“Don’t upset the cycling community!” Driving instructor insists he was teaching pupil to give cyclists space after “painfully slow” 15mph advice backlash; Pogačar beaten by an amateur (again); Tour de France Femmes: UAE Blasi drama + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
“Don’t upset the cycling community!” Driving instructor insists he was teaching pupil to “exercise patience” and give cyclists space after clip of “painfully slow, nightmare” 15mph rider sparks backlash
A week or so ago on the live blog, you may remember, we posted a video that had been doing the rounds on social media, featuring a driving instructor, a learner driver, a cyclist, and a 20mph zone.
In case you missed it, here’s a quick recap: in the video, titled ‘Dealing with a slow cyclist test’, we can see Liverpool-based driving instructor Daniel Smith and his learner following a person on a bike on a narrow road, as a stream of traffic passes them in the opposite direction.
“This is what would be a nightmare on a test. It’s something you don’t want but it’s here now so you’re gonna have to deal with it,” Daniel tells his student.
“You’ve got a nice distance there [from the cyclist] but it’s painfully slow.”
While Smith does, in fairness, make it clear that it would be foolish and dangerous to close pass the cyclist, for the rest of the video the instructor and his pupils spend the rest of the clip willing the rider to turn off, worrying about the queue of traffic behind, and complaining about having to drive at 15mph… in a 20mph zone.
Well, it appears that, following our blog story, Smith has received quite a bit of stick from members of the cycling community online (some it pretty unsavoury by the sounds of things), forcing him to clarify things in another video.
“I seem to have upset another group of people. And these people are the cyclists,” he says in the new clip.
> “This is a nightmare”, instructor tells learner driver going 15mph behind cyclist in a 20mph zone
“I wasn’t even aware of this, it was just on one of my videos. It was a video from last year that had been reposted, and it had been taken on by this group.
“I was contacted by another driving instructor, Chris, on social media who sent me it. And I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. There were 300 comments on this thing, basically all tearing me down.
“When I looked at the video again, one of my pupils was doing a mock test on a very skinny road, lots of cars coming towards us, and there was a cyclist in front, and they’re going really slowly. And I said, ‘this would be a nightmare on test’. I wasn’t saying this is a nightmare because there’s a cyclist in front of you.
“What I was more or less saying was the psychological thing during a test, that you want to keep getting on with it. Then when something slow moving is in front of you, you’re going to feel that pressure. But there was actually nothing she could do in that moment.”
View this post on Instagram
Daniel continued: “So I’m coming at it from that angle, I’m not criticising the cyclist in any way, I’m actually teaching my pupil to give them room. As most of my pupils know, I always say you have to give cyclists room, you’ve got to give them respect as well. They’ve got a right to use the road as well.
“So it was surprising to see all these comments, I actually got a DM as well and he was quite animated. I tried to explain to him where I was coming from and that I was just telling my pupil to exercise patience.
“If it’s not on, you can’t pass then, don’t pass them and make it close. Don’t put the front end of your car close to that tyre, treat them as you would a car. That was the sentiment of the video, or what I thought anyway.
“Maybe the way I worded it, but it’s just surprising seeing the comments. Generally, they’re getting really nasty, bordering on scary some of them.
“Don’t upset the cycling community that’s what I’ve learned from this. Because they mobilise!”
What do you reckon? Can you see where the driving instructor’s coming from? And should we all focus on exercising patience, both behind the wheel and on social media? Maybe that’s a bit Kumbaya for a Monday morning…
Tadej Pogačar finally beaten… by a German doctor
(I’ve just realised that headline could be misconstrued, don’t want the UAE lawyers on me…)
Anyway, Tadej Pogačar is probably, almost certainly going to decimate the field at the Vuelta and join the elite grand tour grand slam winners’ club next month.
But the world champion just can’t get the better of the plucky amateurs who line up at his annual Pogi Challenge, can he?
Last year, British hill climb supremo (and full-time solicitor) Andrew Feather got the better of the best bike rider in the world on the 15km, 7.6 per cent average Krvavec climb in Slovenia, where baby Pogi won his very first youth race back in 2009. With a seven-minute head start, but still. This is a man who makes Marco Pantani looks like Toto Commesso, after all.
View this post on Instagram
And this weekend, it was the turn of German doctor Frederik Niessen to take the spoils at the Pogi Challenge. Niessen was one of 1,177 amateur riders (matching the vertical elevation in metres of the Krvavec climb) to hit the road seven minutes ahead of the local hero, crossing the finish line at the top after a very fast 45 minutes and 49 seconds.
