Police mic-drop reply to those (including Sajid Javid) claiming five-year-old cyclist shouldn’t be on the road; Custom bicycle builder creates… ‘the bike-plane’; Bernal nips to the shops (on his Dogma) + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Custom bicycle builder creates... 'the bike-plane'... and it even gets off the runway
Is it a bird? No. Is it a plane? Kind of. Is it a Lycra-clad man smashing 400w in a greenhouse with wings? YES!
We’d have liked to see how one ‘lands’ the bike-plane… I would suggest almost certainly somewhat abruptly once your legs turn to jelly and you can taste blood. We wonder if Ryanair will sit up and take notice?
‘What if we charge passengers to pedal themselves to Alicante? We could bill them extra for clipless pedals, a sweat towel and energy gels. Genius.’
The design is one of Jarrett Carter’s, or JRat Customs as he’s known online, and is just one of his eye-catching stable of bikes, bike-planes and e-bikes…
Bernal nips to the shops (on his Dogma)
Egg-cellent content…
Comprando lo del almuerzo hoy en la tienda del barrio, la Veci dice que ya piensa en vender su negocio porque los precios se le han elevado y no la puede mantener. Que cagada 😑 pic.twitter.com/WiNXuF9uFm
— Egan Arley Bernal (@Eganbernal) November 10, 2022
Can’t lie we were expecting the caption to be something a bit more jovial, maybe even a cracking egg pun to scramble our brains… instead, Google Translate offered this: “Buying lunch today at the neighbourhood store, Veci says that she is already thinking of selling her business because the prices have risen and she cannot support it 😑”
Friday throwback
Those long July days seem well in the past now…
i think about this on a daily basis pic.twitter.com/86B992utOn
— elena 𓆉 (@secondoelle) November 11, 2022
Your thoughts on the bike-plane
EK Spinner asked an interesting question in the comments about that bike-plane…
“Why the aero TT position? He is inside a faring, is that really the best position for power delivery?”
I’d love to give you a serious explainer answer EK, but I don’t have one… the question did prompt a few replies from a couple of you willing to give it some thought…
Personal favourite… hawkinspeter reckons it’s quite simple… “It’s an AEROplane, not an UPRIGHTplane.” That’s the level we aspire to here on the live blog!
Patrick9-32: “Power to weight would seem to be key for takeoff but it (to my completely without aeronautical training brain) seems for sustained flight the aerodynamics of the vehicle are going to be the biggest factor. As such, why not a recumbent position to reduce the frontal area of the greenhouse by like 50%?”
Rendel Harris: “Like you, I’ve no idea how much advantage that would confer aerodynamically but a recumbent position reduces the power output for the same effort by around 20%, so it would have to be quite a big one.”
Patrick9-32: “Also, with the massive advancements of bicycle motors to the point where they can put out sustained power far above any human over the last few years it would be very cool to have one of these incredible planes flying for hours at a time with electric assistance with the pilot in relative comfort (i.e. not bleeding from the eyeballs with exertion.)”
Thanks to Rendel for sharing this Wiki page of something similar — the Gossamer Albatross — which successfully completed a crossing of the English Channel back in 1979… while sean1 shared this vid of a human-powered plane Southampton University built in the 60s…
7 tips to get the best disc brake performance on your bike
London bike crime: 1% of thieves identified and thefts rise in a quarter of boroughs
Lawtons Law Firm UK went over Metropolitan Police data and found that in the last year just one in every 100 London bike thefts resulted in a formal sanction. Their analysis also showed that a quarter of boroughs have seen a rise, and the South West is the worst affected part of the capital.
> Three quarters of Brits don’t expect police to bother investigating bike thefts
Sutton is the borough with the greatest year-on-year increase at almost one-third (32%), followed by Hounslow (25%) and Bexley (13%).
Le Col launches Victoria Pendleton collection
Le Col has teamed up with double Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton on a new collection. The kit design apparently mirrors the Le Col ambassador’s tattoos, with a snakeskin-style pattern influenced by Pendleton’s life on and off the bike.
The collection includes a long and short-sleeved version, available in black and navy and black respectively. Unsurprisingly the collection includes both women’s and men’s fits, and there are also additional accessories such as socks, caps and snoods.
It's those cycle lanes causing carnage again...
