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“He wants bikes in traffic lanes. Give him what he wants”: Cyclists urged to “slow every street down to bicycle speed” and ride in middle of lane amid premier’s war on cycle paths + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“He wants bikes in traffic lanes. Give him what he wants”: Cyclists urged to “slow every street down to bicycle speed” and ride in middle of lane amid premier’s war on cycle paths
As you may have seen on yesterday’s live blog, over in Canada, Doug Ford’s been at it again.
The Ontario premier is forging ahead with his longstanding aim to rip out Toronto’s cycling infrastructure, with work beginning this week on removing 19 kilometres’ worth of bike lanes from the Canadian city.
Ford, as who back in 2022 rather wisely conducted a TV news interview on road safety while driving through a snowstorm, has made it his mission in recent years to limit the construction of cycle lanes in Ontario and rip out some recently installed ones, which he colourfully described as “absolute insanity right now”.
According to the Progressive Conservative Party politician, Toronto’s cycle lanes need to be removed because motorists should have priority on busy city streets – and that cyclists should simply be shunted onto “secondary roads”.
In 2024, Ford’s government passed legislation (the Reducing Gridlock and Saving You Time Act, in case you forgot) giving itself not only the power to remove the 19km of protected lanes and replace them with car lanes, but also to block municipalities from building any new bike infrastructure that ‘reduced space’ for vehicles.
“These are some of the busiest streets in all of North America. We need to restore them to vehicle lanes to stop the congestion. That’s exactly what we were elected on and that’s the exact mandate we got,” his transport minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said a few weeks ago.
Despite a concerted legal effort by cycling campaigners to stop the removal, work began on Tuesday to rip out the doomed cycle lanes. And that’s where things got messy (or exciting, depending on your point of view), as local cyclists gathered on the infrastructure to physically block the work taking place, leading to two arrests for “mischief”.
And while that method proved extremely effective, albeit briefly, one Toronto cyclist has a longer-term plan to prove Doug Ford and his cronies wrong.
“Doug Ford is not getting rid of bike lanes, he is turning all lanes into multi-vehicle lanes,” Mike Palecek suggested in a post on Facebook, which has attracted quite a bit of attention both in Canada and across the pond at home.
“Bikes, take the lane. Ride in the centre where it is safest. Slow every street down to bicycle speed. This is completely legal.
“Doug Ford wants bikes in traffic lanes. Give him what he wants.
“If every cyclist did this, Toronto would be closed for business. And Doug Ford might realise bike lanes were not just for the safety of cyclists, but for the convenience of motorists.”
Thoughts?
British Cycling's former commercial manager claims damning survey was commissioned because of his complaint over bullying to CEO
Jack Lindsay – who was at British Cycling between 2024-25 – has taken to social media to claim that CEO Jon Dutton commissioned the rider and staff survey that revealed a “toxic” culture at the organisation because of a complaint he made about an executive member of its leadership team.
While it’s not immediately clear if Lindsay’s complaint was the only reason the survey was commissioned, he says Dutton did so “…as a consequence of [Lindsay’s] complaint.”
“The complaint covered dozens of incidents over six months, spanning multiple categories of alleged bullying”, Lindsay said on Linkedin.
“Most were partially substantiated. There would be no apology, and I was told of no action against the individual I had sought to hold responsible.
“By the time Jon Dutton called, I had already resigned.
“It didn’t feel as though British Cycling’s commitment to “zero tolerance” for bullying applied to the Executive. It was acknowledged in the call that over a period of months I had repeatedly raised incidents of bullying by a member of the Executive with members of the Senior Leadership Team and that management had chosen to address them informally.”
Lindsay goes on to say that there are parallels between current experiences and UK’s Sport’s equally damning 2017 report into British Cycling, and that there is still “a tendency within the Senior Leadership Team to handle complaints informally and quietly”: “It is not acceptable to continue subjecting staff to a leadership team that have perpetuated this toxic culture”, he added.