That meant he reached the summit over four minutes ahead of Pogačar, who took 42.51 to climb his local mountain, weaving his way through the hundreds of starry-eyed stragglers (for comparison, his personal record on Krvavec is 31 minutes), and therefore finishing in a gross time of 49.51.
In fact, that gross time meant that the five-time Tour de France winner finished eighth (eighth!) on the day, after only managing to pass 1,170 amateurs on the 15km climb. He’s losing it, I tell ya. Over the hill, done.
“At the foot it was a bit of chaos, with even a crash, but after that I kept riding well and suffered,” Pogačar said after the challenge.
Excuses, excuses…
But at least he ‘won’ his annual Pogi crit, I suppose. Maybe he’s not losing it, after all:
View this post on Instagram
“I am riding alone”: What is going on with Paula Blasi and UAE Team L’Imad?
Normally, any team heading into the Tour de France with three bona fide podium contenders would be running their hands in glee? Not UAE Team L’Imad.
Instead, the squad formerly known as UAE ADQ have decided to kick up a media storm by publicly relegating this year’s Vuelta winner Paula Blasi – the breakout star of the 2026 season – to the role of domestique for their GC leaders Elisa Longo Borghini and Dominika Włodarczyk.
23-year-old Blasi, a recent crash at the Spanish champs notwithstanding, was tipped by many to continue her meteoric rise to the top at this year’s Tour, after dispatching Anna van der Breggen on the Angliru to win the Vuelta in May, the highlight of a season that has also included victories at Amstel Gold, the Volta a Catalunya, and the Tour Pyrenees.
On the face of it, Blasi’s Tour has started well. She’s in the white jersey (more on that later) and sits 13th overall, around the same time as most of the other yellow jersey contenders. However, she’s also been under orders to protect Longo Borghini on the flat, and after crossing the line on stage one, she was overheard by the Cycling Podcast’s Lizzy Banks saying: “I am riding alone”.
But why? Well, the answer’s a simple if baffling one: she’s leaving UAE at the end of the season for Movistar. Ah, the joys of pro cycling pettiness.
View this post on Instagram
When asked by Dutch journalist Thijs Zonneveld why one of the best stage racers in the world has started the Tour as a domestique, UAE sports director Cherie Pridham was understandably evasive.
“It’s a good question. We needed to be safe in the peloton and she’s very motivated to support our GC riders. She’s learning her role, simple as that,” Pridham said.
“We have some difficult days ahead, and with a finish that’s not so technical, but she has to look after and be in a safe position with the girls. I can’t complain with the way the team’s riding. She’s doing her job, she’s in the white jersey, and we have big days to come.”
Mira que le insisten a Cherie Pridham (DS UAE Team L’Imad) sobre porqué Blasi es gregaria y no le van a dejar ir ni a por etapas ni a por la CG. Pero ella no cede en sus respuestas y hasta parece que se enfanfa con tanta insistencia https://t.co/Tv5jsNLXsx pic.twitter.com/sWqvicwj5r
— elsterrato (@elsterrato) August 2, 2026
But will Blasi have freedom to chase her own objectives?
“It’s not a case of her having freedom, we need to be motivated for the team and for our team goals. She’s very motivated for the days ahead. That’s for us to decide and then the road will speak,” Pridham continued, before laughing off a question about Blasi’s impending departure.
“Let’s look at the positives, she’s riding well for the team and that’s all I can ask of a young rider.”
Got it?
Sigrid Haugset storms to the yellow jersey with sensational solo Tour de France Femmes stage win
What a ride and what a result, and one that comes with a yellow jersey to boot…
View this post on Instagram
It turns out the best pursuit race of the summer wasn’t to be found on the track at the Commonwealth Games, instead it took place on the roads of eastern France this afternoon.
After attacking alone with over 80km to go on the Col de la Savine, Uno-X Mobility’s Sigrid Haugset put in the time trial of her life on the long road to Poligny, holding Lotte Kopecky at bay before ultimately cracking the former world champion to secure a stunning solo victory, and with it the yellow jersey.
For over an hour, Haugset and Kopecky were separated by around 30 seconds. With 10km to go, it crept down to just 15 seconds, then 13, then 12. Advantage Kopecky.
Or so it seemed. On the final kicker with 5km to go, the SD Worx rider ran out of juice, as Haugset battled on into a headwind, the Norwegian champion’s winning gap a minute by the finish.