Thank God they removed the cycle lane from the Euston Road to get the traffic flowing again
pic.twitter.com/geNO0Grb0W @willnorman— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) November 10, 2022
Get Remco on the plane
.@EvenepoelRemco making a late bid for a call-up on Belgium’s national football team 😁
Video: @VelonCC pic.twitter.com/0rLX4sRE2r
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) November 11, 2022
It’s the last chance for Belgium’s ‘golden generation’ in Qatar this World Cup…although I’m sure we’ve been saying that for at least two major tournaments…
Maybe they just need a rainbow generation led by world champ Remco?
Anyway, that’s enough football chat for one live blog. We’ll catch you on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!
More education from the Surrey traffic cops
road.cc favourites the Surrey Roads Policing Unit have been trying their best too…
A reminder of the unit’s impressive back catalogue…
> Surrey traffic cops tell driver spouting Highway Code whataboutery to return licence
> Surrey traffic cops call out safe driving campaign spouting “dangerous advice”
> More Surrey traffic cops truth bombs…this time about riding two abreast
Plenty of positivity for Durham Roads Policing Unit
Viva la #CyclingRevolution ✊🏼 https://t.co/cUgWO9BjVS
— J o e__F o l e y (@JoeFoley84) November 11, 2022
Anyone heard from Sajid Javid today?
Bravo you run this!!!! Thank you!!
— T Doug (@Cyclingforbeans) November 11, 2022
I chose to ignore that bit. The bigger picture is more important in this case.
— Black Country Ste 🇺🇦 (@CCSteV) November 11, 2022
Police mic-drop reply to those (including Sajid Javid) claiming five-year-old cyclist shouldn't be on the road
With the views on the video now up to 2.5 million, roughly equivalent to the number of people who live in Leeds and Northern Ireland combined, and replies nearing 9,000, Durham Roads and Armed Policing Unit’s Twitter admin stepped forward to deliver a thread for Sajid Javid, Baroness Foster, Susan Hall and the many others who have a problem with a child riding a bicycle on a road…
> Sajid Javid blames father of five-year-old cyclist for letting child ride on road in viral video
A 5yr old child is riding his bike on the road in convoy with his father.
A car is approaching in the opposite direction.
In law, all have equal right to be on this road.
In the heirarchy of road users, the cyclist is graded higher because of their vulnerability. pic.twitter.com/KF1pEwZY7I
— Durham Roads & Armed Policing (@DurhamRAPol) November 10, 2022
The child cyclist is safely dressed and clearly visible in the conditions.
The child cyclist is more unpredictable as a road user because of their age.
The car has more than adequate space to stop / slow / give way.
Squeezing past as they did is inexcusable. pic.twitter.com/6LIr8OACfM
— Durham Roads & Armed Policing (@DurhamRAPol) November 10, 2022
No doubt many of you will disagree, as is your want.
However, you are victim blaming / shaming a child for the actions of a car driving adult.
Cars do not, have not & will not, own the road. pic.twitter.com/a5pjpwViJX
— Durham Roads & Armed Policing (@DurhamRAPol) November 10, 2022
Drop that mic…
Slow down.
Pay attention.
Respect all others on the road.
And don’t blame kids for the actions of adults. pic.twitter.com/5R7VTmhMJi
— Durham Roads & Armed Policing (@DurhamRAPol) November 10, 2022
Oh, and as a reminder of what ‘just cycle on the footway’ might have looked like…
“just ride your bikes on the pavement, no one will mind. It’ll be safer, no cars on the pavement are there?!”
The pavements next to a school pic.twitter.com/tq45IcW1m0
— AZB (@azb2019) November 10, 2022
11 November 2022, 08:52
11 November 2022, 08:52
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Latest Comments
Never mind the police - many cyclists (at least in the UK) would be totally unfamiliar with a velomobile, so perhaps police can be forgiven for ignorance there. (I've "normal" recumbents and even those cause lots of head-turning). And for "e-things" the tail of the market is very much wagging the dog of regulation. Or rather there's almost zero political interest in that. In an ideal world someone would find the money and time to get the police trained - but I wonder if most of them even keep abreast of things like the highway code wording tweaks? (Do those not specialised in road policing / pursuit driving get any more training than the average driver eg "enough to pass the test, once per lifetime"?)
I thought that the lengthy technical downhill section on narrow roads was a poor piece of organisation. It was inevitable that faster riders with their team car would catch up with team cars of slower riders. Riders passing each other was a bit of a lottery at times. The camera motorbikes struggled to get out of the way at times.
It's not a 'statement' though - it's road.cc's words, based on l'Equipe's interpretation. The actual statement issued on it said that the judge authorised it "guaranteeing strict proportionality between the infringements on the rights of the athlete and the stakes of the fight against doping in terms of fair competition and protection of his health."
