“Guerrilla gardener” cyclist spends hours sweeping bike lanes… but others warn of council “bully boy” response; Pogačar confirms Urška Žigart’s Olympics omission played role in him pulling out; Roy Keane the Tyre Extinguisher? + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"Guess it didn't work": Visma-Lease a Bike selling its Tour de France 'Control Room' van on Facebook Marketplace for €11,000
Let’s spare a thought for Visma-Lease a Bike, shall we? The team which conquered the world of pro cycling last year, winning all three Grand Tours marking an unprecedented moment in modern cycling history, has had quite the disappointing season by its standards.
Both the team’s classics star Wout van Aert as well as two-time Tour champion and the only person who looked strong enough to give Pogačar a run for his money Jonas Vingegaard suffered heavy crashed early on, hampering not only their season but also much of their Tour de France training and preparation, yet somehow the two managed to make it Florence for the Grand Départ.
While Van Aert would like to forget this Tour as quickly as possible, Vingegaard, despite being “almost on the verge of death” in his own words, did manage to take the fight to Pogačar for a brief period of time, until the Slovenian went superhuman and run away with the yellow jersey, even pipping Visma’s Jorgensen in the breakaway to what could have been his maiden stage win in a bitter blow.
In the end, the Dutch team only came back from Nice with one stage win, when Vingegaard trumped Pogačar in a two-up sprint on stage 11, and thus wrapping up by their standards, a dismal season so far.
However, even before the Tour started, one of the talking points for Visma had been its Mission Impossible-style ‘Control Room’ van, a “command centre” to monitor cyclists’ performances, analyse data and make tactical decisions destined to take the data analysis side of the sport to its extremes.
Fans were quick to take shots at the van, with the UCI also getting involved, dropping its dreaded email confirming that the sport’s governing body is “carrying out verifications to ensure that the setup put in place by the team is compliant with the regulatory framework in force”.
Now, eagle-eyed fans have spotted that the van is up for sale on Facebook Marketplace, if you’ve got €11,000 that is…
Visma are already selling the control van on Facebook marketplace😭😭😭 guess it didn’t work pic.twitter.com/kyAyc56ZEG
— loui (@looflol) July 24, 2024
“Guess it didn’t work…” Ouch.
Tour de France pro slams "heavier" Look bike for poor performance, but Cofidis team unimpressed and point out same "cutting-edge equipment" has been ridden to numerous big Grand Tour wins
Guillaume Martin — the Cofidis climber who finished 13th at the Tour de France, 43 minutes down on Tadej Pogačar — had plenty of feedback about his team’s equipment, arguing his Look bike was too heavy and that he would have performed much better if it was not “one kilo more than the UCI’s permitted weight”, and without a power meter or head unit due to him not wanting “to make my bike even heavier”.
"Slash their tyres": Roy Keane outs himself as a Tyre Extinguisher!
Keano, my club’s legend and apparently about to go down a cult classic here too?
Who knew the Irishman would be on this side of the apparent War on Cars, as he discussed illegal parking with Ian Wright, Jill Scott and Gary Neville on the amazing ‘Stick to Football’ podcast?!
First congestion charges, now this?!
Why are the powerful taking aim at the poor hard-pressed motorists pic.twitter.com/P21LWl18vJ
— AA Roadwash (@aaroadwash) July 24, 2024
“What do you think of people who park, you know people who have a few quid and they have a nice car and they just park anywhere they want, on double yellows or disabled, and they just think I’ve got money, I can park where I want,” says Keane. “And they just take the ticket off, yeah I can pay that… Rude that!”
Wright asks: “So what should we do about it?”
“Slash their tyres,” answers Keane… Maybe he’s familiar with the Tyre Extinguishers?
Grimsby going full 1984... Town where cyclist ordered to pay £1,150 to trial speakers playing 'no cycling' message every 15 minutes
In the latest attempts of one council to crack down on “anti-social behaviour”, namely people cycling through parts of Grimsby town centre, a speaker system will play messages reminding residents that cycling is banned on certain streets.
You know the Tour de France is over when... pro teams start posting about their riders' hobbies
It’s been three days since Pogačar soared to his third maillot jaune in Nice, Biniam Girmay gave Eritrea its first green jersey, Richard Carapaz doggedly held on to the mountains classification and became the first Ecuadorian to win the polka dot jersey and Remco Evenepoel also left his stamp on the Tour by winning the first white jersey for Belgium.