A Demi Vollering-provoked late flurry of attacks near the finish did little to reduce the margin from the main GC favourites to Haugset, who will take on tomorrow’s time trial in Dijon in yellow, two minutes clear of second-place Kim Le Court.
Not a bad summer in France for Uno-X.
Is the yellow jersey heading to Uno-X again?
This could be quite the summer for Uno-X Mobility.
After Torstein Træen’s spell in yellow at the men’s Tour, capped off by Søren Wærenskjold’s rapid stage win, the Norwegian squad could be set for more glory at the Tour de France, courtesy of a brilliant long-range solo move by Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset.
View this post on Instagram
With Lorena Wiebes dropped in the early hills and crosswinds, and the peloton slow to awaken to the danger, Haugset currently has a 30-second gap to Lotte Kopecky, who has been trying – and failing – to close that gap for an hour now.
The GC attacks have started on the last Cat 4 climb, forcing Marlen Reusser to chase, while Paula Blasi (the centre of all the pre-stage chatter) is 20 seconds back. We’re in for a humdinger of a finish.
When it all gets a bit much at the Tour de France
There’s one to show the grandkids…
View this post on Instagram
The mysterious case of the white jersey
Speaking of Paula Blasi, some keen fans were left a bit bemused when the flying Spaniard pulled on the Tour’s white jersey at the weekend.
Based on the rules that have been in place since the Tour de France Femmes was resurrected in 2022, the white jersey is awarded to the highest-placed U23 rider at the race (compared to the admittedly now redundant U23 category in the men’s race).
That means, in theory, any rider who has already turned 23 or will turn 23 by the end of the year is ineligible for the best young rider’s classification. Which should, in theory again, rule out Blasi, who turned 23 back in February.
View this post on Instagram
However, according to the Tour Femmes rule book, the white jersey this year – just as it was last year – is open to riders born after January 1, 2003.
Which means one of two things. Either ASO decided to tweak the young rider’s classification and make it an U24 competition. Or they copy and pasted in the wording from last year’s rule book and forgot to update it.
I’ll let you decide which one you think happened. I wonder if they’ll make the same tweak when the time comes for Paul Seixas to outgrow the white jersey…
“You have to make the best of a bad situation”: Einer Rubio calls for better safety barriers, stricter vehicle control, and better crowd behaviour after Alpe d’Huez horror crash at Tour de France
Over a week on from his Tour de France-ending horror crash on Alpe d’Huez, when he smashed headfirst into the back of the UAE team car during a particularly chaotic section of cycling’s most chaotic climb, Einer Rubio has called for the sport to address the safety issues which led to his crash.
In an Instagram post, in which he jokingly compared himself to the One Piece manga character Luffy, the Movistar rider said: “It’s been a few days since the accident at the Tour de France, and as the saying goes, you have to make the best of a bad situation.
View this post on Instagram
“No one expects a race to end this way, but that’s what happened. We can’t change the past, though we can learn from these situations and work to prevent them from happening again.
“Things might have turned out differently with better barriers on the climb, stricter control over vehicle traffic, and a more prudent crowd – one aware that, during a race, the safety of both the cyclists and the spectators lining the road is at stake.
“A huge thank you to all the wonderful people who have sent messages of support and encouragement. I’m recovering and will be back soon.”
Yes, he can win five Tours de France and every bike race under the sun, but can he ride a unicycle? Also, yes…
Any time he returns home, you can always trust the world’s best bike rider to break out his old milk-delivering unicycle skills from back in the day:
View this post on Instagram
To be honest, that’s more impressive than his Alpe d’Huez ride.
Our (admittedly grim) summer sentencing round-up
A day for the attackers? (and some live TV grumblings)
The GC could get an almighty shake-up as the Tour de France Femmes heads back into France this afternoon, with a front-loaded route – including the first Cat One climb of the race – promising some early fireworks and tactical intrigue ahead of tomorrow’s time trial.
Not that we’ll get to see the early climbs and attacks, however, because the live coverage doesn’t start until 2pm. Groan…
Four days, four races, four golds for flying Finucane
Emma Finucane had a pretty decent Commonwealth Games, didn’t she?
On Sunday in the keirin, the Welsh star beat New Zealander Ellesse Andrews to win her fourth gold of the Glasgow event, after triumphing in the kilo and the team and individual sprints.
