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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
eburtthebike 1 minute ago
Labour MP Clive Betts seems to be another of those MPs who think that all of his constituents drive cars: none of them ride bikes or catch buses. And none of them are at all worried about climate change, pollution, congestion or dead cyclists. "Betts went as far as to describe the whole scheme to the BBC as “a complete waste of money”, “not necessary” and “a cycle lane to nowhere” I wish that this idiot was my MP (who is bad enough) as he would be getting a broadside from me, and demands that at least tries to be sensible sometimes. Honestly, MPs are supposed to be relatively intelligent.
OldTom 3 minutes ago
@the infamous grouse It is the job of the defence solicitor to put the best possible case for their client. I think the defendant is a disgusting individual of little worth who deserves to be hit with the harshest possible sentence having now been convicted. I suspect you do too. But the role of the defence here, is to defend. It is the role of the jury to determine to what extent that defence holds up (as well as to consider the extent to which the prosecution has made its case). They have done so. Justice has been served in all regards. Having defending legal representation, whatever the crime, is a necessary cornerstone of our justice system. They have to be there for the worst people as well as those who are innocent and everyone in-between. The alternative is not a system we want to get into.
eburtthebike 12 minutes ago
While I can only applaud the jury for their verdict, it gives me little joy. Two lives have been ruined when it could all have been so easily avoided. The state of mind of Simon Richardson is not mentioned, but he must be some kind of sociopath to behave so incredibly callously. My thoughts are with the family and friends of Michael Mullins, and I hope that this brings some closure to them.
ymm 13 minutes ago
@mitsky The mentality of, 'its just a cyclist' pervades throughout society and discourse, and is normalised to the extent that the killer likely believed this and therefore thought he would be judged in a more lenient way by the courts and by peers, which is what we see all of the time, both in sentencing and by the reporting in some media. It will be interesting to see how the media overall portrays this killer over coming days and I expect the hostility towards the cyclist community to be on full display (sadly!).
mitsky 34 minutes ago
A perfect example where I advocate for loss of taste buds and libido as a deterrent. Because clearly, the murderer felt he could try to get away with it by his actions. Both at the time and next day to try to evade arrest. And even if arrested his belief might have been he'd get a relatively lenient sentence because... "it was just a cyclist"... Because we see so many lenient sentences when drivers KSI cyclists.
mdavidford 40 minutes ago
Only a cynic would suggest that some of them might have thought there was political capital to be had in deliberately running out the clock so that they could claim they were being 'forced' to put in 20 limits that 'didn't make sense' and then 'fighting back' by taking them out again...
Surreyrider 47 minutes ago
@jaymack Must have moved recently - I could have sworn he lives near me.
IanMK 50 minutes ago
@DrG82 I think the LAs bungled the exceptions. They had plenty of time in the run up to the implementation date to apply exceptions but mostly frittered this time away. Regardless, I think that the reduction in casualties brings financial savings not just to the NHS but the economy as a whole and makes it a great investment.
the infamous grouse 51 minutes ago
@the little onion the level of self-deception required to honestly and truthfully attempt such an argument seems in opposition of service to the crown. antithetical, even.
Surreyrider 53 minutes ago
@the little onion Even worse, wearing or not wearing hi viz being seen by drivers who just don't give a s**t.
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?