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Tom Pidcock showcases “absolutely mint” cyclocross skills – on time trial bike... and then suffers near miss with motorist on roundabout just after finish line; Conspiracy theorists target 15-minute city; Bernal’s micro-training + more on the live blog

It’s Monday and Ryan Mallon’s back, after a weekend spent watching 178 bike races (and the occasional football match), to bring you all the latest cycling news and views on the first live blog of the week
Mon, Feb 20, 2023 09:24
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Tom Pidcock showcases “absolutely mint” cyclocross skills – on time trial bike... and then suffers near miss with motorist on roundabout just after finish line; Conspiracy theorists target 15-minute city; Bernal’s micro-training + more on the live blogTom Pidcock showcases cyclocross skills during Volta ao Algarve time trial (GCN)
20 February 2023, 08:59
Tom Pidcock showcases cyclocross skills during Volta ao Algarve time trial (GCN)
Tom Pidcock showcases “absolutely mint” cyclocross skills – on time trial bike

It was a rather eventful week for Tom Pidcock at the Volta ao Algarve, the Yorkshireman’s first foray back on the road after a winter spent showing off the rainbow jersey at the pointy end of some of the most exhilarating cyclocross races we’ve seen in years.

On the Portuguese race’s first stage to Lagos, the Ineos Grenadiers rider was controversially relegated from fifth to 135th – and fined £180 (‘Ow much?) – after a somewhat innocuous push during the sprint.

> Tom Pidcock "pushed another rider" during sprint, relegated by race jury

And then, on Saturday’s crucial stage to Alto do Malhão, Pidcock blew away the opposition on the famously steep hilltop finish, attacking early before launching a devastating long-range sprint to see off João Almeida and secure an impressive stage win and yellow jersey double.

In doing so, the 23-year-old recorded the second-fastest time up the Alto do Malhão in the last decade, his seven minutes dead for the 2.4km, 9.3 percent monster only surpassed during that period by a certain Alberto Contador, who flew up the climb in 6:48 on his way to the stage win in 2016.

However, with a raft of TT specialists, including teammate and Hour Record holder Filippo Ganna, breathing down his beck on GC, it was always going to prove difficult for Pidcock to hang on to his yellow jersey during yesterday’s 24.4km race against the clock in Lagoa.

Fortunately, thanks to his worldclass bike handling skills honed during years on the cyclocross field, Pidders was at least able to hang on to his time trial bike during a particularly sketchy moment in the middle of his effort.

Carrying too much speed out of a roundabout, Pidcock, one foot clipped out in a desperate bid to regain his balance, veered off the road and onto a raised dirt banking, which he navigated masterfully – by railing the berm, as the off-road types say – before bunny-hopping back onto the road to nonchalantly continue his TT.

And all on a time trial bike – machines not particularly known for their handling capabilities – too.

Back in the GCN commentary box, the ever-understated Adam Blythe described the Ineos Grenadiers star’s silky skills as “absolutely mint” and “the best thing I’ve seen all year”.

As for Tom himself? “I’m just happy I stayed upright,” he joked after the stage.

However, all that tekkers ultimately wasn’t enough to win the Volta ao Algarve, with the Olympic mountain bike champion slipping down to seventh overall as another one of his Ineos mates, Dani Martínez pipped Ganna by just two seconds to secure the GC in Portugal.

Solid stuff by Martínez, but is he “absolutely mint”?

20 February 2023, 09:39
Tom Pidcock rides onto roundabout filled with motorists after Volta ao Algarve TT (GCN)
More early-season safety chaos as Pidcock suffers near miss with motorist – on roundabout just after finish line

While Tom Pidcock’s bike handling skills were on point at the Volta ao Algarve, the race organiser’s safety credentials certainly weren’t, as the yellow jersey wearer almost experienced his second heart stopping moment of the afternoon – thanks to a rather lax approach to road closures just 100 metres from the finish.

