Jeremy Vine's cycle lane near miss as empty bin chucked across London bike lane; Tributes to Davide Rebellin; Tour de France ditches Paris final stage, Nice finale rumoured; Remco signs up for the Giro; Cycling advent calendars + more on the live blog

but where is the political will ? Active Travel England keep holding up a school in Suffolk as an exemplar for cycling/walking, yet cant even ask the obvious questions of why that hasnt translated into any shift in modal stats in the area, and some of the highest car ownership in the country

After my volunteering stint with the CWG in Birmingham, I was looking at Paris Olympics for an encore and wondering if I could go early and catch the finale. 

(I was aware it was probably being moved but no decision had fully been made).

However I do hope, as you mentioned, that they decide a good full race now rather then a GC procession.

I suspect the riders enjoy the last stage being relatively low stress. One last sprint and they can have a big party and then take their family for a beach holiday.

Miller wrote:

I suspect the riders enjoy the last stage being relatively low stress. One last sprint and they can have a big party and then take their family for a beach holiday.

I'm sure they do and by God they earn it, but just every now and again it might be nice to have a last day that actually meant something? Two thirds of the Giro last days since 2008 have been individual time trials and produced some amazing finales...imagine Pog, Rog, Bernal, Vingegaard - maybe even Pidcock! - all within two minutes of each other and an out and back 40k TT over the Col de Braus on the final day. A man can dream… but as I said, almost certainly won't happen. 

Mungecrundle wrote:

I have a bit of a soft spot for our bin crews. They get a lot of crap from some due to the necessity of having stop a large vehicle right in the middle of the road in order to do their job, they are then at risk from the impatient and careless who look down on them for the work they do.

Beat me to it, although I do think the operative was a little careless here in general I find the bin crews in London are the most courteous users of the road around. It's not at all uncommon when cycling towards a bin lorry for one of the operatives to shout to the driver and the rest of his mates that a cyclist is coming through and for them to stand aside. They're nearly always friendly in terms of exchanging good mornings etc as well. I think as vulnerable road users themselves who often get hassled by car drivers (by coincidence it's our bin day today, it's an unusual day when one doesn't hear at least one car angrily hooting at the lorry for blocking the street) they have a greater affinity with cyclists than many.

Well, I thought it was a rubbish move.

BalladOfStruth wrote:

Oh look, a JV video on the live blog. I guess today's thread is going to be a write-off due to troll-brigading as well then...

Yup... resist, starve the dimwits

Mind you. Some may have been sin binned so it could be quieter than normal. 

Even when a cyclist does nothing wrong, they are still in the wrong.

IanMSpencer wrote:

Substantial number of comments suggesting that it is Vine's fault for not guessing that a bin man was going to fling a bin bouncing around the bike lane. The other half fixating on a marginal anticipation of the green light (but did he cross the line?).

I'm always careful passing bin lorries, because I expect workers to step out from behind them, or jump out of the cab without looking - but this was a protected (ish) cycle-lane next the road the bin lorry was working in. Gotta say, I probably wouldn't have expected that.

BalladOfStruth wrote:

IanMSpencer wrote:

Substantial number of comments suggesting that it is Vine's fault for not guessing that a bin man was going to fling a bin bouncing around the bike lane. The other half fixating on a marginal anticipation of the green light (but did he cross the line?).

I'm always careful passing bin lorries, because I expect workers to step out from behind them, or jump out of the cab without looking - but this was a protected (ish) cycle-lane next the road the bin lorry was working in. Gotta say, I probably wouldn't have expected that.

Exactly that. Go slow (which it looks like he did) but the bin throw was ridiculous. It looks potentially deliberate. There was time for worker to see the cyclist and then the bin was chucked anyway... and apparently left!

The kicker for me is no apology (that I could hear at least). Everyone makes mistakes, but come on.

IanMSpencer wrote:

Substantial number of comments suggesting that it is Vine's fault for not guessing that a bin man was going to fling a bin bouncing around the bike lane.

Regardless of the specifics of this case, the general social media view on cycling is that it is always the cyclist's responsibility to anticipate every possible hazard, and never the creator of that hazard's responsibility not to cause danger to the cyclist.

Steve K wrote:

Regardless of the specifics of this case, the general social media view on cycling is that it is always the cyclist's responsibility to anticipate every possible hazard, and never the creator of that hazard's responsibility not to cause danger to the cyclist.

Exactly.  It is the cause of the danger that should be taking the greatest steps to mitigate the risk, not the victim; unless they are a cyclist.

Yet oddly, motorists object to having to anticipate hazards due to cyclists in the road (and indeed anything else). I must save the video of a 1 mile stretch of road on Tuesday where I had one car overtake at a junction where a car was waiting to pull out, inevitably the car pulling out saw me and pulled out, and the car overtaking MGIF'd and ended up wanting the same bit of road. Then a car overtook on a bend and was surprised to discover a car coming the other way, oncoming car took avoiding action. Then approaching a roundabout, a car was so wide overtaking me they nearly had a head on with a car that appeared doing a left turn - more evasion required. Each left me plenty of room and each failed to consider the risks they were taking.