Cycling Time Trials’ decision to introduce a separate category for standard road bikes at all of its events last year appears to have paid dividends, as the governing body announced this week that road bike participation in TTs has risen by more than half, proving – according to CTT’s chairperson – that “if you have a bike, you can ride a time trial”.
Last April, in a bid to encourage more people to race solo against the clock, the governing body for time trials in England, Wales, and Scotland created a distinct road bike category, which meant riders without the fancy tech and aero bars could simply click the road bike option when entering a CTT-sanctioned event, with post-ride results listed and scored separately from those on TT bikes.
And according to CTT, which today announced its dates and courses for the 2024 season, the move has worked a treat, boosting road bike numbers by 42 per cent, with 83 per cent of the time trialling newbies trying out British cycling’s holiest of disciplines for the first time last year doing so on dropped bars.
“While I’m excited to see how the elite riders perform in this superb 2024 calendar, I’m also proud that time trialling is once again becoming a sport for everyone,” CTT’s chair Andrea Parish said today.
“Our data shows that road bike participation is up 42 per cent compared with last year and that 83 per cent of riders new to time trialling entered the road bike category exclusively.
“For me it’s essential that our sport doesn’t put up barriers. If you have a bike, you can ride a time trial!”
Here at the road.cc HQ, by now you would think we’d be used to the extreme lengths motorists on social media will go to defend their fellow drivers and pin the blame for any and all road collisions on cyclists.
Last month on the live blog we covered the head scratching reaction to footage released by West Midlands Police, which showed the moment a 71-year-old cyclist was left with a bleed on the brain, a broken shoulder, and a broken ankle after a driver ignored give way markings and ploughed on into her.
Despite the motorist being jailed for 12 months after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving, anti-cycling Twitter on the other hand was convinced that it was the cyclist who was “irresponsible” and “shouldn’t have been going that fast”, and that they were “probably breaking the speed limit but clearly not proceeding towards a major crossing with caution”.
Last February, drivers on social media reacted to the infamous crash on a Sheffield roundabout which left broadcaster and bike helmet advocate Dan Walker feeling “glad to be alive” by accusing the Channel 5 presenter of “putting himself in danger” by “ignoring” a nearby cycle lane– described by local cyclists as “filled with broken glass”.
And over the past weekend, a clip of a Belfast driver pulling across three lanes of rush hour traffic, hitting a cyclist in the process, even led some buck eejits on social media to boldly pronounce that the female commuter had deliberately pulled into the path of the motorist to cause the crash. As you do.
So, it’s safe to say that it takes a lot to shock us when it comes to the ever-expanding genre of anti-cycling, pro-terrible driving social media excuses.
But the baffling response to this latest clip – posted yesterday by the Warwickshire Cyclist account – even managed to raise a few eyebrows in the road.cc offices.
"Cyclists should wear Hi-Viz to be visible to drivers."
Evidence to Support.
Number 1 pic.twitter.com/6gMzfFk9Nk
— Warwickshire Cyclist (@WarksCyclist) January 29, 2024
For a start, let’s check to see if the cyclist was abiding by the holy ‘Fuming Motorist’s Arbitrary Code of Conduct for People on Bikes’.
Were they wearing hi-vis? Yes, indeed. A helmet? Check. Riding in the cycle lane? Yep.
But despite the cyclist abiding by these fundamental road safety commandments (at least in the eyes of victim blamers and more than a few police forces), the oblivious motorist still managed to pull out onto the roundabout and clip them.
And the response on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter? Just as you’d expect, of course.
“Cyclists fault he should of been peddling faster,” said the grammatically-challenged Danny, whose understanding of road safety is right up there with his spelling and punctuation (what, too harsh?).
“I’m a cyclist... but he’s at fault here,” added FSD Bera Test Pilot, helpfully fulfilling our quota of ‘I’m a cyclist but…’ comments.
“Why was Paul the Peddler in the middle of a road for cars?” asked Andrew, failing to notice the red bike lane on the roundabout.