Georgia Holt, a Commonwealth Games medallist and Paracycling world champion on the track, commented under Lindsay’s post: “As someone who has also been within GBCT, I’m so sorry to have read of [Lindsay’s] experience here and unfortunately experienced the same toxic culture that athletes and staff described.
“The media reports this week are just a peek under the rug at a large scale operation that hasn’t had significant scrutiny because the medals keep coming in!”
“Take the lane. That’s the protest I want to see”
It turns out Mike Palecek isn’t the only Canadian cyclist who reckons the long-term approach to annoying Doug Ford, and forcing him to reinstate the bike lanes he’s currently ripping out, is the best solution.
Palecek’s plea for Toronto-based cyclists, soon to be bereft of 19km of protected cycling infrastructure, to “take the lane” and ride in primary position is gaining traction online.
“TAKE THE LANE. That’s the protest I want to see,” Janeski wrote on BlueSky, sharing a link to an article (not one of ours, I should note) on riding “defensively”.
“If Destructive Doug is removing bike lanes, then cyclists must take the lane whenever necessary to stay safe.”
Quoting an Ontario police service’s bike safety recommendations, she continued: “You may occupy any part of a lane when your safety warrants it. Never compromise your safety just for the convenience of others.”
> Monday moaning: Why don’t cyclists stick to the left of the lane?
“When cyclists rightfully clog the primary lanes, drivers will demand they be given their own lane,” Jane added.
Another user replied: “A lot of drivers are more likely to demand they be publicly executed, but yes, #TakeTheLane.”
Well, there is that, I suppose…
Cycle lane chaos in Toronto continues as Paralympic swimmer arrested during protest
Things are getting increasingly heated in Toronto as cycling campaigners continue their protest against Doug Ford’s bike lane removal plans.
Here is Aly Van Wyck-Smart being arrested today.
🎥 dani3lp3rry
— Tom Flood (@tomflood.bsky.social) October 15, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Footage has emerged of officers arresting Aly Van Wyck-Smart, a swimmer who represented Canada at the 2021 Paralympics, and forcibly lifting her into the back of a police car yesterday.
According to reports, the 24-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, was arrested “for mischief and obstructing police” after “repeatedly defying” orders to stop impeding workers attempting to dismantle the cycling infrastructure on Bloor Street West.
Toronto Police arresting the Paralympian that was protesting today
by
u/Marslettuce in
torontobiking
With more protests planned for today, this clash between Ontario’s obstinate premier and Toronto’s cycling community shows no signs of going away…
“EBC is no longer the same. It’s common knowledge we haven’t been a cooperative for a while, and that ideal is now further and further away”
Transfer klaxon! Richard Carapaz joins NSN Cycling on three-year deal after breaking EF contract
Some more transfer news as we head into the weekend, with NSN Cycling announcing this afternoon the signing of former Olympic road race champion Richard Carapaz on a three-year deal.
The former Giro d’Italia winner has spent the past four seasons with EF Education-EasyPost, winning the King of the Mountains jersey and two stages, including one atop Alpe d’Huez, at this year’s Tour de France.
The 33-year-old Ecuadorian, one of the peloton’s most exciting, mercurial talents, has ripped up his contract with the American team, however, to form part of NSN’s winter overhaul, which also includes the arrivals of Santiago Buitrago, Lennert van Eetvelt, and Carapaz’s current EF teammate Kasper Asgreen.
The former Ineos and Movistar rider will also hope to provide NSN (formerly Israel-Premier Tech) with some extra firepower at the grand tours, the team describing Carapaz as a “central figure” in their three-week ambitions.
“Signing Richard Carapaz is a significant moment for our team and an important milestone in the development of our sporting project,” NSN general manager Kjell Carlström said in a statement. “Richard is a proven champion. His achievements speak for themselves, but what makes him particularly special is his mentality.
“Richard is one of those riders whose passion for cycling is so evident and we believe he still has some of his best performances ahead of him. His experience and leadership will be extremely valuable, not only in helping us achieve our sporting objectives but also in developing the next generation of talent within the team.
