Jacob Rees-Mogg brands 20mph speed limits “an anti-motorist, cash raising ploy”; Have you ever crashed on the turbo? Home trainer sprint snaps sweat-corroded bar; Six Day pro suffers serious injuries in major crash; Pothole party + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Handlebar from hell: Home trainer sprint snaps sweat-corroded bar
What a start to Wednesday’s live blog we have for you…
You twitter people are weird. My crank falls off, you love it. Picture of my beautiful dog, nothing. So giving you what you want. This is why my handlebar snapped during a 1000+ watt sprint at lunchtime… Weirdos! pic.twitter.com/M1x6QtuRt5
— Alan Myles 🇵🇸 (@AlanMyles8) November 15, 2022
The pro tips filled the replies sharpish. From the fairly obvious ‘use a towel when you train indoors’ to the more rogue (but quite appealing having seen this) ‘do away with bar tape completely and just wash regularly’…
Close, I do use a towel but I completely forgot that I swapped the carbon bars off and put some alloy ones on last year which was my downfall (almost literally)
— Alan Myles 🇵🇸 (@AlanMyles8) November 15, 2022
Luckily for Alan the fan was well-positioned for him to ‘punch’ as he fell, avoiding smacking the deck too hard… although now we think about it I’m not sure what’s worse? Crashing off the turbo in your garage or having a fan blowing all that lovely sweaty alloy mess into your face while you train…
Don’t worry, Alan, we’ve been here before…
> “This needs an exorcist, not a mechanic”: You’ll never train indoors without a towel again
Meanwhile in Britain...
We love a pothole party…
— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) November 15, 2022
Belgian pro suffers serious injuries in Six Day crash
🆘 CRAAASH 🆘
Get well soon @StijnSteels 🙏❤️#Pickxsports #Cycling #Lotto #Zesdaagsegent #Zesdaagse #Ghent6day #Gent #Belgium #StijnSteels @zesdaagseGent pic.twitter.com/LyJvEr3AOj
— Pickx Sports (@PickxSports) November 15, 2022
The opening madison of the famous Ghent Six Day saw Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s Stijn Steels stretchered out of ‘t Kuipke velodrome with three broken ribs, two broken vertebrae and a lung contusion.
The Belgian was conscious as he left the arena, his head in his hands, and the team confirmed the injuries this morning: “Following his crash in Zesdaagse Geent, Stijn Steels was examined last night. He has a lung contusion, broken three ribs and two vertebrae.
“The fractures are stable & as of this moment no operation or further intervention is required. Join us in wishing Stijn a complete recovery.”
Steels wrote on social media: “The scans did not bring good news. With pain in my heart (and in the rest of the body) I have to give up in the six days. Thanks again to everyone for all the support, everything will be fine.”
British duo Ethan Hayter and Fred Wright sit fourth in the standings after the first night of action.
Paralysed surgeon returns to work two years after freak cycling accident
Here’s some inspiration for your middle of the week…
A surgeon who was paralysed from the waist down last year when he was struck by a falling tree while cycling at around 25mph (40km/h) has returned to work. Mohammed Belal is a consultant urologist at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital and says he is a better doctor as a result of his experience.
“I spent a lot of time looking after people with spinal cord injuries so I know both sides now,” he told the BBC.
“I feel positive as I’ve been overwhelmed by the support I’ve had and while it’s about accepting, I am privileged and it’s about not giving up.”
The surgeon took up cycling during lockdown but was injured in the freak accident while cycling through Meriden in Warwickshire in February 2021.
“There was no time to react. The next thing I knew I woke up and tried to get up and realised I was paralysed,” he recalled. “What I’ve learnt as a patient is hope is very important. I recognise from the other side that I accept what has happened to me, but having hope I will work to get better. It allows me to push and push in rehab, to do the next thing that’s needed.”
The father of three spent eight months in hospital, has done countless hours of rehabilitation and, with the help of his wife, turned their garage into accommodation for his needs.
The sign of a good session
Not had them on their backs for a while! Must be doing something right! @derby_arena @BritishCycling #gbctu23academy pic.twitter.com/fPMxLthPjy
— Matt Brammeier (@Mattbrammeier85) November 15, 2022
Turbo talk
We’re talking turbo training on today’s live blog, and to answer my own question, yes I have crashed while training indoors. I’m blaming teenage me for getting a cheap as chips turbo that attached at the rear quick release. I say ‘attached’… it did when you set it up properly…
One of those turbos you feel the rocking when the (bang average) watts start going down…
Anyway, enough of my rambling…
SlowOldSteve: “Not a crash but a strange occurrence on the turbo yesterday, a puncture as I got on, put in a new inner tube and got a second puncture! Clearly something inside the tyre but a cursory run around with a finger revealed nothing on the first puncture. To say there was a lot of bad language would be an understatement! I gave up and had tea and cake.”
