Live blog:
A bit more on that painted cycle lanes story from earlier in the week
The gist is they actually make life worse for cyclists.
Friday Leave vs Remain poll: leave and take a smoother line or remain on the cobbles?
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for our weekly poll… but it’s also Paris-Roubaix this weekend, so we’ve just about managed to find a way to intertwine the two. So, are you a hard knock through-and-through and think it’s all good vibrations, or are cobbles just simply no fun and best avoided if possible? Do let us know your thoughts!
School cycling competition cancelled after thieves steal 30 Chris Hoy bikes
Sounds like This Morning wasn’t interested in the police view on Lord Robert Winston’s demented ideas about bicycle licences
Earlier this week, Lord Winston continued his absolute non-starter campaign to get cyclists licenced and registered in an appearance on This Morning on ITV.
After the Government told him there was no prospect of requiring cyclists to be licensed and insured because the costs would massively outweigh the benefits, he floated electronic tagging as some sort of solution.
Chris Boardman described both Winston’s stance and the fact that outlets give it airtime as ‘shameful’.
The tweet attracted an intriguing and enlightening reply from West Midlands roads police.
National survey reveals decline in cycling for leisure, sport and travel
Active Lives survey aims to provide snapshot of the nation’s sport and physical activity habits.
Swiss government says coffee “not essential” for life (we beg to differ)…
The Swiss have stockpiled coffee and other provisions since World War One in preparation for shortages should any other national emergencies break out, and now the government want to phase out coffee from the list by 2022 because they don’t deem it essential. The explanation on the Swiss Federal Council website reads: “The national economic supply has checked the maintenance of today’s compulsory storage of coffee. She came to the conclusion that coffee is not vital according to the criteria that apply today. That is, coffee contains almost no calories and therefore does not make any contribution to food security from a nutritional point of view. The risk of supply disruptions is also rated as low. The growing areas are spread over three continents and the harvests are possible all year round. The continuation of the compulsory storage of coffee is therefore no longer justified from a supply policy perspective.”
Who wants to tell them that they’re wrong?
But what if that gets pinched?
Hull Live reports that an increase in cycle thefts in Hull City Centre has led the British Transport Police in the area to deploy this gold bike to highlight the issue. Cyclists are being prompted to have their bikes registered to prevent thefts. Hopefully the gold deterrent will work rather than ending up in a cash converters with the other nicked bikes…
New Amsterdam bike parking facility opens, with each row including a unique motif of a bird to help you find your bike
With room for over 1,300 bicycles, the new ‘fietsenstalling’ connects commuters to the city via the Noord Metro station. The handy bird-based guide to help commuters locate their bikes is a smart touch, and there are also dedicated spaces for cargo bikes.
Peter Sagan recons Paris-Roubaix cobbles
All eyes will be on Paris-Roubaix this weekend, can Peter Sagan win it again? Here’s a video his Bora team have shared from their recon ride yesterday.
Also check out Peter Sagan’s’ race bike in-depth look here.
The costs and benefits of driving and cycling
A new study has calculated the per kilometre cost of driving, cycling and walking in the EU.
Eltis reports that the parameters used were:
- Environment
- Travel time and vehicle operation
- Health, accidents and perceived comfort
- Perceived safety and discomfort
- Quality of life, tourism and infrastructure
They concluded that each kilometre driven by car incurs an external cost of €0.11, while cycling and walking represent benefits of €0.18 and €0.37 per kilometre.
Extrapolated to the total number of passenger kilometres driven, cycled or walked in the European Union, the cost of driving is about €500 billion per year.
Due to positive health effects, cycling is an external benefit worth €24 billion per year and walking €66 billion per year.
