Welcome to Tuesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Video: Close pass driver stops and (wrongly) tells cyclist he must use cycle lane – huge row ensues; Van driver in Ireland fined for shockingly fast close pass; Alex Dowsett educates Twitter user on riding two abreast + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, Jun 11, 2019 19:12
SUMMARY
11 June 2019, 19:12
Why not?
Couldn’t believe my eyes! C. 70 year old gentleman cycling his wive up to Notting Hill among the busy traffic @RuthMayorcas @ToryCycling @RBKC @TfL @paulgannonbike @citycyclists @theJeremyVine @darrenmoore pic.twitter.com/HMm11aGpl9
— Michiel Joseph (@MichielJoseph) June 9, 2019
Just a shame about the congestion around them!
11 June 2019, 19:12
Whyte Bikes still locked in bizarre online battle of words with energy drink brand, who were sued for copying the Whyte logo
Enjoy the free PR while you can guys. Those with an IQ higher than their age realise you are Mickey Mouse. Oh how we will laugh in due course. We are actually investing money in F1 whilst you are investing zero. Total parasites who knew about us for 2 years before piping up #F1
— Rich Energy (@rich_energy) June 10, 2019
For some context to the above, energy drink brand and sponsor of the Haas F1 team Rich Energy burst onto the scene with a logo that looked remarkably similar to the distinctive antler logo used by Whyte Bikes – Whyte noticed, and so took Rich Energy to court a couple of months ago and won quite convincingly. The judge said: “I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that both Mr Kelly and Mr Storey (Rich Energy’s CEO and web designer respectively) have lied about not being familiar with Whyte’s logo. I find it more likely than not that they were familiar with it, and that they directly and knowingly copied it.”
Case closed? It appears not, as Rich Energy continue to use the logo and make childish swipes on social media. Whyte couldn’t help but do some trolling of their own, placing their logo on a Mercedes F1 poster – to which Rich Energy’s social media person clearly didn’t get the joke, bizarrely saying in their Tweet above: we are actually investing money in F1 while you are investing zero”.
The brand are still getting something of a pasting in the comments, we’ve picked some of the best for you below. Anyone actually ever seen a can of Rich Energy in a shop, by the way?
A bike company not investing into F1. What a disaster! No idea how @WhyteBikes will survive this..
But seriously though, please stop this unprofessional social media circus @rich_energy it’s just immature
— AbsolutePowerUnit (@JhinGin) June 10, 2019
— Peter Russell (@PeterKuninch) June 10, 2019
Hey @HaasF1Team does this company represent your views? Calling other established companies, and people, parasites?
— Matthew Leppard (@leppard_matt) June 10, 2019
Wow have you guys employed @realDonaldTrump as your PR advisor
— Jamie Burke (@JamieRBurke) June 10, 2019
This just makes me want to buy a @WhyteBikes and I don’t even ride a bike.
I have never seen something so unprofessional from a professional company. You claim you are a big brand yet noone heard of you before you sponsored @HaasF1Team
Tweets like this destroy brands
— james ward-gwilliam (@jameswardg) June 10, 2019
11 June 2019, 19:12
And continuing the Twitter madness...
…Alex Dowsett, the Katusha-Alpecin pro cyclist has been casually schooling a disgruntled motorist on Twitter who got rather upset at having to pass a small group of riders who were riding two abreast.
If it’s not safe to overtake a car it’s probably not safe to overtake a cyclist. You’d still have to be on the other side of the road whether it be one cyclist or many. If the cyclists were to go single file they would be longer than a double decker bus 1/2
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 10, 2019
2/2 thus requiring a larger overtake distance, which would be a higher risk to you and your passengers as well as the cyclists. This formation actually protects both you and the cyclists from an unsafe overtake. pic.twitter.com/9ddzVbaMhf
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 10, 2019
3/2 I’m a driver and a cyclist, and I have sat behind cyclists until it’s safe to overtake, i timed the amount of time that passed until a safe opportunity to pass presented itself and I am overly cautious (as everyone should be). Less than 10s was the norm, 40s was the max.
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 10, 2019
4/2 so I guess the follow up question should be, if an unsafe overtake were to be made, creating a risk of injury or worse, as well as a possible lawsuit for the driver, is it worth it for 5-40seconds added onto a journey?