Throughout the time trial, a roundabout located just after the finish line – and well before the natural stopping point for a rider on a TT bike who’s just completed an all-out effort for half an hour – appeared open to traffic, with one fluorescent-vested police officer on hand to stop motorists already on the roundabout from continuing on as a rider approached.

(Though no such officer appeared to be on hand at any other entrance to the junction, with the race organisers seemingly happy to rely on the awareness and driving skills of Lagoa’s motorists. Haven’t they read road.cc?)

However, by the time Pidcock crossed the line in the yellow jersey, that one hi-vis officer appeared content that his day was done. As the Ineos Grenadiers rider entered the roundabout – with the officer on walkabout – he was faced with the rather unnerving prospect of a driver approaching him from the left.

Tom Pidcock on roundabout filled with motorists after Volta ao Algarve TT (GCN)

Fortunately, the motorist was able to brake in time, but the images of Pidcock making his way around the car-packed roundabout more closely resembled a scene from a Milton Keynes commute than it did the finish area of an elite cycling race.

> British sprinter accuses race organisers of “playing with our health”, as motorists make their way onto roundabouts used by peloton

When it comes to roundabout safety during 2023’s early-season races, I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Just last week, we reported on the live blog that motorists were able to make their way onto the same roundabouts used by the bunch on the finishing circuit of the Clásica de Almería – prompting British sprinter Dan McLay to politely brand the race organisation a “f***ing disgrace”.

“If you can’t close a road properly you can’t have a race on it. Just playing with our health,” the Arkéa–Samsic rider tweeted.

Last month’s Tour Down Under was also marred by lines of parked cars dramatically reducing the width of the road in the closing kilometres of a stage, while over in Argentina, world champion Remco Evenepoel lambasted the organisers of the Vuelta a San Juan after a “hectic and dangerous” finish which forced the peloton to navigate spectators standing on central reservations and in the middle of the road.

Let’s just hope the safety standards are raised dramatically by Opening Weekend… (Just five more sleeps to Omloop!)

20 February 2023, 13:39
Conspiracy theorists and far-right groups attend 15-minute city protest in Oxford – as city’s first Jewish mayor blasts “deeply upsetting and offensive” comparisons to Holocaust

It appears that February is well and truly shaping up to be the month of the ‘Great 15-minute City Debate’.

> GB News presenter claims 15-minute cities and LTNs are "un-British" and "illiberal" 

After Tory MP Nick Fletcher raised a known conspiracy theory in parliament last week – namely that the scheme, which aims to ensure that most local amenities can be accessed by bike or on foot within 15 minutes, will lead to a “surveillance culture that would make Pyongyang envious” – former Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies performed her latest mandatory, and somewhat confused, belly flop into the discussion:

And then, on Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Oxford – on foot, I may add – to protest against 15-minute cities, carrying signs warning us about ’15 minute city communism’ and imploring us to ‘wake up’, along with, for some reason, the Welsh flag (your guess is as good as mine).

The composition of the protesters – and the other things they may like to protest – was a subject of considerable interest on Twitter:

“It would be fantastic if we have all these nice little community hubs with amenities within close reach, but the actual reality of what this means is that you are being tracked and traced within your own town,” one conspiratorial-minded protester told the Oxford Student.

While most focused on the idea of the schemes representing a kind of ‘climate lockdown’, one of the grimmer and more distasteful conspiracy theories around 15-minute cities and LTNs in Oxford was expounded by local hotelier Jeremy Mogford.

Last week Mogford compared the city council’s cabinet member for highways management, Andrew Gant, to the Nazi ‘angel of death’ Josef Mengele, who performed deadly experiments on prisoners during the Holocaust.

Speaking at a counter-protest on Saturday organised by Oxford Stand Up to Racism – a response to the presence of the neo-Nazi Patriotic Alternative in Oxford – former Green party councillor Elise Benjamin, who in 2011 became the city’s first Jewish lord mayor, said: “I’m still struggling to articulate it because it’s so deeply upsetting and offensive.

