying to negotiate two congested lanes filled with cars.
The BBC are yet to comment.
Parks "not for enjoyment", says cab driver
It was supposed to be for social distancing , not closing roads for enjoyment. You are killing The economy .
— cabbie (@hangingonin) July 10, 2020
And if you use ’em, you’re killing the economy. Made up buffoonery aside, we’ll have a full story on the new through-traffic bans coming to several Royal Parks in London later today.
Cardiff is the top UK city for cycling, according to new Komoot survey
The company behind the popular route-planning app Komoot polled 2,000 adults, asking them to rate factors such as cycle lanes and signage, local cycling facilities, countryside accessibility and safety out of five. The Welsh capital came on top, scoring an average of 3.12 out of 5, with Newcastle, Plymouth, Birmingham and London rounding out the top five cities.
The research accompanies Komoot’s new cycle-specific guides to some of the best cycle routes in Britain, with a spokesperson commenting: “Cycling has seen a huge uplift over the past few months and in order for us to support this we need to understand what hurdles the UK public faces when it comes to cycling and what is important to them.
“We believe everyone should be able to access great cycling no matter where you live or how experienced you are as a cyclist.”
Everesting stakes raised yet again as Contador becomes latest to break record
The Spaniard has obviously kept pretty fit in retirement, fit enough to lower the everesting record down to 7 hours and 27 minutes – that’s over two minutes quicker than Lachlan Morton’s 7:29:57 set last month at the second time of asking, after the EF Pro Cycling rider’s first effort was annulled due to irregularities in data recording.
According to the new entry on the Hells 500 website, Contador completed his attempt on the 6th July, riding 76 repeats of the Silla del Ray in Spain for a total distance of 136km to make up the 8,848m of elevation. He rode a snazzy new road bike from a new brand simply called ‘abikesofficial’ on their Instagram page, that we’re speculating Alberto could have something to do with.
Yesterday we reported that the women’s record had fallen to former world time trial champion Emma Pooley, with the Brit completing 10 laps of the Haggenegg climb in Switzerland to complete the challenge in 8 hours, 53 minutes and 36 seconds.
Vine "sick and tired" of "constant dangers from bad drivers" on London's Holland Park Avenue
Sick and tired of the way Holland Park Ave in @RBKC, the richest borough in the country, places me in constant danger from bad drivers. Tonight just the latest example. It is phenomenally dangerous. #Kensington @HounslowCycling @RBKC_cycling @MikeyCycling pic.twitter.com/HNE0aPoIDC
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) July 9, 2020
The latest dodgy driving clip from the broadcaster shows a driver saving “about half a second” to overtake, before Mr Vine appears to blast an airhorn in complaint at the driver’s close pass.
A proposed cycle scheme on Holland Park Avenue that would see a protected cycleway built on the road has become the subject of a bitter row in recent years, with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea saying they do not back the new route despite a TfL consultation showing that the public were in favour of the proposals.
Decathlon are now refurbishing second-hand bikes to cope with demand
According to Decathlon’s head of external communication, tens of thousands are waiting to buy bikes from the retail giant as they have run out of many cheaper models. In an effort to meet demand, they’re now reportedly buying second-hand bikes to restore and sell on.
Xavier Rivoire told the Financial Times: “We’ve noticed this huge surge. There’s a cycling boom everywhere.”
And indeed, there’s now a ‘Second Hand Bike Shop’ section on the UK website, with Decathlon saying: “Our Second Life bikes have been bought from us and returned for one reason or another. They may have been quickly tested or used by our customers and have small, superficial scratches, which means we can’t sell them – but they’re still in great working order.
“That’s why we’d like to make them available to our customers at reduced prices, so we can fulfil our purpose of sustainably making the pleasure and benefits of sport accessible to many.”
