Same cycle lane, different driver, same near miss...but The Sun asks "who's in the right?"; Reaction to Ed Laverack's Sa Calobra-conquering KOM; "I started to hyperventilate": Remco relives Liège; One week 'til Giro time + more on the live blog

ktache wrote:

Very short bit of lawbreaking for a Mikey vid, but if he hadn't been able to employ our favourite troll's favourite safety campaigner, he'd have been banged to rights.

Though it wasn't actually a triumph for Mr Poophole as the CPS decided to drop it before it reached court, saying they couldn't prove that he was using the 'phone for "interactive communication." Under the changes in the law that wouldn't matter of course, the clear proof that he had it in his hand would suffice. A ridiculous decision in any case, surely the fact that he was driving with coffee in one hand and 'phone in the other should be enough for a "without due care and attention" charge, regardless of whether he was actually communicating. 

Ooof. There's a short section on my regular ride where I have to join the A338 (single carriageway, 40mph limit). S bend, double whites. 4 cars overtook me and I was doing an easy 18mph this morning. It's the same every time. I've even had them overtake me when I'm driving and sitting behind a cyclist. MGIF

I assume if it was a "high" cadence it was two down at the front 😊

I doubt he's trying to be that technical. "Two teeth smaller" probably just means two gears lower, which could be 2-4 more teeth on the back.

I once went round a corner too fast; when I got up again I was 4 teeth lighter. Is that what he meant?

brooksby wrote:

Interesting long read in the Gadurian

‘It’s just more and more lanes’: the Texan revolt against giant new highways

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/29/texas-highway-expansions...

Quote:

Texas, with its wide-laned roads and supersized highways, seems like an unlikely place for a rebellion against the supremacy of American car culture.

But last week a band of residents from across Texas descended upon the state’s department of transportation (DoT) to voice fury over new highway expansions that are set to displace thousands of people and raze hundreds of businesses, schools and churches. Meanwhile, the state is actively crushing local plans to encourage more cycling and walking as an alternative to driving.

That sounds like just the logical conclusion of designing cities and transport around personal cars. It's inevitable that high population densities will just require more and more road space.

However, with it being Texas, I do wonder whether racism is a motivator as well

Quote:

Ramirez said repeated expansions of highways in Houston have invariably destroyed homes in Black and Latino neighborhoods like his. “All of these Black and brown neighborhoods are being attacked by this expansion,” he said. “I should be able to enjoy being Mexican in Houston in 2022 without somebody trying to push me out of my neighborhood.”

But "guardian ... leftist propaganda ... " etc.  Aside from "yes that's the kind of thing they may pick up on" it is interesting to me that even Texans are starting to say "enough".

For transport infrastructure from the perspective of financial sustainability NotJustBikes has you covered:

Getting about Houston is barely possible without a car - even for short distances

The capacity and financial folly of adding more roads (Canada)

Texas, out of all the places in the world I have driven which admittedly is not a representative sample but includes a lot of north america and europe, is the place I think I would be least likely to get on a bike. Not only are the roads designed only with cars in mind but the drivers, in my experience, are some of the most aggressive around.

I quickly learned not to try to indicate when changing lanes on the highway as, without fail, the driver behind would close the gap you were planning to move into as soon as your indicator went on. 

Texas supplies the most oil for America so don't want to encourage anything that would reduce their "honeypot". 

I was in Seguin, Texas for work a couple of years ago. From my hotel, I wanted to walk to a restaurant that was 0.6 miles away. It was over a two mile drive, but since the hotel was basically on a highway on-ramp I ended up driving it.

Google Maps walking directions suggested a 1.8 mile route.

NotJustBikes on Youtube has a massive amount to state about American designs to accomodate cars and the inability to walk within 1 mile of a hotel to anywhere else safely in some places. 

Not just the US. In Melbourne pre-pandemic for work and it took me 20 mins to walk 300 yds from my hotel to a restaurant. Top of St Kilda Rd by Albert Park. Ended up getting Deliveroo the next night. Two tram lines, four lanes of traffic, and three pedestrian crossings. Just awful design

Yes, same here. I tried to walk to a restaurant from the my hotel on a business trip to the USA. All of half a mile. Hotel receptionist recommended I drive. I could see why.

