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Police claim "nobody wants to play Spot the Cyclist" so wear hi-vis...; Swap first class for bike storage?; Simon Cowell: Cycling my most creative time; Cav out of hospital; CS3 counter tops 2m; Pidcock joins Boxing Day CX party + more on the live blog

We've another packed day of action and entertainment for you...Ole's no longer at the wheel, but Dan Alexander is for Thursday's live blog (yes, he's been waiting all holiday to use that)...
Thu, Nov 25, 2021 09:01
136
Police claim "nobody wants to play Spot the Cyclist" so wear hi-vis...; Swap first class for bike storage?; Simon Cowell: Cycling my most creative time; Cav out of hospital; CS3 counter tops 2m; Pidcock joins Boxing Day CX party + more on the live blogHi-vis campaign (NI Road Policing/Twitter)
25 November 2021, 16:55
Images that hurt to look at...

A bit of WD40 and some elbow grease will sort you out... 

25 November 2021, 15:22
Tadej Pogačar is (officially) the best cyclist in the world
Tadej Pogacar, Stage 19 of 2021 (picture credit Tour de France A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

You probably didn't need to hear French cycling magazine Vélo and sports newspaper L'Equipe awarded Tadej Pogačar their Vélo d'Or prize to know he's the best cyclist in the world...

In fact when we chucked up our poll on the live blog it was Tadej on top (by two votes).

Unlike our poll, however, there was no space for Mark Cavendish in the top three. The award's pannel decided Vuelta winner and Olympic gold medallist Primož Roglič deserved second place, and gave third to Wout van Aert. Poor Julian Alaphilippe. The two-time world champ does take home the consolation prize of being France's best rider.

What odds Pog wins again next year? 

25 November 2021, 15:20
25 November 2021, 13:47
Is swapping first class for bike space the answer to UK trains' cycle storage problem?

Lawrence has certainly got people talking with his suggestion for making the UK's rail networks accessible to cyclists...get rid of first class and install proper bike storage areas. It's the rail equivalent of taking a lane for a segregated cycle path...

The idea came as Lawrence travelled on a train from Wales to London with more than 600 seats, two first class coaches, but just four bike spaces. His conclusion: "Let’s bin first class and have a bicycle coach. Cycling needs to be easier. The rich can sit with everyone else."

Something like ScotRail's West Highland Line carriages with space for 20 bikes, perhaps?

Others pointed out the need for something more accessible too, meaning bikes don't have to be hoisted up into an impractical hangar. Fine if you're strong enough to strap your 6kg carbon racer in, but what about heavier bikes? Panniers? Cargo bikes? 

Here's what people have been saying...

Thoughts? 

25 November 2021, 14:58
PIERER Mobility AG acquires Felt Bicycles
Felt AR aero road bike 2020 launch - 10.jpg

As part of its "strategy to assume a leading global role in the bicycle sector" PIERER Mobility AG has announced the acquisition of Felt Bicycles. PIERER Mobility AG will take control of the Felt brand assets, business assets in Europe and North America as well as the integration of the global workforce into PIERER E-Bikes GmbH's team structure.

"The acquisition of Felt Bicycles fits perfectly with the overall strategy of PIERER E-Bikes – that of becoming a global player in the field of two-wheel mobility, with both electric and non-electric bikes, across all cycling categories," CEO Stefan Pierer said. "With Felt we are able to expand our bicycle portfolio and also strongly enter the North American market with an established, high-performance brand. The company is also heavily involved in competition, which brings an extra attraction for us."

25 November 2021, 14:17
Anti-LTN campaigner has a new target...autumn

Watch out, autumn. They're coming for you. Moving on from anti-LTN videos and social media posts to...falling leaves. 

25 November 2021, 14:06
25 November 2021, 13:42
Pedal-powered paramedics
25 November 2021, 13:13
25 November 2021, 11:53
Pidcock vs MVDP vs Wout van Aert: Cancel all your Boxing Day plans
Tom Pidcock wins Superprestige Gavere 2020 (via Twitter).PNG

If you needed any more reason to stay in on Boxing Day and lie in front of the telly, Tom Pidcock will also be at Dendermonde for the CX World Cup event alongside Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel. It'll be the first time the trio have competed against eachother since the Tour of Flanders back in the spring...

