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Cyclist told to wear hi-vis and a helmet… to take their bike on a ferry; German broadcaster allegedly blacklisted by team for asking doping questions; Tour de France caption contest; ULEZ High Court challenge; Giro Donne drama + more on the live blog

Bloggin’ on the Fourth of July… While we all wait for an American (probably Neilson Powless) to attack at the Tour de France, Ryan Mallon will keep you up to speed with all the latest cycling news and views on Tuesday’s live blog
Tue, Jul 04, 2023 10:08
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Cyclist told to wear hi-vis and a helmet… to take their bike on a ferry; German broadcaster allegedly blacklisted by team for asking doping questions; Tour de France caption contest; ULEZ High Court challenge; Giro Donne drama + more on the live blogSeven Serpents - 61 Ferry Walk.jpeg
04 July 2023, 08:07
Seven Serpents - 53 Ferry Bikes.jpeg
“I would find it more logical to wear a life jacket”: Cyclist told to wear hi-vis and a helmet… to take their bike on a ferry

Ah, Brittany Ferries, how we’ve missed you on the live blog…

Back in January, you may remember, we reported on the blog that former pro mountain biker and Active Nation commissioner for Scotland Lee Craigie wasn’t too happy with the ferry operator’s decision to charge cyclists £75 for taking their bikes from Portsmouth to Santander, an eyebrow-raising price which Craigie reckoned would cause bike-carrying passengers to “expect a valet service”.

Brittany Ferries, to their credit (kind of), swiftly got back to the mountain biker, citing the allocation of garage space for bikes, “reducing the space for other vehicle types”, a separate check-in and route through port for cyclists, and the use of different facilities as the reasons behind the hefty price tag.

> “Can we expect a valet service?” Former pro mountain biker charged £75 to bring bike on ferry

Now, six months later, Brittany Ferries are once again attracting the ire of bike-using passengers boarding their ships – for asking them to wear helmets and hi-vis clothing.

According to their guidelines for travel, posted on Twitter by cyclist Kirsty Lewin, Brittany Ferries tells cyclists that “as you’re travelling by bicycle, and given that our ports are busy places during embarkation and disembarkation, we have some extra important safety information for you.”

This extra important info continued: “Whilst in the port: Please ensure you’re wearing high-visibility clothing at all times whilst transiting our ports; Whilst on the move, please ensure you’re wearing a helmet; During the hours of darkness and in poor weather, please switch on all necessary rear and forward lights.”

Those guidelines haven’t gone down too well with Kirsty, who’s heading to Santander on her way to Madrid and Lisbon, who tweeted: “Seriously Brittany Ferries? have to wear a helmet and hi-vis to take my bike on your ferry?

“So I'll have to take two things I don’t own (and don’t need) on holiday to comply with this? I’m assuming that I don’t have to wear a helmet when pushing my bike??”

Others were just as bemused as Kirsty by the ferry operator’s guidelines.

“Do they make pedestrians wear hi-vis too or is this just a punishment for cyclists?” wrote Girl on a Brompton.

“Ask them if those walking from cars need the same?” added another Twitter user, while Charlotte noted that “I can understand hi-vis, just about – but helmets is daft.”

“I used Brittany Ferries in June,” replied Philip. “None of us had hi-vis and I had no helmet. I wasn’t even aware of those instructions, and no-one mentioned them.  A gasmask might be useful when you are waiting to get off.”

However, Matt pointed out that the guidelines are probably an offshoot of Spain’s quite intricate (and infrequently enforced) helmet laws, which require cyclists over the age of 16 to wear a helmet… unless you’re in a town or city, or riding up a steep hill, or during periods of excessive heat, of if you’re a pro cyclist…

Well, that clears that up then…

04 July 2023, 16:14
Ferries, helmets, and hi-vis: Reader reaction

A story about bike helmets causing quite the stir on road.cc? Who would’ve thunk it?

