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Jeremy Vine films impatient driver who gets stopped at next set of lights; Disc brake debate continues as Movistar pro says they're more dangerous; BBC accused of "cyclist-bashing" story; Cav's second debut; Dutch flooding + more on the live blog

It's Wednesday and Dan Alexander will be picking out the best bits from the cycling world to take you through the middle of the week...
Wed, Feb 10, 2021 09:09
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Jeremy Vine films impatient driver who gets stopped at next set of lights; Disc brake debate continues as Movistar pro says they're more dangerous; BBC accused of "cyclist-bashing" story; Cav's second debut; Dutch flooding + more on the live blogJeremy Vine impatient driver (via Twitter video screenshot)
10 February 2021, 18:04
Islabikes founder Isla Rowntree steps down as head of company... and her successor started out as a bike builder
islabikes

Isla Rowntree, who founded the popular children's bike brand in 2006,  will step back to be replaced by her first employee Tim Goodallas managind director. After meeting Rowntree at a bike race, Goodhall started out as assembling bikes for the company, working his way up through his 15 years of service. 

Rowntree said: “It has long been my ambition to build a lasting company, so passing on the baton to someone who shares my values has been of the utmost importance. I firmly believe in businesses being a force for good; a vehicle for individuals to have a greater positive impact on society than we usually can alone”.  

Goodall commented: “The humble bicycle is a phenomenally efficient vehicle that can benefit our towns and cities. We are at the consumer end of this, and with thoughtful design we can play a small part in encouraging people to cycle more - that is why Islabikes was founded, and it is why we will remain relentlessly focused on designing bikes that remove barriers to cycling”.

10 February 2021, 15:50
Jeremy Vine and a must get past driver who's stopped at the next set of traffic lights

We feel like we've seen plenty of these incidents before. As Jeremy Vine filters through traffic to get around the vehicles turning left, he passes a Honda driver who then gets upset at being behind a cyclist...In this case the driver beeps their horn a couple of times before rushing through with a hand signal. 

Jeremy politely tells the driver: "Excuse me, I think you're horn's not working. It keeps going off."

Vine is a regular on the live blog when he uploads videos from his London travels on his Twitter account. Back in December he caught this motorist driving through Hyde Park in the cycle lane. Last summer, this driver turned into his path as he rode down a new pop-up cycle lane.

10 February 2021, 16:44
Strava update
Strava Logo

There's a new Strava update that lets you search for activities or special races without having to scroll through your feed. Searches are done using keywords or filtered by sport type, distance, time, elevation and date range. You can now also see how many activities you've completed in your Training Log or Activities section by clicking on the magnifying glass icon.

10 February 2021, 15:10
Giro d'Italia wildcards announced: No invite for Nairo Quintana or Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec

The wildcard places for the Giro d'Italia have been announced with a couple of surprises as there isn't an invite for Nairo Quintana's Arkéa–Samsic or Italian Pro Continental outfit Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec. Alpecin-Fenix earned a place on the start line in Turin via their ranking position in 2020. Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè, Eolo–Kometa and Vini Zabù–Brado–KTM received the wildcard places and will join the 19 WorldTour teams at the race.

Nairo Quintana had been vocal about wanting to return to the Italian Grand Tour in 2021. However, the race organisers have gone for three Italian teams instead. Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec were the other big losers, having been a regular feature at the race in past years. In 2019 they won stage six with Fausto Masnada.

10 February 2021, 14:56
10 February 2021, 11:11
Movistar rider says disc brakes are definitely more dangerous than rim brakes even if their performance is far better
Matteo Jorgenson (via Twitter)

Movistar rider Matteo Jorgenson has added to the pro debate around disc brakes. The American needed surgery in 2019 after a disc rotor sliced through his calf muscle during a crash at Paris Roubaix Espoirs. Jorgenson told Cyclingnews that disc brakes are "definitely more dangerous than rim brakes". 

"They're an exposed piece of the bike that gets super hot, especially in a bike race. They can cause damage if they happen to land on a rider in a specific way, and it depends just by chance, on how they touch a rider. Especially if you're on that side of the bike and you fall on top of a rider like I did."

Despite his injury, Jorgenson did admit that disc brakes provide a far superior performance to rim brakes and said he was shocked by how much better discs are. "I didn't see much problem with rim brakes, I thought they were very good. But last January I switched to a new bike with discs, and I was shocked at how much of a difference it makes. In a bike race, there's so much to be gained by being able to brake later. 