View this post on Instagram
Her four wins in four consecutive days makes Finucane the first track sprinter to win a quartet of golds at a Commonwealth Games, while the 23-year-old also became the first Welsh woman to win four golds at a single Commie Games. Not a bad week, eh?
Weekend racing round-up: Wiebes the unstoppable dominates Tour de France Femmes’ opening Swiss weekend, as Remco Evenepoel makes it four in San Sebastian
There’s just no stopping Lorena Wiebes.
The SD Worx sprinter proved irresistible during the opening weekend of the Tour de France Femmes in Switzerland, powering away in the final few hundred metres in both Lausanne and Geneva to open her Tour account with back-to-back victories and a stint in the yellow jersey.
View this post on Instagram
Wiebes, as strong and fast as she is, had to work for both victories, however. The Dutch star survived the 2km rise to the line on stage one in Lausanne before easily dispatching Kim Le Court and Demi Vollering (though a case could be made that the GC contenders should have put Wiebes under more pressure on the climb’s steeper ramps).
Then in Geneva, the other sprint teams wisely left SD Worx to it at the front of the bunch, with Lidl-Trek’s Riejanne Markus putting the team under serious strain with a courageous solo breakaway ride, which only came undone in the final kilometre.
View this post on Instagram
With all her teammates used up, Wiebes was forced to wheel surf in the finale – not that it made much difference to a rider who can increasingly lay claim to the title of the greatest female sprinter of all time.
Yesterday’s stage in Geneva also ended up a positive one for the Tour’s British contingent, with Picnic PostNL’s Josie Nelson and Canyon-Sram’s debutant Zoe Bäckstedt placing sixth and seventh in the sprint, respectively.
View this post on Instagram
On Saturday, Remco Evenepoel – fresh from a career best second place at the Tour – cemented his status as Mr Clásica San Sebastián, outsprinting his fellow late attacker Richard Carapaz to secure his fourth career win at the Basque one-day race, after being forced to chase back on following a mechanical during a key moment.
Can this on-fire version of Remco put it up to Pogačar at the worlds in Canada? Now, there’s a prospect.
It’s happening! It’s happening!
The least surprising – but still pretty exciting – racing news of the summer has just dropped this morning:
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
52 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
@Xenophon2 I agree. I tried a different route from Garstang to Leeds on Saturday to avoid the Death Highways from Barnoldswick to Skipton. I had to turn off Hazard warnings on the 1040 because people have ruined the hazard facility by warning about every pothole, instead of only the bad ones. UK roads are full of them, and the red Hazard was turning up constantly. Similarly, radar is useless in the UK because nutter drivers are everywhere and the alarm will be going off all the time. I'm convinced this is a good radar and it's what I'd get if I had any use for it. I'm pretty sure it would have warned me about this Stagecoach bus on The Lancashire Terminator Express, and lots of the other vehicles as well- then what? ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dnv_stagecoach41_closepass/
It's just the same on cucumber growers websites. Only last week, a Tuesday I think it was, there was an article on growing courgettes. I don't grow courgettes. I was livid and thought I was going to spontaneously combust. Luckily my wife knows the signs - steam rising from my boots, speaking in tongues- and was on hand to throw a bucket of water over me. She always seems to have a bucket of water handy. And as for red tomato growers websites? Don't get me started.
What size of golf balls though?
Given that humour, as defined by no less than Charlie Chaplin, is someone else's misfortune. it is clear that anyone who makes a joke should be fired. Which reminds me of the terrible joke about what the ring master said when the human cannonball died "It'll be difficult to find another man of his calibre." Fire me now to save time.
@Mr Blackbird Yes, I've been on the rugby field when a sudden storm of about 3mm stones erupted, like being shot by a thousand air rifles at once and as you say, the temperature plummet was incredible. Memorable also for the sight of props who hadn't broken above a jog in two decades and who thought you were a wuss if you went off for a mere broken arm suddenly doing creditable Linford Christie impressions in the rush for shelter!
@Rendel Harris I just finished watching a recording of today's stage and the hailstones appeared to be somewhere around blueberry sized. Possibly large enough to cause somebody to crash if they rode over one at the wrong angle. A few years ago I was riding a time trial on the A428 in Cambs. It was around 18 - 20 deg C. At around the half way point the heavens opened. The temperature must have dropped by about 10 degC almost immediately. Within about a minute, I was completely soaked and riding through about 10mm deep water on the carriageway, with my visor fogging up. The worst thing though was the feeling of shock. Had I been near the HQ I would have abandoned. The Vuelta riders must have experienced something much much worse than me, especially as they will have been acclimatised to 30+ degC in recent weeks. Hopefully none of them will get ill as a result of today - it was only stage 3, so pressed their immune systems aren't yet too stressed.
