Welcome to Monday on the road.cc live blog with Simon MacMichael, Jack Sexty and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Kill Bill stuntwoman in shocking distracted driving video, More Dafne Fixed ski madness, Jason Kenny’s early celebration, GB CX Worlds squad, Jens Voigt prods ‘Snowflake’ generation + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we start a new week
Mon, Jan 28, 2019 21:20
SUMMARY
28 January 2019, 21:20
Weekend catch-up
Click through on the headlines to catch up on some of the other stories you may have missed over the weekend.
Near Miss of the Day 243: Driver towing caravan almost hits cyclist as they overtake at pinch point
All the 2019 pro race bikes, but which is your pick of the peloton?
LEJOG record holder to give talk at this year’s Hammersmith Cyclists’ Film Show
28 January 2019, 21:20
Video: New South Wales motorist films himself driving along bike path ... to overtake cyclists ... footage goes viral on Facebook (includes swearing - lots of it)
A motorist in New South Wales who was angry about a couple of cyclists riding two abreast on the road in front of him (not illegal) drove along a bike path to overtake them, hurling abuse as he went and filming the incident on a mobile phone (all illegal). The footage had 12 million views on Facebook within 12 hours of being posted yesterday. Follow this link to see it.
28 January 2019, 21:20
Teenage driver who killed cyclist after "misjudgement" on narrow road handed community service and driving ban
A number of road.cc readers at the weekend contrasted the punishment handed to the Iain Plumb for hitting a horse during the cycling leg of the Royal Windsor Triathlon with the community order handed to a 19-year-old driver convicted of causing the death through careless driving of cyclist Jason Ingle in Lincolnshire last year.
Hadley Fisher was given 300 hours of community work and was been banned from driving for two years after admitting the offence. He had been overtaking Mr Ingle at 60mph on a narrow road when the fatal crash happened.
28 January 2019, 21:20
The cyclist who hit a horse during last year's Royal Windsor Triathlon has been found guilty of riding without due consideration
A triathlete who hit a horse during the cycling section of last year’s Royal Windsor Triathlon has been ordered to pay £926 after being found guilty of riding without due consideration.
Video footage from the event, which took place on June 17, showed a number of cyclists closely passing a horse and rider on both sides at significant speed. Iain Plumb made contact as he passed.
Plumb had already been given a lifetime ban from participating in events organised by Human Race.
28 January 2019, 21:20
How did Pedal Me get on in their Dragons’ Den appearance?
London-based cargo bike taxi and delivery service Pedal Me made their much-anticipated Dragons’ Den appearance last night.
Tonight’s first nail-biter – will Ben, Robert, Chris AND their bike get in the lift? #dragonsden pic.twitter.com/cYVaxZFwuM
— BBC Dragons’ Den (@BBCDragonsDen) January 27, 2019
We already knew they’d got a bit of a savaging from Touker Souleyman, who called them “delusional” – so how did they get on? Well, you can watch them on Dragons’ Den on BBC iPlayer here (they’fre the first pitch), otherwise click through to the show’s Twitter feed and scroll upwards from the tweet above to find out.
28 January 2019, 21:20
Jens Voigt the ‘Snowflake’ generation want instant riches without the hard work,
Ex-professional cyclist Jens Voigt says today’s ‘Snowflake’ generation want instant riches without putting the hard work in.
Speaking to India’s Economic Times during a trip to Mumbai, the 47-year-old, who began his career with a four-year stint in a specialist sports unit of the German army, contrasted his experience with that of young people coming into the sport now.
“Millennials or snowflakes, or whatever you want to call them, struggle with the idea of having to work hard to be up there,” he said.
“They want to be a millionaire in two weeks. It doesn’t work like that. You have got to be realistic about yourself, work hard and when you get results, you get a reward. You cannot start a career asking for rewards and maybe 10 years later you deliver.
“That’s the lesson I’m teaching my kids — work hard first and then everything else will come.”
In the interview, the father-of-six also talks about family life and how wanting to get home to his kids “in one piece” after races led to younger riders teasing him, “Hey Jens, you’re descending like a grandmother!”
28 January 2019, 21:20
When your next door neighbour steals your KOM...
No need for an alarm clock at my Nanna’s house this morning when you have plank wars going off at 8am pic.twitter.com/rJH37JiKox
— taran stokoe (@StokoeTaran) January 26, 2019
28 January 2019, 21:20
Why investment in cycling isn't a waste of money
The Dutch invest €595 million—or €35 per resident—annually on cycling (15 times that of nearby England). Seem expensive?
Those 17 million people collectively cycle 15.5 billion km.—or 912 km. per resident—annually, saving their healthcare system €19 billion (3% of their GDP). pic.twitter.com/x2S1UApvVj
— Modacity (@modacitylife) January 27, 2019
28 January 2019, 21:20
And some more...
Cycling has the potential to prevent 34,000 incidences of long-term illnesses in seven major UK cities by 2040 – see our new forecast report: https://t.co/99aWS57GAU #BikeLife #cycling pic.twitter.com/Vy3dU1rHjT
— Sustrans (@sustrans) January 28, 2019
34,000 instances of long-term illness could be prevented and billions saved if more people cycled according to Sustrans’ latest report.
