Have smartwatches taken off among kids, or are they also banned?

Same racks are used at The Guardian's offices. And yes, everyone who doesn't have a nippy little hybrid or road bike just puts their bike in horizontally.

That's in a secure basement car park though. Outside a supermarket, not being able to lock up properly is obviously a much bigger deal.

A picture of a room of people in Hackney

A picture of the mayoral candidates from Labour, Green Party and Conservative party for Hackney

Good evening Bluesky! Welcome to the live thread of the Hackney 2026 Mayoral Active Travel hustings. A full house here at the Pembury Community centre. We are joined by the 🟥🟩🟦 parties

Great option for cross training though. You can't run every single day...

Ah okay, so not necessarily that different to how things were before the works began

So Wyke Road has gone one way? That seems a little unnecessary, as it doesn't see much traffic, and there are occasional double yellows to provide space for passing. Would make sense to at least allow contraflow cycling.

That'd be great if it's close to opening. Last time I went past it looked like there was still quite a lot to do on the north side. This combined with the Monier Road bridge will offer a good alternative (for some journeys) to the Wallis Road bridge with its narrow ramp and (very often broken) lift.

Just need to deal with the nasty swing gate where the northern avenue out of the stations meets Wallis Road, and there will be a really nice largely traffic-free corridor going north-south through this area.

Wouldn't surprise me if public realm works for developments (flats) to the north need to finish before this opens.

Compared to before, will be able to avoid a detour via the busy White Post Lane and narrow canal paths—much better for cyclists.

View of ramp up to bridge from Fish Island side. Flats in background behind bridge, large flat tiled ahead in foreground.

View of bridge passing over canal. Flats under construction in background, on other side of canal.

Took this about a forrnight ago. A new bridge improving connections between the north of Hackney Wick with Fish Island appears to be nearing completion. Was supposed to open last summer! (see www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk/business/fut...)

In Belgium and the Netherlands, I've seen "speed pedelecs" (faster e-bikes that require a numberplate) on more long distance routes between towns and cities. They're not allowed in bike lanes in urban areas. You do see kids on fat bikes with no numberplate riding there though...

I think a parallel could be drawn with e-scooters. Both are very useful. And so, unsurprisingly, people are using them. By taking so long to react to emerging trends, the government is limiting its own ability to shape the direction of those trends.

A path to legitimisation would be to borrow the EU "speed pedelec" regulations and make these a proper vehicle category, with registration, license and insurance required. Basically treat them like a moped (but cheaper to buy and run).

Seems there's an obvious reason why people aren't buying those (much higher costs) and instead use derestricted e-bikes. TBH I think there is a valid use case for faster e-bikes (e.g. riding on roads with faster traffic and no separate space for cycling) but that doesn't justify flouting the law.

If you raise the limit, that would become the default cruising speed for many e-bike riders though. At least with an ordinary push bike, the fact that the rider has to put that effort in themselves makes them think more carefully about whether it is appropriate.

The risk is pretty limited if your bike is cheap, and it's next to a few hundred other cheap bikes. By all means have lockers as an addition to parking like this—but it will never be the main solution as it's more costly to implement / maintain, and less convenient to use.

I think if you made this parking area "secure" (e.g. by requiring registration to access) it would actually end up being used less. Most bikes being left here are probably worth about €150 or less, and the only thing stopping people from riding off on them is the back wheel lock.

Seems more common to have acquired them for 0 quid

It's almost as though a failed experiment with franchising set the rest of England back decades, while London continued to invest in a functioning transport system...

Admittedly the examples they give are not *quite* as bad as the one you show, but then that means they'll have less of the stated "benefits", while still preventing access to users of cargo bikes / recumbents and making like much harder for users of mobility scooter / handcycles etc.

Surprisingly enough given how it's now very much not considered best practice to put these in, my local council (Hackney) is consulting on putting these in along an estate road next to a park:

consultation.hackney.gov.uk/housing-serv...

Why isn't the glass ceiling covered in rusting bikes?

My brother lives there and speaks the language well, but I think they just assumed something was getting lost in translation when we told them I'd already been riding the lumbering thing for 40 miles and we were just taking it back to its rightful home...

Reminds me of the time me and my brother did a long bike ride starting from Hamburg, and getting the train back. I'd taken a hire bike. Cue a train manager and several bystanders being very concerned we'd get fined for taking a bike out of its region.

I Tried Riding A Penny Farthing (And It Taught Me About Feminism) YouTube video by J. Draper

Why yes, algorithm, I do want to watch a half hour video discussing the historic links between cycling and feminism, with a meal-deal powered narrator.

Section of interview with James Cameron: Asked how audiences should time a bathroom break, Cameron says, "Any time they want. They can see they scene they miss when they come to see it again."

I wonder if they bothered trying to normalise the responses using demographic data. Obviously groups most affected by the changes (e.g. removal of parking) are going to be more motivated to respond.

An "overwhelming" negative response may just mean there is a very motivated anti minority.

Seems to have resulted in a more collegiate culture, where working across party lines is very normal, and mud slinging is rarer.

Under AMS, Labour are uniquely well placed to build bridges with other progressive parties, and to reap the rewards (second preference votes) that can follow.

The current voting system encourages this negativity. "Winner takes all" makes it more prudent to tear down your opponents, instead of talking yourself up.

Khan's experience with the London Assembly likely informs his views here. Members are elected using an additional member system, not FPTP.

If the next GE is still using FPTP, so many swing seats will see campaigns almost wholly focused on tactical voting, who can beat who etc. So not actually any positive campaigning where parties talk up their own policies. Only going to lead to more voter apathy and disengagement.