“White lines sprayed onto a busy road are useless”: Cyclists say “box-ticking” painted bike lanes blocked by cars are “more trouble than they are worth” – as two-thirds of locals reckon it’s unsafe to cycle in their area + more on the live blog

‘Paint is not protection, paint is not protection…’

Here on the live blog, we’re well used to muttering that popular cycle lane mantra under our breaths, as we dodge parked cars and close passing motorists along (what’s supposed to be in theory) a dedicated cycling route – but which, in reality, constitutes nothing more than a lick of green paint on the road, ready to be ignored by drivers everywhere.

As we’ve seen over the years, nowhere is that mantra more prescient than in Belfast, where just two miles of properly protected and separated cycling infrastructure, last updated six years ago, exist – and where, according to recent government research, only a third of the locals believe that cycling in their area is safe, and 60 per cent reckon there is a lack of safe cycle paths.

Last month, the two-wheeled backlash against the apparent government apathy towards improving the city’s cycling network reached fever pitch, after Northern Ireland’s infrastructure minister John O’Dowd announced that £580,000 was set to be spent on upgrading one of Belfast’s only existing protected cycle paths… instead of, you know, building new ones.

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> “You can’t make this stuff up”: Cyclists furious at government’s “easy, non-car disruptive” decision to upgrade “the one bike path we already have”… in city with only two miles of safe cycle lanes – as diversion forces riders onto busy road and footpath

“There are just two miles of protected cycle lanes in all of Belfast,” the Northern Ireland branch of Sustrans said at the time.

“Why spend more than half a million pounds in ‘improving’ this well-used foot and cycle path, when there is nothing of this standard in North and West Belfast? Please build the network!”

“It’s an easy and non-car disruptive thing to do. Gives the impression of investment in sustainable infrastructure without being in any way effective,” agreed cyclist Phil.

That mind-boggling decision came just a month after O’Dowd’s Department for Infrastructure produced a series of videos encouraging commuters to cycle to work instead of driving, in a bid to ease the city’s infamous congestion problems.

These videos extolled the “stress-free” virtues of the city’s painted bike lanes… one of which was captured on tape completely blocked by parked cars (though the DfI refrained from pointing that particular drawback out in their promo, surprisingly).

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> “At least that part of the campaign was realistic”: Government video encouraging people to cycle to avoid “traffic chaos” shows cyclist riding past bike lane blocked by parked cars

And now, disgruntled cyclists have once again taken to the local press to criticise Belfast’s stop-start, leisure-focused approach to cycle lane design, branded a mere “box-ticking exercise” that makes cycling in the city “intimidating” and “frustrating”.

“A cycle lane here is basically a white line sprayed onto a busy road which is completely useless,” Colin O’Carroll, a National Standards cycling instructor, told the Irish News at the weekend.

“Take the Crumlin Road where the cycle lane is lined with parked cars and that’s dangerous because it’s pushing cyclists into the traffic. The DfI need to implement a protected cycle lane along these routes so there is a physical barrier that vehicles cannot cross. The ones we do have start and stop mid-route so that’s pointless as your having to exit and enter heavy traffic along the road.

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> Allowing taxis in bus lanes over Christmas a “huge step backwards” that will “put cyclists at risk”, say cycling campaigners

He continued: “Motorists are supposed to give cyclists a two-metre gap when overtaking, but on every journey I’ll have at least one close pass where a motorist is not respecting that space, be it to try and avoid some traffic congestion or simply road rage from the mentality cyclists shouldn’t be on the road.

“It’s especially intimidating for those with little experience who try to implement cycling into their daily commute.

“I was in Melbourne recently and they had lined the inside lane with a raised kerb to separate it from the traffic. It was normal to see parents with two young children all on their bikes cycling in this busy city, whereas it’s rare to see it off a greenway here due to safety concerns.

“Here there seems to be more of a focus on providing greenways for those wishing to cycle for leisure instead of improving the cycling infrastructure along our arterial routes.

“The DFI does not fundamentally understand what is needed. Cycling lanes are treated as little more than a box-ticking exercise. It’s frustrating for the cycling community.”

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> "I get more abuse on my bike than in my work": Cyclist death sparks MP to highlight "dire situation of underinvestment" in cycling, urges some drivers to change "irrational attitudes"

Meanwhile, Belfast cyclist Kerry Lynn, who rides a cargo bike with her three children, says the wait for safe cycling infrastructure has made the school run a “nightmare”, and called for the changes to the Highway Code implemented in the rest of the UK three years ago to protect vulnerable road users to also be introduced in Northern Ireland.

“As a mum of three young kids, we’re out and about in the neighbourhood every day, either as pedestrians or on the cargo bike and safety is my biggest concern,” Kerry said.