That’s the answer to everything, in my book.
ShutTheFrontDawes is also an “advocate for removing bar tape. I just don’t like it and once I tried cycling without it, I realised I liked it. I think everyone should at least try it.” Bonus points for the get well soon message, possibly the nicest thing anyone’s ever commented on one of my live blogs…
OldRidgeback: “I saw the post on Twitter. I didn’t realise sweat could be so corrosive to an alloy. I know there’s salt in sweat, but even so….”
Awavey: “It’s the acidity along with the salt combination that causes the problem, I think it’s common to hear about rusty fingerprints on metal handtools, especially when kept in high humidity environments. Apparently blood is worse so don’t bleed on your bike either.” Noted.
Elsewhere in the world of indoor training today…
> Garmin unveils Tacx NEO Bike Plus indoor smart bike – but it doesn’t come cheap
MAXIMISE fitness gains with indoor and outdoor riding
Oh, and while we’re on the topic, as if by magic the video team have just dropped this…
US publishing giant Outside makes several redundancies including Editors-In-Chief of CyclingTips and VeloNews
Thank you for all the kind messages. This is an odd, incredibly public job. We work out in the open. That’s a blessing and a curse, but on days like today, which is unquestionably a shit day, it’s amazing.
It’s stuff like this that makes me most proud: pic.twitter.com/tEoGORFtqL
— Caley Fretz (@CaleyFretz) November 16, 2022
Some tough news from within the cycling industry today as staff at CyclingTips and VeloNews, including the Editor-in-Chief of both sites Caley Fretz and Daniel Benson, have lost their jobs as part of a round of redundancies at publisher Outside.
In a letter to staff from Outside’s CEO Robin Thurston shared on social media, it was confirmed that the publisher is cutting 12% of its workforce in an effort to “achieve profitability and control our destiny”.
Outside of Outside, Jeremy Whittle also confirmed that Stelvio magazine would not be publishing any further issues.
Stelvio was launched earlier this year as the ‘thinking fan’s bike mag’ (with the aim of filling the hole left by the demise of ProCycling), featuring rider interviews, tactical analysis, and history pieces, along with some interesting and nuanced investigations into sportswashing, but only managed two editions before its own collapse.
Rotten day for @CaleyFretz and the cycling media. Let me add to the gloom by saying there won’t be another issue of Stelvio for me sadly (or indeed for anyone). Thanks to all the brilliant contributors and also to those who supported it. 😞
— Jeremy Whittle (@jeremycwhittle) November 16, 2022
“This is really sad news and all of us at road.cc are sorry to see some amazing journalists lose their jobs. Those titles will be worse for it and I hope all of those who have been let go land on their feet elsewhere,” road.cc editor Jack Sexty commented.
Cyclist suffers serious injury after being thrown 30ft from railings at promenade
The brakes on this cycle failed as the cyclist negotiated a steep slippy slope at Egremont Prom. Cyclist has struck railings and been thrown down a 30ft drop onto the beach suffering serious injury. Please ensure your cycle is in good working order #MRPU #SYN1 pic.twitter.com/msrtJtJKaT
— Roads Policing Unit (@MerPolTraffic) November 16, 2022
Merseyside Police reported a cyclist was seriously injured in Wallasey last night when their bike’s brakes “failed” and they were sent crashing down a steep slope and into Egremont Promenade’s railings, an impact which threw them 30ft (9m) down to the beach below.
"I had to put on this face that wasn't me and pretend everything was okay when it just wasn't"
Dame Laura Kenny has spoken to Eurosport about the pain of suffering a miscarriage last year, and admitted “pretending everything was okay” in the aftermath.
“Being an athlete sort of dragged me through it, I guess,” the five-time Olympic champion said. “I’m just glad I had something else to fall upon, because I don’t know how else I would have stopped my brain from overthinking the stuff it was thinking at the time.
“I didn’t know what to do. I do not like letting people down, and [my career] has always been about turning up, and you give your best on that day. That’s what you do as an athlete.