“To make a comparison between traffic congestion reduction measures and a man who conducted experiments on children as part of a mass genocide, I struggle to understand how anyone in their right mind can think that is an appropriate comparison.”

On Friday Mogford told the Oxford Mail that the message was “sent in error” and that he “regretted” its contents.

Meanwhile, transport journalist Carlton Reid couldn’t help noticing that, by protesting on foot the idea of being able to more easily walk to local essentials and amenities, the protesters were, in fact, proving that 15-minute cities could be the way forward:

20 February 2023, 16:33
Sex Pistols tribute band frontman cycling 1,000 miles from Milan to Wrexham to raise money for cat rescue

Now, there’s a headline for a Monday afternoon…

Nathan Maverick, who spends his evenings snarling as the frontman of tribute act Sex Pistols Exposé, is taking on the 1,000-mile ride from one of cycling’s spiritual homes, Milan, to… err, Wrexham, to raise funds for the Candy and Tibby Trust, a local small rescue which rehabilitates and rehomes feral, stray, and unwanted cats.

Last summer, the trust launched an urgent appeal for donations as the number of rescues increased dramatically amidst spiralling vet bills.

“I’ve taken some time off from my band to make this happen and if people can make a small donation of even a pound it will go a long way for these animals,” the 40-year-old Johnny Rotten impersonator told the Leader.

“Seeing how Candy and Tibby Trust struggle to manage with this heavy workload, I thought I can help do something. I love cycling and cats, so why not combine them and plan an event.”

Though he’s setting off from Milan (unlike the riders of this year’s Milan-San Remo, incidentally), the ride back up to Wales, through all the road-related Anarchy in the UK, will be anything but a Holiday in the Sun for Nathan – let’s just hope what he calls his “rather old bike” doesn’t have too many Problems, and while he may ride himself into Submission (leaving his legs with No Feelings), by the time he’s finished he should be left with a lot more than just a Pretty Vacant expression on his face.

(Right, that’s enough of that…)

You can donate through Nathan’s JustGiving page.

20 February 2023, 16:11
20 February 2023, 15:48
‘Why don’t cyclists use the cycle lanes?’ Part 6,949
20 February 2023, 15:09
“It doesn’t matter how brightly you are dressed, or how experienced you are, if a driver doesn’t look or doesn’t care then you’re screwed”

In the same week several pro riders, including Tadej Pogačar, put their weight behind a campaign encouraging cyclists to use front and back lights at all times and to “understand that increased visibility while riding your bike on the road can actually save your life”, Trinity Racing prospect Bob Donaldson was struck by a driver – while wearing perhaps the most visible kit the peloton has seen for years.

> Pro cyclist says bright clothing "doesn't matter to some drivers" after being left with broken back and snapped bike

The 20-year-old’s awful crash, which left him with a broken back, has underlined to many that while hi-vis and lights certainly have their benefits, they will prove no match for a distracted, impatient, or just downright dangerous driver.

Here’s some of the reaction to Donaldson’s collision:

> Pro cyclist-led lights campaign, endorsed by Tadej Pogačar, “feeds into victim-blaming culture”, says road safety expert 

20 February 2023, 14:22
Tour Series set to take one-year hiatus in 2023

In another worrying sign for the national racing scene in the UK, the annual crit-based Tour Series will take a one-year hiatus in 2023, organisers SweetSpot announced today.

“This decision has been made in light of the most challenging economic climate the series has faced since its inaugural edition in 2009,” SweetSpot said in a statement today.

“It has proved impossible to compile a commercially viable calendar of events for the intended series in May owing to the pressures on local authority funding, combined with the wider economic challenges all businesses face.”

The unique team-based format saw Britain’s best racers take part in a series of circuit races around the UK, usually in May and June, and until last year was televised on ITV4.

SweetSpot, who also organise the Tour of Britain, say that they “will use this break to work with British Cycling and partners on plans for the return of the series in 2024 to celebrate its 15th anniversary, complete with a refreshed format and events in Britain’s major cities as part of a fun filled, community day celebrating cycling and active travel.”

