The worst one yet? Sign warns cyclists “you are my targets”; Where are Winstanleys? Retailer not answering customers; No French sport until September; Cyclist told “go home” by pickup driver; 3T 3D-printing valves for dive masks + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Will the rain affect your riding plans?
After six months of solid rain, we’ve finally had a bucket load of sunshine this last month or so (ironically pretty much coinciding with when the lockdown began)… but it looks like the heavens are opening again, so will you stick to the turbo this week? Feel free to take part in our poll for no reason whatsoever.
Venice by boat-bike
From my kitchen #sustainable #transport #bike #cycling #venice #veneziapulita pic.twitter.com/Zt1mUDVQqk
— Venezia Pulita / Clean Venice (@VeneziaPulita) April 27, 2020
It’s been widely reported that the Venice canals are looking cleaner than ever and wildlife is even starting to return.
Bradley Wiggins hits the big 4-0
Happy birthday Sir Bradley Wiggins! 🎂
To celebrate @SirWiggo turning 40 years old, let’s take a look back at his comedy gold at last year’s Tour de France when he was on the back of a different kind of bike 🏍pic.twitter.com/MnKH5xUY9T
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) April 28, 2020
The 2012 Tour de France winner-turned charismatic motorbike commentator has turned 40. Eurosport have marked the ocassion with some of the best ‘Brad on a bike’ moments from last summer’s Tour de France.
More temporary cycle lanes popping up
I saw this while #walkingfromhome in West Ealing yesterday evening and have checked that it is what it seemed: the nearside lane repurposed so people can more distantly walk past the queue for Lidl that’s often there. Rough but ready; simple but effective for many. pic.twitter.com/q2kCLxQCL5
— John Dales 🌍 (@johnstreetdales) April 28, 2020
After we reported that a ‘keyworkers corridor’ has been created in Leicester, it appears more roads around the country are now being repurposed with less motor traffic on the roads.
Hackney Councillor Jon Burke blasted the government for “gaslighting” the public over temporary infrastructure, claiming that new guidance doesn’t give councils more power than before to implement safe cycling and walking space during the lockdown; however, Cycling UK’s Head of Campaigns Duncan Dollimore told road.cc:
“The new DfT guidance does make it easier for councils to satisfy the rules for advertising proposed traffic orders, which is sensible and we welcome, but it doesn’t give councils any other new powers.
“That doesn’t mean councils have an excuse to do nothing. As shown by Cycling UK’s guide for councils, there’s plenty they can do to create space now to make social distancing easier and relieve pressure on public transport for when lockdown is relaxed, either without any order or through an experimental traffic order made after seven days’ notice.
“Cycling UK would urge everyone who wants to see more space for social distancing, whether you’re walking, cycling or taking public transport to speak up now and get in touch with their council via our online tool.”
That online tool is here.
Lambeth Council spend £75,000 on emergency transport plans, including Cycleway upgrades and footpath widening
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) April 27, 2020
Lambeth Council have published a paper detailing a whole host of measures to make active travel safer during the pandemic. Propositions include working with Transport for London to create temporary cycle lanes on key routes, widening of pavements at pinch points and making Roupell Street and Cornwall Road in the north of the borough access-only for motor vehicles,
Strategy manager Simon Phillips said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in profound changes to travel patterns and how people are using streets in Lambeth and beyond.
“This is likely to continue even after the current emergency period has passed. There is an immediate need to enable physical distancing in order to limit contagion and prevent a second surge, and this cannot always be safely accommodated within existing transport networks and infrastructure.”
All the recommendations have been approved, and full details can be seen on the Lambeth Council website.
London Cycle Campaign sign up 200 key workers on free membership package
We’ve hit a milestone with our free NHS and hospital worker membership scheme – 200 signed-up and supported within 19 days of launch. Thank you to everyone who has shared this with friends and family – here’s to 200 more! 🩺🚲🏥 https://t.co/rKoDM8wAbo Photo by @JKBartsHeart 📸 pic.twitter.com/05kFSvwi8R
— London_cycling (@london_cycling) April 28, 2020
LLC hit the milstone 19 days after launching the scheme, which allows any London key worker with an NHS or hospital ID to take advantage of the free public liability insurance and shop discounts that come with an LCC membership.
