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Cyclist uses new bike lane...almost taken out by two drivers; Dame Sarah Storey wins record-breaking 17th Paralympic gold; La Vuelta ready for 'Angliru's evil sister'; Back to school by bike; Paralympic spirit; Funky Festka + more on the live blog

It's Thursday and a refreshed Dan Alexander is back on the live blog today after an extended bank holiday weekend...
02 September 2021, 14:35
Here we go again...
02 September 2021, 14:12
Paralympic spirit: Australian rider Stuart Jones slows to support fellow competitor struggling at the back of the race

Aussie Paralympic rider Stuart Jones put the disappointment of misssing out on a medal behind him to display some of the spirit the Games is all about. As he rode up the finishing straight he spotted South African rider Toni Mould, still a lap behind the field, and offered some encouragement.

"Keep going. You’re going great guns. You have only got a lap to go," is what 7 Sport reports was said.

"Look, I wasn’t going to podium," Jones told the Seven Network after the race. "That lady, Toni from South Africa, that is a true champion. That’s what the Paralympics are about."

Mould's cerebral palsy was brought about due to complications at birth, and she was forced to launch a fundraiser to support her campiagn to compete at the Games. Earlier in the year she said the sport had helped her "overcome depressive episodes and isolation, create new friendships, and given me a sense of community".

02 September 2021, 13:44
Transport for London and Hackney Council outline next steps for new cycleway between Lea Bridge and Clapton
TfL Lea Bridge and Clapton cycle lane (TfL press release)

Transport for London and Hackney Council have outlined plans to instal a new section of cycle routes in the borough, including protected cycle lanes on Lea Bridge Roundabout and Lea Bridge Road. Work on the route is planned to begin in the autumn, with further construction to follow next year.

A 2019 consultation was sent out for local people to give their thought on the plans, which now include protected cycle lanes on Lea Bridge Roundabout, protected cycle lane on Lea Bridge Road and upgraded signalised junctions with facilities for people walking and cycling.

TfL Lea Bridge and Clapton cycle lane (TfL press release)

 

02 September 2021, 12:50
"I am resigned to cycling defensively": Readers' comments and reaction to the video of a Cork cyclist taking a spin down one of the city's new cycle lanes...only to narrowly avoid being hit by two drivers

Plenty of reaction to the morning blog story, including some discussion on what could be done to avoid situations like it...

Seagull2 commented: "I am resigned to just cycling defensively, because while i could be in the right, i could also be injured or worse."

AidanR wrote in: "This is a fundamental problem with cycle lanes and road junctions. Drivers don't give way to pedestrians crossing side roads, and don't expect to give way to cyclists in the same way.

"Obviously there's an element of driver education required, but getting angry at drivers and/or expecting them to act in a way which is counter-intuitive to them isn't going to make cyclists any safer. Is this a problem which could be solved with better design? I can't think what it might be, but I'm sure some bright spark has come up with something better."

Chrisonatrike made the case for a public information campaign: "Getting everyone 'educated' when we don't even require a 'refresher' of your driving test - unless you've been very naughty - will always be a hurdle. Maybe we should look to examples of public information campaigns on seat belt wearing and not having a few 'light ales' before driving?"

Over on Facebook, Blythe Storm questioned if we could even call it a cycle lane: "That's not a cycle lane, its some paint and a bit of coloured tarmac, as illustrated by the fact it doesn't work."

Ed Gibb added: "No way I'd ride that. Drivers not even looking the opposite direction to the road traffic flow. Most probably don't realise what the lane is."

02 September 2021, 11:26
MAAP releases new Nova Pro Jersey
MAAP Evade Pro Base Jersey

MAAP has launched an all-new jersey, building on the success of its top-selling Evade Pro Base Jersey. The Nova Pro features all the good stuff - the soft knitted Italian and pre-dyed fabrics, honeycomb mesh sleeves and SPF50+ sun protection - that customers enjoyed about the Evade Pro, and also has six strategically placed reflective graphics and "360 degree visibility in low light conditions."

"From day one, incorporating reflective detailing has always been a non-negotiable for us. It's as much a stylistic decision as it is a safety consideration, with visibility on the bike paramount to every rider. The Nova Pro Jersey takes the traditional MAAP design placement of the reflective graphic on the back left hand side, and enhances it five-fold with additional reflectivity on the front, back, and sleeves", said Misha Glisovic, MAAP Creative Director. 

