Council update on cycle lane’s “excellent progress” interrupted by… motorist driving into segregated infrastructure; Alaphilippe heads off on two-hour training ride AFTER Dwars Door Vlaanderen; Our new favourite pro cyclist + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
London's most literal floating bus stop...
‘Hi, mate, yeah they just want one of those floating bus stops on Park Lane… yeah, you know the ones, I’ll leave it to you, you know what I mean…’
‘No problem, boss…’
Can we get some drainage in the park lane cycle lane pic.twitter.com/ouYSLRvYnV
— CycleGaz™ (@cyclegaz) March 30, 2023
Floating bus stops have been the hot topic of late, first with the Sunday Telegraph being accused of using divisive rhetoric in “death trap” floating bus stops article. Then, a week later, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said “more needs to be done” as he pledged to “raise awareness” among London cyclists for improving safety of floating bus stops. Bloody hell, Sadiq, flooding the things until their impassable is a bit extreme…
Oh, also last weekend, London’s cycling chief said he was “punched in the face” by cyclist he confronted for not waiting for pedestrian at floating bus stop.
REVIEW: Supersapiens Glucose Monitoring System Subscription
Dwars door Vlaanderen hero Oier Lazkano shows his ruthless side... at the dinner table
Oier Lazkano. Chances are that name was new to you too yesterday. The 23-year-old Movistar rider spent all day in the breakaway, looked to have lost his chance for a podium when caught by the group containing the leaders, went on the attack again and held off the peloton by no more than a second, to the delight of every cycling fan watching…
Teammate Matteo Jorgenson wasn’t surprised, however, having witnessed “king” Lazkano’s tenacity and “intensity” first-hand… at the dinner table…
Alaphilippe heads off on two-hour training ride AFTER Dwars door Vlaanderen
After Christophe Laporte’s Dwars door Vlaanderen win as the rest of the peloton headed off to their hotels for a warm shower and some scran, Julian Alaphilippe, fuelled by superstition, headed off for another two hours of training.
The story, first reported by Cyclingnews, is that the former world champion is “old school” and “superstitious” and possibly just wanted some punishment for Soudal-QuickStep’s continued lack of success in the races they used to dominate.
“I’m off to train,” the Frenchman said at the finish. “I’ve still got two hours to do.”
The comments were backed up by team boss Patrick Lefevere who added: “There is progress with a view to Sunday” and pointed out his superstitious rider rode an extra 40km after the 2021 Primus Classic, a week before winning his second rainbow jersey.
Can the last-minute cramming land Alaphilippe another big one?
"I'm pleased at the progress we've made": The view from the council
Cllr Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport…
I’m pleased at the progress we’ve made so far on our work to introduce a fully segregated new cycle lane along the Shinfield Road. The segregated cycle lane links to key centres of employment in Reading, such as the Royal Berkshire Hospital, The University and, of course, the Town Centre itself.
As part of our wider Climate Emergency Strategy, this work underlines the council’s wholehearted commitment to tackling poor air quality which we know exists in parts of Reading. It has never been more important to create realistic alternatives to the private car, not only in terms of tackling congestion and air quality but also for the residents and local communities who live on key routes.
The work on the Shinfield Road precedes our now approved plans to implement further cycling and walking improvements stretching from Berkeley Avenue along the Bath Road to Castle Hill, then running over the IDR to Castle Street, as well as our recent decision to make permanent the fully segregated cycle lane along Sidmouth Street.
We have achieved significant improvements in other areas, including the routes on Redlands Road and Christchurch Road, delivered as part of the first phase of funding. We have also just submitted our bid for Tranche 4 funding to the Department for Transport – and we should find out if we’ve been successful by the end of March. This funding would then enable us to make improvements at the junction of Sidmouth Street and Queens Road to provide safer cycle links through to Kennet Side.
"Less than optimal": How your disc rotors shouldn't look...
