Live blog: How to win a Zwift race by Ian Bibby; Will Norman tells Karren Brady that cycle lanes don’t cause congestion; The dead otter question; Deer oh dear; Jens Voigt on racing as a parent; Europe’s best hotel is a cycling hotel + more
SUMMARY
Deer oh dear
Canadian Cycling Magazine reports that this cyclist was descending Mount Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona last weekend when he fell victim to a jaywalker. The footage was captured by the rear-facing action camera of the bike in front of him.
The bike suffered a shattered frame, the cyclist suffered a broken foot and road rash. The deer can be seen bounding off at the end.
More collisions and near misses involving cyclists and deer.
Dimension Data's new BMC race bikes
Team Dimension Data have switched from Cervelo to BMC bikes for the 2019 season, and the team appear to be happy with the new equipment. Well they wouldn’t say anything bad about their new sponsor now would they!
Jens Voigt on racing once you're a parent
Jens has six kids.
“With every child born, I did brake a little earlier,” he said.
Via the Economic Times.
Cross-country cyclist taken out by big slab of ice
It’s not just deer you have to watch out for while cycling in the States (see below) – it’s also great big slabs of ice.
While riding through Pennsylvania on his sixth coast-to-coast ride to raise awareness of breast cancer, Brett Bundy was hospitalised by a great lump of the stuff that came off a passing car.
“If it was any bigger, it would have killed me,” he told KTVZ.
He’s taking a week off before recommencing his journey.
Spring classics are just a few months away
But that hasn’t stopped Team Katusha-Alpecin from doing a recon of the pave for the Tour of Flanders. Seems a bit early no?
and… Ebike Vs Light bike climbing challenge
Big Dave takes on Little Liam on the climb up Cheddar Gorge – watch it here.
Yesterday we were mainly talking about… Grayson Perry on MAMILs
Artist, national treasure, and cyclist Grayson Perry talked about his Dutch roadster and offered the opinion that many MAMILs confused status with function (or was it the other way around?), either way plenty of comment was offered back. You can read more/add your own two penn’orth about that here
Mtb works wonders for mental health
The trails of Glentress in Scotland have been used to test pilot a new mountain bike scheme to support mental health patients in the UK, and shown that 10 participants found the sport beneficial as part of a ‘therapeutic recovery programme’. Read more on off.road.cc.
this is one hell of a thread with a lot of good points
A thread on the hypocrisy of car cultures (feel free to add your own, it’s fun!):
A person driving to the gym is a legitimate road user, but a person cycling to work is not.— Tony Arnold (@TonyArnold74) January 23, 2019
If one person reads it and changes their views a little, this guy’s done a good job.
Cyclist injured after hitting pothole finds legal process has outlasted the road repairs
Injured two years ago, he’s going to be examined in March for signs of long-term damage. Meanwhile, the pothole responsible has already reappeared.
TripAdvisor votes Belvedere bike hotel Best Hotel in Europe, Best Hotel in Italy… 2nd Best Hotel in World!
Always nice to see your friends doing well, especially when you know how much work they put in to being the best. If you’ve ever been there – maybe on the road.cc Italy Week – you’ll know what a special place the Belvedere is. The hotel as been a regular fixture in TripAdvisor’s Traveller’s Choice Awards over the last few years, but they’ve outdone themselves this year. Chapeau!
Oh, and we’ll be heading out there in June for some sun, cycling, and superb food… full details to follow but our stay will include entry in to the local Gran Fondo (quite hilly) if you fancy it.
You can find out more about the Belvedere here.
London cycling commissioner tells baroness that cycle lanes are the solution to congestion not the problem
Last week Baroness Karren Brady said of the decision to repurpose one of two eastbound traffic lanes on the Embankment to create a cycle superhighway, “Everyone knows this was a mistake but TfL and the Mayor won’t say so for fear of upsetting the powerful cycling lobby.”
Writing in the London Evening Standard, she suggested rerouting the cycle lane.
This week, in the same newspaper, Will Norman has responded.
He points out that the road was congested long before there was a cycle lane, “and it still would be if it were again just a motorway. Drivers would fill the available space, when what we need are fewer vehicles and better alternatives — exactly what the cycle lane delivers.”
Extra security for Cambridge's £2.5m CyclePoint as thieves target parts
Victim says security is ‘a joke’.
Dartmoor wildlife expert wants to know why man was cycling along East Devon road with dead otter strapped to his bike
Devon Live reports that the otter was bagged in the middle with its head and feet poking out either side.
“As we overtook the man on his bicycle, we suddenly noticed a huge tail sticking out of the bike rack,” said University of Exeter researcher Adrian Colston on Twitter.
“It was obviously an otter. But we weren’t in a position to stop him and ask him. Maybe it was a road accident, and the man was cycling along and decided to pick it up?”
He continued: “Otters are a protected species and this guy is blatantly cycling with it on the back of the bike – he’s not trying to hide it.
“Perhaps he is a wildlife conservationist himself? I wanted to know from people in my network whether it was someone investigating why it died. He may have even been a taxidermist.”