Dr Jonathan Kelly of Bart’s Hospital, who helped to organise the collaboration, commented: “The free LCC member’s insurance is clearly a big draw, but my colleagues are finding the LCC support network really helpful. Being new, or ‘returnees’ to cycling, LCC has been a great go-to place for information and general advice on subjects ranging from route-finding to maintenance. Some have connected with their local LCC groups and have found the local advice really helpful also.”
London-based key workers can sign up here.
Derbyshire lecturer was told to "go home" by a pick-up driver when delivering food by bike, and claims abuse has worsened during lockdown
As a further example of some members of the public wrongly attempting to enforce government advice (see yesterday’s blog), Dr Kate Wilkinson Cross told the BBC that she has experienced “much more abuse” on her local roads around Derbyshire’s Hope Valley during the lockdown:
“Since lockdown I’ve experienced much more abuse than I have ever had while cycling in the valley”, said the De Montfort University Law Lecturer.
Wilkinson Cross added that when she was out delivering food by bike with her partner, a pickup truck driver shouted abuse and told them to “go home”:
The lecturer said she and her partner cycled together to deliver food to a friend locally – and a driver in a pick-up truck shouted abuse telling them to ‘go home’.
“The ironic thing was he was less than 2m away from me when it happened.
“I feel vulnerable going cycling on my own. I’m well within my rights to do so, but I don’t want to have to respond to abuse like this.
“It’s making me think twice about where I cycle.”
New Tech Eye Candy - Brooks England release special edition black and copper C17 saddle
Looking for a new saddle for your urban bike? Well, Brooks England has just released a rather fancy special edition of their C17 saddle.
It features a black “vulcanised organic cotton and natural rubber top combined with copper anodised rivets and a copper anodised backplate.”
We know that the C17 works well. John reviewed it back in 2014 and while there’s nothing structurally different about this new release, the “unique premium details” bump the price up from £105 to £140.
A correction
Yep, drivers of these things aren’t actually truck drivers (not when they’re driving a pick-up anyway)… apologies for the error.
Tour de France 1987 TV intro, remade
I re-made the @Channel4 @LeTour intro from the 1980’s shot-for-shot this weekend. Takes me back to falling for my lifelong obsession as an 11 year old in 1987… @millarmind @cycling_podcast @PhilLiggett @itvcycling @friebos @nedboulting @mrendell @RealStephens #TourdeFrance pic.twitter.com/dqEAZcakcb
— 1st Element Triathlon (@HydrogenCoach) April 28, 2020
Enjoy this huge slice of epic nostalgia, because it’s probably the closest we’re going to get to Tour de France action this summer as things stand.
More bike brands switching production: Primal making face masks, and 3T helping Decathlon to make diving masks
Brilliant… Entrepreneurs are well placed to get us out of this… good judgement, spot and take opportunity and able to assess risks worth taking. https://t.co/Mu6ZJFOYIC
— Deborah Meaden (@DeborahMeaden) April 28, 2020
To help their businesses survive and keep staff in work, it’s been reported that numerous brands in the bike industry have switched production to making protective products during the pandemic.
Apparel brand Primal – who make the totally legendary road.cc Evo jersey – have ceased making custom team gear to manufacture Deborah Meaden-approved washable face masks.
Meanwhile, Italian bike brand 3T told Triathlete that they’ve started to produce valves for Decathlon diving masks (that are being requested by hospitals to turn in to ventilators) using a 3D printer. Their General Manager Rene Wiertz said: “In extraordinary circumstances, we need to do extraordinary things, and priority one is saving lives. It turned out we could produce valves for Decathlon diving masks, so we did. Now we stopped producing cranks and are making as many valves as we can in the 3D printer. I hope this helps to save lives.