“We live just a few hundred metres from the school, but navigating that residential area can be a nightmare. Just last week we were cycling to the library which includes a couple of hundred metres on the main road and as I was entering one motorist came flying past and cut us off and all we had were helmets to protect us.

“I find the cycle lanes on my route more trouble than they are worth. They feel like little more than a box-ticking exercise.

“Updates to our road rules, like the ‘Hierarchy of Road Users’, make so much sense to me because it highlights our individual responsibilities relative to what we’re using to get around.

“A heavier vehicle with higher speeds should carry the most responsibility and care to help protect the most vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists. It’s all about mutual respect and kindness.”

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> “If they can’t build cycle lanes, devolve bloody powers to us and we’ll do it”: Belfast Council slams Northern Ireland government’s “joke” delivery of cycling infrastructure – as just 2.8km of bike lanes installed in two years

Meanwhile, Andrew McClean, Cycling UK’s Northern Ireland lead, noted that people have expressed a “desire to cycle” in Belfast – but that desire is not translating to more cycling trips, simply because safe infrastructure is not there.

According to the DfI Roads Eastern Transport Plan Engagement Survey, cycling was the preferred mode of transport for future trips to work or education, with 64 per cent of respondents saying they wanted to cycle to work, education, or other activities, more than any other mode.

However, the report also showed that 60 per cent of respondents believe that there is a lack of safe cycle paths in the country, hindering their ability to ride a bike safely and confidently.

“We know that nearly half the people in Belfast want to cycle more. We also know from the government’s own survey data, that cycling is the number one preferred way to get around for commuters in the city and the surrounding areas,” he said.

“However, the majority of people agree there aren’t enough safe cycle paths, and only a third of people in Belfast think it’s safe to cycle in their area. That’s because there are only a couple of miles of dedicated cycle paths in the whole of Belfast.

“There’s still a complete lack of urgency around building safe, dedicated cycle paths, despite warm words from the government. Rolling out 20mph as a default speed limit, and updating the Highway Code to include some of the changes implemented three years ago in Great Britain, would help.”

While Tadej Pogačar is busy winding us all up with viral Arenberg videos, his big classics rival Mathieu van der Poel has been hitting the slopes, as he winds down from another rainbow jersey-snatching cyclocross season:

 

 

 

 

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He just has to be good at everything, doesn’t he?

Also, someone check – is Van der Poel contractually obliged to be near a Lamborghini at all times, even up a snowy mountain?

Yesterday at the Krawatenscross in the Belgian town of Lille, 16 seconds down on race winner Lucinda Brand, Belgian cyclocross legend Sanne Cant crossed the line in fourth place, bringing an end to one of the sport’s most illustrious careers.

With 127 elite cyclocross victories under her belt during her 17-year career, the 34-year-old won three consecutive world titles between 2017 and 2019, as well as three overall World Cup classifications and three European championships.

Cant also, amazingly, won 15 straight Belgian elite titles between 2010 and 2024, a run that only ended this year when she decided to skip the championships, enabling her Creen teammate Marion Norbert Riberolle to take the black, yellow, and red jersey.

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(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

The Belgian star was also instrumental in pushing for gender equality within the world of cyclocross, and during her period at the top of the sport saw the women’s races moved to primetime slots just before the men’s or, in the case of the world championships weekend, as main events in their own right, while races also became longer and prize money increased.

Cant also spent the past few years racing on the road for the Fenix-Deceuninck team, racing the first edition of the revamped Tour de France Femmes in 2022, before suffering a horrendous facial injury after crashing heavily at the 2023 Paris-Roubaix.

Her 2024/25 campaign was, rightly so, one long farewell tour, with Cant often giving the crowds one last emotional wave as she crossed the line. But she was still phenomenal consistent throughout the season, almost always finishing in the top ten from late December on (including taking ninth at the worlds in Liévin) and nabbing her 127th and last career win at Otegem last month.

To celebrate the end of one of cycling’s finest careers, her Crelan team assembled a who’s who of cyclocross – including Marianne Vos, Mathieu van der Poel, Puck Pieterse, her Belgian successor Marion Norbert Riberolle, Laurens Sweeck, and Emiel Verstrynge, as well as a host of family and friends – to record this absolutely brilliant musical tribute:

‘Sanne! Zoals jij kan niemand trappen, fietsen, sturen, Sanne!’ (For anyone whose Dutch isn’t up to scratch, that means: ‘Sanne, no one can pedal, cycle, or steer like you’, essentially.)

Now, good luck getting that out of your head…

It’s the 2075 UCI Senior Esports world championships, and Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert are battling it out once again for the rainbow jersey, the Dutchman aiming for his 86th career world title, his eternal Belgian rival hoping to spoil the fun… once he gets his afternoon nap and dinner out of the way, of course:

 

 

 

 

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Where do I sign up?