And while this live blog is a good way to fill the void left by all the ubercycling we so dearly miss, it’s always a fascinating time to see how the pro teams and riders react to the Tour end.
So revelling in the post-Tour malaise is Derek Gee, the Israel-Premier Tech rider who secured 9th position in the general classification. His team has now posted a video updating on the Canadian’s whereabouts and his “distinctive” hobby of birdwatching… is he our new Thibaut Pinot?
You’ve met @DerekGee7, the top-10 finisher at @letourdefrance 🚲
Now meet Derek Gee, the birdwatching enthusiast 🦅
We caught up with the Canadian star during the last off-season to learn about his distinctive hobby 🔍#YallaIPT pic.twitter.com/n3yR5w4Miw
— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) July 24, 2024
“I got into birdwatchin in August 2019 when we’re doing an altitude camp in Colarado. There were a bunch of mountain birds I had never seen before and I was sitting out on an Airbnb balcony and started looking them up and started making a list, and then it became a hobby!” explains Gee in the video.
Bonus points to anyone who can come up with a cool nickname for Gee akin to Sepp Kuss’ “Eagle of Durango”. Hmm, Osprey of Ontario, anyone?
Cav speaks Welsh!
I mean, it’s not suprising that the Manx Missile speaks another Celtic language (I know one is Brythonic, and another’s Goidelic), but it’s nice to see Cav greet Welshman Stevie Williams in Welsh!
From my very limited knowledge of the language (don’t ask me why), looks like Cav says: “Stevie – sut wyt ti heddiw?”, or “how are you today?”
Legendary British cyclist Sir Mark Cavendish gave a greeting in Welsh while competing in his last Tour de France where he won a record 35th stage https://t.co/E2IqKDFdFR pic.twitter.com/nUFs7rXCeY
— BBC Wales News (@BBCWalesNews) July 23, 2024
Raleigh uncertainty as bike manufacturer served warning notice from Companies House, just months after redundancies and restructuring
British bicycle manufacturer Raleigh has received a warning notice from Companies House in relation to late accounts which have not been filed, the news coming months after the brand’s parent company Accell confirmed job cuts, restructuring and a move away from the manufacturer’s Nottingham headquarters due to a “challenging market”.
While the serving of a First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off on its own does not necessarily mean anything more than a company being late to file its accounts, it can raise concerns about goings on at a business and lead to questions about why the accounts for 2022, due to be published at the end of last year, still have not been filed.
22-year-old Transcontinental race cyclist in top 20 goes back 270km... to retrieve his passport and wallet which he forgot at a petrol station
If you thought the Tour de France was a race for sickos, think again, because the Transcontinental race, the mammoth self-supported, non-stop race from one side of Europe to the other, just got underway in Roubaix three days ago, where some of the world’s finest ultra-distance riders set out on a 4,000km journey across the continent to Istanbul.
And while not the most exciting event to follow, the things these ultra riders manage to do is absolutely stupendous. But what do you do when you have the unpleasant realisation that you’ve made a costly mistake, only a whopping 270km later?
Well if you’re Victor Bosoni, you turn back! The 22-year-old wild card who has been riding within the top 20 at the front of the race, realised this morning that he had forgot his wallet and passport at a petrol station 270 kilometres behind him. A situation that would see some throwing in the towel, he began a tedious though strong-willed journey backwards to retrieve his essential belongings.
Having already climbed over the Grossglockner, it looks as though he may be headed for Brenner Pass, which he will of course then have to come back over again once he has collected his things. Despite a near 550KM detour, the passionate Green Leaderboard rider is still aiming for the Finisher’s Party in Istanbul — a commendable show of determination from the young ultra cyclist!
Routes of the first two Tour of Britain stages announced, with the peloton getting underway in Scotland and then going to the Tees Valley
The routes for the first two stages of the upcoming Lloyd’s Tour of Britain have been announced, in what will be one of the hardest openings in the race’s history.
Stage one on Tuesday 3 September in the Scottish Borders, will be a 181.9-kilometre (113.1-mile) spectator friendly route, starting and finishing in Kelso, passing through Coldstream, Gordon, Melrose, Denholm, Jedburgh and St Boswells.