"Disc brakes are very consistent, so when you pull the brake at first, it grabs just as much as 10 seconds later. Whereas with a rim brake, especially in the rain, you pull it and it starts to heat up, and then you get either less or sometimes it grabs more depending on the pad type. It's very inconsistent, you have to kind of think through it while you're braking. If you're braking quite hard into a corner, you have to try and anticipate how much more you can brake."

On Monday, Chris Froome said he wasn't completely convinced by disc brakes, while talking about his new Factor Ostro VAM. The four-time Tour de France winner "doesn't believe the technology is where it needs to be yet for road cycling". We took a look at what could be wrong with his disc brakes...

10 February 2021, 14:30
Show me a picture that says you are a cyclist without having a bicycle in it thread

Three giveaways that you're a cyclist...

10 February 2021, 13:19
BBC's Scooby story comments come rolling in...
BBC Scooby hit by cyclist Facebook comments

Plenty of discussion in the comments about the BBC story. Dogless asked the important question of if "anyone has any information on whether the dog was wearing a helmet and hi viz?" No answer on that one yet, but we do now know the dog's owner Jackie Dale wasn't the person walking the dog at the time...She has popped up on the Island Echo Facebook page to give her side of the story, including some more serious accusations about the cyclists who she claims also kicked the dog. In a further twist, another comment on the Facebook post from Nath Thorley claims "the person walking the dog is a born liar...I know this as he's married to my mum". This has all got very strange...

Some more of your comments...

Muddy Ford wrote: "If there is any valid warning from this story, it is that dog owners (myself included!) should minimise the risk of their dog causing an accident by keeping it on a lead as per Highway Code guidance."

Sean1 added: "The biggest danger on shared use routes such as NCN is dogs running around off the lead.  Inevitably when there is an incident like this the dog owners never blame themselves for irresponsible behaviour."

10 February 2021, 12:32
Women's cycling network JoyRiders launch first group outside London

JoyRiders, the women's cycling network, has set up a new group in Oxford as part of their plan to run 400 rides across the country, focusing on helping female cyclists gain the confidence to cycle. With men making up roughly 72% of journeys by bike in the UK, JoyRiders aims to encourage and empower more women to get involved. Once Covid restrictions allow they hope to continue their group rides in London and Oxford and have plans to expand to Manchester too.

Dr Alison Hill, chairwoman of Oxford's cycling group Cyclox told the Oxford Mail: "It is so exciting to know that JoyRiders will be coming to Oxford. Support for women by women through JoyRiders is a brilliant way of building confidence.”

10 February 2021, 12:24
10 February 2021, 11:52
Mark Cavendish to make Deceuninck-Quick-Step debut this Sunday at Clasica de Almeria

Mark Cavendish will make his second Deceuninck-Quick-Step debut this weekend, at Clasica de Almeria – the race he won in 2015. That year Cav went on to win Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne and a stage of the Tour de France. Normally a race for the sprinters, Quick-Step will have two or three sprint cards to play with Colombian Alvaro Hodeg and young prospect Jannik Steimle both also on the Wolfpack's startlist for the race.

"Like every rider in these times I’m excited to get the season underway. We are fortunate that the races can go ahead and I’m even more excited to pull on the jersey of the Wolfpack once again and race with the boys. The fact it will happen at an event which brings back a lot of beautiful memories makes it even more special”, Cav said ahead of his first race back at the team where he won 44 races between 2013 and 2015.

10 February 2021, 10:24
A little bit of rain isn't going to stop a Dutch mother
10 February 2021, 10:09
Elia Viviani returns to training following heart surgery

Elia Viviani is back in training after three weeks off the bike due to a cardiac arrhythmia. Viviani underwent atrial ablation surgery to treat the arrhythmia, which he noticed while out on the bike last month. Before the surgery, he explained that he was doing normal strength-resistace work at 140-150 beats per minute when he felt palpitations and his heart rate rocketed to 220 beats per minute 20 seconds later. 

Viviani sought out his old Liquigas doctor Roberto Corsetti before undergoing tests at hospital. His return to training at Cofidis' team camp in Benidorm is a big relief for the Italian sprinter who is still hoping to get his season underway at the UAE Tour later this month before heading to the Giro d'Italia in May. 2020 was something of a disappointment for Viviani who failed to win a race all year, the first time he's failed to do so since 2009.

10 February 2021, 09:27
10 February 2021, 08:50
BBC accused of "cyclist-bashing" story about dog hit by cyclist

The BBC has been accused of "cyclist-bashing" for their reporting of a story about a dog on the Isle of Wight which was running free when it collided with a cyclist and narrowly avoided being run over by a bus driver. The BBC's story, headlined 'Scooby the dog rescued by police after being hit by cyclist', some cyclists have said, ignores the fact that the owner had lost control of the dog.