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 10, 2019
I know the question of an unsafe overtake was never part of your initial tweet so I’m not suggesting that was implied, I guess just extending the why of the cyclist’s formation towards motorists that may consider an unsafe overtake! Hope you understand where I’m coming from.
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 10, 2019
They are 2up bud, just not exactly on the wheel, offset slightly
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) June 11, 2019
It seems that the issue with this photo is that by sitting just off the wheel in front, which is a sensible group ride safety measure, the group appears to be 3 abreast in places. So, should we all be religiously sticking to the wheel in front of us?
11 June 2019, 19:12
You couldn't make it up etc...
#awkward pic.twitter.com/slpWc97QpE
— Alex fernihough (@A13ex_f) June 10, 2019
As Kil0ran says in the comments section, there is almost insufficient levels of popcorn in the world to get us through this Whyte vs Rich Energy saga – as a photo is now doing the rounds of Rich Energy Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean riding… a WHYTE mountain bike! Awkward…
11 June 2019, 19:12
Change of name for Team Dimension Data as parent company NTT rebrands business?
A change of name could be on the cards for Team Dimension Data as its sponsor’s parent company NTT – in full, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, the fourth largest telecoms business in the world – brings the business under its own corporate identity.
Inner Ring’s suggestion that the team could relaunch ahead of the Tour de France – a race for which Dimension Data also provides data services – seems like a good call.
Dimension Data brand name to vanish, replaced by parent company NTT of Japan https://t.co/bNiSXZ4WDJ No news on what this means for the cycling team yet, eg a relaunch for the Tour de France or something else
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) June 11, 2019
11 June 2019, 19:12
Close pass driver stops and (wrongly) tells cyclist he must use cycle lane - massive argument ensues
A cyclist has posted a video to YouTube showing a very close pass by a motorist who subsequently drove alongside him then got out of his car and, as well as issuing threats, repeatedly insisted (wrongly) that the rider must use an adjacent shared-use path.
Well done to the cyclist for managing to remain calm – and to the other (very well-informed) rider who stopped to support his insistence that he had every right to be on the road, and that it was the driver who had broken the law by not giving sufficient room.
In a lengthy argument, the driver insists that the cyclist shouldn’t be in the middle of the road, that he should have lights on, and – when he is informed the cyclist is filming with a helmet camera – accuses him of “going around looking for trouble” so he can post videos to YouTube.
Warning – The video contains a lot of swearing.
11 June 2019, 19:12
Bikes? Completed it mate
This might just be one of the snazziest bikes we’ve ever had in for testing, originally for the purposes of testing Campagnolo’s new EPS groupset. Spec of the dream build:
Basso Diamante frameset
Campagnolo Super Record EPS 12 speed groupset – 52/36 chainrings, 11/29 cassette
Deda Superzero carbon bars
Campagnolo Bora WTO carbon wheels, 60mm depth
Vittoria Corsa Speed Graphene 2.0 tyres
Selle San Marco Aspire saddle
11 June 2019, 19:12
Raping and pillaging, Vikings, 'cynical motherbanger'... behold, perhaps the most tangential article about bike safety ever written/typed
Steady yourself with stiff cup of tea and a hobnob first, then dive in… https://t.co/vWnpsE4KJr
— Carl Eve (@CarlEveCrime) June 11, 2019
We can summarise the article in question by Plymouth Herald journalist Carl Eve as this: ‘Some teenage lads organised a group ride through town, some of the locals were unhappy, they allegedly shouted some abuse at woman who honked her horn at them (read that article here), but that’s a bit unfair and what they’re doing ain’t all that bad really”.
The writer has a point; however we’re treated to – amongst other peculiar pieces of prose – comparisons between Viking invasions and lads on bikes, a fictional character Eve has named ‘Brigadier Flatulent-Buttockclench’ and a guide on how to deal with teenagers before arriving at that point. As the writer says in his tweet, you may want to dedicate a good 20 minutes of your time with a cup of tea and perhaps several biscuits to digest what is being said…
11 June 2019, 19:12
Fine for van driver in Ireland after shockingly fast close pass
Always nice to see a result in these cases.