Yesterday Liam told us the race may well be the highlight of his Christmas...any doubt has probably just been removed...

25 November 2021, 11:27
"That expression ‘get back on your bike,’ with me, it was literal": Simon Cowell not put off by breaking back in e-bike crash
simon cowell 2.PNG

America's Got Talent judge and full-time shiny TV personality Simon Cowell has spoken to the American press about his e-bike crash last year and says he had no doubts about... well, getting back on the bike...

"My most creative time is now when I cycle, because I cycle even though it's an e-bike. I still got to pedal and I do about 10 miles a day… even though I had an accident on one. That was more an electric motorbike; these are called pedal-assist bikes, and they're brilliant," he told Extra TV.

"That expression ‘get back on your bike,’ with me, it was literal. I feel better than I did because I exercise so much more."

Cowell underwent surgery last August after falling off an electric bike near his home in Malibu.

25 November 2021, 10:59
Two millionth cyclist crosses CS3 counter

Were you the lucky two millionth? 

25 November 2021, 10:37
Cav out of hospital after treatment for broken ribs and collapsed lung
Mark Cavendish Ghent crash.PNG

Mark Cavendish is back at home after a couple of days in University Hospital of Ghent for treatment on injuries sustained on the final night of racing at the city's famous Six Day track cycling event. Cav broke two ribs and suffered a collapsed lung after water on the track caused a pile-up.

But according to Het Nieuwsblad, the Manx Missile has now been released from hospital and is back home in Essex with his family. The Belgian outlet also reports contract extension talks with Deceuninck-Quick-Step should finally be sewn up this week...

Although, to be fair, we've been hearing that for weeks...

25 November 2021, 10:32
Gok Wan on the live blog...who'd have thought it?
25 November 2021, 08:43
Police demand hi-vis wearing..."nobody wants to play Spot the Cyclist"

It's the time of year when police forces and road safety groups think about what advice to give road users as the nights draw in. That tends to mean plenty of posts like the one above for the live blog... 

Playing devil's advocate, some might say it's a non-issue, at worst a clumsily worded message that passes on a lesson most cyclists already know. However, there's an even larger body of replies that see it as victim-blaming and all a bit pointless considering the amount of stories we see of cyclists wearing hi-vis being killed or seriously injured. Surrey Roads Policing Unit are at the forefront of that argument...the Northern Ireland Road Policing account is not. 

The post asked riders to use hi-vis, saying "nobody wants to play Spot the Cyclist!" You could (quite uncontroversialy) argue it's the duty of everyone on the road to play spot the cyclist at all times. Anyway, they said a hi-vis jacket had been handed out to the person they spotted without one. #KeepingPeopleSafe.

Reaction? Yeah, let's do that...

And it's not just police forces having a pop...as the clocks went back author Philip Pullman took to social media to rant about "damn fools" speeding through Oxford on bikes without lights or hi-vis...

How many weeks until the clocks go forward again?

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.

Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.

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135 comments

Avatar
srchar | 3 years ago
11 likes

The Venn diagram of people who think all cyclists should wear hi viz and people who think health and safety has gone mad is a perfect circle.

Avatar
Sriracha | 3 years ago
6 likes

Wait 'til they have to start playing "spot the scooterist" in earnest.

At some point it needs to be realised that cars are the problem, not the solution, and we should not have to make all these accommodations for them.

Avatar
peted76 | 3 years ago
11 likes

..sigh.. after four pages of comments which I can't face reading, I've decided that weighing in with an opinion at this stage in the day would be to irrelevant.

*roll's sleeves up and sit behind keyboard waiting for tomorrow's topics 1

 

Avatar
Ride On | 3 years ago
0 likes

Trains! Down our way it's 3 bikes per train max. No good for a family day out, ride with your mates or even commuting at busy times. I would go a step further and put cycle storage on to buses.

Avatar
IanMK | 3 years ago
5 likes

If there's an AutExit referendum I'm voting Leaf

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to IanMK | 3 years ago
3 likes

IanMK wrote:

If there's an AutExit referendum I'm voting Leaf

Each autumn we send the continent 350 million leaves a week. Let's mulch our RHS instead!

