Freewheeler Back! And he mentions us!

Freewheeler's "Crap Walking and Cycling in Waltham Forest" blog used to send lots of traffic our way, so it's been sorely missed -we are overjoyed that he is back.

Not only, that, he mentions us in a rogue cyclist article, where he claims that we will be overjoyed to see that someone cycling in Hampstead Heath got fined 330 quid, whereas drivers caught doing over 90-100 mph on the A94 were only fined 200.

Mixed feelings there.

As background, one of our reporters actually grew up in the Kilburn/Cricklewood area, shocking apparently even went to the same primary school as Bradley Wiggins, albeit many decades earlier. As such, they know about the Heath, which pubs nearby were best for under age drinking, and which of the open air swimming pools are best for ad-hoc sexual encounters. It's that latter point that concerns us. Unlike the Downs, which has good driving and parking right next to the play areas, the Hampstead Heath pools are less accessible, and a quick bike ride through the Heath is a fast way to get there -and it's not as if you are holding up anyone important. As for the idea of punishing someone for engaged in illegal activities on the Heath, -well, we'll have to check through our phone's photo collection from the last weekend special in NW3, but we think that Magistrates name sounds familiar -if he is the one in the video, no moral high ground there.

After Dark: it is everyones right to do what they want on hampstead heath provided they are consenting adults. And to keep personal photos of the activities afterwards.

Regarding the motorists, we are not suprised that they were let off more lightly. These people need to drive. Nobody needs to cycle -and nor, in the absence of cycling licenses and penalty points, could the tax-dodgers claim the "exceptional hardship" defence.

From the article

• HGV driver Kevin Charles Dixon, caught doing 132mph, "said losing his licence would mean losing his job and that would cost him his home. "
• Jason Dunn’s - 72mph through the 40mph zone, "said he drove for his boss and had been 20 minutes late for an appointment."
• Shayla Christina -96 mph- "said she needed her car to do two care service jobs looking after up to 20 people a week in their own homes."
• Joiner Dale Harrower -101 mph- "told magistrates he could be sacked" .
• Eric Neil Joyce -106 mph- "said a ban would cost him his job and his place on a Government-sponsored HGV training course. "

You see? These people need to drive for their work. 

Now some people -and we suspect Freewheler to be one of those, along with the entire membership of the People's Cycling Front of South Gloucestershire, will say something like, "if these people need to drive for their job, perhaps they should think about before driving 30-50 miles an hour above the speed limit, as these people did". Perhaps they'd say "If all these people drive as part of their job, then banning them from driving is a good outcome". Or worst of all "If these are the professional drivers -what does it say about the amateurs?"

That the kind of negative thinking that will hamper our country's economic recovery,

It's precisely why speed limits hold back regeneration that the government is looking at 80 mph limits, and why the DfT isn't running a series of adverts saying "Can't live without a car? Don't break the speed limit", or "Need a car for work? Better not lose your license then".

As it is, they don't need to do that because the magistrates all understand that people driving and speeding is essential to returning Britain to Greatness, whereas someone cycling on a footpath is just a troublemaker who deserves to have the book thrown at them.