20 February 2023, 13:04
20 February 2023, 12:54
“You’ve heard of Simon Philip Yates, now meet Adam Richard Yates”

Adam’s bid for twin superiority continues… with the acquisition of a middle name for 2023:

20 February 2023, 12:29
“That looks like a dead heat”: Tim Merlier beats Caleb Ewan in impossibly close photo finish on windswept opening stage of UAE Tour

A dramatic, echelon-packed opening stage of the UAE Tour ended with one of the closest photo finishes we’ve seen in a long time, as Soudal Quick-Step’s Belgian champion Tim Merlier pipped Caleb Ewan by the faintest of margins in Al Mirfa.

That impossible tight sprint finish – which we can only presume was decided by a game of rock, paper, scissors, or as Brian Smith mooted in commentary, an arm wrestle – came after world champion Remco Evenepoel instigated a decisive split in the crosswinds in the final 30km, catching out a number of sprinters, including Sam Bennett and Dylan Groenewegen, as well as almost every major GC contender bar 2023’s Mr Consistent Pelle Bilbao.

With the field thinned out by the finish, Soudal Quick-Step’s lead-out Ber van Lerberghe timed his surge to perfection to tee up Merlier, who – according to the UAE’s version of Stockley Park anyway – had enough in the tank to just, just, hold off the fast-finishing Ewan.

 As the internet knows by now, there’s only one way to decide a bike race properly:

Behind the seemingly inseparable pair, Mark Cavendish’s hopes for a dream start to the season were dashed, with the Manx Missile forced to settle for third after failing to latch onto Ewan and Merlier’s initial acceleration.

More of the same tomorrow, please.

20 February 2023, 11:55
2023 UCI Esports world championships
Bjørn Andreassen and Loes Adegeest take rainbow jerseys at UCI Esports world championships

Just in case you didn’t think there was enough bike racing on at the weekend, with the Volta ao Algarve, Ruta del Sol, Setmana Valenciana Fèmines, and the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var, and a handful of cyclocross races all taking place, there were rainbow jerseys being fought over in the virtual world, as the UCI Esports world championships took place on Saturday in Scotland (oh, you know what I mean by now).

In a new, intriguing format which resembled a particularly cruel Zwift version of the omnium (or like a cycling version of the X Factor, with auditions, judges’ houses, and the live shows), the racing in the elite men and women’s categories was divided into three separate races which served to whittle down the field before the final ten riders took on the brutal Devil Takes the Hindmost-style Glasgow-based crit to decide the medals.

> Elite Zwift racing on the road.cc Podcast

During the men’s first round, The Punch, we all donned our road.cc colours to cheer on our very own Aaron Borrill – off-road.cc’s editor – who was racing for South Africa alongside former Dimension Data pro Jacques Janse van Rensburg.

2023 UCI Esports world championships

“The pace from Race 1 was a bit unexpected to be honest,” Aaron says. “Having raced a few test events on the same course leading up to the event, I expected a hard start but not that hard – Tim Rugg from the USA hammered it out of the gate and the pace stayed high the whole way, so there no real chances for any recovery on the course.

“It was merely a matter of fighting for position and not trying to fall too far back. Jacques and I were tasked with rolling through and closing gaps which probably also added to the lactic acid party taking place in my legs.

“With 2km to go, the pace up the corkscrew meant 11w/kg was needed to stay in touch. While I managed to roll into the finish line sprint approach in a good position, my legs were fried so nursed home for 74th.”

Aaron’s 74th ultimately wasn’t enough to take him through to the second stage – but Victor Campenaerts also fell at the first hurdle, so you know the standard was sky-high.

“It was a great race and very special to be part of for a second year in a row,” Aaron added. “I was super stoked that Brad Gouveris and James Barnes got through to Race 2 with James managing to make the final race and secure eighth for South Africa.”

2023 UCI Esports world championships

That final race proved something of a shock, as Denmark’s Bjørn Andreassen decided to just simply ignore the potential tactical complexities of the rapid-fire elimination style final, shooting off the front from the gun, never to be seen again.

