Today is turning into a US special (with some UK-based bike lane blunders in between)...
This shirtless pipe-wielding attacker, 29-year-old Zachary Nulsich, has been arrested by the Harris County Sherriff's Office and now faces 20 years in prison having been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony.
The victim, 46-year-old Steven Blum, said he was riding along the newly opened trail for the first time. When rounding corners he often shouts out to pedestrians to let them know he's there, something he did as he passed the attacker for the first time.
On the way back down the trail, however, the shirtless man was now armed with a metal pipe which he jammed into the front wheel of the IT worker's Specialized Roubaix. Thanfully he managed to avoid crashing and pedalled away before calling the police.
"I had no idea what his intentions are after that," Blum told Chron. "I can only assume more harm. It's pretty scary to see a huge shirtless guy running after you with a pipe. I had no words or incidents prior to that. I don't get out on the trail very much either. I don't really know his motivation, not that it really matters."
Records showed Nulisch lives in a home which backs onto the trail, he is due back in court in January.
One of your drivers has abandoned one of your HGVs in a cycle lane @Tesco#yplacpic.twitter.com/ILP5pslAir
— ReCyclingDave (@cycling_dave) December 15, 2021
You can build the nicest cycle lane in the world...but if someone parks in it it's not much use. Fair enough, you could argue the nicest cycle lane in the world would be constructed so nobody can park in it, but hey, someone will try.
This driver got the You Park Like a C*** treatment (I wish I could shoehorn an every little helps joke in)...
Tesco's social media team replied asking for more details, saying they would be looking into it. We'll see if we hear from them again...
One of our Canadian readers got in touch with this amusing tale of trying to buy a bicycle tyre. You can almost imagine the manager's conversation..."Ah where shall we put these bike tyres?""I dunno just hang 'em up there out the way"...
To be fair, if I got to watch someone on a power lift pick my tyre off the ceiling every time I bought one, I'd definitely keep going back...
You've probably seen Rapha has another premium product with a premium price tag...this time it's a £2,735 coffee machine. As I said, a premium price tag.
> Fancy a Rapha coffee machine? That’ll be £2,735, please
Captain_slog is on board (to an extent)..."Oh, I like this. I imagine using it would feel more like driving a steam train than making a cup of coffee. But even if space and funds allowed I don't think I'd get one. I use a cafetiere at home and like to save up the cafe-stop espresso (plus big wodge of cake, natch) as a reward for getting those miles in or climbing that hill."
On Facebook, John Bull is absolutely not on board, and started with the (completely unsubstantiated) conspiracy theories..."Surely this is a Rocket Espresso for twice the price because someone's labelled it Rapha?"
Dan Flower read the small print: "You can only use it if you have a moustache and live in black and white. And for gods sake, don’t smile."
And David Walker's clearly having a bad day..."Some mug will buy it because they're a knob." I hope that "mug" was a deliberate hot drink-based punsult. If so, top work!
I didn't fall off pic.twitter.com/q2ACY6tCnq
— Nihilistic Gherkin (@NihilisticAbyss) December 16, 2021
What we don't know is if there was a whole Christmas tree there at the start of the journey...
Today we're on the South Coast for a Daily Echo letter that made us chuckle...
David Meads from Bournemouth titled his input 'Bournemouth is not Amsterdam where cycling has always been a way of life' and went on to bemoan the fact the cycling and walking investment from the Department of Transport has, in his mind, seen an "unseemly rush to provide wide cycle lanes" in places where "the lesser spotted cyclist is a rare sighting".
Which builds to the crescendo..."Cycling may well be the big thing in the future but there is still the here and now that should be dealt with. Bournemouth is not Amsterdam where cycling has always been a way of life, and probably will never be."
We can't be thinking of the same Amsterdam...
🙈
Amsterdam was no different to most UK cities. Letters like this are Always written seeing the world from the wrong end of the telescope.A few 00k spent on cycling is castigated but the millions spent on car infra which takes up the majority of the space is never criticised pic.twitter.com/DLw9wCTvy5
— ChancerOnABike (@chancer_a) December 16, 2021
Given the order is always swim, cycle, run, I don't fancy your chances 😉
— Paul Blake (@Paulblake8A) December 13, 2021
Double world champion Fernando Alonso will undergo surgery in January to remove the titanium plates from his jaw which were fitted after the F1 star was hit by a driver while cycling back in February.
