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Remco Evenepoel blasts “hectic and dangerous” sprint finish; Anti-LTN writer claims ‘Lycra Lobby’ is “waging war against cars”; Cyclist films driver inhaling laughing gas, using phone; Max Richeze “disappointed” in Mark Cavendish + more on the live blog

It’s a brand-new week, road racing is back, and Ryan Mallon’s here with all the latest cycling news and views on Monday’s live blog
Mon, Jan 23, 2023 09:30
30
Remco Evenepoel blasts “hectic and dangerous” sprint finish; Anti-LTN writer claims ‘Lycra Lobby’ is “waging war against cars”; Cyclist films driver inhaling laughing gas, using phone; Max Richeze “disappointed” in Mark Cavendish + more on the live blog2023 Vuelta a San Juan stage one (GCN+)
23 January 2023, 09:00
2023 Vuelta a San Juan stage one (GCN+)
“I almost hit a woman”: Remco Evenepoel blasts “hectic and dangerous” Vuelta a San Juan sprint finish, as riders forced to avoid fans standing in middle of road

Well, that didn’t take long…

The 2023 road racing season is barely out of nappies and – after James Knox’s controversial disqualification from the Tour Down Under last week for some post-concussion protocol team car drafting, and the lines of parked cars that marred the same stage’s finale – professional cycling has already moved on to its third self-inflicted safety scandal of the year.

During last night’s opening stage of the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina, one of the traditional South American season curtain raisers, which has certainly attracted a stellar field this year, the final few kilometres were sketchy, to say the least.

As world champion Remco Evenepoel, working for his Soudal-Quick Step sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, led the peloton into the last kilometre in San Juan at typical Remco warp speed, the peloton was forced to split in two as it passed a central reservation.

While the race organisers apparently assumed that all of the riders would stick to the right-hand side of the road (and indeed placed the flamme rouge in such a position to indicate that was indeed the case), Remco and a few others stayed to the left, effectively scuppering Jakobsen’s chances of the victory.

Several spectators, it seems, also expected the peloton to hog the right lane, and duly stood slap bang in the middle of the road, forcing riders to dodge them as they battled for position at over 60km/h.

I’ll admit, I was watching it through my fingers.

Fortunately, the crudely planned finish produced no major crashes (those happened earlier), while Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sam Bennett took full advantage of the confusion to secure a redemptive first win of the season after a difficult 2022.

(Not that we could see much of the actual sprint mind you, thanks to the questionable camera positions. Poor Carlton and Brian…)

Nevertheless, many riders weren’t happy with the baffling route design, including world champion Evenepoel, who blasted the finish as “unacceptable”.

“It was hectic and dangerous. I almost hit a woman, I think,” the 22-year-old, who won the Vuelta a San Juan back in 2020, told Sporza at the finish.

“As Michael Mørkøv said, it should not be allowed that there is still such an open stretch at 1.2 kilometres from the finish, where you do not know where to ride and where people are still crossing.

“It’s a pity, because we were perfect at that point and Fabio [Jakobsen] couldn’t sprint due to miscommunication about left or right. It was perhaps an unacceptable final kilometre.”

The world champion also said that he approached the race organisers after the stage to state the peloton’s case.

“I wanted to know if everyone would get the same time because it was a weird situation,” he said.

“I was not panicked, but I was shocked by the crossing people. A lead-out is without thinking, clearing your mind and accelerating. I was a bit upset and I wanted to ask if everything was okay. Lessons should be learned from this.”

Don’t hold your breath Remco…

23 January 2023, 10:23
Cyclist films motorist using nitrous oxide and mobile phone behind wheel (jaj991, YouTube)
Cyclist films driver inhaling laughing gas and using phone behind wheel – before stopping in bike box

Using a phone behind the wheel? Check. Stopping in a bike box? Check. Inhaling nitrous oxide? Errr… check?

We receive a lot of videos here at road.cc of instances of dangerous driving, but I think it’s fair to say that few of them involve a balloon.