“Terrible cycling,” wrote Jean. “Never hug the edge in a roundabout. I believe the cyclist was in the driver’s blind spot. He didn’t yield properly, but it doesn’t help the cyclist...”
“He was riding in the red marked Cycle Lane FFS,” replied an understandably exasperated Warwickshire Cyclist, who later posted their own recommended alternative to hi-vis clothing, which they reckon would easily grab a careless driver’s attention:
Forget Hi-Viz......We need to dress like this to e seen by drivers..... pic.twitter.com/JBIYHuEHpX
— Warwickshire Cyclist (@WarksCyclist) January 29, 2024
I’ll just leave that there…
British Cycling’s elite road racing task force, set up last August to support the governing body as it attempts to “innovate and energise” local racing in Britain, has shared a list of 16 recommendations which it hopes will breathe new life into a flagging domestic scene suffering from setback after setback in recent years.
Chaired by Ed Clancy, the task force engaged with more than 250 people across the sport in the UK to consider the composition of the elite national calendar, the challenges facing the rapidly dwindling number of domestic teams, and opportunities to grow the reach and profile of local races.
Its 16 recommendations to the governing body – which aim to help create a varied, competitive, and sustainable National Road Series, as well as a National Circuit Series tailored for mass audiences which will generate local economic and societal benefits – are as follows:
Explore the creation of a centralised procurement function.
Produce a new branding, marketing and communications framework.
Undertake a full review of the digital strategy.
Develop event organiser succession plans for all national series events.
Develop a ‘Winning Pattern’ playbook based on existing successful races.
Consider a targeted sponsorship agreement for the National Series.
Review rider entry processes to stimulate early entries.
Develop best practice guidance for teams.
Undertake a full review of the National Circuit Series.
Prioritise National Circuit Series locations by audience size.
Review the entry criteria for WorldTour riders to enter the National Circuit Series.
Review the national road calendar and ensure more races are outside of the north of England.
All efforts should be made to ensure delivery of the Tour of Britain and a UCI Women’s World Tour stage race in 2024.
Explore opportunities to increase the number of UCI 1.2 and 2.2 races.
Undertake a full review of race distances and rider qualification criteria.
Consider a new range of jerseys for the National Road Series and a capped maximum entry cost.
“It’s been a real privilege to lead the Elite Road Racing Task Force through this process and I hope that the recommendations published today can help to galvanise the community and help domestic road racing to grow and flourish in the future,” Olympic champion pursuiter Clancy said in a statement yesterday.
“While the task force members have done a huge amount of work, our recommendations belong to the whole community. We’re hugely thankful to everybody who took time to engage with us through the process, and their experience and insight was vital in enabling us to paint a true picture of the current opportunities and challenges they see.
“Though this now concludes our work, the task force will continue to be a critical and supportive friend as British Cycling moves into its implementation phase, and we look forward to seeing the plans take shape.”
Responding to the task force’s recommendations, British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton said: “I’d like to thank Ed and the task force members for their commitment to the process over the past four months as we collectively look to tackle a matter of real importance for our sport and our membership.
“While it is clear from the report that there are no easy answers, we have taken positive steps with our 2024 elite road calendar, and now have a clear long-term roadmap to propel our national level events towards sustainable growth in the future.
“This has been a new way of working for British Cycling, which demonstrates our commitment to openness and collaboration with our communities, and to finding solutions to our most pressing challenges. We look forward to sharing our progress over the months and years ahead.”
Alright, don’t panic, but I think there’s been a glitch in the matrix somewhere near the GB News studios…
Because, after yesterday’s “concerning” report that more than half of motorists surveyed by the RAC are still unsure whether the Highway Code changes have made the roads safer for vulnerable road users, two years on from their implementation, this morning GB News decided to hold a debate on the changes and their effect on cyclists – and, rather shockingly, it was a pretty balanced affair.
At the start of the segment, which in classic GB News style pitted cycling instructor and director of FlightFreeUK Anna Hughes and motorising journalist Danny Kelly against each other, presenter Eamonn Holmes (who has firmly enhanced his controversialist credentials in recent years) chose to flip things completely on their head by asserting that “I think the Highway Code is a good thing”.