Patrick9-32 wrote:

Texas, out of all the places in the world I have driven which admittedly is not a representative sample but includes a lot of north america and europe, is the place I think I would be least likely to get on a bike. Not only are the roads designed only with cars in mind but the drivers, in my experience, are some of the most aggressive around.

I quickly learned not to try to indicate when changing lanes on the highway as, without fail, the driver behind would close the gap you were planning to move into as soon as your indicator went on. 

Texas has one of the worst records for road safety of any US state. It has the highest rate of driving uder the influence of any US state. The NHTSA website has a full breakdown of the stats. It is not a place I'd choose to cycle.

The States is just so screwy in so many ways when it comes to car culture that a facepalm doesn't even cover it. 

Some friends of mine were travelling there a few years ago, and stayed a couple of nights in a self catering place (I forget which state but I think it was in the South somewhere) situated right by the roadside (not a freeway, I don't think, just the equivalent of a large dual carriageway in this country). 

Almost immediately across the road was a large supermarket and, wanting to get some food, they decided to cross over and take a look. They were stopped by the receptionist who informed them they couldn't cross the road there because of the jaywalking laws, and there wasn't anywhere they could cross legitimately nearby.

The only way to access the supermarket legally was to drive 2 miles down the road to the next junction, take the exit, two left turns to come back the other way and in. Leaving the supermarket then meant a 3 mile drive down the other side of the road to the previous exit, cross over and come back. 

A 10 mile drive was literally the only legal alternative to a 200m walk across the road. In. San. I. Ty. 

They got pizza delivered instead. 

I've been in Dallas Tx a few times for work, most recently in 2019. On the Sunday I hired a bike and went for a ride, off to the NW of the Frisco area. It's flat and dry and once you're away from urbanisation the roads were close to deserted. The bigger roads were very wide. You know, it wasn't too bad. Drivers were polite, inasmuch as I had any interaction with them, though intersections were a little alarming just by being so BIG. OTOH the roads are very straight and long and windy so although I had a decent ride, it really wasn't the most scenic area. I did see a small handful of other road riders so there is something of a scene there.

More defence of Texas (for cycling, not politics). I rode all the way across it once, as part of big bike trip in the U.S.. I thought it was amazing. Away from the cities there was so little traffic that drivers would wave to each other (and to me) as a matter of course.

Some parts are so barren that all you could see was a straight road going from horizon to horizon and flat scrubland in every other direction. Not the most thrilling landscape, but for someone like me who grew up in the UK it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.  Other parts, such as Big Bend national park, are genuinely spectacular.

I remember the first time I went to Australia, I got chatting (in the airport) with an Australian who was returning home after many years living in Europe. he told me that after Europe, going to Australia would be like 'putting the lights on'. Not is any socio - political sense but just in terms of size and expanse. 

I remember a similar argument for this section of the A34 one. Car driver was predicting deaths because a car coming off the 40mph central section would have to negotiate traffic coming down from the island, the buses AND the cyclists if they wanted to take the left turn. Not the cyclists deaths mind, the drivers deaths because they would be forced to slow down so much.......

AlsoSomniloquism wrote:

I remember a similar argument for this section of the A34 one. Car driver was predicting deaths because a car coming off the 40mph central section would have to negotiate traffic coming down from the island, the buses AND the cyclists if they wanted to take the left turn. Not the cyclists deaths mind, the drivers deaths because they would be forced to slow down so much.......

That's reminded me of this scene from Expanse Series 3 (blood, gore and spoiler warning): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGmTZeiCmJY

The "debate" is whether cyclists should be allowed anywhere roads - or indeed at all.

chrisonatrike wrote:

The "debate" is whether cyclists should be allowed anywhere roads - or indeed at all.

You joke, but there's a regular commenter on the Bristol Post BTL who insists that bicycles should be banned...