“We’re just numbers, pawns at Ineos,” says Pavel Sivakov after Vuelta snub; Government finally trials bolt down barriers on car and bin-filled cycle lane; U23 Paris-Roubaix winner in coma after “hitting back of car hard” + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Merida reports double-digit drop in profit for first half of 2023, as sales also fall
Figures released by bike manufacturer Merida this week will do little to quell the sense of doom and gloom surrounding the cycling industry in 2023, as the Taiwan-based company announced that their profit for the first half of the year has fallen by 38.8 percent to €38.30 million.
According to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, sales are also down 6.6 percent to €453.02 million, compared to the first six months of 2022, Bike Europe reports. A statement on Merida’s website, however, refers to sales of €451.71 million, which would mean a drop of 6.72 percent.
> Shimano bike component sales fall by 18% as company cites “weak” demand for products
While Merida did not give any reason for the significant decline in profit and revenue, it is clear that the company – which supplies bikes for the WorldTour Bahrain Victorious team – is facing the same industry-wide pressures and price reductions currently reverberating throughout the cycling market, as well as dealing with high inventory levels.
“This is a good step to make Scotland’s roads safer for cyclists”: Cycling UK welcomes new guidance which will see drivers receive tougher sentences for killing cyclists, including more serious penalties for aggressive driving like tailgating
Wout van Dirt: Jumbo-Visma star heads to the loose stuff ahead of gravel worlds
While Mathieu van der Poel’s sensational 2023 – crash at the mountain bike worlds notwithstanding – has cemented the Dutchman’s status as the multidisciplinary king of cycling, his old ‘cross and road shadow Wout van Aert is ready to do his own bit of branching out, swapping the mud and the cobbles for some loose dirt at this weekend’s UCI Gravel World Series event in Houffalize.
The Jumbo-Visma star will line up alongside the likes of retired roadies Niki Terpstra, Johnny Hoogerland, and Jan Bakelants at the start of the 110km race, which will kick off at the foot of the Côte de Saint Roch, one of the emblematic climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, as he builds towards October’s world gravel champs in the Veneto region of Italy.
At last year’s inaugural UCI world gravel championships, Van der Poel finished third, behind Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Gianni Vermeersch. After their electric battles for the cyclocross and road rainbow jerseys this year, could we be set for another MVDP v WVA showdown for a world title in October.
Also, the way things are going, all we need is Tom Pidcock to take to the gravel and Van Aert to pull the mountain bike out of the shed, and the multi-discipline takeover of cycling will be complete.
> The rise of the cycling multi-disciplinarian
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Netherlands, Marianne Vos – fresh from winning a UCI gravel round in Sweden at the weekend – laughs while staring at all her road, ‘cross, mountain bike, gravel, and track trophies and jerseys…
Ride your bike… to the Formula One race
Only in the Netherlands… (though how cool would this be at Silverstone? Or anywhere, really?)
Teenage sensation Josh Tarling storms to time trial win at Renewi Tour, becoming joint youngest ever winner of a WorldTour race
Glancing at the race calendar, you’d have been forgiven for thinking the old and always interesting Tour of the Benelux – formerly the Eneco Tour, and then the BinckBank Tour – had been consigned to the dustbin of forgotten bike races.
But nope, the race is still going strong in 2023, just now in its 115th different guise as the Renewi Tour (so much for brand identity, eh?). To add to the confusion, its famous ‘golden kilometre’ of frantic bonus seconds has even been replaced by a ‘green kilometre’, to reflect the new sponsor’s waste management business. Hopefully the riders don’t mistake the new green kilometre for the litter zone, anyway…
Joshua Tarling wins his first world tour race at the age of 19 years and 190 days pic.twitter.com/KBIY4Qfjku
— Katie (@medicinexthings) August 24, 2023
While the race itself has a new name and identity, what hasn’t changed is the staggering success of British teenage sensation Josh Tarling’s debut season in the pro ranks.
