New cycle lane has “ruined village”, made it more dangerous for drivers, and leads to cyclists “nearly taking children off their feet”, angry locals say; “People with penny-farthings need parking too!”; Massive fancy dress helmet + more on the live blog

When it comes to local newspaper reports on active travel infrastructure, I’m not sure there’s a headline more commonly used than the tried and trusted ‘This cycle lane has ruined EVERYTHING!’ trope.

It works for almost anything you could ever imagine a bike lane affecting: Businesses, seafront views, mile-long commutes, and – my personal favourite – Christmas (It’s always those pesky cycle lanes ruining Christmas for the kids!).

> "Christmas is ruined," claims business owner... who blames cycle lane for "massive negative impact" on trade

So, this morning, we were treated to a classic of the genre in the New Forest village of Dibden Purlieu, where a collection of angry residents – complete with disgruntled group photo for the front page of the local rag – told the Southern Daily Echo that a new bike path has “ruined” the area and made things more dangerous for drivers and pedestrians.

Earlier this year, a new cycle lane and pedestrian crossing was installed by Hampshire County Council on the village’s Beaulieu Road.

However, some residents claim the nine months of work led to gridlock and local businesses “losing huge profits”. And since it’s been finished, they say the bike path is not clearly marked on either side of the road, failing to delineate between the cycling and pedestrian areas, and that the new crossing has been placed between three busy junctions and a petrol station, leading to a number of near misses.

“Hampshire County Council have ruined the village with all these unclear cycle markings,” Dibden Purlieu resident Janice Chalmers told the newspaper.

“When the school kicks out the children take up all the path and cyclists have nearly taken them off their feet.”

“We have seen accidents happen due to the number of junctions, the position of the traffic light, and the cycle lane markings,” noted fellow resident Steph Osborne.

“It’s like the council just threw it all together – prior to that we had a traffic island and that worked really well.”

Meanwhile, local councillor Malcolm Wade added: “I have been a county councillor since 2013 and prior to that a district councillor since 1991 – in all those years I have never had so many complaints as I have about this cycle lane.

“So many people have written to me with their complaints. I have to agree with them: the scheme was poorly planned and badly executed resulting in us being left with a number of issues.”

And “keen cyclist” John Laurence, a member of the Waterside Action Cycling Group, has claimed that “one of our members is so worried of the dangers across this stretch of road he gets off and walks his bike through the area”.

“This scheme has absolutely made it more dangerous for both drivers and pedestrians – our group did make recommendations to HCC before, during and after their consultation,” he said.

> "A bike lane doesn't close a village": Dame Sarah Storey defends cycle lane blamed for "ruining business" and "killing village", calls shops closing "a coincidence, not an unexpected consequence"

Responding to the claims that the cycle lane has ruined everything, a spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “The local cycling group and residents have been actively involved throughout the implementation of the cycle lane to ensure the route meets the needs of all users.

“The Beaulieu Road section is part of the Eling to Holbury cycle route improvement scheme. On completion, the entire route will be subject to a post-completion review and monitored to identify any areas where additional improvements may be needed.”

“If you have to see anything today, it is these hundreds of cyclists bringing supplies to the affected areas that are not allowed to be reached by car. There is still hope.”

Si tienes que ver algo hoy es a estos cientos de ciclistas llevando suministros a las zonas afectadas a las que no se permite llegar en coche. Aún hay esperanza ❤️ pic.twitter.com/4GkhvveJYa

— Alejandro Cencerrado (@AlejandroCence2) October 31, 2024

16 Bee Bike stations across Greater Manchester will be closed for the next month to “address issues with bike availability” as problems with anti-social behaviour, vandalism, and theft continue to plague the cycle hire scheme.

Last October, mayor Andy Burnham said the scheme, launched in November 2021 and operated by bike share firm Beryl, has proved a “victim of its own success” following “higher than expected levels of bicycle theft and vandalism”.

And this week the Manchester Evening News has reported that several bikes are understood to be missing, with 16 stations – spread across the boroughs of Manchester, Salford, and Trafford – closed to allow staff to find them.

Beryl has also deployed staff to search for the seemingly stolen bikes, while the police are also involved in the search, Transport for Greater Manchester’s Starling Bank Bike hire manager Iain Baxter confirmed.

