As the saying goes, one man's poison is another man's meat. Our favourite live blog entrant's recent video shows him cycling to work early morning with the heaven relentlessly pouring from above. And with rain comes every cyclist's (one of the) worst nightmares, being taken for a fool by a pothole disguising itself as an ordinary puddle.
Something very similar happened to the Channel 5 presenter, presumably going to the office for another edition of his daily morning show through the Oxford Street at six-thirty in the morning. But as he decided to move over to the pavement to have a quick check of his bike, the water had collected on the side (ironically the beginning of a submerged bike lane) and Vine couldn't see the red line marking the raised kerb, making him go off his bike.
Fell off my bike. The heavy rain yesterday hiding the potholes on Oxford Street. Six-thirty in the morning, no one to blame but me. Treasured earphone pinged out... pic.twitter.com/lmlugVmJmd
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) December 13, 2023
"Ouch, that hurt a little," he said on the dubbed video. "And I had to fish my bike out of this stream."
He checked his camera and his light, but what he failed to notice that the one of his Bose earphones (worth £100 or so) had pinged out of the ear. The video shows him set off back on his route, now a little late for his work, realise the earphone was missing, take a U-turn, cycle all the way back (not falling this time), and find the stray earphone still lying, intact on the London pavement.
Unfortunately, Mr Vine's miseries didn't seem to end here. Cue people on social media barracking at him for cycling with earphones.
Dave replied: "Wait you wear earphones whilst cycling? This means that you will have reduced awareness of your surroundings due to your hearing being impaired. Also you don’t appear to of [sic] fitted a light to the front of your bike which shows other road users your direction of travel. Safety first."
Vine hit back with the classic grammar check, correcting Dave's misuse of "of" in place of "have".
Have. To have
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) December 13, 2023
More people got on his back for the activity, some lambasting him, some genuinely puzzled by the choice. Brian Anley said: "I can't even run with ear pods in because I feel so conscious if not knowing what is going on around me without my sense of hearing."
Now I have a feeling this might a divisive one. While Vine seemed to be unbothered by the trolls mocking for cycling with earphones, for many, riding with subdued senses is a real concern, and not something they'd be comfortable with doing themselves or even share the road with people doing likewise.
So what's your take on all this? Cycling with earphones, yay or nay? Let us know in the comments...
I don't know how does Vine keep doing it again and again. Maybe it's our collective attentions feeding him energy and he's building the next spirit bomb, soon to be detonated to take over the entirety of the cycling world on the internet.
But yeah, he's back. Back on the site of his fall, only to find a pothole so big that it made "Santa look small", complete with his quirky, outlandish animations (to be frank, it is quite a massive pothole). And of course, the story of admonishing him for using earphones while riding hasn't ended.
Today I returned to the scene of the fall off my bike … to see what Oxford Street Pothole #28 looked like when it wasn’t disguised by a pool of rainwater. IT WAS BIG https://t.co/6tYe5kD16apic.twitter.com/J886Fy48iu
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) December 14, 2023
As soon as his post was up, there was a reply: "Maybe this time don't wear your earphone so that you're aware of what's going on around you."
Do potholes make a noise, then?
If you'll allow me, I will remove your car stereo and all the windows.— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) December 14, 2023
And there was Ross who made the situation about Edinburgh versus London.
That’s a mere scratch to the surface compared to the pot holes in and around Edinburgh. If you avoid one you hit another one. pic.twitter.com/cCPknULRF9
— Ross Cochrane (@Jambo_Ross) December 14, 2023
A local council says it has “escalated” and “intensified” its “war on cycling menaces” by implementing a complete ban on riding a bike in pedestrianised zones, as part of a wider crackdown on anti-social behaviour.
North Lincolnshire Council announced this week(link is external) that a new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is now in place in Scunthorpe and Brigg, following a public consultation earlier this year, introducing stronger powers and increasing fines for what the local authority describes as the “scourge” of “irresponsible behaviour”.
Greater London Authority's Assembly Member from the Conservative Party Nick Rogers asked Mayor Sadiq Khan about the emergency response times on Chiswick High Road before and after Cycleway 9.
GLA Assembly Member @NickRogersLDN asked @MayorofLondon about emergency response times on Chiswick High Rd before and after #Cycleway9. Great news that London Fire Brigade response times were faster after #Cycleway9pic.twitter.com/pIn4YX71Zf
— Hounslow Cycling (@HounslowCycling) December 12, 2023
And we'd like to say a big thank you to Mr Rogers, for this has resulted in making data public that shows that the presence of good, usable cycling infrastructure more often than not leads to a reduction of car usage, freeing up space for emergency services.