While Andreassen time trialled his way to the rainbow jersey, Freddy Ovett (yes, yes, his dad’s Steve, we all know that) fell victim to the stop-start nature of the race behind and had to settle for sixth, while another pre-race favourite, 2020 champion Jason Osborne, took silver ahead of German teammate Marc Mäding.

2023 UCI Esports world championships

Things were much more nail-biting in the women’s race, where the Netherland’s Loes Adegeest took her second-consecutive rainbow jersey by outsprinting Great Britain’s Zoe Langham and American Jacquie Godbe at the end of a thrilling race. Unfortunately, we all missed that dramatic sprint, as the live pictures cut out in the closing metres. Goes to show, you can be on a turbo trainer and still fall foul of the weather gods.

It's just like being on a remote Spanish mountain, eh?

20 February 2023, 11:45
Another day, another bike hangar complaint…
20 February 2023, 11:12
Tadej Pogačar’s Watts Per Tuft chart

It seems as if, after the whole glasses debacle of December 2022, Geraint is finally open to trying out all manner of new looks in his old age:

Ah, that explains why he’s so good; marginal tufts, hair-o gains, and all that…

20 February 2023, 10:47
Egan Bernal’s smashing early-season training…

Over the past year, Egan Bernal has become known for his mammoth, super-long training rides, in all kinds of weather, as he continues his impressive return to the sport following last year’s devastating crash.

However, judging by his recent Strava uploads, the Colombian has decided to adopt a slightly different approach to training as he nurses a knee problem sustained at last month’s Vuelta a San Juan:

Egan Bernal's micro-training on Strava

I know, I know, it’s 2023 and the days of ‘just getting in the miles’ are long gone. Though I do feel like Bernal might be taking things a touch too far in the opposite direction.

‘Micro-training’, that’s what Ineos will call it…

20 February 2023, 10:27
Bob Donaldson and his broken SL7 Tarmac
Potholes, sexist gritters, and sticky bottles – it’s the weekend roundup!

While most of us were slumped on the sofa, doing our best to keep up with the TV-viewing chaos that ensues when, all of a sudden, thousands of bike races are on our screens at the same time, it was a busy weekend at road.cc HQ.

On the same day that road safety expert Dr Robert Davis accused a pro cyclist-led lights campaign of “feeding into victim-blaming culture”, Trinity Racing’s Bob Donaldson (who, despite his name, is only 20) proved that you could be wearing the most garish, eye-catching kit out there – and believe me, he was – and still prove no match for an impatient driver, who left the British prospect with a broken back after pulling out in front of him.

Elsewhere, we had a sticky bottle storm, deliberate doorings, and some, errr… Strava “art”:

> Pro cyclist says bright clothing "doesn't matter to some drivers" after being left with broken back and snapped bike

> Cyclist channels inner artist to create Strava map self-portrait... that draws Peter Griffin comparisons

> 'Sticky bottle' rider gets sarcastic "chapeau" from rival who he accelerated away from

> Councillor feels wrath of "Jordan Peterson and Tories across the land" by saying gritting routes “can be sexist” and “must change” to help cyclists and pedestrians

> Government considers inviting evidence for lifetime bans on dangerous drivers who kill

> California cyclists targeted in dooring attacks

> “They didn’t think I would make it”: 80-year-old cyclist wins compensation after horrific pothole crash

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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59 comments

Avatar
Oldfatgit replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
4 likes

Because:
- the people explaining it aren't explaining it well enough
- the explanations are too simple, so people look for the catch
- it's a shouting contest and the supporters aren't shouting loud enough
- people don't believe main stream media
- people don't trust the government
- there has been too much truth bending in recent history (brexit / scotnats/ welshnats / CoVid etc) that no-one really knows who to believe, so they go for the one most aligned with their thought processes
- because road tax / insurance / number plates / etc

- no-one trusts the government.
Any government.