02 September 2021, 11:06
Festka releases pictures of its latest artistic collaboration
Festka Ondřej Konupčík and Radim Kašpárek collaboration

Festka is no stranger to eye-catching designs. The Scalatore Mummy on display in New York City was the most recent example on the site; its 10th anniversary limited edition design too... 

Now, the Czech manufacturer of high-end carbon frames has teamed up with tattoo and shoe designer Ondřej Konupčík and artist Radim Kašpárek on a bling new design in time for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Painted onto the brand's top-of-the-range Scalatore road bike and Scout gravel model, the latest project involved decorating the bicycle by transferring acrylic paints from the water surface onto the canvas.

It is a unique technique the pair have developed over the last six years and perfected during the first lockdown when Ondřej could devote himself full-time to tattooing. The end result is pretty impressive...

Festka Ondřej Konupčík and Radim Kašpárek collaboration
02 September 2021, 10:12
On the menu for stage 18...pain: La Vuelta ready for 'Angliru's evil sister'

When a climb is compared to the fearsome Angliru, you know it is a serious piece of work. Today's Vuelta stage finishes up Altu d'El Gamoniteiru, the Asturian climb which has been dubbed the 'Angliru's evil sister'. Why? Well, it's 14.6km at 9.8 per cent and rugged at the top...

Here's how it compares to some of the other big names of the Grand Tour mountain stage fame...

 1988 Tour de France winner Pedro 'Perico' Delgado went for a spin up the climb for his YouTube channel. It's in Spanish, but you don't need to speak the language to see just how savage those upper slopes look...a good day to be sat on the sofa, watching the race.

02 September 2021, 09:24
Dame Sarah Storey claims outright British Paralympic record - wins gold medal number 17 in this morning's C4-5 road race

The Dame Sarah story rolls on...the legendary Paralympian won her 17th gold medal to take the outright British Paralympic record from swimmer Mike Kenny. Storey won her first two at the Barcelona Games of 1992 aged 14, skills that will have served her well on a soggy road race course in Tokyo this morning. 

The 43-year-old beat fellow Brit Crystal Lane-Wright to the line and told the BBC, "It still feels like an out-of-body experience. It's very hard to put into words. I've worked for this for such a long time.

"It was fantastic weather wasn't it! I wasn't too fussed on the forecast. We probably trained for 32 degrees and 85% humidity. I was looking at my computer and it said 17 degrees and I had to wear a base layer! There were no cooling strategies needed - we were asking for heat packs.

"I don’t know if it’s sunk in! It’s something everyone has been talking about since Rio when it became a mathematical possibility with me doing three more events in Tokyo. I just feel immensely proud and also immensely grateful to have so much support and to have such a great team around me and also a great team back at home."

And, she might not be done yet. Storey's coach Gary Brickley, also speaking to the BBC, said his athlete isn't far off Michael Phelps' 23 golds..."so we have to keep pushing on."

02 September 2021, 09:02
Back to school by bike
02 September 2021, 08:37
Reaction to Primož Roglič's epic 60km attack with Egan Bernal to reclaim red jersey atop Lagos de Covadonga
Primoz Roglic wins Stage 17 of 2021 Vuelta - Copyright ASO, PhotoGomezSport

Look at how much yesterday's win meant to Primož Roglič. His teammate Sepp Kuss enjoyed it too...

 The climbing times for Lagos de Covadonga weren't sparkling (by elite pro standards anyway). Roglič completed the famous climb in 26:37, almost two minutes slower than Roberto Heras' 2000 time. Coincidently, Heras is the man Rog is trying to match for his record of winning three consecutive Vuelta a España titles.

The Slovenian's time was one minute slower than Thibaut Pinot's stage winning time from 2018 and Nairo Quintana's in 2016. Then again, none of the riders mentioned above attacked 60km from the finish and drove it through the valley at 45km/h for 40 minutes before the climb...

02 September 2021, 08:15
Greg Van Avermaet feels the wrong type of burn

Ouch. Here's the full story linked if you missed it yesterday. The 2016 Olympic champ told a paper in Belgium he has been struggling against an "unknown enemy"...which, for the record, is the line I'll be using every time I get dropped from now on...don't worry I'm not blaming the vaccine too. I just think it sounds better than, "sorry guys, thanks for waiting for me again".

