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news
mike hall kinesis1.jpgTributes paid to British ultracyclist Mike Hall following his death today during Indian Pacific Wheel Race
Tributes are being paid to Mike Hall, the ultracyclist killed earlier today in a road traffic collision during the Indian Pacific Wheel Race in Australia. Organisers of the event confirmed that the 35-year-old from Yorkshire was the victim and have cancelled the coast-to-coast event.
A Just Giving page has been set up to help support his partner and family, and a tribute ride is planned for Sunday in Sydney – the city Hall was heading towards when he was killed while riding on the Monaro Highway, south of Canberra, at 6.20am.
Hall was a towering figure in the world of ultracycling, not just for his riding, but also for the events he organised – this year sees the fifth edition of the Transcontinental Race, which he founded in 2013 – and the inspiration and encouragement he gave to others.
He won the TransAm Race twice and the Tour Divide, and holds the records for completing both events in the shortest time. In 2012, he won the World Cycle Race in 91 days, 18 hours, faster than the then Guinness World Record for circumnavigating the globe by bicycle.
> Interview: Mike Hall on his round-the-world ride
Hall, who lived in Wales, was a supporter of Newborns Vietnam, and in 2013 and 2015 led the Vietnam Challenge Ride organised by Cycle A Difference to raise funds for the charity, which aims to “improve access to and quality of newborn care in the poorest rural areas” of the country.
In a statement, the organisers of the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, which began in Fremantle, Western Australia a fortnight ago and in which Hall was vying with the Belgian rider Kristof Allegaert to be the first to reach the finish at Sydney Opera House today, said:
The Indian Pacific Wheel Race joins the family, loved ones and friends of Mike Hall in mourning his death. Mike was killed in an incident with a vehicle this morning.
Our deepest sympathies go to Mike’s family and to all those who knew him. Mike will be sorely missed.
Mike revelled in the spirit and adventure of ultra-endurance cycling events. Mike’s efforts in both raising money and the spirits of others were tremendous and he leaves an incredible legacy.
This tragedy is a great loss to the global cycling community.
A tribute ride is planned in Sydney for Sunday. More details will be released as soon as practicable.
Allegaert posted a picture to Twitter this morning from outside Sydney Opera House in honour of his friend and rival.
#IPWR #tribute #unfinishedfinish pic.twitter.com/xKO1RF3psr
— allegaert kristof (@AllegaertK) March 31, 2017
Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, said: "What a terrible tragedy. Cyclists who have crossed the continent as part of the Indian Pacific Wheel Race are due to arrive in Sydney tonight but it won’t be in celebration – it will be in mourning.
"My thoughts are with this cyclist’s family and friends and with the IPWR community."
Hall's bike sponsor, Kinesis, paid tribute to him in a post on Instagram.
Round-the-world cyclist Juliana Buhring, who was also taking part in the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, posted a video to Facebook in which she spoke of her shock of learning about the death of someone she described as her "friend and mentor."
Ultracyclist James Hayden, who said on Twitter, “Mike gave me everything I am,” has set up a Just Giving page “to raise money to help Anna (Mike's partner), and Mike's family in this difficult time.”
He wrote: “Mike will be remembered by us all for his kindness, good heart and bravery.
“Mike was a shining light in many of our lives, enabling us to find the best of ourselves.
“My sincere thoughts and love are with Anna, and Mike's Family.
“Keep pedalling Mike.”
One of the cyclists due to take part in this year’s Transcontinental Race is road.cc contributor, Jo Burt.
He said: “I only met him a few times, he was a very quiet and humble man, he'd never mention his achievements and to look at him you'd never know all that he did.
“For most people just doing the riding he did would be enough, but to organise a race to enable, and inspire, people to do something similar was something incredible.
“Absolutely one of a kind. Thanks for the opportunity, Mike.”
Another member of road.cc staff who met him on several occasions is John Stevenson, who said: "One of the best of us has been taken from us far too young.
"Mike Hall packed more into his 35 years than most of us can hope to achieve in a lifetime, but was always gracious, smiling and friendly – even when he’d just ridden round the world.
"He’d done exactly that when I first met him, smashing the previous round the world cycling record to win the World Bicycle Race in 2012. If he was bothered that Guinness subsequently changed the rules so his record wasn’t official, he never let it show. He’d done it, and that was enough for Mike.
"His organisation of the Transcontinental Race demonstrated Mike’s deep sense of fair play, as well as his ability to take a classically British crazy idea and make it happen.
