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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.
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64 comments
Genuinely shocked and saddened at the news.
My condolences to his family, friends and all who knew him.
Here's a reminder of the Just Giving page - https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Mikehall
I can remember reading his exploits in the World Cycle Race in 2012 while I was travelling NZ... it absolutely inspired me to take up cycling - moreso than the Olympics or anything like that. He really embodied the sincere, ride for the love it side of cycling. Rest in peace mate.
RIP Mike, a true inspiration. Condolences to family and friends.
Taken too soon. Rest in peace dude, you've been an inspiration.
RIP Mike, what an inspiration.
RIP Mike, been dot-watching you in the IPWR for the past two weeks, reading your tweets and watching Youtube updates. When I went to the dot-tracking website this morning to see if Kristoff had finished, or whether Mike had caught up on him, like on Wednesday, and then saw the news, I realised how much that dot meant to me. I never even met you, but you've inspired me to ride further, dig deeper and give a bit more back to the world.
My thoughts go out to Mike's family at this time.
Exactly my feelings bobbydazzler
Well said, seeing Kristoff take a break with Mike still on the road was very exciting. Such an awful loss and as you said, having never met the man, social media and the nature of the IndiPac with the work Carlsson has done made us feel like we knew him/them.
Extremely sad. This humbles me to think what I have. It makes me want to ride in honour of such a wonderful man. RIP Mike.
Terrible news, RIP.
Honestly and genuinely shocked by this. Tragic events like this shows you how fragile life is. Condolences to all that knew him.
I think Kinesis have sage advice for us all in their post featured in the story: "Ride your bikes, hold your love ones tight and remember to enjoy the gift of life".
Rest now Mike, your ride is over.
Condolences to his family and friends.
Long may his wheels turn in what ever adventures lie ahead....
.
His work on The Transcontinental really inspired me. He made us love cycling even more. Ride well Mike.
I know how you feel, but it may not have been the driver's fault, or it may not have been *entirely the driver's fault, we don't know the circumstances. Such a tragedy, as rta deaths always are. Very sad.
Shocking news, so so sad , Mike Will never realise how many he inspired but this will live on
Still in a state of shock
I had the pleasure of meeting and spending some time chatting with Mike during the Yorkshire grand depart a few years ago.
He was such a friendly, positive, and humble man. He inspired lots of us in the cycling community to go that little bit further, and I imagine that many a pedal will be pushed this weekend in his honour.
RIP
RIP.
Instead of letting this put us off using the road, the best way to respect Mike's achievements is to ride more often and further. Make touring by bike as normative as touring by car. Take your bike and do your biggest ride ever and think of Mike when it gets tough. Mike was a star, need to make sure the Transcontinental continues as his legacy ride.
Feel angry though. Really want a way to blame this driver, direct it at them.
Hear, hear.
So well put, Unconstituted.
Absolute tragedy. This feels really shocking especially since I've been following his updates here and on the site.
Both these sentiments mirror my own.
RIP Mike. You were and are a huge inspiration to so many people.
Once again I am ashamed to be a cyclist. With no knowledge of the incident the article itself is hugely biased in assuming guilt and using the word victim much too freely but comments like this are completely unnecessary and inflammatory.
Having seen the youtube updates from several of the other riders throughout the race who are clearly sleep-deprived and should be nowhere near a bike on a public road, and other forums (including one on this site!) posting comments on this specific rider's night visibility, I think it is much too early to be assigning blame and hatred towards anyone involved.
You're ashamed to ride a bicycle becasuse someone else who does so uses the word 'victim' to describe a man killed by a car? Seems a bit weird to me.
You don't think that maybe the guy in the big heavy machine has an obligation to avoid crushing the vulnerable one? Sure, it's possible Mike was riding erratically, but there still has to be some responsibility on the driver to avoid collisions.
You are a fucking idiot!
Not the time. A guy has lost his life. Keep it to yourself.
No class. Should be ashamed of yourself full stop.
Don't pretend you identify yourself as a cyclist.
You have completely misunderstood the meaning of unconstituted's comment; it is an expression of grief, in helpless anger even, but does not actually lay blame with the driver. Your comments are inappropriate under the circumstances.
Ashamed to be a cyclist, wow, extreme to say the least, are you ashamed to be a human being when others point the finger on the back of scenarios we all know happen more often than not. Are you ashamed to be a motorist when they blame their victims for their demise? Are you ashamed to be a parent when others incorrectly blame a child for doing something they maybe shouldn't?
We know even with the police force's motorcentric viewpoint 7 out of 10 incidents involving a person riding a bike are entirely the motorists fault and also that the riders on this event had already suffered deliberate close passes on top of the general standard of driving in Australia which is even worse than the UK.
Maybe we shouldn't make assumptions but it's imperative and lawfully binding that you in charge of a killing machine take into account errors of those that in themselves present very little harm to society. or are you of the thinking that you should just plough on regardless without letting up when another makes an error in judgement or give no leeway when there are vulnerable human beings in your hazard perception area?
For example, a child was killed after she lost control on a narrow path and fell off the kerb. She was struck by a motorvehicle doing almost 60mph (60limit) but the police basically said it was an 'accident'. However in my eyes the motorist was at fault, they failed to observe and understand the hazard even though they had full view of the child from several hundred feet away. They failed to slow down upon seeing the hazard, a young child on a bike, wobbling as they went along in front of their parent within a few feet of the road on a path with no barrier and not particularly wide. they didn't slow and drive wide as they passed, they kept their foot in and at that moment the child fell into the road. That's a failure of the motorist (& a failure to put in proper infra)
There is always something you can do to mitigate others errors when you are operating a killing machine but it's always too easy to blame the victim who always seemingly has the same level of responsibility despite not operating a killing machine, hardly fair is it?
what you then wrote after was a nice bit of victim blaming hypothesis that was crass and offensive.
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