> F1 ace Fernando Alonso sustains “multiple fractures” after he was hit by driver while cycling
Alonso was hit by a motorist making a turning into a supermarket car park near Lugano in Switzerland.
The Alpine driver told F1's website that he will have the plates removed in January before taking two weeks off before preparation for the 2022 season begins.
"Could we incorporate maybe a bicycle into a dance routine?"🚴
Now THAT we'd LOVE to see @nicholasroche🤣#dwtsirlpic.twitter.com/yavOhS7i86
— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) December 16, 2021
Here's @alex_howes@Kielreijnen with a close call from motorists going double the speed limit and passing over the double yellow with oncoming cyclists. pic.twitter.com/4JKHP5Nhd5
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) December 15, 2021
Back in 2019, Phil Gaimon made a hard-hitting video titled 'Please Share This When I'm Killed by Someone Driving a Car', in which the ex-pro racer recalled an incident where a driver, speeding on the wrong side of the road, almost hit him while overtaking another motorist on a blind bend.
> “When I'm killed” – ex-pro Phil Gaimon’s powerful YouTube film about vulnerability of cyclists
Gaimon signed off the video saying, "I know how I'm going to die. It's going to be something like this."
Last night Gaimon was back with another video from the very same stretch of road, another chillingly similar incident...this time two speeding motorists, seemingly racing down the hill, overtaking on the wrong side of the road, drive straight at the group which included US-based pros Alex Howes and Kiel Reijnen.
Gaimon's camera shows him urgently jump off the road as the drivers speed past, before picking up him saying "fuck that" having narrowly avoided another catastrophic collision.
Reader Phil got in touch to share his submission of how not to do bike lanes. This one from Wadebridge in Cornwall got a fresh lick of paint recently, including that confusing give way...my only guess is that a crossing is going to be built on top of that speed bump? Otherwise, who knows?
For the good column, we've this one between Haringey and Waltham Forest...
Wot a difference a day makes! North/ East Bound @wfcouncil#ForestRdE17 reservoir stretch of improved walking, cycling, planting & public realm works! Connecting @haringeycouncil with @RedbridgeLive via @wfcouncil@WeSupportWFMH@allpartycycling@London_Cycling@willnormanpic.twitter.com/ZK6igbrbcX
— Labourstone (@Labourstone) December 15, 2021
Marks out of ten?
Loads of infra pics popping up this morning so I thought we could play a game of 'rate that cycle lane'. Take a look at these and have a think what they should score out of ten...like Come Dine with Me but for active travel. Yes, I'm aware that all sounded very Alan Partridge.
First up this shiny headline-grabbing segregated route over Westminster Bridge. Possible extra points for it's ultra-quick assembly, some on social media said construction took less than a month.
Westminster Bridge's westbound protected cycle lane is now open!
The eastbound lane should be finished in a few weeks. This will not only make cyclists safer but also allow for the removal of the ugly temporary protection that has been in place since 2017. pic.twitter.com/BBqO6vwF8N— SafeCycleLDN (@SafeCycleLDN) December 14, 2021
Just look at all those bollards...I'm saying 8.9/10 for this one...but, in the words of every football pundit covering their back..."it's a game of opinions"...so feel free to tell me how disgraceful an 8.9 is...
Next up, we're off to Glasgow for something at the other end of the scale...
Interesting cycle infrastructure in western side of Glasgow! 😯
It’s mostly paint between park cars and moving lane… 😬
Though, has interesting islands at junctions, and one advance cycle phase at a junction! 🤔
A lot space here for better design with trees! 🌳 pic.twitter.com/RYODOnTEIk
— Thomas O. Cornwallis (@UrbanistTOC) December 14, 2021
That's more like it...faded paint, a van parked in the cycle lane, no real segregation...3.2? Or is that being too generous? Finally, we're dipping back into England, to Sheffield, for this...
I see there are a lot of people against the bus lane extensions on Ecclesall Road currently. But surely anything would be better than it currently! How could anyone want MORE cars and MORE parking allowed on Ecclesall road. It's horrendous. No wonder so few cycle. pic.twitter.com/1ZWKFo5eMz
— CButton (@sheffbicycle) December 10, 2021
Suddenly that 3.2 from Glasgow is looking a lot more appealing. Anyway, can I give this a score if there isn't any infra to rate? It's got to be a 0...
I'm off to scour the web for more bike lanes to rate. Back in a minute...