“Other than a human tragedy, this is also an economic disaster. We keep shipping bikes because, in the end, we need to save jobs, too. We hope we can turn the page on this terrible situation as soon as possible.”
Check out off.road.cc’s round-up of other brands who have altered production here.
Winstanleys online store inundated with negative reviews over order delays
The Wigan-based retailer – which also has a shop on the outskirts of the city – has received a number of complaints on Google Reviews, Truspilot and in the comments section on their last Facebook post dated 12th July 2018 from customers who claim they haven’t received their orders, or any communication regarding the orders’ status.
Winstanleys have posted COVID-19 updates on their website, which says they are “open online and delivering” and currently dealing with a backlog of emails from the 18th-19th April; however many of the complaints are from customers who claim to have ordered long before these dates. They also say they have temporarily closed their phone lines, frustrating many customers who want to speak to staff, and are taking on extra staff to speed up responses.
As we reported last week, many bike retailers are experiencing unprecedented demand worldwide described as ‘Black Friday levels’ of sales, with many people turning to two wheels to get their daily exercise… a manager of a Giant store in Sydney went as far as to say bikes are “the new toilet paper”.
Are Winstanleys simply unable to keep up with the increased demand, or is something else going on? We’ve asked Winstanleys for a statement.
Breaking: French Prime Minister says no sporting events in the country until September, pushing proposed Tour de France start date back further
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announces no sporting events in the country until September, effectively meaning the French League season is cancelled.
— Dan Roan (@danroan) April 28, 2020
The already rearranged Tour de France will most likely have to be rerranged again, as Edouard Philippe has just announced that mass sporting events cant resume until September. That means the French football and rugby leagues are essentially cancelled, and it’s expected to mean the 107th edition of the Tour de France can’t now start on 29th August as we reported earlier this month.
Full story to follow.
£10 million pledged for active travel in Scotland
The Scottish Government are pumping the funds into new pop-up infrastructure to better enable physical distancing during the pandemic. They say this will be supported by a package of guidance and support to local authorities from Transport Scotland and Sustrans Scotland for improvements such as widened pavements and cycle lanes.
Lee Craigie – a former pro mountain biker and now the Active Nation Commissioner for Scotland, commented: “Access to safe, pleasant places to exercise is good for everyone’s physical and mental health but it has taken this crisis for towns and cities across the world to realise the urgency with which space for walking, running, cycling and wheeling is needed, and especially in our urban areas.
“It has never been more important that we look after our own health and the health of members of our society who have limited access to such spaces.
“I welcome wholeheartedly the Scottish Government’s new guidance and funding measures so that local authorities might more easily reallocate space in favour of people being active. When life resumes its usual pace, let’s not forget how good it feels to enjoy having more space to move freely.”
"You are my targets": another worrying sign spotted on Welsh border
To any journo hacks that think their cynical misreporting of cyclists, e.g. long lens photo trickery, has no harmful effect, think again. As long as it sells papers though, eh? pic.twitter.com/PwxfCvfEVm
— Matt ‘Scourge’ James Esq. (@jimbo2112) April 28, 2020
The sign was reportedly spotted in Newtown, Powys, with a reply claiming that it was reported to the police and the person(s) reponsible were spoken to for making a public order infringement.
The original tweet attributes blame to the alleged use of ‘foreshortening’ by press photographers, a technique using a telephoto lens that makes things appear closer together than they actually are – The Times and The Sun were amongst UK titles accused of using the technique in articles that claimed cyclists were ignoring lockdown rules.
28 April 2020, 08:56
The fine cost the courier a day's wages, according to the IWGB union
Deliveroo rider in York fined by ‘confrontational’ police officer who grabbed his bike (+ video)
Union says council had said ban on bikes would be raised during lockdown - something the council denies
28 April 2020, 08:56
In response to customer feedback, Ritchey have updated the popular Outback
Ritchey reveals updated Outback steel adventure frameset with increased tyre clearance, flat-mount discs and more mount options
Ritchey reacts to customer feedback to bring the Outback bang up to date
28 April 2020, 08:56
Full story on the new updates from France
Updated: Confusion over how plans to exit lockdown may affect Tour de France
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe reveals plan to ease country out of confinement
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Latest Comments
maybe we shouldn't be making cars so big and heavy?
