E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Jim Seida / NBC News
A cyclist uses his phone to help navigate around the security gate blocking the bike path along the western edge of the Olympic Park, Saturday, July 21, 2012 in London.
LONDON -- The 2012 Olympics may claim to be the first 'green' Summer Games, but the city’s cyclists have been holding a number of protests -- including one on Friday at which more than 100 people were arrested -- claiming that the authorities appear to think they “don’t exist” or “don’t matter.”
Part of a major commuter route for cyclists down the east side of London -- a path along the River Lea -- has been closed for security reasons because it runs close to the Olympic Park.
And cyclists are also not allowed to use many of the Olympic Lanes set up for officials, athletes and others involved in the Games.
According to the U.K., London is "the first Summer Host City to embed sustainability into its planning from the very start" and it is hoped the Games will "encourage more sustainable living" across the whole of the U.K.
Ruth-Anna Macqueen, 28, a hospital doctor, has been involved in three protests over the closure of the Lea path on the last three Sundays and another is planned for this Sunday.
Macqueen said the path had been closed since the beginning of July, weeks before the start of the Games, and would remain so until September.
'It's on, Let's Go:' The Games have begun
The diversion, Macqueen said, took cyclists onto a busy main road and a notorious roundabout where two cyclists were killed in one month last year.
“Basically people are left with the option of staying on your bike and taking your life in your hands or getting back in your car or public transport,” she said. “It kind of seems to be all part of the ignorance and arrogance by the people at the top -- that either cyclists don’t exist, don’t matter or are not worth any consideration.”
A diverse community in East London will welcome the world to Britain for the 2012 Olympic Games. Meet residents and hear how they feel about having a huge, world stage in their backyard.
“You can’t imagine them closing a busy road with no consultation and no warning,” she added, saying the idea that London 2012 was the first green Games felt like “a bit of a joke.”
Macqueen added that preventing cyclists from using some Olympic lanes was “ludicrous.”
'Critical Mass', 'Swarm' protests
During Friday's opening ceremony, an amateur cycling club tried to pedal their way through the security cordon around the Olympic Park.
The cyclists were identified as members of a monthly cycling event called "Critical Mass" that normally passes through the area, but police had prohibited them from cycling there on Friday evening.
Olympic party: In the shadow of the Games, London celebrates
More than 100 people were arrested on suspicion of breaching protest conditions and causing a public nuisance, Scotland Yard said Saturday.
Officers scuffled with several pro-cycling activists as dozens of cyclists were blocked by police vans from proceeding, Scotland Yard said. No serious injuring were reported.
Elisabeth Anderson, 38, of Camden, took part in another protest Wednesday night by the “London Bike Swarm” over the Olympic lanes issue.
Click for more from the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
The “swarm” turned out to be about 14 cyclists and only six actually defied the authorities to ride in the lanes, until they were stopped by police.
“It’s a strange situation. Cyclists are being thought of as an afterthought,” she said. “There could have been a really positive move to push cycling, they could have encouraged officials and others involved in the Games to cycle as well.”
Read more Olympics coverage on NBC's TODAY in London blog
Christian Wolmar, transport analyst and author, agreed the authorities had not done enough to promote cycling.
“The whole thing is completely hypocritical; cycling is just another example of that,” he said. “Cyclists are really considered a bit of a bother, rather than part of the solution.”
Get the latest on London 2012 with NBC Olympics
“It fits in with the whole hypocrisy of the Games – sponsored by Coca-Cola and McDonald's even while it’s supposed to be about sport and healthy living,” he added.
A spokesman for Transport for London said cyclists could use some Olympic lanes, but added that it would not be safe for cyclists to use those lanes which are in the middle of the road, rather than next to the sidewalk.
Oda / Getty Images
From Wimbledon to Wembley Stadium to The Dome, a look at the venues for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“We’ve invested an awful lot of time and money to make it safer for cyclists,” he said.
A spokeswoman for London 2012 organizer LOCOG told NBCNews.com that the issue was "more one for Transport for London. I’m not sure it’s something we’d comment on.”
