I’ve never seen a worse piece of cycling infrastructure. Have you? I also encounter someone who questions why I was using a cycle area while I was cycling!
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28 Comments
3:15 you don't need clipless pedals for pottering about town. Even I have flats on the town bike!
These roads are so empty, I would like to see Ashley commute on a bicycle down south during morning rush hour from kent to london or in the evening from London down to Kent way, its completely different. I wish the roads are this quiet, you'll fine you get 100 times the amount of impatient drivers, close passes and aggressive driving or bad (or lack of) cycling paths.
This is why when you compare/criticize these other cycling YouTube videos of silly cycling, its easy to forget that they have a much worse experience than you on these quiet roads, they post 1 of the 30 incidents that happen during that 1 persons commute, it makes you fed up and wears you down, which in the end results worse cycling and also worse driving. Its easy to forget this or not even think about this in the first place.
Regardless, would like to see more of these videos, good stuff
9:03 “why do I have very few problems when out on the bike?” Answer: because you don't ride much! Sometimes I can go several rides with no major issues, then BAM, an idiot does something stupid (or malicious). Also, the sort of riding you do, mostly around town and using cycling infrastructure, is generally less problematic than a fast A road or rat-run country lane.
Just because you know Peter Gabriel's song, Sledgehammer.
I prefer the road, I practically never use them as I find it’s safer not too.
If they removed them it would help widen the roads backup or widen pedestrian paths making them shared paths with speed restrictions for young kids only
Council could do what they done with making some paths shared paths but on roads so when no cyclists around the whole of that space can still be used but when a cyclist is present vehicles have to remain outside of the line and give way
Painfully slow
This isn’t really an option as doing nearly 400 miles a week.
You need an engine! Get there quicker.
And here’s another little annoying point to me.
2 towns next to each.
Both have the same supermarket, except one is a slightly smaller version.
To save myself travel time & some petrol, I’ve tried to use the supermarket in our town-the slightly smaller store.
Problem is, they don’t sell everything the other one does, and the cheaper options are often missing.
Take a bag of frozen peas…I can save myself about £1.50 on this 1 item by driving to the next town which has the slightly larger store….remember it’s the same company. Add that up over multiple items and it’s cheaper to use petrol and travel to use the bigger store.
You waited a lot longer than I normally do to meet an idiot in Liverpool. Pity you couldn't take to the clipless pedals though 👍
wow some people are stupid
I'd say give the (clip-in?) pedals more time.
I feel insecure without them.
That was a how a cyclist should ride and still make good time in traffic. Cyclist actually stopping at red lights:)
I think that idiot at the traffic lights was probably drunk.
I can also make a good guess at the other two idiots (JC/JV).
They walk among us….
Thanks for this Ashley. Think pedestrian was being sarcastic. Probably your reaction might be down to adrenaline and tiredness. Infrastructure for cycling not a priority for councils understandably. Would be interested in seeing you try the cycling infrastructure from Pier Head to the new Everton ground. Good luck with training. Recommend good cushioned trainers like Hoka. I use Skyward X. Also plan for Liverpool Half Marathon in March as part of training as excellent event plus maybe another fund raising opportunity although understand don’t want to push that too much if ultimate aim is fundraising for your London Marathon cause.
Having given it some thought, since you asked why you have so few problems while out on your bicycle, could it be because you're focus is on riding safely, and not dashing through the city/ country, trying to manufacture situations. Running through red lights, and speeding up to get closer to the car/ van/ bus/ truck, which clearly "had priority", so you can then shout about giving way to traffic from the right or whatever, for your YouTube/ Twitter followers… that will end up in someone being sacrificed as some sort of martyr to stupidity, in the great war of idiots that don't look more than 3 feet in front of themselves..?
This behaviour isn't (as we all know), limited to cyclists, but they are most likely to end up a pavement pizza, while clowning through traffic, expecting everyone else to do their thinking for them.
Honestly, it's been a while since I rode my bicycle, getting knocked off it didn't stop me, well, it stopped me with that particular bike, but I bought a replacement, once I recovered from the injuries.
(Just for clarity and context, it was a slightly curving to the left road, up hill but nothing drastic, I was fitter in those days… I was in position 1, because people often cut the double solid white, as they come down the hill, and the RS Turbo that hit me, was speeding, swiped me off and mangled the bike. I didn't know what happened at all, I only saw the Escort accelerate away. It was another driver that witnessed the incident, and was almost hit by the same eejit, whom told me what happened. He recovered myself and my bike in his pickup, made sure I got to hospital and what was left of my bike got home).