The route features two loops, enabling spectators in Kelso and Melrose, and on the categorised King of the Mountains climbs at Scott’s View and Dingleton, to see the race in action twice, with the final climb coming 23 kilometres from the finish of the stage.
Commenting on the route, Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men Race Director Rod Ellingworth said:
“The Scottish Borders has a long history with the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men and so we are delighted to have worked with our partners at Scottish Borders Council to come up with this spectator friendly, and challenging route, for the riders.
“With five categorised climbs this will be a tough opening stage, and is by no means certain to end in a sprint, so should set up a thrilling battle between the sprinters and those riders who believe the final climb at Dingleton can be a launchpad to victory in Kelso.”
A day later (Wednesday 4 September), the Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men heads to Darlington for the first time since 2009, for a 152-kilometre (94 miles) stage through the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire to Redcar.
The stage crosses the Cleveland Hills and heads through the North York Moors National Park to the coast at Robin Hood’s Bay via a series of short, sharp climbs.
Turning north via Whitby, the stage climbs Lythe Bank and the peloton will tackle the iconic Saltburn Bank twice, the latter ascent coming within the final ten kilometres of racing.
Commenting on the stage, Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men Race Director Rod Ellingworth said:
“The tough opening to this year’s Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men intensifies on stage two with another day that is relentless up and down as we cross the Tees Valley and the North York Moors National Park. Two years ago, the climbs in this area provided decisive in the race and we are sure they will once again shape the overall general classification battle.
“Thanks to our partners across the Tees Valley, in Darlington, Stockton, and Redcar & Cleveland, plus stakeholders in North Yorkshire, we have put together a route that showcases some fantastic moorland and coastal scenery, while also providing plenty of opportunities for attacking and entertaining riding. I’ve no doubt that the closing kilometres of racing, with the double ascent of Saltburn Bank, will be among the most spectacular in this year’s Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain Men.”
“It’s not the main reason, but for sure it didn’t help”: Tadej Pogačar puts an end to rumours and confirms Urška Žigart’s omission from the Slovenian team played a part in Tour de France winner’s decision to pull out of Paris Olympics
After rumours of Pogačar pulling out of the Olympics due to Urška Žigart’s shock omission from the Slovenian women’s road cycling team going to Paris, the recently crowned Tour de France champion has confirmed that while it wasn’t the main reason, it did play a part in his decision, adding that she “deserves her spot” in the team.
In case you’re not up-to-date with the story, Urška Žigart, Slovenia’s top-ranked female rider and the current national road race and time trial champion was left out of the country’s squad for the cycling road race at the Olympic a decision many described as shocking and controversial.
The selection committee defended the decision noting Žigart’s proficiency as a climber and her apparent weakness at riding in a group meant she wasn’t the best suited for Paris’ punchy course — however, not explanation was given behind the decision to leave her out of the time trial as well.
Žigart, who rides for Team Jayco-AlUla, meanwhile, just also happens to be Tadej Pogačar’s fiancée (a power couple, I know), and the three time Tour winner had previously said he was “so gutted” at her partner’s exclusion from the national squad.
So when Pogačar announced that he was “too tired” to participate in the Olympics, and his next goal was to take the rainbow jersey off Mathieu van der Poel at the UCI Worlds men’s road race championship in Zurich in September, fans didn’t lose any time to speculate that there could be an extra hidden reason behind his no-show in Paris.
Well, Pogačar has decided to quel any and all such speculations himself. Speaking before the start of a crit race in Netherlands yesterday evening, he told the Dutch broadcaster NOS: “It’s not the main reason, but for sure it didn’t help. I think she deserves her spot. She’s the double national champion in road race and time trial.”
“She’s the only woman cyclist in Slovenia that ever achieved top 10 in week-long World Tour races. She did great in the last two years winning points for Slovenia and, without her, they wouldn’t have two spots in the [Olympic] road race.”
Pogačar’s announcement of not going to Paris was met with many fans critiquing the Slovenian team selection. One person wrote: “Whoever selected the women’s team needs to be fired immediately,” while another said: “He is riding a bike for himself, not the corrupt Slovenian Olympic committee.”