To celebrate this extremely rare phenomenon, I decided to round up a few of your thoughts from the comments section and social media, because you never know when we’ll next get to talk about helmets (probably next Monday, to be honest)…

Off the back: “Just a few points. If you are pushing a bike, why the need for hi viz? If so why not every passenger in the vicinity also? If you require everyone to wear PPE in that environment is it not then the ferry companies’ responsibility to provide it? Why not just say, ‘All cyclists must dismount’? There! stupidity avoided (potentially).”

Espressodan: “Let's hold our righteous indignation. Think what you like about health and safety, I'm sure all port and ferry employees have to wear high vis as they move around areas where vehicle traffic goes. I don't see why cyclists should be any different, the threat is the same.”

Miller: “I took my bike on the Plymouth-Roscoff Brittany Ferries route last year. We had to walk bikes onto the car deck just like the photo above, it was pretty simple. Two risks though: a crew member roped our bikes to a metal rail in the wall and my bike has the paint scratches to prove it, and, walking in cycle shoes on a wet and oily metal floor was lethally slippy. Didn’t quite fall on my arse but it was close. This might have been a genuine use case for a helmet…”

And finally, well done to road.cc reader Mark1a, who won the Jasper and Pog caption contest with this potentially iconic road.cc meme:

road.cc Helmet live blog joke (mark1a)

The cheeky git…

04 July 2023, 15:54
Tour de France: Jasper Philipsen pips Caleb Ewan to win stage four after messy, crash-marred finale

How quickly things can change at the Tour de France.

After a quiet (alright, alright, deathly dull) day through the south of France, punctuated only by a belated attack from French duo Benoît Cosnefroy and Anthony Delaplace, and an even more belated, and ill-fated attempt to snag some KOM points from Neilson Powless, the race violently erupted into life for its final three kilometres on Nogaro’s motor racing circuit.

After yesterday’s complaints about twisting, unpredictable finishes, it was the vast lifeless expanse of a motor racing circuit that actually produced the most chaos we’ve seen so far at this Tour: a series of crashes, including one that brought down Soudal-Quick Step sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, marred the finale, as riders jostled for position on the wide straights and sweeping bends.

But, as is quickly becoming the standard formula for this Tour’s sprints, Alpecin-Deceuninck emerged calm and collected from the melee, Mathieu van der Poel once again perfectly teeing up Jasper Philipsen, who held off a fast-finishing Caleb Ewan (Lotto Dstny) to secure his second straight win at the Tour by half a wheel.

Behind, Bahrain Victorious’ Phil Bauhaus confirmed his form by finishing third, while Mark Cavendish, again in the mix but not quite threatening to win, managed fifth.

Two Tour sprints in, and Jasper Philipsen is swiftly cementing his claim to be the fastest man in the race. Now for the Pyrenees, where a completely different race should resume once again.

04 July 2023, 15:10
Yikes! Van Vleuten and Longo Borghini’s dramatic moment at the Giro Donne

That photo of Van Vleuten getting back on the road, disaster averted, just as Longo Borghini overshoots the bend, ending her own GC ambitions… Perfect timing from the photographer. A dramatic stage distilled into one defining image. 

04 July 2023, 15:08
Cavehill Road, Belfast (credit - Sustrans)
Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure forced to back down on cuts to school cycling and walking funding following campaign

A day after we learned that Belfast’s Cycle Network Plan was “at risk of collapse”, according to one councillor, finally we have some good news when it comes to cycling in Northern Ireland.

The Department for Infrastructure – which has come in for some hefty criticism in recent months concerning its approach to active travel – has now backed down on proposed cuts to funding for cycle training in schools.

The DfI proposals were set to axe the Sustrans-led Active School Travel programme, which helps pupils develop the skills to walk and cycle safely to school in 48 percent of schools in Northern Ireland.

> Sustrans says cycling schemes and 21 jobs are at risk due to potential £500,000 cut to Scottish government active travel funding

However, following a campaign led by Sustrans and Cycling UK, and supported by 120 schools and hundreds of parents and carers, the department has hastily backtracked its proposals, assuring the two active travel charities that sufficient funding to continue the scheme will be available for the next school year.

“This is a victory for common sense and will benefit the future generations of Northern Ireland. Cycling UK applauds DfI for listening to parents, schools and individuals on the impact and importance of teaching cycling and walking to children across Northern Ireland,” Andrew McClean, Cycling UK’s spokesperson in Northern Ireland said.