Brits rally around Games after Romney's Olympic gaffe
When the Olympics and politics collide: Is neutrality just a 'fairy tale'?
Troops everywhere, long lines and moans: A very British Olympic Games
'Pain in the neck': London's Olympic lanes befuddle, frustrate motorists
Fortress London: UK protects Olympics with biggest security plan since WWII
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Sometimes it s difficult to be inconvenienced, but we want to make sure everyone is safe and it may cause you to change your normal path, but is for a worthy cause!!
The point of the protestors is that it's ridiculous to claim to be having a "green" Olympics when you are placing arbitrary restrictions on the greenest form of transportation in current existence.
Bad move on the part of London's Olympic officials, but you have to consider the enormity of their task in keeping hundreds of thousands of people safe for a world wide event before giving them too much grief about it !!
“The whole thing is completely hypocritical; cycling is just another example of that,” he said. “Cyclists are really considered a bit of a bother, rather than part of the solution.”
Agreed. Bicycling can go a long ways towards relieving traffic congestion as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle. With E-bikes available now, it can be used by virtually everyone, and they can go many places that cars cannot go.
I'm sorry, but after reading the article it just came across as whining. I would understand why any cyclist would be upset, but that hardly warrants a news story. Its the Olympics, and some people will be inconvenienced.
The "green" games referrs to money, not to environmental sustainability or even as a treat for the people ala the Romans. The Brits are expecting a bit too much. They should be reading their British History --- especially Mary Poppins --- to see how their country developed.
@tomilvento,
There were over 100 protester/cyclists arrested in one protest alone. Many Londoners have no other way to get to work without taking circituous routes. Bikes are often a major necessity. That's why the story.
Forgive the slightly off-topic rant but, it has to be done. IMO
I thought for sure the cyclist were going to be talking about the velodrome, which is built out of 10's of thousands of board feet of OLD GROWTH Western Red Cedar. Cutting old growth is in no way shape or form sustainable or green, other than the color of the money in the timber companies pockets. The track itself is also 1000's of board feet of pine, alleged to be sustainable as well. When they change the standards to meet the goal, what the hell is the point?
" from European construction timber to tropical hardwoods - and is a world first that involved adapting existing standards to suit a demanding and complex site"
So, if you need 45,000 board feet of 600 year old cedar, that will never grow that old again until countless cycles of natural selection chooses trees that grow slow and very old (nursery stock grows fast but has zero resistance to disease and wont live past 80-100 years), then change the rules and CERTIFY IT!!
God Bless the Queen!!!! (no I'm not a tree hugger, just an informed person)
What a gripping tragic story.
For a whole 2 weeks these "greenologists" will be inconvenienced. I'm sure this will set bicycling back for decades.
These games have been planned for four years, I'm sure the routes weren't changed yesterday. I'm sure everyone had time to make adjustments for this global event.
This is a non-story other than a handful of zealots looking to be noticed. Ge over it, the games will be over soon, take a bus.
Wishing cyclists safety during the games. It must be extra crowded there and challenging to meet all expectations of greenness. After the games the cycle paths should seem quite pleasant. It's enjoyable to get around by bike for work or play like these folks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou1AvKDicxA
Good one, spence (sarcasm)
Did you only read the headline? Or is misinformation just part of your standard response?
'For a whole 2 weeks these "greenologists" will be inconvenienced'
Maybe you were too inconvenienced to read this part-
"Macqueen said the path had been closed since the beginning of July, weeks before the start of the Games, and would remain so until September."
So, in your bizarre world the time from the beginning of July until September is 2 weeks?
Be patient..its only for a few weeks and then you are free to do what you like for as much as you like. You knew the games were coming and there would be tight security for the safety of all. Lets try being alittle grown up about this. There are bad guys out there and we need to protect the athletes and the people of London now dont we?? Quit your whining and try being alittle giving for afew days...unless your minor temporary inconvenience is more important then all the Olympic people ?