“I didn’t really think twice about it, I just carried on being Laura. And that has its disadvantages, as much as being me has its advantages a lot of the time. Just saying you’re okay the whole time has its disadvantages because I had to put on this face that wasn’t me and pretend everything was okay when it just wasn’t.”
Gifts for cyclists 2022 under £50 — the best affordable Christmas presents for the cyclist in your life
Let’s face it, we don’t all have Mogg’s millions, so here are our top affordable cycling-related gift ideas this Christmas…
Jacob Rees-Mogg brands 20mph speed limits "an anti-motorist, cash raising ploy"
Happy Wednesday folks… you’ll be delighted to hear Jacob Rees Mogg has self-exhumed from the depths of the Tory Party back onto our screens to enlighten the world with his wisdom…
Merely an anti-motorist, cash raising ploy.https://t.co/iGQEQDhsDZ
— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) November 16, 2022
Appears ol’ Moggy missed this bit where The Telegraph’s article says the scheme has little impact on collisions… “largely because they are often ignored”… and in other cities 20mph limits have caused “significant reductions in road traffic speed, collisions and casualties”.
Science editor Sarah Knapton’s piece notes the former observation by Queen’s University Belfast experts who compared traffic and accident data in the city from 2013 and 2014 with 2017 and 2019 after 20mph limits were implemented. The data was also compared to city centre streets where restrictions didn’t apply, as well as streets in the city and similar routes elsewhere in Northern Ireland that had retained their speed limits between 30 and 40mph.
And while the analysis pointed to “little change in short or long-term outcomes for road traffic collisions, casualties, or driver speed”, Ruth Hunter, a professor of public health and planetary health, pointed to a lack of enforcement and drivers “unaware” of the new limit for an explanation in the largely unchanged collision numbers.
Knapton also points out that in other cities where 20mph speed limits have been implemented, notably Edinburgh, there have been “significant reductions in road traffic speed, collisions and casualties”.
“Road deaths fell by nearly a quarter and serious injuries by a third when Edinburgh cut its speed limit to 20mph,” she writes.
“mErElY aN aNtI-mOtOrIsT, cAsH rAiSiNg PlOy”
16 November 2022, 09:05
16 November 2022, 09:05
UPDATE: The driver was issued with a community resolution order by the Met, and has agreed to pay compensation to the cyclist
Driver rams cyclist and crushes bike during dispute
Update: The driver was issued with a community resolution order by the Met, and has agreed to pay compensation to the cyclist
16 November 2022, 09:05
16 November 2022, 09:05
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Latest Comments
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...
@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.
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.
Obree had some actual talent in his legs though, in addition to his bike/aero engineering talent.
Малко като опит за доказване е излязло... Никой няма нужда от толкова голям въртящ момент и мощност на шосеен велосипед с тънки гуми, които дори трудно ще предават тази мощност върху пътя. А ако има и ограничение от 25 км/час е още по-безмислено.
Not sure how informative that is. I imagine for all most of us know it could be Europe's only 'volumetric modular building'. 🤷♂️
Yes, but they're copying the adults of today...
Indeed - but alas I think this is an effective argument for very few folks indeed. As for push-back, what else could we expect *? I think there are ways of selling this but we're far more likely to see headlines about the problems, while the successes are relegated to footnotes, because at that point it just works and there's nothing to see... * Given that this time there aren't politicians being persuaded to overlook thousands of deaths and the demolition of property by the billions from the motoring trades (and the excitement of being able to drive out with the bright things for a party at a roadhouse). Nor are we as tolerant of "accidents". (And noting that publicity about the cases of a handful of people killed by cyclists continues to reach the media; deaths related to motor vehicles not so much).
That rather ignores that the children of today are the adults of tomorrow.
@belugabob Arguably it's easier this way - we don't actually need to do anything to the streets except stop drivers driving down every scrap of tarmac. Where I live, a few well-placed bollards would make walking/cycling/scooting the quicker option and safer, while maintaining 100% vehicular access - just not allowing through routes in every direction.
89 thoughts on “Jacob Rees-Mogg brands 20mph speed limits “an anti-motorist, cash raising ploy”; Have you ever crashed on the turbo? Home trainer sprint snaps sweat-corroded bar; Six Day pro suffers serious injuries in major crash; Pothole party + more on the live blog”
I too am an advocate for
I too am an advocate for removing bar tape. I just don’t like it and once I tried cycling without it, I realised I liked it. I think everyone should at least try it.