“Civil servants are having to make difficult decisions in the face of budgets cuts and in the absence of a Minister and an Assembly, but this reversal is the right decision for a greener and healthier Northern Ireland. Officials have recognised minor savings from cutting the Active School Travel programme is disproportional to the huge benefits it delivers in schools and local communities.”

> Mum compares school run to “going into battle” as Sustrans calls for School Streets to be introduced in Northern Ireland

He continued: “Cycling UK hopes this is a sign of positive change within DfI, as Northern Ireland needs to see investment in active travel as a long-term saving. Every person we can support and encourage to drive less, and cycle – or walk - more instead will lead to better health, cleaner air, and more pleasant communities across Northern Ireland.”

04 July 2023, 14:09
Hooray! We finally, finally have a breakaway!

Anthony and Benoït, we’ll be forever in your debt…

04 July 2023, 13:39
It’s one of those days at the Tour, isn’t it?

Thank goodness for the Giro Donne, eh?

04 July 2023, 12:42
20-year-old Antonia Niedermaier holds off Annemiek van Vleuten for dramatic Giro Donne stage win – as Elisa Longo Borghini’s GC hopes are dashed by horrific crash on final descent

The Queen Stage at this year’s Giro Donne certainly lived up to its billing this afternoon, as Canyon-Sram’s promising German Antonia Niedermaier held off the chasing pink jersey Annemiek van Vleuten – whose pursuit was hindered by a fall on the final descent – by just nine seconds in a tense, nail-biting finish in Ceres.

Meanwhile, Van Vleuten’s big rival for the pink jersey, Elisa Longo Borghini – after putting pressure on the Dutchwoman on the steep Sant’Ignazio climb – saw her GC hopes cruelly dashed after she crashed heavily on a tight corner, just seconds after the Movistar rider went off the road herself.

As expected, Van Vleuten’s trademark pyrotechnics on the early Passo del Lupo – the Cima Coppi of this year’s race – split the field to blitz, with Longo Borgini’s Lidl-Trek teammate, and pure climber, Gaia Realini the only rider capable of following the rampant world champion on the mountain.

However, after an elite group eventually coalesced in the valley, GC contenders Juliette Labous and Silvia Persico jumped off the front. But with little rope afforded to the two dangerous attackers, 20-year-old Niedermaier – who started the day outside the top 10 and without a WorldTour win to her name – took advantage, blitzing past the leading duo with 25km to go and forging on ahead solo.

On the last major climb of the Sant’Ignazio, with its ramps of 12 percent in the final kilometre, Italian champion Longo Borghini, sitting in second overall, put the pressure on Van Vleuten, blowing the favourite’s group apart in the process and reducing Niedermaier’s lead to just 13 seconds.

Longo Borghini’s attempt to crack the pink jersey was thwarted when Van Vleuten attacked towards the top of the final climb, teeing herself up, it seemed, to take the stage as well as striking a decisive blow in the race for the overall.

But, with Niedermaier holding on valiantly ahead, both Van Vleuten and Longo Borghini were undone by the tricky, twisting descent. First, Van Vleuten was forced off the road briefly after overshooting a bend, but managed to regain her composure fairly quickly.

Just seconds later, and even more dramatically, the Italian champion also misjudged a tight left hander, crashing heavily into – and flying over –a mound of dirt at the side of the road. Thankfully, Longo Borghini was able to eventually get back on her bike, cruising across the finish line over seven minutes down, her face bloodied and her hopes of winning her first ever Giro Donne decimated.

Elisa Longo Borghini crashes during 2023 Giro Donne (GCN)

Van Vleuten’s off-road detour, meanwhile, played into the hands of the battling 20-year-old Niedermaier.

In a tense pursuit match on the final uphill drag to the line in Ceres – one that may well come to encapsulate both the past and future of women’s cycling – the young German talent bravely held off the 40-year-old Dutch superstar to secure her first ever WorldTour win, and with it moved up to second overall behind Van Vleuten, who has increased her pink jersey buffer to over two minutes.

