🆕✨🌎 Con la colección Iceberg de GOBIK y @Telefonica, que vestiremos en @letour y @letourfemmes, estaremos apoyando programas de conservación de los oceános > https://t.co/TRaNOKT2vN#TDF2023 | #TDFF2023pic.twitter.com/Hvk8h7aLu5
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) June 19, 2023
I can see a pattern with these new Tour de France kits... they are 🔷blue🔷.
To the person who went to all the trouble to put carpet grippers between the bollards on Goldsmith Row Hackney go f*ck yourself. Removed, despatched pic.twitter.com/pyxogjouY6
— Bob From Accounts 🚲 (@BobFromAccounts) June 19, 2023
"It's this level of mean spirited borderline sociopathic vandalism that all cyclists have to deal with whether they're guilty of some offence or not"
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Seriously this is getting out of hand, hitting both Tour of Slovenia and the Baloise Belgium on the same day? If UCI pro cycling teams can't get their bikes thousands of pounds worth of gear and bikes recovered, good luck pestering the Met to get that Specialised Allez back. If anything, I hope someone is pitching a movie about the heist to Guy Ritchie...
> Bike thieves target pro teams at Tour of Slovenia and Baloise Belgium Tour
Yesterday was a big day in Birmingham.
Hundreds of protestors lined up at Kings Heath to protest the increasingly dangerous state of roads, with seven hit-and-runs in less than a month, killing four cyclists, including a 12-year-old boy.
The busy junction in Birmingham was the spot where a young girl and a child were struck by a driver last week. It was also the spot where 13-year-old Hope Fenell was riding her bike when she was struck by an HGV driver in 2011. While the driver got a prison sentence of six months, Hope lost her life.
"It was extremely poignant, we went there because of the hit-and-run on Thursday, but opposite the railings where we were, there's a memorial to Hope," Paul Manzotti from Better Streets for Birmingham, the campaign group behind the protest told road.cc
"It's been 12 years, and very little has changed. People are angry and frightened about the state of our roads. There’s a real determination and a lot of people have reached the point of 'enough is enough'. We have been at the words stage, now we want action," he said.
The protest was marked by emotionally charged people chanting "Shame on you" at drivers overtaking dangerously, speeding, changing lanes — all behaviour that lead to deaths on streets, said Manzotti.
Today people in Birmingham came together to say "Enough is Enough". Four people have been killed on our roads in the last month, two of whom have been children. Last week a child and their older sibling were run over on their way to school. @for_birmingham is demanding action pic.twitter.com/nJummIIFWZ
— Sarah Chaundler (@ChaundlerSarah) June 18, 2023
The community of KingHeath make clear #EnoughIsEnough - we need zero tolerance enforcement and an end to the culture of car is king. As a mum, Councillor and residents I will work with @for_birmingham to ensure that our right to be safe on our streets is heard👊🌹 pic.twitter.com/cpriPYowON
— Lisa Trickett (@LisaTrickett41) June 18, 2023
As a parent there isn’t a day goes by when I don’t fear for my children as they leave for school. Every day I witness aggressive dangerous driving…. It was only a matter of time before a spate of horrors would fall upon our community.
— Sarah Chaundler (@ChaundlerSarah) June 18, 2023
Just the last weekend, Better Streets for Birmingham had organised a similar protest, and Paul said that they weren't hoping to have another one so soon, but things haven't improved, they have only got worse.
And another week before that, Adam Tranter, the West Midlands' walking and cycling commissioner called for urgent action to "turn the tide on aggressive driving in Birmingham" in an open letter.
“We cannot accept this as normal. Everyone should feel safe using our roads but through a combination of design, policy and enforcement priorities, this is not the case,” wrote Tranter.
For context, the white van driver had moved onto the other side of the road in order to bypass the protest. He was immediately confronted by those in attendance and forced to move back onto his side of the road pic.twitter.com/QnsBTckHr9
— Caoimhe (they/she) 🏳️⚧️🇮🇪💛🤍💜🖤 (@Caoimhe4now) June 18, 2023
Mothers and fathers attending the @for_birmingham demonstration in Birmingham call for safer streets across our city.