“Of course he won’t go alone, if they left Urška out so badly,” said Darja. “He is a principled man and he will not tolerate such injustice. If both selectors were at least a little smart, they would talk a little about the composition of the teams. But if they are council f***s, they would wipe themselves with their nose for a medal.”
It appears that social media sleuths did get it spot-on, and the 25-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider is completely unafraid to put his foot down in front of the Slovenian national federation, who have not responded to a request for comment from The Guardian.
“I can do it, why can’t those who get paid to maintain the city?”: "Guerrilla gardener" cyclist spends hours sweeping bike lanes… but others warn of council’s “bully boy” response to “guerrilla maintenance”
Imagine you cycle 11 miles to a city that you don’t live in, spend hours sweeping, picking litter and trimming grass edges off cycle lanes, and then having to worry about the council not being too happy with your work…
Sounds hardly believable, I know, but a cyclist from around Belfast has shared images of cleaning up the bike lanes and even chopping down the grass edges (don’t ask me how), but the real questions are, why does it have to be a random cyclist instead of the council who takes responsibility, and more importantly, how will the council react to it, and finally most importantly, do we now have to rely on this sort of “guerrilla maintenance”?
The Twitter account which goes by the name ‘Belfast Cyclist’ shared an image showing before and after of the entrance to Titanic Quarter railway station, captioning it: “An hours work. I can do it, why can’t those who get paid to maintain the City do it and who holds them accountable?”
Entrance to Titanic quarter train station before and after…
An hours work .
I can do it, why can’t those who get paid to maintain the City do it and who holds them accountable ? pic.twitter.com/M5fSUBnYnD— Belfast Cyclist (@BelfastCyclist1) July 21, 2024
An hour and half later, the person shared a bunch of more images showing the Middlepath Street cycle lane as well as the underpass, both having been swept by the cyclist. They wrote: “Litter picked the greenway from Comber to Middlepath st… Might go for a spin on the tallbike after lunch”
The replies to the post were full of positive stuff, with people describing them a “legend’ and “inspirational”, however one person replied: “Wouldn’t be surprised if the council tries a bit of bully boy in response to this lol.”
Swept Middlepath St cycle lane and the underpass..
Spent an hour on the entrance to the Titanic train station .. there’s another post about that
Litter picked the greenway from Comber to Middlepath st …
Might go for a spin on the tallbike after lunch pic.twitter.com/ytfL4ayAZR
— Belfast Cyclist (@BelfastCyclist1) July 21, 2024
Another person wrote: “Thanks! There’s often litter and broken glass on that section and to be fair the council do seem to tidy it up fairly quickly, but the greenery doesn’t get trimmed often enough in the summer,” to which the cyclist responded, defiantly may I add: “It’s me that clears it up,” adding lots of pictures from many of his sweeping runs.
It’s me that clears it up ….https://t.co/T8G6vMkkEHhttps://t.co/Tjj6egiLjChttps://t.co/rDdIuuKkaqhttps://t.co/MrsJFt9wkn
there’s more ..a lot more
— Belfast Cyclist (@BelfastCyclist1) July 21, 2024
Looks like Belfast has found its cycling vigilante of sorts; the cyclist the city doesn’t deserve, but the cyclist the city needs…
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Latest Comments
@Sheen wheels I have a version of the R8100 and you definitively need ceramic for the socket Oh no, you don't! Ceramic sockets pretty rare and, as far as I know, only with ceramic and not metal 'ball' (femoral head)
@mitsky Its another one of those things that makes no sense isn't it. Someone was saying in another thread that we need a harder driving test. I don't think we do. Everyone who has passed in the last 20 years has done a test that is more than happy to fail you for behaviour that 90% of drivers exhibit every time they get behind the wheel. The test is fine. The fact that getting your license seems to be considered some weird proof that you will continue to drive safely is the issue. The fact that when you prove that you cannot drive safely its not immediately revoked is the issue.
@Rendel Harris The issue with GPS chips, as everyone who has one of those black boxes will attest to, is that they are crap. They interpret heavy braking as poor driving rather than someone else forcing it. They see rapid acceleration where there is none. All we need is a much higher chance of people being caught and punished for their everyday shit driving. I'm sure as a cyclist that every single time you go out on your bike you will have a dozen or more times when you think "that would have been a nasty accident if someone was coming the other direction". Eventually, when bad behaviour suffers no consequences it becomes completely normalised. Then we struggle to treat it as anything but a normal, unavoidable accident when that bad behaviour does incur consequences.
