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news
Cop26 security (via Thomas Cornwallis on Twitter).PNGSecurity guards refuse to open barrier for cyclist on permitted route near COP26 site
With the eyes of the world on Glasgow for the next fortnight as the city hosts the crucial COP26 climate change conference, making it difficult if not impossible for people to use active means to get around the city is not a good look.
> Cyclists converge on Glasgow as COP26 conference begins
But that’s the situation that Thomas Cornwallis, convenor of GoBike, the Strathclyde cycling campaign, found himself in earlier today when security guards on what is a permitted cycle route refused to open a barrier so he could ride through.
Instead, the security staff directed him onto an adjacent footway, but as Cornwallis – who was riding away from the location where the summit is being held – pointed out, with no ramp on the kerb, it was not accessible to everyone.
I'm on the left filming this. Small world, eh? pic.twitter.com/6GC0Gk82It
— George Allison (@geoallison) November 1, 2021
Cornwallis told road.cc: “The lack of understanding that telling someone to dismount and lift a bike onto a pavement, is not safe or accessible for everyone is extremely shocking, especially at the front gates of COP26.
“We don’t tell bus drivers to get out and push, why do we punish people cycling just because they cycled!”
Besides cyclists, the lack of a ramp also makes it impossible for people with reduced mobility such as users of wheelchairs or mobility scooters to access the footway at that location, as well as making it very difficult for parents with pushchairs.
The barrier is on Lancefield Quay, close to the junction with Elliot Street on the north side of the Clyde, and which forms part of National Cycle Route 75.
It lies outside the COP26 site itself, and is one of the cycle routes highlighted as remaining open by Glasgow City Council in its travel advice related to the hosting of the conference.
The barrier was eventually opened – almost certainly to let an approaching bus through, rather than the security staff relenting and letting the cyclist pass – and Cornwallis rode through, turning left onto Elliot Street.
In a post on its website last month ahead of the first road closures coming into force ahead of the conference, GoBike said it was “deeply disappointed” that most of its suggestions had not been acted upon by the council, and that there had been a “missed opportunity” to promote active travel during the conference.
https://www.gobike.org/important-announcement-cycling-diversions-during-...
The group said: “GoBike have pushed hard for improvements to the initial diversion proposals and have had a few of our suggested improvements taken on board and implemented.
“We are however deeply disappointed that stronger decisions were not made to keep our sustainable form of transport safe and attractive to everyone during the climate conference.
“This was a missed opportunity for the city to make active travel the easiest choice during a period of road closures and predicted traffic chaos around Glasgow.
“We’ve said this before, and we will say it again,” GoBike continued. “The eyes of the world will be on our city during COP, and we had a key opportunity to demonstrate that active travel is a large part of the solution to the climate crisis we face.
“We believe that opportunity has now been missed. Not only will delegates be unable to reach the main conference site by bike, but people who live in and around Glasgow will find using bikes harder to get around during the conference.”
The commitment of world leaders to seriously tackle climate change has been questioned as the conference starts, with many flying in from Rome yesterday following the G20 summit in Rome, and Channel 4 correspondent Ciaran Jenkins highlighting heavy motor traffic around the COP26 site.
Side streets around #COP26 are choked up with chauffeur-driven cars and vans, many with their engines idling. Interesting look for a climate conference. pic.twitter.com/9NO83ydN0w
— Ciaran Jenkins (@C4Ciaran) November 1, 2021
Cars Our Priority 26 #COP26 pic.twitter.com/nq03RYX1Fk
— Thomas O. Cornwallis (@UrbanistTOC) November 1, 2021
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- HoarseMann 3 hours 21 min ago
Not quite the same scenario, but has some similarities......
- HoarseMann 3 hours 40 min ago
“It all happened so fast,” the bus driver said in his statement. “To my horror I saw a male laid on his back with a mobile phone on his chest and...
- chrisonabike 3 hours 46 min ago
I agree she might have chosen a different cycle/clothing combo there. Still, if you're riding with a long coat - or indeed a skirt, or bell...
- wtjs 4 hours 26 min ago
no one cares enough to fix it...
- wtjs 4 hours 34 min ago
I won't be getting anything on Friday...
- I love my bike 6 hours 27 min ago
It's in the land of the sidewalk, for better or worse, that driving 'right of way' does exist. . . and many other things they can keep as well!
- IanGlasgow 7 hours 39 min ago
CHPT3 is in receivership. Their website replaced by this notice. https://chpt3.com/
- Paul J 8 hours 7 min ago
So Froome basically chickened out on actually trying against Contador?...
