Cop tasers Florida teen cyclist; Bikeability instructors could pay £100s for new training; Driver angry at teen cyclists tweets phone footage; Record fines for Grimsby town centre cycling; Dutch neighbourhood will ban cars + more on live blog

Unable to read road.cc because you were holed up in your storm bunker? Here’s what you missed… 

Dutch National Headwind Championships abandoned … due to the wind (+ video)

Football manager fined for forcing cyclist off road

EF Education First Pro Cycling are selling off their old team bikes

Work finally starts on East Lothian bike path after 15-year access dispute

Motorbike rider jailed for killing cyclist in Oxfordshire

De ploegen fietsen nu ook. Dit is geen slow motion beeld. 💪#nktegenwindfietsen pic.twitter.com/uv1LrKr6JX

— NK Tegenwindfietsen (@NKTegenwind) February 9, 2020

Footage from yesterday’s Dutch headwind championships, that was later abandoned because of… the wind! Full story here. 

Those who have ever thought themselves unlucky to actually get fined for running a red light while cycling (it’s best not to anyway) should be relieved they didn’t come across this particular sheriff in Seminole County, Florida, who cuffed a teenage cyclist and put him in a cell for allegedly trying to ‘resist arrest’ after rolling through a stop sign. 

The author in the Facebook post above explains: “On this morning’s group ride, something unusual happened. My son and another teenage rider, Javier Lopez, were pulled over by a Seminole County Sheriff, and Javier Lopez was arrested for “resisting arrest”.

“The teens had been off the front of the group in a breakaway for approximately the last 20 mins and were holding a 25 sec gap. When they approached the left hand turn that would put them onto Florida Ave, my son stopped and Javier slowed and proceeded to roll through. They then proceeded to kick back up to speed as they were trying to maintain their breakaway gap. This is when the Sheriff, who was on the other side of the turn, took off in pursuit to pull them over. The rest of the group came to a stop then we all proceeded to continue chasing them. Approximately 25 sec later we came up on the teens on the side of the road, Javier already in handcuffs and my son asking why his friend was being arrested. The Sheriff said “why didn’t he stop? I told him to stop.” My son replied, “we did stop as soon as we realised that you were trying to pull us over.” T

“The sheriff insisted that he had yelled at them at the stop sign and that Javier was, in essence, “fleeing the sight of the traffic violation.” Although the group of cyclist tried to explain the situation, the sheriff said, “Today’s not the day for a road side jury.”

“They took Javier away, arrested him, and he is currently detained in a jail cell. His bail is set at $8500 and he will probably spend the night in jail unless his father, who is also a cyclist and was there on the ride, finds a bail bondsmen today.

“I understand enforcing the law, however, I do not understand the actions these sheriff’s carried out today. Why ruin the life of a good kid, who is in essence a child, with a criminal record? This should have been, worse case scenario, a traffic violation. Ask yourselves how many times you have slow rolled through a stop sign in your vehicle or your bike. Should this be how you’re treated? Or worse, is this how you would want your child treated? As cyclists, we should always follow the laws of the road, but we should also stick together when situations like these arise.”

The cyclist Javier Lopez has now been released on bail, and a GoFundMe has been set up with a $10,000 target to go towards costs and attorney fees. 

Feast your eyes on some of these sick tricks, and be amazed no one broke any bones… 

North East Lincolnshire Council are raking in the big bucks by handing out fixed penalties for dog fouling, littering, smoking in the wrong places and cycling in the pedestrianised area of Grimsby town centre, with 135 people fined for the latter since enforcement began in November 2018 via a private enforcement company – 51 of those have been given out in the last three months. 

The Grimsby Telegraph reports that Councillor Ron Shepherd is super pleased that “out of control” cyclists are picking up fines, and people are “sick to death” of them “whizzing along Victoria Street”:  

“Not only are they a nuisance, but they cause significant risk to passers-by and it may only be a matter of time before someone gets injured by a reckless rider.

“Enforcement officers are often the first line of defence against problem behaviour, and help keep our town centre a safe and pleasant place for visitors.

“They are also a helpful presence on the streets, and are often on hand to help people who get into trouble, by providing first aid or assisting the emergency services.”

I’ve watched this. I think it is a close pass. However, we have never received the original footage as requested. So, when we consider what admissible evidence we have then it is without that original footage. See ‘video’ part of this for explanation. https://t.co/fcNJryPByq

— Simon Cole (@CCLeicsPolice) February 10, 2020

Simon Cole of Leicester Police says they were not supplied with the original footage to take action against the driver of the Transit van in the YouTube clip tagged in the tweet; we’ll be following this up, in the meantime see our guide on what you need to know about reporting and submitting footage of close passes to the police to make sure the offending driver gets prosecuted. 