02 September 2021, 07:53
Cyclist uses new bike lane for the first time...almost taken out by two drivers

Way to mark your first spin down a new bike lane. Not one but two drivers butting across the lane almost took out this rider on his maiden voyage down Cork's new South Mall cycle path.

Some have made excuses for the van driver, saying they would not expect to see a cyclist travelling in the same direction on this side of the road...others said it is that attitude that is the problem. We certainly haven't seen any excuses being made for the Ford driver creeping out into the lane.

In the discussion sparked by the vid, one cyclist said: "I really dislike bidirectional cycle lanes because so many motorists when turning left don't bother looking left."

Another added...

Thoughts? 

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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33 comments

Avatar
brooksby | 2 years ago
5 likes

Hospital calls for action to stop cyclist deaths at notorious London junction

Colleagues of Dr Marta Krawiec, who was killed while riding to work, say urgent safety work is needed

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/02/hospital-calls-for-actio...

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hawkinspeter replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
14 likes

A section from the letter that highlights our blindness to road deaths:

Quote:

After the terrorist atrocities on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, safety barriers were erected overnight. Yet no such precautionary action has been taken when eight people have been killed over a period of time at one traffic system.

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Sriracha | 2 years ago
12 likes
AidanR wrote:

Drivers don't give way to pedestrians crossing side roads, and don't expect to give way to cyclists in the same way.

"Obviously there's an element of driver education required, but getting angry at drivers and/or expecting them to act in a way which is counter-intuitive to them isn't going to make cyclists any safer. Is this a problem which could be solved with better design?

The clue is in "pedestrians crossing the road". It needs to be reconfigured as "vehicles crossing the pavement". So pavements should not give way to roadway across the mouth of side streets. Instead the pavement should be continuous, right across the mouth of the side street. Visually this tells it as it should be, peds have priority over cars. And the change in levels will create a speed hump to slow vehicles down in any case.

I've seen such an arrangement, created "accidentally" where a cul-de-sac backs onto the main road across a pavement. For some reason motorists are allowed to drive out of the end of the cul-de-sac over the pavement, but they do so very tentatively as they are clearly crossing over a pavement.

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hawkinspeter replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
12 likes

Sriracha wrote:

The clue is in "pedestrians crossing the road". It needs to be reconfigured as "vehicles crossing the pavement". So the pavements should not give way to roadway at the mouth of side streets. Instead the pavement should be continuous, right across the mouth of the side street. Visually this tells it as it should be, peds have priority over cars. And the change in levels will create a speed hump to slow vehicles down in any case. I've seen such an arrangement, created "accidentally" where a cul-de-sac backs onto the main road across a pavement. For some reason motorists are allowed to drive out of the end of the cul-de-sac over the pavement, but they do so very tentatively as they are clearly crossing over a pavement.

You've hit the nail on the head right there.

This country needs a radically different approach and attitude towards road safety. At the moment, everything is approached from the "car is king" school of thought and so far it's not working out very well as most drivers sit in queues and get stressed out just going from A to B.

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AidanR replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
9 likes
Sriracha wrote:

The clue is in "pedestrians crossing the road". It needs to be reconfigured as "vehicles crossing the pavement". So pavements should not give way to roadway across the mouth of side streets. Instead the pavement should be continuous, right across the mouth of the side street. Visually this tells it as it should be, peds have priority over cars. And the change in levels will create a speed hump to slow vehicles down in any case.

Absolutely. The new Highway code states:

"Rule H2: Rule for drivers, motorcyclists, horse riders and cyclists:

At a junction you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning"

It would be good to embed this in the architecture of the highway, as you suggest.

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IanMK replied to AidanR | 2 years ago
2 likes

I've noticed if I'm approaching a nearby zebra crossing cars tend to stop even before I would classify myself as waiting. This does not apply if I'm crossing a side road despite the rules being the same. Too many drivers appear to have a received wisdom of the rules rather than actually following the written rules.