The 19-year-old Ineos Grenadiers time trial specialist has only finished outside the top three once in his five solo efforts against the clock this year, securing a British national title and a bronze medal behind Remco Evenepoel and Filippo Ganna at the world championships along the way.
And today, over a 13.6km circuit in Sluis, Tarling stormed to his first career WorldTour victory, beating two-time Benelux Tour champion Tim Wellens by 14 seconds and Tour de France prologue winner Yves Lampaert by 18, taking the leader’s jersey in the process.
This lil kid just won his first WT race, a stage in #RenewiTour! Only 19 years old 🤯
Congrats 🇬🇧 Joshua Tarling! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/zMNMCdH9f1
— Domestique (@Domestique___) August 24, 2023
Tarling’s win also means – according to GCN’s resident statistician Cillian Kelly – he’s now the joint youngest rider to take a victory in cycling’s top tier, tied with (who else?) Remco Evenepoel, who was also 19 years, six months, and nine days old when he soloed to the win at Clásica San Sebastián in 2019.
Now, that’s not a bad record at all to share. And, considering what Remco has since gone on to achieve on both the road and TT bike, could we once again be staring, blinking, at the beginning of a new Cancellara or Martin-esque time trialling dynasty?
When you get to that point during Paris-Brest-Paris when you start questioning your life choices
Wtf am I doing? I’ve had approx 5 hrs sleep in the last four days. I’m sweaty and dirty and tired. My limbs are screaming at me to stop. The best decision would be to book in to a hotel, wash and sleep, but I’m not making good decisions. #pbp2023 pic.twitter.com/1cN9W7ZULl
— Rod Nicolson (@rodnic66) August 23, 2023
To be fair, that’s me on most Thursday afternoons if I’m honest…
“We’re just numbers, pawns at Ineos,” says Pavel Sivakov after Vuelta snub
It turns out it isn’t just Luke Rowe who’s slightly miffed at being left out of the Ineos Grenadiers line-up for the upcoming Vuelta a España, which gets underway on Saturday with a team time trial around the streets of Barcelona.
Speaking to L’Équipe after finishing 56th in yesterday’s super short 2.3km prologue TT at the Tour of Germany, Rowe’s teammate Pavel Sivakov said that missing out on the Spanish grand tour was a “big blow”, especially after spending almost two months at altitude this summer preparing for the race, along with a further four weeks training and racing with what he assumed was the Vuelta squad.
The 26-year-old announced at the beginning of the month that, after six years with the British squad, he will be leaving to join UAE Team Emirates for 2024, one of a number of big-name riders heading out the Ineos exit door this winter, including Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ben Tulett, and Dani Martinez, while the future of promising Spaniard Carlos Rodríguez hangs in the balance.
Meanwhile, rumours continue to persist concerning a merger between the team and Soudal-Quick Step, a momentous move that, if true, would see Remco Evenepoel spearhead the new squad’s GC challenge at the grand tours, and help revitalise an outfit that has been in transition mode for a few seasons now after the heady successes of the 2010s.
(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
It’s perhaps fair to say that, despite GC wins at the Tour of Poland, Tour of the Alps, and the Vuelta a Burgos, the departing Sivakov hasn’t quite lived up to the admittedly lofty expectations placed upon him since turning pro with the then-Team Sky in 2019.
And this month’s Vuelta snub has only underlined, in his eyes, his status as just a “pawn” in the Ineos game.
“We will say that I had a big blow last week,” he told L’Équipe yesterday. “I was told that I was not going to do the Vuelta, it was really difficult. I spent a month and a half at altitude this summer and three weeks with the Vuelta squad. We then all went together to the Tour of Poland. It went well, very well indeed.
“Afterwards, I went straight back to altitude to prepare this Vuelta. I think I was in the best condition of my season, in my opinion I was even better than before the Giro, and then there you go…
“I got a phone call telling me it wasn’t going to happen. It was complicated. I’ve been on the team for six years, everyone knows I’m leaving, but that’s cycling.