It's worth noting that Fife (where Dunfermline is) started implementing 20's in 2005. By 2015 all residential zones and town centres had them. The additional new ones in Dunfermline reported above are just for a small number of remaining streets to meet the guidance from the SG. Fife Council used traffic calming and compliance is very good as a result. The vast majority of people support them.
@Robert Hardy The lady was standing on a traffic island in the road giving every appearance of waiting for the cyclists to go by. She then, according to independent eye witnesses, for unknown reasons, stepped out in front of the rider when he was two metres away. Even at 15mph two metres takes 0.30 of a second; the baseline reaction time as employed by the guidance in the Highway Code is 0.67 seconds. To have had that amount of time to react (that's to even start pulling the brakes) the rider would have had to be travelling at 7.5mph. The lady's death was, sadly, caused by her own actions in stepping straight in front of a cyclist who had no chance to stop and would not have done even if he had been going at one third of his actual speed. That's why no criminal proceedings were taken against the cyclist. Just for your information, as you seem to think "it was a road in a public park" is somehow damning, the Outer Circle marks the outer perimeter of the park, and it is a very busy standard London road. The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard tried this "cyclists thundering through a public park" line with pictures of locations in the park where cyclists are banned, it has no validity.
@mdavidford I think we're conflating two different things here. 1. That the throttle did not cut off at 25kph. We can assume it will never cut out. 2. That the bike is capable of 58mph. Not a valid test with no load. I still hold firm on the nads, though.
@Robert Hardy indeed, just because its rated for 2 kW doesn't mean it's putting that out under no load. They probably looked up the model number.
I.e. that wasn't determined as a result of the 'pick it up and rev it' test. It may just mean they got back to the station and looked it up on the internet, or even that it advertised the output on the motor itself.
It was a road in public park and the spot where she was killed was in close proximity to warning signs to traffic of the need for caution as regards pedestrians. If they had been cycling with due caution it is much more likely that they could have stopped in time and very much less likely she would have been killed.
Cycles are better than cars per urban mile travelled in terms of injuries contributed to, but not by as much as to justify complacently dismissing the issue. I don't think it unreasonable for cycles to be expected to keep below 20mph in 20mph zones. That is a fair lick by any standards on a bike and considerably faster than the vast majority of other cyclists on the road.
Not quite sure how he determined the 2kW thats pretty close to the heat output of a 3 bar electric fire, if it wasn't moving to generate sufficient airflow it wouldn't take long to be glowing red! Certainly the motor couldnt demand and output that kind of power without the resistance of the road against the weight of rider and bike and some frighteningly aggressive acceleration.
@mattw "I think we already have a “safety system” on our roads – that interventions are evidence based." Partially. We can - for example motorway design/rules are a fairly good example of a broader "safety first" approach. (Possible exceptions being the removal of some the hard shoulders to add capacity - more on "capacity" later). BUT contrast what happens on other roads. Particularly our "multi-function" urban roads which act as both "places" (parking, lots of pedestrians about) and "routes" (motorists wanting to pass through). Under e.g. the Dutch system that would be a fundamental conflict of interests which would need to be resolved (streets / roads should serve a single function). There is a fundamentally different starting point: the Dutch system starts from "*everyone* can travel *safely*". But baked into the UK system is the notion of "flow of *motor* traffic" being at least as important as safety. Thus it ends up making it OK to provide for vulnerable road users effectively as an afterthought - and particularly at the expense of their convenience, because that motor traffic capacity is one of the most important things. (In the machinery of local government we have all kinds of metrics related to this which ensure that happens e.g. "journey time reduction" etc. which is what Chris Boardman et al. were looking at). This also helps explain why "our roads are relatively safer than other places in Europe in that context" We have achieved safety by literally driving the vulnerable road users off the streets! As many streets have effectively become roads it then becomes logical to all that they are "for" motor traffic, and people should just get in the car. That has become self-reinforcing. And for anyone left who can't / won't it's "well ... take your chances; or use the narrow footway, wait several minutes to cross the road at the lights or descend into the occasional unpleasant and socially unsafe pit of an underpass..." Note that NL road safety is still very good *despite* having a sizeable fraction of the population cycling, including the rather young and old. (Cycling is (in isolation) probably inherently a little more risky that walking - I don't have numbers though). And IIRC it's safer specifically for *pedestrians* there (despite all those dangerous cyclists...)
