Journalism and cycling

buffalo

I see cyclists are still colliding with cars up north:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-13-dies-after-colliding-with-car-in-west-belfast-1.4129979

Odd that a man should be arrested after a cyclist collides with - presumably - his car. :rolleyes:

magicbastarder

cycling gets a bit of a mention here; very interesting article even without the cycling related content:

‘Women have less ego. Men think: How hard can this be?’: the female ultra-athletes leading the field

At the top of a wind-scoured hill outside Edinburgh, Jasmin Paris’s dog, Moss, patiently waits for his owner. He is, I think, wondering what on earth is taking her so long. The answer, I’m afraid, is me.
We are in the Pentland Hills near her home – easy terrain for a skilled fell runner. For me, it’s a painful reminder that road marathons and track races do not help in the hills. I spend my clumsy descents looking at my feet, and each time I look up, Paris is defying gravity – not so much dropping as floating down.
In January, Paris, then 35, made headlines across the globe when she won the Spine Race, one of those almost comically difficult events that sounds less like a run and more like a sadistic punishment: 268 miles, nonstop, along the Pennine Way. Paris took a week off from her PhD in veterinary science to compete, and thrashed every man in the field in the process.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/03/female-ultra-athletes-leading-field-women-less-ego

micar

buffalo wrote: »

I see cyclists are still colliding with cars up north:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-13-dies-after-colliding-with-car-in-west-belfast-1.4129979

Odd that a man should be arrested after a cyclist collides with - presumably - his car. :rolleyes:

Second cyclist to die on UK roads so far this year

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/cyclist-ealing-a40-collision-a4325346.html

Large bottle small glass

magicbastarder wrote: »

cycling gets a bit of a mention here; very interesting article even without the cycling related content:

‘Women have less ego. Men think: How hard can this be?’: the female ultra-athletes leading the field

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/03/female-ultra-athletes-leading-field-women-less-ego

The man who came 2nd and who's record she broke reads this thread... she demolished what I thought was an unbelievable record circa 96 hrs down to 83 hrs.

Both are on start line for the 2020 version

CramCycle

meeeeh wrote: »

You can't completely disadvantage convenience shops. Your local Centra or whatever should be able to allow you to park for 15/30 minutes to get basics. Otherwise you make it impossible for them to compete with Aldis and Tescos. Any other shopping including parking at Tesco and so on should be charged but if you make it completely illegal to do a short stop you make small shops completely unviable. It's also unworkable to police.

By the way I can't understand how parking in parking spot legitimizes illegal parking. That's just completely illogical statement.

I hear this all the time, but I cycle up Bray main St. daily. Often half blocked with cars parking to "nip" in. This despite almost every shop on that street has a car park within 5 minutes walk, most are far less. People are sh1t. People park on the bike lane and footpath for the Chipper when there are spaces across the road, people park on the double yellow lines outside despite 30 car park spaces less than 10 seconds walk away. People park outside both pharmacies even though there is a 100 space car park less than a minute walk away. These cars narrow the road way, obstruct pedestrians and generally make life ****ter for everyone else.

Enduro

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

The man who came 2nd and who's record she broke reads this thread... she demolished what I thought was an unbelievable record circa 96 hrs down to 83 hrs.

Both are on start line for the 2020 version

I don't think Jasmin is running in it this year, but I'm open to correction. Having a little inside knowledge I find some aspects of the article a little odd. The reason Jasmin won with such style is nothing to do with ego or any of the other alternatives postulated. Quite simply she's a wold class mountain runner in technical terrain. She IS faster than most men. Take all other factors out and she still wins on that basis. Simple as that. She is also world class at handling sleep deprivation, which counts for a lot once race time goes over 40 hours or so.

Seth Brundle

buffalo wrote: »

I see cyclists are still colliding with cars up north:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclist-13-dies-after-colliding-with-car-in-west-belfast-1.4129979

Odd that a man should be arrested after a cyclist collides with - presumably - his car. :rolleyes:

https://twitter.com/phramewerk/status/1213425233400651777?s=19

magicbastarder

Enduro wrote: »

I don't think Jasmin is running in it this year, but I'm open to correction. Having a little inside knowledge I find some aspects of the article a little odd. The reason Jasmin won with such style is nothing to do with ego or any of the other alternatives postulated. Quite simply she's a wold class mountain runner in technical terrain. She IS faster than most men. Take all other factors out and she still wins on that basis. Simple as that. She is also world class at handling sleep deprivation, which counts for a lot once race time goes over 40 hours or so.

the specific use of the word ego was from a quote from her, used for the article title, whether that's worth pointing out or not.
funny enough, the one person i have known who was into endurance sports is a woman, and we suspect it was partly that she was running from her own demons as much as anything else.