I'm sure you would feel fine if a terrorist rode in there with a backpack full of explosives and blew everyone up but hey you would have your bike path access alittle sooner right?? Unless this is all about you and screw everyone else.
All the ballyho about 'green' and in fact most 'green agendas' are worse than standard, 'not green' agendas. The biggest promoters of 'green' are the worst polluters out there. Flying around on jets to promote 'green' is a mite hypocritical, as are massive motorcades that carry the 'dignitaries of green.' All a sham.
The Olympics have degenerated into a hollywood extravaganza, politics and agendas abounding. The athletes are nothing more than props.
I agree with many other posters, this just seems to be whining by a small handful of people who are looking for their 15 minutes. Closing of the bike path along the River Lea was done for very valid security reasons. These cyclists knew this closure was coming for a very long time and certainly had enough time to make alternate plans for the couple of months that the Olympics and Para-Olympics are going on. One would think that these people would have the intelligence to recognize that the Olympics are an inviting target for terrorists and that there is a need to take reasonable precautions to keep the athletes and those attending the games safe. I guess that was too much to ask for from these self important whiners. It seems a minor inconvenience to them was too much to ask in order to protect the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people who will attend and compete in Olympic events at the venues near this bike path. In their minds they feel their access to this bike path trumps keeping all of those people safe. They just need to get over themselves and quit whining.
Protesters? More like professional parasites!
I have no respect for those fools, always disrupting society just to get noticed, they have no real cause other than self gratification.
Arrest them all and sentence them to 5 years in solitary confinement.
Too bad none of the winners EARNED their medals...according to Obama!
The "Green" Olympics...that patch of green from the arial photograph is stark (and humorous) in contrast to the grey developed areas. Needed a photograph from a higher elevation.
The level of militarism and police domination of London for the Olympics is a sign of how sheeplike people are. Bicyclists are clean commuters who unlike most of you anti-bicycle commenters are not obese, unfit, polluting slobs. Bicyclists and pedestrians are routinely killed or injured or disrespected, so it's not limited to the Olympics. If any of you fat-ass anti-bike people want to get up off your couch and ride a bike, you will see the light.
I like cyclists and its needed, I dont like cyclists that don't follow the laws.
It becomes a problem when the traffic situation wasn't thought out, it was more as," this is how its going to be".
Please stop with the word bit !
I was reading where the Occupy movement was staging a protest using lots of bicyclists to try to clog things up. And then of course when they are stopped, they run to the press about the "non green" Olympics. Give us a break.
@ FedupwithFed
You are an idiot.
I am an independent and I agree with that statement from Obama. Why do you think companies come to US to do business and why many people come here for the same reasons?
It's because there are market and infrastructure to support them. Ever try to do business in third world countries with poor infrastructure, it would cost companies much more money because they have to spent more on things to make it going.
Tyler, where is your collapse button? cuondong, or whatever, is calling someone an idiot.
d-bag.
Justin B-3020259
I did read the article. It doesn't matter if its 2 weeks or 2 months. These greenies had plenty of time to make arrangements to get around a congested city during one of the biggest events in the world.
What, they can't think far enough ahead so their country can put on a great Olympics in front of billions of people? Their inconvenience should require the Olympic planners to allow them their usual paths instead of security.
This is the typical mentality of these ridiculous "advocacy" groups. Change everything around them so they can be satisfied rather than the greater good. Typical Liberal selfishness and grandiosity.
Like I said, take the bus.
Indeed. No arguments there
Cuong,
No, Obama is the idiot. What did he stand to gain by saying that business owners don't become successful on their own? Whether he was talking about roads or the businesses, it was an intentional attempt to deminish the hard work and risk that entrepreneurs have to endure to finally succeed after multiple setbacks. The part where he said "They think they were successful because they were smarter than everyone else" was especially idiotic. BTW, you are no independent.
Cuong, it takes courage to confront a LIE! Demonizing hard working people for trying to make something of themselves is WRONG!
@Road Warrior-252445
It is a fact which you seem to fail to understand. It's a combination of hard work and location.