Sounds like this bike should have 5 stars 🤩…why only 4?
Poor you! 😂 Humans have been cycling gravel roads since bikes were invented. Tarmac is not the definition of road.
Hailstones the size of golf balls Ryan? It was bad but I've seen a "golf ball sized" hailstorm (in Spain, as it happens, from a safe shelter) and they smash glass and can knock people unconscious, often with skull fractures - no way would the riders have been able to carry on until they found shelter in that type of storm, it would have been every man for himself under the nearest tree or rock.
Oh, get over yourself. For many of us, the shit state of UK roads means that a gravel bike IS a road bike now.
52 thoughts on ““Don’t upset the cycling community!” Driving instructor insists he was teaching pupil to give cyclists space after “painfully slow” 15mph advice backlash; Pogačar beaten by an amateur (again); Tour de France Femmes: UAE Blasi drama + more on the live blog”
I already explained the driving instructor video at the time
My explanation dovetailed with the instructor’s own thoughts on the matter, so it’s great to see it confirmed in today’s blog.
I think road.cc has to take responsibility for the way it reports these things. It must be able to see that some of the commentators on this site are slightly unhinged (at best), permanently offended, and become aggressive at the drop of a hat.
Unfortunately there’s a real lack of respect that’s been allowed to fester – it would be good for road.cc to balance its coverage with examples of courteous interactions between cyclists and different modes of transport to exemplify and model how to behave properly.
@jackcycles Slightly Unhinged? The synth pop/folk ensemble from Ghent? I fail to see how that’s relevant.
@Clem Fandango Saw them a while ago with Woke Tory and the Pseudo Authoritarians. What a gig.
@perce I agree
And here is the exhaustive explanation from @jackcycles, in case anybody overlooked the comprehensive dissertation.
“jackcycles
July 23, 2026 at 12:02 pm
“Undue hesitation” a very common cause of failing a driving test, and driving conservatively behind a cyclist where the examiner seems it possible to pass safely could cause it.
The instructor is correct to point this out.”
Correct, and that completely aligned (except my phone auto-corrected and mangled my reply) with the instructor who said “What I was more or less saying was the psychological thing during a test, that you want to keep getting on with it. Then when something slow moving is in front of you, you’re going to feel that pressure. But there was actually nothing she could do in that moment.”
You don’t want to feel like you are hesitating and second-guessing yourself on your driving test.
@jackcycles and the best way to convey the correct attitude and behaviour toward slow moving road users is to call the situation a nightmare. There are plenty of clips of good driving instructors out there who explain that cyclists aren’t an issue. Aren’t a nuisance and aren’t a nightmare and just another thing you have to handle on the roads.
If he was trying to convey what he says he was, hes shit at his job. He didn’t reassure her, he made a big deal out of it.
Whereas returning again and again with different aliases to the same site from which you’ve been banned at least a dozen times over the course of several years is entirely sane behaviour, yes indeed.
@jackcycles I imagine that all of us ride our bikes a lot on the roads here. We don’t need good examples of driving to offset the bad. Most overtakes I get are fine. The issue is the significant number that aren’t.
The (I would suggest) very obvious issue with that driving instructor is that he is conditioning and teaching his student to consider cyclists a nuisance, a negative presence on the road and “a nightmare” to deal with. None of this is good or positive.
Its pretty simple; the things we teach people as they grow up become their views. The irrational hatred for cyclist doesn’t come from cyclists actions, it comes from societys treatment of them and the constant negativity towards them. People are very impressionable and their views easily reinforced.
A driving instructors job should be to produce safe, considerate drivers who treat everyone on the road or who interact with the roads with patience and care. He was not doing these things.
And yes, cyclists tend to react really badly when we see the next generation of drivers being taught precisely the sort of attitude that leads to injury and deaths for our kind.
@mctrials23 Indeed. But a significant influence could be the signs on the back of trucks and buses that put the responsibility for their safety on cyclists. The same image could have legend beware of this vehicle passing you on the outside (since you will be in the same relative position). A bit long but accurate.