Look after yourself Dan and hope you feel better soon!
I saw the post on Twitter. I
I saw the post on Twitter. I didn’t realise sweat could be so corrosive to an alloy. I know there’s salt in sweat, but even so….
It’s the acidity along with
It’s the acidity along with the salt combination that causes the problem, I think it’s common to hear about rusty fingerprints on metal handtools, especially when kept in high humidity environments. Apparently blood is worse so dont bleed on your bike either.
Awavey wrote:
*Sigh* ok mum
Car Delenda Est wrote:
Awavey wrote:
Now you tell me.
Any news on the cyclist
Any news on the cyclist almost run over in london and bike destroyed?
There’s a tweet here saying it was a community resolution but I find that hard to believe.
I think that’s correct as the
I think that’s correct as the ever-popular Daily Mail had the comments section open on the story – if there was an ongoing criminal case that would not have been the case. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11430085/Moment-SUV-driver-CRUSHES-bicycle-horrified-onlookers-heated-spat-cyclist.html
This kind of incident is becoming far too common, and we all know who is to blame (although apparently mentioning names will get comments removed).
Rakia wrote:
I’ll risk it, Jeremy Clarkson, Grant Shapps, Nick Ferarri, Christo whatever his name is, Mike Graham and various other cycle haters, including some twat called Nigel Garage (before your time here, obviously).
Don’t feed the troll – isn’t
Don’t feed the troll – isn’t that eburtthebike still serving a ban over Chriso…?
You left out a few: Matthew Parris, Rod Lidl, Baron Winston, …
chrisonatrike wrote:
Yup, but I had pretty well given up on twitter anyway, and in it’s current Musk iteration, I don’t think I’m going back.
eburtthebike wrote:
As a programmer who doesn’t like Musk or Twitter, I am enjoying watching this whole shit-show unfold. I saw this yesterday, and we’ve got bets on at work as to how many of thoswe microservices involve advert analytics with SLAs, and how many tens-of-millions of penalties hes just opened himself up to.
hirsute wrote:
Is that a euphemism for a lynching by the community? 😉
Suspended sentence!
Suspended sentence!
chrisonatrike wrote:
Boo-boom-tish! You’ll be here all week?
Now I’ve met the local
Now I’ve met the local vigilantes I’ll be
in cash-for-clickbait videos all over the internethanging around a while.Not a crash but a strange
Not a crash but a strange occurrence on the turbo yesterday, a puncture as I got on, put in a new inner tube and got a second puncture! Clearly something inside the tyre but a cursory run around with a finger revealed nothing on the first puncture. To say there was a lot of bad language would be an understatement! I gave up and had tea and cakel
Could be a small hole or
Could be a small hole or split in the tyre. Can act as a stress raiser for the tube.
When dealing with a puncture,
When dealing with a puncture, my advice is to remember that there is no puncture fairy – the puncture happened for a reason, and whatever that reason was, it’s probably not going away by itself! So you need to track down and eliminate the cause before installing a new tube.
If a cursory run around the tyre does not reveal anything, my next step would be to put some air into the original tube and find the leak. Assuming you have kept the tube and tyre orientated, when you’ve found the leak you can relate the location of the leak to the tyre, which dramatically narrows down the search area. Most of the time, a more detailed inspection of the puncture zone leads to the discovery of the offending object which a cursory run around missed.
Or you might discover that the leak is on the inside of the tube, which suggests old/faulty rim tape and friction from spoke holes is to blame. Or occassionally you’ll find something else, such as the tube failing where the valve joins, which is likely a manufacturing defect.
I’ve had the same both on the
I’ve had the same both on the back wheel I use on the turbo and on the front wheel of my commuter. Both tyres had very long use and after the second puncture on each decided it’s probably the rubber coating on the inside of the tyres that was breaking down and exposing the casing fibres.
In both cases a new tyre sorted it out.
You are correct! This wheel
You are correct! This wheel and tyre are so old and on closer inspection the tyre is split all over and very stiff and brittle(only used on the turbo) so I suspect a piece has caused the punctures. Just put another old wheel tyre combo on and ready to go again, hopefully!
Kit Malthouse was just on the
Kit Malthouse was just on the World at One on Radio 4 again calling for the cycling and walking budget to be slashed.
Steve K wrote:
Thanks for the info; he’s on at about 32:00 minutes https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f5jg
See my message above for my comments on his interview.
