“Everyone knows I won”: Drama at cyclocross champs after winner disqualified for deviating sprint + more on the live blog

@Zermattjohn This is one reason I loathe policing in our society. Illegal drugs cause no more (probably less) harm through their use than do alcohol and tobacco. The continuing war on drugs does itself cause enormous medical, social, economic and financial harms - many addicts refuse to seek help because of the real fear of being reported to the police, for example, and there might be less incentive for addicts to steal our bikes if they are enabled to manage their consumption.

@Rendel Harris How secure is it to keep a bike outside in a yard or front patio, for example? I'm not sure I'd be willing to do so, no matter how good the lock. It would mean covering the bike(s) with a waterproof material and attaching the bike securely to something solid fixed to the ground or the wall. Not ideal, and hardly an attractive prospect for people who aren't sold on cycling yet.

@chrisonabike That's interesting. I agree; cycling has long been abandoned by most people as an uncool, childish or geeky means to get around. Plus, as Jaymack observed, humans naturally prefer warm, motorised vehicles rather than pedal power.

@This Wreckage Whilst I agree of course that for some people bicycle storage is a problem (personally, with four bikes (two mine, two hers) in a one bedroom flat, albeit a rather spacious one, I think bikes as a wall decoration are second only to bookshelves), 78% of dwellings in the UK are houses or bungalows, most of which will have some outside space front or back, so that can't be a really major factor in the low take up of cycling. The *perception* that there's not enough room might be quite influential and that's a bit of a chicken and egg situation, people are only likely to bewilling to readjust their living space or look for innovative storage solutions to keep bikes if they use them regularly and enjoy it, but they are not likely to use them regularly and find out they enjoy it unless they already have a bike at home.

@Dodonline Look up "Induced Demand" adding capacity does not work.

@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!