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Live blog: Amazing (and strangely mesmerising) video of huge crash in downhill race on snow, bloke who mistakenly sold wife’s heirloom classic bike in yard sale wants it back, this year’s Zwift Academy entries open + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, Jul 02, 2019 17:49
SUMMARY
2 July 2019, 17:49
14th cyclist of the year killed in New York, with Mayor promising to take action
We’re seeing a dangerous surge in cyclist deaths on our streets — and we’re taking action.
I’ve directed the NYPD to immediately launch a major enforcement action that will encompass every precinct. They will crack down on dangerous driving behavior like parking in bike lanes.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) 2 July 2019
Mayor Bill De Blasio released a statement calling for a crackdown on dangerous drivers, following the death of 28-year-old Devra Freelander who was involved in a collision with a cement truck in the Brooklyn area of the city:
“We are seeing a dangerous surge in cyclist deaths on our streets, and we are taking action. I have directed the NYPD to immediately launch a major enforcement action that will encompass every precinct and crack down on dangerous driving behaviour like parking in bike lanes. At the same time, I have charged the Department of Transportation with developing a new cyclist safety plan to make biking in our city safer. No loss of life on our streets is acceptable. Last year was the safest year on record—and we have to keep pushing the envelope and increasing our efforts until we achieve Vision Zero.”
Freelander was the 14th cyclist to be killed in NYC this year, which is already double the 2018 death toll. Mayor de Blasio is often criticised for the city’s attitude towards cycle safety, with locals reporting that the standard response from police is simply to ticket cyclists breaking minor traffic laws; and although this appears to be the most forceful statement yet that action will be taken to crack down on dangerous driving, it appears many New Yorkers aren’t convinced.
Weren’t you warned that your Vision Zero wasn’t working? Now you’re not on track to even meet your own goals of increasing cycling modal share.
You’ve also promised enforcement on bus lanes and placard abuse; that isn’t going well. You’ve lost our trust.https://t.co/eMScz472zw
— Samuel Santaella (@TransitNinja205) 2 July 2019
How many cyclists had to die before you noticed?
Fifteen, apparently. #zerovision
— j (@Icarurs) 2 July 2019
2 July 2019, 17:49
Cav out of Tour de France
The biggest squad announcement shock so far is that 30-time stage winner Cavendish has not been included in Dimension Data’s team. Full story here.
2 July 2019, 17:49
Zwift Academy enrolment opens for 2019
Zwift’s talent program sees riders compete for prizes, with the top accolade being professional cycling contracts with Dimension Data’s Continental team and Canyon/SRAM. For 2019 riders must complete a series of eight workouts and four races or social rides, with incentives offered for progression.
Over 35,000 took part in 2018, with that figure expected to swell to over 100,000 this year. Enrolment is open now, with the virtual events running from August 5th until September 29th. You can sign up here.
2 July 2019, 17:49
Controversy over Holland Park cycle route rolls on
Great to have been out with @KCFConservative tonight. They’ve listened to residents and are supporting a safer route for cyclists whilst protecting local trees and businesses #ToryCanvass pic.twitter.com/UcOGBtD8dp
— Fabio Conti (@fabio_conti88) 1 July 2019
This time a Kensington Conservative canvasser shows a leaflet declaring ‘You spoke, we listened’, despite doubts over how many residents actually wrote to the council asking for the cycle land plans to be abolished.
2 July 2019, 17:49
We might need a steward's enquiry for this one...
Nothing to see here… pic.twitter.com/PrLMRCrI40
— Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) July 2, 2019
2 July 2019, 17:49
Man appeals for return of wife's classic bike he sold by mistake at yard sale
A Massachusetts man has appealed for the return of his wife’s classic bike, which he sold by mistake at a yard sale, and which he belatedly learnt had huge sentimental value.
Allan Steinmetz told Boston25news.com that the bike, a yellow 1970s tourer from the French brand Motobecane, had been given to his wife on her 16th birthday more than 45 years ago by her father, a Holocaust survivor.
She planned to give it to their first grandchild.
“This bike is absolutely priceless to not only my wife but to her family, my children and she wanted to give this bike to our granddaughter one day, which I didn’t know,” he said.
“It was important to my wife, I didn’t realize how… and that was the biggest mistake I’ve made this year so far,” he added.
“He went out and bought the best bike money could buy and he wanted my wife to feel as special as he was.”
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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.
14 thoughts on “Live blog: Amazing (and strangely mesmerising) video of huge crash in downhill race on snow, bloke who mistakenly sold wife’s heirloom classic bike in yard sale wants it back, this year’s Zwift Academy entries open + more”
Does Mayor de Blasio even
Does Mayor de Blasio even know that when he calls for “enforcement action”, the NYPD thinks he means enforcement action against cyclists?
Any idea where the DH video
Any idea where the DH video was from ? I’d love to see the on bike footage. Nutters.
fenix wrote:
Not sure, but looks a lot like Megavalanche
https://www.ucc-sportevent.com/en/megavalanche-alpe-dhuez-en/
fenix wrote:
I saw this video posted with a comment saying it was from Les Deux Alpes (which is just across the valley from Alpe d’Huez).
A quick google suggests it was almost certainly from this weekend’s “Mountain of Hell” event:
https://www.2alpesnet.com/events/calendar/mountain-of-hell-les-2-alpes
Some of those on board
Some of those on board Megavalanch rider videos are an exciting half an hour of riding madness. Worth a watch.
Some of those on board
Some of those on board Megavalanch rider videos are an exciting half an hour of riding madness. Worth a watch.
Here’s the full video of that
Here’s the full video of that small clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDUxktR57u0
jigr69 wrote:
Thanks – that’s amazing to watch. Glad that guy who went over the barriers didn’t slide too far down. I do wonder what was down there.
jigr69 wrote:
Thanks – that’s amazing to watch. Glad that guy who went over the barriers didn’t slide too far down. I do wonder what was down there.
jigr69 wrote:
Thanks – that’s amazing to watch. Glad that guy who went over the barriers didn’t slide too far down. I do wonder what was down there.
I think I’d be really pissed
I think I’d be really pissed off if my partner sold off an old bike without asking me first. And I’d also say that I didn’t want the new bike.
OldRidgeback wrote:
How did he not know that this bike had massive sentimental value and was intended for the grandkids, etc etc???
Here’s the culprit, they went
Here’s the culprit, they went too close to the person in front, last minute larry on the brakes/swerving and essentially the domino effect took over.
Just a bike, isn’t it, like a
Just a bike, isn’t it, like a toy really…
Grown out of that fad, it’s just childish.