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Live blog: Will Norman corrects reporter who claimed London cycling in decline, Trek says its Domane+ e-bike does Tour de France speeds, Strava says 50-59s clock up most bike miles +more
Meanwhile, Chris Froome is today’s unlikely source of banter on social media as he compares his legendary jog up the Ventoux to Christmas shopping!
Wed, Dec 19, 2018 16:36
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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
Oldblokey 3 hours ago
With so many people using and looking at mobie phones whilst driving and other distractions, may I suggest you always wear Hi viz and stay at home.
kil0ran 3 hours ago
The design of the "car" has played a role in this. SUVs and what the Americans call "trucks" are exempt from the pedestrian safety regulations which apply to passenger cars. Had the victim been hit by a car designed in the past twenty years he would have been "scooped" onto the bonnet and either over the roof or off to one side. Still a serious injury risk and potentially fatal but they have the benefit of those passive safety systems to improve their chances. With vehicles with such a high bonnet line as this Volvo has what tends to happen is the person bounces off the bonnet and falls on the road in front of the vehicle where they're then run over. This has happened time and time again and is becoming more of an issue as the numbers of vehicles exempt from the safety standards grows.
whosatthewheel 5 hours ago
@Accessibility for all Reducing the speeds wouldn't have helped in this case as the driver was reported doing 65 in a 40 zone on the approach to the junction, his driving described by the witnesses as erratic and evidently had no intention to stop to give way even though he had been warned by the passenger who apparently shouted "bike" three times just before the collision. He would have likely flown through that junction even if it was traffic light controlled with a red light for him at the time. In my own experience the entire area i.e. east of Lymm towards Warburton and along Dunham Road all the way up to Altrincham and past into Hale Barns, all those wealthy, posh settlements around Manchester Airport are best avoided by road cyclists. A disproportionally high number of psycho drivers must for some reason live in that area because every single time I went there on my road bike in the past, I either got harassed myself or witnessed proper dickhead driving - speeding, close passes, overtaking into oncoming traffic or round a blind bend, accelerating towards pedestrians already crossing the road, you name it. I gave up road cycling in that area years ago and only use the local TPT these days.
Hollis Jones 5 hours ago
In respect of the murder charge: based on him hitting Mr Mullins and making no attempt to help him (this killing him), how would the case compare to a hit and run driver who seriously injures or kills a cyclist, knowingly, and flees the scene without helping? Would this make the cut for a murder charge? Or is there something very different going on here that I’m missing? Genuinely curious because I don’t recall there being a murder charge before for this kind of thing unless it was premeditated. In fact, in my experience most cases like this seem to go the opposite way - where the driver can merely say the sun was in their eyes and get away with a slap on the hands.
jaymack 6 hours ago
@Rendel Harris...and there was me dishing out the praise!
whosatthewheel 6 hours ago
@polainm He must also be an already hardened criminal. It wasn't mentioned during the court proceedings to avoid influencing the jurors and ensuring he had a fair trial, but he had been released from prison shortly before this incident and was couch surfing at his cousin's house days before. Just look at his face, he's only 35, but looks older than his victim who was 56. Must have spent half his adult life in prison.
Rendel Harris 6 hours ago
@jaymack They did offer him manslaughter though but he declined to plead guilty. Without wanting to seem curmudgeonly, yes great that they preferred the most serious charges but hard to see how they could have done differently considering that Richardson got out of the car, saw Mr Mullins was stuck underneath and then got back in and carried on. That clearly moved it above anything that falls under death by dangerous driving.
Velophaart_95 6 hours ago
@thrawed Agree - the UK winters are utterly grim; grey, wet & windy. Not the type of weather you really want to go out and ride. Everything get covered in filth, and takes time to clean it after a ride. Oh for colder, drier & crisper days which can be enjoyable to be out in.
polainm 7 hours ago
@ymm In my view, lax sentencing of dangerous drivers, especially where cyclists are involved, makes the judge, jury and CPS complicit in UK driver culture. This driver is a sociopath.
slc 7 hours ago
@Mr Blackbird i reckon the libido is a bit overrated. I'd let that go rather than a limb or a nice bike.
6 thoughts on “Live blog: Will Norman corrects reporter who claimed London cycling in decline, Trek says its Domane+ e-bike does Tour de France speeds, Strava says 50-59s clock up most bike miles +more”
The Amsterdam moped ban is a
The Amsterdam moped ban is a good thing (obviously).
Having lived there for a year, I can attest that many exceeded the speed limit, and drove recklessly around cyclists and pedestrians.
Seeing the larger capacity mopeds using the bike lanes was a regular occurrence too, despite them being banned.
Increase in use of cycle
Increase in use of cycle lanes on Vauxhall Bridge would probably be even higher had they not stuck ruddy great concrete and armco barriers in one of the lanes!
It’s a concern how close you are to cyclists passing in the opposite direction with pedestrians encroaching on one side, and downright scary when someone goes for a questionable overtake! 5 far wider lanes for motorised traffic though!
I’m not sure “words of advice
I’m not sure “words of advice” is the best way to deal with stupid/irresponsible/careless/agressive motorists. I can do that myself, and do so on an almost daily basis….. Although I suppose you often couldn’t really call it advice as such.
Interesting to read that the
Interesting to read that the older groups are the busiest cyclists. Do the manufacturers read and believe that to be the case? Manufacturers aim their best kit at the much smaller group of pros and athletically better young riders but the older groups generally have more money to spend on their hobbies and have different technical requirements. I don’t, for one minute believe doing away with the triple chainring setup or reducing mtb’s to a single chainring is in the interests of the over 50’s.
Dingaling wrote:
You will also note that those in that age group have an above average speed too! I suspect that is more to do with the demograph of that group who actually log their rides on Strava.
Manufacturers aim their top end kit at those that want quality without too much concern over price. They also often have ranges of more affordable kit, or other manufacturers target that part of the market, so there is something for everyone.
Often it is the older generation that have more disposable income. Supply to pro riders foc is advertising and a test bed. I freely admit to liking top quality kit and am willing to pay for it. It is all down to disposable income and how one chooses to spend it. Cycling is my passion and I spend a fair chunk on it, better that than fast women, loose cars and drugs! (Yes, that was deliberate!)
As regards triple chainrings, well, you can get MTB like gear ratios with a double on a road bike these days so I don’t quite buy your argument. Again, single chainring MTBs have huge cassettes which gives low enough gears if you choose correctly. It has been done for simplicity and more reliable performance, not to get at the over 50s.
You need to remember that you are one individual and not typical of the norm. I’m over 50, ride with several different groups where I am one of the youngest, and none of the fifty or so cyclists that I know in that age bracket (or significantly above) have any issue with a double chainring (or lack of a triple). Oh, and I live at the foot of the Peak District, so hills are our playground. Pick your front and rear ratios to suit your ability/ fitness/ terrain, there are plenty available.
mtb like gearing on a road
mtb like gearing on a road double is not particularly good, for many reasons that have been covered over and over again.
I don’t want an 11-34 or 36 or 42 tooth sprocket, I like my 11/12-28 with a triple and a 24 inner means I can get up pretty much anything even with a load.
Having the stupidly big jumps on MTB like road gearing using a double or worse a single ring, is cack.