The first thing to do business is LOCATION, LOCATION AND LOCATION. Without a good place to open any business, you are bounded to fail. That's why a good place is expensive to get and the same can be said about business in a country.
You are required to have a market and infrastructure to support it. You also required a good community and support of surrounding environment.
Again, you are just as ignorant as the rest who spout something you clearly have ZERO UNDERSTANDING.
Perhaps you should open something, like a restaurant like I did which ultimately failed due to bad location or travel abroad and do business like my uncle and see how it turns out.
Clueless trolls as usual with enough lies and hope it stick.
So, my President says it was built on the "investment" paid before by the people who paid their taxes. In days of old people walked paths throught the fields, horse drawn carts cut furroughs, people continued to use these 'trails' until it was decided that they should become roads. During this time, buildings were going up, water eventually got piped, and a town grew. Taxes were used to supplement existing development to spur and support further development. Who paid the taxes, you know, the people who paid taxes on their business which was combined with every other person who paid taxes. Employee support paid their taxes, businesses people paid their taxes. There were some who did not pay taxes but that was not the businesses. The taxes were all combined, everybody paid who was making money. Some people took on additional risks to begin ventures in addition to the taxes they paid with everyone else to establish and then support the upkeep of the infrastructure. Did they get tax loopholes...could be...but the tax law is what it is. But don't say that people who started businesses did it on the backs of others when the businesses are part of the very people who gave their backs paying taxes. That reasoning does not hold water and makes my President sound like a dang fool. And one last thing, if my President leaves that office with a heap more than he went in with, GIVE IT BACK because that's what he wants people to do!
While I agree that cyclists should be considered, I want them to be considerate as well. I see far too many of them darting in and out of busy traffic, running stop signs, jumping on the sidewalk when the road is crowded, and just plain blocking traffic by being so slow and refusing to move over. If they want to "Share the road" they need to abide by the same rules as cars. That goes double for motorcyclists.
Just my $.02
Do you speed? Do you signal for each lane change and turn? Why should cyclists follow the rules? Drivers are far worse. I don't own a bike and don't put any support behind cyclists, but I figured I'd point out how hypocritical that common statement is.
Do you have any idea how flawed is that logic? You cannot justify a bad act by pointing to another bad act.
I find it interesting that these protesters belong to the "London Bike Swarm." This is one of a number of radical bicyclist groups that turn out periodically in droves, fill the road from curb to center line, flout the traffic laws and dare motorists to hit them. Their agenda is not mine.
11 times out of 10, if I'm in my car and a bicyclist and I collide I come out ahead. My experience with bicyclist is many are obnoxious, and break the rules of the road often. The world doesn't revolve around them even though they think it does.
Not only a demonstrably false claim, but breathtakingly ludicrous. If you ever attempt to carry on a rational, logical argument I suggest you start with a slightly less sweeping generalization.
Closer to the truth, considering
(1) The comparison should be between drivers and cyclists, or cars and bicycles, but not between cars and cyclists,
(2) Yearly traffic deaths are over 30,000 per year, but since the number of deaths per million miles travelled has been dropping steadily since 1921 and the number of drivers has been steadily increasing, nowhere near all of them can be attributed to obnoxious drivers,
(3) Driving does not cause weight gain. Consuming more calories than you burn does, and
(4) The average motor vehicle emits about 7.4 tons of CO2 per year. Volcanoes emit about 100 million tons of CO2 per year, with very little complaint from your ilk, and CO2, being necessary for both human and plant life, is hardly a great candidate for a pollutant.
At last, in your last sentence, you make a claim I can somewhat agree with. Had you made your claim so plainly and succinctly as
Premise: Most drivers occasionally ignore traffic laws
Premise: Some drivers criticize cyclists for ignoring traffic laws
Conclusion: Some drivers are hypocrites
it would have been much more persuasive. Have a nice day.
