Welcome to Tuesday's live blog, with Jack Sexty, Alex Bowden and the rest of the team.
26/11/2019, 17:08
TfL announce £400,000 in grants for cycling and walking schemes... a day after approving controversial £1 billion Silvertown tunnel
Transport for London will free up £400,000 to put towards cycling and walking schemes across 60 community groups in 32 London Boroughs. It will include walks for bereaved and isolated people, led cycle rides and cycle maintenance training for young people, with the winning projects targeting a range of traditionally underrepresented groups such as people with physical disabilities, refugees and asylum seekers, and children with Down’s Syndrome, enabling them to feel confident while walking and cycling in London.
While this is all very positive, it's also a little unfortunate that it comes a day after TfL have also announced that a £1 billion contract has now been signed to start work on the Silvertown motor tunnel...
We beaver away trying to avoid a wee bit of concrete for foundations and TfL use like a gigaton of the stuff to funnel more deadly toxins into the lungs of children in Tower Hamlets and Newham. Really disappointing. https://t.co/RX5pLe2tDS
— OnePointFiveArchitecture (@1point5arch) November 25, 2019
Environmentalists say the huge twin-bore, four-lane tunnel - essentially an urban motorway - will make air pollution worse and generate even more traffic, and have accused Sadiq Khan of being a hypocrite after recently declaring a climate emergency. Labour councils either side of the tunnel that will link Greenwich and Newham have also opposed it.
I must say that tweeting this on the same day you sign the contract to build the Silvertown Tunnel, which will vastly increase motor traffic in east London, is bold. And massively hypocritical. https://t.co/ajULCuq8re
— Matthew Sparkes (@Sparkes) November 25, 2019
26/11/2019, 16:50
Richard Freeman tribunal - hearing will now reconvene on Thursday
The tribunal was set to carry on tomorrow, but an advisory note from the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service says: "We have been advised that further time is required by the Legally Qualified Chair (LQC) of the tribunal, therefore parties are released until Thursday 28 November at 9.30am. When the hearing reconvenes in public we expect the LQC to give his legal advice before the tribunal retires into camera to make its decision in relation to the legal argument heard on Monday."
26/11/2019, 16:39
Challenging motor vehicle dominance
Challenge the dominance of car traffic in our cities by exposing its intrinsic design flaw.
How you already started doing it?
(via @M_Wrenchgang) pic.twitter.com/FyDvDl5UTG
— Cycling Professor (@fietsprofessor) November 26, 2019
If the aim of this stunt isn't immediately obvious, it's to highlight that drivers have to physically get out of their cars to check something they think has fallen in front.
26/11/2019, 16:21
Things you can't do with a rim brake Pt 1…
You couldn't do that with a rim brake.
26/11/2019, 15:29
Wout van Aert won't have to pay monster fine after winning legal case over breach of contract
The 25-year-old Belgian appeared in court last month accused of breach of contract by the manager of his former team Verandas Willems-Crelan - and Nieuwsblad report that van Aert won't have to pay the 1.1 million demanded by Nick Nuyens after winning the case.
Nuyens said van Aert was contracted to Verandas Willems-Crelan until the end of 2019 and broke it by joining Jumbo-Visma, but van Aert says he made the move while the team were negotiating a merger with Dutch team Rompoot. Van Aert's counsel Walter Van Steenbrugge commented: "Wout was of course very relieved. He can now find mental peace and fully concentrate on his sport."
The Nuyens camp will now have to pick up the legal costs, and say they plan to appeal straight away.
26/11/2019, 14:55
Loffi reveal all new Glove 2.0, a liner and a kid's Glove
Smiley happy glove brand Loffi (because someone/something has to be smiley at the moment) have launched an updated version of their Glove, naturally called the Glove 2.0. It has a more reflective striped smiley on the palm, an AX suede pull tab ad extra grippiness, and costs £35. Also new is the Loffi Glove for kids (£18), and a liner (£10) for extra chilly days.
You can check the new Loffi range out here, and read our review of the original Glove here.
26/11/2019, 13:54
Idea transgender people are going to take over women’s sport is "absolutely ridiculous" says Philippa York
York - who came fourth in the Tour de France as Robert Millar - also says sport should be more welcoming to those who are LGBTQ rather than “pretending to be a homogenous Disney Land”.