Just received excellent news. Yes it is actually possible to get a conviction for close passing. This driver received €250 fine, 3 points and a conviction after pleading guilty. @SafeCyclingEire @roadcc @Cyclistie @IrishCycle @CorkCyclingCrew @sticky_bottle @CitizenW0lf pic.twitter.com/TJejqV7fIX
— Righttobikeit (@righttobikeit) June 11, 2019
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
chrisonabike 5 hours ago
"All that's required is an to roads policing" - that's a big all... Although no doubt the "idiots just keep coming" aspect does apply: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9lel2wz93o "Man charged after car crashes through bowling alley" - luckily they only skittled over skittles.
chrisonabike 5 hours ago
Almost any change to roads and streets is accompanied by a period of heightened danger, and in the UK "look out for cyclists" will need to be learned... practically. And over the time it takes for cyclists to become a regular feature. OTOH once (if...) good designs are in and frequent enough such that drivers encounter them AND the cyclists on them regularly (another big if) I don't think they should be much more difficult than a footway to deal with. These things are all over NL - don't have the collision stats but they should. (NL isn't perfect but collecting info on the safety of designs to feed back into better designs as required is part of the "sustainable safety" philosophy - if they're really a killer I think they'd be altering these.)
wtjs 6 hours ago
I'm in the happy position of agreeing with everybody here! I've never considered a bike with a stand, yet I'm impressed by the ingenuity and adaptability of this axle. I tow a Yak Bob with a Robert Axle, employing my El Cheapo Vitus gravel bike and I just have to be very careful where I stop. Hedges are generally a dead loss, and I seek walls, telegraph poles and signposts and generally lean the widest part of the Bob against it. One very awkward task is removing the two steel pins which lock the trailer arms onto the special mounting slots on the Robert axle, and when you have one out, the sodding weight in the trailer can twist the whole caboodle and bend the Bob fitting before you can get the other out and unhitch. I doubt if a stand would help with that. You can imagine that this combo is a real pain when you have to get it over the bridge at railway stations, and it nearly resulted in Merseyrail nearly parting me and the trailer on the platform from the bike on the train. It's a long story for another time. Another axle example recently featured on here, with a 12mm front axle bearing the Herculean weight limit of a monster American front rack.
HoarseMann 8 hours ago
This has nothing to do with the type of bike - it's the type of behaviour that's the problem. Banning the sale of such bikes will not curtail the behaviour. They'll just find another type of vehicle and continue to drive dangerously as there's such a lack of enforcement. I'd sooner see them ban the bally. But really, all that's required is an improvement to roads policing.
AidanR 8 hours ago
The EAPC Bill is welcome, but full of holes. What's to stop an overpowered but temporarily limited e-bike being sold and subsequently delimited? This is often a trivial process.
Sredlums 9 hours ago
@KiwiMike Yeah, in my over four decades of riding all over Europe I've never 'been for a ride in the countryside'. That must be it. Or, and I know this is a wild concept, you just accept that I just voiced my personal experiences and never missed a kickstand, like I wrote. Anyway, what's the big horror of laying your bike on its side for the very few occasions where there is nothing to lean your bike against?
mdavidford 9 hours ago
They may have looked, but did they see?
jackcycles 10 hours ago
Ds2025: where they are going wrong is that they are crushing the motorbike rather than the person sat on top of it. If they did the latter this issue would be solved in less than 24 hours.
Rod Marton 10 hours ago
I came this way today with the car boot sale in operation. There was a marshal at the entrance, who stopped a car turning right across the cycleway as I was approaching. So that certainly works. I think it necessary for the marshal to be there, I couldn't say if the driver would have turned if he hadn't been there but you always have to suspect the worst. Unfortunately there is no marshal at the exit, and there was certainly a car stopped across the cycleway as I was approaching it. But he pulled onto the road before I reached it, and the following car stayed off the cycleway as I went through. Ideally there should have been a marshal there too. On the whole, though, it's a really high standard piece of infrastructure. Just a pity it doesn't extend a bit further.
eburtthebike 10 hours ago
“absolute carnage” So right! Just look at the bodies piled up, blood running in the gutters and injured people limping away. It's a bit of a problem with a road, delaying some people for minutes at a time: it isn't carnage, let alone 'absolute carnage'. Anyone who exaggerates so ridiculously really shouldn't be allowed to comment in public, unless they want to demonstrate their idiocy to all and sundry.