“I’m really overwhelmed because it’s my first Giro Donne and I’m so young. I can’t realise it now, but I’m really happy about it,” a delighted Niedermaier.

She may not realise it now, but Antonia Niedermaier picked a hell of a day to signal her arrival at the top of the sport.

04 July 2023, 11:58
Victor Lafay, 2023 Tour de France (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
We need to talk about the green jersey

Nothing is happening at the Tour de France today – and I mean nothing, no breakaway, no splits, nothing – so I thought I’d take the opportunity to bring up the big controversy from this year’s race so far (and no, I’m not talking about the whole Jonas and Wout thing, or Bahrain’s, ahem, interesting way of handling tough questions).

I’m talking about the green jersey.

Victor Lafay, 2023 Tour de France (A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

(A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

As regular racing fans and readers of the blog will know, ASO’s new, darker, broodier, seemingly Bora-Hansgrohe-inspired take on the green points jersey has been knocking about since Paris-Nice (where, incidentally, Bora’s Sam Bennett was its first wearer, causing untold amounts of confusion and games of ‘Spot Sam’).

But, since the Tour is the only race that matters, seemingly, it’s taken until July for the penny to drop that, yes, that is the new green jersey.

And, let’s just say the British racing green/Saudi Arabia football kit homage has divided opinion (and when I say divided, I mean 99 percent of fans and pundits hate it).

Probably the most positive thing I’ve heard about the new kit so far is from GCN’s Adam Blythe, who noted that it’s a nice shade of green, just not for the Tour’s green jersey. Ah, makes sense.

Meanwhile, Carlton Kirby – who, if we’re honest, doesn’t need any help when it comes to misidentifying kits in the peloton – compared it in comms to a “smoker’s bogey”. Delightful.

But what do you think? Is the new green jersey an abomination, a sacrilegious insult to the sprinting memory of Zabel, Cav, and Sagan? Or is it not that bad, and we’re just not used to it yet?

Supersurvey

I told you we only ask the important questions on the blog…

04 July 2023, 11:26
Stop ULEZ protest, London, 29 January 2023 (The Havering Daily)
“It will have a devastating impact on the poorest motorists”: ULEZ expansion judicial review gets underway at High Court

A judicial review into London mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans to expand the city’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) at the end of August gets under way today at the High Court, following an appeal by five Conservative-led councils.

According to the Labour mayor’s plans, the ULEZ – inside which motorists will be charged £12.50 a day for driving non-compliant, high-polluting cars – will be extended to outer London from 29 August, a decision described by Khan as “not easy but necessary to reduce the capital's toxic air pollution”.

As part of the expansion, a £110m scrappage scheme will also be introduced, which aims to provide low-income Londoners with grants of up to £2,000 to replace their high-polluting vehicles.

> Boris Johnson blasts “unnecessary” ULEZ expansion as “mad lefty tax” designed to “rake in money from hard-pressed motorists”

However, since the start of 2023, Khan has faced increasing pressure from local authorities to reconsider the expansion. Eleven of the 19 outer London councils initially expressed their apprehension towards the scheme over issues such as the seven-month timescale of implementation (which they believe does not give residents enough time to switch vehicles), the scrappage policy, and poor public transport links.

But in the end, it was the Conservative-controlled Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Harrow, and Hillingdon councils who launched legal action over the expanded ULEZ, after publicly declaring that they would “do everything in our power to stop it from going ahead”.

The councils argued that there were five grounds for a judicial review, though in April the High Court ruled there was only sufficient evidence for three of them.

These include the belief that the expansion is too big and should thus be treated as a new scheme, that the consultation was flawed, and that it did not consider the potential for those bordering the zone to take advantage of the scrappage scheme.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Paul Osborn, the Conservative leader of Harrow Council, said the local authority believed the ULEZ expansion would have a “devastating impact on the poorest motorists in Harrow”.

“People who do low paid jobs in antisocial hours, they don’t have public transport alternatives,” he said. “They’re being asked to pay £12.50 every day to go to work and if they work over midnight, they’ll be asked to pay £25 because they have to pay it for the next day as well.”