How to win a Zwift race by Ian Bibby, a man who won won a pro Zwift race
Look at those watts! The moment @IanBibby86 dropped the hammer and smashed the first round of the #ZwiftKSL pic.twitter.com/sHqbeal3F6
— MadisonGenesis (@MadisonGenesis) January 23, 2019
Ride at the front of the group, close down moves early and “go balls out” – hopefully not literally – Ian Bibby’s tips for winning on Zwift after he won the first ever virtual pro bike race on Zwift, earlier this week.
Driver fined after pulling out on triathlete at roundabout
Motorist accepts she “overlooked” cyclist.
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And I don’t know when you wrote this but I think it was published 9 days after Onley was confirmed out of the Tour.
Paul Seixas’ team is Decathlon CMA CGM
The best thing about the TTT as Stage 1 is that it emphasises the fact that cycling grand tours incl the TDF are a team sport.
If you click through and read the story you'll see that the first motorist hit the cyclist, and the second, following, motorist then also hit them while they were lying in the road - both were convicted of causing the cyclist's death.
I may be reading far too much into it, but I felt as though Pogacar and UAE weren't actually that bothered about winning today. Not having yellow to defend and all the extra press etc to do this early in the race is an indisputable advantage; I just got the impression that they were out to lose no more than a handful of seconds but not to bury themselves for the win. With about 2.5kms to go I thought that if Pogacar really wanted it he would have gone from there, but he stayed with Del Toro for nearly another kilometre even though the body language was saying that no way was Del Toro in as good shape as Pogacar. Even after the finish he didn't seem as wiped out as Ganna (whom I don't think I've ever seen quite so shattered) or Jonas. As I say, might be reading too much into it but I would not be surprised if UAE had played a very clever hand not to lose any meaningful time but to avoid the burden of yellow from the get go.
@tomlew It's not his youth so much as his inexperience. He's never ridden a race longer than eight days before. Pogacar won his first Tour, it's true, but he'd already finished a Vuelta. There's simply to much for him to learn and become accustomed to in my opinion for him to have a realistic chance of victory, particularly as he's up against probably the greatest of all time and a double Tour winner, both of whom seem to be at the peak of their powers. It's not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility but he'd need a hatful of luck and something fairly catastrophic to happen to both of those guys before he'd realistically be in with a shout. Don't forget nobody has won their first Grand Tour since Hinault in 1978, forty-eight years is a hell of a lot of precedent.
There is no rational reason for a rider this young not to dominate the race, other than some of us believing this is "not right" based purely on opinion. Younger athletes recover much, much faster. They adapt more easily. They are typically more eager to take risks, which is... well, risky, but could pay off big time if the stars align. Burnout? Yes, that is a risk. But it's not a given. See how long Leo Messi has been absolutely top-notch. The risks are high, but the potential is even more so. And even if Seixas does burn out early, it may just be his choice despite the awareness of the risk. If I were a prodigy cyclist youngster with a realistic shot at winning, I might take it even if I knew it might be the end of my career. After all, it's winning the TdF we're talking about!
@Rendel Harris Let's turn this around. One can hack their electronic shifting and nobody will believe them!
I’m confused: “ A driver who took a selfie, watched videos and sent messages at the wheel before killing a cyclist was jailed for five years, whilst a hit-and-run motorist who subsequently struck the same rider….” How does that work? Resurrection? Did the poor unfortunate cyclist recover from his/her case of death, only to be hit by a motorist again? Please, I don’t mean to make light of either case, merely to point out the poor/lazy journalism….
It was certainly an exciting watch today. Surprised that INEOS selected Ganna and Tarling. It felt like win at all costs and they didn't quite manage it. Personally I would rather see more riders having to stay together till the finish. It will reduce opportunities for teams to "rest" climbing domestiques and it preserves the spectacle and identity of the TTT discipline. Great start to the tour. Vingegaard is obviously in outstanding shape, but will he pay for today's effort later on.
5 thoughts on “Live blog: How to win a Zwift race by Ian Bibby; Will Norman tells Karren Brady that cycle lanes don’t cause congestion; The dead otter question; Deer oh dear; Jens Voigt on racing as a parent; Europe’s best hotel is a cycling hotel + more”
Awesome – almost a twofer
Awesome – almost a twofer
Daily hazard round here but fortunately the forest is relatively flat so you’re rarely doing a full beans descent.
Unfortunately they don’t have insurance or pay road tax. Prefer venison to gammon though.
kil0ran wrote:
Don’t they teach deer the Green Cross Code? Where’s Tufty when he’s needed? Surely he could be brought in to discuss road safety with his forest pals?
Pull the ‘Otter’ one.. it’s
Pull the ‘Otter’ one.. it’s got bells on.
peted76 wrote:
The explanation is clear; their kettle was broken.
So they needed a water otter.
I’ll get my hat.
Baroness Karren Brady says
Baroness Karren Brady says there is a powerful cycling lobby. Oh really? If it’s so powerful, why aren’t the roads safe, why aren’t there proper cycle facilities everwhere, why isn’t 30% of transport funding spent on cycling, why are we still waiting for the government inquiry into road law? Because she’s a liar. You only have to look at the real hierarchy in our transport system to realise who has all the power, and it sure ain’t cyclists.
The only way we are powerful is our arguments, which are utterly compelling, but although we win all the arguments, we still don’t get the funding or support.