Harrybelafonte

magicbastarder wrote: »

the specific use of the word ego was from a quote from her, used for the article title, whether that's worth pointing out or not.
funny enough, the one person i have known who was into endurance sports is a woman, and we suspect it was partly that she was running from her own demons as much as anything else.

In my experience, many endurance athletes are. Tends to be the final outlet for many ex drug addicts.

Enduro

magicbastarder wrote: »

the specific use of the word ego was from a quote from her, used for the article title, whether that's worth pointing out or not.

Noted! And I actually fully agree with the point they are making in terms of the negative affect that ego has to potentially self-sabotage someone's race. I just don't think it applies as a reason why sometimes the best women can beat the best men in endurance races. Getting to the top end will usually filter out the ego-driven earlier. Hence why I think its not a good explanation in the context of the article (But probably is a good explanation of one of the reasons why in general women have a better finishing percentage than men in some endurance races).

magicbastarder wrote: »

funny enough, the one person i have known who was into endurance sports is a woman, and we suspect it was partly that she was running from her own demons as much as anything else.

In general most people I meet in endurance sports are about the most well balanced bunch you could meet. Some of them have used their sports to help them get to that point. No so much "running from" as confronting their demons. Actually writing this has reminded me of another good article I read recently.

Seth Brundle

Going back to the recent parking in Dublin discussion...

https://twitter.com/Cyclistie/status/1214094371437580288

Seth Brundle

https://twitter.com/dlrcc/status/1214896357422567425

Seth Brundle

Proposed plans for Rosslare Greenway rejected by councillors

Objection raised mainly becaue of the route on the land-side of the railway tracks rather than the coastal side and this would reduce the view :rolleyes:

cdaly_

Presumably it's just the Rosslare Europort->Strand section where the issue is? That's certainly reason to reject the whole notion!

magicbastarder

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Objection raised mainly becaue of the route on the land-side of the railway tracks rather than the coastal side and this would reduce the view :rolleyes:

makes sense, though. why spend all that money on a tourist attraction when it's sensible to make the best use of views available.

Hurrache

Citizen journalism I suppose, but not quite sure what the Garda in question was up to here, looks like a few cyclists were gesticulating that they didn't either.
https://twitter.com/__kbaker__/status/1214977080766738432?s=19

Seth Brundle

magicbastarder wrote: »

makes sense, though. why spend all that money on a tourist attraction when it's sensible to make the best use of views available.

Oh I'm not taking sides, just reporting it. However, surely there is transparency over the chosen route and why they went one side over the other and if this was factually justified (as the councillors don't seem to thinks so)

JMcL

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Oh I'm not taking sides, just reporting it. However, surely there is transparency over the chosen route and why they went one side over the other and if this was factually justified (as the councillors don't seem to thinks so)

Could also be some unseen willy-waving over land and access by one or more parties. The Waterford greenway was held up for around 6 months by several vested interests.

cdaly_

Hurrache wrote: »

Citizen journalism I suppose, but not quite sure what the Garda in question was up to here, looks like a few cyclists were gesticulating that they didn't either.
https://twitter.com/__kbaker__/status/1214977080766738432?s=19

My take is that the Garda was correct. The bike traffic light applies to the segregated bike track, not to bicycles in general. The cyclists she was stopping were in a standard traffic lane facing a red light and therefore should await a green.

The silliness of course is that, once they have a green, they now have to cross oncoming traffic to get to the segregated cycle track.


Which is why I ignore it and go straight on taking the lane instead...

Grassey

Not quite journalism, but the cso have some 'fun facts' of Ireland in 2019.

The only cycling reference was:

The proportion of
males aged 15 years
or over cycling to
work fell from 5% to
4% between 1986
and 2016.

The number of
females aged
15 years or over
cycling to work
declined from 6% in
1986 to 2% in 2016


Nothing under transport, and only a small barchart under fatalities for pedal cyclists.

Hurrache

cdaly_ wrote: »

My take is that the Garda was correct. The bike traffic light applies to the segregated bike track, not to bicycles in general. The cyclists she was stopping were in a standard traffic lane facing a red light and therefore should await a green.

The silliness of course is that, once they have a green, they now have to cross oncoming traffic to get to the segregated cycle track.


Which is why I ignore it and go straight on taking the lane instead...

That was my initial thought. I never travel that way so don't know it too well, where's the segregated lane the light is for in relation to the cyclists?

AndrewJRenko

cdaly_ wrote: »

My take is that the Garda was correct. The bike traffic light applies to the segregated bike track, not to bicycles in general. The cyclists she was stopping were in a standard traffic lane facing a red light and therefore should await a green.

The silliness of course is that, once they have a green, they now have to cross oncoming traffic to get to the segregated cycle track.