However, Hirra Khan Adeogun, head of Car Free Cities at climate change charity Possible, told the programme that the legal action was a distraction from the main issues concerning pollution and the environment.

“It’s such a shame to see these local authorities wasting time and taxpayers’ money trying to prolong the negative impacts of air pollution and climate crisis,” she said.

“It’s absolutely essential that people in outer London get cleaner air and be part of a greener London and that includes poorer Londoners who are most at risk when it comes to toxic air.”

Meanwhile, Khan told Reuters: “The independent assessment confirms that ULEZ works and the expansion will lead to five million more Londoners breathing cleaner air.

“You’re not going to please 100 percent of people all the time. No politician in history has managed to do so.”

Earlier this year, Khan also argued that the opposition to the scheme was simply a political strategy by Tory councils who he says are “in the pocket of vested interests”.

The BBC was also told in January that the councils keen to instigate a judicial review accept that it would be unlikely to succeed, but that it would nevertheless act as a “delay tactic” to “tangle the mayor up in court and push a decision on the matter closer to the 2024 London mayoral election”.

04 July 2023, 10:47
Annemiek van Vleuten exploding a bike race to pieces, and other completely unsurprising things

We may not be able to watch it on the TV – ah, the joys of following one of the biggest races in the world – but Annemiek van Vleuten is busy doing Annemiek van Vleuten things at the Giro Donne this morning.

The pink jersey, with her Yorkshire 2019 legs and head seemingly in place, has exploded stage 5 to pieces on the early Passo del Lupo, the Cima Coppi of this year’s Giro. Pocket rocket Gaia Realini is currently the only rider able to follow the rampant Dutch star’s pace on the nine percent gradients, with Niamh Fisher-Black about 20 seconds behind and Realini’s Lidl-Trek teammate, and yesterday’s stage winner, Elisa Longo Borghini around three quarters of a minute back.

Will Van Vleuten be able to nag career win number 101 in classic AVV fashion? Well, it’s a good job we only have another ten minutes to wait until we can finally watch some of it…

04 July 2023, 10:35
Ah, that’s where I knew him from!
04 July 2023, 09:41
Bahrain Victorious team bus (licenced CC BY-SA 4.0 by Marianne Casamanceon on Wikimedia Commons))
Leading journalist Hajo Seppelt claims Bahrain-Victorious are refusing interviews to German broadcaster ARD following questions about doping

We all know the Tour de France loves nostalgia (which is why we’re heading back to the Puy de Dôme on Sunday after 35 years), but I for one certainly didn’t have ‘US Postal/Johan Bruyneel blacklisting tactics from the early noughties’ on my Tour throwback bingo card for this year…

But that’s the strategy apparently being deployed at the moment by Bahrain Victorious who – according to a tweet posted this morning by leading anti-doping journalist Hajo Seppelt – are refusing to give interviews to ARD after the German broadcaster asked the team’s sprinter Phil Bauhaus questions about doping for a report at last month’s Tour of Slovenia.

2023 Tour de France stage 3 Jasper Philipsen, Phil Bauhaus, Caleb Ewan © Zac WiLLIAMS SWpix.com (t-a Photography Hub Ltd) - 1

German sprinter Bauhaus finishes second on yesterday’s stage to Bayonne, his first ever sprint at the Tour (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

ARD’s report – which focused on the current effectiveness of the fight against doping, especially in Slovenia, the home country of current stars Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič, and Bahrain rider Matej Mohorič – featured an interview with yesterday’s second placed finisher Bauhaus, whose Bahrain Victorious team has come under scrutiny in recent years for its management’s alleged links to Mark Schmidt, the German physician jailed for his role as head of the ‘Aderlass’ doping ring.

This time last year, on the eve of the Tour de France, the homes of a number of Bahrain Victorious riders were searched by police, while a raid was carried out on the team’s hotel days before the start of the race – less than a year after the team’s vehicles and hotel were also searched by police in Pau (the Mecca of cycling doping raids) during the Tour as part of the ongoing Europol investigation into allegations of doping within the team.