Mamma mia…
Less than optimal…
Check your disc rotors, people. pic.twitter.com/xt4ZARTvek
— Jon Vernon (@OnlyInDevon) March 30, 2023
Wout van Aert "almost killed" after receiving "harrowing" punishment pass from horn-blaring lorry driver
Some shocking news from the Netherlands this morning…
Adrian Chiles strikes again
Don’t worry, we’re safe…
English students spend a fortune to go to university. Shouldn’t that buy them more teaching and less partying? | Adrian Chiles https://t.co/hLlUTjjA6m
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 29, 2023
No cargo bike ramblings today either…
Why are today’s TV dramas so devastatingly difficult to follow? | Adrian Chiles https://t.co/G8xDpEopxg
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 30, 2023
Dylan van Baarle OUT of Tour of Flanders
The Omloop curse continues. No male rider has ever won the Opening Weekend’s main event and the Tour of Flanders in the same season. The only woman to do it? A certain Lizzie Deignan in 2016. The men’s wait will definitely be going on to 2024 (at least) as Jumbo Visma have announced Dylan van Baarle is out of this Sunday’s second Monument of the season.
🇧🇪 #RVV23
We can’t wait for Sunday!💥 This is our team for the Ronde van Vlaanderen. pic.twitter.com/KB1UZb6dlW
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) March 30, 2023
I guess Jumbo will have to settle for the Van Aert, Laporte, Benoot trident… it’s a tough life…
Insync Bikes to cut jobs and leave Manchester headquarters due to "huge erosion" in demand
The bad news from the bike industry keeps on coming…
The Manchester Evening News reports that jobs will be lost at Insync Bikes, with the company also set to leave its Manchester headquarters after racking up losses of almost £4 million.
The news comes after a “huge erosion” in demand during 2022, an asssessment backed up by the Bicycle Association’s findings that UK bike sales fell to their lowest level in 20 years last year.
According to account filed with Companies House, Insync made a pre-tax loss of £3.7 million for the year to 31 March 2022. A statement from the board suggested post-Covid supply chains “presented some challenges”…
“2022 saw the group incurring losses on account of high upstream and downstream inventories across bards and channels. This has resulted in serious margin erosion coupled with socio-economic factors,” it read.
“The group continues to receive unwavering support from the group, with £4.85m of equity being introduced by Hero Cycles during the financial period under review.”
Insync is to seek a further £3 million cash injection from Indian parent company Hero Cycles during the next 12 months.
Elsewhere in the bike industry in recent times…
> Specialized slashes jobs in latest sign of cycle industry downturn
> Zwift makes fresh wave of redundancies with 15 per cent of workers laid off
> Look mum no hands! announces closure of Old Street cycle café
> Halfords says cycling market is down 20 per cent year on year
> Cycling industry layoffs: Strava and Wahoo cut 15% of workforce
Council update on cycle lane's "excellent progress" interrupted by... motorist driving into segregated infrastructure
This scene must have missed the cut from Little Britain… the local councillor proudly showing off his hard work… meanwhile in the background (at around 40 seconds)…
Perhaps there’s another clip of him praising the bin men, meanwhile behind they lob rubbish into people’s gardens? This bit of live blog council gold came was spotted by road.cc reader Mike who thought we might like the delicious irony of the council “extolling how safe the new segregated cycle lanes are”.
“Just look for the OpenReach van in the background about 40 seconds in, for a clear demonstration of the safety of this new lane,” he promised and boy did the video not let us down.
I’ve called it a segregated lane due to the councillor’s wording, and I think I already know the answer to this, but can a segregated lane really be segregated if the driver of a great big van can go straight into it and have to swerve out to avoid inadvertently mowing down an innocent council official? Yeah, as I said, I think I know the answer…
“Our plans to improve cycling and walking along the Shinfield Road are progressing well,” the council says, although based on the comments, the locals aren’t so sure…
One reply called it dangerous, while someone else said it is “the most confusing cycling lane in the area”.
“On the road at bus stops, on the pavement in other areas, on a half pavement in other areas, and then at the top going to Shinfield your forced directly into the traffic light just before the traffic lights, and your probably fall off looking over your shoulder before you hit by a speeding car beating you to the narrow section at the traffic lights?”