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Armchairanarchist replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
5 likes

This. Very much this.
I remember the first time I drove in Poland, and on entering a small town was completely flummoxed by the decision to place a zebra crossing on the entrance and exits of the roundabouts. Vehicles were literally forced to stop on the roundabout. This seemed like a ridiculous design decision.
However, within about half an hour it clicked. It is an act of social engineering, the people have priority, and vehicles shall wait.
As a result, when I cycle there it is marvelous compared with here at home.
Given the complete lack of will to deal with poor driving in the UK, using "direct" methods, then it can't hurt to perhaps try more subtle ways to influence behaviour

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SimoninSpalding | 2 years ago
2 likes

The cycle lane in the video is a great example of what not to do in designing infrastructure and the opposite of the "safety differently" approach in the article on here yesterday. Blaming people doesn't help, we all make mistakes, the idea is that the system should be designed so that mistakes don't have dire consequences. For what it is worth I wouldn't use that bike lane and would accept riding at lower speed of the other traffic to keep safe.

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HarrogateSpa replied to SimoninSpalding | 2 years ago
1 like

We spend a lot of time criticising crap infra, and rightly so - but the video doesn't show a narrow painted cycle lane, it's a cycle track of a decent standard.

√ Wide enough

√ Clearly marked (different colour)

√ Some physical protection (wands and buffer)

√ Priority over turning traffic

√ Appropriate design behind parked cars, not outside them

I appreciate that you genuinely feel you'd be safer riding in traffic, but the only way to persuade more people to get about by bike is to provide segregated infrastructure.

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wtjs replied to SimoninSpalding | 2 years ago
5 likes

I wouldn't use that bike lane

Well, I certainly would! You just have to accept that at each intersection drivers pay as much attention to the rules about priority (the game is stone-paper-scissors, in which cyclists are only allowed to choose paper and drivers are always scissors) as UK drivers will pay to the new joke rules about priority in the impending Highway Code edition, which police officers are presently laughing themselves sick over and which they have no intention of even acknowledging.

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chrisonabike replied to SimoninSpalding | 2 years ago
2 likes

I agree that I'm more cautious on 2-way cycle paths in general but there are some advantages for both planners and cyclists. Until there are no motorvehicles or they're forced underground / onto special crap "car paths" that is.  David Hembrow shows how it's done (video from his blog).

In the UK wherever things change ("change?!") there will probably always be an unhappy period of moaning / cursing / unpleasantness inflicted on the innocent. And little apart from removal from the motor pool will help those people who can't see cyclists in front of them in daylight.

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TriTaxMan | 2 years ago
2 likes

The problem is motorists will treat the give way lines like the give way lines on the entrance to a mini roundabout..... give way to the cyclists on the crossing in front of them not give way to cyclists approaching the crossing.

You just need to watch any dashcam videos involving mini roundabouts.... it is virtually always someone approaching their give way line at speed that tries to race through the roundabout and blasts their horn at the car that was already on the roundabout in front of them

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Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
0 likes

I wont apologise for the Ford driver but I do wonder how clear their line of sight was with all those parking bays a way before the junction.

Not the greatest bike lane tbh but an improvement on nothing.

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Awavey | 2 years ago
0 likes

Maybe the camera processing makes the riding look speedier than it is, certainly GoPros do have that ability to make it look more action cam footage.

But I dont think I'd have been riding with such purpose along a cycle lane like that.

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wtjs replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
0 likes

Maybe the camera processing makes the riding look speedier than it is, certainly GoPros do have that ability to make it look more action cam footage

No, it the low bike-mounted camera position that makes the cyclist look like he's doing 50. Helmet mounting gives a truer representation

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kil0ran | 2 years ago
0 likes

I love these early autumn Vuelta stages on the north coast. It's like Yorkshire or Cornwall on steroids. Mist, murk, sheep, all in a landscape that would do decent duty as a GoT set.

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kil0ran | 2 years ago
5 likes

Easy solution, make them stop lines rather than give way lines. 

As a driver I sympathise because this is just shit road design. As a cyclist, a lane like that would have me taking my chances on the carriageway, it's far safer

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Hirsute replied to kil0ran | 2 years ago
0 likes
kil0ran wrote:

Easy solution, make them stop lines rather than give way lines. 

See first post from AS.

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HarrogateSpa replied to kil0ran | 2 years ago
1 like

Consistently polls show that 60-70% of ppl find the roads too dangerous to cycle on - so riding on the road may well be a solution for some, but not for many.

I don't have a problem with the design. A 2 way cycle track can be a perfectly good solution where circs mean 1 way tracks either side are impractical.