“I just don’t think any of us pay any attention to it,” Ruth’s husband continued. “We should all be tested on it quite regularly, we should have revision courses.”
I have to admit, Eamonn Holmes calling for Highway Code revision courses – and, even, later in the segment bringing up the possibility of mandatory driving retests – wasn’t on my January 2024 bingo card.
Even Danny Kelly admitted that he hasn’t adhered to the new guidelines on giving way to vulnerable road users on side roads – a problem shared by 25 per cent of drivers, according to the RAC’s survey – and said the Highway Code changes should have been publicised more widely through a leafleting campaign sent to all UK driving licence holders.
And, by the end, the presenters were highlighting the dangers posed on the roads to cyclists, Hughes and Kelly were agreeing that the ‘war’ on motorists was preposterous, and they all concurred that cycling, you know, wasn’t all bad.
I bet Darren Grimes is fuming…
#BadDrivingTV#Driver plays snooker with Hi Viz #cyclist waiting at the lights with clear blue skies.#RoadSafetypic.twitter.com/Ie7WYv5f0U
— Hard Cheese! (@SonOfTheWinds) January 29, 2024
Cue the obligatory ‘but, but cyclists’ comments...
So, what happens when you’re a cyclist, who rides their bike into work every day, and suddenly – just because you’re now the city’s Deputy Lord Mayor – the powers that be decide to bestow upon you a somewhat unnecessarily large parking space?
You just park your bike in it, don’t you?
Well, that’s exactly what Colette Finn, a Green Party councillor and the current Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, has chosen to do, as evidenced by this rather striking image – posted on Twitter by fellow Green councillor Dan Boyle – neatly depicting the vast chasm in space routinely provided for some commuters over others.
Love this. Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr. Colette Finn claiming the parking space in the City Hall 'car' Park for her bike. pic.twitter.com/YfL685Fff4
— Cllr. Dan Boyle (@sendboyle) January 29, 2024
While several cyclists praised Finn’s decision to park her bike in her designated Deputy Lord Mayor’s spot, with different variations on “Love it” peppering the replies, the image did however strike up a rather heated debate (it is social media after all) on the use of so-called ‘car’ parking spaces for bikes – and whether designated parking spaces for officials should even still be the norm if we want to encourage active travel.
“Celebrating wasted space. Hilarious,” said Aodhán, while Orchard Man also described Finn’s bike parking as a “symbol of ‘road’ space wasted by cyclists”.
“If the space isn’t needed for cars, put in a bike rack,” he continued.
“Selfish though. Bet that same person will whine about a car taking up space on a cycle path,” added Nick, as if those two examples are directly comparable.
Meanwhile, Colum wrote: “I suppose it’s political humour but it’s wasteful. She could have requested removal of the sign.”
Others, naturally, were baffled by the backlash to a cyclist parking their bike in a reserved space for an elected official in an underground car park…
“People saying it’s a waste of space but no one can park in it but her so who cares if her bike is in it. That’s fine!” said greekman.
Claiming car park spaces is very important pic.twitter.com/HpFJQ1JoJ9
— Cycling In Kilkenny 🚲 (@CyclingInKK) January 29, 2024
Meanwhile, when it comes to the issue of ‘wasted space’, some cyclists noted that another culprit could perhaps be responsible for taking up too much unnecessary room.
“I know, crazy how many bikes you can fit in the space of a car, isn't it?” wrote Tim. “Crazy waste of space, five empty seats and two tonnes of metal just to move somebody around when clearly this is all most of us need.”
“This makes you think how much space a commuter actually needs if we would be more conscious,” said the Cork Cycling Campaign.
Con, however, noted that the very concept of ‘privileged’ car parking was detrimental to the cause of active travel.
“As long as we dole out privileged parking places to an entitled few, we are never gonna see progress on the use of public transport or alternative transportation like cycling,” he said.
“The few isn’t the issue, it's a wider issue with council and civil service staff too,” added Cycling in Kilkenny. “How much will an entire council staff care about public transport if they get free parking?”