“Richard is someone our young riders can look up to, and I have no doubt he will fit in perfectly in our team culture.”
Carapaz himself described the move as a “tremendous opportunity”.
“I’m simply very excited. I’m really looking forward to it, and to be honest, this reminds me a lot of when I signed my first professional contract, when I was incredibly excited about being in the WorldTour. I still have the same motivation as I did that day and that’s really an incredible feeling,” he said.
“I find the NSN project really interesting and after our first conversations, I was convinced this would be the right place for me. I’m a rider who has achieved great results throughout my career, many of which were in the Grand Tours, and that fits very well with what NSN was looking for.
“The team has big ambitions to keep growing and already in my conversations with the performance team, it was clear we share the same desire to keep improving and achieve big things together. I think the team has a lot of potential to develop and I’m excited to be part of that in the next three years.”
Anna Morris secures omnium title, bringing GB’s worlds gold medal haul to four
It wasn’t the best start to the week, or middle, for Great Britain’s cycling team, if we’re honest. But things have certainly perked up on the track.
After Mark Stewart bagged his first ever rainbow jersey in the points race earlier, Anna Morris made it gold medal number four for GB in Shanghai, winning the omnium, her sixth career world title.
View this post on Instagram
After a nasty crash in the scratch race saw defending champion Lorena Wiebes ruled out, Morris dominated proceedings, winning the tempo and finishing third in both the scratch and elimination races, her lead over Japan’s Tsuyaka Uchino never in doubt in the points race final.
Her omnium rainbow jersey rounds off a great year for the 31-year-old, who’s also won two European titles in 2026, as well as two Commonwealth golds and the victory in the team pursuit earlier this week.
UCI Urban Cycling World Championships scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia in November is cancelled
The championships – featuring events covering the world’s best trials and BMX freestyle riders – will not go ahead between 3-7 November in Riyadh, with the UCI saying the decision “follows a joint assessment of recent developments in the region and their impact on the logistical organisation of the Championships.”
Australia already confirmed it would not be sending a team after the recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on the Saudi region made for a situation that was too dangerous to justify sending its athletes to compete, according to the Australian government. The UCI’s announcement this morning, therefore, was expected and inevitable.
The UCI’s statement continued: “The UCI regrets having to take this decision and expresses its appreciation to the Saudi Cycling Federation for their support and cooperation throughout preparations for the event. It also thanks the athletes, teams and National Federations for their understanding.”
“How thick can you get?” It turns out, very…
Milan storms to second career individual pursuit world title – but misses out another world record
Sorry Jonathan, looks like you’re going to have to settle for just the one world record and a rainbow jersey today.
After becoming the first man to break the 3:59 marker for the individual pursuit, track cycling’s blue riband event (or at least it used to be), this morning, Italian powerhouse Milan had his sights clearly set on another record-breaking ride in the final against Denmark’s Frederik Madsen.
View this post on Instagram
And while he easily dispatched the Dane for the win, another world record was just beyond Milan’s grasp, as he faded in the final kilometre, clocking a time of 4:00.769 at the line.
Oh, and a gold medal, too. And a bronze medal courtesy of Filippo Ganna. And that record from earlier. Not a bad day, really.
“I signed on to be the safety manager for a bicycle race, but I don’t want to end up being the safety manager for a motorcycle race”
Callum’s been busy this week collecting some delicious scoops in Paris, including this interesting, almost certainly debate-provoking safety-focused interview with Tour de France route head honcho Thierry Gouvenou:
Track world championships update: Jonathan Milan smashes his own individual pursuit world record as Mark Stewart wins points race thriller
Now that’s what I call fast. Jonathan Milan has become the first rider in history to break the 3:59 barrier for the individual pursuit, as the Italian rider obliterated his own world record in qualifying at the track world championships today.
The 26-year-old Lidl-Trek pro clocked a time of 3:58.850 during the qualifying round of the 4km event, beating his previous benchmark of 3:59.153, which he set at the world championships two years ago.