“We’re just numbers, pawns. That’s kind of how I see it. It makes us realise that the ‘management’ sometimes has to make difficult decisions. I was shot at the time, but I have since pulled myself together. I want to take advantage of all the work that has been done this summer by trying to do something by the end of the season.”
“It’s such an obvious solution but now they are only considering it”: Government decides to – finally – trial new bolt down barriers on cycle lane littered for years with parked cars and bins
‘Eureka!’ came the cry, I imagine, from Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure, when one of its number stumbled upon a fantastical, earth-shattering solution to the longstanding issue of one of Belfast’s few ‘protected’ cycle lanes being almost constantly blocked by parked cars.
‘We could use barrier and bollards that are actually, you know, bolt into the ground and which can’t just simply be driven over. We’re geniuses! How has nobody ever thought of this before?’
Well, I assume that’s how the department’s decision to trail new bolt down cycle lane bollards on Belfast’s Hardcastle Street transpired, anyway.
The seemingly ‘protected’ bike lane on Hardcastle Street, as many of you will know, has long been a favourite on the live blog. A key route for cyclists into the city centre, it is often jampacked with parked cars and vans – sometimes parked diagonally right across the lane – as well as bins from local businesses.
Back in February, Sustrans described the situation on Hardcastle Street as “disgraceful – every single day, no action”.
“This is one of Belfast’s ONLY ‘separated’ cycle lanes,” the North Belfast Cycle Campaign also noted. “This is the ONLY safe route across town. How is this acceptable?”
But never fear, because after just the many, many, many years of frustration from cyclists at the maddening levels of bike lane parking, the glacial pace of decision making in Northern Ireland has finally led to the Department for Infrastructure deciding to replace the flimsy plastic bollards currently in place on Hardcastle Street with new “bolt down” barriers.
A DfI spokesperson told Belfast Live: “The Department recognises the frustration caused by inconsiderate parking on cycle lanes across the city. While the legislative process to make the pop-up cycle permanent is ongoing, in the interim the Department now intends to trial new bolt down barriers which will make the cycle lanes inaccessible to cars.
“These will be installed as soon as possible. We would encourage road users to respect everyone’s journey and think before you park.”
The admittedly belated decision follows a meeting of Northern Ireland’s All Party Cycling Group, held to outline the group’s vision for a “better cycling future”. The meeting came just days after councillors in Belfast launched a scathing attack on Northern Ireland’s Stormont government and what they describe as its “joke” approach to cycling infrastructure.
At the All Party Cycling Group meeting, call were made for the DfI “to step up and build infrastructure and maintain the paltry infrastructure that does exist” to make active travel safer and more accessible, while Cycling UK emphasised the business case for installing more cycle lanes.
Cycling UK’s Andrew McClean also proposed painting double yellow lines on cycle lanes in a bid to stop motorists from parking in them.
“The DfI said that’s not a bad idea… it’s such an obvious solution but now they are only considering it,” he said, before adding that the group agreed that “one of the most important things we can do is enforce existing laws”.
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Latest Comments
@kinderje Are you aware that -ise endings are actually the newer form, having supplanted -ize (as used by Shakespeare, the King James Bible and Jane Austen, amongst many others) in the mid 19th century? Etymologically there is a far better argument for -ize endings for words with Greek and Latin roots than the -ise ending which arose from Victorian publishers imitating French verb endings. Both endings are now regarded as acceptable in British English, although the Oxford style guide recommends -ize. It is most certainly not incorrect.
@Backladder Given that the makers are selling it as being useable on any ride on open roads, it doesn't seem unreasonable to try to test it in those conditions.
'Leasting'? That's a whole 4 letters less.
Although usually the easiest thing of all would be for them just to stop for a few moments while you cycle past them (which requires a lot less space to do safely than them passing you), but most people seem allergic to stopping, even for the briefest time.
@Backladder Oh I think I can guess - the nearest indoor velodrome to road.cc HQ looks to be some distance away in Wales, whereas Odd Down Cycle Track (where this test was conducted) is just 2 miles away.
