On your Bike

[CitroJim]

He raced the 10 miles in 21m 54s which is a very quick time - a full ten minutes better than I can do!

That very fact strengthens my argument about cyclists needing to have a license to use the roads. Tootling along at 9-12 mph in the gutter is one thing, but racing buses at 30mph just ain't right without a license !!

Mick, I'm a lone voice in the (cycling) wilderness in that I agree. Fact is, all of us who participate in the sport are. All riders have to be registered and wear number bibs when racing. We are fully insured.

Very controversially in some circles, I'm very much in favour of compulsory helmet wearing, insurance, registration and testing of bikes and compulsory basic training for riders. The desperate need for all of this is clearly demonstrated every day here where we have had an explosion of hire e-bikes (and e-scooters) and the danger they pose to all other road and pavement uses being ridden by riders who have absolutely no idea of what they are doing and the dangers they pose - being passed whilst out running by an oblivious e-bike rider wearing bloody huge headphones zooming along at 15mph on a narrow pavement with no warning and with inches to spare is not at all pleasant

Me too, especially if the losers had their bikes crushed!!

I'd be very happy to see every wantonly abandoned hire e-bike and e-scooter crushed... I detest them with a passion and truly believe they're a solution to a problem that does not exist and are a positive menace when their last rider simply abandons them wherever they please - usually in the middle of a pavement or other busy thoroughfare and thus causing a big hazard to legitimate users; often making pavements impassable to the disabled and those with young children.

The perfect candidate for Room 101....

[mickthemaverick]

It is helpful to know that sport riders have to be registered and insured but do they have to prove knowledge and competency in order to attain those things?

[CitroJim]

do they have to prove knowledge and competency in order to attain those things?

No, not as a formal test. Most serious riders are club members and will have learned their craft during club rides. In the club environment riders are encouraged to grow their skills and competence. I speak as a qualified club Ride Leader.

On the sporting side of cycling, it is a condition of entry that every participant is fully familiar with the rules and regulations of the sport, the risk/safety assessment has been understood and that rules will be strictly adhered to. They have to sign to this effect. Any infringements result in disqualification and serious transgressions result in a ban.

Bikes and riders are subject to strict scrutineering before racing and and any fail results in an immediate disqualification.

In my experience, those cyclists who participate in the sport are well trained and competent. You just don't go to Halfauds and buy a bike one day on a whim and then next day enter a competitive TT, Duathlon/Triathlon or Sportive. The path to all of those activities is long with all the necessary skills and expertise picked up along the way.

[mickthemaverick]

It is good to know that 'most' serious riders follow the rules but that could be 51% !

However there is still a case for all cyclists to need a license even if only for the benefit of say £20 per person into the fund to provide and maintain cycle ways. Having two cars I currently pay £720 a year for the privilege of using t6e roads, I fail to see why cyclists should have that facility for free and then be able to iinterfere with my usage of the roads by event closures and even slow progress along country lanes.

I had to pass a cycling proficiency test in order to be allowed to go to school on my bike. I would advocate that such a test should be passed in order to apply for a license and then that license should be paid for and presented to the retailer in order to buy a bike. It doesn't cater for the second hand market but it would be a start to getting cyclists to contribute. Maybe then drivers would give them more respect and there would be less accidents.

Oh and there should be a colour blindness test as many cyclists do not seem to recognise 'red' !!

[CitroJim]

Yes, same here with the cycling proficiency test Mick. It was good training and compulsory in my school. Happily, some schools are now bringing it back and that includes learning to ride on the road. That can only be good.

Fully agreed with all you say/propose Let's extend it to horse riders too, both solo and those towing.

Given the amount of traffic on the roads nowadays the time has come.

[myglaren]

Mick, I'm a lone voice in the (cycling) wilderness in that I agree. Fact is, all of us who participate in the sport are. All riders have to be registered and wear number bibs when racing. We are fully insured.

Definitely a voice in the wilderness there Jim, and I live in an area relatively free of the usual nonsense.

Never had cycling proficiency tests when I was a kid, just bought a bike and rode it.
The primary school a couple of hundred yards away always has them, swarms of kids on bikes through the summer.

[CitroJim]

Definitely a voice in the wilderness there Jim

I know... I have to be very 'diplomatic' when amongst my cycling friends

[bobins]

I've just come back from a driving holiday in Germany and it was interesting to see the German take on cycling. Very few MaMiL's and lycra louts around, the huge majority of cyclists were just average bods pootling along, minding their own business. Very good cycle lanes - many were completely separate from the road and following their own routes through the countryside. Almost universal courtesy shown to cyclists with just about zero close passing going on - you follow behind in your car until it is safe to pass.... BUT !!! there were fewer cars on the road than compared to here. There were a few occassions where the traffic was held up for a solitary cyclist going uphill on a narrow road or mountain pass, but most of the time the average cyclist wasn't daft enough to want to cycle up a steep hill
I can see why cycling is so popular over there - there's a lot more 'living space' to build cycle lanes on, the lanes are generally well maintained, there are quite often fewer cars, and once you get out of the towns the pace of life absolutely suited gentle cycling.