If you look past the times of 2020 and 2021, both riddled with Covid and lockdowns for the most part, the average response time for the first pump was almost similar to both 2018 and 2019. However, for the second pump, the response time fell well below those of 2018 and 2019, and matched the lowest ever average time in the past five years, recorded in 2020.
Community projects across London get £575k total active travel grants including helping deaf ppl in Newham & Redbridge, LGBTQ+ women, trans & non-binary ppl in Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham & older Somali ppl in Tower Hamlets cycle more. Thanks @willnorman@tfl@LMFoundation_! https://t.co/mNgBObDkPP
— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) December 14, 2023
Former world champion Philippe Gilbert and Intermarché-Circus-Wanty pro Loïc Vliegen have been convicted of the assault and battery of a motorist who dangerously close passed them during a 2016 training ride.
The now-retired Gilbert was also found guilty of carrying and using pepper spray, which is banned in Belgium, during the ensuing roadside altercation – during which he fractured his finger – while the driver received his own conviction for the “intentional obstruction of traffic”.
A torrid affair has been afoot in the village of Bicester, with cyclists and pedestrians both disavowing a developer's latest plans for road crossings which form part of a 60,000 square metre business park site.
Active travel groups have labelled the third proposal by Peveril Securities Ltd for a pedestrian crossing in Lakeview Drive, Bicester “complex” and said it appears to have been put forward with "vehicles in mind".
Catherine Hickman, chair of Bicester Bike Users' Group, said: "The developer has had three stabs at this junction without stakeholder involvement and it is still riddled with errors. The pedestrian crossings are still pitifully indirect which will tempt users to dash across where there is no crossing.
"The islands and offset crossings are far too small to accommodate prams, mobility scooters, or wheelchairs. The cycle crossing lines up with the pedestrian only path which will encourage unnecessary conflict. Pedestrian and cycle paths are not segregated or buffered from the traffic, contrary to the county's own policies."
Robin Tucker of Oxfordshire Cycling Network echoed similar thoughts, reports Oxford Mail, adding that the cyclists and pedestrians seem to have been an afterthought, perpetuating similar drawbacks on planning we have seen repeat over and over again due to the ingrained motonormativity.
He said: "The proposed design is complex for people walking or cycling and seems to have been designed for vehicles first, with people fitted around the edges. We’d like to see a design that makes it easier and more intuitive for people to get where they want to go.”
Danny Yee, of Oxfordshire Liveable Streets, said: "National guidance is clear: a cycle track should have a one metre buffer from 40mph traffic, and must have at least a 0.5m buffer.
"If a design this bad is going to be put in, the speed limit on the A41 needs to be dropped to 30mph through this junction. A lower speed limit will also reduce the danger to those frustrated pedestrians who will make unplanned and unsignalled crossings to avoid slow and convoluted multi-stage crossings."
With Jumbo out the door, and Lease a Bike in, I wasn't sure if Cervelo would still stick with the yellow bee theme for the all-conquering Dutch team's latest bikes. But it turns out they haven't only stuck, but doubled-down with this gorgeous, intricate golden honeycomb accents on the latest Cervélo bikes, shared via the courtesy (aka Instagram) of Robert Gesnik.
With Ford's latest announcement of an alert system for motorists to prevent from dooring cyclists (how considerate), here's a deep-dive on the wretched menace, covering everything you need to know about a danger to cyclists that is sadly too common.
While I could see a lot of people not being too keen on Ineos Grenadier's new kits (I for one didn't mind them too much), I haven't seen many scorn at the team's new colourway for its bikes.
So as your live blog host, it naturally falls on me to make a case against and at least try and convince you to scorn at them.
To begin with, I'll be honest I'm not a fan of the gradient thing going on. Looks almost like one of those mid-2000s Microsoft WordArt gradient fills.
And is no one else instantly reminded of Bahrain McLaren's Merida Scultura from 2020?
> Check out Team Bahrain McLaren's 2020 Merida Scultura Disc
Gosh, I miss the early Ineos burgundy and aubergine colours!
I always knew that Thibaut Pinot had impeccable balance, but I never thought it was "screaming your lungs out in the stadium with two beers in hand" good...
Sa meilleure vie 🥺#BVBPSGpic.twitter.com/pauRSQmn3L
— Collectif Ultras Pinot (@UltrasPinot) December 13, 2023
In yesterday evening's final Champions League group game against Dortmund at the Parc des Princes stadium, Thibaut, the unanimous choice for the favourite rider at road.cc towers, was enjoying with two pints of beers in his hands with the Paris Ultras.
Maybe not enjoying as much, given that PSG just ended up scraping past Milan on goal difference. Ah Pinot, why did you have to go supporting PSG though...
Maybe we need to come up with a list of cyclists who could be on your Sunday league, or maybe even semi-pro football XI?
> Footballers who cycle XI — the Premier League stars who love life on two wheels