“The more bike lanes a city has, the more often this will happen”: Car passenger aims “vroom” taunt at cyclist… only to be caught and passed moments later; Valverde’s back on gravel, and with brown shorts + more on the live blog

We’ve all known since we were children that bikes mean freedom, in the broadest sense: the freedom to explore, to see new places with your friends, even just to quickly nip down to the shops.

But as you grow older, and are forced to commute to work, you realise cycling – especially as more and more dedicated infrastructure pops up – also provides you with the freedom and ability to escape that most mundane of everyday occurrences: traffic.

However, for some reason, that realisation has yet to seep into the minds of many motorists, still revelling in the marketing-infused notion that cars are your ticket to freedom, even when you’re stuck in a massive city-wide rush hour jam, and not, as that TV ad informed you, on a wide open American highway.

Passenger shouts *vroom* sound out of the window as they overtake, forgetting that cycling is often faster than driving in rush hour traffic 😂😂

They never caught up again. pic.twitter.com/zxVABxTDUL

— Stormont Cyclist (@StormontCyclist) April 2, 2023

That was certainly the case for this car passenger (note the R plates on the vehicle) who couldn’t resist the urge, as 17-year-olds are wont to do, of shouting “vroom” at a passing cyclist, who turned out to be Twitter user and regular uploader of close passes and bad driving, Stormont Cyclist.

Of course, we all know where this is going.

After directing their wholly original taunt out the car window, the poor passenger – travelling through Dundonald in the direction of Belfast, in rush hour, I’ll add – soon received a taste of his own medicine, with a good-natured but targeted wave from Stormont Cyclist as they continued on up the bus lane, never to be seen again.

‘Ha! Look at that silly cyclist, bet they wish they had your new car mate, they could get everywhere a lot fast-… oh.’

That wave has gone down well with many cyclists on Twitter, who have enjoyed their own spin by a taunting motorist in the past (you’d almost think that it happens all the time):

I was watching the video thinking "I hope you wave at them when you pass" and you didn't let me down 🤣

— Jason Whitworth (@MrJasonJay) April 2, 2023

That's the best feeling!

— Leo (@LeoIsTallish) April 2, 2023

Similar once happened to me on Chelsea Embankment. Since they were in a convertible BMW they had nowhere to hide as I cruised past chuckling loudly.

— KewCogs (@KewCogs) April 2, 2023

A car passenger made this noise to me in Newry last week. It made me laugh because they did a proper Doppler effect like sound while passing too 😂🏎️

— Aisling McCrudden ☘️🇮🇪 (@AislingPMcC) April 2, 2023

Though some focused on the serious side of the video, and the anti-cycling, car-brained, abusive attitudes which still prevail, unfortunately…

So much time for this 😂 UK drivers are an absolute menace towards cyclists. It’s always the dim ones that give the most abuse/drive the most dangerously https://t.co/XmPlKObZBp

— Joe Walsh (@walsh_joe) April 3, 2023

Studies show that cyclists are not seen as humans. This is because of the derogatory campaigns, including the ones from @RSAIreland. They are treated as second-class citizens.

I know this is harmless, but you'd never do that to a stranger in a shop. https://t.co/2Rid4WlyCO

— Slawomir (@Demichowicz) April 3, 2023

So many still see a car as freedom
(like in the ludicrous car adverts)
But when you get on a bike you actually experience real freedom @WeAreCyclingUKhttps://t.co/fFNzkA10Fl

— ian tern (@iantern) April 2, 2023

Amen.

Of course, those anti-cycling attitudes invariably popped up in the comments, with a few claiming that the rider was about to jump a red light at the end of the clip (because cyclists, apparently) – though Stormont Cyclist was, as ever, on the scene with a handy clip:

I stop at red lights https://t.co/hTsr9L6zRs

— Stormont Cyclist (@StormontCyclist) April 3, 2023

Some training for the Koppenberg next year 🤣 pic.twitter.com/xBrJ1AIVTW

— Elisa Balsamo (@Elisa_balsamo) April 4, 2023

Just get a hose and throw on some massive stones, and it’ll be almost life-like…

We love a pointless competition here on the road.cc live blog, so we thought we’d piggyback on this one, posted on Twitter by Active Travel England’s Brian Deegan, who asked: Where is the UK’s biggest cycle symbol?

Deegan’s entry, from Grove Street in Leeds, sure is a whopper:

Is this the biggest cycle symbol in the UK? Leeds for the win. pic.twitter.com/5N3Zqz71HN

— brian deegan (@bricycle) April 3, 2023

However, it might be 10/10 for size, but we’ve been forced to score it a 0/10 for pedals, unfortunately.