Avatar
mdavidford replied to chrisonabike | 3 years ago
6 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

IanMK wrote:

If there's an AutExit referendum I'm voting Leaf

Each autumn we send the continent 350 million leaves a week. Let's mulch our RHS instead!

All these dire predictions about what will happen are just Project Fir.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
2 likes

mdavidford wrote:

chrisonatrike wrote:

IanMK wrote:

If there's an AutExit referendum I'm voting Leaf

Each autumn we send the continent 350 million leaves a week. Let's mulch our RHS instead!

All these dire predictions about what will happen are just Project Fir.

Right! Everyone prefers bleached American wood anyway! Let's take back control of our boards and keep out the Dutch elm!

Avatar
IanMK replied to chrisonabike | 3 years ago
4 likes
chrisonatrike wrote:

mdavidford wrote:

chrisonatrike wrote:

IanMK wrote:

If there's an AutExit referendum I'm voting Leaf

Each autumn we send the continent 350 million leaves a week. Let's mulch our RHS instead!

All these dire predictions about what will happen are just Project Fir.

Right! Everyone prefers bleached American wood anyway! Let's take back control of our boards and keep out the Dutch elm!

Time we took back control of our herbaceous borders

Avatar
rivers | 3 years ago
1 like

I've recently moved further from work so my cycling commute has become bike-train-bike. There are at least 8 people every morning getting on my train at Temple Meads with bikes. There is space for 2, maybe 3 bikes at a push...

Avatar
brooksby replied to rivers | 3 years ago
1 like

rivers wrote:

I've recently moved further from work so my cycling commute has become bike-train-bike. There are at least 8 people every morning getting on my train at Temple Meads with bikes. There is space for 2, maybe 3 bikes at a push...

The way I hear it, leaving a bike locked up at Temple Meads is about the same as just handing it over to some random person passing by on the street...

Avatar
rivers replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
2 likes

That could be why there are so many of taking our bikes on the train. But GWR really needs more bike spaces tbh

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IanMSpencer | 3 years ago
1 like

You don't need true hi-viz, but colours that don't blend with the tarmac. Wiggle have a nice orangy red top which is red enough not to be mistaken for one of RailTrack's fine engineers, but bright enough that you are confident that a sensible driver would have no problems. I'm afraid that there is no solution for the ones that can see you and still try to act as if you are not there. Our club tops are red, white and blue, equally visible

As a cyclist, I've been surprised by oncoming cyclists riding in grey on black bikes, so I don't see it as victim blaming. Sure motorists will say black is white if they are in court, but the problem is that the courts seem to accept being an incompetent, at best, driver is the acceptable standard for using the roads.

I'd quite like to see those matt grey cars banned from the road. I guess they think they are Mel Gibson or something.

Avatar
Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
3 likes

When asked if I wear hiviz I usually reply by saying that I choose to follow the example set by car drivers.  There are a number of studies which show that lighter coloured cars (white & yellow) are involved in fewer collisions, yet the most common car colours in the UK last year were grey & black. 

Avatar
brooksby replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
2 likes

You mean, those cars which are almost exactly the same colour as mist or a wet road?  I've never noticed them 3

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Captain Badger replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
0 likes

Mary Willoughby wrote:

..... yet the most common car colours in the UK last year were grey & black. 

Didn't realise they came in those colours....

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quiff replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
0 likes

Mary Willoughby wrote:

There are a number of studies which show that lighter coloured cars (white & yellow) are involved in fewer collisions, yet the most common car colours in the UK last year were grey & black. 

I assume the former studies account for the latter fact?!

Avatar
Steve K replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
0 likes
Mary Willoughby wrote:

When asked if I wear hiviz I usually reply by saying that I choose to follow the example set by car drivers.  There are a number of studies which show that lighter coloured cars (white & yellow) are involved in fewer collisions, yet the most common car colours in the UK last year were grey & black. 