Avatar
Mungecrundle replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
7 likes

You just watch. It will start with 15 minute cities and before you know it THEY will be putting indoor lavatories in our homes so that THEY can lock us in and feed us genetically modified cheese through our letterboxes.

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chrisonabike replied to Mungecrundle | 1 year ago
6 likes

Making it easier to walk and cycle is just a way of making everyone weak!  Sat in our cars in the traffic jam on the way to the desk at the office we had power.  We had choice!  (Fill up at the BP OR Tescos on the way back from the shops).

They'll be putting iodine in our salt and fluoride in the water next.  General Ripper was right!

Unfortunately the sellers of "new" and "convenience" well know that humans are en-mass not the creatures of independent will, choice and freedom that we might imagine we are *.  Hence motor vehicles - they had some advantages but their biggest one was they were tempting and extremely sellable (as a concept, to early adopters of franky marginally useful toys then to the masses)!

* At least, not until we've finished looking at this funny squirrel meme that hawkinspeter put up and then grabbing a deal on a n+1 carbon bike...

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
6 likes
chrisonatrike wrote:

Making it easier to walk and cycle is just a way of making everyone weak!  Sat in our cars in the traffic jam on the way to the desk at the office we had power.  We had choice!  (Fill up at the BP OR Tescos on the way back from the shops).

They'll be putting iodine in our salt and fluoride in the water next.  General Ripper was right!

Unfortunately the sellers of "new" and "convenience" well know that humans are en-mass not the creatures of independent will, choice and freedom that we might imagine we are *.  Hence motor vehicles - they had some advantages but their biggest one was they were tempting and extremely sellable (as a concept, to early adopters of franky marginally useful toys then to the masses)!

* At least, not until we've finished looking at this funny squirrel meme that hawkinspeter put up and then grabbing a deal on a n+1 carbon bike...

Avatar
perce replied to Mungecrundle | 1 year ago
8 likes

It's the thin end of the wedge (again). I know I'm being watched through my television set. My electric toothbrush has started giving me funny looks. The truth is out there. The explosion in the Decathlon aisle will not be televised. You couldn't make it up.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to perce | 1 year ago
6 likes
perce wrote:

It's the thin end of the wedge (again). I know I'm being watched through my television set. My electric toothbrush has started giving me funny looks. The truth is out there. The explosion in the Decathlon aisle will not be televised. You couldn't make it up.

You will not be able to stay home, brother
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag
And skip out for beer during commercials, because
The revolution will not be televised

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to perce | 1 year ago
4 likes

perce wrote:

 The explosion in the Decathlon aisle will not be televised. You couldn't make it up.

is that why my decathlon closed down?

Avatar
Roulereo replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
0 likes

Exactly, they need to believe the government and unelected bureaucrats. Hasn't the last few years shown these people anything?

The social credit score works a treat in China, that fits in with a 15 minute city and seems fine. 

 

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Roulereo replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
0 likes

15 minute cities would also mean the idea of number plates for bicylcles will reemerge, it's only fair if they're going to track everyone's movements then...

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hawkinspeter replied to Roulereo | 1 year ago
2 likes

Roulereo wrote:

15 minute cities would also mean the idea of number plates for bicylcles will reemerge, it's only fair if they're going to track everyone's movements then...

...and numberplates for pedestrians too

Avatar
Hirsute replied to Roulereo | 1 year ago
2 likes

No, they will just put a chip in everyone. After all, Letchworth was the first experiment.

You realise that in the UK we had this set up until the late 70s but then the motor car was prioritised.
If people were more aware of history, we would not have so much CT drivel

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like

hirsute wrote:

No, they will just put a chip in everyone. After all, Letchworth was the first experiment. You realise that in the UK we had this set up until the late 70s but then the motor car was prioritised. If people were more aware of history, we would not have so much CT drivel

That's not a good argument - shurely the 70s were when England was a fascist state, just like the Sex Pistols told us?  I believe Derek Jarman made a documentary about it?