- Supervet 8 hours 25 min ago
I have started holding my breath for 5 x 30 seconds, that increases EPO, rebreathers not required....
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59 comments
Vehicles that Biden flew in from the USA. In Rome he had a convoy of 85 vehicles. They keep telling we need to do things differently but show no leadership by changing their own behaviour.
Yes there's a lot of hypocrisy from the leaders, but if we use that as an excuse to argue for no action we're all in trouble.
I sympathise but no. Its functionally exactly the same as complaining about the cost of his cavalcade, but ignoring the fact that he can move trillions of dollars around on a whim (present issues getting his bill through not withstanding). Even his cavalcade is a drop in the Ocean compared to the changes he can make,
There's virtue signalling - Joe and his team riding in on bikes for example - then there's accomplishing stuff. Time will tell whether COP26 delivers more of the former or more of the latter.
My irony meter just exploded.
Quite. On a very personal note, I visit this site for cycling related news and information and to read, and occasionally take part in discussions - whatever the topic.
The supposed 'alternative' views being posted on multiple topics by some people are anything but as they can be found and heard pretty much anywhere from multiple sources - news websites, social media, tv, out on street, btl comments, and definitely when out cycling. They are just mainstream views, and they are views I have been exposed to for many, many years and have rejected. I bloody want this site to be at least a bit of an echo chamber as an escape from the poison and hostility that the majority of people and media seem all too happy to spout and exhibit on most topics but especially when the topic is cycling.
This oasis has been visited by a storm overflow.
It is possible to have a different view without being poisonous or hostile. Admittedly some forums are beyond hope but I'd like to think we can do better here.
Well, quite. I think some other comments are somewhat vicious. Nigel may be a troll at times; even when he is presenting a valid antithesis, he may do so in a clumsy fashion with all the false energy and credible robustness of a sacrificial anode. But sometimes he poses a question that is an appropriate consideration, and sometimes he is the Timothy Claypole - the idiot who speaks plainly to kings. Mostly not, of course; mostly he is just a troll.
Is is appropriate to be upset about having to ride up the kerb in the greater context of a world-saving conference? Is that anger equal to anger at the hypocrisy of world leaders flying in with enormous motorcades?
Well, yes, it is. Firstly, how else do we realistically expect world leaders, with bullseyes forever painted on their heads, to arrive at a high profile global event? It is one thing for Greta Thunberg to travel by yacht and electric vehicle; but, whether we like it or not, these leaders do not have the time to do that. Yet they need to meet, because Zoom doesn't quite do it. The carbon footprint of this event is individually huge but globally insignificant.
What is more significant is the fact that the city hosts had the opportunity to think this one through. They had input from local groups. And they still get it wrong, and have not communicated what is needed to those people who are appear to be stuck in security grunt mode, rather than to consider the strategic context.
That so what this story is: it's about local event planning with active travel in mind. The COP26 is the MacGuffin.
so, Timothy Claypole, take the break you asked for.
Superb - "sacrificial anode" and "Timothy Claypole" both made me chuckle
Can someone frame this and hang it at the door? Nigel in a paragraph.
I'm ordering them in bulk from China (all the Brit manufacturers have closed after Brexit) and I'm thinking of upping my order to a complete container, given the rapidly increasing prevelance of twats.
Why don't you just crawl back under your little pebble and give the rest of us peace,
"Why don't you just crawl back under your little pebble and give the rest of us peace,..."
Exactly. Who cares about climate change. All made up... <irony off>
You might or might not know that Our Nige, (old username Boo who was banned for being racist) is a massive supporter of the Losing President in the 2020 election. So to be honest, it wasn't just the line quoted by Rendel that exploded the Irony meter but the "most important climate change conference in history". If the lying, far right supporting, conspiracy spewing liar had somehow still be in charge, the US would still be out of the Paris Accords AND he probably wouldn't have bothered turning up to this one because "there is no such thing as global warming" (whilst tweeting pics of the worst winters on record in the States.)
Interesting that Nige replied to you, but didn't challenge or engage with any of your post.
He isn't very good at this debate thing is he?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_Donald_Trump....
Well windmills causing cancer, having to flush his toilet a few times because he is so full of shit a normal toilet cannot handle when it overflows, removing pollutions controls on factories and car manufacturers, tweeting out Anti-Climate change conspiracy theories, pulling out of the Paris Accord.
