Oxfordshire Council promote cycling with painted bike lane pic; New Peter James novel is 'inspired by Strava'; Thomas De Gendt 'sock doping'; G hints at Ineos' new TdF Jersey; Jennifer Aniston gifted $12K Chanel bike + more on the live blog

Google image below is Wallingford in Oxfordshire. I think the white lines at the side of the road are meant to be cycle lanes even though they're less than a metre wide. I got extremely close passed there once by some fckign twat who thought I should remain inside the white line. That incident has given me a dim view of Wallingford ever since.

https://goo.gl/maps/Ke7QdtoCbMSGFXUR6

While I agree that many (if not most) painted cycle lanes as they currently exist in the UK are terrible, they could be part of the solution, if the will was there.

The problem with many cycle lanes is that they give two clear messages: firstly, that cyclists belong in the cycle lane, and secondly that as long as a driver doesn't encroach the cycle lane when overtaking, they have done nothing wrong. Clearly, these are dangerous messages when the cycle lane in question is narrow, obstructed with parked cars, filled with potholes and litter, etc. Any cyclist who dares stray outside (for example to avoid being doored) is subject to abuse and punishment passes, while staying within the cycle lane and you will experience passes like the one in the video.

However, imagine if every painted cycle lane was 2m wide and free from obstructions/parked cars. Suddenly those exact same messages actually become helpful. It would send a clear signal that cyclists do belong on the road - not just in the gutter - and if drivers made sure they were entirely outwith the cycle lane when overtaking, then that would be great. It could even be enforced that drivers MUST entirely exit the cycle lane to overtake - it's hard to estimate distance from headcams etc, but it would often be pretty clear whether or not a car was inside or outside of the line of paint when overtaking.

OnYerBike wrote:

The problem with many cycle lanes is that they give two clear messages: firstly, that cyclists belong in the cycle lane, and secondly that as long as a driver doesn't encroach the cycle lane when overtaking, they have done nothing wrong. Clearly, these are dangerous messages when the cycle lane in question is narrow, obstructed with parked cars, filled with potholes and litter, etc. Any cyclist who dares stray outside (for example to avoid being doored) is subject to abuse and punishment passes, while staying within the cycle lane and you will experience passes like the one in the video.

I'd like to call the jury's attention to the wands which have just been put up in central Bristol to protect the 40cm wide painted cycle lanes...

Well, I knew Vale St is steep but that one is ridiculous !

Sorry, hadn't intended to imply that Perry Road was quite that steep...!

You thought right. It's a carriageway boundary. The council has rather lazily thrown down stencils of bikes down rather than invest in converting the verge into a safe cycle path. This would have made better sense especially if wanting to link to the NCR signposted in the clip as a cyclist would be able to stop, dismount and cross rather than try and negotiate a stop on a busy road. Motorists for some bizarre reason think they are cycle lanes even when there is only 6 inches of tarmac at times!

Too many cars have touch screen or other screen controls for media playing so if they apply that for tesla, they would have to do the same for most of the German brands. 

Crazy isn't it, I once had a 1969 Fiat with rain sensing variable speed wipers. The sensor was my eyes, the adjustment was turning a knob on the dash. There was no touch screen, my arms weren't long enough  to touch the windscreen…

Word Up!

Is this one of those blue/black or gold/white dress things again as it looks navy blue to me,which matches the logo on the website, not black or even slate grey

I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but I'm totally sick of hearing about Geraint Thomas.

1) You've got enough money already to last you several lifetimes - you don't need to be a celebrity brand ambassador for coffee you big wally.

2) If you're interested in 'ethical', don't ride for a company that wants to wreck the climate with fracking and ever-increasing fossil fuel and plastic production.

Thank you. Rant over. You can start on me now.

I'm not quite sick of GT, I like his public persona, but that is a hefty price for a bag of blended coffee by most standards.

Each time I see the Zwift adverts featuring him I wonder how much they paid him and whether it was more than the £375k donated to NHS charities (mostly by UK taxpayers, I expect) after his 12-hour turbo rides. And how much did he himself donate out of his huge salary+bonuses+endorsement deals?

Simon E wrote:

Each time I see the Zwift adverts featuring him I wonder how much they paid him and whether it was more than the £375k donated to NHS charities (mostly by UK taxpayers, I expect) after his 12-hour turbo rides. And how much did he himself donate out of his huge salary+bonuses+endorsement deals?

He did something he didn't have to do and that raised a huge sum for the NHS. That's good enough for me. Footballers get ten times what cyclists get, have you demanded what Marcus Rashford has personally contributed to free school dinners? Or what Ian Botham has personally contributed to childhood leukemia research? Lord knows there are enough people doing wrong in the world, perhaps when people do something good we can just say nice one rather than try to pick it apart?

roubaixcobbles wrote:

Footballers get ten times what cyclists get, have you demanded what Marcus Rashford has personally contributed to free school dinners? Or what Ian Botham has personally contributed to childhood leukemia research? Lord knows there are enough people doing wrong in the world, perhaps when people do something good we can just say nice one rather than try to pick it apart?

This is a cycling website. I don't follow football or Ian Botham so wouldn't really know about their efforts.

But hypocrisy and tokenism don't sit well with me, regardless of who they are and what they do. It's not that Geraint's effort itself isn't laudable but I'm tired of sportspeople, celebs and so on inviting the public to fund public services through charitable donations while those same people don't appear to do the same themselves (and in his case lives in tax-dodging Monaco). The same goes for when they get paid huge sums to promote junk food.

I'm not suggesting that it's the worst thing in the world but that still doesn't make it right. I'd be more impressed if he'd said he would match each pound donated but he didn't.

Quick, sign up and switch the link to your referral

Although SkimResources is the corporate equivalent of that referral.

Liam Cahill wrote:

Ah fair enough. If they're linked to Skimlinks then we will. Hopefully, hundreds of you go buy their coffee. It'll make us enough for a whole cappuccino!

£12 a fecking bag! And I thought the 5 Rings coffee was extravagant (although the Cali Crash is worth it - bloody lovely stuff!)