What the Dutch!?

Someone invented a Cyclo-Knitter; a pedal-powered machine that weaves a scarf in the 5 minutes you are waiting for a train.pic.twitter.com/9Zod5C0QtM

— Cycling Professor (@fietsprofessor) February 9, 2020

We’re told this was filmed at Eindhoven station and is the work of George Barratt-Jones – a super cool gift if there ever was one. 

The German bike behemoths will be bringing a fleet of their latest road and gravel bikes to our neck of the woods on Sunday 1st March. Odd Down Circuit is 1.5km of smooth tarmac which is very good ground to try out a new bike, and Canyon will have all sizes available – more details on the Facebook even page here. 

For the ultimate demo day experience, you can always come to Bike Live on Cannock Chase in April!

The 20 riders who will compete at the forthcoming UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin have been announced, in what will be the final opportunity for the Great Britain Cycling Team to score qualifying points for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Laura and Jason Kenny will feature, as will Ed Clancy, Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Phil Hindes and Katy Marchant. There’s no place for Mark Cavendish, who reportedly had an eye on Olympic selection for the track team; but his omission means it’s all but certain he will now miss out. 

Performance Director Stephen Park said: “The world championships in Berlin mark an important milestone on the path to the Olympic Games for the track cyclists and, as has always been our clear intention for this stage of the cycle, our focus now is on those riders who we believe have the potential to win a medal in Tokyo.

“The bar in track cycling is continuously being raised, which is great for keeping the sport healthy, but also means the fight for every medal is much tougher so Berlin will be interesting. “It’s also a good opportunity for our riders to show the selectors what they’re capable of and to help stake their claim on a place within the Olympic squad.”

The championships take place from 26th February to 1st March. 

@StopKillingCycl how about this lot pic.twitter.com/t06nZ3Mqml

— Kevo H (@Hu67966911Kevin) February 10, 2020

If you’re a bit irked about having your car journey delayed for a few seconds by some kids riding bikes in a very heavily congested area of London (we believe it’s one of London’s Royal Parks), it’s probably best not to tweet the Metropolitan Police Cycle Safety Team and campaign group Stop Killing Cyclists with what appears to be mobile phone footage of the outrageous act… from what appears to be the driver’s seat. 

Twitter genius Kevo H, whose bio says Millwall is his second home, first tagged in the Met’s Cycle Safety Team on February 8th, and this morning decided to send more footage to Stop Killing Cyclists saying: “how about this lot” and: “here’s another lot.”

You are filming using a handset whilst you are driving? @MetCycleCops is this enough evidence of distracted driving?

— StopKillingCyclists (@StopKillingCycl) February 10, 2020

Stop Killing Cyclists have accused the driver of using a mobile phone while driving, and have asked the Met’s Cycle Safety Team if this is enough evidence to prosecute. Others weren’t very sympathetic towards the driver’s plight… 

Another load of them gathered here too. pic.twitter.com/a39DZp3qQb

— paul gannon (@paulgannonbike) February 10, 2020

Kids on bikes! Just like it used to be when “Britain was great”! Shame about all those cars. Kids would be doing this more often it weren’t for all the cars.

— Toby Edwards (@IsSaddleThereIs) February 10, 2020

Wah Wah Wah had to go slower for 5 secs

— Berty Trousers (@bertytrouser) February 10, 2020

 

 

 

 

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#WelcomeINEOS 👊 Our 2020 @f1 livery = REVEALED!! Featuring our new Principal Partner INEOS ❤️

A post shared by Mercedes-AMG F1 (@mercedesamgf1) on Feb 10, 2020 at 4:03am PST

After buying a football club and taking over one of the most successful teams in cycling, the UK chemicals firm are now branching out into F1 by becoming the new Principal Partner of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team in a five-year deal worth a reported £100 million. 

Ineos owner Jim Radcliffe told reporters at the Royal Automobile Club in London today: “We have a genuine passion for sport and F1 is one of the most exciting sports around. It’s an intriguing marriage between sport and technology, similar to our America’s Cup (a sailing competition) challenge, which is effectively a 10-storey building sailing on top of a coffee table.

“Why Mercedes? We have admiration for a fantastic engineering company at the top of its game.”