Now that sounds familiar…
30 March 2023, 08:07
30 March 2023, 08:07
30 March 2023, 08:07
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Latest Comments
Mountain bikers don't care about obeying the law!
It's worth pointing out that unlike cycling on a pavement (i.e. a footway alongside a carriageway), cycling on a footpath is not a crime; it is a civil tort against the landowner. That means it's not a police matter, and other people using the path have no standing to complain either (although of course you should still be careful and considerate of other people, regardless of the status of the right of way). Indeed, without going into a full lecture on the history of Rights of Way and the noble tradition of mass trespass (e.g. Kinder Scout), there is an argument that the law implicitly condones such "illegal" use of paths, given that new rights of way can be created by members of the public demonstrating that they have used the path without permission but "as of right" for long enough, without the landowner taking action to curb such use. As an additional point of information, I would note that the offence of causing injury by "wanton or furious" cycling applies anywhere. I'm no lawyer, but I struggle to see that the designation of the right of way would have much sway, but rather any case would rely on the broader context and whether the manner of the cycling was safe given the terrain and conditions.
@Rendel Harris I get close-passed by more riders than cars in Richmond Park. Maybe I should ride faster.
@perce I'm normally a big fan of your excellent posts perce but I must take issue with this one. The idea that Lord Khan of Tooting would ever, in any circumstances, have been friends with Nigel is surely beyond the bounds of even your fertile imagination?
Not to downplay the seriousness of bikejacking, but Mr.Taylor might want to consider that fact that many riders have been put off using the park at weekends due to the aggressive, intimidatory behaviour of members of his own club, who are notorious for riding as if the park is a private training facility just for themselves, and that's a pretty sad state of affairs as well.
In Wiggle/CR's absence, what are people using nowadays? I've been out of it for a while, but now returned.
I did a multi-day ride many years ago with someone who was a better cyclist than me by every conceivable measure but this one. I remember watching them up ahead on a quiet road trying to teach themselves - snatching brief seconds with their hands off the bars before losing balance and grabbing on again. 'Watch this' I said to the rest of my group, before I accelerated to catch them, then nonchalantly sailed past them uphill riding no hands. Very satisfying. I've been able to ride most of mine hands-free, but had a Specialized Allez that really didn't cooperate. Haven't been brave enough to try it on a Brompton or cargo bike though. And still can't do a wheelie, or any of the other things on Jo's palmares.
@Hamster now that is an exciting development. I do remove/amend signs but reporting them for flyposting is much more satisfying.
@Slartibartfast If the sign-maker can be caught in the act then the council Environmental Health can get a report for littering/fly-tipping. Hours of endless fun for that person trying to explain away a conviction. Don't report unless you're prepared to go to court though. Or remove the litter and put in the nearest bin with a sticker explaining how littering is a crime.
What would make driving safer for motorists is if they stopped driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and driving faster than the speed limit.
58 thoughts on “Council update on cycle lane’s “excellent progress” interrupted by… motorist driving into segregated infrastructure; Alaphilippe heads off on two-hour training ride AFTER Dwars Door Vlaanderen; Our new favourite pro cyclist + more on the live blog”
Looks like there’s a tiny
Looks like there’s a tiny kerb on that ‘segregated’ cycle lane – not high enough to keep motorised vehicles off it, but just enough to wipe out a cyclist trying to join it from the road.
Needs. More. Bollards.
Needs. More. Bollards.
(but life just needs more bollards)
I’ve just realised what the
I’ve just realised what the
.
s are in Flintshire Lad’s posts – he’s installed bollards in his posts!
You just had to do it, didn’t
You just had to do it, didn’t you? Bang goes productivity again, and this time it was even worse, from the World Bollard Association twitter feed I fell down the @TerribleMaps twitter feed rabbit hole!
My life is forever changed.
….. but in a good way.
….. but in a good way.