History just shows us how bad the persecution of the motorist was.  Since the 1930s people have been building loony cycle paths!  There were modal filters creating "LTNs" from the 1980's and before.

It wasn't until the likes of Facebook and Twitter were set up by international philanthropists that the truth could be revealed...

Luckily as chance would have it the ever-reasonable Ranty Highwayman has a recent article on similar opinions as have come up here and other recent threads.

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

Pretty poor observation here - SMIDSY

https://youtu.be/fIsw3cEcqnk?t=124

This is why people generalise and hate cyclists

https://youtu.be/fIsw3cEcqnk?t=463

 

Avatar
Steve K replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
3 likes

Shouldn't that read "This is why people who generalise hate cyclists".  I'm not sure why one very dangerous piece of cycling should make people generalise.

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Hirsute replied to Steve K | 1 year ago
2 likes

Nor do I but it happens !
It's even reinforced by a handful of cyclists - cyclingmikey does X now all drivers will hate cyclists.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Steve K | 1 year ago
2 likes

Steve K wrote:

Shouldn't that read "This is why people who generalise hate cyclists".  I'm not sure why one very dangerous piece of cycling should make people generalise.

Raise the issue of red traffic lights with someone who drives a car regularly, and see how quickly they will generalise*

 

*Yes: I'm aware that I just generalised.  But I was doing it to make a point.

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Seagull2 replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
2 likes

On the second vid above, start it at 9.49  ,  hope cyclist was ok, but it was bad 

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Hirsute replied to Seagull2 | 1 year ago
0 likes

I mentioned that in one of the lights/ hi viz threads.
And it was low speed as well. And they still got thrown a few metres.
 

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kil0ran | 1 year ago
2 likes

I for one am all in for a CX or XC series on TT bikes.

It's not just the berm, it's the fact he hopped the kerb edge too. Fond memories of failing to do that on a dropped kerb as a nipper and ending up in someone's rose garden like some sort of cycling Rapunzel prince

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Creakingcrank replied to kil0ran | 1 year ago
2 likes

F1 BMX was a short-lived (I think) thing in the late 80s. Like a cross between BMX and the low-pro time trial bikes of the day, complete with disc wheel covers (and gears!). Some bikes even had motorbike-like body fairings. Pictures seem thin on the ground but I found a thread on them here:

https://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=556724&p=1

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Sriracha | 1 year ago
10 likes

Dan Walker says:
"Glad to be alive after getting hit by a car on my bike."

BBC reports it as:
"Dan Walker has said he is "glad to be alive" after colliding with a car while cycling."

Institutionally anti-cyclist?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-64704132

Avatar
kil0ran replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
5 likes

Good to see Mr Walker cycling in a crisp white shirt. More sartorial utility cycling please.

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hutchdaddy replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
2 likes

Was just about to post exactly the same comment. Though we should of course check both sides of the story before judging. The two comments are as you quite rightly comment are not the same.

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wtjs replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
3 likes

I, too, am regularly annoyed by the media use of the 'cyclist collided with car' dodge when reporting 'cyclist hit by motorist'. Of course, occasionally it could be that it's the cyclist doing the hitting, but it very rarely is

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Hirsute replied to wtjs | 1 year ago
3 likes

Especially for you. No MOT but a notice on it saying it will be removed by 28th Feb.

The council did remove a previous vehicle abandoned there, so I'm confident !

 

Avatar
Bigfoz replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
0 likes

Doesn't really matter a, pedantically, the car is not self aware, so he was hit by a driver.

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hutchdaddy replied to Bigfoz | 1 year ago
2 likes

He was hit by a car, being driving by a person.

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eburtthebike replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
1 like

Sriracha wrote:

" Institutionally anti-cyclist?

YES.

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ChuckSneed | 1 year ago
2 likes

If every part of the world wants to have their tour, then they should maybe start taking rider safety seriously rather than throwing together a half arsed half closed course that is literally killing riders. No such thing as bad publicity, but I doubt cyclists are excited to go to Algarve after seeing how they treat cyclists in an organised race

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