View this post on Instagram
To put that into perspective, as Cillian Kelly pointed out this morning, Milan’s time would have been enough for a silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On his own. And he did it at sea level too, which is even more impressive.
He’s set to face Denmark’s Frederik Madsen (who became only the fifth rider ever to break the four-minute mark this morning) in the final at 12.20pm, so keep an eye out for that. It could be very fun.
Meanwhile, Mark Stewart has just added another gold to GB’s medal haul, the Scot coming out on top after a thriller of a points race.
View this post on Instagram
Vin Denson, the last great British cycling pioneer of the 1960s, dies aged 90
This week, British cycling lost one of its last true pioneers, Vin Denson, who died on Wednesday, aged 90.
View this post on Instagram
Denson, known as Vic when he raced on the continent, was an integral part of the first great wave of British and English-speaking talent who crossed the channel and infiltrated the European men’s peloton in the 1960s, following in the wheel tracks of Brian Robinson, and which also included his friend Tom Simpson, Barry Hoban, Alan Ramsbottom, and Irish legend Shay Elliot.
The Chester-born rider made his Tour de France debut for the Great Britain national team in 1961, joining the exotic ranks of the full-time European professional racing scene two years later when he signed for Pelforth.
Denson would ride for Solo-Superia, Ford France, and Bic-Hutchinson over the next five years, earning a reputation as one of the peloton’s best super domestiques for luminaries Rik Van Looy and five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil.
His close relationship with Anquetil gave him an insight into the life of a 1960s cycling aristocrat. During his time at Ford France, Vin met a host of celebrities alongside his team leader, while playing a crucial role in some of Anquetil’s biggest wins, such as his epic 1965 Bordeaux-Paris and Dauphiné double in 1965, and even admitting to carrying a spare comb in his pocket during races in case the famously vain Maître Jacques dropped his.
View this post on Instagram
But Denson was also capable of winning in his own right, becoming the first British rider to win a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 1966, on a mountainous stage to Campobasso, a year on from his overall victory at the Tour of Luxembourg, during a hot streak of form.
After witnessing the death of his friend Simpson – who he’d known since the sage of 16, when they raced 25-mile time trials against each other – on Mont Ventoux in 1967, Denson raced his final Tour the following year, before retiring as a professional in 1969, returning to life as an amateur racer and clubman in England.
View this post on Instagram
Larger than life both on and off the bike, Denson was the last link to a generation who kickstarted 60 years of British cycling success in Europe, paving the way for generations of cyclists who now believed they could cross the channel and make a name, and a living, for themselves.
As a 1960s cycling-obsessed teenager, I pored over Vin’s autobiography, The Full Cycle, when it was published in 2008, soaking in every detail and brilliantly told story from that first great golden age.
Thanks Vin.
‘Well Nigel, we know you hate cyclists. But you also love blaming everything on immigration. This is a tough one…’
You know times are tough at Reform UK HQ when Nige is pretending to care about bike theft:
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@chrisonabike ...have impersonated Dutch bike shop owners, people with disabilities, and possibly different genders / sexualities. And have gone from broken English to perfect fluency in a week or so Only a few of us remember those hilariously inept impersonations!
@belugabob Unfortunately going down this route is likely to be a missed opportunity. "Safer streets" can be done in a way that allows access to a virtuous circle with whole suite of benefits. But ... that would mean following something like in NL. So "sustainable safety" - a different philosophy of transport, plus gradual infra and organisational changes over decades. Generally opportunities for concentrations of money beat that. So it looks like we'll get "probably safer on average" but with who knows what side effects, while concentrating insane amounts of power (money) in the hands of a very few. And those will be effectively unaccountable, being almost all overseas, and not having to live in the same streets as their products (they may be flying)...