My boss wouldn’t be so happy
My boss wouldn’t be so happy if he found out
SimoninSpalding wrote:
I won’t tell him if you don’t.
HoarseMann wrote:
I can confirm it is exactly that.
It’s almost like they want to
It’s almost like they want to create animosity between motorists and cyclists.
So that’s what they’ve been
So that’s what they’ve been doing on Shinfield road. Must go and have a look. Any cycle lane would be an improvement, to be fair.
Miller wrote:
Prepare for dissapointment. It was better before.
Be careful what you wish for,
Be careful what you wish for, on Wokingham road past Palmer Park they’ve painted lines to encourage drivers to hurl abuse if you stray out of the puddles and drains at the side of the road. I used to use Shinfield Road every morning and it was wide enough that cars and bikes could co-exist quite happily.
Yep, a really narrow strip
Yep, a really narrow strip righhgggggght next to the cars. The entire “lane” is within the door zone. Lethal.
bobbypuk wrote:
— bobbypukSo in typical UK planner fashion, they’ve put a cycle lane in where it wasn’t needed, and doubtless ignored the places where it is needed.
Never mind. Cycle lane provision: box ticked.
He said ‘separate pedestrians
He said ‘separate pedestrians from cyclists’. Because cyclists colliding with pedestrians is obviously a bigger problem than drivers colliding with cyclists or pedestrians. And drivers believe cycle lanes are to get cyclists out of their way rather than to protect cyclists by preventing drivers from being where cyclists are. Whilst this mindset persists cycling will never get the required uplift in usage to meet the net zero or whatever targets.
Dont they call it light
Dont they call it light segregation when it’s like that ? Its technically segregated,but that some mindless idiot in a van can plough through it, is largely beside the naming conventions.
Awavey wrote:
I believe the official term is “half-arsed”
Awavey wrote:
Light segregation=no segregation.
No debate from me on that,
No debate from me on that, merely confirming the terminology is accurate.
Just like a “traffic free route” is really just a path with a bike symbol painted on it
RE: cycle track – it though
RE: cycle track – it though it’s more like a lane. What’s missing is:
a) Separation. As shown in the video you can seamlessly move from road to lane because they are about 4 inches apart.
b) A vertical kerb with decent upstand on the road side to “nudge” vehicles back into the road.
c) A different – standard – colour from the road and the footway so that everyone knows what this space is.
Come on people – it’s not rocket surgery… Would you be confused about “where I go” in the image below?
Also note the “forgiving kerb” – it marks the side of the cycle path and indicates to pedestrians where their space is by a heigh difference. It nudges cyclists back into the lane safely while also not reducing the cycleable space which high vertical wheel-grabbing pedal-impeding kerbs may do. I think the UK is twitchy about these though because “trip hazard” / disabled access and standards now require at most a very small heigh difference?
WHERE ARE THE BOLLARDS? WE
WHERE ARE THE BOLLARDS? WE NEED MORE BOLLARDS
WBA
WBA
You’ll notice that the
You’ll notice that the “separating space” / “divider” is also used to put the hard vertical “street furniture” (lights here) – and temporary signs could go here too.
Together with enforcement (!) maybe a reasonable compromise? After all we wouldn’t want to stop the ambulances attending a multi-car pile up from using the cycle lane and footway.
Yes – in the UK it would probably take an anti-tank ditch to keep the motor vehicles off. Even then you’d need some kind of missile system to also stop the airbourne ones. Give it a generation for natural selection to take place…
chrisonatrike wrote:
Anti-tank ditch… yes they have one of those round the corner on Pepper Lane – you can’t really tell from Streetview, but the ruts in the verge are about 8 inches deep – there are two lanes at the traffic lights but their is no way to access the left turn only lane due because the approach is generally 30% blocked by vehicles queing for the straight/right turn lane – which results in drivers of lorries, vans and (if they don’t care about their undercarriage) cars, to mount the verge to squeze past the queing traffic.