If you are sweating on a bike
If you are sweating on a bike, you are trying too hard, or you are enjoying a fine summer’s day. Don’t believe in working up a sweat myself – cycling is efficient, not hard work.
I find sweating is a very
I find sweating is a very personal thing. I sweat buckets whereas others hardly sweat at all.
This is regardless of effort. For example, I’m pretty much a role model for everyone else in my cycling club – the fastest and most skilled – yet at the cafe stop (which I don’t approve of by the way) I notice that others have hardly broken sweat despite clinging on or falling off the back, whereas I have to wring out my cap to get rid of the drips.
“Are they feigning it due to laziness, or are they genuinely tired?” I ask myself. What’s your opinion?
Rakia wrote:
My opinion is that you are a boring troll.
Well I bought a jigsaw from a
Well I bought a jigsaw from a charity shop. Three to four years it said on the box – I did it in less than an hour. And I didn’t sweat
Rakia wrote:
Is that because it turns it into a ‘journey’?
Ah but stopping at a cafe
Ah but stopping at a cafe effectively turns the journey into an essential journey, because the act of exchanging money for goods (even coffee) is shopping. And as we all know, shopping is an essential activity.
Nigel Garrage wrote:
“Come on everybody, let’s all keep going while I continue to tell you about how I’m the fastest and most skilled rider and your role model!”
“Sorry Nige, I’m knackered, got to go home…”
I can’t imagine why anyone would feign tiredeness when riding with you…poor sods (if they actually exist, which is always a moot point with Nigel Mitty).
I can’t imagine that CC
I can’t imagine that CC having more than one member. And the member it does have is a total member.
Rendel Harris wrote:
It was only a tongue-in-cheek joke! Sheesh, I know left-wingers have a notorious sense of humour bypass, but this is ridiculous!
Yes I’m a great role model as
Yes I’m a great role model as well, far better than you probably. An ex boss once said that I was a great motivator because people had to work harder when I was around
perce wrote:
I did a brief stint as a cycle courier in the summer vacation as a student; most people were very nice but there was one dispatcher who was rude, arrogant and spent the whole time telling everyone how crap they were compared to the god he had been on a bike before moving into the office. When I left I said to the owner that it had been fun although I could’ve done without Fred (not his real name). “Best employee I’ve got,” he said. Why? “When he’s on the desk none of you buggers want to hang around chatting and having coffee, you want to grab your runs and get out and away as quick as you can, always have the fastest turnaround times when Fred’s on!”
One imagines this is key to Nigel’s motivational methods.
Exactly. I think if I was in
Exactly. I think if I was in his club I’d have to leave – or feign tiredness before every ride
I really am not interested in
I really am not interested in your ability to sweat or anything else you choose to share with us.
If you put Prince Andrew on a
If you put Prince Andrew on a turbo, would he sweat?
Is there one in the back room
Is there one in the back room of the Woking Pizza Express…?
Much respect and best wishes
Much respect and best wishes to Mr Belal
Is there really any
Is there really any difference between driving without a licence and being banned from driving?
https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/news/thames-valley/news/2022/november/14-11-2022/man-sentenced-for-driving-offences–oxford/
This one did at least get a suspended sentence, but the investigating officer being ‘satisfied he is now banned from the roads’ seems a little hollow considering he didn’t have any right to be on the roads in the first place.
How that cyclist didn’t get collected as the BMW went sideways; either fortunate that they pulled onto the pavement or they saw it coming somehow.
I also wonder if this car had ever been reported to TVP using their online portal for dashcam submissions?
HoarseMann wrote:
I’d consider it a big difference, although I’m not a fan of either.
A person may have started driving without a licence and been relatively safe up until the point that they were caught. A banned driver has usually been proven to be dangerous on the roads.
I did know a lady that used to drive around without a licence and managed to never get caught, but she did end up taking a test and getting a licence for real.
Maybe if you got caught
Maybe if you got caught driving again after you had been banned, it would be treated more seriously than driving without a licence.
Yep – they’d ban you for even
Yep – they’d ban you for even longer.
In theory that’s exactly it.
In theory that’s exactly it. The starting point for driving while banned is higher than simply driving withiut.
Mogg is usually in favour of
Mogg is usually in favour of cash raising ploys that impact working class people more than wealthy elites. Due to being a fixed penalty, a £60 fine will impact poor people exponentially more than it would impact him or his chums. Increases to insurance also impact the poor more; I expect that many of his chums will pay for insurance through their business.