Does that means a new Merc-branded Dogma F12 is on the cards? Not that it matters because we won’t be able to afford it, but yeah… 

“Fold-me-up-bike”?
FOLD-ME-UP-BIKE

No one. Nobody. NOT ONE PERSON calls it a fold-me-up-bike. This is not a thing. Please help @roadcc https://t.co/T4txSs2Y2M

— Toby Pestridge (@TobyPestridge) February 10, 2020

We agree this is not a thing Toby, and we don’t really understand the message full-stop. The video ad campaign featuring comic Guz Khan is mildly entertaining though, you can watch it here. 

Nah that doesn’t work. Only think that makes you quicker is getting more aero pic.twitter.com/VecY6d9xQP

— Real Gaz of Trumpton #fbpe (@gazza_d) February 10, 2020

🚲

The Netherlands is building a neighborhood where every car must be shared.

Only one car per three households.

Sustainable living: the Dutch have more bicycles than inhabitants.

Would you like to live here?

🇳🇱 #cycling #sustainability #cities pic.twitter.com/EClZrPK4MN

— Alexander Verbeek 🌍 (@Alex_Verbeek) February 10, 2020

If the plans are realised, Merwede, a proposed new district of Utrecht, will be home to 12,000 people and private cars will be banned. Residents will be able to borrow from a pool of shared cars (one will be allocated between every three households), but otherwise will be encouraged to cycle, walk and use public transport to get around.  

The design is now open for public comments from residents of Utrecht, with a mixture of excitement and concerns about the proposals. Utrecht alderman Kies Diepeveen told Fast Company that if all goes to plan, “the first residents can move in in 2024.”

Coventry-born Adam Tranter, who is also CEO of PR Firm Fusion Media, has been appointed as the city’s Bicycle Mayor to ‘help coordinate between existing cyclists, the community, government, and nonprofits’. He’s the second in the UK after Cumbria appointed a Bicycle Mayor lasy year, and the 20th worldwide – full story to follow. 

Niddrie Medical Practice has posted an appeal on Facebook after Dr Jenny Bennison had her Merida hybrid stolen while she was on a patient visit. A reply in the comments claimed that a teen was spotted on a bike matching the description heading towards Duddingston Park South, but as far as we know the bike hasn’t been recovered. 

The bike that Urwahn have called Platzhirsch (no idea how to pronounce sorry) has an eBikeMotion rear hub motor system, Gates Belt Drive and an LED lighting system integrated into the handlebars, with a rear light built into the seatpost. The frame is ‘organic steel’ with all electronic components integrated, and there are numerous hidden mounting points for racks and mudguards for commuting duties. The price is €4,499 with a €500 discount for those who pre-order – head over to Urwahn’s website for more info.  

Another example of exceedinly harsh policing from the US state (scroll down for the other one) as the video above shows a teen getting tasered for allegedly riding off when an officer tried to speak to him. 

WFTV9 reports that the 19-year-old was doing wheelies on his bike and took off when the officer tried to talk to him. Internal investigators said that Officer Peter Meier should not have deployed his taser in the incident, because officers shouldn’t use tasers on cyclists except in cases of ‘aggressive resistance’; Meier said he used the taser because he believed the cyclist was causing a danger to himself and other drivers, but was given a written censure by investigators. 

iNews reports that cycling instructors face losing their licences unless they fork out £288 to take a new cycle safety exam, a revised version of the current Bikeability qualification. Bikeability say this is because the existing scheme has “inconsistent instructor training courses, unfair competitive advantage for Instructor Training Organisations, and lack of instructor professional development.”

Instructors in London who have formed a union under IWGB have written an open letter to Sadiq Khan and Will Norman asking for the bill to be picked up by Transport for London. Current instructors will actually pay more to complete the course, as new instructors will be eligible for a £60 subsidy from The Bikeability Trust; the training has to be completed by 1st August. 

Cycle campaigners have recently questioned the effectiveness of Bikeability itself after the government announced that every child in England will be given access to it, claiming that the training needs to be backed up by safe places for children to ride to maximise the investment. Cycling UK’s Chief Executive Paul Tuohy said: “Projects like Bikeability and the Big Bike Revival provide the skills for safer cycling to some of the people who need it the most. It’s fantastic to see the Government continue to back programmes that deliver and are helping thousands of people every year on their cycling journeys.

“However we won’t get millions more cycling unless there’s further significant investment in infrastructure. Without it the Government is on a highway to failure in getting more people active. Funding for cycling and walking between 2020 and 2025 must increase to between £6 and £8bn to meet the Government’s own targets to double cycle use and increase walking.”