I didn’t notice so many
I didn’t notice so many bollards in the Netherlands. It was a while back though and I wasn’t specifically looking. I know they’re in favour of removing these where possible from cycle lanes or pedestrian spaces. At some point you get more casualties from people walking / cycling into them than protective benefit from deterring cars. Of course it takes some time until you’ve trained the population…
chrisonatrike wrote:
It may not be rocket surgery but it is brain science which seems to be as difficult if not more so for anyone in authority.
chrisonatrike wrote:
— chrisonatrikeGiven the vast amount of advice about it which is ignored and the repeated multiple failures, bicycle science is considerably more difficult than rocket surgery, at least to UK planners.
Forgiving kerbs – based on
Forgiving kerbs – based on research – seem to work OK where the height is 50-60mm for can users.
I can look out the project report if I have to.
That Park Lane flood is
That Park Lane flood is particularly bad, but it is a general clear design fault with London’s new infrastructure. Humps – mainly for bus stop bypasses, but not only those ones – create floods whenever there is heavy rain. It’s a common feature of CS7 through South London, and I’ve also seen it on CS3.
That councillor’s “cycle lane
Ah, Tony Page, referred to by local Tories as a useful idiot.
That councillor’s “cycle lane” is local to me and it’s absolutely f8ckin terrible, dangerous and I will practically never use it, it’s right outside the front entrance of Reading Uni and I’ll be going that way this evening. It’s basically an extra pavement with an annoyingly/dangerous small kerb. Complete waste of active travel money. See also Wokingham Road “cycle lane” debacle. I think I counted 57 bicycles painted on one side of the road after they removed the offending “lane”.
Shinfield road was massively wide, allowing plenty of room to overtake, then they recently introduced charging for parking on the next road along, Pepper Lane, which is fricking awful due to the ruts where you would cycle just wide of the parked car doors. The parking charges (in a different borough) displaced these idiots to park on the Shinfield road, both sides, completely clogging the main road for all.
Then they very recently put double yellow lines on it, problem solved, pretty much…
Except the double yellows were only to keep it clear so they could spend months removing road space to put these extra pavements in. The kerb is high enough to cause a problem for a cyclist but low enough to be easily mounted by a motorvehicle. (I have had far more dangerous overtakes during the short period of roadworks!)
What you don’t see, behind the camera, is that the lane just suddenly ends about 2m before the traffic lights and the road is only about 1.5 m wide there.
I think the lane going into town just ends on the actual pavement before the side road and traffic lights outside the Uni entrance, barely 100m from the filming location.
I don’t know what idiots come up with these designs or sign them off but I really don’t think they ever use a bike.
How high are those kerbs?
How high are those kerbs?
Is it still a 40mph road?
Road to the bike lane, my
Road to the bike lane, my estimate it is around 30mm. It’s a 30mph road.
Indeed, th Wokingham road
Indeed, th Wokingham road painted door zone death trap was awfull,and this new design is appalling.
There’s no double yellow
There’s no double yellow lines on the cycle lane side of the road, nor does it appear to be signed as an urban clearway or parking control zone. So it appears that parking on the cycle lane is fair game at the moment too. Pointless.
Not 100% on this but
Not 100% on this but hopefully this is below LTN 1/20 standard so won’t get money in future unless they up their game. (I know, LTN 1/20 isn’t perfect and there are e.g. “absolute minimums” which people will reach for immediately).
AFAIK 1/20 is silent on the
AFAIK 1/20 is silent on the minimum elevation of a protected cycle track above the carriageway.
I think that offending van
I think that offending van may actually be someone down my road, he lost his 14-year-old dog on Friday. I shall check the number plate and maybe he’s now famous.
ChrisB200SX wrote:
It was not the guy down my road.
I did not use the lane going into town yesterday as it is part of the pavement and just stops, which is no good to me at 25mph coming up to the traffic lights.
I did have to stop for the cars that had just overtaken me and were now blocking the road due to the incompetent drivers trying to park outside the shops just after the lights though 🙁
The kerb is high enough to
The kerb is high enough to make transitioning from the main carriageway onto the cycleway difficult/dangerous for a cyclist (if you miss the entry point) – but low enough that a motorist probably won’t even notice it. Well done RBC, you’ve excelled yourselves.