Finally, him and his chums will no doubt be able to get the likes of Mr Poophole to get them off in the first place.
Given his modern attitude
Given his modern attitude towards life in general, surely Rees-Smug would require us all to hire someone to walk ahead of our automobiles with a flag? (more Brexit employment opportunities d’ye see)
He’s only twittering this (or
He’s only twittering this (or getting someone to do it for him) because either Nanny or the chauffeur must have complained.
AFAIK there are NO 20mph zones in his primarily rural constituency.(edit) glad to see he paid his $8 to Elon Musk, though…
(edit 2) apparently there are some 20 mph zones in his constituency (see below)
I can assure you there are –
I can assure you there are – not that many people stick to them.
OK, Tass – I stand corrected
OK, Tass – I stand corrected (but I am surprised).
There’s a 20mph limit in our
There’s a 20mph limit in our village (yes, I have the misfortune to have him as my MP), which admittedly isn’t a town… but hardly anyone sticks to it. Or the 30mph limit either…
You have our condolences!
You have our condolences!
Speeding fines are a
Speeding fines are a volunteer tax for idiots. I’d much prefer them linked to income but there we are.
They are not ‘anti-motorist’ they are ‘anti-motorist that drive illegally’. Surely someone as keen on law and order as Rees-Mogg would be well up for it, there are so many other crimes they are dead set against?
Unless it’s got fuck all to do with law and order and everything to do with hammering people that you think are lesser.
JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote
I suspect old Jacob thinks pretty much everyone is “lesser”…
.
.
JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote
I personally would welcome more speed cameras. Put them on the roads where boy racers like to scream up and down. Put them on traffic lights to prevent RLJs. Put them on roads near schools. Whack up the cost of the fines BUT remove the points for all but the most serious offenders (speeding near schools or doing much more than the limit in built up areas where pedestrians or cyclist are more likely to be injured)
Let the police/council use them as a cash making thing and just be honest about it. But the cash must go into improving infrastructure. Let the self entitled idiots pay. This model is used in other European countries – Germany for example. Speed limits are pointless if no one is enforcing them in a way that deters drivers
Wasnt our favourite top
Wasnt our favourite top lawyer in the press again about that recently that fines have no impact on driver behaviour, only points…of course you have to have a system that doesnt allow you to collect unlimited points and top lawyers not trying to exchange the hardship of points for fines for it to work
So the actual takeaway from
So the actual takeaway from the Telegraph article is “if you want 20mph zones to make a difference, then you need to enforce them”.
Who knew?
It’s more complex than that
It’s more complex than that 🙂
This is the source of the Telegraph article
https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2022/20-mph-speed-limits-little-impact-crashes.html
But hold on what’s this the same researchers working with others in the same field published this just 6 weeks ago saying cutting city wide speed limits to 20mph cuts deaths by a quarter, serious injuries by a third.
https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2022/Slowingcitytrafficcutroaddeathsbyaquarter-studyshows.html
I’ll let 20s plenty explain it 🙂
https://www.20splenty.org/belfast_20mph_should_be_city-wide
Funnily enough the exact same thing happened the last time the Belfast researchers published an update on the Belfast scheme a few years back.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/whitchurch-lane-crash-woman-30s-7828871
Jacob Rees-Mogg is repeating
Jacob Rees-Mogg is repeating the same anti-Active Travel approach of Kit Malthouse, but from a different angle. There is no doubt that the extreme right of the tory party is fundamentally opposed to cycling and walking, and will do all they can to sabotage it.
The Kit Malthouse interview on World at One was very much like his previous interviews, suggesting that Active Travel is very much a “nice to have” luxury that could be cut with no consequences. The BBC reporter of course, did not challenge him on this and didn’t point out that cycling and walking are the most affordable transport options, and tackle so many other of modern society’s ills; climate change, pollution, congestion, health, obesity, road danger etc, etc. In fact, the interview completely lacked balance, something that the BBC is, in theory, very keen on, especially when there is a current political situation.
I’ve sent World at One an email expressing these points, but going by previous experience, am entirely without hope that they will address them. I’d send in a complaint, but going by previous bitter experience, I’ll get a reply in a month exonerating the programme and assuring me that my views have been listed in a book for the producers to ignore.
Not a turbo but a bloke I was
Not a turbo but a bloke I was chatting to during a ride told me of a time he was riding rollers in his lounge (this was the posh part of Cheshire) when he somehow rode off the front of them.