28 January 2019, 21:20
British Cycling's squad for the CX world champs announced
British Cycling’s 18-strong squad for the Cyclocross World Championships has just been announced. Three senior elite females (Nikki Brammeier, Beth Crumpton and Helen Wyman) and just one elite male (Ian Field) have been selected, and Tom Pidcock will stay at U-23 level to go for a rainbow jersey. According to our CX expert Liam, Anna Kay is a strong tip to medal in the women’s U-23 category. All races will take place over this weekend (2-3 February) in Bogense, Denmark. Here’s the squad in full:
Elite women
Nikki Brammeier
Beth Crumpton
Helen Wyman
Elite men
Ian Field
Under-23 women
Anna Flynn
Harriet Harnden
Anna Kay
Maddie Wadsworth
Under-23 men
Cameron Mason
Thomas Mein
Tom Pidcock
Dan Tulett
Ben Turner
Junior men
Lewis Askey
Oliver Draffan
Rory McGuire
Ben Tulett
Simon Wylie
28 January 2019, 21:20
Jason Kenny celebrates too early in British track champs keirin heat... but still manages to win the final
If this was road racing it would have been a red face for Kenny with no chance of redemption… but after mistakenly thinking he’d finished with a lap still to go during his Keirin heat and waving at the crowd, Kenny managed to re-qualify for the final via the repechage. He ended up winning by a millimetre in a furious sprint to the line, more than saving his blushes. Kenny told the BBC: “I didn’t think it was the last lap but I thought I’d heard the bell. I don’t know if someone dropped a spanner but with me being at the back I just reacted and lit it up and I thought it was going to be one of those days.”
Shanaze Reade also became British champion in the team sprint – this was her first national title, a long time coming after her numerous world and European golds from 2007 onwards and also after her official retirement in 2017. Not really retired then are we Shanaze?!
28 January 2019, 21:20
ICYMI - here's some more bike/ski footage from a Dafne Fixed nutter (plus an altogether better solution)
The famous Italian bike shop sent this fella out in a skinsuit to try out a new bit of tech. It all looked to be working pretty well on the short Instagram vids we saw last week but this longer clip documents a bit more of a struggle! Below we see they’ve now worked out a slightly better solution for riding through the ice and snow…
28 January 2019, 21:20
Hear, hear
Managed to eat two gels and put the rubbish back in my pocket. The world did not end. I did not suddenly grind to a halt from the weight in pocket and possibly stopped a crow from getting off it’s head on sugar pic.twitter.com/2b2qfUVqdh
— James Ward (@jamesward01) January 27, 2019
Is there a sight worse than gel wrappers discarded on the road?
28 January 2019, 21:20
Football and cycling jersey combined
Flying the flag for @wolves with my new cycling jersey. Great to be part of the #wolfpack on the road as well as at Molineux. #ONEPACK pic.twitter.com/fvEKVnt5jw
— Andy Tennant (@tennanto) January 28, 2019
Definitely not drawing attention to this because one road.cc staffer happens to follow the gold and black army… but anyway check out Canyon Eisberg rider Andy Tennant’s custom Wolves cycling jersey!
28 January 2019, 21:20
Something's amiss with Peloton bikes in their relentless adverts
Love putting my Peloton bike in the most striking area of my ultra-modern $3 million house
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
The indoor spin bike brand, who charge £40 a month on top of £2,000 for their device, appear to be fond of showing their reassuringly wealthy clients making the Peloton bike the centrepiece of their mansion/condo/luxury apartment. They hit the headlines back in December after threatening YouTuber Shane Miller for titling his weekly cycling news segment Digital Peloton News, saying they had trademarked the word ‘peloton’… after a strong backlash on social media, Peloton’s lawyers eventually backed down.
28 January 2019, 21:20
Uma Thurman's Kill Bill stunt double in shocking distracted driving video
You may not know the name Zoë Bell, but you may well have seen her on screen – among other things, she was Uma Thurman’s stunt double in the Quentin Tarantino film, Kill Bill, and is also an actress in her own right.
She’s just popped back to her native New Zealand from Hollywood, and posted to Facebook a video of herself cruising around her old neighbourhood in a car in what is possibly the worst case of distracted driving we have ever seen.
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
Robert Hardy 3 minutes ago
But then there would would have been grounds for prosecuting the driver in that circumstance as he would have been substantially exceeding the speed limit. The cyclist was innocent under the law but I consider him profoundly responsible for that death. We ask for considerable consideration by motorists and we have now been given legal backing for it, it does not become us to defend hairing round public park roads in substantial excess of a speed limit considered to offer reasonable safety to vulnerable road users.
Robert Hardy 15 minutes ago
Not as rare as they should be after taking milage into account. Clearly part of that equation is better education of pedestrians , but I have no issues with making cyclists subject to the speed limits. The majority do not exceed 20mph, except for the rare occasions they have a good breeze or an incline in their favour. Those that have the capability are often already recording their data anyway, the excuse that cycles are not fitted with speedometers seems very lame in this day and age.