@pete_247 Personal bugbear, “IF YOU CAN’T SEE MY MIRRORS I CAN’T SEE YOU!” Should have an addendum, “SO REST ASSURED I WILL BE DRIVING WITH ULTRA-EXTREME CARE AND ATTENTION AND WHEN I GET BACK TO THE DEPOT WILL REFUSE TO TAKE THIS VEHICLE OUT AGAIN UNTIL MY EMPLOYER HAS FITTED IT WITH ALL SUITABLE SENSORS AND OTHER AVAILABLE SAFETY MEASURES.”
“…AND IF YOU *CAN* SEE MY MIRRORS I PROBABLY CAN’T SEE YOU ANYWAY AS I’M NOT LOOKING”
IF YOU CAN’T SEE MY PHONE, I CAN’T SEE YOU.
@pete_247 But a significant influence could be the signs on the back of trucks and buses that put the responsibility for their safety on cyclists
ttps://upride.cc/incident/sk19evu_stagecoach42_closepass/
@pete_247 This isn’t something I have an issue with honestly. I don’t think that really puts the onus on cyclists, it just warns them that its dangerous to be getting close to this vehicle when its moving. That danger is never going to disappear. Its like the argument that cyclists shouldn’t be told to wear helmets because its victim blaming. Perhaps it is but I would rather that than people die.
These aren’t the core issues with cycling safety, its driver behaviour and attitudes. Perhaps these little things contribute to that in a small way but they wouldn’t negatively effect anything if attitudes towards cyclists weren’t so shitty.
@mctrials23 the sign is a signifier that badly designed large vehicles have visibility issues. Advanced stop lines are there because trucks cannot see anything within 8 feet in front of them. There are discussions about redesigning them. I also see, along side these signs, that the interior has video cover. Why not external cover? The signs are a disclaimer that it is ok to operate vehicle you cannot see out of. This is including the danger that has been added by the recently permitted extension of trailers.
This
I can see where he’s coming from. He’s reinforcing the right thing to do with his pupil, and he’s also sympathising in advance with the pupil over additional pressures on a test.
So he’s covering the what/how. But a big part of that “nightmare” is the pressure faced by the pupil on the test. Here is the picture it reinforces:
– you have a road ahead with a slower vehicle user in front, one you have to take extra care over;
– there may be vehicles building up behind, drivers of which don’t appreciate you’re on your test and may polarise their reactions to a slow learner in front from giving extra consideration to becoming aggressively impatient;
– you’re on a test where every movement of your body and the vehicle you’re driving is under intense scrutiny over your control and reactions to unforeseen inputs.
It is easy to feel pressured, to panic, to pick up one too many minors or a major (or whatever they are called) and fail.
But when teaching the what/how, this is where the attitude needs to be spot on. You have to remove the emotion out of it.
Just like a good instructor won’t cover their eyes and yell, “we’re all going to die!” – they’ll anticipate; they’ll talk calmly; they’ll calmly grab the wheel and the foot controls if necessary and take over to avoid disaster.
They will have anticipated problems going into a situation and have planned their moves.
That approach of planning, staying calm and applying perspective doesn’t just avoid conflict/crashes, it dissipates tension and the path to panic.
So it is with the cyclist. So what if we slow down? If that’s the right thing to do, then that is what the examiner needs to see. It’s not a nightmare (“Don’t panic! Don’t panic!), it’s just a Thing.
The cars building up behind? They’re fine. If they honk, they’re saying “hello”, “well done”, “you’re doing great!”
Putting those situations into calm perspective is part of the instructor’s job. It’s not just driving safely, it’s driving with the right attitude and passing that attitude on. If you say it’s a nightmare, you’re passing on that panic stimulus.
You can sympathise with the pupil while still correcting their attitude approaching any form of hazard assessment.
The question is, will Daniel Smith see this as a pile-on, or an opportunity (laced as it is with all the subtlety that social media/BTL can muster) to reflect on how he passes on that calm attitude to pupils?
He’s not a bad instructor, but this wasn’t his finest moment. As with road users, is he happy to reflect on this as a personal learning moment for his road use rather than his YouTubery?
My problem is not with the idea that a n instructor is actually giving sensible advice on waiting, it is on the whole discourse on a ‘nightmare’ posed by cyclists, as if cyclists are illegitimate in the road, a major inconvenience, and so on. Put simply, the instructor wouldn’t have said anything if they were waiting behind a car being driven at 15mph. And certainly not describing them as a ‘nightmare’.
Whilst there is nothing wrong with the advice, the problem is the framing and the language which has seeped into every aspect of Britain’s car culture.