Are there idiot Drivers?... Absolutely. It is my experience (and mine only) that a far higher percentage of motorcyclists on highways, and bicyclists on busy business avenues tend to ignore traffice laws than cars do. By the way 2 miles and hour over the speed limit is FAR less dangerous than randomly running stop lights/signs. Pedestrians are worse in my opinion, but there is just no way to enforce jaywalking laws. I go to Downtown Kansas City for my job occasionally and almost no one (other than myself) actually waits for the walk sign. People actually stare at me and give me dirty looks for observing the posted signs. Finally accidentally breaking a traffic law (i.e., oops, I didn't realize I was speedin, or that this street was a one way) is not the same as blatantly disregarding traffic laws and safety measures. Just this past week half of the motorcycles I saw on the road were unsafely maneuvering in traffic and speeding in excess of 20 miles an hour over. Approximately 1/3 of the bicyclists I saw ignored stop signs and went out of turn, went in between cars stopped on a 4 lane road, etc. A very small percentage of the motorists did such things. There were some, and they should have been ticketed, and or had their licenses taken away. They same should be for bicyclists, and motorcyclists.
P.S. Bicycles should NOT be allowed to use any public roads, as they are supported by taxes on gas, and as everyone keeps telling me, bicycles do not use any gas. /sarcasm off :-)
Motorcycles don't bother me but cyclists do slow down traffic, sometimes ride in groups that almost stop traffic and are a pain. Most do not exercise consideration or even care that they are on a roadway that was made for motor vehicles.
Cyclists and pedestrians have always been a consideration on roads "built for cars". I hope everyone who makes my ride dangerous on the highway runs into a pack of cyclists who are just as inconsiderate as they are.
Unfortunately our road system is rarely designed to take bikes into consideration and that discourages using this very green alternative to motor travel, but CatTrax and tmac are right in that many casual cyclists are dangerous on the roads, going the wrong way, jumping from sidewalk to road and back again, weaving between cars. Professional cyclists seem to be much better road users.
Ideally we would have decent cycle lanes on the sides of all roads, but until then we have to accommodate each other.
Cat
Motorcycles are fine until the young people with the super crotch rockets weave in and out of traffic over 15 MPH above the speed the traffic is going. Then you see some of them riding wheelies down the freeway.
As far as bicycles, I've was struck on the arm by a city bus mirror. The only place for me to go was into a telephone pole.
Most accidents I'm aware of were caused because a motorist simply didn't see a motorcycle or bicycle.
Yep, some things that might be acceptable for cars are deadly for motorbike and bike riders, such as medians and curbs. It's not easy jumping them or climbing wall when someone in a hummer or suvis bent on running you over.
yep its ajoke the "green" olympics... course the green movement has always been a very expensive cruel joke.
Yeah, it's really stupid anyone would be interested in using products and consumables in such a way as to ensure they don't pollute or run out. What kind of moron supports that?
Any moron that agrees in having money taken out of his pocket for failed projects.
Is it more green to drill here or drill on the other side of the earth and use millions of gallons of fuel to ship it here?
Ethanol?
Is it green to cut down thousands of trees to put up solar panels that take huge amounts of energy to produce?
Is it green to make Al Gore rich but still allow the same things to happen?
The green movement is a cruel joke and we are paying for it daily. If you offer simple, effective solutions like I do, I am all for it. Taxing me more is not one!
We should be weaning ourselves off oil, whether it's drilled here or abroad.
You don't need to cut down trees to install solar panels. Every roof should have one.
What does Al Gore's pocketbook have to do with any of this? What does it matter how much money he has? You don't have to buy his book.
And who said anything about taxes? We need to reallocate our current revenues, not tax more.
About the only thing you said that makes any sense is the ethanol fiasco. Using food for fuel was always going to be a bad idea.
Nuclear power should be the backbone of our electrical grid. The new Gen IV reactors are safe and produce very little waste. Cars should be fuel cell powered once we solve the hydrogen storage problem.
Electricity and transportation make up the bulk of our energy consumption. Crack those two problems and you've solved it, but the endless cries of "we can't do it" will ensure we never do. Increasingly expensive energy and pollution will be our future if we listen to naysayers like you.
You have valid solutions, the green stuff being forced on us is what is moronic.