The Coventry-based cyclist who filmed the video below, of an apparently “stoned” driver inhaling nitrous oxide while also using his phone behind the wheel, told us that he has witnessed motorists using the substance, commonly known as laughing gas, several times over the last few years.

“Over the last few years, I’ve seen an increasing number of drivers with balloons in their mouths like this, but this is the first one where I’ve got decent video,” says road.cc reader James, who you may remember from yesterday’s run-in with the reversing close passer (he’s had an eventful few months on the road, has James).

“As you can see in the video, the driver dropped the mobile phone fairly quickly but beyond that he’s not very responsive. And later in the video he appears to forget he’s trying to hide the phone and picks it up again.

“When I’m alongside him at the junction you can see the N20 container sitting on the passenger seat. I’d have to say he looks stoned.

“I reported this to West Midlands Police but I have no idea if any action was taken since West Midlands Police don’t normally provide any feedback.

“I say they don’t normally provide feedback because they do provide some feedback but it’s really quite rare. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t any action taken.

“With hindsight I should have immediately called 999 and reported this.”

> Near Miss of the Day 846: Motorist escapes punishment for extreme close pass and deliberately reversing into cyclist

While driving under the influence of nitrous oxide is illegal, the substance only stays in the body for a short time, making it difficult to trace in drug tests.

Motorists using laughing gas (or ‘hippy crack’, as it’s also known) have been responsible for several deaths on the road in recent years, prompting cycling activist Mike van Erp – known to regular blog readers as Cycling Mikey – to call for a change in the law to ensure that drivers found in possession of nitrous oxide can be prosecuted.

On 1 January, the Dutch government banned the sale, import, and possession of laughing gas, amid growing concerns over its effects on health and road safety.

According to a police survey report, there were almost 1,800 road safety incidents, including 63 fatal collisions, involving drivers using nitrous oxide between 2018 and 2021 in the Netherlands.

23 January 2023, 14:04
Anti-cycling bingo, deluxe edition

“All across the UK, a war is being waged against car drivers”, “a ‘Lycra Lobby’ of cycling activists and eco wonks”, “I don’t drive, enjoy cycling and probably have a relatively low carbon footprint”, “an assault on democracy”…

The latest anti-LTN article to hit the shelves, from the conservative magazine The Critic and written by GB News producer Charlotte Gill, criticising a new study on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in London (despite failing to address any of that study’s findings), is sure to keep the anti-cycling bingo players busy for a few weeks at least.

Needless to say, it hasn’t gone down well with cycling and pro-LTN Twitter:

For an actual discussion of the report’s findings – and not a bingo ball in sight – you can read our article on the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy study:

> Levels of motor traffic nearly halved within London LTNs, new study finds

23 January 2023, 16:37
Clipless pedals – great for making sure you don’t lose your cranks

Ooops...

23 January 2023, 16:27
Comments of the day

Some interesting takes on the laughing gas-using driver in the comments section today: 

Live Blog 23 Jan 2023 comments

Along with this incredibly astute observation from Twitter:

23 January 2023, 15:51
‘Enjoy the Local Legend segment, I hope it makes you very happy’
23 January 2023, 15:32
23 January 2023, 15:20
Be careful who you take selfies with on training rides, Mathieu

Hmmm, maybe he should have feigned a puncture…

> Mario Cipollini jailed for three years for domestic violence

23 January 2023, 14:36
Nairo Quintana 2022 TDF (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Is Nairo Quintana about to retire?

In another telling indicator of how the passage of time has ravaged pro cycling’s Class of 1990, rumours are currently circulating that one of its alumni, Nairo Quintana, will announce his retirement from the sport later this week.

The former Giro and Vuelta winner is currently without a team after being let go by Arkéa-Samsic – despite recently agreeing a three-year contract extension – following his disqualification from last year’s Tour de France due to a positive test for the painkiller Tramadol.