@the little onion
On my, driving test, my very good instructor actually said ‘hazards’ are a time to show you understand the Highway Code (206, 205, 125 & 126) – “: He advised to slow down significantly below the speed limit when passing children, particularly in residential areas, near schools, or close to stationary buses and ice cream vans etc.
The suggestion to drop your speed to 15–20 mph in a 30 mph zone when hazards (like children) are present is a core defensive driving technique taught by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
https://www.rospa.com/siteassets/images/road-safety/road-safety-information/driver-safety/speeding/top-10-tips-for-staying-in-limit-factsheet.pdf
This instructor’s ‘nightmare, nightmare on test’ remarks, and, remarks on only doing 15mph + ‘does he know of the cars behind ‘ – seems to put him at odds with the RoSPA and the Highway Code.
Purely from a personal point of view, I don’t find the news that Pogacar is going to ride the Vuelta exciting.
It condemns viewers to a series of predictable cake-walks/cycles. I know some people think it’s great.
@HarrogateSpa As a huge fan of just about everything about Pogacar, I tend to agree. It would be nice if there was one bit of the prestige cycling calendar that could be left for the also-rans who would be greats in any other era, and given the relative weakness of this year’s field it’s not going to be a very exciting race. One can’t blame Pogacar though, if he wants to cement his legacy as the GOAT he needs all three GTs on his palmares. Hopefully this will be a one off, once he’s banked it he’ll leave it for others in future, unless he goes completely bonkers and follows Hinault’s suggestion that he could go for the grand slam in a single year.
Even in a cake walk, anything can happen.
https://x.com/BritishBakeOff/status/1308495569145524224
Besides, if he wins the Vuelta, and then P-R next year, maybe he’ll decide he’s completed cycling and go do something else – then you can watch everyone else race each other all the time.
Yes! Shortly after winning P-R, an emotional Pogacar announces project TPTPTT 28.
A dedicated focussed bid to win both an Olympic medal in the team pursuit, followed by the World Championships Individual TT title. (Actually I’m not sure which comes first. If the Olympics are later it would be TPTTTP28.)
He will start working on this immediately after the 2027 TDF, using the 2027 World Champs TT as a sounding board.
After completing his TPTPTT28, a more tearful Pogacar announces his retirement from cycling to concentrate on his golf. His cycling commitments have prevented him from getting his handicap lower than plus 1.
Daniel Smith has now said:
“… and there was a cyclist in front, and they’re going really slowly.”
and
“… the psychological thing during a test, that you want to keep getting on with it. Then when something slow moving is in front of you, you’re going to feel that pressure.”
So I will revert to my original comment:
”
1) If the student (edit to add: ANY DRIVER) is frustrated at a cyclist, what is their response when stuck in queues of slow moving/stationary drivers/motor traffic?
2) If this is the instructor’s attitude, they need to lose their teaching qualification and attend re-training to prevent instilling such a negative attitude in learners.
“Painfully slow that is”…
If THAT speed is painfull, what about going even slower (or being stationary) behind a queue of drivers?
“Do you think he has any idea he has a trail of cars behind him?”
A trail of cars that is MOVING.
What about when a trail of cars is stuck moving even slower or stationary in rush hour traffic??
“
@mitsky It suggests that the testers have the same attitude and have conveyed it to driving instructors that when behind a slow moving vehicle you must respond to the “pressure” from vehicles behind and take the first opportunity to get past. This would seem to be a more general and serious problem about the testers and their attitude, and that MGIF is actually taught and expected of new drivers.
Also, I really struggle to not construe “this would be a nightmare on test” as “it is a nightmare being ‘stuck’ behind a cyclist.”. The instructor needs to recognise his error, apologise, and permanently change his behaviour and language.
Well according to the cyclingnews article it was announced at the pre-tour directors’ meeting, so…
They suggest it’s because hardly anyone qualifies for it as an U23 competition.
Oh no, I just found out that Rod “Piano Wire” Liddle has passed away. Commiserations to any of his family or friends, but cyclists may feel slightly safer without his horrible maliciousness.
@hawkinspeter Cause of death – drowned in a pool of his own bile. Horrific man.
@the little onion well speak for yourself, but I found his writing to have a mischievous joie de vivre, sparkling in wit and self-effacing humour. Rod was never one to take himself too seriously, and I for one enjoyed the way he revelled in the absurdity of modern life.
A national institution. He’ll be missed by many.
@jackcycles but not by anyone who has the misfortune to be victim – as I have – of a wire being strung across a cycle path.