Carbon Credits was "their solution", which just made Gore more rich and allowed the same pollutants.
Where I own my cabin on the Peace River in Florida, FPL cut down thousands of tree to put up a solar plant, Obama even went there to praise it.
I would ban plastic bags.
And if you want viable electric cars, combine the NCAA with NASCAR for an electric car series. We would have viable cars in no time and our education dollars would be going to students that could have an industry to work in upon graduation.
Why the "green movement" is moronic is because it has become the Democrats form of crony capitalism, we now have both parties stealing more of our tax dollars for their buddies.
Don't worry about the USA running the world out of oil! It will be done by China. Check out the number of Chinese citizens who now drive automobiles instead of two wheel transportation. In 10 years there will be 50 times more cars in China than there are today. They also could care less about emissions as well.
A solar plant? I don't see solar power as useful for anything except locally-generated electricity. It's not robust enough to supply power grids. I'd agree that's not a good use of the technology.
And yes, single-use plastic grocery bags are pure waste.
I'm a bit so-so on electric cars because the battery tech isn't the greatest, but that could change with more R&D. Right now I'd prefer fuel cells.
As for forcing green tech on society as a whole, I suspect that's what it'll take to make any meaningful change. You've read the comments from people who have no problem driving their SUVs to work everyday and lobbying for more drilling just to keep it affordable (at least for a little while longer) instead of finding alternatives. Green is a dirty word to them and they're dragging the rest of us down with them.
There will be missteps along the way. We'll throw money at technological dead-ends until we finally get it right, but that's the way of things. There is no magic bullet, no genius who's going to come up with "the answer." This process is not going to be easy or free.
I thought when I read the headline that it was going to be about how it can't be green with all the fireworks they just set off and the massive flame they are going to be burning while it's going. I guess I was wrong!
"Green" has become nothing more than a marketing catch word. It grates on me as bad as the word "awesome".
I thought that too! The message to the world would have been huge! No fireworks due to the greenhouse gasses released and flame minimized due to gasses. Climate change is the largest threat we have ever faced and yet people are ignoring it. Climate scientists the world over are in agreement that this is man made and that it is only going to get worst. The change needed to begin to slow this down and reverse it is huge and can only come about by nations changing their energy policies. Too bad this Olympics is only green in name only.
Sounds like the Brits were not quite ready for the Olympics?
Are you from that joker Romney's campaign ??
"Radiation and rockets at the London Olympics you ask? Yes, more than 7,000 tons of radioactive debris pushed just to the side to build the Olympic stadium and anti-aircraft missIes anchored on the rooftops of private London residences. War games, military and private security forces patting down the throngs at a cost of £1 billion ($1.54 billion) just for “security” alone, this is the straw which has finally broken the camel’s back for my lifetime of Olympics watching."
http://cuttingthegordianknot.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/radiation-and-rockets-why-i-am-boycotting-the-london-2012-olympics/
Bicycles are a pain. They need to be banned. They are too slow. People that ride bicycles are dim witted. I would much rather speed down the road in my Chevy Suburban with a bottle of beer as I text my BFF.
I recycle my bottle when it's empty, so I'm green too!
LOL. Don't give some people ideas. Some people won't see the humour in your post.
Where are the leftist British newspapers on this? No derogatory headlines of British politicians?
What absolutely amazes me, is the comments one gets from motorists are always the same. Cyclists get in the way, they go slow, jump traffic lights and weave in and out of traffic. I'm not going to explain exactly why cyclists need to do all that to stay safe, as motorists will never understand unless they get on their bikes too and attempt to stay safe on our roads.
But what I will say is, if motorists are so absolutely teed off with cyclists sharing the road, why haven't we got millions of them backing the cyclists that are fighting hard for segregated cycling. If all the millions of motorists would join in the fight that would benefit them as much as any cyclist, we might get somewhere.
Cyclists are not your enemy, the awful road structure is. So for heavens sake, instead of constantly repeating the same gripes you have with cyclists over and over again, help lobby for a real cycling infrastructure.
