He said excuse me 3 times prior to this as well 🤷🏻♂️ takes a second to step to one side 🤯 the little girl won’t want to bike again pic.twitter.com/DbRRdueDOV
— Andrew Neill (@AndrewNeill91) May 12, 2020
The disturbing clip shows the thug walking a dog with a woman on Derbyshire's Blackwell Trail, while the father of the 6-year-old girl cycling can be heard shouting 'excuse me' numerous times. Neither the man or the woman move, resulting in the girl panicking and crashing between them. The father then asks for an apology and receives abuse, before the dog walker then kicks the girl's bike and walks off. The girl can be heard crying in the background.
The footage has caused much anger on social media after being shared by the girl's mother Michelle Prost, and according to The Mirror she wrote on Facebook that her daughter has been left "traumatised" by the incident.
Ms Prost continued: "She is new to going on bike rides, this has really upset her. The man gets verbally abusive and says "so f**king what?".
"What an awful man. My daughter is traumatised. They clearly have an issue with cyclists and were making a point of not moving."
Great result! Unanimous support across all parties for new e-bike legislation. From tomorrow e-bikes will be treated just like a normal bike. No more barriers of having to register & license it beforehand. Get peddling 🚴♂️🚴♀️ https://t.co/lEMmTMsfhB
— Nichola Mallon (@NicholaMallon) May 12, 2020
Residents of Northern Ireland were subject to extra stringent e-bike laws that forced them to register and insure any pedal cycle with a motor; but from tomorrow, new legislation will bring them in line with the rest of Europe which allows Northern Irish cyclists to ride e-bikes with up to 250 watts of power and a top assisted speed of 25km/h without needing a licence or insurance.
The former pro turned YouTube personality climbed more than the 8,848 metres needed to 'everest' in 8hrs 4mins according to his Strava upload, eclipsing the previous world record of 8hrs 29mins set by Tobias Lestrall in 2017. To do so he picked Mountaingate Ridge Road in Los Angeles to stage his attempt, riding up and down it 61 times.
3 way tie for the most I’ve ever ruined myself. Thanks to everyone for donating https://t.co/idaQLmcufd
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) May 12, 2020
Gaimon was raising funds for the No Kid Hungry charity, with the running total standing at just under $69,000 of a $100,000 target at the time of writing - the fundraising page is here.
The Evening Standard report that the London Mayor doesn't plan to reintroduce the London congestion charges for at least three weeks; despite TfL expecting to lose an estimated £4 billion in income this financial year. Campaigners have also said that the suspension of charges doesn't tally with Westminster's urge for people to walk and cycle when they return to work, and that the suspension of the £11.50 daily congestion charge and £12.50 ULEZ charge could lead to more commuters heading back to work in private vehicles. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps made it clear that the government expect commuters to walk and cycle where possible in parliament today:
.@grantshapps"the 2 metre rule will only leave capacity for 1 in 10..it is crucial to serve those who need it... if possible people should walk or cycle"pic.twitter.com/qxUMD8zag5
— Transport for the North (@Transport4North) May 12, 2020
Both the congestion charge and ULEZ were suspended on 23rd March, with the intention of making it easier for key workers to commute by car. Khan told ITV:
“For the time being, we are not lifting the changes. But we will be reviewing that. The key thing is from the Prime Minister — this road map in the medium to long-term. It gives us a route out of the lockdown.”
NHS manager Jonathan Kelly, who is also a member of Better Streets Kensington and Chelsea, told the Standard: “We risk the car becoming the default mode of socially-distanced transport. I am very aware that NHS workers are increasingly switching to walking and cycling to work in response to the pandemic.”
Described as an 'electric revolution' by Specialized, the new e-bike has their own mid-motor system, flat bars and 38mm tyres and weighs under 15kg - full story on eBikeTips.
Hi Andy. To be clear we're not against investment in cycling or walking. But we are furious that the Government can find money to make this investment while the airline industry is in a jobs death spiral and there is no sign of the bespoke support we were promised.
— BALPA (@BALPApilots) May 12, 2020
Some false equivalency here perhaps? We've a feeling BALPA aren't doing themselves any favours...
Very happy to see Govt supporting cycling and walking schemes. But the Govt is not giving similar support to the aviation industry which is facing a jobs death spiral.
— BALPA (@BALPApilots) May 12, 2020
Spurcycle has announced a new bell that has been designed for urban and MTB flat bar bikes. The new bell features a 9mm mount width that has a diameter of 22.2mm. In a press release, Spurcycle said:
“The new Compact Bell has been amended with a 50% slimmer mount and trim lever which allows better integration with many brake, shifter and dropper levers seen on modern bikes. It is intended for use with mountain bike, commuter, eBikes or any other bike that uses a 22.2 mm diameter bar.”