23 thoughts on “The worst one yet? Sign warns cyclists “you are my targets”; Where are Winstanleys? Retailer not answering customers; No French sport until September; Cyclist told “go home” by pickup driver; 3T 3D-printing valves for dive masks + more on the live blog”
I even went back to wet lube
I even went back to wet lube last night.
I predict my ride this afternoon will be quieter..
There’s a joke in there
There’s a joke in there somewhere…
That temporary lane outside
That temporary lane outside Lidl to allow pedestrians to stay further from the queue is all well and good (though from the pictures it looks as though there’s actually plenty of room on the pavement for both) but it’s going to push cyclists right out into traffic, isn’t it?
The space they’ve blocked off
The space they’ve blocked off is usually on street parking and a bus stop so if anything this makes the road a bit safer. I cycle down it a bit, but to be honest in West Ealing the bigger problem is mostly predestrians wandering out into the road without any awareness of what is going on. The junction with Northfields Avenue about quarter of mile from there is lethal though and if anything’s it’s now worse because the traffic is so much faster.
With all due respect I think
With all due respect I think you’re mistaken – it can’t be a bus stop and parking in that space, and if it’s parking, why is there a yellow line down it? In fact I just looked it up on Streetview, because I am that sad, and there’s a clear “No Parking 8AM-6.30PM” sign on the lampost right outside Lidl, by the phone boxes. Think you must be thinking of another stretch, or maybe you only ride it early morning/later evening? That bit looks proper dangerous to me, as you can see from the right-hand picture that it clearly leaves just enough room for two cars to pass in opposite directions. At a minimum it needs a “Narrow lanes, do not overtake cyclists” sign, I’d say.
At the risk of the most
At the risk of the most pointless argument ever….
The red bit of road the photo is taken from is a bus stop. The space they’ve blocked off is usually reserved for loading only- so you are right that there is no parking, but loading isn’t parking.
It’s also a super busy bus route so you usually have to negotiate busses, cars, delivery vans and pedestrians.
i live half a mile from this shop- it’s good to see Ealing council do something to try and reduce risk in a crowded bit of town. It irritates me to see people automtically look to criticise a sensible decision without knowing the facts.
At the risk of further
At the risk of further annoying someone clearly determined to take offence, so when you said it’s on-street parking, it isn’t. It just seems odd to me for a cycling site to be showing pictures of a scheme which, whatever its merits, quite clearly cuts down the space for cyclists and pushes them further out into the centre of the road. It’s captioned “more temporary cycle lanes popping up” when it’s clearly nothing of a sort, not a cycle lane at all. Why can’t Lidl customers queue next to the storefronts, most of which are presumably closed, and passing pedestrians walk kerbside, it looks like there’s plenty of room there to maintain a 2m gap. However, if you want to get irritated, do be my guest.
Is it a boat-bike or bike
Is it a boat-bike or bike-boat?
Winstanleys has been
Winstanleys has been notorious for years. They’re one of those outfits that advertise everything as in stock at too good to be true prices. It seems hit or miss as to wether they actually order the product after taking money and refunds have to be chased. I’m guessing the problem is exacerbated by not being able to source the out of stock stuff from distributors at the mo.
Stuk wrote:
Well Winstanleys were ok when I ordered a bike from them some years ago. It came as ordered and was a really good deal, as it’d been hanging up in a window as a display item (it was a previous year’s model and therefore cut price).