Nairo Quintana on way to winning Giro 2014 Stage 19 - picture credit LaPresse

Quintana on his way to winning the Giro in 2014 (La Presse)

The Colombian star has been linked in recent weeks with a move to Team Medellín-EPM, the third tier outfit currently providing a refuge for another homegrown climber tainted with the doping brush, Miguel Ángel López.

Italian second-tier team Corratec were also reported to be interesting in signing the 32-year-old, a move which would have guaranteed Quintana a spot at this year’s Giro d’Italia.

However, team manager Sergio Parsani claimed last week that “it would take a miracle for us to sign him” after ASO and RCS (the organisers of the Tour de France and Giro respectively) encouraged Corratec to sign up to the anti-doping advocacy group, the Movement Pour un Cyclisme Crédible (MPCC).

One of the MPCC’s stricter anti-doping rules prevents teams signed up to the voluntary group from signing a rider coming off a sanction (though Quintana’s case is somewhat complicated by the fact that he didn’t serve a suspension, but was merely disqualified from the Tour for his use of Tramadol. Old school).

With the season underway and his options running out, reports in Colombia suggest that Quintana – who arguably acted as the figurehead of the Colombian climbing renaissance at the top of the sport during the 2010s – will announce his retirement on Wednesday.

Ciclismo en Grande, the channel that broke the news, claims that the former Movistar rider is also very unhappy with his treatment from the UCI, a matter that may be discussed further during the rumoured press conference.

In a winter of waiting patiently for announcements, I suppose we better set our alarms for Wednesday then…

23 January 2023, 13:25
‘First the racing, then the bingo, karaoke, and a few pints’: Party time in Benidorm for the Cyclocross World Cup

As well as offering up arguably the most exhilarating racing of the entire winter, the cyclocross World Cup’s foray to the Costa Blanca at the weekend also provided scope for more jokes than, well, an episode of Benidorm:

And while we’re all lounging by the pool (I wish), let’s relive those dramatic elite races one more time:

23 January 2023, 12:50
Roydon Road, Stanstead Abbotts (Google Maps)
Police renew appeal for witnesses two years after cyclist left with life-changing injuries in hit-and-run collision

Police in Hertfordshire have renewed their appeal for information concerning a hit-and-run collision which left a cyclist in his late 60s with life-changing injuries, for which he is still receiving care over two years on.

The cyclist was riding on Roydon Road in Stanstead Abbotts on 16 December 2020, at around 4.30pm, when he was struck and left injured on the road by the driver of what is believed to be a black Land Rover or Range Rover. The motorist fled the scene.

Hertfordshire Constabulary have so far been unable to track down the car, and have re-appealed for witnesses and information related to the hit-and-run.

> Motorist arrested after two cyclists killed in suspected hit-and-run

“We have made extensive enquiries into this incident since it was first reported to us,” says Detective Sergeant Ben Heath, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Serious Collision Investigation Unit.

“As we surpass the two-year anniversary, I am re-appealing for any information that hasn’t been shared with us yet. It is believed the cyclist was in collision with a vehicle, which was not at the scene on police arrival.

“Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to trace that vehicle and are urging the driver to please come forward. I am particularly keen to hear from anyone who may remember seeing a black Land Rover or Range Rover travelling in the area between 4pm and 5pm on that day, or who may have seen a similar vehicle with damage to the passenger side wing mirror.

“I am urging motorists who were driving in the area on 16 December 2020, and have a dash cam fitted, to please review any footage and contact us if you have captured anything that may assist us in our ongoing investigation. While the victim survived, he requires ongoing care, and we are doing all we can to fully investigate the collision.

“If you have any information, remember seeing the vehicle, or have any footage, please email me at ben.heath [at] herts.police.uk.”

23 January 2023, 12:36
23 January 2023, 12:23
When cycling team social media managers go rogue (or forget to switch back to their personal account)

My worst nightmare… Not that I go about retweeting weird viral videos, of course (I save those for the live blog).