Trust me Callum, if you'd grown up watching the Tour in the 1980s, as I did, you would not be hankering after those long flat stages that weren't even as exciting as watching paint dry, it was more like listening to paint dry. As for the supposed benefits of those long TTs, what did they give us? Indurain winning five Tours in a row without winning a single road stage in any of them. As McT says below, you simply can't Pogacar-proof a course and we just have to accept, and enjoy, the fact that we are watching the greatest GT cyclist of all time. Anyway I think it has been a great Tour so far, yes no enormous drama about the inevitable winner (though of course Vinegaard and now Lipowitz have shown us that anything can happen) but just about every day has had a fascinating plot and multiple subplots. Some time in the future there will be another Indurain-style winner, playing it cautious, following moves, making incremental gains and winning without ever lighting up the race and we'll be saying I wish the old days of Pogacar making those spectacular solo breaks were back.
The main issue is the layout of the stages with the bigger climb first then a shallow finish climb. It means pogacar can get a gap at the top of the big climb and then stretch 10-15 seconds to a minute plus at the finish over smaller riders like Vingegaard. A summit finish on the hardest climb might not lead to the most exciting racing but equally would keep the gaps closer. I totally agree with the TT kms though, they should have 60+km tts in the grand tours.
@MaxiMinimalist I mean, that statement makes it sound like they had reason to think those two are doping. Either they didn't follow procedure and are making shit up to cover themselves up or something is going on.
Quite possibly. But the changeover time loss would be a bit more significant if it was done on the flat just after the downhill when the riders are travelling faster, the deceleration, changeover and acceleration loss could easily be around 30 seconds, which is quite a lot of a 34 minute effort.
So Skoda have taken a leaf out of Dung-Old Karen Taco Trump's book and are re-naming something when they have no authority to do so?
@Mr Blackbird Fair points, though I was wondering if doing the climb and descent on a standard bike and swapping to TT for the flat section would have been worth it? Certainly quite a few riders seemed to be having handling difficulties maintaining the best line on the descent with their TT machines.
No. The climb wasn't severely steep and allowed a reasonable speed to be maintained on a TT bike, his bike handling skills on road or TT bike are outstanding for the descent and on a road bike he would have lost a lot of time on the flat last 9k section. Terrific performance by him though!
67 thoughts on “Police mic-drop reply to those (including Sajid Javid) claiming five-year-old cyclist shouldn’t be on the road; Custom bicycle builder creates… ‘the bike-plane’; Bernal nips to the shops (on his Dogma) + more on the live blog”
Wasn’t there something very
Wasn’t there something very similar to that bike plane that nearly made it over the Channel about forty years ago? Sure I can remember it on Blue Peter!
ETA to answer my own question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacCready_Gossamer_Albatross
Southampton University built
Southampton University built a human powered plane back in 1962.
Superb, but quite difficult
Superb, but quite difficult to distinguish from parody.
I see that cotter pins didn’t stop them!
why the aero TT position?, he
why the aero TT position?, he is inside a faring, is that really the best position for power delivery.
Still pretty cool though
EK Spinner wrote:
It’s an AEROplane, not an UPRIGHTplane
Power to weight would seem to
Power to weight would seem to be key for takeoff but it (to my completely without aeronautical training brain) seems for sustained flight the aerodynamics of the vehicle are going to be the biggest factor. As such, why not a recumbent position to reduce the frontal area of the greenhouse by like 50%?
Patrick9-32 wrote:
Like you, I’ve no idea how much advantage that would confer aerodynamically but a recumbent position reduces the power output for the same effort by around 20%, so it would have to be quite a big one.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Gossamer Albatross had an upright rider in a pod that was deeper below the wing than necessary just to hold the rider, so there must be other considerations like stability, or bracing angle of cables to wing.
(And if your pilot/cyclist is used to training on an upright bike, the power lost in an unfamiliar position could be more than the gain.)
MIT Daedalus was more recumbent though.
(A plane won’t get the same 20% benefit a bike does, because the drag from the wings will be the same even if the cockpit drag is zero.
Patrick9-32 wrote:
Looking at it I’d say it’s pretty obvious that they have simply designed the craft around the bike that their chosen rider happens to own 😉
Also, with the massive
Also, with the massive advancements of bicycle motors to the point where they can put out sustained power far above any human over the last few years it would be very cool to have one of these incredible planes flying for hours at a time with electric assistance with the pilot in relative comfort (i.e. not bleeding from the eyeballs with exersion.)