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AidanR | 2 years ago
1 like

This is a fundamental problem with cycle lanes and road junctions. Drivers don't give way to pedestrians crossing side roads, and don't expect to give way to cyclists in the same way.

Obviously there's an element of driver education required, but getting angry at drivers and/or expecting them to act in a way which is counter-intuitive to them isn't going to make cyclists any safer.

Is this a problem which could be solved with better design? I can't think what it might be, but I'm sure some bright spark has come up with something better.

Avatar
Hirsute replied to AidanR | 2 years ago
3 likes

It is a completely different colour to the rest of the road. Although that would require observation.

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HarrogateSpa replied to AidanR | 2 years ago
0 likes

Is it a new cycle track, and just a case of local drivers getting used to it?

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chrisonabike replied to AidanR | 2 years ago
4 likes

Getting everyone "educated" when we don't even require a "refresher" of your driving test - unless you've been very naughty - will always be a hurdle. Maybe we should look to examples of public information campaigns on seat belt wearing and not having a few "light ales" before driving?

As to "better design" do you mean something like the cycle-triggered warning signs in Glasgow"Continuous footway" / cycle lane is the better design albeit I've mostly seen crap cargo cult versions in the UK.  Oddly enough if you design it right it doesn't take long for people to understand it. Parked cars aside, this one doesn't look too bad.  As an example a blog covering the detail on this is here: https://robertweetman.wordpress.com/2018/11/13/design-details-1/

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Hirsute replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
0 likes

Second one is link of the year for me.

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jh2727 replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
4 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Getting everyone "educated" when we don't even require a "refresher" of your driving test - unless you've been very naughty - will always be a hurdle. Maybe we should look to examples of public information campaigns on seat belt wearing and not having a few "light ales" before driving?

As to "better design" do you mean something like the cycle-triggered warning signs in Glasgow"Continuous footway" / cycle lane is the better design albeit I've mostly seen crap cargo cult versions in the UK.  Oddly enough if you design it right it doesn't take long for people to understand it. Parked cars aside, this one doesn't look too bad.  As an example a blog covering the detail on this is here: https://robertweetman.wordpress.com/2018/11/13/design-details-1/

There's only one point that everyone needs to be corrected on. From a young age children are taught that road are dangerous - hardly surprising that when they eventually get a driving license, a large number (myself included) start driving dangerously. Roads are not dangerous - drivers are dangerous, unless or until they consciously choose not to be.

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chrisonabike replied to jh2727 | 2 years ago
1 like

> Roads are not dangerous - drivers are dangerous, unless or until they consciously choose not to be.

Sounds like "Guns don't kill people, people do"? Railways aren't dangerous but we're happy to pay for engineering to separate trains from trains and people from the track. I'd love it if everyone recited "My main job is to do no harm" when climbing into / onto their transport. However while we're waiting for a better world I'm up for a bit of 'elf and safety to help us - along the lines of the hierarchy of controls.

Meantime I'm off to have a word with myself about nearly riding into a fox while looking at another fox...

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Captain Badger replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
2 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

> Roads are not dangerous - drivers are dangerous, unless or until they consciously choose not to be.

Sounds like "Guns don't kill people, people do"? ......

Not really, roads really aren't dangerous (unless you fall off your bike), until that is some twunt in a car turns up...

People aren't inherently dangerous. Unless you give them a gun. Or a car....

By the by, was the first fox the jealous sort?

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chrisonabike replied to Captain Badger | 2 years ago
1 like

My interest was purely zoological...

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Seagull2 | 2 years ago
2 likes

Re "cyclist using new bike lane " -  i am resigned to just cycling defensively, because while i could be in the right, i could also be injured or worse   - - - - -   of course i would love presumed liability for the motorist in Irl and UK,   but i don't see that happening anytime soon, and am not sure it would make a huge difference in that there would still be potential danger lurking at junctions . I see at least 3-4 mobile phone users while driving / cycling every day in Dublin, and this risky behaviour is not high on the police list of priorities. 

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AlsoSomniloquism | 2 years ago
9 likes

Motorists expected to give way to cyclists!! Well I never!! I won't be doing that until they start paying road tax and get insurance and registrations plates!! Also, it was the noughties when I passed my theory test so I don#t know what double dashed lines mean at the end of a road!! 

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