[Rp0thejester]

After reading Mick's comment on road closures, could motorists shut off the cycle lanes for our own little time trials? If not, why not? Before anyone says because it's too narrow, I'm thinking of places like Stevenage with dedicated cycle highways. I'd love to say bugger off lycra lout go the other way....uphill!!!

[Rp0thejester]

Thought I'd post it here as I wasn't aware of a difference...

this e bike stuff is getting confusing.

[CitroJim]

I can see why cycling is so popular over there - there's a lot more 'living space' to build cycle lanes on, the lanes are generally well maintained, there are quite often fewer cars, and once you get out of the towns the pace of life absolutely suited gentle cycling.

Sounds very much my kind of place Bobins I understand that compared to a lot of our European neighbours our cycling infrastructure and attitude to cycling in general is woeful. Having said that, we're very crowded here with poor, not fit for purpose roads heavy with traffic just about everywhere, poor public transport and a population in a perpetual stressful hurry thus making us rather different to our neighbours.

Thought I'd post it here as I wasn't aware of a difference...

Screenshot_20250614-235934.png

this e bike stuff is getting confusing.

Indeed, it is... Such 'naughty' e-bikes are very prolific and don't really stand out as such unless you know what to look for. A lot of originally legal e-bikes are, I believe, easily modified for greater speed and power output.

A blind eye is tuned to them around these parts unless they are found to have been very naughty...

Small trail-type off-road unregistered motorbikes are also a considerable and growing problem hereabouts with many teenage boys riding them around green areas and parkland with impunity and causing quite a danger to other users of the areas. The Milton Keynes 'Redway' shared cycleway/footpath network suffers similarly. I regularly see little Tuk-Tuk vehicles using them. All very illegal with little or no enforcement or penalty for their misuse...

[moizeau]

Had an interesting one yesterday. Out for a trundle on my old beastie and the throttle cable snapped. Pulled over and had a think. Was only 10km from home. Could ring the missus to either pick me up so I can get my van or ask her to bring the van. 2nd idea was a no go. She's never driven it and you need to double clutch to go into second.nah. Plus it's a 2 man job to get it into the van with it being 250kg.
Oooo, had a thought, might work.
Let's adjust the tickover to it's max, now 'ticking over' at 4000 rpms.
Turn it off, put it in gear, restart the engine and off we go, with very fast gear changes. Got up 90kph on the flat and downhills but had to go down the gears up the hills but was still managing 40kph. As I approached home, clutch in, killed the engine and coasted onto the garden.
Not as bad as I'd feared.
Decided a beer was merited.

[mickthemaverick]

Yes a well earned beer there Pete, I completely agree with your reasoning as I had a similar decision to make a few years ago when I had the MX3 misfortune of the double puncture. My choices were different but I opted for walking the three miles home to get the axle stands and trolley jack and then took car 2 back to remove the wheels, took them to see my tyre man and had them rebooted, no pun intended, and then recovered the car. Sometimes it may take longer to do it yourself but it saves a whole lot of explaining!!

[CitroJim]

Had an interesting one yesterday. Out for a trundle on my old beastie and the throttle cable snapped.

Good work Pete, well done I once had a broken throttle cable on my old R4 and got home by doing a quick mod. to use the choke control as a substitute temporary accelerator...

A hand throttle and cruise control all in one

Meanwhile, the pain of a TT racer nearing the finish line last evening It is said that if you aren't in a whole world of pain at the end of the race then you aren't trying hard enough

Team MK 2025 TT Series - Round 9

I'm loving my racing photography gig and week by week I'm improving just a little bit.. Lighting was very difficult last evening...

[Stickyfinger]

That very fact strengthens my argument about cyclists needing to have a license to use the roads. Tootling along at 9-12 mph in the gutter is one thing, but racing buses at 30mph just ain't right without a license !!

Nope, no need, does not bother me.........they do not delay anyone more than a couple of mins. IF a driver cannot cope with a few smooth middle aged men showing their tackle then it is the drivers fault and they need to learn to take a breath and relax a bit.
Horse riders really do not use paved roads much, it is a poor surface for a horse, nearly always they are only going from one off road area back/to/from stables....another massive NON issue.

Those that "cause" the danger on the road (the car is a dangerous thing) are the ones who need testing/license /MOT etc....as such the cycle/horse/person walking is NOT the cause of the danger. This is why there is a "impact hierarchy".
Truck/Vans/Cars etc top the list for a very good reason......cyclists trump pedestrians etc

The average Joe/Karen does not cycle "road race"....not with bikes a £5-10k or more....peer pressure will control bad behaviour 99.9% of the time....poor riding skills degrade fast times, so that will also modify bad practice. All in a NON issue that should be easy to accept by a car/van/truck driver. It is driver frustration and the misguided belief that the taxes they pay are in some way ring fenced to the benefit of "the car".

Kids "should learn", yep, as with swimming...schools should have this duty of care as should parents equally. This would enable respect of all road users in all directions.....drivers should "sample" what it is to be a cyclist, cyclists should understand what it is like to be 80 years old and buzzed by a teenager at 30 on the pavement etc etc

Tootling along at 9-12 mph in the gutter

....nope, full of glass and crap thrown out of car windows.....

The only thing that should be banned/blown off the road with ordinance are caravans and motor-homes