23 January 2023, 11:42
Max Richeze, 2022 Tour of Oman (ASO/Oman/Broadway)
“He didn’t answer his phone”: Max Richeze “disappointed” in Mark Cavendish, as Argentinian veteran set to retire after B&B Hotels collapse

The veteran Argentinian sprinter and lead-out man Max Richeze, who has started his final week as a pro cyclist at the Vuelta a San Juan, has told reporters at his home race that he is “disappointed” in Mark Cavendish, who was officially unveiled as an Astana rider last week after months of seemingly endless speculation surround his future.

According to Richeze, the former world champion had originally asked the 39-year-old to join his sprint train at the now-defunct B&B Hotels outfit but, after the French team’s collapse, allegedly “disappeared” and “stopped answering his phone”, with Richeze only finding out about Cavendish’s move to Astana in the press.

> Mark Cavendish signs for Astana Qazaqstan for 2023 season

Richeze, who is riding for Argentina’s national team as he brings the curtain down on his 16-year pro career this week, was set to join B&B Hotels as part of Cavendish’s personally selected lead-out train alongside Cees Bol, and even attended a pre-season meeting in October.

However, while Bol was able to join Cavendish at Astana as Jérôme Pineau’s ambitious project fell apart in early December, Richeze was seemingly cut adrift, despite believing that he remained part of the British champion’s plan for 2023.

2023 Mark Cavendish Wilier Filante Astana - 1 (1)

Cavendish in his new Astana colours for 2023

“We should have raced together at B&B, but then the project foundered. I kept talking to Mark, he told me he wanted to take me with him, and we also talked about Astana,” the former UAE Team Emirates and Quick Step rider told Tuttobiciweb.

“Racing with him, thinking of tackling the Tour de France together to try and hit an historic record gave me great motivation. In recent months he had always been looking out for me, so I continued to train seriously because today, even in the first race of the year, you have to be at least 90 percent.”

The 39-year-old also revealed to Cyclingnews: “I was going to be part of his package, along with Cees Bol. There were going to be three of us. But then, from one day to the next, Mark disappeared, and so did his agent, so I only found out in the press that they had signed for Astana.

“In December, he stopped answering his phone, and it was the same with his agent.

“Normally, I was part of his project, he had called me to be a part of it. If he had said to me at the last minute, ‘I’m sorry but there are only two places and I can’t take you with me’, I wouldn't have been angry at all.

“He just needed to be upfront and tell me how things were playing out. I would have understood that. I just didn’t like this attitude where one day, everything was in place and then two days later, I see in the press that he’s signed, and he doesn’t respond to me on the phone anymore.

“That's the only thing, it was a question of respect. I would have understood if I was left without a team, and I would have thanked him all the same for trying to bring me with him. But I didn’t like the lack of communication.”

“A phone call or a message would have been enough,” Richeze concluded to Tuttobiciweb. “He is a great champion, but from a human point of view he disappointed me.”

23 January 2023, 11:24
Our favourite subject is back in the news…
23 January 2023, 10:58
George Bennett and Marc Hirschi ditch Tour Down Under podium presentation… for a Big Mac

After Jay Vine secured the first stage race win of his career at the Tour Down Under at the weekend (don’t mention Zwift, don’t mention Zwift), eagle-eyed viewers noticed that his UAE Team Emirates squad was looking somewhat light on numbers as they clambered onto the podium to accept the race’s team prize…

Well, that’s because two of Vine’s key domestiques, George Bennett and Marc Hirschi, decided to ditch the cuddly koalas for a quick trip to the local Maccies and a celebratory Big Mac:

Classic Cat 4 energy, right there. 

Ryan Mallon

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.

Add new comment

30 comments

Avatar
IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
2 likes

"Strava's "local legend" thing is a bit of a laugh. But I especially love how I can live rent-free in someone's head by constantly taking it off them.

Dude has done the same little segment down the road from me 7 times this morning to get back to the lead 😂"

Meanwhile elsewhere on Twitter:

"Strava's "local legend" thing is a bit of a laugh. But I especially love how I can live rent-free in someone's head by constantly taking it off them.

Dude has done the same little segment up the road from me many times recently, so I did it 7 times this morning to get back to the lead 😂"

Avatar
eburtthebike | 1 year ago
1 like

"GB News producer Charlotte Gill......"