He grabbed at the mantelpiece, brushing his wife’s precious porcelain on to the floor, landed on a coffee table which collapsed and ending with smashing into the TV.
This chap was exceptionally accident prone and had tales of several other unusual methods of crashing off a bicycle.
Reminds me of a roller
Reminds me of a roller session with my mate on a track bike in his Mum’s kitchen some 50 years ago. He really went for it, lost control, came off the rollers and shot into the kitchen door and was left wedged in a bike shaped hole like a Tom and Jerry cartoon! Fortunately only a few minor cuts but the door was a write off. His Mum was remarkabley relaxed about the damage, but she did have 3 boys!
I exited my rollers when
I exited my rollers when braking for the cat who had walked in front of me.
Turbos are much safer.
The cat came out of nowhere!
The cat came out of nowhere! It should have been wearing hi-viz, had insurance and paid cat-tax. Reflective material not required…cats eyes
Indeed… it was (actually
Indeed… it was (actually still is) a ginger and white moggy so I should have seen it but…. the sun was in my eyes despite the fact it was after sunset and I was looking north.
Actually I noticed last night that on one of the new Zwift worlds there is a dog and cat sitting by the side of the road watching…. I’ll cover my brakes whenever I pass from them from now on….it could be a trick….
Don’t point percy at the
Don’t point percy at the porcelain…
Jacob Rees-Mogg is a total
Jacob Rees-Mogg is a total bellend.
Alessandro wrote:
He was quite keen on new licences for fracking, so I suspect he may have some financial interest from oil companies. It does seem that the Tories will only back something if there’s a nice back-hander in it for them – they’ve got to get all the money they can before the collapse of society.
He may look like a possessed
He may look like a possessed pencil, but he sure ain’t the sharpest one in the pencil case.
I was wondering what was
I was wondering what was nagging me about him … he’s Clippy, isn’t he?
Didn’t he go around all the
Didn’t he go around all the civil services offices in London, leaving little passive-aggressive notes on the desks of WFH staff, saying he hoped to see them in the office soon?
brooksby wrote:
Probably not quite the motivational tool that he’d hoped… I’d definitely be avoiding the office if I stood a chance of running into that bellend.
“Jacob Rees-Mogg is a total
“Jacob Rees-Mogg is a total bellend.” You really are being too kind to him
The thing is that he seems to
The thing is that he seems to be demonstrably wrong about just about everything, and generally you don’t often even hear his comrades agreeing with what he says, but somehow he seems to have influence.
Baffling.
I’m a member of a cycling
I’m a member of a cycling club and there’s this guy, a total bellend, who thinks he’s a role model for everyone else in the cycling club – the fastest and most skilled he constantly opines, everyone’s knows he’s actually shit and sweats profusely despite his snails pace. His handlebars must be corroded to bits!
Whenever we stop at a cafe everyone hopes upon hope he carries on, especially as he complains incessantly about stopping. As I say a total bellend, I don’t even really know his name, Nigel or something like that.
This’ll be him.
This’ll be him.
I had to walk the final mile
I had to walk the final mile and a half coming home tonight: I’ve been adjusting my brake cables tighter and tighter to eke more life out of the pads, but all this rain has finally killed them. Suddenly realised that I had metal scraping on the rims, so i basically had no brakes…
Another bonus for disc brakes
Another bonus for disc brakes – I found wet rides ate rim brakes, half a block would get me through summer, a couple of blocks through winter, but occasionally a bad ride could eat most of a block – and a fair chunk of rim too. Disc brakes don’t seem to be so weather sensitive.
Completely agree on rim
Completely agree on rim blocks, already on my 2nd set of the autumn and the weather is only just getting wet.
But with mech discs at least if the pad is worn close to its limit, they can hop from seemingly fine in dry, even fine on a wet ride but go through a puddle to got no brakes in the wet at all, which is a bit unnerving, a simple tweak on the adjustment screw and alls well again, but it’s that no warning feel that’s not nice, hydraulic self adjust.
I’d still pick disc regardless this time of year
Awavey wrote:
Yikes!
The Kool Stop salmons on my commuting/wet/winter bike were fitted in March and still have some depth left. The lanes I use are muddy again now and I hate the sound of grinding rims but a frequent (sometimes daily) 5-minute wash gets them clean again.
But having done that job 3 times already this week I started to wonder whether my next bike – whenever that might be – should have disc brakes.