Glasgow City Council say they have removed cycle lane markings from road that had pop-up removed
Hello, We have been advised that the road markings were removed yesterday. Thanks ^G
— Glasgow City Council #StaySafe (@GlasgowCC) July 10, 2020
The Council were criticised on social media for taking away cones that marked out a cycle lane that they had removed on a busy A-road following a motorway closure, but leaving the paint on the road to suggest it was still a cycle lane. After deciding that the lane would “not be restored”, Glasgow CC have finally said that the road markings were removed yesterday.
The official song of the Giro d'Italia is all we could have hoped for and more
If you’re prone to getting catchy ditties stuck in your head, think carefully before pressing play on ‘GiraGiraGiraGi’. Apparently the song from Italian band Extraliscio is a “great little masterpiece with overwhelming rhythm that mixes the tradition of smooth folk with the sounds of punk”, and the video was made by
Michele Bernardi and Davide Toffolo. You can find links to download or stream it via Spotify, Apple Music or the iTunes Store here.
The 103rd edition of the race will now take place between 3 October – 25 October due to the coronavirus crisis, which explains the delay in unveiling this bona fide musical masterpiece.
Avon and Somerset Police launch new appeal to find owners of 125 stolen bikes
The force have issued a renewed appeal for the rightful owners to come forward after 125 bike and frames plus 60 other items including power tools were found at an address in the Bristol suburb of Hanham. The items were originally recovered in January, but only 20 have been returned since the original appeal in March.
Avon and Somerset Police say: “If you recognise an item as yours we want to hear from you – even if you’ve claimed on your insurance and replaced it. Your statement could help us build a case to take to court.
“A man arrested in connection with the seizure remains released under investigation while these enquiries continue.”
Some of the thefts date back several years, so if you or anyone you know have had a bike stolen in the Bristol or Weston-Super-Mare areas recently it’s worth checking out the full online gallery here.
10 July 2020, 08:40
It's on Strava, so it's happening...
Devon will use Strava to prioritise popular cycling roads for repairs
Much of an extra £27m will be directed towards smaller and unclassified roads
10 July 2020, 08:40
Full story on report that says more road building will simply lead to more congestion (but you knew that)
Emissions cuts from electric cars will be negated by new road-building
‘We can’t afford to indulge this Toad of Toad Hall model of mindless road-building’
10 July 2020, 08:40
Bigger tyre clearance and mounts galore...
Trek gives new Domane AL Disc an all-road edge
Updated aluminium endurance bike gets generous tyre clearance and mounts galore!
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Latest Comments
If we don't fight it now, we'll all end up forced to wear baggy shorts!
@Rendel Harris Agree, I am baffled that the 84 year old who is now banned from driving for year can then start driving again without a retest. We should be re-tested regularly.
@mitsky Just checking the figures and apparently the 2026 average cost is £58,000 per year per prisoner; worth noting that is only the direct cost, you then have to factor in ten years of lost tax income from the prisoner, ten years that the prisoner is making no contribution to society as a worker or as a consumer, plus the fact that if they were the primary breadwinner very likely the costs will include benefits for their family as well. None of which should be a reason for keeping violent recidivists out of prison of course, nor drug/drink drivers who kill, but it is a factor worth considering for lower-level offences.
@Surreyrider I ride in Surrey a fair bit and absolutely many do look like that but the point is they all *think* they're driving perfectly reasonably (as one discovers when remonstrating with someone who's skimmed one by 30cm, "I gave you masses of room") so deterrent penalties have little effect. That's why we need to strike at the root cause and actually train drivers properly and test them stringently (and more than once over the course of a potential 70+ years of driving, it's absolutely absurd that competence and knowledge in what for most people is the activity in their life that will run the biggest risk of killing people you never have to have your qualifications renewed).
@mitsky Imprisonment currently costs over £50k p.a. per prisoner and obviously that will rise over the course of a ten-year stretch with inflation. Regarding culpability and mitigating sentences etc, of course I'm not against condign punishment for drivers who kill (and cyclists on the tiny, tiny handful of occasions when this happens), including prison as appropriate; I was objecting to the ridiculous and oft-repeated demand of MM that drivers who kill cyclists must get ten years, "no excuses, no exceptions".