Which is why I ignore it and go straight on taking the lane instead...

It would be very interesting to see a test case on this. AFAIK, the legislation for the little cycle light says that you can cross when the light 'facing' you goes green. If you're on the road, maybe 1m away from the cycle track, can a Garda or judge really say that the cycle light is not 'facing' you?

Seth Brundle

Not directly cycling related but more of a sign that Cork City Council like things old shcool...

Cork City Council: Electric car not 'suitable' for Lord Mayor's needs

Corca Baiscinn

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Not directly cycling related but more of a sign that Cork City Council like things old shcool...

Cork City Council: Electric car not 'suitable' for Lord Mayor's needs

Hmm,thanks for that but it begs several questions.

1. Ok we know about Ford's historic connection to Cork but given we don't manufacture cars in Ireland any more why is it important any more that the car should be a Ford?

2. We know Cork is Ireland's largest county but why does the Lord Mayor of a City need a car with a large range, especially when said city has excellent rail and bus connections to the capital should he need to pay a visit?

3.Does the Lord Mayor give lifts to an entourage thus requiring a larger than compact car?

4. Is the Hyundai Kona favoured by one Gov Minister too "compact" for the LM of Cork?

4. If the car doesn't qualify as low emissions according to TFL are there any kudos at all in accepting a hybrid?

5.. I remember controversy some years ago re LM of Dublin being presented with a Volvo or Saab. What does current Dub LM use for official purposes? He and the LM of Cork belong to the same party but Paul McAuliffe supports cycling.

5. Whither the climate emergency?

6. Does the LM feel any obligation to model good practice for the rest of us?

Seth Brundle

IrishCycle are doing a few twitter polls on people's experiences in reporting dangerous overtakes to gardai.

https://irishcycle.com/2020/01/10/cycling-in-ireland-whats-your-experience-reporting-motorists-to-gardai/

Not sure what the plan is with the results so far the results show that most people don't have positive experiences in reporting these crimes.

https://twitter.com/IrishCycle/status/1215430326366896128?s=19

magicbastarder

Garda Commissioner cites lack of resources as he delays 136 transfers to roads policing

THE GARDA COMMISSIONER has decided to delay the transfer of 136 gardaí to the National Roads Policing Bureau, stating they could not be spared without depleting frontline resources.

https://www.thejournal.ie/roads-policing-transfers-4960623-Jan2020/

Seth Brundle

Irish Times write about close passes and the reporting of them.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclists-and-officialdom-not-seeing-eye-to-eye-on-road-hazards-1.4137530

Edit (I was rushing out earlier): the article still contains the usual Irish Times anti-cyclist tones e.g. Neeraj Jain died because he collided with a cement truck, not that there was a collision between the two. It creates the assumption that in this case the victim caused the incident. The article then continues to quote the gardai that the investigation into the death has not been concluded...

In early November, Indian data analyst Neeraj Jain died after his bike collided with a cement truck at the junction of Dublin’s South Circular Road and Brookfield Road, near St James’s Hospital

Duckjob

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Irish Times write about close passes and the reporting of them.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cyclists-and-officialdom-not-seeing-eye-to-eye-on-road-hazards-1.4137530

Edit (I was rushing out earlier): the article still contains the usual Irish Times anti-cyclist tones e.g. Neeraj Jain died because he collided with a cement truck, not that there was a collision between the two. It creates the assumption that in this case the victim caused the incident. The article then continues to quote the gardai that the investigation into the death has not been concluded...

Overall I don't think its a bad article in fairness - it gives a voice to cycling campaigners on points that need a lot more emphasis from the media in general (and dont often get it), like the false equivalence of rule breaking on bikes vs rule breaking in cars/trucks/buses, and the victim blaming culture around helmets and hi-viz.

Seth Brundle

Just looked at Facebook and the comments to thia article contain the usual vitriolic crap about road tax, cycling on paths and cycling four abreast. Apparently we also ruin towns :rolleyes:
https://www.facebook.com/45441411157/posts/10157053167056158/

Pinch Flat

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/punishment-passing-drivers-intimidating-cyclists-by-passing-too-close-on-road-1.4137530?fbclid=IwAR3QzVRvaxHlQ7GyqtYgq1HSKQQWPbz_lVKkNihRIaO9axqe4uf4enkVlJ4

Usual comments on the IT FB page. Apparently, according to a few wing nuts, we need to pay for the roads before we're shown respect. Ah Jaysus.

This article is timed perfectly for what has to be the most miserable day for car commuting - never really got to the usual chaotic levels last week, as people were taking extended annual leave. Was certainly ground zero for car chaos around west Dublin this morning. But sure cyclists are holding all this up, "ruining towns" another commented.