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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
60somethingcyclist 13 hours ago
@chrisonabike True, things went back to normal once the pandemic was over. In this case, however the problems are still ongoing, and aren't likely to be resolved in the near future. If anything, they're going to get worse. Food shortages are predicted because of the effect that the heatwave has had on crops. This is bound to push prices up. The Straits of Hormuz aren't likely to reopen anytime soon and the strategic oil reserves are running low. Russia is having to import petrol because its own refineries have been badly hit, so that's even more competition for an even more scarce resource. I think that more and more people are going to see cycling as a way of cutting household bills.
chrisonabike 14 hours ago
I think if "grown up" cyclists * are quibbling about ASLs we've very much missed the road safety point anyway. (Not to mention the wider "better transport choices" picture). ASLs are poor-to-useless "cycling infra", even for their design intent. If the idea is "for less confident cyclists" then a design that requires that you re-position in front of the motor traffic - waiting to accelerate - seems unhelpful. Of course they're only designed to help when traffic is stopped, and you can reach the front in time and if vehicles aren't already occupying them. As we're noting here drivers frequently ignore them - whether that be deliberate, a lack of road craft, because they were concentrating on following the vehicle in front, or because the paint has rubbed off. * Aside: shouldn't cycling also be safe and accessible for kids? Or should they only be allowed to do this when accompanied by sufficient qualified adults? Or be limited to parks and otherwise being driven around by their carers? Perhaps there is another way...?
Ben Graham 16 hours ago
Hi Bungle, I saw you follow-up comment. I can't imaging there's a tolerance of 4 seconds on camera enforced lights, seems an odd decision - an offence is committed if a vehicle starts crossing on a red, any tolerance is discretionary. There does seem to be some odd thinking about 'advanced stop lines' where the rules relating to them are identical to a regular stop line, as explained correctly elsewhere in the Highway Code. It does seem a regular offence. Where I live it doesn't help that some of them are very faint and disappear in rain.
Rendel Harris 16 hours ago
@ktache Not sure he's totally ruled out of the worlds yet (though I think it would be best if he doesn't), normal recovery time is about eight weeks but surgery can halve that...depending on the nature of the break he could be just about fit to ride by the time of the elite men's race, but he'll have missed a lot of training. Hopefully his managers and team will persuade him to wait until Lombardia, if not just to knock it off for the rest of the year.
Rendel Harris 17 hours ago
@Bungle_52 The Met told me a couple of years ago when rejecting a submission that they needed a clear three seconds of red visible before they would consider it for an RLJ prosecution. I pointed out to them that this meant that at 30 mph a driver could see a light change to red from 40 metres away and still get through without sanction, or 55 m if they accelerated to 40 as most do. They just replied "them's our rules..."
Bungle_52 18 hours ago
@Ben Graham I have just checked the footage from my report. The driver crosses the 1st stop line 4 seconds after the light turns red. All on camera from behind the vehicle. No further action. So I assume the margin is at least 4 seconds.
chrisonabike 18 hours ago
Oh, and active travel funding per head (in England at least) is laughable compared to other places. Plus it is delivered intermittently. It's more like a Blue Peter contest...
chrisonabike 18 hours ago
Yup, I see those opportunities being missed all the time in Edinburgh. When it gets really bad, dig it all up and put it back down again how it was. Contrast with what seems to happen in NL - when things are dug up the whole thing seems to get a "let's redo this according to the current standards" treatment. They even coordinate with the utilities, so that after a refurb the street isn't immediately dug up again because of leaking pipes / we suddenly realised the new estate being planned for round the corner will want broadband etc. Pros and cons of course - you may wait longer there for changes as smaller changes may be deferred until a major redo is due. (Though in the UK case you likely wouldn't get them at all...) It seems we "can't have nice things" in the UK in part because a) we have greater motor traffic speeds/volumes spead across "streets" / within urban areas b) the funding and organisational responsibility differs. Are we in the "Sam Vimes boots" territory (being too poor to afford better products which not only save money over time but actually work)? There is long term money pressure on LAs and it seems that due to poor construction and maintenance we have to regularly pour money into (pot-)holes in the road. And it seems there's no budget to check up on or enforce adequate standards from utilities work or even private building.
ktache 19 hours ago
Shame about the world champs defence. Speedy recovery. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/30/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-cycling-crash-hospital-stage-nine
mdavidford 21 hours ago
I believe the accepted form for this kind of argument is "I know you are, you said you were, but what am I?".
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?