Cranks on the other hand should be there 😁

— rob (@robpatrick) April 3, 2023

Although some weren’t that impressed with other aspects of the design:

Looks like someone has a hard time using a roller in a circle.

I have seen linesmen roll out perfect circles before like a magician.....

But this is some kind of new bike I have never seen before.

Definitely a wobbly.

— PedalPowerWorkBikes (@BikeTaxiGuy) April 4, 2023

It's a #fatbike

— k881mark🙂🙄🤪🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇺🇦 (@k881mark) April 3, 2023

Cycle marking designed for viewing at speeds above 20mph (hence elongated shape). Tells you everything you need to know about the roads department. @RantyHighwayman will correct me if I'm mistaken

— Proprietor of Cycles for Cake (@girlonabrompton) April 4, 2023

While Paul noted that Leeds, though boasting a massive bike symbol, also features this preposterously small ‘cycle lane’:

We also have this genius bike lane in Leeds though pic.twitter.com/nRtAxSjXKJ

— Paul (@muppetkeeper) April 3, 2023

Nevertheless, Brian has certainly thrown down the gauntlet in the ‘Massive Cycle Symbols’ contest, prompting a few contenders to emerge from the shadows (though I think we might have to bring UKAD in to police this competition, as some of the below entries aren’t on the road, painted, or even in the UK…).

It's a contendor. Certainly has a slight edge over these in Gillingham. pic.twitter.com/aab7bBexVd

— Gary Outram (@KentRiderGaz) April 3, 2023

I'm going to suggest that Life Cycle (1995) by George Wyllie in Manchester is substantially larger and not made from magic paint. pic.twitter.com/Gc2ROic4tN

— ChrispLOL2 (@ChrispLOL) April 4, 2023

Does this count? 😉 pic.twitter.com/LQxFLelkLT

— Dom (@Leeds_guy) April 3, 2023

You should see the one in the centre of Munich. pic.twitter.com/ZrAkJuWYLp

— Maurice Barnes (@MrOctarine) April 3, 2023

Does your local bike symbol have what it takes? Or will it need to adopt the Pogačar approach to Paris-Roubaix and gain a few kilos before it can compete with the very best?

A recent study has found that if delivery companies switched to using cargo bikes instead of diesel vans for the first and last mile of deliveries, it would save the NHS and other government services over £4bn by reducing the costs of congestion and air pollution.

Researchers at London-based Just Economics, comparing the social, environmental, and economic impacts of diesel and electric vans with e-cargo bikes, concluded that diesel vans are 67 times more environmentally damaging when air, water, and noise pollution, as well as climate change, are taken into consideration.

When these environmental costs are combined with social costs, the report argues, the “hidden costs” associated with diesel van deliveries come to a staggering £2.46 billion annually in London alone.

According to Oxford courier firm Pedal and Post, if a third of those costs were saved from switching to zero emissions cargo bikes – the Department for Transport has claimed that 33 percent of urban deliveries could be managed by cargo bikes – the health and environmental savings could total £4.25bn across England.

“The potential to clean up our air and grow the UK economy is huge,” says Pedal and Post’s CEO Chris Benton, who is currently looking to expand the business through a crowdfunding campaign.

“Pollution from diesel van deliveries costs the NHS nearly £25,000 across the lifetime of the van, compared to around £150 for an electric cargo bike.

“We also know that cargo bikes can deliver more parcels per hour than the average van, and produce 92 percent less greenhouse gas emissions per delivery, so it really is a no brainer to make the switch.” 

> Transport for London launches Cargo Bike Action Plan, which aims to promote use of cargo bikes and address barriers that prevent shift from vans

The analysis comes just days after Transport for London launched a new initiative which will see it working with boroughs, businesses, and the freight and servicing industry to promote the use of cargo bikes and transform how deliveries and servicing trips are made in the capital.

According to TfL, cargo bikes could replace up to four percent of van kilometres by 2030, a figure that rises to 17 percent in central London.

The government’s Cargo Bike Action Plan, which was launched on Friday at the National Cargo Bike Summit in London, will aim to address the barriers that inhibit or prevent a shift from vans to two wheels.

Looks like Kostüme’s Signature Bib Shorts impressed our reviewers, gaining that elusive, tantalising five-star rating (if I’m honest, I didn’t think it was possible to hit the five star button on our systems).

But what else would you expect from the “most supple, soft, and beautiful Lycra I've ever put between my thighs”? (Careful now, those are Jo’s words, not mine...)

> Review: Kostüme Men’s Bib Short