There are a number of causes of "the divide between motorists and cyclists". Only one is to do with the technology (of bicycles and cars) and that's the nature of the car, which is designed to induce the sort of dangerous and careless behaviours that providing humans with a lot of power and glamour fetches out of us. Other causes are much more insidious - A culture of hyper-individualism bordering on solipsism, with violently ultra-selfish and aggressive anti-heroes being promoted in every mass media channel as the ideal. A "news" media that overwhelmingly seeks, creates and offers pariahs and scapegoats to the rabid individualists, which pariahs and scapegoats includes all kinds of those perceived as less powerful and therefore easy victims, including cyclists. The near complete lack of any curb upon the dangerous antics of vast numbers of media-maddened motorists by the forces of law and order, many of whom are actually members themselves of the mass media maddened motorist ilk. ******** No amount of a more rational discourse about active travel or the means of making it safer will change these root causes of the vast numbers of deaths and maiming due to inept, incompetent and deliberately violent antics of vast numbers of motorists allowed their dangerous "weapons of choice". Yet many other highly damaging aspects of modern societies would be solved by a much more effective curbing of mass media mob-building and goading along with a serious attempt to prevent motorists and a whole range of other damagers from behaving as badly as so many do. It'll not happen, of course. Large and powerful elements of the modern world obtain far too much ultra-riches and power from current conditions for them to allow any significant change. And vast numbers of the population have long had their minds, attitudes and behaviours captured and directed by various oligarchical monsters and their mass media propaganda horns. About the only chance of safe active travel becoming extant is for the population at large to become mostly too poor to afford a car, ironically one other likely outcome of the machinations of those same power and money-mad monsters that have created the car-issue in the first place. Their need for zero-sum socio-economic arrangements degrades everything, including the wallet-contents of the masses.
@Astralstroll The hierarchy of road users does not mean priority of road users except in certain circumstances, e.g. stopping to let pedestrians cross junctions before turning. It doesn't mean that cyclists have priority over motor vehicles at all times any more than the pedestrians have priority over cyclists at all times. It certainly doesn't mean that you have priority in the circumstances you describe; personally, unless the driver is being a complete dick, on a narrow country lane I accept that it is easier for me to turn around and go back to the nearest passing place, which is never that far if you're on a bike, than for a tractor or other large vehicle to reverse back down the road for my benefit.
If you were spending that much money on the device the obvious thing to do is to book a couple of hours in a velodrome for testing in a stable environment, I can't understand why Road.cc tried to do it outdoors.
@Astralstroll The Hierarchy of Road Users, announced with great fanfares in 2022, has been rendered into complete fiction by the attitude of the police: there is this hierarchy/ priority list but we don't take it seriously and if drivers ignore it we don't care! The same applies to the ludicrous notice of close-passing - No KSI'd cyclist = No Offence ttps://upride.cc/incident/lwa190_minicooper_hierarchy/
90 thoughts on ““We’re just numbers, pawns at Ineos,” says Pavel Sivakov after Vuelta snub; Government finally trials bolt down barriers on car and bin-filled cycle lane; U23 Paris-Roubaix winner in coma after “hitting back of car hard” + more on the live blog”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk
“Drivers face tougher sentences for killing pedestrians”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66593086
Not objecting to that, but I
Not objecting to that, but I’d also like to see much longer revocations of driving licenses.
I’d like to see any Dangerous
I’d like to see any Dangerous Driving conviction trigger an automatic lifetime ban
Drivers should face more
Drivers should face more serious punishment for all serious driving offences and the fact someone is a vulnerable road user shouldn’t really factor into it.
All the laws around cars suggest that its perfectly normal and reasonable to drive intentionally badly as long as you aren’t unlucky and hurt someone. The number of times drivers pass me on blind corners is ridiculous. They are gambling like all the other awful and willfully dangerous drivers out there.
Perhaps if we were more proactive about stopping bad driving we wouldn’t have to worry quite as much about how harsh the punishment should be when shock shock horror, they aren’t lucky and they hurt or kill someone.
