Gordon Ramsay 'risking further wrath from neighbours' with 22 mile ride, claims Daily Mail; Custom bike stolen from man visiting sick daughter; Council signs WILL remain on path; Former women's team manager guilty of harassment + more on the live blog

My parish council (which thinks it has had "issues" with cyclists "breaking the lockdown") put up a laminated notice which read something like

"We are more than happy for you to continue using the cycle path for your daily exercise.  However, if you do not live in the village then please do not stop here.  Thank you."

It was up for a couple of days before being torn down.  The village FB group think it was Evil Cyclists (TM) but my own suspicion is that it was a villager who didn't think the notice was aggressive enough...

Mungecrundle wrote:

"Signs on the canal path will stay in place". No, they won't, they really won't. They'll be taken down as quickly as they are put up and will spend the next several years adorning garage and bike shed walls across Great Britain as valuable momentos of the 2020 Covid lockdown.

These look like older signs to me and not Covid-19 paranoia, if on a towpath then No Cycling may well be a legal restriction

OnTheRopes wrote:

Mungecrundle wrote:

"Signs on the canal path will stay in place". No, they won't, they really won't. They'll be taken down as quickly as they are put up and will spend the next several years adorning garage and bike shed walls across Great Britain as valuable momentos of the 2020 Covid lockdown.

These look like older signs to me and not Covid-19 paranoia, if on a towpath then No Cycling may well be a legal restriction

I think the ones in question are these (with thanks to mias_dad):

I believe Mungecrundle was suggesting the new Covid-19 anti-cyclist erected by the village council would become trophies, not the Peel Holding signs (the older signs you refer to) which are perfectly legitimate

Correct

Mungecrundle wrote:

valuable momentos of the 2020 Covid lockdown.

yep, and reminders of the petty, small-minded attitude that afflicts people who get a little bit of power in their local council.

The extra security around bike storage area would seem like a no brainer, but then that would take a lot more thought than many of the companies running the security firms would seem to posess.  I'm sure the individual workers are trying their best, but if no one has ever really cared about bike theft before then it becomes difficult to change practices.

With the lack of rich pickings at train stations and shopping centres then bike theives, scum that they are, have to keep up their nasty work to make something.  No furlough scheme for them, or most of those in the criminal economies.  Cash in hand, not wanting the taxman to have nowt, workers will get much less too.

Although love his comment that an approximate five grand bike was his cheap way to travel to the hospital with the travel lockdown. Would love to see his expensive bike.

btw no way condoning the bike theives and agree with Burts and ktaches comments in full.

There is a bit of diminishing level of returns when riding a nice bike, you might get it proper light, but then have to drag around a shockingly big lock.  My Kryptonite Faggadabadit weighs about 4kg, sort of removes the reasons for  lightweight and Ti.  My new Ultimate Commuter, is big and heavy and pricey, but I have attempted to be a bit subtle, leave her filthy so she doesn't look too flash and have spent nearly £200 on HexLox to try and keep some bits.  And then there is insurance.  And I want an even bigger lock for leaving at work.

Worth it, but there is a price to pay, and a big level of paranoia.

Though even when I'm on the old (now retired) Getting to Work "cheap" (shhhh) bike, there is a feeling of dread whenever I walk back to her, hoping she'll still be there.  Lucky (?) so far...

As spen said about the famer blocking the cornish cycle trail

"Part of NR3 and its less than 2m wide, 'nuff said "

Pretty irrelevant, you're only passing, not spending time together. The virus does not just leap out at you like ankle grabbers under the bed the moment you stray within range. The 2m thing, it came with a duration originally, of 15 minutes. That was quietly forgotten when they dumbed down the message for popular consumption.

It might grab you - it doesn't sit on someone else just waiting for someone to pass by.  It lingers in the air, and grabs you as you ride through.

The 15 minute thing wasn't to protect you from it, just to reduce the margin of risk.

Exactly, it's a probability. You might catch it stood 2m away as well. The point is, it's not a black and white thing, like 2m and you're safe, less than 2m you're not.

So the government sages worked out that under 2m for about 15 minutes and the risk becomes unacceptable. Then it was dumbed down to 2m. But in truth, standing chatting at 2m for 5-10 minutes, which people seem very happy to do, is maybe the same risk or more as cruising passed someone at 80cm closest approach for a couple of seconds.

But people get all het up if such a situation arises, then go and rehearse all their favourite anti-cyclist bile with their neighbours on the doorstep for half an hour, the shocking cyclists imperilling the NHS; but 2m apart of course.

Well I doubt they get horseriders on the tow path becasue it isn't a public bridleway only a public footpath which is why, presumably, cyclists are not allowed on there. Sometimes we have to hold our hands up and say people on bikes are being dicks.

The status of canal towpaths is not always clear. Some are, some are not, permissive paths for cyclists with pedestrians (rightly) having priority. As for horses...history and all that... but their use by cyclists or otherwise has nothing to do with social distancing. If the path is too narrow to pass safely then it's up to the owners or authorities to close it to ALL users or none. I cycled a short distance along the Leeds Liverpool this morning, taking care to keep my distance, and waiting when necessary. Was I being a dick? Were all the pedestrians being dicks for being there?  Still not sure why the parish council of Bollington are a) taking it upon themselves to duplicate the signs already barring cyclists from the Bridgwater canal, (as unessential a trip out as I can think of) and b) seeming to suggest that only cyclists need comply with social distancing rules.

There is a bit of the Basingstoke canal (the muddiest bit and the bit that should form part of my commute) that is permissive for cyclists, horse riding and motorbikes banned.  The dog walkers seem to ignore the signs to have dogs on leads a little more than abide by it mind.

The bit after I get off it is part of an NCN and has had money spent on it and has a much better surface.

The Bridgewater canal and its towpath are owned by Peel Holdings and cycling is prohibited many sections of the towpath, it's not suitable for cycling anyway in my opinion.   There are many quiet roads in the vicinity plus the Trans Pennine Trail so it's not depriving cyclists of opportunities to ride in the area.

For clarity, the section from Altrincham to Manchester has been upgraded and cycling is allowed.

I had a look  to check what OS had to say about the towpath and spotted the adjacent railway trail. I must say that that would be my first choice for cycling that route... I wonder how wide it is?! Towpaths can be heaven to cycle on...or hell. I love the L/L'pool around Saltaire but often it's so busy that there's little point. Beautiful this morning though.

Fact check...I should have looked at Little Bollington...not big Bollington! 

I had a wonderful time riding the towpaths of the many waterways around Birmingham, often riding out from the junction as far as I could and getting a train back.  Foot and Mouth closing down the countryside put a stop to that.

I still have the British Waterways tag giving me permission to ride canals in my bag.

The Trans Pennine Trail, a disused railway line at that point, runs close to Little Bollington.   Access behind the Rope & Anchor pub.

But if horses weren't an issue in the first place, why did the BCC feel it necessary to include 'no horse riding' in the original pre-existing signage?

I don't believe that being on horseback confers some magical power to clearly discern signage, so if the restrictions need to be 'made clear', why not 'make it clear' to them as well?