Park where you want: Boss level! 💯 pic.twitter.com/oN0ewkYvzm
— Cycling Professor 🚲 (@fietsprofessor) March 14, 2022
My wife now goes out for solo rides and makes her own time-lapse videos. 🥰
This is how you know you have safe infrastructure. 👍 pic.twitter.com/bCuUDGRbcs
— Brandon Lust (@AmericanFietser) March 13, 2022
Shh🤫 don't tell anyone her identity 😉@INEOSGrenadiers@Tompid@gcntweet#fun#cyclingpic.twitter.com/yTCQ6RNoNe
— Pint_size_cyclist (@biker_tiny) March 13, 2022
This is the kind of content we want to see on a Monday…
Last week on the blog we featured Tom Pidcock’s special Super Tom kit, complete with cape, designed by Bioracer in honour of the Ineos Grenadiers rider’s cyclocross world championships victory – and his trademark flying celebration, of course.
It seems that Tom, and his choice of attire, is already inspiring cycling’s next generation of superheroes.
Yesterday, four-year-old Daisy Adams from Bristol – with the help of a telephone box (remember those?) – transformed into her own bike riding superhero, with the perfectly executed celebration to match.
It’s not the first time that Daisy has demonstrated her supernatural powers. When she was just two, she cycled 45 miles in 12 days to raise more than £4,400 for the stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands, in honour of her sister Lily, who died of a heart defect when she was just 45 minutes old.
In November 2020, she cycled from Bristol to Bath and back again, racking up an incredible 34 miles in six hours.
And last June she showed off some impressive tekkers on the rollers as she learned to lift her bottle from the cage and get food from her back pocket while riding.
Now that’s a proper superhero. Just don't reveal her identity...
Business owner who protested that the Otley Road Cycle Path would lead to a collision between cyclists and pedestrians, exacerbates the problem by blocking off half of the path with barriers 🤷♂️https://t.co/2PVPggJ8F8pic.twitter.com/AqIA5O3ozr
— Harrogate Cycle Action (@cycle_harrogate) March 13, 2022
Now, if I believed that a cycle lane had the potential to cause collisions between cyclists and pedestrians, I probably wouldn’t then block half of it with barriers, but that’s just me.
The landlord of a Harrogate pub located on the new Otley Road bike path, however, has done just that, with ad-laden barriers now protruding into the lane like it’s the finishing straight of a small Belgian one-day race.
The new cycleway on the Otley Road, which at points morphs into a shared path with pedestrians, has been somewhat controversial since funding was secured in 2017, with complaints focusing on the potential dangers for walkers and the narrowness of the path in certain areas.
Last month, the Harrogate Residents Association wrote to North Yorkshire County Council to argue that the new route is “very dangerous and there could be an accident”.
“The creation of these paths has been hugely expensive and disruptive. Now, all pedestrians of differing ages and disabilities have to share the path with cyclists and electrics scooters,” the letter said.
In January, Charlie Tinker – the owner of the aforementioned pub – said that the shared path was a “disaster waiting to happen” as cyclists would come down the hill past his establishment “at speed”, and that the council’s apparent refusal to address the issue “absolutely stinks”.
Many local cyclists have agreed with criticisms of the path, including its narrowness, the potential dangers of sharing with pedestrians, and the amount of space still afforded to motor traffic on the road (note the ample space for car parking in the above image).
However, Tinker’s decision to place barriers outside his business (reportedly to act as a refuge from flying cyclists for punters as they leave the pub) has been criticised by one Twitter user for restricting “possibly one of the few sections that was wide enough”:
Althought to be fair, many Cyclists will not use it anyway due to.. well there being pedestrians and being downhill and HC changes offering Cycling protection. pic.twitter.com/EzJEhiMFw2
— Mark Hook (@Hookademus) March 13, 2022
But pedestrians coming down the path on the left have to move to the right to avoid the sign, putting them in the path of cyclists coming down the hill. Would be better if @northyorkscc had made the path wide enough to have proper separation between cyclists and pedestrians
— Ian 5 Spot (@Ian5spot) March 13, 2022
As a driver, it’s ironically better due to the widened Harlow Junction.
Sadly it’s also may possibly turn people who were backing improving pedestrian/cycling infrastructure to now reconsider if this is the example of things to come.
— Mark Hook (@Hookademus) March 13, 2022
Maybe it would be best to build the cycle lane down that bit of road which is only used for car storage rather than on the pavement?
— Bloke on a bike in Harrogate🚴 (@Ians70wm) March 13, 2022
Last week Harrogate District Cycle Action, the group behind the original tweet, raised a number of concerns about the Otley Road cycleway, including aspects of the path which need “immediate improvement”.
The group, which campaigns for a network of safe cycleways in and around Harrogate, says the new path “is far from the high-quality scheme that it had hoped for and that is needed if we want to see significant shift in journeys from cars to bicycles.
“The scheme was designed before the current good quality national design standards were introduced (LTN1/20) and there has been little willingness to adopt good practice from elsewhere in the absence of these national standards.
“The cycle path width is very narrow and many areas are shared with pedestrians which is far from ideal.”
The group continued: “The design is heavily constrained by the need to avoid removing the mature trees along Otley Road. It should be noted that at least eight trees were removed for the carriageway widening at Harlow Moor Road junction for motorists and only a single tree is planned to be removed for the cycleway design.
“The design for the corner of Harlow Moor Road has yet to be completed with purchase of Yorkshire Water land enabling the path to be substantially widened here.”
Harrogate District Cycle Action concluded that the Otley Road scheme represents a failure on the part of the council to “create a fully segregated, safe path for cyclists”.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over two weeks ago, the cycling community has rallied together to show its support for the Ukrainian people.
Yesterday, triathlete Giles Brook decided to raffle off his Cervélo P5 time trial bike – an updated version of which was ridden to a 1-2-3 at Paris-Nice by Jumbo-Visma last week – in aid of Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, which aims to provide food, water, shelter, healthcare, and protection for the two million people forced to flee their homes due to the war.
A £10 donation – which the Disasters Emergency Committee says is enough to provide emergency food for two families for one month – will buy you one “ticket” for the raffle.
The bike itself is decked out in the classic Cervélo colours and features Shimano Dura Ace Di2 time trial shifting, a Rotor 3D crankset, and Walker Brothers deep section wheels. It will be fully serviced before the lucky winner receives it. Not bad for a tenner.
“It sits in the garage, deserves being on the road, someone somewhere would love riding it and the money is going to a good cause,” Giles said on Instagram.
Details on how to enter the draw, which closes on Sunday, can be found in the above Instagram post.