Boils my blood when people are treated with massive leniency because they “are of good character and its their first offence”. No they aren’t and no it wasn’t. Its not my first murder if I have committed 10 and got away with the first 9. People who have accidents from bad driving have been bad drivers for a long time. They just ran out of luck.
mctrials23 wrote:
Agree with your whole post but this struck a chord. The number of times I’m passed in an unsafe way is unbelievable. I see drivers constantly passing cyclists in a way that, were I driving, I simply would not. Seems like there’s a large percentage of drivers that do not know how to pass a cyclist and probably do not actually care. If they screw up I want them to be punished.
Miller wrote:
Another agreeing with Mr 23 – although not really with the revenge-style punishments often demanded here with a wave of the pitchfork or burning brand.
Prevention is far, far better than cure. It’s of little recompense to one maimed or murdered if Mr or Ms Carloon is sent to be beaten, raped and otherwise utterly degraded in prison. The brief joy at such a sentence amongst the bereaved is generally very short lived, as the grief returns once more.
Best prevention would be to deal with the fundamental causes so as to stop the murdering & maiming in the first place.
The first and foremost method could be to radically change the nature of car and road designs, which should not provide opportunities, nay exhortations (aka adverts) to drive madly at silly speeds and without attention. There are also many technologies now available that could prevent carloons from looning in these ways.
The next preventative, as you both mention, is to prevent actually and potentially murderous offenders from having further opportunities to carloon about. Permanent driving bans for ’em; similar penalties on any suppliers (those who sell or lend a car to a banned carloon). And heavy enforcement of these penalties.
Stuffing carloons into prisons for an absolute degradation and the inculcation of their consequent huge disaffection & resentment, not to mention more criminal techniques taught them by other denizens of the places – that’s no prevention if carloons know that only 1 in 100 of them may be caught, especially if they can also afford that Loophole or similar. It also costs we taxpayers the proverbial bomb.
No need to worry: the
No need to worry: the comprehensive review of road laws will be along any minute. This government wouldn’t lie to us would they?
Remember folks, don’t feed
Remember folks, don’t feed the troll. Every time you reply to them, they go back under their bridge for a crafty wank. Possibly also a doughnut.
Capability Without
Capability Without Accountability split up in the late ’80s when their guitarist “Fast” DJ Chadders was accidentally killed in a bizarre crown green bowling accident. Do keep up.
(I know I’m replying to the wrong comment but I’m trying to play by the rules here).
That’s where Crown Green
That’s where Crown Green Bowling Accident got their name from. They started out as a tribute act but as the drink and drugs took over they forgot who they were a tribute to.
A tragic but common story.
A tragic but common story. Oasis lost touch with their florist’s shop roots as soon as they hit the big time, tried to regain it with “what’s the story, morning glory” but soon the best they could hope for was an allotment.
The allotment was the
The allotment was the beginning of the end, and the many problems were compounded when one of the two brothers left the band just before they were about to go on stage after an argument about who had the biggest marrow.
I liked their greatet hits
I liked their greatest hits album “open, pour and be yourself once more!”
Looks like KYA has been
Looks like KYA has been banhammered at last. Well done mods, though if one could make a small plea without seeming ungrateful, could he be dealt with a little more swiftly next time he pops up (as he inevitably will) under another name? It does make a bit of a mockery of things when everybody knows they are a previously banned user but they are allowed to stay for weeks or months doing exactly the same things they were banned for in the first place.
At least we’ve had a laugh
At least we’ve had a laugh coming up with a new strategy for handling his transparent nonsense this time.
Incidentally, Transparent
Incidentally, Transparent Nonsense are playing at the Roundhouse next week.
Nice…
Nice…
Chapeau sir
Chapeau sir
I never really liked prog.
I never really liked prog.
SimoninSpalding wrote:
BURN THE HERETIC!
I still want to visit
I still want to visit Percypigmadeupville though.
I agree
I agree
Clem Fandango wrote:
May I ask what the strategy was?
(Sorry if I missed it.)