I started to wonder whether
I started to wonder whether my next bike – whenever that might be – should have disc brakes
Of course it should! Muddy rim-grinding roads- you’re the perfect candidate for a Damascene conversion
I added a bike with
I added a bike with mechanical discs to my stable a couple of years back (Avid BB7 – not even top-flight). No issues with them – but that was on my niche (and fair-weather) bike. Been through a pad change or two (hills!) – a little tricky to get the old ones out but not a drama and not IMHO “fiddly” in the same way as adjusting V brakes. They’re either in there or not, then just dial in the clearance and done (assuming your rotor’s OK).
Recently I got Shimano hydraulic discs on my new all-weather hack / commuter / maid-of-all-work bike. Unfortunately they are now with the thief, but while in my possession they were great. Indeed there was so little of the usual “feedback” (e.g. squeezing hard, getting slight vibration or sound) I still locked the rear on two occasions. Even though brake modulation was excellent and I was watching for it!
I was interested in how long they’d last in Edinburgh road-sludge / winter by the sea rust-inducing conditions but until I save up more pennies that’s moot. Certainly my (cheap) rim brakes don’t last a winter if out much (I wipe rims / pads after each ride, full bike wash I’m not as conscientious as I should be). Wheel rebuilds come round quickly.
Of which – back to rim caliper brakes again on the Dawes Galaxy rust-bucket and for the first ride they suddenly seemed a bit weak – so much that I adjusted them! I’ve re-adapted quickly and they’re fine – like they always were. However (assuming you’ve the right ones, correctly set up etc) discs are excellent especially for grimy conditions, less physical effort and more modulation. Braking is always limited by the grip of the tyre at the end of the day but I doubt you’d regret getting discs.
Well, I never wash my steel,
Well, I never wash my steel, cable-disc, 9-speed Sora, trailer-towing, Pennine Bridleway, used-almost-all-the-time bike and I rely on the rain to do it for me. I did have to use a stick to remove the huge mud-packs around the frame on a very bad section near Settle. Pads last about a year, and mud and grime virtually never accumulates on the discs
The pads on there were put on
The pads on there were put on at the beginning of August, so thats over three months.
Annoying thing is I don’t have a light (or room) in the shed, and I’m not allowed to bring the bike in the house, so I’m riding Bike B until the weekend when I can do the work outside.
has Rees Mogg given up trying
has Rees Mogg given up trying to find those ‘brexitty benefits’? So he’s now starting on the Road Safety / War on Motorists ticket to get his ignorance into the public domain.
amazing that once the brexitty ‘benefits’ couldn’t be found they became ‘opportunities’. And now those can’t be identified either.
…. and then he was sacked.
…. and then he was sacked.
A Letter to Jacob Rees Mogg
A Letter to Jacob Rees Mogg from a Friend
My Dear Jacob,
I note with interest your opposition to the 20mph speed restrictions that are appearing in our country, clearly an extreme degradation of personal liberty. Like you my sentiment harks back to an earlier time when society was more structured and everyone knew their place.
Apparently these restrictions are designed to facilitate the well being of some velocipedists and footpads, who use the roads, at the expense of horseless carriage drivers who also happen to be the main wealth creators for everyone. Many people fail to understand that modern vehicles are designed to travel at 60+mph and that slower speeds can damage the engine. My copy of the recently published Highway Code tells me it is an offence to exceed all speed restrictions. I think Mr Churchill has to answer for the current situation, when he abolished road tax, (a nominal payment that could be avoided by anyone with a good accountant) thus destroying the natural hierarchy of the roads.
I know some people think that you are a fossilised kn*bh**d, but I implore you the get your chums in Parliament to sort out this unholy mess.
Yours …..
That Somerset pothole story
That Somerset pothole story is from 2018.
And the Somersetlive people have ‘pologised.
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/apology-yellow-lines-around-pothole-1692731
As someone on the centre
As someone basically on the centre-right, the impression I get is that some parts of the Tory party are going after the motor side of the “motor-vs-cyclist” segment of voters – seems to be happening in the local government arena around LTNs in London, too.
A stupid call by Mogg, as most people are far more openminded. I’m left trying to decide which character from Cats he represents, but I don’t think there is one. He must be the behind the scenes svengali.
Up here in the former Red Wall, I have not seen this amongst Tories planning to salvage their new red wall MPs from what may turn out to be a political pile of rubble by the end of what needs to be done wrt the various crises.
Can’t really comment on local gov up here as we are locally entirely dominated by independents, with Tories in power at County level.