@jackcycles
What a delightfully poetic way to say “frothing hypocrite”. A certain amount of Schadenfreude could be derived from his writings.
Zero. Zero is the certain amount in question
@jackcycles Do you know, if I was a contrary Mary type troll that’s exactly what I would say.
@jackcycles Never took himself seriously??? He was a pompous pr**k who thought his opinions were worthy of spreading to the masses. It was only when he was proven to be wrong that he fell back on the ‘don’t take it seriously’ or ‘it’s only banter’ line
@kinderje ahhh the old Clarkson defence – “it’s just a joke”
Cue Stewart Lee bit about Richard Hammond:
‘I wish he had died in that crash and that he had been decapitated and that his head had rolled off in front of his wife and that a jagged piece of metal debris from the car had got stuck in his eye and blinded him.
‘And then his head had rolled on a few more yards into a pool of boiling oil and that his head had retained just enough neural capacity for him to be able to think “ooh, this is bit hot” before the whole thing exploded into tiny pieces.’
Later in the routine, he said: ‘I wish Richard Hammond HAD died and I wish he had been decapitated. Of course, it’s a joke. But coincidentally it’s also what I believe.’
I have to admit that I usually enjoyed reading his weekly column in the Sunday Times. My favourites were the ones where he poked fun at highly paid footballers ( a welcome counterbalance to the usual unconditional sycophancy and adulation), or at the self-importance, idiocy and hypocrisy of some politicians. In these days when the football media, sponsors and many fans crave the recognisable faces of top players at successful, wealthy clubs, somebody like Liddle, who supported Middlesbrough and later Millwall, can’t be all bad.
His writings would sometimes make me angry. However, I always read his column, so he was probably good at his job.
The real tragedy is that some people took his comments at face value and we’re stupid enough to act on them.
“When I am dead, let it be said: ‘his sins were scarlet, but his books were read’ “
@hawkinspeter
A famous quote springs to mind:
“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.”
@mitsky – I’ve just happened across another piece of Rod Liddle’s work:
@hawkinspeter I could imagine Frankie Boyle using that (probably not with “I” though), back in the day. Or Sacha Baron Cohen through the mouth of one of his sleazier characters.
Sounds like he was very popular – certainly when people wanted to let off steam.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly59lwe93po
Not with everyone though:
Bants, innit? Just saying out loud what everyone is thinking. I am very intelligent.
@chrisonabike
It’s curious how most of his “humour” seemed to be about being abusive to minorities and out-groups.
Contrarian, innit? Comprehensive boy with chip on shoulder, righteously angry at cant and bogus authority? Get into big organisations (like the BBC) then do a far-out parody of everything they’re uncomfortable with?
Or would he really get on with the Tommy Robinsons? (Apparently he claimed to be Labour or further, so guessing not).
I am unfamiliar with his oevre and doubt I’d enjoy it any more than reading trolling online … but just noting *lots* of people in the media were apparently enamoured of him personally, even when he was kicking them in the shins in print.
The encomiums do note he had an absolute belief he was right…
He does appear to have held a range of political views and some of them supported Labour or the left-wing. However, he did seem to be persistently racist and sexist – that was a constant thread through his work.
Why the article on Emma Finucane, shouldn’t that have been on Track.CC😂
And before anyone piles on I thought she was spectacular.
Road delinquents who break traffic rules and ultimately kill a cyclist shall be sentenced to a minimun of 15 years in prison. Those who hit and run shall receive an additional 5 to 10 years. Seven years is simply adding insult to injury.
More for the bad driving round-up:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj36z5zydrgo
Slightly surprisingly they didn’t excuse a vulnerable older woman, nor listen to “but what about my dog?” / “I need my car for my job” (meeting criminals, appropriately) angles.
Not did they consider that it was in a 20mph zone and everyone ignores those, it wasn’t even 30mph… (It seems she argued the signs were confusing, it was a very short distance and she was nearly overtaken / hit by a cyclist…)
Can’t Andy Burnam sort out the care side of things so we can all fund her taxis?
“she was nearly overtaken / hit by a cyclist…”
Five times, apparently. Plus, presumably, the other previous times that allowed her to rack up a total of 24 points.
She was probably in a panic. Every separate time…
Headline might have been “(old) person refuses to change because they’ve always done it that way”.
The magistrate deserves credit for not giving way to all the ‘exceptional hardship’ claims bollocks
@chrisonabike
I wonder what level of offending she would consider to be “bad enough” for the authorities to stop her driving/imprison her, thus stopping her writing…