I guess you were alright then
I guess you were alright then. I became aware of the mass of negative feedback some years ago when an “in stock” tyre I ordered never arrived. Lots of posts similar to those mentioned in the article involving much more expensive item than I ordered (and yes I wish i’d checked them out first). I did get a refund eventually.
Same with Tweeks. I’ve had a
Same with Tweeks. I’ve had a nightmare with them recently. They cancelled an ‘in stock’ order without explanation (after a week) then a few weeks later retook the payment (£100) without authorisation. Finally got an email after I posted a negative review but they didn’t have an explanation for the unauthorised payment. I’m avoiding them and advising others to avoid them for the foreseeable.
Not aimed at Primal at all,
Not aimed at Primal at all, but I’m worried by all the masks coming out the woodwork online… is there any sort of certification or standards needed, or is any cloth material over the face better than nothing?
Proper masks are for those in
Proper masks are for those in constant contact or threat. DIY masks are to stop you spreading the virus.
I’d certainly expect a lot risk compensation by the public if we are to wear them.
There are various pros and
There are various pros and cons to the wearing of masks.
I hope to finally start work in a couple of weeks, bit of covid work, and I will have to use the train as part of the commute, I fully expect to be ‘asked’ to wear a mask. I have a fresh filter for my Respro, and am prepared to make a few out of t-shirts too. Just for the train and station bit.
One of the cons, good masks with valves (like the Respro) could actually produce more aerosols than without. They accumulate a great deal of condensation, which almost sprays out of the valve.
And the moisture build up in a fabric home made mask could also do something similar. As I say pros and cons.
I think the confusion with
I think the confusion with masks is that they never say whether they are talking in terms of protecting the wearer, or protecting everyone else. And from what. So the arguments swirl back and forth at complete cross purposes.
My simple take in the present situation is that I should wear a mask to stop stuff coming [b]out [/b]of my mouth when I talk, drops of spit potentially containing virus. So it does not have to be a type-approved medical grade job. Just the sort of thing worn by food workers for the same reason.
If there is already an aerosol of virus in the air I breathe in it won’t stop that. But if everybody else wore one then there would be no such aerosol to begin with.
I take your point about the Respro valves blowing out an aerosol (do they do that?). I assume such a mask is designed to protect the wearer, not the others, but unless it can filter out aerosols coming in then can it even protect you?
Sriracha wrote:
You are on the right tracks, but the ‘non medical grade’ masks don’t stop all the stuff comming out of your mouth, just reduce it.
So it only reduces the chance of spreading the virus, not eliminate it completely.
I can confirm that the Primal
I can confirm that the Primal masks are not clinical masks, although they are guaranteed to stop at least 80% of all droplets going into the air. The masks include a slot for an additional filter, should you wish greater protection.
Its an interesting one hey, but I’d argue if they were clinical grade masks it would be better to provide the NHS with supplies. However they are not.
As mentioned, the idea of wearing facemasks is to reduce the risk of you contaminating other environments, not to stop environments contaminating you. If we all made efforts to not contaminate, then there would be nothing out there to contaminate you with. Or something like that.
I don’t really know why, but
I don’t really know why, but I’m thinking that the “threatening local” probably put the nasty sign up on their own property.
Now that would take a proper level of stupid…
He did apparently. Whole
He did apparently. Whole thing on facebook with a local club member filling in the details, including local plod saying 50 mile rides are fine for club riders
There are two little places
There are two little places called Felindre in Powys. One is south of Newtown on the B-road to Knighton. I’d guess this is the one that is referred to. Looking on Strava, the riders who’ve been that way recently are all local.
The other Felindre is a tiny hamlet on a quiet back lane near Berriew. You’d only usually go through there if you were doing the Tregynon loop from/to Newtown.
I keep wondering about all
I keep wondering about all these “Stay away if you ain’t local!” signs. Does the vigilante know – by sight – every single local in their village? How do they otherwise know that they are correctly enacting the Wrath of Gove on “tourists” and not incorrectly punishing genuine locals?
brooksby wrote:
..Of course, they’re all related…