For a flavour, see the
For a flavour, see the replies to Jeremy Corbyn for PM below…
Has toryboy/lednersirrah
Has toryboy/lednersirrah/thisismyusername gone too ?
Comments are still up under
Comments are still up under Jeremy Corbyn for PM…
Perhaps Road.cc should take
Perhaps Road.cc should take the lead and require all contributors to post under their real name!!!!
If you think I’d trust
If you think I’d trust legionella braverman not to misuse any data, you’ve another thought coming!
I’ll be honest that if that
I’ll be honest that if that was required, I would stop posting here.
I have an unusual name and could very easily be identified/located out on ‘tinterweb.
Has it got de Pfeffel in it ?
Has it got de Pfeffel in it ?
No, sorry
And before you ask: no, it
And before you ask: no, it isn’t Rumpelstilskin
Are you Lord Lucan?
Are you Lord Lucan?
brooksby wrote:
So have I – this one! However I am in the privileged position of working as a freelance, I can quite understand why people in other situations wouldn’t want to be identified. It’s fine as is here really I think, they just need to be a bit more proactive in removing the blatant trolls and especially the PBUs.
Just say you’re not that
Just say you’re not that Engelbert Humperdinck, but another chap of the same name.
I know what you mean though. I have an unusual name myself – none of the other men in my family are called Chris.
chrisonatrike wrote:
You could claim to be the person from whom Mr Dorsey lifted his stagename, although as he’s been dead since 1921 that might not be too credible.
….and so say all of us.
….and so say all of us.
Rendel Harris wrote:
What a joke. Mods are disgraceful bunch and utterly corrupt. Just like the Labour party.
When do you go Rendel? Mr high-and-mighty lead road.cc commentator?
This wishy washy rule business and inconsistent ban hammer is ridiculous and needs to be called out.
Jeremy Corbyn for PM wrote:
Well Jezza, not sure you realised this but Old knobber was a PBU, you don’t think PBU’s should be re-banned?
As you are quite a new poster
As you are quite a new poster* can you tell me what is inconsistent ban hammering? Someone who has been on the site under multiple guises and banned for racist content under a few of them, and who the mods state is not welcome is banned again.
So tell me why he shouldn’t be banned?
*Or do you want to tell us why you were banned last time and why it was inconsistent?
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
There are plenty of instances of comments which i believe to have been over the line that stay up.
As I mentioned, don’t report them as the road.cc inbox is not monitored.
Perhaps you could enlighten me or the mods can on exactly why KYA was banned?
Jeremy Corbyn for PM wrote:
So no-one actually knows why he was banned?
Very typical it appears of road.cc – indiscriminate and corrupt
My wife’s gone and done it
My wife’s gone and done it again – she put the washing out before we took the dogs a walk. I kept telling her it looked like rain but once again she wouldn’t listen. She’s a real risk taker, life is a rollercoaster living with her. Anyway it didn’t rain. But it could have.
perce wrote:
To be fair, that is pretty perilous. Glad it didn’t rain for you though
So to be clear, no-one knows why KYA was banned? Sounds about right for this hotbed of corruption.
Hotbed of corruption? Wasn’t
Hotbed of corruption? Wasn’t that Robert Fripps first band? I think he lives in Pershore. Well his wife does anyway.
“Hotbed of corruption” was
“Hotbed of corruption” was actually an early mistranslated calque for “potpourri”. A “fragrant error” indeed…
Indded he lives just down
Indeed he lives just down from Cafe Nerd. You know, round the corner from where the death races start.
Banned for being a previous
Banned for being a previous banned user, one who was previously banned for both racisim and misogynisitc comments previously. So it might not have been something he has stated in this personna, just for being someone trying to circumvent an obvious previous banning.
Shame the other wanker is
Shame the other wanker is still here and not banned for being a PBU.
Hirsute wrote:
Shame about them – if not just another persona of course. They seemed to have been radicalised by boo/nige/…/kya. Over a short period they noticeably changed and adopted a similar approach. Including returning from beyond the block!
