“Making cycle paths safe AND fun?”: BMX-style bike lane with bumps in the Netherlands to encourage children to cycle; Tom Pidcock calls Paris Olympic MTB track “bland”; Is Jennifer Lopez the perfect advocate to normalise cycling? + more on the live blog

Gather round for a tale of two countries.

Here in the UK, we moan about bumps in the cycle lane, disconnected routes, not proper segregation, lack of space, uneven tarmac, potholes… the list goes in. In the Netherlands, apparently bike lanes work so well that they’re having to intentionally build bumps and ramps into the paths to make it exciting for children.

Dutch news website OmroepGLD reports that in Apeldoorn, a city in the province of Gelderland, a new cycle lane has appeared, described as the “funnest” cycle path ever that’s basically a cross between a BMX track and a skate park, in order to encourage more children to cycle to school and become proficient in riding bikes.

Making cycle paths safe AND fun?! https://t.co/4H7ah4vH3z

— Redkite_Traveller - sugar is caning the UK 325.13 (@Redkitetravell1) July 26, 2024

The Pump Factory, a company set up by Joos Wichman, men’s world mountain bike champion in 2013 and founder and team manager of the Radon Flow Team, was behind this genius contraption. His company had already made a pump track in the Zuidbroek district of Apeldoorn.

He said that they were already talking to Amsterdam about this idea, but that all took a very long time, so they decided to build this in Apeldoorn. Now, he believes this is the He “funnest cycle path” in the Netherlands.

Wichman said: “This is the first of its kind in our country. Elsewhere in the world I haven't seen it yet either. The goal is to convince as many children as possible that exercise is fun. We challenge them to go back to school on the bike, scooter, skateboard or roller skates instead of by car.”

He believes the children would become more resilient in traffic by using this cycle path. “Through the waves you go faster and faster. You then learn to correct with your bike, in a fun way. As a result, you learn to react quickly in busy traffic situations,” said Wichman.

> “It will be like living next to a motorway!”: Residents oppose school’s BMX cycle track project out of fears that they’d lose their “peace” and “privacy”

Pupils of the adjacent dalton school De Zonnewende were more than delighted to have this bumpy cycle path, according to the kindergarten teacher Marieke Vermeij. She said: “The children were already stuck to the fence during construction to look. Sometimes we play outside in the park. This is really an enrichment.”

9-year-old Tijn told OmroepGLD: “I think it’s a nice job. I especially like the hills… I don’t often go to school by bike. But that’s going to change".” His little brother, 6-year-old Noud agreed. And if it were up to another 9-year-old, Felicia, all cycle paths in Apeldoorn will soon look like this. “Then everyone has fun while cycling,” she said.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, residents in Folkestone, Kent, complained about a school’s bid to build a £150,000 BMX cycle track, claiming that the “noisy bikers” will disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the neighbourhood and it will be like “living next to a motorway”.

Turner School Trust, which overlooks Folksetone Academy, said in a statement that it hopes to address neighbours’ fears about the proposed scheme. A spokeswoman said: “We are very excited at the prospect of bringing the sport and exercise opportunity this development would provide to our students and the community, encouraging healthy lifestyles and active travel.

“The mountain bike track would be used by both primary and secondary pupils in supervised sessions covering PE lessons and lunchtime, after school and Saturday morning clubs. We also propose that it be made available for managed, wider community use, much like our other sporting facilities.

However, Kevin Black, who has lived in Grasmere Gardens for 20 years, said: “I don’t think the impact on the community has been considered — it really is the wrong area for it.

“You might as well build a motorway back there with all the noise it’ll create. This is a very quiet area, but now we’ll have a BMX track 20 metres from our house. Not enough thought has gone into this.”

If you have been too busy reading the road.cc live blog and haven't got the time to keep with the tabloids, let me break it down for you. So, American singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, apparently likes riding bikes, with recent paparazzi pictures showing her cycling on her 55th birthday in a shirtdress.