> Bahrain Victorious Tour de France cyclists' homes searched by police

And just like Bahrain Victorious were quick to shut down any questions about doping at last year’s Tour – ending a pre-race press conference at such a rate Jasper Philipsen would have struggled to keep up – the squad appear to be adopting the same ‘no tricky questions’ policy at this year’s race.

“Team Bahrain Victorious does not give ARD any interviews at the Tour de France – because we asked Phil Bauhaus questions about doping shortly before the Tour – against the background of raids on the team in recent years, an investigation by the French public prosecutor, and due to the current team manager’s apparent ties to convicted German doctor Mark [Schmidt],” Seppelt, a journalist whose work has uncovered doping in cycling, Russian athletics, and German sport, over the past two decades, tweeted this morning.

“I well remember dark times on the Tour when well-paid professional cyclists reacted similarly to journalists just doing their jobs.”

Bauhaus, for his part, messaged Seppelt following his tweet, writing: “I would be happy to speak to you in person or on the phone. We have the same interests – a clean sport.”

04 July 2023, 09:09
Photo of the Day: Pog and Jasper Disaster take a look at the latest viral videos

Caption Contest: What are Jasper ‘Disaster’ Philipsen and his good mate and decent bike rider Tadej Pogačar saying to each other, as they peer nervously at the TV monitors during the Belgian sprinter’s anxious 20-minute wait to find out whether he’d be stripped of his stage win for irregular sprinting?

Or maybe they’re not taking about Philipsen’s (ultimately quashed) sprint deviation charge at all, and are instead catching up on all the latest juicy Jumbo-Visma goss?

Jasper Philipsen and Tadej Pogačar discuss the stage three finish at the 2023 Tour de France (A.S.O./Pauline Ballet)

(A.S.O./Pauline Ballet) 

Ryan Mallon

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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78 comments

Avatar
BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP | 10 months ago
3 likes

I was involved in a scheme in Central London many years ago (not the embankment) that introduced two cycle lanes, one west, one east and stopped cars, vans and taxis cutting through and clogging up the roads.  Obviously it caused 'outrage' from a minority - the usual; think of the poor, the disabled, the good honest taxi drivers, the ambulances, etc. a judicial review was forced by the Taxi drivers and a local 'resident' group. The judicial review found everything in order and recommended one change. Which was never implemented because it made no sense. Anyway, the point is, years later this part of London is amazing, it's now full of bars and restaurants, a pub has reopened there are new shops and the streets are so calm. It's like an oasis. Because it is quite residential, for Central London the quiet and improved air quality must really benefit the residents. 

Avatar
SaneRebel | 10 months ago
4 likes

I took the Brittany Ferries Plymouth-Santander and Bilbao-Portsmouth ferries a month ago, with a car, and started to think about a similar trip next year, 4 people, 4 bikes, no car. To get an idea of prices I looked at the 21st June this year, Plymouth-Santander.  This is what I found: 
Car (or large motorhome!) with 4 passengers - £565
4 cyclists £780
4 foot passengers £840 (why, given they don't even need garage space?!)
4 motorcycles £1300
(cabins extra in all cases). 
The ferry came back on had a BF magazine with an article promoting cycling in the Bilbao area, and appearing to welcome cyclists on board. Some welcome! 
I contacted BF customer services, the CEO and made some comments on this on the BF Facebook page three-weeks ago. Still waiting for a reply.... Looking at Condor Ferries to Brittany instead as on this basis I don't want to give BF any more money.

 

Avatar
mark1a replied to SaneRebel | 10 months ago
3 likes

Brittany Ferries now part-own Condor Ferries I believe. 

Avatar
SaneRebel replied to mark1a | 10 months ago
1 like

Groan... too much of a monopoly if you live in the west of England. Although a minority shareholder... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-48758190

 

 

Avatar
dolphy | 10 months ago
1 like

And another thing. The hard left have now infiltrated the banking service. And the Chinese communists are mining minerals from the moon. I know what's going on all right, I read the Daily Star. I've not found my bike yet.

over and out

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to dolphy | 10 months ago
2 likes

Sadly nowhere near Essex so unable to help you out.  Got an old 3-speed and a Dawes Mojave currently surplus; both step-through so would make a training challenge, or just put a smile on your face when cruising about the place.

