Drivers blast “genius” cyclists for ignoring bike lane – but locals describe it as “not fit for purpose”; Is this the narrowest cycle lane in the world?; Mark Cavendish, The Movie: Coming soon; Councillor’s Lycra lobby tweet slated + more on the live blog

Ah, the old ‘why aren’t you riding in the cycle lane?’ chestnut, able to migrate seamlessly from passing car windows to social media posts...

As anyone who has ever stumbled onto the live blog – or read our feature on the use of cycle lanes, or, if we’re honest, ever ridden a bike within a 50-mile radius of some rudimentary ‘infrastructure’ – will know, cyclists are not obliged to use bike lanes for all sorts of reasons: from the lack of protection a narrow strip of paint provides to the amount of debris and hazards (often car-shaped) that they tend to collect.

> Why don't cyclists use cycle lanes?

So, cyclists may not be obliged to use cycle lanes – but that doesn’t stop some motorists from complaining when they don’t.

Last week on the live blog, we reported that sports presenter and son of Rob Reiner, Jake Reiner, received an almighty social media backlash after posting a video of an “unacceptable” group of cyclists riding next to a fairly substandard bike lane in California.

Today, we’re taking a 15-hour flight (in the most environmentally friendly sense, of course) to Sydney, where a Reddit user lambasted some cyclists for “holding up traffic” in the city’s Marrickville suburb over the weekend.

“After watching these geniuses ride slowly down the whole length of the street next to the bike path as cars were stopped behind them, I can see why people get p***ed  off,” the user wrote.

In the now-deleted post, the motorist – who noted that they took the photo from the passenger seat of the car – claimed that they are usually in support of bike paths, but that their truly harrowing, traumatic experience (I may be exaggerating) has swayed their opinion.

While a quick game of anti-cycling bingo ensued in the comments – “dressed like they’re in the Tour de France”, “should be illegal to not use a bike path”, and “inconsiderate” all popped up out of the machine – most Reddit users leapt to the defence of the cyclists, with locals pointing out that the bike lane in question just isn’t up to scratch.

“This bike path has stop signs at every intersection for cyclists instead of having priority as you do using the main road,” one user pointed out.

“That is the worst bike path in Sydney,” another claimed. “It has four junctions where you have to give way in every direction and can’t see oncoming traffic.

“It switches between going onto the pavement and road. Then about 40 metres from where they are in this pic it just stops, and you have to cycle across a busy road.”

“Yeah, a lot of these bike lanes are not fit for purpose and are far more dangerous than riding on the road,” said a local.

As if to underline the point, another Reddit user posted a photo of the bike lane in question – completely blocked by a parked car:

So, tell me why cyclists don’t use cycle lanes again?

Plenty of worthy nominees in today’s comments section for the much-coveted 2023 Narrowest Cycle Lane in the World prize (the winner of which, in case you were wondering, earns themselves a terrifying close pass).

Brooksby nominated this painted shrug of the shoulders in Bristol, on the way to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which helpfully gets even narrower as you approach the bend:

Nniff suggested a few contenders – first, the A24:

And then this baffling bit of abruptly-curtailed infra in Croydon, which – although not the narrowest – nniff reckons should be included purely for “sheer failure to grasp the concept”:

Finally, there’s this oldie but a goldie (which I’m sure has featured on the blog before) from Biker Phil:

Now, all we need is Ben Affleck looking bored and we’ve got ourselves an award ceremony!

Liverpool is being “left behind quite badly” when it comes to its infrastructure, according to the city’s walking and cycling commissioner Simon O’Brien.

O’Brien, an actor and television presenter, pointed out to the Baltic Triangle Podcast this week that most journeys in Liverpool are less than 5km, yet half are taken by car – while only two percent of all journeys in the region are cycled.

“The historic way of encouraging people to cycle in Liverpool and the surrounding region has been to paint a white line on the floor and say ‘there you go’. That is not acceptable anymore,” O’Brien told the podcast.

“They are now doing it in Manchester, they are now doing it in Leeds, they are now doing it in Birmingham. So, Liverpool city region is really getting left behind quite badly on this kind of stuff.

“Leicester, as a city, has transformed itself with its cycling and walking infrastructure in the past five years, so it can be done if there is the political will and money to do it.”

In recent years, the Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, has committed to the creation of a 600km network of new and upgraded walking and cycling routes, while last month Liverpool City Council announced that it was pressing ahead with plans to develop a new ‘mobility strategy’ designed to make it easier to access the city centre without a car.

But O’Brien says change isn’t happening quickly enough, and that Liverpool should capitalise on the additional funding set aside for cycling through Active Travel England.

“Always, you were going to different councils and they will say ‘yes, we really want to do this and we know we should be doing this but we just haven’t got the money’. That’s not the case anymore,” he said.