32 thoughts on “Live blog: Video: Close pass driver stops and (wrongly) tells cyclist he must use cycle lane – huge row ensues; Van driver in Ireland fined for shockingly fast close pass; Alex Dowsett educates Twitter user on riding two abreast + more”
Being awesome has no age
Being awesome has no age limit!
https://wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/angela-and-peter/
Nice to see Dowsett
Nice to see Dowsett comprehensively schooling that MSci (Hons)…
I’m always wary of people who
I’m always wary of people who stick their qualifications in their twitter handles or email sigs. Yeah, I get they’re probably Really Proud and all but is it really that relevant?
As to the question abreast means “side by side and facing the same way”
I take that to mean riding torso to torso, so perfectly reasonable to be echeloned out a bit
And in that particular case we don’t know whether the outermost rider is going through and off.
kil0ran wrote:
Was going to comment exactly the same thing, but you beat me to it in the time it took to log in. I don’t even use mine on my formal work-related correspondence (unless I know the recipient will be impressed (job application) or intimidated (overbearing parent – I’m a teacher) by it).
At the current count I could use up to 13 letters after my name, but in practice I use none. Why? It is of zero relevance to anyone but me, except on the rare occasions I have to evidence my expertise in something.
In due course you have to
In due course you have to feel that there’s going to be insufficient popcorn in the world for that Rich Energy/Whyte story
Don’t know if it’s faked but there’s also a pic of Romain Grosjean (Haas/Rich Energy driver) on a well-abused Whyte bike in that twitter thread. Awks
Can’t see ‘Rich Energy’
Can’t see ‘Rich Energy’ getting many fans after that twitter rant.. I sort of felt a bit sorry for them, until I realised the owner of rich energy is just some privileged investor type who’s ploughed some money into a company so he can get in the pits and buy some cool friends, sad. Good riddance @rich_energy
peted76 wrote:
What a tosser! Not sure why you’d feel sorry for them infringing Whyte’s IP rights.
A perfect example of the adage (by Mark Twain, I believe):
“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt”
Glad to see they’re getting a pasting on twitter.
So the BMW’s registration
So the BMW’s registration plate ends with WTF?
Another perfect example of someone who’s in such a hurry that they’re willing to stop, block another road user, and rant at them for a quarter hour… Honestly.
Very impressed with the cyclist’s responses, though – not losing it or shouting back, and lots of “Sir”s (they like that
).
Excellent.
(That said – I probably would have had my lights on
)
brooksby wrote:
I once had a similar discussion with a minicab driver who close passed me only to park up and sit in his car for a break literally 100 yards up the road. 10 minutes later he was regretting the 10 seconds he thought he was saving by squeezing past.
On the Rich Energy ‘story’, they are imploding in real time on twitter. Not satisfied with attacking Whyte, they now seem somehow to have attacked Chris Harris (off of Top Gear) just to endear themselves to some people who might be a bit closer to F1.
I just read the High Court
I just read the High Court judgement – interesting reading (for an IP attorney at least). Her Honour was not particular enamoured:
“Conversely, I found both Mr Storey and Mr Kelly to be poor witnesses.
Mr Storey provided different and inconsistent accounts of the development of D1’s Device, which also conflicted to a large extent with the evidence of Mr Kelly. He often did not answer questions directly, preferring to make speeches about his vision for his business or alternatively seeking to evade questions by speaking in generalities or in the third person plural. He only answered several questions when I intervened. He had a tendency to make impressive statements, which on further investigation or consideration were not quite what they seemed. For example, when Mr Wyand in cross-examination tried to understand his evidence about the sales figures of Rich Energy drinks, and put to him that he had been quoted in the press in February 2019 as saying that the First Defendant had produced 90 million cans, Mr Storey explained that it had produced 90 million cans, but had not yet filled and sold them. He said he would have to check the figures, but in 2018 he thought the First Defendant had filled and sold “circa 3 million cans” of Rich Energy drink. In another example, he stated in an impassioned fashion that he was “not in the business of trying to create a world-class business by taking any inspiration from anybody else whatsoever”, but his own written evidence was that his starting point when thinking about developing a logo was to carry out logo research on what other drinks companies were doing, and to carrying out internet searches on stag head logos used by other companies. For reasons which I set out below, I am satisfied that some of Mr Storey’s evidence was incorrect or misleading and that he was involved in the manufacture of documents during the course of litigation to provide additional support for the Defendants’ case.”
Close pass BMW driver…
Close pass BMW driver…
It’s actually a Mercedes!
bikeman01 wrote:
You can take the driver out of the BMW, but you can’t take the BMW out of the driver.