If they are TIMY, (and
If they are TIMY, (and looking at some of the comments to Ren about his personal circumstances, I can’t see why not), I suppose being accused of being boo/nige/…/kya early on must have mentally effected the person into becoming just like them in the end.
chrisonatrike wrote:
Shame about them – if not just another persona of course. They seemed to have been radicalised by boo/nige/…/kya. Over a short period they noticeably changed and adopted a similar approach. Including returning from beyond the block!— Hirsute
I think it was the unlamented Martin73 who really turned username to the bad, he was always a bit here for the fight (if I recall correctly, wasn’t his first ever post as username about what a terrible left-wing Corbynista pro-EU mob we are?) but it was Martin who started the whole personal attacks business (“you live in your wife’s flat, you’re only online because she lets you use her laptop” etc – honestly!) and he then gleefully joined in along with Nigel and his many aliases. It’s a shame because when he forgot about being a bully and actually talked about cycling he was clearly interested and had a contribution to make, unlike Martin who was solely here to explain to everybody why cycling was rubbish apart from a very him-specific commuter niche.
Wasn’t the first post but
Wasn’t the first post but they did put
“You’re all TROLLS
This is such a left wing Corbynista, anti-eu and anti-Johnson site
just can’t stand you toffee nosed snobs”
And they got very upset when reminded of their post.
That’s the one! Always loved
That’s the one! Always loved the anti-EU accusation in the middle.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Well I can’t criticise those engaging in a bit of sarcasm and wind up without hypocrisy… I guess it’s in the “how”. Now you mention it I believe you’re correct on how this happened.
socraticyclist / martin73 seems to have espoused* a rather particular version of “vehicular cycling” (seem to be quite a few particularly argumentative types who hold this view). Plus some beef with kids cycling (despite IIRC claiming to be a cycling trainer). Their view seemed to be cycling should not be favoured in any way – rather the opposite. For one most (normal) people don’t do it (in the UK…). After all it makes you sweaty! They expressed contempt towards other cyclists – unskilled, undisciplined or weak (also shared with boo/nigel/KYA) compared to them. Cycle campaigners were seen as spoilt children whining when the adults rightly pick them up on their selfish follies.
* If they actually were exposing their personal view as opposed to just making argument.
Ah yes, Martin the (supposed)
Ah yes, Martin the (alleged) Bikeability trainer who said that cyclists should ride 99% of the time in the gutter because if drivers can’t see you they won’t hit you and that women don’t want to cycle because they don’t want oil on their Louboutins (sp?) or for their hair to end up looking like an explosion in the Decthalon aisle…althought that sort of idiocy was pretty amusing really, it was when he went on to start making up and regularly repeating false stories about other posters’ (alright, mainly my) employment and lifestyles and, unforgiveably, making insulting remarks about their partners that he crossed the line, eagerly followed by Nigel and username.
Rendel Harris wrote:
If I remember right, it were Nigel who went off to ask his mother’s opinion on something. And once you’ve opened the Yo Momma door, it ain’t ever closed.
Wishy Washy Rule were a very
Wishy Washy Rule were a very underrated band in my opinion. They should have won the Eurovision song contest but inexplicably Puppet on a String was chosen as our entry instead. I know we won but I still think their song was better.
I think as a tribute act,
I think as a tribute act, “Inconsistent Ban Hammer” is worth looking up and going to see, his version of “Crockett’s Theme” is superb.
For some reason I was getting
For some reason I was getting him mixed up with Jan Akkerman from seventies yodelling pop group Focus. In my opinion one of the finest yodelling pop groups ever.
I’d forgotten all about Wishy
I’d forgotten all about Wishy Washy rule. Didn’t Carter USM sample their track “cyber bully” on Sherrif Fatman?
Ban Hammer won the Eurovision
Ban Hammer won the Eurovision song contest back in ’91 if I remember correctly. Truly the first group to put scandinavian death metal on the Eurovision map. Their lead singer, Ahti Moshinen, was famous for consuming 30 Starbucks “Espressos” a day at the height of their fame (which came much later).