> Recovery plan for Greater Manchester’s Bee Network hire scheme gets more bikes on the streets

“Due to recent issues with anti-social behaviour, we will be temporarily suspending 16 of the 225 total bike hire stations. This is a precautionary measure to help improve bike availability for all customers,” Baxter said in a statement.

“Getting more bikes available is our top priority and we are working alongside both the operator Beryl and Greater Manchester Police to recover any missing or damaged bikes quickly and get the stations re-opened as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause cyclists during this period.

“The Starling Bank Bikes remain incredibly popular as a key part of the Bee Network, providing people with easy and affordable access to a bike and our growing walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure. We have seen record levels of use in recent weeks and the vast majority of bikes and stations remain available for use.”

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A post shared by honor (@honorelliott)

Somewhat surprisingly, that isn’t the actual size of Visma-Lease a Bike and Giro’s outrageous Aerohead time trial helmet (I know, I was shocked too).

It’s just cyclocross rider Honor Elliott’s inspired fancy dress take on cycling’s sartorially challenged approach to marginal aero gains, which, in a worrying development, helped her to second place at Saturday’s annual Halloween Muddy Hell event at Herne Hill Velodrome.

I’m concerned some helmet boffins will be checking the results and taking notes – the bigger the better, and all that.

The cyclocross season may have got off to a bang at the weekend for newly crowned European champions Fem van Empel and Thibau Nys, but it’s already over for one of Van Empel’s biggest rivals, Shirin van Anrooij, who won’t race again until May after undergoing surgery to widen her external iliac artery.

Van Anrooij, who had a successful classics campaign, finishing third at the Tour of Flanders, before placing second in the young rider’s classification and 13th overall at the Tour de France, endured a more troubling second half of the season, with her Lidl-Trek team revealing today that the 22-year-old experienced “unusual sensations in her left leg” during her final few road races of 2024.

The Dutch rider was then diagnosed with iliac artery endofibrosis – a narrowing of her external iliac artery (the same problem that plagued her compatriot Marianne Vos’s 2023 season) – and underwent surgery on 31st October to widen it.

In a statement this morning, Lidl-Trek said Van Anrooij will now take an extended period of rest before returning to training, meaning she will miss the entirety of the cyclocross season, as well as the first few months of the 2025 road campaign. She is expected to return to competition in May, in time for the grand tour season.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Shirin (@shirinvananrooij)

“My off-season is going to be a little longer this year,” former U23 cyclocross world champion Van Anrooij posted on Instagram this morning. “After some hard months on and off the bike, we finally got to the bottom of what was causing me problems in my left leg. I have had successful surgery to repair a narrowing of my external iliac artery.

“It was definitely a scary discovery at first, but everything went well and I am back to having a big smile on my face now that I can finally start my recovery.

“I’m grateful to be back home in Zeeland already, but I still have a long journey in front of me! It will be around six months until I can properly think about racing again so, sadly this will mean no CX for me in 2024/2025, but I’ll be watching and cheering for everyone all season.

“All the support I have received from my friends, family, team staff, and teammates has been incredible! It’s made this process a lot easier so, I want to thank everyone who has been with me every step of the way through this.”

The irony deficiency is strong in this photo:

“The cardacity of suburban drivers knows no bounds,” wrote Matthew Lewis, the California-based cyclist and writer who spotted the sign calling for all Hunt wheel owners to keep the whirr to a minimum, wrote on Twitter.

(By the way, ‘Cardacity’ – great word, I’m going to steal that.)

“‘Please bike quietly’ – gonna bring my air horn next time,” he continued. “I was sure this was a Halloween prank and went back to look and, nope, they actually mean it.

“What’s amazing about this sign is, this exact spot overlooks eight lanes of the 24 freeway — droning at brain-damaging decibels 24/7 — less than 200 metres down the hill, but this pathetic suburbanite is bothered by… people on bikes talking to each other.

“Car noise is a leading cause of premature death in cities, and approximately zero drivers care about laws regarding same, so naturally, violent drivers come out of the woodwork to hate literally the quietest form of transport ever invented besides walking.”

Only in America… Then again, maybe not.

> Driving instructors less likely to believe collisions “are usually the cyclist’s fault” and that cyclists are “nuisances” after cycle awareness course, new government pilot study finds

I wonder if Ashley Neal took part?