Having had the extreme displeasure of watching several minutes of GB News output, I think I can say with some confidence that it has no relation to news whatsoever.  Should I be complaining to Advertising Standards or Ofcom?

Avatar
Hirsute replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
3 likes

Was this some sort of penance?

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like

hirsute wrote:

Was this some sort of penance?

Not really, I was just changing channels and hit the button too many times.  I stayed for a few minutes, utterly fascinated by the ultra-right wing, divorced from reality, mouthy presenter.

Avatar
Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
2 likes

Charlotte Gill "doesn't drive and enjoys cycling" - but only round and round her local park, presumably...woman who opposes measures to promote making cycling safer claims to enjoy cycling but doesn't cycle because it's too dangerous. 

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
4 likes

I'm doing what you shouldn't and not reading her full article first.  Because I don't want to waste my time.  Egg on my own face if there's some some brilliant argumentation buried in it, but here goes:

Hmm... that is a puzzler from Charlotte, isn't it?  Doesn't drive, but doesn't like LTNs, because... something war on cars something something democracy. O...K.

Won't cycle because too dangerous - why would that be?  Presumably it's not the pedestrians she's worried about, or tube drivers hitting cyclists?  It's a real tricky one.

TBF on cycle danger she's only citing one "other vehicle involved" incident out of 3.  And that was just "motorbike" so it's possible she means the friend crashed their own motorbike?  So I guess it might be "won't cycle because I think I'll crash my bike"?  Is she not aware of trikes?

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
4 likes

There would be no yolk on your visage, it's an absolute drivelling diatribe from start to finish, dismissing all research that doesn't favour her argument whilst citing none on her side except the "I've talked to local tradesmen who've told me that..." variety. I can pay it no lower compliment than to say it could easily have come straight from the keyboard of a certain alleged Bikeability instructor of this neighbourhood.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
3 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

I can pay it no lower compliment than to say it could easily have come straight from the keyboard of a certain alleged Bikeability instructor of this neighbourhood.

DOUBLE OUCH!

Avatar
KDee replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
3 likes

My favourite bit, said without irony.."it was shocking to see London recently become the most congested city in the world". Why could that be Charlotte? Let's give her a clue. It's not LTN's or bike lanes. 

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to KDee | 1 year ago
3 likes

That was covered on a previous thread - think that "stat" is also effectively cobblers.  In this case not of Charlotte's making - the folks who put this one out are to blame.

London is likely more congested than it might be however.  Especially if the UK swapped designing for "maximum safe motor vehicle throughput" and started prioritising "safe and efficient movement of people"

Avatar
Car Delenda Est | 1 year ago
1 like

Pretty sure that motorists getting hippie crack banned would radicalise more hippies and we'd see a new wave of more extreme green protests.

Avatar
Shake | 1 year ago
5 likes

Are we sure he wasn't working on balloon animals?

Avatar
PRSboy | 1 year ago
6 likes

In his defence, laughing gas guy did a very good overtake, better in fact than the black car, which close-passed as a car was oncoming from a junction.

Avatar
KDee replied to PRSboy | 1 year ago
1 like

Ha, exactly what I was going to say! 

Avatar
Hirsute | 1 year ago
7 likes

The advantage of spd

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1617318532227928066

//pbs.twimg.com/media/FnHena0agAAFVa4?format=jpg&name=medium)

 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
8 likes

hirsute wrote:

The advantage of spd

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1617318532227928066

//pbs.twimg.com/media/FnHena0agAAFVa4?format=jpg&name=medium)

Is that one of those new wireless groupsets?

Avatar
Hirsute replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
2 likes

Not ultegra anyhow !

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
5 likes

Looks like Shimano have addressed your concern with crank arm separation ... by making the failure point the axle.