Drivers regularly pull out in front of me and cause me to slam on the brakes or avoid them. Very often they have seen me and just assume I'm not going very fast or they assume I will slow down/stop (which I do). Too many drivers don't look for cyclists, hate giving way to them or expect the cyclist to be moving slowly and just pull out.
@Rendel Harris By the time someone is looking at prison time its too late. As has been proven time and time again, the severity of punishment is a poor deterrent to bad behaviour if people don't think its going to happen to them or they don't think they will be caught. Now I do think that there should be far more severe and immediate punishments for bad driving when drivers are caught but this would need to be coupled with a massive push to actually act on information/proof of bad driving. As anyone that submits footage to the police knows, its a crapshoot and certain police forces are anti-cyclist. This would try to essentially put people off misbehaving whilst driving before they cause an accident rather than getting the tired old excuse of "it was a single dangerous incident, they definitely don't do this all the time and their luck finally ran out". Perhaps it should go even further and if you have a history of speeding and you hurt someone speeding, that is looked upon in a very dim light.
Can we talk about “Washing up liquid contains a lot of salt – not a great idea to use a corrosive substance on a bicycle”? This is an urban myth. I have washed all of our many bikes using Fairy liquid or Ecover for decades. I’ve never found any evidence of corrosion, paint, laquer or decal wear, or any sign of anything. I regularly service forks and bearings, swapping a lot of gear, and everything has always been fine. Here’s far too much info below - long story short, Fairy liquid in 5L of hot water has a borderline-homeopathic amount of salt, it’s fine to use on a bike. ============ The honest answer is that neither Fairy nor Ecover publicly disclose the actual sodium chloride concentration in the consumer products I could find. The safety data sheets list hazardous ingredients above reporting thresholds, but sodium chloride is not reported for either product. However, we can put some realistic bounds on it. Fairy Original The SDS lists: Sodium laureth sulfate: 20-30% Lauramine oxide: 5-10% Alcohol: 1-5% No sodium chloride is declared. 15 In detergent formulations, sodium chloride is commonly used as a viscosity modifier (thickener) and is typically present at around 0.5-3%, sometimes lower. The absence of declaration suggests it is either not present or present at a low concentration that does not require reporting. This range is an informed formulation estimate, not a value stated by Fairy. Ecover The Ecover ingredient information lists: Sodium lauryl sulfate Lauryl glucoside Cocamidopropyl betaine Alcohol Lactic acid Sodium octyl sulphate Again, no sodium chloride is listed. Ecover's formulations tend to rely more heavily on plant-derived surfactants and may use little or no salt for thickening, but I could not find a published concentration. 63 What does this mean for bike washing? Let's assume a worst-case 3% salt content in Fairy. If you add: 10 mL Fairy to a 5-litre bucket Then salt introduced would be approximately: 10 mL × 3% ≈ 0.3 g salt Distributed through 5 L water ≈ 60 mg/L salt For comparison: Typical seawater: ~35,000 mg/L Lightly salted winter road spray: often hundreds to thousands of mg/L The wash bucket above: ~60 mg/L So even under a pessimistic assumption, the salt concentration is hundreds to thousands of times lower than the salt exposure your bike gets from winter roads. From a corrosion perspective, the quantity of salt introduced by washing-up liquid is essentially negligible compared with: Riding on salted roads Coastal spray Leaving winter grime on the bike Therefore my practical conclusion remains: ✅ Fairy or Ecover in a wash bucket is extremely unlikely to contribute any measurable corrosion risk. ✅ The important thing is rinsing and drying afterwards. ✅ Winter road salt is the real enemy, not washing-up liquid.
Another example of a driver's actions that would have been a straight fail in a driving test but is barely likely to lead to a disqualification... I'm wondering if having a driving licence is like a "Get out of jail free" card...
Yes indeed. I have a version of the R8100 and you definitively need ceramic for the socket.
@perce I'm not sure I agree with that. I think thats just confirming that he is take fully responsibility and recognises that the cyclist could have done nothing to mitigate it.