Avatar
dolphy replied to chrisonabike | 10 months ago
0 likes

I tried using a search engine to find it. I typed in '' where's my bike Essex '' but it didn't help at all 

Avatar
Hirsute | 10 months ago
8 likes

populist slogans of our time:

Take Back Control
Make America Great Again
Keep My Coutts Account Open

Probably a cycling one to add to this.

Avatar
peted76 replied to Hirsute | 10 months ago
1 like

Hirsute wrote:

populist slogans of our time: Take Back Control Make America Great Again Keep My Coutts Account Open Probably a cycling one to add to this.

It might not be quite as catchy.. but I do like this one....

"I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles"

The 'slogan' part was all the banners roadside which read... 'I believe in miracles' 1

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to peted76 | 10 months ago
1 like

peted76 wrote:

"I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles"

Or unicorns.

Avatar
brooksby | 10 months ago
10 likes

Quote:

Paul Osborn, the Conservative leader of Harrow Council, said the local authority believed the ULEZ expansion would have a “devastating impact on the poorest motorists in Harrow”.

Yeah, cos I'm sure that the Conservative leader of Harrow Council honestly could give a monkey's about the poor.  They are just an excuse and ammunition for him to use in his party's culture wars.

Avatar
AidanR replied to brooksby | 10 months ago
9 likes

There are two other problems with his argument:

1) The poorest people aren't motorists; and
2) The poorest motorists are the ones who qualify for the scrappage scheme.

Avatar
Hirsute replied to AidanR | 10 months ago
0 likes

It is also an extensive list of those eligible not all relating to income level.

Avatar
jaymack replied to AidanR | 10 months ago
6 likes

A Tory spouting bollocks, sadly this isn't new news

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to jaymack | 10 months ago
7 likes

jaymack wrote:

A Tory spouting bollocks, sadly this isn't new news

Yes, but it is a different tory.  Every day, spouting bollocks.

Avatar
Patrick9-32 replied to brooksby | 10 months ago
4 likes

Also, one other thing to note. My full size diesel estate car is ULEZ exempt. ULEZ only applies to high polluting cars. Normal human size cars are fine. The poorest people aren't driving range rovers and ferraris, they are driving normal cars which, in general, are exempt. 

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Patrick9-32 | 10 months ago
4 likes

Patrick9-32 wrote:

The poorest people aren't driving range rovers and ferraris, they are driving normal cars which, in general, are exempt. 

Unfortunately (and I speak as a great supporter of the ULEZ) it doesn't really penalise high polluting cars, the Range Rover and Ferrari drivers aren't going to be penalised; a Ferrari 812 GTS, for example, puts out 372 g of CO2 per kilometre (whilst returning 14 mpg) but won't pay the charge, whilst a 2004 Fiat Punto emitting 136 g of CO2 per kilometre will. It would be a great step forward if the most polluting cars were charged a far higher rate regardless of the Euro number of their engine.

Avatar
lesterama replied to Rendel Harris | 10 months ago
5 likes

ULEZs are for air quality, and based on NOx and PM, not CO2. Don't worry about climate change, though: the government's net zero strategy will sort that out.

Avatar
mark1a replied to Rendel Harris | 10 months ago
2 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

Patrick9-32 wrote:

The poorest people aren't driving range rovers and ferraris, they are driving normal cars which, in general, are exempt. 

Unfortunately (and I speak as a great supporter of the ULEZ) it doesn't really penalise high polluting cars, the Range Rover and Ferrari drivers aren't going to be penalised; a Ferrari 812 GTS, for example, puts out 372 g of CO2 per kilometre (whilst returning 14 mpg) but won't pay the charge, whilst a 2004 Fiat Punto emitting 136 g of CO2 per kilometre will. It would be a great step forward if the most polluting cars were charged a far higher rate regardless of the Euro number of their engine.