The dog's owner Jackie Dale says the basset hound named Scooby slipped its collar when a group of cyclists "came whizzing from nowhere". One commenter claimed that they were walking on a National Cycle Network path when the cyclists passed. Scooby had tyre marks on its back and was found away from the scene by PCSO Stephen Hull who said the dog also narrowly avoided being hit by a bus driver.

Since posting the story the BBC has received criticism from cyclists who say the story unnecessarily frames the bike riders as having run the dog over, rather than questioning why the dog was out of control. Scooby was reunited with its owner who said she hopes "this will be a warning to cyclists".

On Facebook, Bob Moore commented on the story saying: "This is the flimsiest pretext to run a cyclist-bashing article I've ever seen." Leonora Fletcher added, "Slipped its collar. So basically it was running loose then. Wish people would read the article and not just the headline."

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.

Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.

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69 comments

Avatar
eburtthebike | 3 years ago
9 likes

The BBC is institutionally anti-cyclist and has been so for at least forty years.  It has run thousands of stories about health, obesity, pollution and climate change, but never mentions the best way of tackling all of those problems; cycling, but it continually pushes cars (Top Gear) and electric cars, which aren't the answer to anything.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
0 likes

I listen a lot to R4, and they have a prog called "Inside Health" which has featured how people are getting exercise in lockdown; no mention of cycling.  The 5 o'clock news on R4, PM, has also featured the subject, but again, cycling is excluded.  If they can ignore record cycling levels in a story which they regularly feature, it isn't an accident, it is quite deliberate bias.

 

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
3 likes

I knew a mathematician once who had a bassett hound called Cauchy - it left residue at every pole

Avatar
Mungecrundle replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
6 likes
In complex analysis, a discipline within mathematics, the residue theorem, sometimes called Cauchy's residue ... The fact that π cot(πz) has simple poles with residue 1 at each integer can be used to compute the sum. ∑ n = − ∞ ∞ f ( n ) . Wikipedia

In 4 - 6 years time (starting from when I get a place on a mathematics doctorate course) I'm probably going to laugh like hell.

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
10 likes

Particularly like the closing paras on the BBC:

Mr Hull said it had been a "happy ending" for Mrs Dale, whose house was badly damaged by a fire last year, before she suffered a heart attack.

"Thank heavens for Steve who was there in the right place, at the right time," said Mrs Dale, who hopes this will be a warning to cyclists.

Not only do cyclist hate dogs but they're attacking people who've already suffered personal hardship!

I adore dogs but people who can't control them shouldn't have them. I'd never take a dog out on a lead without checking that it couldn't slip its collar.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
8 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

Particularly like the closing paras on the BBC:

Mr Hull said it had been a "happy ending" for Mrs Dale, whose house was badly damaged by a fire last year, before she suffered a heart attack.

"Thank heavens for Steve who was there in the right place, at the right time," said Mrs Dale, who hopes this will be a warning to cyclists.

Not only do cyclist hate dogs but they're attacking people who've already suffered personal hardship!

I adore dogs but people who can't control them shouldn't have them. I'd never take a dog out on a lead without checking that it couldn't slip its collar.

It was probably the cyclists who started the fire....

Avatar
half_wheel79 replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
9 likes

probably those hot disc brake rotors again...

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Captain Badger replied to half_wheel79 | 3 years ago
0 likes

half_wheel79 wrote:

probably those hot disc brake rotors again...

That would suggest they were using their brakes, or even had them!

Avatar
brooksby replied to Rendel Harris | 3 years ago
6 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

Particularly like the closing paras on the BBC:

Mr Hull said it had been a "happy ending" for Mrs Dale, whose house was badly damaged by a fire last year, before she suffered a heart attack.

"Thank heavens for Steve who was there in the right place, at the right time," said Mrs Dale, who hopes this will be a warning to cyclists.

Isn't the better warning aimed at dog-walkers, encouraging them not to have their dogs off the lead on paths shared with cyclists?

 

 

Anecdata - I come home along a shared path which is adjacent to a playing field used as a dog walking area (we walk our dog on there).  But in pitch dark, with no street lights, you'd really expect people to have the common sense to keep their dogs on a lead at night when on the path, and not let them wander.

A bloke (in dark colours, no torch or reflectives) said, "Oh, thanks for taking care" after I had to brake to avoid riding into his (dark coloured, no reflectives) dog which bounded onto the path in front of me. I suggested to him that he had now waived all rights to complain about cyclists having no lights at night.  Ever.  He couldn't see the analogy...

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