"I was lucky enough to bump into him a few more times over the following years, hearing him talk about his round-the-world ride, at the pre-ride party for that first Transcontinental and sharing a beer at the Eurobike show afterwards, and at other trade shows.
"Some people add a glow to the world just by being in it, and Mike was one of them. He had time to talk to everyone and greeted them all like old friends.
"I suspect everyone who knew Mike even from a brief meeting feels like they lost a friend this morning; I know his close friends and family will be devastated.
"My thoughts are particularly with his mum Patricia, who was always supportive of her son’s crazy adventures, and his partner Anna.
"I have a PedalEd cycling cap from the Transcontinental that Mike gave me when I last saw him. I’ll be wearing it this weekend, and thinking of an inspiring human being."
The thoughts of all of us at road.cc are with Mike’s partner, family and friends.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Bungle_52 3 hours 16 min ago
In case anyone missed it in yesterdays blog here are the two pevious articles. The second one contains the testimony from the driver....
- bensynnock 3 hours 21 min ago
My understanding is that you have to sue for some crazy amount or you won't be taken seriously.
- David9694 3 hours 25 min ago
The old role was appointed at the Mayor's pleasure; is in addition to the permanent staff of the Combined Authority. I'm not sure if Adam was an...
- chrisonabike 3 hours 30 min ago
Ah... but which civilisation? If arguing from precedent (or even "moral ground") - with the benefit of almost no political, historical knowledge...
- WillPage 4 hours 50 min ago
Nothing says "welcoming environment" like uniformed thugs, umm I mean "security patrols " roaming the area.
- galibiervelo 6 hours 8 min ago
That is class news. Super bikes and vision. Bet there will be no stand at the Taiwan bike show next year! Big luck to all the team
- Destroyer666 6 hours 51 min ago
Pretty clearly stated several times in the text that the issue was not related just to his son. And besides, everybody watching the races could see...
- Rendel Harris 7 hours 6 min ago
All Fizik and Selle Italia saddles (though not all their other products) are made in Italy I believe, and their 3D printed models definitely are.
- chrisonabike 7 hours 32 min ago
If you're not on the road with a car, I bet its driver is much less likely to swerve into your space *. Because you're not "in the way"! (Any...
- mdavidford 7 hours 49 min ago
The problem with this argument, though, is that it's just not true....
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64 comments
Great posts, bikesheds
*pleasebeSP59pleasebeSP59*
Come on, not everything needs a link, surely, especially if it's been widely discussed on here... http://road.cc/content/news/169613-girl-killed-during-family-bike-ride-s...
But decent report on car colours - I hadn't seen one separated and controlled in that way before.
How typical that a thread of people paying tribute has been turned into an argument about the relative merits of cycling equipment.
Nah, not enough profanity. I miss him too though, always resolute in his beliefs, some of which I agreed with, some I didn't. Never a dull moment.
I hadn't actually seen that story before, may have been before I joined. Absolutely horrible.
The colour research is really interesting, doubt they'll ever be able to do anything with bikes that is that well controlled but it is food for thought.
is that the Stephen Phythian, 59, saddle inventor from Bolton whose apparently played for Swinton/Whitehaven and Australia at rugby league as described in another thread, nah, never heard of him
Just as we thought we could move on from the helmet lectures.
Given that the child on a narrow path story was one of his regulars I think it's safe to assume he's back to share his wisdom with us...
What is regular, are you referring to the death of a child something that is regular/acceptable?
Nice attempt to twist my words.
I'm just pointing out that after you got banned from this site you've come back with a different username but the same anecdotes and unsourced stories you used to repeat on a regular basis.
If he was wearing these colours (he may not have been but clearly is in the picture) in the day time I'm not surprised he would come into conflict with a vehicle. The fact is drivers moving at speed have less time to take in their surroundings. That is a fact. It ammounts to careless driving and the fault is all with the driver but why not lessen the risk of ending up in hospital at the hands of a lazy driver - wear some bright clothing.
Fact, eh? Or not.
What follows is lazy, classless speculation about what Mike was wearing and absolutely zero evidence to support your claim about colours and daytime visibility.
You can shove your 'facts' up your baiting arse.
The fact is if you can't see another object on the road in broad daylight or within the beams of your headlights and be able to avoid hitting it or getting too close you're either not looking properly, have defective eyesight, under the influence, driving at a speed you cannot stop well within the distance you can see to be clear or simply don't give a stuff about other human beings, which one is it?
your 'facts' are utter nonsense, fact is that hi-vis have no impact on road safety (just like helmets), fact is that those who want to see will, fact is that those who drive like morons don't bother with simple things like looking and comprehending and taking appropriate action, fact is that if you can't see something else on the roads lit or not and can't stop/avoid it you should hand your license in as should many millions of others.