The bell has a brass alloy dome and produces a “premium sound”. The compact bell is available now at £44.99
'Choosing to Live' details Sarah Hornby’s journey through the Canadian Rockies, put together from a bikepacking guidebook with ten epic routes written by husband Ryan. Hornby says she originally had no real intention of riding them herself, but did so in tribute to Ryan after he pased away. A huge cut above most bike brand promo videos, this is well worth 7 minutes of your time.
Toilets are locked up as are car parks, in Ribble Valley lots of cars are parked on double yellow lines outside the car parks making lanes narrower and putting people closer together 🙄 pic.twitter.com/i5Yx02NjIA
— Ian Davies (@IanTheInventor) May 11, 2020
The government have been accused of sending mixed messages with their latest lockdown guidance update urging people to 'Stay Alert' instead of 'Stay Home', and the halfway house of car parks and public amenities still being closed while the public have essentially been given a free pass to drive to beauty spots is said to be leading to an inevitable rise in motor traffic. In the photo above, it's claimed that drivers heading to the Ribble Valley are parking on double yellow lines, thus making the road narrower and more dangerous for passing cyclists and walkers.
Seen this?
This is what the so called #StayAlert government advise has caused
🙄
Selfish drivers parking on narrow roads and no with toilets to go to after a long unnecessary drive. @theJeremyVine@Chris_Boardman@roadcc@allpartycyclinghttps://t.co/ceqArDsk0B
— CyclistMotoristPedestrian (@RideDriveWalk) May 12, 2020
While the public in England have been told they can drive where they please, we should perhaps prepare for this being a common sight in the current phase of the lockdown.
We've devised a Q+A for cyclists in England, Scotland and Wales on what has changed in light of the latest announcements, which you can find here; not a lot has changed, but some messages such as 'unlimited exercise' now means that it's less likely people can misinterpret this as 'once per day' exercise or think there is a time limit.
The famous through-the-night ride from Hackney to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast won't be providing return transport on 4th July for the event. Organiser Gareth Evans said on Facebook that despite the easing of current restrictions, it's "very unlikely" that groups of up to 50 could be transported by coach back to London by the planned 4th July start date. He added: "We're due to pay deposits to our contractors about now, and as a volunteer organisation we can’t afford to take on that financial risk."
A full refund will be offered, but Dunwich Dynamo have asked those who bought tickets to consider donating the fee to the London Cycling Campaign instead. The event is not exclusively owned by anyone, therefore it's expected many could ride the 200km route anyway; and perhaps find their own way back, as detailed in this very entertaining blog Sam Walker written for road.cc back in 2015.
I am going to stick my head above the parapet. I am an airline pilot, a BALPA member, a BC coach and married to the Cycling & Walking Champion on our county council. I am ‘aghast and frankly furious’ by this ill thought out rant by my association. I have told them as much too.
— Peter Smith (@Pinarello_Pete) May 12, 2020
The press release from BALPA claims that "British pilots will be absolutely aghast and frankly furious" at the £2 billion earmarked for cycling and walking when the aviation industry is "dying before our eyes"; but many people in the airline industry themselves have strongly distanced themselves from the stance, including pilots. We'll have a full story on this later today.
The virtual ride starts at 6pm tomorrow and will be led by Wiggins, with special guests promised for a catch-up at various points. You can sign up here, and also join in the chat on Wiggins' Instagram page.
The city that never sleeps is asleep, which gave Matthias Dandois the opportunity to pull some epic stunts aroung NYC landmarks.
Astana are one of many teams facing huge difficulties because of the pandemic, and their manager Vinokourov claims that if racing doesn't resume this year then it may inevitably mean that the team will fold.
Vinokourov described the UCI's efforts to devise a new calendar as a miracle and "better than nothing"; but with Astana's funds coming mostly from state-owned companies in Kazakhstan, finances are dwindling for the team with no revenue coming in. Vinokourov told Cyclism Actu: “There is a crisis in Kazakhstan, the oil and gas market is complicated. I think if there are no races this season, our team will disappear."
Patrick Lefevere of Deceuninck - Quick-Step also said his team could fold if competition doesn't resume this year, while Het Nieuwsblad report that Mitchelton-Scott riders have had their pay cut by up to 70% since April. The same publication also claimed that CCC will end their sponsorship of the team that bears their name, with riders taking 50% pay cuts to get through 2020.
