Apparently Strava is turning British roads into a dangerous race track -
It seems that everyone who rides a segment is doing so as a race to clock the fastest possible time 
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I can’t believe that the rider who supposedly averaged 52mph for 0.63km on the Embankment was a legitimate ride. 30mph up Sawyers Hill in Richmond Park seems suspect too 
Sponsored by shitrags like the mail and telegraph 
It’ll keep the mouthbreathers happy
Not completely out of the realms of possibility, although you would need help from a car, or lots of people to draft, and a tailwind wouldn’t hurt. Depending on which segment, I’ve done 24mph, and that was just on some solo riding around on a road bike with shallow wheels etc. I’m sure a good tailwind though.
And there’s plenty in the top 10 on the segment who are almost certainly legit.
Didnt this happen before and someone found a ride of someone cycling at 50+ mph in a 30 and there was the usual outcry then it turned out it was during the tour of yorkshire or something and was a pro
Yeah, I had a relatively quiet KOM until the National road race used it
I bet the journo writing that piece felt like they’d uncovered Watergate when they discovered an app that allowed cyclists to secretly race each other on the public roads 
I bet a similar app that tracked every car on the road would have some interesting speeds on it
This is my favourite issue with these cycle bashing people. They see one cyclist jump a red light and cry foul. Obviously they, and the other whining car drivers, have never ever gone beyond the speed limit, driven through a red, parked on a double yellow etc etc. Oh noooo
Yep and when they say cyclists should have numberplates and a license, what like cars do that does little to nothing to prevent the majority of them driving like dicks
Which is why the law change that got announced this week is tackling the wrong issue. Every person sadly killed by a cyclist over about two decades can still be named individually in a single article. It just shows how much of a non issue it is on a grand scale.
Yet we’re now introducing a further barrier to people “giving cycling a go”. It’s just not comparable to recklessly driving a 2 tonne metal box. Where’s the new law for reckless and dangerous “pedestrianing”? Many of my issues on a bike have come from pedestrians stepping out without looking. And the cyclist can frequently come off worse from that.
Pedestrians are an absolute nightmare on my commute home past Buckingham Palace and Parliament Square. They’re always randomly walking out into the bike lane.
No doubt if you hit one there’s going to be the suggestion that the cyclist was riding too fast or not paying enough attention
It’s funny how that story was focusing on the fact that 120,000 people “attempted to race” that segment along the Embankment and not that well in excess of 120,000 have used that bike lane
Without wishing to diminish your main point here, my experience of cyclists in London on recent visits was very disappointing (I have reported this on the commuting thread from recollection).
My experience as a pedestrian was that a very significant proportion of cyclists simply don’t pay attention to red lights, give way lines and other traffic management. I’ve no idea how long this has been developing as an issue but it came to my attention because I decided to walk around London rather than use the tube.
I totally agree that car drivers are hopelessly hypocritical (as per @stenard ).
Pedestrians I’m less clear about. Since I don’t visit London often, I was often having to work out just how many lanes, and in which direction, traffic was coming from - and that was more difficult than it sounds.
I guess the point I’m making is that I can see why cyclists are not liked in London and certainly don’t think as a whole that cyclists there hold any moral high ground.
That’s a pity because there’s a London-centric assumption that cyclists are the same elsewhere (“the North”) which isn’t true.
Its been 4 years since I commuted daily, and 2 years (since my 1st covid bout) since i commuted at all, but i still train/ped once or twice a week and think its worse as well, mainly down to hire bikes and electric bikes though. Last time I went in nearly got run down 3 times by RLJing “bike riders” on Borough High Street alone. Unuon St. 1 way going wrong way also. They arent typically “cyclists” though, usually Lime bikes, delivery bikes or man on an old rusty MTB. There are a lot more “casual” riders now, but used to be hard core cycle commuters pre covid.
When I regularly commuted , danger was people though not mode of transport, cars, bikes and peds in equal measures, usually phone related, but obviously one is far more lethal than others. Infrastructure is partly the issue and the “bike paths” in many cases Im sure haven’t had any consultation process with actual cyclists.
I agree with all that.
My conclusion (for which I have no evidence other than my own thought experiment) was that most London cyclists are probably economic commuters who behave as if they were driving a car, in other words getting away with whatever they can to be 1 second faster.
Agree with H. The same proportion of “real cyclists” skip lights and stuff as before. The large proportion of additional rule breakers (I agree there’s more) are on the various hire bike schemes. Especially the e-bike ones. It’s as if because they’ve paid something for that particular journey, it gives them more “rights”.
“Lycra clad” cyclists get all the bad press, but on the whole they’re the ones who will ride at weekends and the commute is just a means to get to work and they take their time. It’s the TdF wannabe hire bike riders that treat the commute like the final push to the yellow jersey and noone can get in their way
That’s said, I do think there are just more people cycling nowadays than pre-covid. Which is ultimately a good thing. And a higher number of something will naturally mean a greater absolute number of people breaking rules. But the proportion definitely has gone up
It’s indeed an error on the journalists part, promoting cycling hatred as was their intent at the outset.
From elsewhere:
The data is actually from the TACX turbo trainer app, a ride called London City Ride. A few of us hsve complained via IPSO on grounds of accuracy and intent of article.
My Strava has gone black overnight, anyone else? Don’t particularly like it but I’m guessing I can change it.
Is no it dark in the Netherlands?
It’s picked up the system setting although I usually switch it off in apps, not really a fan of dark mode.
Ooh, Strava premium you can change your icon 