So, you honestly thought these cycle lanes were introduced for safety reasons...Well, Think Again!
Speeding cyclists are putting pedestrians and other road users at risk in Central London.
Just do a quick search on Google for “Strava”, the name of just one of several GPS based performance monitoring apps and then a road name.
For example, “Strava segment Millbank” (below) reveals a map, giving a start and finish point.
Onsite statistics show there have been some 278,240 attempts to compete, by 34,638 different cyclists, along this section of Embankment.
The site gives league tables of the fastest male and female rides on most roads around the capital.
Below is the leader board for the Essex Road N1section part 2, currently a 20mph road. As you can see, the speeds recorded along this rout exceed 33 mph.
Many people enjoy cycling in London, but competitive urban road racing is highly dangerous. It's hardly surprising pedestrians and motorists are worried about these lycra clad racers.
And this is just one of many such apps.
Virtually every road of interest to cyclists now has a "Segment", enabling competitive racing to take place at any time.
Every day, thousands of cyclists are using this app to race each other or record personal bests, not just on roads, but also on paths, paved areas and off road tracks, with complete disregard for others.
Notice that the cyclist is traveling too fast to be overtaken by other vehicles sticking to the speed limit on this stretch between Vauxhall and Lambeth Bridges.
By the time the rider slowed down, to negotiate the round-about, he had reached a speed of 32 mph.
"Cycle lanes, nah! don't do them pal....London Bridge 20mph...don't make me laugh!"
18 comments:
These times are from professional racers, participating in official events, while the roads were closed. Not at all relevant.
You are an idiot.
Those times were posted by professional riders during a closed road race which you will probably never have heard of. They were uploaded automatically by their team issue Garmins which sync with Strava.
Stick to scaring pedestrians and fleecing tourists.
Ha.. You'll find that the three riders with the fastest times on that stretch are professional riders, competing in the Tour of Britain. BTW, at what speed do you drive your taxi?
Professional racers, while road was closed....really
Must of missed the race that went up the Essex road n1
Or when they closed Maida Vale, Kilburn High Road and Shoot up Hill.
The two videos shown don't look like the road was closed to me!
The riders you have referenced in the top 3 on the Strava leader board shown are in fact professional cyclists competing in a race when Millbank was closed to traffic, this is a fact that you cannot ignore and renders your reference to them completely irrelevant.
The videos show individual cyclists riding in an inappropriate manor, they do not represent those who travel by bicycle any more than a a reckless playboy in the Gumball rally represents motorists or a single Uber driver represents the entire taxi and minicab trade.
It is also worth noting at this point that although inappropriate by exceeding the speed limit on a bicycle they are not actually breaking the law as it applies only to motorised vehicles.
This is a poorly researched and biased article with little to no relevance whatsoever.
Drivers very regularly break the speed limit in London, easily reaching 32mph in a 30. Are they a danger to pedestrians? Of course they are, but they're not a cyclist, so you have no problem with them.
Oh dear, check again, big hole in your explanation about the 3 names on leader board.
Glaringly obvious.
Think you should be more careful with your research Anonymous 10:55
Aldo, I have a problem with all vehicles who break speed limits.
Fortunately motorists don't brag about it with league tables
Never seen cyclists racing each other on our public roads.....all decked out in spray on lycra & £2k shades ?
Maybe these guys were pro riders, but the general point remains valid. Very valid.
Keep going Jim....you is Boss of Blogs !!
About time cyclists had to have insurance & a licence.
You seem to be under the misapprehension that speed limits apply to cyclists; there is no support for that under English law, which makes it clear they apply only to motor vehicles.
Still, don't let the facts get in the way of a good rant.
(The race by the way is the 2013 RideLondon-Surrey-Classic - Geoffrey Soups part of the leadout train that set up Arnaud Demare's win).
Very good Simon, but you seem to have missed out my request for the name of he race that went up Essex Road n1, or the one in Maida Vale w9, Kilburn high road nw2 or what about Calton Vale nw6.
Don't remember seeing them closed for any profession road racing!
We posted two videos btw, the second one showed the same disregard for other road users just like in the first one.
The riding along Park Lane and over London Bridge was disgraceful.
The fact that speed limits don't apply to cyclists is something the govt. will have to address.
These machines are routinely propelled faster than their capacity to negotiate traffic conditions, this is to the detriment of drivers and pedestrians and cyclists.
The new religion is to empower cyclists. Fine.
With rights comes responsibilities.
Insurance, I.D. speedometers, cycling test, mirrors, penalty point system, lights & hi vis jackets. This would do for starters.
Hi Editorial,
I think the very valid point remains that the 'segment' and 'leader board' you have chosen to use as an example in this blog post is extremely misleading as this section of road was subject to a closure and the cyclists named are professionals partaking in a race.
If your issue is with other roads and segments then these would be better examples to use and highlight rather than misleading readers of the blog.
The point also remains that the two videos show reckless and inappropriate cycling. Maybe these should be shown alongside videos featuring reckless and inappropriate driving, or motorcycle riding, or taxi driving on London's streets (a quick youtube search should give you plenty of material) as they would be just as relevant to each other. None of them though should be seen as representative of an entire user group as this is simply not the case.
If you are unhappy with these 'segments' on Strava I believe you can flag them and they will be removed by the Strava team so people will no longer be ranked on those segments.
Thank you for pointing this out Steve, the leader board you refer to has now been replaced.
As a retired police officer who now drives a black cab, the comments and attitudes displayed by cyclists posting here comes as no surprise. The arrogance and recklessness displayed by (usually young white males) when their behaviour is challenged beggars belief. None of the cabbies here have mentioned the moronic behaviour by a large number of commuting cyclists whereby they fail to properly equip their cycles with effective lights, and then wear black Lycra! Every passenger that raises the issue recounts a close call with light jumpers who then give abuse when challenged. The majority of cyclists are sensible and should be respected, but the cyclists posting here should realise there is a head of steam building to reign in the reckless speeders. If cycling does not get its own house in order then regulation will only be a matter of time.
Chris, people can wear what they like when they cycle, just as they can when they walk around the streets. We all need to look out for our fellow road users whatever colour they're wearing. After all, if a grey car is involved in a collision, we don't blame the driver for not having it painted fluorescent yellow. But your point about lights is a good one.
The general point is that it is not useful to generalise about 'cyclists' any more than it is useful to generalise about 'drivers'. "If cycling does get its own house in order" ... do you feel 'drivers' have their house in order? What do drivers do when they see someone breaking the speed limit?
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