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Live blog: “You bleedin stupid woman” – London Assembly Member abused by driver while cycling at one of city’s most dangerous junctions, New Balance boss appointed USA Cycling CEO, CES cycling highlights + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond
Tue, Jan 08, 2019 16:09
SUMMARY
8 January 2019, 16:09
Iconic Wirral cycling cafe up for sale
The Eureka Cyclists’ Cafe in Woodbank on the Wirral is something of an institution in that part of the world – after all, it’s been trading for 90 years. Now the current owners, who have run it for 17 years, are looking to sell up and are seeking someone to take it on. Interested? Contact them via Facebook.
8 January 2019, 16:09
This gym in China will get your legs burning - and your stomach churning
Wait for it …
8 January 2019, 16:09
Take a look at this self-inflating airbag gilet for cyclists, on show at CES
We’re looking out for bike-related gear from the world’s biggest consumer electronics show, CES, and here’s something that caught our eye – a self-inflating airbag gilet.
An inflating vest that uses accelerometers and a gyroscope to determine when you are falling off a bike is genuinely cool. #CES19 https://t.co/HKGrnusQk5 pic.twitter.com/Tdvivqjt1L
— Nicholas Thompson (@nxthompson) January 7, 2019
There’s a more extensive video about it here from the BBC, including an interview with one of the people behind the company that produces it, Helite..
8 January 2019, 16:09
Some more curiosities from the CES show 2019
There’s plenty of weird and wonderful cycling-related inventions on display at the world’s biggest consumer technology show this week… and firmly in the weird camp is this penny farthing-inspired e-cycle named the JackRabbit.
…also at the show is the world’s first bike powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, the Pragma Industries’ Alpha bicycle.
…and the rather fetching R-Pur Nano anti-pollution mask, that lights up to indicate poor air quality.
We’ll be keeping an eye out for more interesting stuff from the show this week, watch this space.
8 January 2019, 16:09
A little too immersive?
Remember those Back to the Future and Star Wars ride simulators that were popular in 90’s theme parks? Well here’s that but on a spin bike. No thanks…
8 January 2019, 16:09
Rob DeMartini, who steered New Balance through “official shoes of white people” PR gaffe, appointed CEO of USA Cycling
USA Cycling has announced that Rob DeMartini, who has served as CEO of shoe brand New Balance for the past 12 years, has been appointed as their new CEO. USA Cycling’s last two bosses were both former elite cyclists, and although DeMartini describes himself as a keen recreational rider according to the Denver Post, the new appointment was mostly due to his many contacts in the business world.
DeMartini presided over a turbulent time for New Balance in 2016, when it emerged that their owner Jim Davis had personally donated $400,000 to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and a New Balance staff member appeared to offer support for Trump’s planned Trans-Pacific Partnership; however the company said the comments were blown out of proportion and only related to trade, and that New Balance “does not support Trump” or “tolerate bigotry or hate in any form”. It didn’t stop democrat supporters from burning their trainers en masse and promise lifetime boycotts of the company, and the comments also impressed Neo-Nazis who dubbed New Balance “the official shoes of white people”; but two years on it appears little lasting damage has been done to their image.
Will DeMartini make USA Cycling great again? He starts work in February 2019.
8 January 2019, 16:09
Check out the Convercycle, a cargo and a regular bike 2-in-1
The back wheel of this bike flips out to create a cargog bike, and it comes in e-bike or manual versions. Read about it over on eBikeTips.
8 January 2019, 16:09
Jack Monroe goes out for a ride
I dug my bicycle out of the shed. I have only ever ridden it once before because roads terrify me and I’m nervous and skittish. I got on it and cycled for an hour. To the sea, to the boundaries, to the horizon, and home. I wasn’t afraid, today. #DayEleven #ODAAT pic.twitter.com/IbzbLQIZJI
— Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) January 8, 2019
The popular food writer and journalist, who last year went up in everyone’s estimations even more by suing and almost bankrupting far-right sh*t stirrer Katie Hopkins for libel, has been impressing the cycling community too by going out for a spin in the countryside. Monroe is “looking into local Bikeability courses” and admitted to being nervous and skittish on the bike previously, but all went well this time around.