Avatar
wtjs replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
4 likes

The advantage of spd

For a couple of seconds I couldn't work out how it was possible to not notice a crank so loose it's about to fall off. Then, I realised that it's an ebike, where you only have to pretend to vaguely float your legs around rather than actually pushing

Avatar
KDee replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

Did the same years ago! Riding the London to Brighton on my mountain bike (slicks fitted), and left crank arm came off about 3 miles out of Brighton. It was an FSA ISIS splined BB with Race Face Atlas cranks as I recall. Made for a challenging finish 😂

Avatar
Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
3 likes

Using some drugs while driving is stupid but reasonably understandable (The logic of "I am stoned but that makes me concentrate better" or "I'm drunk but that means I am more relaxed" is completely moronic but there is at least a train of thought there...) but laughing gas makes you lose all control of your body. I can't think of a single excuse for using it while driving. 

Avatar
Mungecrundle replied to Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
9 likes

Typical male centric attitude.

You've obviously never given birth to a baby (whilst driving).

Avatar
Patrick9-32 replied to Mungecrundle | 1 year ago
1 like

BRB, going to give myself a stern talking to. 

Avatar
wtjs replied to Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
2 likes

laughing gas makes you lose all control of your body. I can't think of a single excuse for using it while driving

Lancashire Constabulary would certainly ignore that video. I'm now looking actively for someone without a seatbelt so they can ignore that as well- unless it's a PM. Just for entertainment, because now I can

https://upride.cc/incident/du61vhj_stuartbraithwaitebuilders_dwlcrossclosepass/

Ignored, of course

 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Patrick9-32 | 1 year ago
4 likes

Patrick9-32 wrote:

Using some drugs while driving is stupid but reasonably understandable (The logic of "I am stoned but that makes me concentrate better" or "I'm drunk but that means I am more relaxed" is completely moronic but there is at least a train of thought there...) but laughing gas makes you lose all control of your body. I can't think of a single excuse for using it while driving. 

I've only tried nitrous oxide a couple of times, but it didn't lead to loss of bodily control. Probably the most notable effect is auditory hallucinations with sounds seeming to be re-arranged in time, but the effects only last for a short time - possibly a minute or so. Given a choice, I'd rather cycle around drivers that are on other drugs that don't cause such a dramatic change in sensory processing though (e.g. cannabis, heroin etc), but not ones that make people more aggressive such as alcohol, speed, cocaine etc.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
1 like

I disagree.  Having been administered this (NHS) on occasion I would suggest it certainly can lead to a disinclination to move at the least.  Although there's a risk of serious injury or death by oxygen deprivation I think pumping nitrous oxide into the wheelhouse of motor vehicles could lead to safety improvements as they fail to even start driving.

Unless the "cars in houses" thread shows this is already happening - but the concentration isn't strong enough to stop the drivers getting up to speed before losing their ability to control things?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
3 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

I disagree.  Having been administered this (NHS) on occasion I would suggest it certainly can lead to a disinclination to move at the least.  Although there's a risk of serious injury or death by oxygen deprivation I think pumping nitrous oxide into the wheelhouse of motor vehicles could lead to safety improvements as they fail to even start driving.

Unless the "cars in houses" thread shows this is already happening - but the concentration isn't strong enough to stop the drivers getting up to speed before losing their ability to control things?

There's probably a difference in dose from an NHS professional versus drunk people inhaling from a balloon (always use a balloon).

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
4 likes

Hmm... I'm feeling a research proposal forming here.  They're still issuing ig Nobel prizes right?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
3 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Hmm... I'm feeling a research proposal forming here.  They're still issuing ig Nobel prizes right?

Closest I could find: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1978-20643-001

Avatar
Jules59 replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
0 likes

"Entonox" used for pain relief in childbirth and trauma is 50% oxygen 50% N2O. Anesthetetists use up to 70% N2O. I presume the contents of balloons are 100% N2O. Breathing 100% N2O can result in rapild reduction of brain oxygen levels - it was used, in the distant past, occassionally by anaesthetists to induce unconciousness rapidly but the low oxygen levels were later found to be dangerous and medical devices were modified to prevent 100% N2O being administered.

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