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
I believe "hi-vis" isn't actually worth that much - certainly not compared to eg. the value of "reflectives" as soon as it gets darker. But even those are still just PPE though - this is the lowest rung (least effective) on the hierarchy of health and safety hazard controls. And "visual aids for drivers" do nothing if drivers don't do their part, no matter how much is worn...
60somethingcyclist 2 hours ago
Not the best timing, but not the major issue he's trying to turn it into either. Fitness amongst young people is a problem when it comes to armed forces recruitment, as many are having trouble with the requirements needed to pass the tests because of their inactive lifestyles. This investment will help deal with the problem.
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
Seemed pretty visible to me - and she was sporting light-coloured hair, bag, footwear and bright trousers. What if she'd been approaching a motorist "out of the sun", or passing a field of oilseed rape or stand of autumnal trees later in the year? If you think that's flippant, note that "sun" and "tree leaves" have been advanced as defense / mitigation in court despite cyclists following guidance ('should'). Frankly she's already done the best preaching possible: been a "normal person" riding a bike.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@60somethingcyclist Looks like you've stepped straight into silly comment mode without looking at all at the actual facts of the case. It has nothing to do with shared paths, the cyclist was on a public road on the vehicle carriageway, the pedestrian was standing on a traffic island waiting to cross. Evidence from independent witnesses shows that the pedestrian stepped out into the path of the cyclist without warning when he was around two metres from her. Much has been made of the fact that he was possibly riding at 5mph more than the motor vehicle speed limit for the road but he could have been riding at 10 mph and he still would have had no chance of avoiding her. The pedestrian was solely responsible for the incident and no amount of "mutual consideration and respect" would have changed that. Suggest reading the articles and evidence in future before commenting with such nonsense.
60somethingcyclist 2 hours ago
@yodhrin I should know, I was one.
chrisonabike 2 hours ago
@60somethingcyclist hmm... that's a good lesson, but perhaps not one to draw from this case where someone stepped out in front of and close to an oncoming cyclist. There may be other lessons from this case - eg. how do we best train people to expect cyclists, understand that cyclists can move unexpectedly quickly, and educate cyclists that speed awareness matters for them also (even if not explicitly in law). And perhaps what places it's appropriate for cyclists to train / exercise in (and provision of such places if there's sufficient demand but they're lacking)? But it's hard to extrapolate that from even a handful of incidents, never mind one.
60somethingcyclist 2 hours ago
Good to see the Secretary of State practicing what she preaches, especially adhering to DfT advice on wearing a helmet. Usual keyboard clowns having a dig. One valid point though, the Highway Code advice on cycle wear clearly states "Daylight & Poor Light: You should wear light-coloured or fluorescent clothing (such as neon yellow, orange, or pink) to help other road users see you" Some form of hi-viz would have been a good example.
belugabob 2 hours ago
“I agree near schools and places like that but all these road [sic] elsewhere are ridiculous,” Leon began. “You had cars in the 80s that had no power steering, ABS, all manual cars, and 30 mile an hour limit. “Now you have cars with every gadget under the sun, stops on a dime, and they wanna drop it to 20mph." I feel that this is part of the problem... modern cars are, if anything, too refined. They accelerate more quickly, are more comfortable at speed, have aircon, airbags, power steering and decent radios - all of which make the driving experience more relaxing and requiring a little less input/attention from the driver (who doesn't really realise how fast they are going, or how quickly they got there) The "stopping on a dime" argument is particularly worrying, as all this means is the the driver's false sense of safety, so they can tend to push things further. As for the "cars weren't designed to do 20 mph" angle, design aims and capabilities are not mutually exclusive...in fact, I'd say that modern cars are better, in this respect, due to engine refinements.(and how many older cars are there, nowadays, in this leading age that we live in?)
7 thoughts on “Live blog: Kill Bill stuntwoman in shocking distracted driving video, More Dafne Fixed ski madness, Jason Kenny’s early celebration, GB CX Worlds squad, Jens Voigt prods ‘Snowflake’ generation + more”
Wolves fan Andy Tennant, that
Wolves fan Andy Tennant, that is a very crisp looking jersey. And at least he doesn’t have to have yet another gambling website on it.
And, um, what is the cycling angle on the fence post video? Great form from the guy on the right, but are we just doing memes off of Instagram now?
Zoe Bell vid is excellent; I
Zoe Bell vid is excellent; I was shaking my head at the appalling driving, getting ready to fire off a few ballistics at the reckless driving.
burtthebike wrote:
Agree I was tense while watching it! Great vid!
peted76 wrote:
Grrr…she’s even filming it whilst driving…no hands on the wheel!….surely the NZ plod will be coming down on her when they see this….ahhhhh….I see now. Brilliant.
No wonder she got the Radio 2 Morning show.
Kendalred wrote:
10/10.
I’m 99% sure that the images
I’m 99% sure that the images shown in the Peloton ads are actual Peloton ads and not customers/users…
Agree, 10/10.
Agree, 10/10.
For years, every time I see an interview or commentary from a moving car, on the tv, I complain to the respective channel. The replies I get normally just say thay they have followed all of the procedures that are laid down. There isn’t any need, ever.