If we don't fight it now, we'll all end up forced to wear baggy shorts!
34 thoughts on ““Guerrilla gardener” cyclist spends hours sweeping bike lanes… but others warn of council “bully boy” response; Pogačar confirms Urška Žigart’s Olympics omission played role in him pulling out; Roy Keane the Tyre Extinguisher? + more on the live blog”
Well done that man/woman
Well done that man/woman/other
There is a bloke who does the
There is a bloke who does the same around here: more power to him.
It did make me laugh the other day however when I saw him out cycling to his next “job” with a chainsaw attached to his bikes back panniers. I wonder if he gets many close passes?
The nearest I get to what the
The nearest I get to what the Belfast Cyclist does, is that if there are low hanging branches on the cycle path I use to commute then I will
usuallyoften stop and saw them off (I’ve got a multitool with a saw blade, which lives at the bottom of my bag).Chainsaw ? probably going to
Chainsaw ? probably going to watch a TDF stage.
If he fancies some extra work
If he fancies some extra work in Suffolk,theres plenty to do whilst our council are merely assessing what to do about it.
The cycle lane is the bit on the right of the pic
On the Basingstoke canal
On the Basingstoke canal there is a pink poop painter, and I appreciate their activities.
brooksby wrote:
Agree. Give them a gold star.
Most councils (including Shropshire) are so cash-strapped that path and pavement maintenance is a very long way down the list of priorities.
But “vigilante” ?!? Come on road.cc, you know better than that!
Was Guillaume Martin’s Look 795 Blade RS really a whole kilo over the UCI weight limit? Cycling Weakly rated the 7.48kg review bike highly in their recent Race Bike of the Year group test.
Fair play to them. It’s a
Fair play to them. It’s a brilliant contribution to his community, but he kind of answers his own question about why the council aren’t doing it. If people assume it’s the council doing his litter picking, they probably don’t get many, if any complaints about it, so why allocate already stretched resources?
The council staff may well get paid to maintain public spaces, but unless there’s evidence that the staff are skiving, the staff that have been allocated to that work is presumably filling their working day on other areas. Does he think they should come back and do unpaid over-time?
Showing his work on social media is a good way to record what he’s doing, and hopefully make the point that the council should be allocating additional resources. But with successive budget cuts come successive reductions in what the council is able to do. They just can’t afford to do ‘as many nice things’ as they used to do, unless they are also a statutory responsibility or there is political pressure. Even with statutory responsibilities, there is pressure to consider how much is required to comply.
What would be great would be if the council can co-ordinate with volunteers. My local beach team group have an arrangement with the council to leave the material collected in a particular location for pick-up.
FionaJJ wrote:
Perhaps the new government should encourage this kind of cooperation? They could call it
“Public Freshening of Infra (PFI)”“The Big Society”“Socialist Sweepers”“(New) Fully-Funded Council Maintenance Services *”It seems our national choices going forward appear to be incur even more debt (if we can get credit), accept we’ll be paying more for less or just … DIY. Of course the latter may or may not be supported by our local lordlings…
* Zero cost, so we can budget for that.
FionaJJ wrote:
Many councils have reduced their workforce massively over the last 14 years.
Despite having taken the axe to staffing numbers a few times already, Shropshire Council is currently “seeking to save £27m through staff cuts” and has had about 200 applications for voluntary redundancy. Since they are looking to make cuts equivalent to about 540 full time posts (more than 10%) there will be compulsory ones as well. There is serious talk of shutting libraries, since the Tories don’t like people freeloading and learning for free; we should be buying our own books, or better still supporting the economy by spending it in betting shops, fast food outlets and Wetherspoons pubs.
Rights of Way maintenance had been ‘farmed out’ to P3 volunteer teams (Parish Paths Partnership), usually groups of retirees who are happy to lend a hand with fencing, clearing vegetation and stile mending/erecting.
Shropshire Council is struggling even to find money for statutory stuff, partly because the corrupt, incompetent Conservative-led council has repeatedly spaffed loads of our money on stupid big-money capital projects.
Extra points for tallbike –
Extra points for tallbike – presumably that’s also good for a spot of pruning or replacing the bulbs in the street lighting *?
* Just joking! Obviously paths and cycle paths away from the main roads don’t need expensive stuff like lighting for social safety!