8 January 2019, 16:09
London Assembly Member told to "get out the way you bleedin stupid woman" by driver as she cycled round one of capital's most dangerous junctions
Green Party Assembly Member Caroline Russell has tweeted about how she was abused by the driver of a Range Rover as she cycled round the Highbury Corner gyratory in North London, which is due for an overhaul under Transport for London’s Safer Junctions scheme to make it less dangerous for vulnerable road users.
Her tweet has seen her receive a lot of support from other Twitter users, some of whom recounted their own experiences of being abused by motorists.
Just been yelled at to “get out the way you bleedin stupid woman” by a man in a Range Rover on Highbury Corner. I was riding correctly, arm out, round the gyratory. So much anger. Shaking.
— Caroline Russell (@CarolineRussell) January 8, 2019
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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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Latest Comments
chrisonabike 39 seconds ago
Hope Barcelona keep the transport improvements (they've been making for a while) coming! Better streets, more infra to help active travel where necessary. And while it's a major investment (though can be lower operating cost than busses) maybe more trams where they can. That may be more effective in making places active travel friendly and replacing taxis than mass public bike hire. They've a good start with 6 lines already.
chrisonabike 8 minutes ago
I think this is a positive story. They're not getting rid of public hire bikes - they're expanding their in-house one. They're merely kicking out cowboys who've shown they've a lack of interest in the game they claim to be playing. It seems logical that companies whose business model is to extract (venture capital) money by invading public space are even less likely to make the efforts to keep things in order than a local "in house" scheme. (After all the "bikes and riding" part of these schemes always *costs* money, they don't generate it.) So not surprising their experience shows those firms are not particularly motivated to follow the rules - especially when scrapping for "market share". It's nice the European Cyclists’ Federation is thinking about tourists also (i hesitate to say "follow the money...") - as they note, where it's safe to cycle locals will largely get their own bikes. Tourists aren't going to stop coming because lack of public bike share - I think this is mostly a "nice to have" ("hey - why don't we go on one of those bikes there? ").
chrisonabike 33 minutes ago
Harm minimization - at least they're not driving...
Gm_Crop 9 hours ago
I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
IanGlasgow 9 hours ago
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
Rendel Harris 10 hours ago
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Bill H 11 hours ago
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
pbunyon 11 hours ago
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
chrisonabike 11 hours ago
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
belugabob 11 hours ago
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
10 thoughts on “Live blog: “You bleedin stupid woman” – London Assembly Member abused by driver while cycling at one of city’s most dangerous junctions, New Balance boss appointed USA Cycling CEO, CES cycling highlights + more”
I’m continually astonished
I’m continually astonished and amazed at the ingenuity and general all round cleverness of so many of my fellow human beings. The inflatable gilet has me gobsmacked with admiration at the ability of people to design pointless, useless crazy things while real problems go unsolved.
The gilet, like the helmet, won’t make cycling any safer, not least because it doesn’t protect the most vulnerable parts of the body, won’t prevent serious injury and last but not least, risk compensation.
Please tell me it’s April the first and I’ve suddenly woken up from a coma.
burtthebike wrote:
I found it hilarious. Rier demonstrates by gently dismounting onto a crashmat at less than walking speed… then the video shows a dummy faceplanting into a car and then the tarmac. Amazingly stupid design… unless you fall off your bike and into a body of water 😀
ChrisB200SX wrote:
Sod an inflatable jacket, I want a rocket powered ejector seat to propel me to safety.
ChrisB200SX wrote:
Indeed… the crash-test video was not especially encouraging.
It did show just how hideous and potentially dangerous even a low speed collision like that is on a bike, just the sort that results from a driver pulling out, or turning, in front of a cyclist.
Similar videos should be included in ‘driver awareness’ courses.
I wanna go on that spin bike
I wanna go on that spin bike with the big screen!!
I want a BFG9000 and a
I want a BFG9000 and a Railgun for good measure just for BMW and Audi drivers… can we make them a thing.
I do like the converticycle
I do like the converticycle cargo bike. It’s a really neat piece of design. The rear end is a bit reminiscent of a Moulton frame with its cantilever design so I hope there isn’t an issue of patent infringement.
“driver of a Range Rover”…
“driver of a Range Rover”… Says it all, really. What do you expect?
brooksby wrote:
I liked the tweets which called it a Rage Rover.
The Jack Rabbit is very neat,
The Jack Rabbit is very neat, but no pedals. So it’s a primitive Motor Bike not an ebike in the UK legal sense? Throttle only?