In a study backed by gambling website Bonus Finder, cycling coach and data scientist Philipp Diegner assessed more than 200 pro performances from recent virtual races, finding that riders are forced to put out superhuman efforts to place highly and some are struggling to adjust to the intensity. With most virtual races lasting around an hour, they're up to six times shorter than road races but can be just as difficult, sometimes harder.
Diegner explains: "The racing is short and particularly intense.
"It is 45-90 minutes of racing instead of 3-6 hours. The consequence for the riders is that there is no opportunity to save energy like they have in road races, so they have to make prolonged, all-out efforts that push them to their physical limit.
“Professionals are not necessarily used to this and it can be a shock to the system. Virtual racing is as hard as road racing; it is just that endurance is a more decisive factor in road racing, whereas virtual racing is one hour of pure, intense suffering.”
The 10 performances in the graphic above were picked out by Diegner as the most impressive he's seen since the lockdown virtual races began, and as you can see they're not all household names. Chris Hamilton's monster effort putting out 6.05w/kg for an hour only netted him a fourth place finish at the Digital Swiss 5, and Diegner claims the 6.58w/kg he averaged for the last 12 minutes would have been enough to win him "most World Tour mountain stages". Hamilton described the Digital Swiss 5 as "the hardest thing I've ever done."
Diegner added that he expects top pros on the road who appear to be underperforming - such as Egan Bernal - to improve and start replicating their outdoor performances in the virtual world over time.
The group received a response to their earlier letter regarding the ban in April, with Director of the Parks Tom Jarvis writing that the measures were in place to ensure the park was not "overwhelmed with visitors".
Richmond Cycle Campaign have now sent another letter to Mr Jarvis - titled 'Still Not Good Enough' - questioning the basis for closing the park. They question that any sufficient data was used to show that people were travelling from far afield to cycle in the park, and say that their suggestions to deal with overcrowding at gates weren't considered. They also question the claim that cyclists travelling at speed were "endangering wildlife", and say that similar incidents have been reported of dogs chasing deer and endangering visitors with no action taken.
There is no indication that Royal Parks intend to lift the Richmond Park cycling ban currently.
To all Haringey residents, I will not stop demanding better walking and cycling infrastructure for our borough. Before & after Covid this has not changed.
A shift to active travel could be the greatest health and environmental leap forward for a generation. We need to be a part!
— Cllr Luke Cawley-Harrison 🔶 (@luke_harrison) May 11, 2020
Councillor Luke Cawley-Harrison says he got an email response from Haringey Council saying that there's no need for additional segregated cycle lanes during the pandemic because the roads "have never been quieter"; with some pointing out that speeding and the number of fatal incidents involving cyclists have both gone up:
Might be worth getting @SuptAndyCox on the case. The problem with quieter roads is it allows the significant minority to drive dangerously. I know a lot of extreme speeding has resulted lately on the A10 and surrounding area
— duncan platt (@dhpwilmington) May 11, 2020
The unavoidable major junctions in the borough are dangerous for cyclists when they’re busy and the traffic is slow moving and also dangerous when it’s quiet and the traffic is moving fast. They’re just dangerous.
— Tom (@Pacowac) May 11, 2020
It's said that the government's new statutory guidance means councils are obliged to make additional space for cycling and walking, with Coventry's Bicycle Mayor Adam Tranter saying that the government have power to take over control of roads from councils who fail to comply:
Please do share with them the Statutory Guidance. In the case of non-compliance, central Government have the power to take over the highways management to put this right. https://t.co/g5AVFXdszfpic.twitter.com/gUhWCOqFMI
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) May 11, 2020
It comes after an email was shared with road.cc from Councillor Geoff Driver, the leader of the Tory-controlled Lancashire County Council, who described the emails he received based on Cycling UK's pre-written form to lobby for additional cycling infrastructure as "childish antics". The draft from Cycling UK to ask your council for temporary cycle space during the lockdown can be found here.
It took a little longer than we would have liked, but today we're installing cycle lane defenders along our A1010 South project. #activetravelpic.twitter.com/mW4OjTK1ZG
— Cycle Enfield (@CycleEnfield) May 11, 2020
It's something of course, and far safer than no cycle lane at all; but some have questioned the use of 'flex posts' and the large gaps between the defenders still won't be enough to completely prevent incidents:
It’s a start, won’t stop a bus going over the line though will it.
— Harlow Cycling Page (@TDF79) May 11, 2020
Flex posts are designed to protect motorists, and to protect their cars from damage, not to protect cyclists. Make them solid, like bridge railings are. That way a mistake from a driver doesn't result in someone being killed.
— Neil "cars are virus delivery capsules" Winkelmann (@winkybiker) May 11, 2020
how does it defend against that bus?
— 😀🚲 (@enobacon) May 11, 2020
What do you think, should we strive for better?