The van advert clearly has to
The van advert clearly has to be a spoof, not only would €11,000 be ridiculously cheap for a 2024 model (don’t know the exact type but it looks pretty similar to a Transit, which is €38,000 new) but the fact that the mileage is listed as 3498 km, the exact distance of this year’s Tour, is a bit of a clue.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I reckon you’re right, it can’t be real. The van is a VW Crafter, they start at £50k, so easy €55k minimum price new.
€11,000 is the prize money
€11,000 is the prize money for a stage win at this year’s tour.
In that case, whichever troll
In that case, whichever troll made this ad clearly did their research before posting… And I’m all here for it
Genius.
Bike Rack Saves Pedestrians
Bike Rack Saves Pedestrians in Crash on Busy Brooklyn Street
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2024/07/22/bike-rack-saves-pedestrians-in-crash-on-busy-brooklyn-street
brooksby wrote:
If the driver has a long record of recklessness, then I’m surprised that either the police or his insurance company don’t stop him from driving. Are they just waiting for someone to die before taking action?
Optimistic to think they’ll
Optimistic to think they’ll take action after someone dies.
momove wrote:
The insurance company might well do so if they’re hit with a multi-million dollar lawsuit from the victim’s family
I’d be surprised if they had
I’d be surprised if they had insurance
Still good that the journalist wrote about the driver causing violence, and not the car having an accident.
NickSprink wrote:
I beg to differ:
“The white Hyundai involved in the crash has been nabbed 10 times by city speed- and red-light cameras since Oct. 10, 2023, city records show.”
Had a sarcastic comment from
Had a sarcastic comment from the driver or passenger when crossing on a zebra
“thanks mate”
in my head “yep, thanks for not killing me” as I complete the crossing.
I’m not going to thank someone for stopping when they are required to. Total car brain to frame it as though drivers are doing peds a favour when they stop at a zebra.
I hate it when that happens –
I hate it when that happens – as you say, they are supposed to stop so why would you thank them for obeying the law? “Thank you so much for not burgling my house” “Thank you for not stabbing me” etc etc
I reckon this is the other
I reckon this is the other way round though. It’s like the burglar sarcastically saying “thanks, mate” when he sees you locking your door when you leave your house.
Or is the driver criticising the ped for not thanking the driver for stopping?
john_smith wrote:
That was how I read Hirsute’s story, yes.
Yes, they did not appreciate
Yes, they did not appreciate me failing to show thanks (and doffing my cap to the drivist overlords).
If someone stops when they don’t need to, then that’s a different matter.
I also don’t thank people for stopping at giveway lines at a sideroad.
Yes. When I’m on foot and
Yes. When I’m on foot and waiting to cross without priority, I don’t see any driver waving their thanks at me for letting them past.
HarrogateSpa wrote:
However, I get pedestrians thanking me if I’m about to turn into a side road (whilst cycling) and wave across pedestrians that are waiting to cross. I also get thanked if I stop at a zebra when it looks like someone is about to want to cross.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Well over generations we have learned that fast things on the roads don’t necessarily stop. That probably carries over to cyclists.
It’s interesting how people seated in motor vehicles automatically adopt a position of social superiority in relation to those outside. (Not limited just to “wrong ‘uns” either – though that is a thing). That’s not unique to motor vehicles – however this is perhaps slightly unusual in that so many people can “boost their status”.
To those who doubt the above (“well I am not like that!”) – like so many psychosocial effects it’s quite subtle and not easy to introspect. Sometimes we aren’t the best judge of “how it is with us”.
road.cc wrote:
Judging by the video, ‘Canadian Cormorant’ seems most appropriate, since that’s apparently 95% of what he’s spotting.
Given the synonym of Gee and
Given the synonym of Gee and his combativity awards in last year’s tour of Italy, The Goshawk of the Giro might work?
” Hop on miss and we’ll give
” Hop on miss and we’ll give you a lift to your destination, as it’s a bit hot for cycling “
Wife is hoping Essex police might, just might write a letter.
Essex police might, just
Essex police might, just might write a letter
A letter is the same as saying: do what you like, we don’t care
It’s come back as prosecution
It’s come back as prosecution !
Next step will be the bus company claiming they don’t know who the driver is.