Patrick9-32 wrote:
I think you are right. Taking one of the Fazua motor systems that add ~5-10% weight to the entire system now I would think its a no brainer. Plenty of places to lop weight off the bike too.
https://mobile.twitter.com
https://mobile.twitter.com/SheffNW_NPT/status/1590666695274004482
Sheffield North West NPT
If any Sheffield bike shops want to host us so we can allow people to use our close pass mat to calibrate people’s cameras send us a DM. A still of what 1.5m looks like is extremely useful for comparison to “too close”.
Not heard of this approach before or the ability to send a still.
Anyone? Road.cc ?
Typical cyclist, not using
Typical cyclist, not using the bike lane.
I’m sure it says something
I’m sure it says something about the state of our roads, that Durham police has put the roads and armed police in the same unit.
Same in Norfolk (awavey could
Same in Norfolk (awavey could confirm).
Norfolk and Suffolk, we have
Norfolk and Suffolk, we have a combined county road and armed police team (NSRAPT)
its done
to save moneybecause the traffic cars have the secure weapons lockers in the boot for the trained officers who wield them and naturally respond to armed incidents, so simplerand to save moneynot to have a special set of tactical vehicles, or them stored in normal police cars.it seems to work fwiw
Standard.
Standard.
Armed response are relatively rarely needed, but need lots of practice in rapid deployment, so they normally work as part of traffic to keep up driving skills and save on training costs for high speed driving…
Dan Alexander wrote:
Don’t ever go in a glider then.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider will be of interest if you ever fly in an airliner.
How can you take seriously a
How can you take seriously a police force duffer, sat behind a screen munching doughnuts, posting pithy comments on Twitter all day?
This is someone who can’t even spell the word “hierarchy” correctly, let alone work out that there was a safe passing distance between the car and the child. These people aren’t legal experts, top lawyers, or different to any layperson commenting on the story.
Oi, Durham police, try solving some crimes instead of “policing attitudes”, you woke wastes of space! Do your job, or resign and let someone competent take over.
That is all.
What was the distance between
What was the distance between the child and the moving car and why do you think it was safe?
lerrup wrote:
??♀️
What was the distance between
What was the distance between the child and the moving car and why do you think it was safe?
You poor thing…
You poor thing…
Rakia wrote:
This you, Nige?
While it is somewhat
While it is somewhat hearthening to see the many Chief Wiggum apologists out in force today (makes a change from the virulent, angry posts), I can only assume that none of you have had the misfortune of having your houses burgled.
If you do, let me know what you think of the police response, and if you think their time might be better spent on the beat rather than patrolling Twitter for imagined thought crimes.
And again, from the man
And again, from the man slagging the police for their spelling…
(On past form, he’ll now try to claim that was a deliberate trap)
Any news on why, when Rakia
Any news on why, when Rakia has all bit admitted he is the main PBU in his take on Traffic Police on Twitter AND this he is still here two day later spewing his vile takes.
Oh well time for another sabbatical from this site until the mods clear the trash.
Yes, it is a bit tedious.
Yes, it is a bit tedious. They really need to do something – ‘reputational damage’ ?
I presume the ‘trash’ is
I presume the ‘trash’ is anyone with an opinion you disagree with?
No, just specific posters who
No, just specific posters who are banned then come back again under a new username.
There are only 2 people who constantly seek to cause disruption on the site.
There are a few one post wonders whose sole aim is to denigrate cyclists.
No grOg, just people who have
No grOg, just people who have been banned in the past for posting racist shite. Although weren’t you also posting racist shite once as well so I can see why you have kinship with him, or should that be klanship.
Rakia wrote:
Please tell me it’s true and that you have decided it is a lost cause trying to share the benefit of your self-proclaimed immense intellect with the uneducated masses on here. Personally I am still waiting for you to stop with the snide comments about others and actually present a cogent, well constructed argument that would indicate that intellectual heft was as real as it was self-proclaimed.
Says you with the snide
Says you with the snide comment about another..
He has been very polite, but
He has been very polite, but there are limits.
Whereas you are a racist.
Do your job, or resign and
Do your job, or resign and let someone competent take over.
That is all.
[/quote]
I’m pleased to see that breathing through a hole in the side of your neck is still working for you. What’s the anticipated lifespan of this incarnation? It must be about time for the mods to sprinkle salt on you again.
Oh look, the racist troll is
Oh look, the racist troll is back, or, in common parlance, the twat is back.