We shouldn't have to fear for our children as they walk to school or make their way around this city... but we do#stopdekindermoord@ShivajiShivaLawpic.twitter.com/SDdJv98EO6
— Sarah Chaundler (@ChaundlerSarah) June 19, 2023
Mazotti told road.cc: "We are calling for the mayor’s office and the council to have a press conference and call it what it is: an emergency. We want them to mobilise, we want a visible police reaction on antisocial driving, much greater traffic enforcement and a zero tolerance policy to antisocial driving."
Better Streets for Birmingham's Mat Macdonald spoke at the protest: "We demand a national legislation that will ensure that those who kill or maim with their thoughtless actions behind the wheel have their keys and vehicle immediately removed from them and never returned.
"Driving is not a right, driving is a privilege. And those who have no intention of respecting the responsibilities that accompany that privilege should never be let loose on our roads."
But in the wake of a spate of serious crashes, killing children and adults alike, could this spark a nationwide movement, similar to the Dutch protests of "Stop de kindermoord", translating as "Stop the Child Murder", which led to the cycling revolution in the 1970s?
Back in 1976/77/78 there were similar "Stop de kindermoord" (Stop the child killings) protests in The Netherlands, demanding more protective measures for cyclists. And these protests worked. pic.twitter.com/m1MHKg88c1
— TheSysX 🇳🇱🇪🇺🚴🏾🏁 (@TheSysX) June 19, 2023
Manzotti said: "It's unfortunate that it's happening almost 50 years later here in a similarly tragic way, but we would love to see safer streets for everyone. We are only focused on Birmingham, but if other groups want to join and take up the mantra, then of course we’d say go for it. The Dutch just got together nationally and said we have to change, so yes, I would love to see that happen here and if a national movement comes out of this, that would be brilliant."
It seems that other cities are joining in: Manchester is organising a Remembrance Ride on 20 June demanding safety for all on Greater Manchester's roads, in memory of those who lost their lives, like the 19-year-old Nawaf Alghamdi, who was killed while cycling.
Do you think there's a potential for this to break out and lead to national mobilisation? Is there a chance that Britain is set for its own cycling revolution in the wake of increasing road casualties of not just adults, but children as well?
In the meantime, enjoy this brilliant crowdfunded movie "Stop Killing Our Children" focusing on Hope Fenell's death in Birmingham, produced by the ETA and narrated by BBC journalist John Simpson. The film also features contributions from Hope's mum, Chris Boardman, Dr Rachel Aldred, Dr Ian Walker, George Monbiot and the founders of the Stop de Kindermoord movement, among others.
Clik here to view.
A much loved mountain bike facility is being closed without notice in Somerset county, and a petition launched by a resident has received over 1,800 signatures, with Somerset Council also calling on Forestry England to reverse the decision.
"Wych Lodge MTB Trails has been a popular, free to ride mountain bike (MTB) facility for 20 years, and the only MTB facility within reasonable distance, and on a safe cycle route of Taunton, the County Town of Somerset," reads the petition, started by Andrew Hughes.
"Enjoyed by over a thousand riders from the local area, including adaptive MTB, and attracting visitors from far and wide, we have built an incredible facility and community that is welcoming and supportive, who care as much about the forest and its other users, as they do about their sport.
"The loss of Wych Lodge MTB Trails will not only remove the only access to the sport many people have (especially the young and financially strained), it will destroy a very diverse community that spans generations, genders, abilities, beliefs, nationalities and languages; a network of support groups, learning opportunities and unlikely friendships."
While the world spun and everyone went about their weekends, Ryan made sure that you have lots of great stuff to catch up on, if you haven't already. And what better way than starting the blog with a weekend roundup.
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> Oops! Teammates celebrate ‘victory’ arm in arm… only to be pipped by rival right at the finish
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> New cycle paths “like putting a motorway down the high street”, say residents