How many (hundreds of) tons of CO2 and nitrogen compounds did they release in just the opening ceremony fireworks? Then count all the pollution from the people who had to fly there just to compete and yes it is a joke to call these games (or anything like them) green.
the Green movement is a joke no matter what day or where. It should be called "Agenda 21 movement" and exposed as the UN's plan to control the world at any expense.
Laugh, laugh! So even some of the Brits are bitching about how the government is taking precautions to make sure that everyone is safe, and has no beefs with how the games were set up, and precautions were in place for everyone.
Oh wait isn't that what Romney meant when he was concerned for all the British peoples welfare and not just a select few? Because this has to do with just that.
How the liberal Socialist Democrats turned that one, thinking out loud thought, into a world wide, over the top, nothing comment into a BIG slight on the British is very American Democrat foul political campaigning.
And we should care so much if the British were offended as they and the rest of Europe are doing so well in the world of financial responsibility and protection of it's own people.
If you live in Europe if you don't work, you still get a paycheck. The socialist don't call it welfare but that is what it is. You don't have to pay into the system you just have to be warm body to get welfare.
That is the road the Democrats in this country are taking us down, and just LOOK to Europe to see how well that is working out for them.
This isn't an article about politics in the U.S. Save it for somewhere else!
Some people in most places in the "developed" world, see a cyclists as a secondary thought and in a vehicles way....MOST of the time, slowling down traffic by maybe a whole 2 or 3 mph, while the four wheel transports driver is speeding home to sit on their fat duffs doing nothing. I'm a former cyclist and I've experienced it plenty o' times. As for the story, it IS hyprocritical for the games to call themselves "green" and a) to be sponsored by two giant junk food/drink suppliers, and b) to deny cyclist access to the very places designed FOR them so more gas drinkin' cars can pack in and their space. Yeah, that's goin' green for sure....my arse!
Hmm. Sort of like when a president comes to town or a town near by and they feel the need to shut down the surrounding towns roads. And here in California that's complete ignorance just as the Brits feel it is.
He's in an armored car. Drive it like it is among the little people. And with obama. His escort is twice as big as any other presidents. I guess it's that rapper mentality. Need a big ol posse to let people know you're a somebody.
"Green" is a joke and so is liberalism.
i'm not gon'a...listen to this all day...but i wish i could...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX-SeEf2P-o&feature=related
You wanted the Olympics.. You got'em.
.... and you can keep'em.
I find Looney Tunes more fun and interesting.
Many people here seem to be missing the point of this whole debate, going back to cars v bikes.
Britain is covered in bike lanes, and it's standard that bikes can use bus lanes as well. Cyclists in Britain don't usually share lanes with cars since they have their own lanes and roads. What this article is about is the shuttering of such a cycle path. Cyclists hate sharing the roads with cars as much or more than the car drivers do, and the fact that they are being temporarily forced to share with cars is why there are complaints.
Crybabies. Brits used to have a backbone.
For those on here bitching about cyclists, you are missing the point of the article.
Speaking of article and point-there is noway to stage an event such as the Olympics and have them be green, yes you can do a lot to make them greener than previous ones but they are still an environmental nightmare.
I've seen cyclists go the wrong way in traffic go threw red lights. When they had the olympic show they said that part of London is economically hurting how about they spend money where its needed instead of this silly Queen n her rich family thank god we dont have that royal nonsense in the states.
The best "Green" agenia is the swimming venue, insufficient A/C to cut down on electricity use or mabe the electric rates are that high in London!!!!!!
Gotta love the idiocy of leaders and officials. Yes! We made the games green, except of course those people who already were green are now being forced to consume fossil fuels, absolutely brilliant. Concerning the security, Syria has proven that if someone wants to kill you, they will no matter the security. So all this security does is violate innocent peoples rights, and hand a victory to the terrorists, gotta love stupidity.
What is wrong with people! They know they have something going on that is going to interfer with their sad lives. Wait!!! Then things will go back to your sad normal lives. I have never seen so many brain dead people. Take your bikes out in the country and stop your crying.