However, her recent picture, and a few others, have been picked apart by Glamour magazine, who published an article titled: "Jennifer Lopez Has a Wildly Impractical but Adorable Bike-Riding Fit".

Hold on, this is about to get more tabloid-y. The article reads: "Even though she looks exactly like the lead in a romantic comedy, riding her beachcomber bike in a two-piece floral skirt and crop-top set. Because, sure, a flowy skirt doesn’t seem like it would be the most practical choice for riding a bike, but it definitely looks cute, and that’s all that matters."

Jennifer Lopez is the perfect advocate for normalising cycling.

Glamour magazine claims J.Lo’s outfits are not practical for cycling, but with a comfortable step through bike, chain guard and mudguards, you can very easily dress for the destination, not the journey. pic.twitter.com/i7SafmHcJY

— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) July 25, 2024

Enter, West Midlands' former Walking and Cycling Commissioner, who disagrees with Glamour magazine, instead claiming that JLo and her choice of casual, everyday, even chic outfits is the perfect way to normalise cycling.

"Glamour magazine claims J.Lo’s outfits are not practical for cycling, but with a comfortable step through bike, chain guard and mudguards, you can very easily dress for the destination, not the journey," wrote Tranter.

I'll leave this to you all to discuss now, I've done enough dipping my feet into tabloidy territory for the day...

It's one day until the Olympic and Tom Pidcock, Great Britain's current men's world mountain bike champion is already not pleased with French hospitality, and by that I mean, the mountain bike course hat Paris has to offer.

And the reason for that is the abundant gravel that the organisers have put together in the track. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, the 24-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider said: "It's bland and I think they could have done a better job of making a more mountain bike course," he said. "It's not the best course in the world, but its the same for everyone so…

"We love mountain biking for the reasons that drive us to enjoy it for what it is. That's the courses you get to ride, the places you get to go to. When you just have gravel over a nice hillside, it's not really mountain bike."

His Team GB teammate Evie Richards shared similar thoughts, saying: "I wouldn't say it's not hard enough. I think, just as mountain bikers, a natural course which changes with the conditions is quite a cool thing, that's what we love to race. But I think they've done the best they've done, being how close it is to Paris. I suppose it's not the easiest thing to do to just pop up a mountain bike course anywhere."

It’s almost has become like clockwork, and I mean it in the most unfortunate and tragic way — cyclists have been dying for far too long on Birmingham’s roads and streets. Over the last few years, we’ve reported multiple such instances and in response, cyclists, activists, and campaign groups coming together to fight for safety and call on the council for some action to keep themselves and their peers alive.

Last year in June, hundreds of people came together to protest the increasingly dangerous state of roads in Birmingham, with things coming to a head after seven hit-and-runs, with four cyclists, including a 12-year-old boy, “killed by motorists” in just over three weeks.

The protest was marked by emotionally charged people chanting “Shame on you” at drivers overtaking dangerously, speeding, changing lanes — all behaviour that lead to deaths on streets, Paul Manzotti from Better Streets for Birmingham told road.cc.

Now, after three cyclists were killed in collisions last month, taking the tally of people killed this year to 10 and those seriously injured in collisions to 23, Better Streets for Birmingham have written an open letter urging city and regional leaders to declare a state of emergency for road safety in Birmingham, with the group holding its eleventh demonstration to turn the tide on reckless driving tomorrow.

The group pointed out that despite the Council Leader committing to reduce speed limits on 40mph roads and above to 30mph and to triple the number of speed cameras, neither of these have been implemented yet.

Mat MacDonald, Chair of Better Streets for Birmingham said: “Momentum has tailed off quickly. Progress on rolling out average speed enforcement cameras has run aground, many roads are still above 30mph, and Neighbourhood Policing Team participation in Operation Triton has been inadequate.”

We're now learning of a man killed last night while sitting outside a pub in Boldmere. Our hearts go out to their family who received the unimaginable news.