Hey, but their wool blend cycling adjacent t-shirts are/were fantastic.
@Surreyrider Still the boss. Ride one, you'll see why
@Smoggysteve "Most would happily ride on the roads and be treated with respect by drivers". But people aren't - and as far as I can see they won't be. Not until there is a lot less driving and it's slower around cyclists, and far more people driving have "skin in the game" eg. they sometimes cycle and their friends and family do also. That's what leads to the model - which is perhaps most advanced in NL - where cycling, walking and driving are all seen as separate normal transport modes. Their needs, vulnerabilities and any dangers to others are considered. And *that* leads to "mix / share when possible, separate when necessary". But "possible" is "where your 10-year old would be safe to cycle unsupervised" - so very few motor vehicles, going slow! And AFAICS everybody - even "existing cyclists" - is happy with the result. (I dunno about a few pro cyclists - but don't they tend to have training camps in different counties anyway?)
@quiff as an Edinburgh resident I can confidently say he's speaking without moving his lips in one sense: - while as I noted in a separate comment there *is* now some real separated cycle infra, all the examples i can think of have *at least as much space* for pedestrians. The rest of the "cycle infra" is essentially similar to the situation in the rest of the UK: eg. bus lanes*, cycle lanes and shared use paths (eg. "build" infra by sticking up a sign). Edinburgh is one of the places with a moderately extensive network of former railways which have been converted to "shared use" paths (completely motor traffic few). However though shared they are not narrow by UK standards. And this is all effectively a "free extra" for all non- motorised users, not like the "sign a cycle path" where pedestrians do lose space. I think this all comes from the "popular understanding" of cycling in which ultimately cyclists are the "other". They don't fit "motor vehicle" or "pedestrian" (including wheelchairs on the very rare occasions people think about that). Thus "cyclists are cheating" in multiple ways! They shouldn't get their own space as "there aren't enough" of them. And "they can just use the road / path". But being able to *choose* "on the road" or "on the footway" (shared use path) is clearly unfair - nobody else gets to do that! BUT of course even if they did pick just one of road OR pedestrian space it's still not fair anyway because they're "too slow" for the road (don't pay "road tax" etc...) and "far too fast" for pedestrians... * Though some existing cyclists may appreciate them when there are few buses, buses and bikes are a very poor mix for several reasons.
Whilst a shame for any employees, their bib shorts had the worst chamois pad I’d ever encountered, utter waste of my money. Even though they were Strava challenge discount purchases, still a waste of money.
19 thoughts on “Anger as BBC report that ambulance was ‘blocked’ by cycle lane; Decathlon to sell refurbished bikes; Contador breaks everesting record; Usain Bolt’s “newfound respect for cyclists”; Cardiff named top UK cycling city + more on the live blog”
Is it my imagination, or do
Is it my imagination, or do lines of queued traffic just become invisible to people as they’re so used to seeing them? The BBC don’t even see a road blocked with queued traffic, they can only register the pop-up bike lane.
This, so many times over.
This, so many times over. News outlets and people always describe how cyclists/cycle lanes/pedestrians/horses (take your pick) block the road, but never stop and think that (certainly in cities/towns at least) the only reason there are queues at all is all the cars.
And the ‘I couldn’t walk my children to school or cycle to work because of all the cars’ logic. Cars are just so ingrained that we’re oblivious to the harm they cause.
Preach it brother. It’s so
Preach it brother. It’s so true. It’d be great if the BBC and local news outlets would carry outraged pieces with mobile phone footage showing ambulances having to inch their way through nose-to-tail traffic to get to emergencies – “Ambulance stuck because cars are in the way”. But of course, that wouldn’t be news would it, because that’s what happens ALL THE TIME.
No question it’s lazy
No question it’s lazy reporting, but I suspect it was coloured by the comments of whoever sent in the video. Comforting to see that the comments on the tweet overwhelmingly point out the alternative view (bike lane helped).