For the record, its not a BMW
For the record, its not a BMW in the close-pass sweary bloke video, its a Mercedes (CLS63 AMG, just the ticket for urban use with its 6.3 litre V8… it does sound good though)
PRSboy wrote:
It’s a 6.2 litre. Oh and this is the slightly newer model with the twin turbo 5.5 V8.
Master Bean wrote:
For the record, its not a BMW in the close-pass sweary bloke video, its a Mercedes (CLS63 AMG, just the ticket for urban use with its 6.3 litre V8… it does sound good though)
— Master Bean It’s a 6.2 litre. Oh and this is the slightly newer model with the twin turbo 5.5 V8.— PRSboy
You’re right… I do like them, shame that one is being driven by a nitwit!
Interesting delve into who
Interesting delve into who Rich Energy are “The further people went down the rabbit hole on Rich Energy, the weirder things got. America’s F1 team might just be partnered with a company without the means to sponsor it, fueled by a flipped Zimbabwean tobacco farm and investments from a soft-core porn billionaire. It’s charming, in the context of Rich Energy’s brand.” – https://jalopnik.com/what-you-find-when-you-look-into-rich-energy-the-myste-1833303620
I was once told by a motorist
I was once told by a motorist not to ride 2 abreast.
I was on my own.
True story.
He had a tendency to make
He had a tendency to make impressive statements, which on further investigation or consideration were not quite what they seemed.
Most people describe this as lying.
And easily shown to be lies. Wow, he must be really stupid!
Simon E wrote:
My favourite bit is
Mr Wyand … put to him that he had been quoted in the press in February 2019 as saying that the First Defendant had produced 90 million cans [and] Mr Storey explained that it had produced 90 million cans, but had not yet filled and sold them.
That MerceBMW would have had
That MerceBMW would have had a big scratch and/dent down the side of it if he’d driven it at me like that!
What an absolute C*** the
What an absolute C*** the driver. Plenty of evidence of using car as a weapon. Then when he realised he had no coherent argument, waffles
CXR94Di2 wrote:
Guarantee he pays more road tax than the cyclist, so clearly he’s entitled. Classic BCSD material.
It’s these sorts of situations where nice sharp titanium cleats come in useful. Or a D-lock (just make sure you twat the car rather than the twat, that way it’s just an insurance job)
It never fails to astound me
It never fails to astound me how many people are so lacking in self awareness that they will cause an obstruction (on double yellow lines in this case) to rant at someone that they perceive is causing an obstruction.
The lady in Plymouth who
The lady in Plymouth who foolishly used her horn and shouted at the group of youths on bikes, and was treated to “unexpected” abuse, don’t. There is only one thing to do, nod in approval, declare “Skillz” to the best wheelie, and wish you were that young and fearless.
The dick in the Mercedes has
The dick in the Mercedes has form – there’s another close pass video with the same car.
The police need to have a word, or better still find a reason to seize his car and crush it before he kills someone.
ex_terra wrote:
Don’t hold your breath – both filmed in Cambridge where the police seem more interested in prosecuting cyclists than protecting them.
OnYerBike wrote:
Don’t hold your breath – both filmed in Cambridge where the police seem more interested in prosecuting cyclists than protecting them.— ex_terra
Had two convictions in Cambridge, both were bus drivers!
Incredible restraint and
Incredible restraint and patience from the cyclist in the close pass video.
I found myself thinking “just fuck off” at the Merc driver just a few minutes in, but it wasn’t until 13 minutes when the cyclist in a somewhat exasperated voice resorted to a still reasonably polite “Would you please just fuck off”.
Chapeau, sir!
I had a look at Rich Energy
I had a look at Rich Energy timeline this morning after seeing a tweet from Jason Plato and couldn’t see anything untoward then read this article and it all came clear. Some of the replies her are good.
That van pass in N.I. was
That van pass in N.I. was just beyond belief. Now that, is a close pass worthy of the term. I can’t believe the cyclist didn’t get decked by the side draught.
Judge dreadful wrote:
the incident occurred in the Munster region. The opposite part of Ireland to where NI is!
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/close-pass-driver-cyclist-conviction/
The Plymouth Herald article
The Plymouth Herald article is a rather wandering dissection of the bikes vs cars argument, but entertaining and worth a read. It seems it acheived its aim, to get lots of replies and clicks, and expose some of the more anti-cyclist posters.