The thing is though, ULEZ and similar schemes are not targetting CO2 emissions. Sure that's bad for the environment as a whole, but not really for the quality of air that people breathe. It's all about nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) that are bad for people to inhale. Typically these came from diesel engines hence why only after Euro6 2015ish are exempt, these reduce both significantly with SCR and DPF and are about as clean as diesel power gets. It was never so much a problem with petrol engines hence why your example is also exempt - regardless of CO2, the Ferrari isn't putting out that much NOx. A better example would have been a 2005 Ford GT, similar age to the Fiat, no CO2 data available (but 5.0 V8 with single digit mpg you know it's high), yet still exempt due to the fact that it's also not emitting much NOx.

 

 

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Roulereo replied to brooksby | 10 months ago
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The poor aren't motorists? Undoubtedly there's 'Working poor' in outer London, who need cars and will be much worse off.

It's almost as if this is all part of some plan...? But don't worry, as Sadiq Khan's friend Klaus says "you will own nothing and you will be happy". 

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marmotte27 replied to Roulereo | 10 months ago
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I'd be very happy to discover that this were all part of a plan: to make our cities, and the rest of the country, cleaner, healthier, quieter, more liveable. And tackle a few assorted crises along the way.

Unfortunately, outside your head, probably no big plan exists.

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Roulereo replied to marmotte27 | 10 months ago
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Yep, that's what this is all about, making your life better...good one. 

How I wish I had such a rose coloured view on the UK's politicians and what their motivations are. The fact that Sadiq Khan has been involved with the WEF for years now I'm sure is because he's looking for ideas on better lives for us, right? 

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dolphy replied to Roulereo | 10 months ago
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Well I for one would like to see him on the same tag team as Hulk Hogan. I think they would make a rather formidable team

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Simon E replied to Roulereo | 10 months ago
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Roulereo wrote:

The poor aren't motorists? Undoubtedly there's 'Working poor' in outer London, who need cars and will be much worse off.

Rubbish. Anybody who drives into/around London - a city with a public transport network that is the envy of the rest of the country - isn't poor at all. People choose to drive their cars when alternatives exist. That's not the case here.

Perhaps they could scrap the ULEZ and instead pipe each vehicle's exhaust gases inside the car/van/truck for drivers to breathe their own pollution instead of leaving it in their wake. Everyone else can then breathe cleaner air instead of choking on vehicle fumes.

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Roulereo replied to Simon E | 10 months ago
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Yes, I'm sure youre absolutely right. Every single tradesman is just itching to ride a bike with loads of tools, paint, ladders, etc. Every single person driving to visit elderly parents, ferry themn to doctor's, shopping, etc. would just be itching to load grandpa onto the handlebars.

Pillock. 

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brooksby replied to Roulereo | 10 months ago
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.

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chrisonabike replied to brooksby | 10 months ago
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That can't be right - I can't see all the spy cameras and Covid vaccines on it, nor any stickers promoting conformance to Illuminati.  (Hey - this mind programming really works!  Maybe it is itself a physical manifestation of fnord?)

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chrisonabike replied to brooksby | 10 months ago
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Also - shurely some stories like this:

BBC - plumber challenges "white van man" stereotypes

And last-mile logistics EV hub launched in London.

And Amazon e-Cargo bikes set to carry out last-mile deliveries across London

And NotJustBikes "The car-replacement bicycle" (the bakfiets).  Granted - that's in NL where there's the infra for it, but some parts of London are (very slowly) starting to enable that etc.

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Steve K | 10 months ago
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I had my first - and still only - experience of taking my bike (not attached to a car) onto a ferry this Easter.  We were getting the ferry from Ryde on the IoW to Portsmouth.  Booked on with the bike on the roof of the car; but because of a broken down ferry, they were using the middle deck in the car bit and so we had the choice of either waiting for a later ferry or me taking the bike on by foot.  I was in normal clothes so definitely not hi viz - I can't actually remember if I dug out my helmet.  I just walked the bike onto the ferry and secured it with a cafe lock; and then rode it off in Portmouth (and stopped almost immediately to put it back on the car).

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JohnnyRemo replied to Steve K | 10 months ago
3 likes

Steve K wrote:

  I just walked the bike onto the ferry and secured it with a cafe lock; 

What were you expecting - pirates? 

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