Those are some of the "enviromental" words and actions made by Dick A L'orange in his four years in charge of one of the powerhouses of the world. But Boo, who was banned for being racist no matter what he states*, finds one lie out of 30,000+ and still counting, and holds him up as the standard the whole world should be aiming for. Hmm, I wonder if he asks Drumpf if he is pregnant in a bantz style. I'm sure it would go down well with him. After all 54 is a turd who held a grudge because someone once said his hands were small. Oh and wanted his Press Secretary to put out a statement his Dick didn't look like a toad.
*Supposedly he wanted to leave and asked for his account to be deleted, but then came back under a different username to continue his trolling, who the fuck leaves like that and then comes back like that, lies when confronted who he is by saying he has never heard of Boo, lies again by stating he isn't Boo but spoke to him somehow (no DM's plus account banned permanently), and now seems to accept we know who he is which is a liar as big as the Orange Manbaby.
Was it my imagination but did Boos bestest ever enviromental person release a statement a day ago stating Climate Change was the 7th biggest hoax in the world or something along that lines.
Still Boo found a video of one of "OrangePantsonFire" many, many lies and holds it up as definiteive proof.
But you know as well as we do that Trump isn't just cynical about this particular conference, he believes that climate change itself is a hoax, something he has stated repeatedly.
The philosophers debated for days about whether the wisdom of man could be written on the head of a pin.
Then one of them said, "what if the man were Donald Trump?"
They all nodded and then they went for a beer.
Exactly, someone who regularly spouts conspiracy theory shit including mentioning multiple times that climate change is not happening and is a hoax DOESN'T BELIEVE IN CLIMATE CHANGE and so can't be (self proclaimed normally) the worlds biggest enviromentalist.
Still, he lies regulalry, is racist and very alt right so of course boo loves him, even though he seems to normally denigrate anyone else with that body shape.
Permission granted. Better still, piss off and don't bother coming back.
Nigel's posts (and sense of humour) may seem trollish at times - but he also helps to keep discussions in this forum grounded. He also stays polite, which can't be said about your carefully worded post, I'm afraid...
I wouldn't want uniformity here! However as far as "keeps discussions ... grounded" that's at best this some kind of "BBC definition" of "grounded" you've got there - adding a different kind of lunatic to the asylum and claiming that on average you've a reasonable balance of views.
I suspect Nigel would be offended if he didn't get any abuse...
As for polite that might be true outside the internet but on here Nigel has a track record of not particularly polite behaviour and an appreciation of "knockabout humour". Doesn't trouble me too much, it's rather tedious - but it's a forum! If some people are mostly on here for the "let's see what outraged / abusive reaction I can get" that's them. There are occasional accounts with nothing constructive / informative / amusing to add but even they generally get a pass.
Hey - leave me out of it!
Shades of Plebgate.
Don't even get me started on this. I've friends who I was going to visit next week, but put that off because of the traffic in their area when there is normally plenty of parking.
Then there is the issue with the security, much infighting and there has already been a stabbing on the cruise ship hosting them all. I've friends down there doing driving and on security. They have people from all forms of life, ex-military and police right through to junkies and ex-offenders. Not saying that everyone shouldn't get the same chance at work, but at such an event, the security should be vetted and be the best they can get...
No surprises there; isn't Glasgow always a bit 'stabby'?
It did have a very serious problem with knife crime.
It has had a hugely successful change when knife crime was seen as a Public Health Problem. Glasgow's record on knife crime is much improved.
A radical approach to tackling knife crime in Scotland - Civil Service Quarterly (blog.gov.uk)
Edit: my work browser settings doesn't like links
https://quarterly.blog.gov.uk/2019/07/04/a-radical-approach-to-tackling-...
"Don't even get me started on this. I've friends who I was going to visit next week, but put that off because of the traffic in their area when there is normally plenty of parking."
Exactly. There's far too little parking space now, due to all those pesky bike-lanes and negotions on fighting climate change, which seem so annyoing when we want to visit our friends by motor-car...
<irony off> In the end, fighting climate change is a pain - but necessary and with huge rewards (well, avoided capital punishment...) in the future.
Yes, I was going to visit by motorcar, the parking is nothing to do with bike lanes.
I live over 125 miles away. It's under 3 hours in a car, which includes stopping to pick up someone else en route. While 125 miles may not seem like a lot, to get there by public transport would take me over 6 hours each way and on a Sunday (when everyone had time) even if I just spent 10 minutes in Glasgow, it would restrict me from coming home on a Sunday, getting the first bus in the morning, an early train, then getting straight on the return train. I would still miss the last bus home in the evening. So until there is a vast improvement in public transport in Scotland, it's unviable for many. The bus service we have here doesn't even let you take a bicycle with you either.
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