Facts are amazing until they are found out to be total guff but carry on with the victim blaming.
There was some research into the effect of car colour on accident rates that was published recently.
Brightly coloured cars have significantly fewer accidents.
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21718319-avoid-acci...
i realise this is the internet and people say stupid things but are you actually trying to compare cars to people on bicycles as your evidence to say I'm wrong?
I think we all know, well those of us that have actually cycled in towns/cities/suburban roads that it simply is not effective. those that want to look, observe and act will no matter what you're wearing and as it should be.
those that don't look, or look and don't see/don't acknowledge your're there will crash into just about anything, lit up like the proverbial christmas tree. You should ask humberside police force what they think about your car colour 'facts' and hi-vis.
Australian college of Road safety did some research and this amongst their findings they are quoted thus "Cyclists wearing fluorescent clothing may be at particular risk if they incorrectly believe themselves to be conspicuous to drivers at night"
What it also does is push the onus onto victims, it pushes that their should be an expectation to wear X when there is no evidence X works but you'll still be blamed for not wearing X. Can you not see how that is not only unfair, it's unjust and simply panders to motorists and allows them to feel as if they are okay driving without due care/consideration for vulnerable road users?
Capture.JPG
That research clearly shows that if you remove all other variables a brightly coloured vehicle is involved in fewer accidents, particularly in low light conditions but even during the day.
That completely disproves your point that people who 'look but don't see' will crash into you regardless.
The brightly coloured cars were still involved in some accidents so your anecdote about the police car is meaningless.
Extrapolating the research findings from cars to bikes is not really that big a leap. If a car being more visible leads to fewer collisions then why would the same not apply to other road users?
The 'victim blaming' argument is just a distraction.
Taking steps to prevent yourself becoming a victim of illegal driving is no different to taking steps to prevent yourself becoming the victim of any crime.
In an ideal world you wouldn't have to but, guess what, this isn't an ideal world.
I know Zwift hasn't really taken off that much and it's a good day tomorrow, but if anyone is going to be indoors around 10am (UK time) there's a 72km Mike Hall tribute ride going:
http://zwift.com/events/view/9937
Maybe we'll see some actual on the road stuff organised in the UK shortly too, in his home town would be nice..
So sad, I was following his progress in the race....such a nice guy
Surprised at how sad I am at this. I had seen article titles about death during a race and filed it away under "no, not again" but did not realize it was Mike Hall. I've loved reading about what he does and started doing much longer rides inspired by him... to the extent of getting a bivvy sac and really pushing it ultra-light for several days. RIP. You are missed even though I did not know you.
What a brilliant idea! Or maybe rename the 90 mile straight the 'The Mike Hall Straight '?
The old railway line from Canberra to Cooma should become the Mike Hall memorial cycle track.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombala_railway_line
So that this never happens again on the Monaro Highway.
Oh dear. That is terrible news. As a Perthite, I saw and cheered Mike on in the rain on day 1. He acknowledged that. He seemed focused but responsive to the attention. He made me smile and feel (somehow) a part of the massive journey ahead of him. I knew what he was in for having done a very similar ride many years before. I am really sad for Mike's family and friends. May you understand and appreciate that he did have an impact on many of those that he came across.
Sad day, R.I.P. Mike Hall.
Dreadful news and such a loss of an inspiration, RIP
Terrible and shocking news to wake up to and my thoughts are with Mike's family, partner, and friends. I didn't meet him but even so it's dusty in here thinking of such a good man taken too soon.
The best that can be said is that he inspired and will continue to inspire a huge number of people, and he will not be forgotten.
Ride in peace, Mike.
Really, really sad. Rest in peace, Mike.
Such a shock, such a shame. Sad day.
Utter tragedy.
Your pedalling's done, Mike: rest up mate. Your legacy will have a tailwind.
"the best way to respect Mike's achievements is to ride"
Shocking news and an absolute tragedy. I was among the dot watchers and eagerly followed this race across our beautiful country. Even though I only personally know one rider in the race, watching the trackers everyday somehow felt like I knew them all. I'm sure the blue tracker of Mike's will continue to ride along on the other side. Condolences to his family. Ride on.
Awful news, RIP Mike.
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