The BBC is corporately anti
This report neatly reverses the truth, that the ambulance was able to avoid the line of queuing traffic by using the cycle lane; you can make a complaint here https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints
The BBC is corporately anti-cyclist. With all the incredible benefits a significant switch from driving to cycling would achieve, health, obesity, safety, pollution, climate change, disposable income, all of which have been known about for at least twenty years, you might imagine that it was front and centre of any report on those subjects; it is actually mentioned once in a blue moon.
Mostly they just lie about helmets and do fake reports like this.
Not just the BBC,local
Not just the BBC,local newspaper reported a 10million pound Covid19 impact on the council budgets,due to lower tax, revenues,social distancing requirements etc and picked a picture of the new pop up cycle infrastructure the council have been putting in to illustrate their article. Cue the predictable feedback comments from their readers then complaining about the council wasting all its money on cyclists.
Cheers – just raised an
Cheers – just raised an online complaint with them:
The article showing an ambulance making use of a pop-up bike lane incorrectly titles it as blocking the ambulance, whereas the ambulance is able to make progress BECAUSE of the bike lane. The ambulance does get temporarily blocked by the cones, but that is surely a consequence of the bike lane being temporary and a permanent bike lane would have allowed the ambulance to progress easily as there would be a small kerb instead of the cones.
The most important fact that the BBC utterly fails to mention is the completely blocked lane of cars that is preventing any progress by the ambulance and if there were no cycle lane at all, there would be two blocked lanes of traffic that would not allow the ambulance to progress at all quickly
I understand that the BBC is utterly anti-cycling, but at least report the facts correctly.
Thanks for the complaints
Thanks for the complaints info, given the BBC my tow penn’orth.
If the ambulance had had to
If the ambulance had had to drive down the footway to get past the motorists …would the BBC have reported, “Existing Sheffield footway blocks ambulance’s path”
The more people that cycle
The more people that cycle regularly the fewer people will need to ride in an ambulance.
Quite poor forward planning
Quite poor forward planning by the ambulance. Looked like only a couple of cars until the end of the fenced off cycle lane, and the cones at the end must have been visible from where they decided to move the barriers.
By the time they had done all that the cars had moved enough that they would have been able to get through, especially if the blues are on and the cars moved on slightly…
And you got all that from a 1
And you got all that from a 1 minute video – impressive.
You appear to have forgotten
You appear to have forgotten to mention that Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council is tory run; or infested if you prefer, I do. It’s really depressing that we’ve won all the arguments for cycling for the past thirty years, but some dinosaurs simply refuse to take action, even when the public is in favour.
I hope JV reported the idiot in the Volvo.
If only drivers cpould be
If only drivers cpould be trusted to stay the f*** out of cycle lanes, the barriers would not be needed and the ambulance would not be delayed.
I have just finished watching
I have just finished watching the end half of Distracted While Driving, on PBS America (lowdown on Freeview, it should be wall to wall Ken Burns, there are bits, but too much old BBC stuff). It’s shocking what some drivers do, even when they know they are being constantly filmed.
It will be on again and I for one will be watching it all.
But hey, it is the cyclists breaking the law that are the real danger…
It was amusing hearing Phil
It was amusing hearing Phil Gaimon saying he was sick of ‘that generation’ about Contador’s record. PG is 34, AC is 37. Phil you are that generation mate. What he couldn’t bring himself to say is Alberto is a cheat! Ha, the sublimated anger runs deep. You know he wants that record now.
Reminds me AC has some crispy new kit, might check it out.
BBC have replied and amended
BBC have replied and amended their article about the ambulance being ‘blocked’:
It’s still not actually
It’s still not actually accurate, though, is it?
It wasn’t the cycle lane / barriers* that slowed the journey – it was the cars. If the cycle lane wasn’t there, there would probably just have been cars in both lanes, and they’d still have been slowed.
[* There weren’t actually any bollards – there were barriers and cones.]
It’s slightly better. The
It’s slightly better. The bigger problem is all the people who saw the original and formed the opinion that cycle lanes are bad for emergency services. They’re unlikely to see the amendment now that it’s no longer news.