Our message to our leaders is clear: declare a road safety emergency and act now.https://t.co/UtUFl342sN https://t.co/cuYDSSt7B0

— Better Streets for Birmingham (@for_birmingham) July 26, 2024

> Local reporter asks if motorists care that cyclists are dying on roads at “alarming rate” – and readers respond by claiming cyclists “think they own the road then suffer the consequences” amid calls for cycling licences, insurance, and mandatory helmets

The active travel and road safety campaigners had sent their first open letter in June last year, and they said that since the first letter, at least 23 people have been killed and 34 seriously injured on the city’s roads.

In their most recent letter, they have laid out 10 actions for the city and region’s leaders to tackle road safety, which besides declaring a state of emergency, include demands to immediately recruit the next Cycling and Walking Commissioner following Adam Tranter’s resignation in May, as well as suspending the licences of those arrested for dangerous driving offences to ensure that they do not endanger other road users whilst awaiting trial.

> "This will cost lives": Safety fears as key active travel role axed on same day cycling and walking commissioner resigns

Every two weeks, a vulnerable road user is being killed on our streets. How long is it until its your father on the way home? Or your daughter walking home from school? Or your grandfather getting the bus?
It must stop. #SaferRoads #Betterstreets pic.twitter.com/ymk1DGMFtE

— Better Streets for Birmingham (@for_birmingham) July 25, 2024

The letter, shared with road.cc, reads: “When a child dies in such a way on our streets, we have failed as a society. And while we can never bring Mayar back, or fill the void that now sits at the heart of her traumatised family, we have a duty to learn from this failure and to ensure we do everything possible to prevent such a senseless loss.

“Road safety is a statutory duty and basic human need, not a nice-to-have. Safe travel and welcoming streets form the bedrock of any thriving area, and our region’s success depends on having them.

“The situation as it stands continues to be untenable. If we don’t take urgent and sustained action, more people will be killed and seriously injured.”

Last week, Better Streets for Birmingham held two demonstrations, including a cycling solidarity ride to remember people recently killed in Highgate and Edgbaston.

Four-year-old Mayar Yahia was killed on Sunday 14 April, in a collision walking back to her home in Highgate with her mother, who was seriously injured. A 50-year-old man was killed on Tuesday 9 July while cycling at the junction of Chad Road and August Road in Edgbaston, with the driver being later arrested on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Tomorrow, Saturday 27 July, we will gather at Midday on Old Snow Hill to call once again for the change we so desperately need.https://t.co/5hCAju8l1P

— Better Streets for Birmingham (@for_birmingham) July 26, 2024

> Campaigners call for an “end to road violence” after three cyclists, including a 12-year-old boy “killed by motorists” in three weeks in Birmingham

Babiker Yahia, father of Mayar who was tragically killed in Highgate this April, said: “We need immediate action to stop dangerous drivers and make safer roads. Last Saturday we gathered on upper Highgate Street where my daughter was hit by a dangerous driver and passed away, and we absolutely sent our voice to leaders and people in office, but we need more demonstrations, and leaders with love in justice and humanity.”

Ayesha Mahmood, Highgate resident, said: “We have lost one of our angels. She was a little angel and she didn’t deserve to die this way. The morning I found out, I remember us mothers crying all the way to school, and our children looking up at us and asking us what had happened. We were so upset we couldn’t get our words out. The school has supported us more than anyone else. But unfortunately where is everyone else? Where are our public services?”

Naomi Fisher, mum of 3, said: “As a parent myself, the joy of walking or cycling in this city is fading away, replaced by an everyday fear that when we say goodbye in the morning, one of us may not return safely.”

David Cox OBE, veteran active travel activist, said: “The city and region have had good strategies and plans on active travel for over 10 years. There has been some progress but implementation has been much too slow leaving us still without a safe network. Meanwhile road danger has been increasing with more traffic and too much careless, dangerous and reckless driving.”