Years and years ago, a friend of the family (who used to work for the Department of Transport) said they'd done a study on which was the safest colour of car and came to the conclusion that it depended on the conditions etc. The only firm conclusion appeared to be that brown was a bad colour. I had a brown mini at the time. (I'm sure there have been more recent studies - he told me this around 1990, and it wasn't a new study then)

Avatar
Rik Mayals unde... replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
1 like

I had a run in with a motorist, I remonstrated with her for texting whilst driving. I received in return a rant about cyclists, road tax etc, she finished off by saying that I should be wearing hi viz and because I wasn't, I was breaking the Law. 

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
0 likes
Mary Willoughby wrote:

There are a number of studies which show that lighter coloured cars (white & yellow) are involved in fewer collisions, yet the most common car colours in the UK last year were grey & black.

So is that just saying that the different colours are involved in accidents in proportion to their number?

Avatar
Cycloid replied to Mary Willoughby | 3 years ago
2 likes

Several studies  have shown that Black (dark coloured) cars are involved in more accidents than light coloured cars.
Data has been gathered from "Accident" figures, Insurance claims and Car body workshops in various locations around the world, so it appears to be a real truth.
All new models of car in the EU have had to have DRLS since 2011. Some of these studies predate DRLs so are open to question. I still reckon there is some truth in the original statement.

This means that cyclists can ask for reciprocity.
Every now and then Polce stop cyclists at a busy junction and hand out Hi Vis vests. I have this fantasy of joining them, armed with a can of Flo paint and offer to spray a few black cars! 
Why don't insurance companies ask for higher premiums on black cars?

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Cycloid | 3 years ago
1 like

Cycloid wrote:

Several studies  have shown that Black (dark coloured) cars are involved in more accidents than light coloured cars.

Racist.

Avatar
Sheen wheels replied to Cycloid | 3 years ago
0 likes

It used to be widely said (though I can't be certain it wasn't apocryphal) that they did ask for higher premiums on red cars. If their pricing algorithms are working properly, and if black cars are indeed involved in more crashes - and they ought to have the data - then I'd certainly expect it to be factored in.

I must try a price comparison for same car but different colour to see what happens.

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to Sheen wheels | 3 years ago
0 likes

Sheen wheels wrote:

It used to be widely said (though I can't be certain it wasn't apocryphal) that they did ask for higher premiums on red cars. If their pricing algorithms are working properly, and if black cars are indeed involved in more crashes - and they ought to have the data - then I'd certainly expect it to be factored in.

I must try a price comparison for same car but different colour to see what happens.

I can understand that, I used to have a red car, it was clearly invisible.

Avatar
brooksby | 3 years ago
2 likes

I may be wrong, but surely the only way of trimming trees such that no leaves fall off them in the autumn is to cut all of their branches off?  Thus, killing them.  OMG - that councillor wants to kill all the trees! surprise

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

I may be wrong, but surely the only way of trimming trees such that no leaves fall off them in the autumn is to cut all of their branches off?  Thus, killing them.  OMG - that councillor wants to kill all the trees! surprise

He might find a few like minded friends in Sheffield.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_tree_felling_protests

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-54532066

Avatar
brooksby replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

That's the very case I was thinking of yes

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nicmason | 3 years ago
1 like

Plenty of hate the police I see. Wearing light coloured or reflective gear at night is a no brainer for everyone really but I guess some people cant stand it. I see a lot of people walking dogs now where the dog has an LED collar. I guess their civil liberties are being infringed as well. 

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
5 likes

nicmason wrote:

Plenty of hate the police I see. Wearing light coloured or reflective gear at night is a no brainer for everyone really but I guess some people cant stand it. I see a lot of people walking dogs now where the dog has an LED collar. I guess their civil liberties are being infringed as well. 

The dogs'? Wait - I thought they hated postmen, not policemen?

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to nicmason | 3 years ago
5 likes

nicmason wrote:

Plenty of hate the police I see. Wearing light coloured or reflective gear at night is a no brainer for everyone really but I guess some people cant stand it. I see a lot of people walking dogs now where the dog has an LED collar. I guess their civil liberties are being infringed as well. 

Don't worry all. Nic's here to defend incompetence and victim-blaming with some whataboutery

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