You skipped the bit where that business parks all their cars for sale on the road, essentially turning two lanes into one on a bend…
If you're building up to something bigger with your running, you could do a bigger bike ride – The Liverpool-Chester-Liverpool ride is on in July. You get to cycle through the Tunnel and everything!
Any one who has been in morning rush hour traffic on a regular basis knows the difference the school holidays make. All kids should be able to cycle to school safely all year round like they do in Scandinavia. This means protected cycle lanes that are well maintained and cleared of snow BEFORE roads. They found clearing foot and cycle paths first saved money over-all. A&E and work absences are not cheap.
If more folk like Ashley use them as well, freeing up space on the roads while extending their lives all the better.
Good luck with the marathon training and obviously the marathon. Your pedal issue I feel is due to to lack of practice, and possibly the release mechanism still being too tight. But they aren't for everyone and you have to go with what you feel comfortable and safe in. GCN have had a good couple of videos on infrastructure and why cycling is a low priority, worth a watch. But we need billions spent to improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, but the media and public opinion is so anti this type of spending that it won't happen in the UK without a major shift. Finally, you don't have many issues because of the way ride and your attitude to others and safe road use in general. Most cyclists are the same, I rarely have any problems, and if I do it's a close pass and sometimes that is because I have positioned too far left and given the vehicle user an option. Safe riding.
7:00 why are peds forced to walk on the danger side near the kerb? the cycle path should be on the right side.
What about the London to Brighton cycle ride?
I only have to go outside of my gate to meet an idiot.
Yeah, that wally near the end is just more proof that people's default is to just hate cyclists for whatever reason. And it's the pedestrians that are in the wrong, too. So instead of apologising they blame the person doing the right thing 🤦♂️.
The local council needs to pick up that rubbish!
19:15 the chap was maybe confused as to why you were stopping on a red light due to the FALSE media narrative that all cyclists jump red lights.
Like many other viewers I was struggling to figure out exactly where the cycle box ends and the pedestrian crossing begins, and because it was unclear I had a look on Google Earth. Turns out there's no pedestrian crossing there at all. Neither set of lights has a push button, and there's no crossing on the other side of the island on the right.
The pedestrian route is actually three stages; from the left to the large triangular island, across to the smaller island opposite the pub (where the green bus emerges) then finally across the main carriageway. All three have pedestrian-controlled signals.
It's a bit of a detour, so with the absence of jaywalking legislation in the UK I can understand why pedestrians might choose to cross at those lights if convenient to do so. But it should be with the understanding that they don't have priority over anything using the road.
I've watched the clip a few times now and I still can't work out if the bloke thought he was on a pedestrian crossing, or if he was just surprised because he expected Ashely to plough through the red light because so many other cyclists do it and he thought that's what the rule was! 😏
Literal oxygen thief
No City but the one in my village (Rainworth) is terrible parked cars and vans the surface
Your filtering, and noting a close pass brought to mind something that people who’ve not been a cyclist complain about.
Perhaps in a future video you could address the complaint those people raise of “why does a cyclist demand metres space from cars, but are willing to pass within centimetres of those same cars?”
I think your calm, and reasonable, manner could help them understand the difference (also that you’re not a cyclist nutter).
As for the pedals, it looked like you were handling them okay, but if they are causing you to alter behaviour because you don’t want to deal with clipping and unclipping then perhaps they do need to go. Though, as I think you hinted at, they are something that you need someone to get comfortable with. I’d suggest longer rides that involve less clipping in and out might help the familiarity and reduce the stress. I also might just be a cyclist nutter who sees no issues commuting by bike in the city with clipless pedals.
Your filtering, and noting a close pass brought to mind something that people who’ve not been a cyclist complain about.
Perhaps in a future video you could address the complaint those people raise of “why does a cyclist demand metres space from cars, but are willing to pass within centimetres of those same cars?”
I think your calm, and reasonable, manner could help them understand the difference (also that you’re not a cyclist nutter).
As for the pedals, it looked like you were handling them okay, but if they are causing you to alter behaviour because you don’t want to deal with clipping and unclipping then perhaps they do need to go. Though, as I think you hinted at, they are something that you need someone to get comfortable with. I’d suggest longer rides that involve less clipping in and out might help the familiarity and reduce the stress. I also might just be a cyclist nutter who sees no issues commuting by bike in the city with clipless pedals.
As I do some of my training this summer I will try to get some video of the absolutely brain-dead cycle infrastructure around Vancouver. There’s one street that has you on and off the road almost ever block, with poles in the middle of the cycle lane!