I once met him years ago in
I once met him years ago in Costa. I pointed out to him that in my opinion Starbucks coffee was so much better, so I feel partly responsible for his later Starbucks addiction. He bought me a doughnut.
Did you get him to autograph
Did you get him to autograph it?
I only wish I had, it would
I only wish I had, it would be worth pounds now.
Was he buying a lemon tart to
Was he buying a lemon tart to go with his coffee?
kinderje wrote:
Lemon Tart? I think I was at college with her.
Jeremy Corbyn for PM wrote:
Well, I can understand why it’s a problem for you, given that you have been banned before. If you have instances where I’ve transgressed the site T&Cs as you did and KYA has in every one of his multiple personas to get banned, feel free to report them to info@road.cc and I’m sure they’ll deal with it (contrary to the assertions of yourself and Nigel, I have no connections with, or influence over, this site other than being a subscriber; if I did you would have been re-banned as soon as you reappeared, for a start). Otherwise, as I said to you many times when you were thisismyusername, if you think this site is so awful and corrupt and biased, why do you keep coming back? Many other cycling websites are available.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I don’t know how the road.cc team have time to manage your profile and their own.
No, the inbox is not monitored. I nor KYA (as far as I know) have ever had a response
Pathetic Whims. Now there
Pathetic Whims. Now there was a band that knew how to tour.
The ’87 “I need help” tour lasted nearly 6 years, revisiting the same venues several times for some reason.
EDIT: they were known to edit their own material too
Clem Fandango wrote:
I think we need a new forum thread for “Detailed discussion of bands that never existed” 😉
brooksby wrote:
The Matt Berry Project 1974
(trigger warning)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxB4_uZyWAI
It reminds me a little bit of Frankenstein by the Edgar Winters Group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8f-Qb-bwlU
I read that as the Mary Berry
I read that as the Mary Berry Project!!
Not as good as the originals – they were a bit half-baked!
kinderje wrote:
Now I want to see Mary Berry in a prog rock group
Mary Berry and the Soggy
Mary Berry and the Soggy Bottom Project? On the same bill as Cream, Tangerine Dream, The Strawbs and Egg.*
*Egg were a thing, Dave Stewart on keyboards
Rendel Harris wrote:
Maybe include Magnum and The Mars Volta
Rendel Harris wrote:
I remember the Soggy Bottom Boys! An early gig didn’t go down well with the local politicos.
Encore by Hot Chocolate?
Encore by Hot Chocolate?
kinderje wrote:
Or Sweet.
Rendel Harris wrote:
Or The Jam. Or Half Man Half Biscuit.
mark1a wrote:
Cake for me. I will of course be doing the cakewalk.
Jeremy Corbyn for PM wrote:
Hyperbole, much?
brooksby wrote:
More poking the tiger – what was that Terry Pratchett quote about standing on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting ‘All gods are bastards’?
chrisonatrike wrote:
Was that Pratchett or was it Douglas Adams?
(edit) Google is your friend. It was indeed Sir Terry.
brooksby wrote:
Probably a better one would be
a cyclist who has allegedly
a cyclist who has allegedly scratched 20 cars parked on the same road over a five-year period.
Amateur.
https://www.smh.com.au
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/police-chase-cyclist-over-20-cars-scratched-on-one-road-20230821-p5dy7f.html
Have to say that Sivakov
Have to say that Sivakov certainly hasn’t really fulfilled the expectations. Watched him in the final break in the Tour of Germany this afternoon and he never looked like winning.
darnac wrote:
He certainly looked well off his game today but given that he’s leaving INEOS anyway and has publicly stated how pissed off with them he is he may not be the most motivated rider in the peleton right now. Maybe the move to UAE will fire him up a bit. Having said that he’s never looked to me quite like he deserved the hype, possibly another two or three top 10 GTs but never a winner.
What will Boulting and Millar
What will Boulting and Millar say about Sivakov now? He was world class and would with a GT. Though this screech this about all Ineos riders.
What now that he is no longer at Ineos? An also-ran?