@Fursty Ferret "...regulator" That should be little comfort, because during previous scandals it became clear that in many cases the regulators were easily hoodwinked, or (especially US) they rely on the companies themselves to mark their own homework. (And in the case of SUVs/light trucks, I heard the US government has been hard a-lobbying the likes of Europe and the UK for "reciprocal recognition" e.g. to accept their product as is without further checks). Needing the makers to help / do the checks is even more likely given the complexity of self-driving vehicles. I suspect self-driving vehicles will likely soon be safer on average than human drivers (a low bar). Of course I think other potential consequences are also a matter of concern (not least - in *theory* humans can be held accountable, but holding humans in large companies accountable for their tech is a *lot* harder)...
@mdavidford Celebrity traitors with Lance? Worse - some of these slippery lycrist quislings deceive people that they're a) pedestrians - by getting off their bike and b) drivers - by getting into their cars! It's all on display in this forum, where IIRC such cyclists have appeared under multiple names, have impersonated Dutch bike shop owners, people with disabilities, and possibly different genders / sexualities. And have gone from broken English to perfect fluency in a week or so...
Politician in "fixing things for my mates / companies I have an interest in" shocker!
@mdavidford Could make that shorter - "we’re letting too many people drive" * I would bet to a first approximation the "damage" could be predicted by number of humans times time driven. Most effective way to fix that - without the UK's "just get rid of the vulnerable road users" - is to remove the motorists, to padded individual lanes, far away from vulnerable road users. Though they'll still crash (and into each other). * Should be "we have incentivised people so that most of them see 'driving' as the solution to most of their transport needs, as well as being part of their status as adults, and we could usefully change that *and* it would also improve health, the economy, the environment..."
@This Wreckage The other point is the observation that efforts to fix the transport systems which reduce motoring convenience almost always meet with very noisy opposition. But when a lot of motor (through) traffic has been removed it turns out that people don't want to go back. They don't all necessarily say how much nicer it is or connect that to the lack of motor traffic. But this experiment has been run in many different localities in different countries and the results seem to hold. Caveats as usual - it's always possible for authorities to bungle things terribly - or even deliberately mess things up with ulterior motives. And people have to have enough time to adapt to the new situation, which is probably nearer a year or two.
@This Wreckage And yet - in the poorest parts of where I stay (Edinburgh) it's not uncommon to see bikes with flat tyres rusting in the closes of flats, or on balconies, and they aren't all kids' bikes... I do agree that storage is an issue. IIRC some places (Edinburgh now) are starting to bring in guidance on having some cycle storage for new flats. Nothing like NL though where for decades it's been a part of the building regulations. I think most people who don't own a bike have simply never considered owning a bike as adults, because they're not "cyclists" (e.g. not practicing a sport) and transport cycling isn't "a thing" for most people in the UK currently.
It's really not smart to alienate so many potential buyers by putting hookless rims on a road bike. I personally don't think it's safe, but everyone can agree it greatly limits tire choices and inflation pressures. Both very important things on a road bike.
@This Wreckage I think we've covered that one. (It's the what the young (18-20s) adults are doing on social media isn't it...) You certainly have to engage with people, but if you ask people about something - like transport cycling in the UK - that they don't do (and more importantly *others* don't do) and have probably never thought about doing ... you have to take the answers with a large pinch of salt. Indeed even for things people *do* you might not get immediately helpful answers. Witness people being interviewed in NL about why they cycled to the shops to do the shopping: very few of them mention the infra or motor traffic reduction (or even the bike...). In that case you'd hear the truth e.g. "it's the easiest way" / "I like to go with my friends" - but *why* that is the case would need further investigation.
19 thoughts on ““He wants bikes in traffic lanes. Give him what he wants”: Cyclists urged to “slow every street down to bicycle speed” and ride in middle of lane amid premier’s war on cycle paths + more on the live blog”
Mike Palecek has a point, and I hope his plan works, and that Doug Ford reaps what he has sowed. Even if it works though, Doug will pass another act prohibiting cyclists from the main roads, after all, he did get the most inaccurately titled, misleading act ever passed: the ‘Reducing Gridlock and Saving You Time Act’.
Straight from the Trump/Farage play book: promise everything, deliver nothing and blame someone else.