I give my dog some banana
I give my dog some banana about an hour after her breakfast. As soon as she has finished it she wants a real rough and tumble play fight, don’t know why. I don’t give her all the banana, just a little bit from my breakfast of porridge with banana and blueberries. Sometimes I have toast with Roses lime marmalade instead, but usually I just have porridge. Sometimes I have a bowl of muesli before I go to bed to help me sleep. I’ve only recently found out the guy in the Milk Tray adverts played the part for over twenty years. Also shoelaces were invented in Egypt. I think.
perce wrote:
For some reason I couldn’t help reading this in the voice of the monologue from Blur’s Parklife.
Never thought of that – quite
Never thought of that – quite like it!
Crikey! Well done, Durham
Crikey! Well done, Durham Police- I write as an authentic native of Consett, Co. Durham (as opposed to the sad gits on here claiming false identities).
??♀️
??♀️
wtjs wrote:
Is your real name Phileas Fogg? Of Meadomsley Road, Consett? 😉
No, Ravenside Terrace, and
No, Ravenside Terrace, and there’s no PF in WTJS
What I thought! Delicious!
What I thought! Delicious!
Hmm; New Job – Create a
Hmm; New Job – Create a thread (similar to https://twitter.com/ormondroyd/status/910244326567006211) with just expert responses to that video explaining that the driver, not the child or father, was fully in the wrong…
Oh good. The “five-year-old
Oh good. The “five-year-old-on-a-bike” story is still in the news. I can’t wait for this thread to turn into a 100+ comment troll-fest like the others…
Daily Mail readers yesterday.
Daily Mail readers yesterday… “Brave police officers on the frontline against crime”
Daily Mail readers today… “OUTRAGEOUS. Soft doughnut eating coppers back dozy cyclist”.
Daily Mail readers yesterday.
Daily Mail readers yesterday… “Brave police officers on the frontline against crime”
Daily Mail readers today… “OUTRAGEOUS. Soft doughnut eating coppers back dozy cyclist”.
I’m happy to take your word for this, as I will not demean myself by consulting the epitome of hyper-junk press. The DM was famous for taking diametrically opposed simultaneous positions on the HPV (‘cervical cancer’) vaccine for young girls in its UK and Irish editions
Thoughts on the bike/plane:
Thoughts on the bike/plane:
“dpps” – firstly it has
“dpps” – firstly it has nothing to do with them.
Secondly….no “dpps”, no “motorists” have *any* rights to any public highway space.
That was a failed and illegal political statenent put out by tory liars and failures.
Anyone who votes tory is glutton for punishment and diesn’t have a brain. road.cc should kniw better than to publish lies too…how much….?
Have you amended your
Have you amended your username or just not been active for a long time ?
Logic suggests that if it is
Logic suggests that if it is too dangerous for anyone under a certain age to cycle it must be impossible for them to cross a road on foot since that makes them an even more vulnerable road user. They should all just stay at home so the rest of us can get on with our (obviously) more important journeys by car.
[pedant on] Excellent post
[pedant on] Excellent post from the police, but it’s “wont” not “want” [pedand off]
eburtthebike wrote:
Physician, heal thyself!
I kinda assumed burt was
I kinda assumed burt was making a deliberate error, in order to avoid accusations of perfectionism. And just to take the piss.
Yeah, I did wonder that after
Yeah, I did wonder that after I posted (having first triple-checked my spelling of physician!)
Bmblbzzz wrote:
Lawrence’s Law – The
Lawrence’s Law – The probability of making a spelling or grammatical mistake approaches 1, when correcting someone else on such an error.
I thought it, but didn’t say
I thought it, but didn’t say it 😉 You do know that by the Rules of Teh InterWeb, a minor spelling mistake means that however wise and sensible a post may sound, it has been proved to be entirely wrong by such an error?*
*See below 😉
It’s amazing I still have a
It’s amazing I still have a job with this Dyslexia invalidating everything I write and say
Shake wrote:
…and why is dyslexia so hard to spell?
hawkinspeter wrote:
And why does monosyllabic have so many syllables?
Shake wrote:
How did you get a job with “This Dyslexia” and exactly what do they do?
The Gossamer Albatross is on
The Gossamer Albatross is on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington DC. You can walk right up to it and see that it’s held together with the same kind of tape that’s probably sitting on your desk. I found it very affecting.
Yay – my borough has the
Yay – my borough has the greatest increase in bike theft.
Oh look Nigel is on social
Oh look Nigel is on social media as stvwbr
https://mobile.twitter.com/MikeyCycling/status/1591091081642639361
This made me laugh out loud
This made me laugh out loud