26/11/2019, 12:38
Rebellin forced into retirement at 48 as new team fails to materialise
It seemed that nothing would stop the ageless Italian from racing, but unfortunately there may be nowhere back for him after the new Hungarian team he was meant to by riding for in 2020 collapsed before it started.
Marca reports that the 35 prospective members of the Epowers Factory Team received an email last week telling them that sponsors couldn't be finalised, and they had not met the deadline for obtaining a UCI licence. Rebellin dreamed of riding the Giro once more if the team managed to get a wildcard.
26/11/2019, 12:28
Maybe potholes aren't so bad after all...
A Cambridge engineer nearly missed out on his dream of seeing a special Coldplay gig after a huge pothole punctured his car tyres.https://t.co/bXQZ3T40to
— Cambridgeshire Live (@Cambslive) November 25, 2019
Apologies to anyone who likes Coldplay. Sort of...
26/11/2019, 11:55
Our latest comp is a cracker
Some lucky bugger is going to win themselves a whole Canyon AL Disc 7.0... don't miss out on this one, enter here.
26/11/2019, 11:44
Interesting stats from Denmark
What happened when the capital region of #Denmark invested in cycle superhighways?
23% increase in the number of cyclists
14% of the new cyclists used to travel by #car
333 fewer sick leave days on a daily basis due to increased health
— ECF (@EuCyclistsFed) November 26, 2019
The Danes have transformed their travel habits in recent years, and the stats in this paper reveal the benefits brought by eight new cycle superhighways in the capital region, which includes Copenhagen.
Key stats include: a 23% increase in the number of cyclists, 400,000km cycled every day on the superhighways and 333 fewer sick leave days daily. Also, 52% of cycle commuters are women.
26/11/2019, 11:17
Ultimate badge of honour
Ever been pulled over for speeding on a bike?
26/11/2019, 08:49
Man with unpleasant opinions discusses hatred of cyclists with other people who have unpleasant opinions
My most reassuring take home from my Speed Awareness course was how thoroughly and justifiably hated cyclists are
— James Delingpole QC (@JamesDelingpole) November 23, 2019
The highly predictable right wing columnist James Delingpole shared his experience of going to a speed awareness course yesterday. It didn't go down very well...
Nice. A group of law breakers sitting around not being able to take responsibility for their actions feel the need to put the blame on to someone else.
I thought motorists normally moan about cyclists slowing down traffic!
Stop behaving like a child and share nicely.— Neil Meadows (@Neilythere74) November 25, 2019
Powerful evidence that the Govt should stop running courses that allow criminals to reinforce each others' dangerous beliefs, and just fine them heavily. https://t.co/XpSAqm6IFU
— John Stevenson (@johnstevenson_x) November 25, 2019
Better hope you never hit a cyclist then - this tweet would indicate intent.
— oscarfranklin #StopTheCoup (@OscarNMFranklin) November 25, 2019
Was this the @TTCGroupUK running your course James? If so, we would like a word with the trainer. There is a new section on #closepass driving, so if this wasn’t delivered correctly you may have to retake the course. Do you want us to book you in?
— Road Traffic Law Info (@safepasscyclist) November 25, 2019
I used to think there must be something inherently irritating about cyclists but then I saw the stats for dead & injured horses & riders caused by motor vehicles and I realised the problem is, as the police found in your case, self-entitled & pisspoor drivers
— Tom Hoyle (@TomfooleryH) November 25, 2019
In case you haven't already gathered the kind of views Delingpole holds, he is employed by the far-right website Breitbart News, retweets Toby Young and is a climate change denier. He also described himself as discriminated against because he is a "white, middle-aged, public-school-and-Oxbridge educated middle-class male."
He is still trying to defend his tweet this morning - which hopefully will count against him in court if his poor driving endangers others again in the future.
26/11/2019, 09:05
Dublin driver who deliberately hit cyclist given fine and suspended sentence
Today a driver who had a previous conviction for dangerous driving was given a suspended sentence (and a *very* stern warning from the judge ) for deliberately driving his car into a cyclist before fleeing the scene. https://t.co/C73KHzt3mY
— Dublin Cycling (@dublincycling) November 25, 2019
The Journal reports that Sean Kearns was caught on CCTV driving straight at Marcelo Valencia, and fled the scene. The judge Martin Nolan took into account mitigating factors such as Kearns' work history, even though he had six previous driving convictions.
He was ordered to pay his victim €10,000 and given a three-year suspended sentence.