“Liverpool city region has received, and will continue to receive, different tranches of investment if you show the willingness and the plans that will make it easier and safer to cycle and walk. So the money is there, it now needs the political will.

“So, my message is that we have to do it, we have to do it quickly, and we have to get going right now. The money is there, so there are no more excuses.”

Rein Taaramäe is a great cyclist, and even greater person 🫶

He completed 21 days of training camp in Rwanda, gifting 23kg of equipment to the local riders, trained with them and learned from them 🇷🇼 pic.twitter.com/BYbTi9DnB2

— Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (@IntermarcheCW) February 7, 2023

As well as kitting out local riders head-to-toe in Intermarché-Circus-Wanty gear, the 35-year-old Estonian spent his three weeks in Rwanda sharing his experiences as a veteran of the peloton and a three-time grand tour stage winner, and offering advice to his training companions on how to improve as a cyclist.

“I think he’s the right person to do it. He has had his ups and downs during the career and he has learned and experienced a lot,” his wife Hanna said on Twitter.

Wait until a cold February morning…
CS4 you beauty pic.twitter.com/mT2co8O2Im

— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) February 7, 2023

Another week, another local councillor engaging in a spot of anti-cycling bingo…

This time, it was the turn of Liam Billington, a Conservative councillor for the Stalybridge South ward in Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, who decided – for some strange reason – to spend his Sunday morning on Twitter, lambasting what he colourfully described as the “overly sensitive lycra lobby that throw tantrums if you don’t worship at the altar of ‘active travel’.”

Being a councillor you get representations from different groups. Nothing compares to the overly sensitive lycra lobby that throw tantrums if you don’t worship at the altar of “active travel”.

— Cllr. Liam Billington 🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@liambillington) February 5, 2023

Cheers for that Liam.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Billington’s tweet – which prompted accusations of othering, stereotyping, and dehumanising cyclists, as well as trivialising calls for increased road safety – attracted such a barrage of criticism that the councillor was forced to deactivate the replies:

Active travel barely exists in Tameside. Their 'tantrums' are probably out of desperation for safety. If you built a network of quality protected cycle lanes, which should be basic infrastructure like pavements & roads. You would probably never hear from people who ride bikes.

— James Stafford (@Jamesdestafford) February 6, 2023

Are you able to articulate a sentence without othering and dehumanising people you don't agree with?

— PhoneKills (@phonekills) February 6, 2023

Yet another councillor stereotyping ‘cyclists’. Sigh.

— Leicestershire Loves Cycling (@LeicsCountyBike) February 6, 2023

Lycra has nothing to do with active travel. Lazy stereotyping is often the fallback of the bigot.

— Macc Active Traveller (@lkchdschh) February 6, 2023

stop trivializing people's safety

— OB Cycler (@ob_cycler) February 6, 2023

Lycra? We're just people who use bikes to get to work, school and see friends. pic.twitter.com/CvYjQhKBPI

— Harry Gray (@HarryHamishGray) February 6, 2023

You're basically accusing people who don't want to die on the roads of being overly sensitive. It's this kind of thinking that's led to children no longer being able to travel anywhere without a 4x4.

— Tom Jeffs (@tom_a_jeffs) February 6, 2023

Is that what the kids call being ratioed?

Another NFT opportunity then.

— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) February 7, 2023

Harsh, but fair…

> Wout van Aert is selling his three biggest wins – as NFT digital assets

All road users would prefer our badly pot holed dangerous third world roads to be made safer. That’s where the money needs spending. Virtue signalling to a fit young minority from an anti driver government seems to the priority again. @mrpotholeukhttps://t.co/SOei8Wwwtz

— Howard Cox (@HowardCCox) February 6, 2023

It seems that the Fair Fuel UK founder’s latest dubious response to the government’s newest round of active travel funding– which, as the likes of Ned Boulting noted in the replies, is only a drop in the ocean compared to the money spent on other driver-centric initiatives – has gone down well on Twitter:

For context, this is less than 1% of what is annually spent on local and national roads. https://t.co/tQqqLWzwAb

— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) February 6, 2023

£200m is £4 per head. The government has spent £1.4bn on a single roundabout, that's £28 per head. This is risible

— Dave McCraw (@david_mccraw) February 6, 2023

As a driver we are getting £2+ billion spend to cross under 400m of the River Thames at Silvertown / Greenwich that only motorised vehicles are allowed to use.
I guess we could swap funds.

— @lxtwin [at] mastodonapp.uk, Just in case (@lxtwin) February 6, 2023

Everyone benefits from better walking and cycling routes, Howard, not just young people and women.

Including drivers when they’re not driving.

Not every great new policy has to be opposed with whataboutery.

Celebrate this one, even if most of us want to see much more spent.

— jon shaw (@jonathanlshaw) February 6, 2023

> £200m available for cycling and walking travel schemes in England – with councils urged to prioritise safety of women