Would it, though? Surely the whole premise here is that those roads are gridlocked anyway, so much of it is going slower than a bike already? That’s certainly my experience of cities of any size – riding in the middle of the lane is frequently going to mean sitting behind the bumper of a car.
“Cyclists urged to “slow every street down to bicycle speed” and ride in middle of lane…”
I’m sure something like that actually happened a number of years ago in some location in the USA in protest at some other silly new cycling law.
Which led to the inevitable gridlock.
My usual useless internet search skills have failed me again in finding any articles about it.
@mitsky maybe the “stop in” in San Francisco?
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/sf-cyclists-to-protest-stopping-at-stop-signs-with-stop-in/
@mitsky you may be thinking of taxi drivers
Yet more of the public being arrested because of politicians’ stupidity. It’s shocking how mega corps buy these public servants and implement them. I miss democracy.
@polainm it’s always been “buy your politician”. If you’re still remotely shocked (and maybe we should be) head over to Private Eye and you’ll soon be desensitised.
I don’t know about Canada but in their unruly southern neighbour that’s been the way forever. The only notable thing is how normal and open it is, plus the prices are orders of magnitude higher than here. You might even say that similar to how the UK has expansive public health care (funded by general tax), they have private government (funded by wealthy individuals and corporations).
@polainm Never a good look badly arresting a Paralympian, good resistance from them too. Wear the “mischief” charge with pride. Chapeau.
For anyone unfamiliar with Doug Ford and Toronto’s self-inflicted, intensely political transport struggles …
…YouTuber notjustbikes (ex-Canadian, now Dutch resident, better urban infra advocate) has extensive coverage.
You might say he’s a little critical.
Got to take a moment to admire the style of Denson… Maybe it’s just me, but cyclists just looked so cool back then. The modern peloton and riders don’t quite have it. Rest in peace Vin.
Got to get that auto-biography!
The M25 clearly proves the point that you cannot remove congestion by building more road space, that just increases the number of motor vehicles.
@bob.sweet it also proves that cyclists aren’t the issue
I didn’t see this reported on over the past couple of days: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj1dwe539wr0o
In yet another example of two-tier justice, and despite the self-evident need to more tightly legislate against antisocial and dangerous behaviour, cyclists in the City of London will be allowed to watch a video rather than pay a fine for jumping red lights.
That’ll teach ’em (not)… Link to X: https://x.com/CityPolice/status/2110312863122268304
@jackcycles Sorry you didn’t see it. We covered this story twice on our live blog on Wednesday and Thursday, and the original announcement back in January: https://road.cc/content/news/safety-film-option-cyclists-who-run-red-lights-317487
@jackcycles two-tier justice you say? Quite, that would never happen with driving – they throw the book * at you if you break the law then. You certainly wouldn’t just be given “points” and a second chance, or allowed to do a course rather than paying a fine!
* The Beano?
@chrisonabike Unfortunately, I think you’re disputing with a Very Small Language Model A Low I Pro-Driving Fictitious Cyclist troll, powered by a single AAA battery with those white crystals oozing out of the terminals.
@jackcycles mind you, perhaps points could be added to their cycling licenses? And you’d think insurance companies * would increase their cycling insurance premiums?
An administrative penalty might improve *compliance* – especially if it could be applied immediately after the offence. But I think they should trial that to see if it actually does.
For ease of testing they could try this on motorists first (because number plates, that’ll have ’em bang to rights). Monitor numbers speeding / going through red/amber lights in an area before and after bringing in fines, say.
I dunno how much it would help with road safety though. Then again that’s far more to do with removing incentives or even opportunity to behave dangerously, and making the desired safe behaviours “natural”.
* Currently I pay for membership of Cycling UK, which also gives me liability insurance; I think British Cycling membership does similar.
@chrisonabike they could try this on motorists first (because number plates, that’ll have ’em bang to rights
Exactly!
Why do these sports people always ‘rip up their contract’ when joining another team? It’s a silly thing to do – it just means you no longer know what the contract says, while your former employer will still have their copy to back up any action against you.