An then further up the road after Pepper Lane we have an edge of carriageway marking about 18 inches from the kerb (which most motorists and some cyclists mistake for a cycle lane)
An idiot motorist at work was
An idiot motorist at work was sure it was a cycle route.
It’s a form of “nudge” that’s meant to make the drivists knock a few mph off their speed.
I’ve never really understood
I’ve never really understood why the white line is there, it’s bizarre, it certainly doesn’t stop people speeding. They could have painted it further out from the kerb and made it a cycle at no extra cost, the road is more than wide enough.
Where’s the car going in that
Where’s the car going in that Streetview image?
So not enough of a kerb to
So not enough of a kerb to separate the cycle path from the main carriageway, and we know how much attention many motorists pay to the painted white lines… I would have loved to see the headlines, had Cllr Page actually been taken out by the BT van or the black car following it…
Reading Council started the
Reading Council started the work back in September 2022. By my estimates, they’ve laid about 250m of tarmac so far. At this rate, I reckon they’ll finish the project in 2024. From the number of times I’ve passed the area, it’s just two workers and they’re usually finished around 4.30pm.
The cycle lane isn’t fit for purpose, as demonstrated vehicles can just drift into the lane. I can guarantee delivery drivers will park in this lane. It’s also really bumpy to ride on, apparently they hand flatten the tarmac instead of using a roller.
Tonyt is incorrect to state this is the first segregated lane in Reading, there are at least 3 others in Reading, though they’re all very short.
It’s a complete waste of money, and poorly designed.
Have road.cc approached the
Have road.cc approached the council for a statement on this matter? I mean, their own videography unit has demonstrated that the new cycle path isn’t as safe as they claim…
This afternoon I cycled on
This afternoon I cycled on the new bit of cycle lane by Reading uni. It is short and disappears just before the traffic lights, no surprises there. But it is separated from vehicle space by a low kerb so that’s something. I don’t think delivery drivers will park on it but only because there’s no houses on that side. For what it is, it has taken an inordinately long time to build.
I rode on the University side
I rode on the University side towards Peppard Lane, its quite bumpy. The opposite side for sure delivery drivers will park on it., Perhaps that was intentional in the design
I really don’t understand why
I really don’t understand why the Guardian pay Chiles – who married Guardian editor, Kath Viner, in 2022 – to write this rubbish.
Nor do many Guardian readers
Nor do many Guardian readers
They have to spend their ill
They have to spend their ill-gotten gains from a century of tax dodging on *something* .
🙂
He represents in the guardian
He represents in the guardian the viewpoint of a simple guileless gammon, puzzled by the modern world.
Steve K wrote:
I think the answer is in your question. I genuinely didn’t know he was married to her. It does kinda explain it. Disappointing, nevertheless.
https://www.bristol247.com
https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/no-money-available-to-fix-tiny-bike-lane-along-busy-road/
That should be included in
That should be included in the Planning Gain contributions of the development.
Given it is L&G they may even be guilt-tripped into a contribution.
mattw wrote:
Bristol City Council has form for developers promising funds but then going back and saying, “Look, if we make that contribution then this development won’t be profitable… Can we let it slide, this time?” and the council saying, “Yeah, that’s fine…”.
brooksby wrote:
And even if the council do insist on something during the planning phase (rare), the developers often don’t bother to complete the wider works. If they do get called out on it (again, rare) the ‘ran out of money’ excuse is a perfect get-out-of-jail-free card. Complete farce.
Ride London have confirmed
Ride London have confirmed the teams for the Ride London Classique today, but theres no Team SdWorx, which means no Lorena Wiebes…interesting
Also can we mention both
Also can we mention both Dwars door Vlaanderen winners received stuffed toy horses as prizes, which Demi Vollering has confirmed she has named Zlatana after the horse she met at Strade Bianche 🙂