Welcome to a new week on the road.cc live blog with Simon MacMichael, Jack Sexty and the rest of the team.
Live blog: US amateur woman cyclist, 50 gets 4 year doping ban; dog drugged driver who shouted “fu*cking bicyclists” and killed rider gets up to 15 years; teen cyclists pulled of M6; Women’s cycling club appeal after break-in; Brompton Chpt 3 collab +more
Alll today’s news from the site and beyond as we start a new week
Mon, Feb 11, 2019 21:14
SUMMARY
11 February 2019, 21:14
Weekend catch-up: Tory MSP talks nonsense about cycling + more
Conservative MSP argues that a bike could do more damage than a car in a collision
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A Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) who told a Holyrood committee that a bike could do more damage than a car in a collision was put straight by a transport expert who told him he was making “a minor point.”
Dr Adrian Davis told MSP Edward Mountain: “The science is about mass. There is an equation about that. It’s the mass of the vehicle that’s going to do more damage.
“Being hit by an HGV is the one you really don’t want to get hit by because you’ll be dead. I think there is a bit of difference with respect, chair. The mass is most important.”
Click through on the headline for the full story.
Suspended sentence for motorist who doubled back to deliberately drive into cyclist
A driver has been handed a suspended sentence after he deliberately ran down a cyclist near Plymouth. Paul Nodder, aged 37, chased and knocked over Jeff Stevenson after the cyclist remonstrated with him for driving with his head down.
Click through on the headline to read more.
Cyclist frustrated with bus company that lost his complaint about driver who pulled out on him
A Bristol cyclist who was nearly crushed between a bus and a 4×4 has spoken of his frustration after his complaint about the driver who pulled out on him was lost by operator First Bus.
The incident, which happened in Clifton last December, is the latest in a string of incidents involving its buses that have resulted in complaints by cyclists to the company.
11 February 2019, 21:14
Teenage cyclists escorted off the M6 at night
Two teenage cyclists were escorted off the M6 motorway yesterday evening, with the Central Motorway Police Group saying on Twitter that it was “a fatality waiting to happen.”
Two lads aged 19 and 17 stopped cycling home along lane one of the M6 between Stafford and Wolverhampton in the pitch black. This was a fatality waiting to happen! They thought it was safer than to turn round on the entry slip. The mind boggles!
— CMPG (@CMPG) February 10, 2019
11 February 2019, 21:14
Re the cyclists pulled off the M6...
Dummies. Isn’t it strange though that the hard shoulder of a motorway is, rightly, considered unsafe but we paint metre-wide cycle lanes on trunk roads like the A34 and A45 and think ‘job done’.
— Black Country Ste (@CCSteV) 10 February 2019
This commenter has a very fair point, if you’ve ever experienced riding on a dual carriageway…
11 February 2019, 21:14
Human bike lane formed on Glasgow street to highlight safety issues
People of All Ages Formed a Human Bike Lane Today for Safer Cycling on University Avenue https://t.co/dIJXWYck59 pic.twitter.com/qIkc1I9Tcx
— GoBike (@GoBikeGlasgow) February 10, 2019
The protest yesterday on University Avenue, Glasgow involved residents, university staff, students and others to call for segregated cycle lanes to be installed – at the moment it’s simply some painted lines that disappear at the top of the hill. Read more on gobike.org.
11 February 2019, 21:14
Women's charity cycling group "devastated" by theft of bikes appeal for their return
The Liverpool Loopline women’s charity cycling group fell victim to a burglary, with bikes, tools and equipment stolen from their locked container at Norris Green Park in the city. Two brand new Apollo Virtue Bikes were among the items stolen. Club Secretary Helen Ball said: “It is devastating to us. The bikes were so new, not only does it mean women without bikes will no longer be able to participate in our weekly rides, but it is a big confidence blow to the group. For those gaining pace with their cycling, they may re-consider buying a bike for themselves for fear of having it stolen.”
The group was formed in 2017 with financial support from Cycling UK to purchase bikes and grow a women’s cycling community, with members taking advantage of the health and social benefits through cycling with the club. The theft occurred overnight between Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 January, and ayone with potential information can contact Merseyside Police on 0151 709 6010. If you have a bike to donate to the group you can do so through Cycling UK by contacting their press offfice by email at publicity@cyclinguk.org
11 February 2019, 21:14
On the forum: let us know your experiences with considerate drivers!
It’s not all near misses and Ronnie Pickerings out there (in fact these incidents are a minority), as demonstrated by a great forum thread started OldRidgeback… our favourite so far is the driver tailing a cyclist at night because he wasn’t in a hurry and thought the cyclist might like some extra light to guide him through the lanes! Join in with your tales of courtesy here.
11 February 2019, 21:14
Bont Helix and Vaypor S now available in reflective versions
…and lucky for us, the Helix Reflective has just turned up at road.cc HQ. Featuring “the latest in retroreflective technology” according to Bont, their Reflex collection consists of reflective versions of their top-end Helix and Vaypor S road shoes only.
11 February 2019, 21:14
Oregon driver who killed cyclist while high on Xanax prescribed to her dog is convicted of first-degree manslaughter
KTVZ reports that 42-year-old Shantel Witt, who hit and killed cyclist Marika Stone while under the influence of a number of drugs, has been convicted of first-degree manslaughter and will serve up to 15 years in jail after a Deschutes County judge rejected a second-degree manslaughter conviction as Witt’s defence had sought.
The case was unusual as the defence didn’t dispute that Witt’s car had caused the death of 38-year-old Stone, a keen cyclist who won her age category at the Sea Otter Classic in the previous year before the fatal incident in December 2017. They sought a second-degree manslaughter charge because they disputed that Witt had shown a shown an “extreme indifference to the value of human life”, the definition of first-degree manslaughter in the state of Oregon; however two friends of Stone who were riding with her on the day provided witness statements to the contrary saying that Witt had shown no remorse for what she had just done. It’s reported she was angry at the “the fu**ing bicyclists” and also saying “this is bulls**t”.
Witt was found to have nearly a dozen prescription drugs in her system following the crash, several without a prescription including the Xanax which had been prescribed for her dog. Several witnesses testified she’d slurred her words, spoke slowly and appeared to be drunk. Witt would have faced a maximum of ten years for second-degree manslaughter, but now faces up to 15 for first-degree manslaughter plus several other misdemeanour charges, including DUII-drugs, two counts of recklessly endangering and possession of oxycodone and other drugs.
11 February 2019, 21:14
This should help to deter near misses...
Bike meets something… amazing. No idea what but it was impressive. #tallbike #bike #NewOrleans #nola pic.twitter.com/fOtY6ENz86
— Mikael Colville-Andersen (@colvilleandersn) February 11, 2019
11 February 2019, 21:14
Nailed it...
…or should that be screwed over? Anyhow check out the fourth photo in this gallery for possibly the most unfortunate puncture we’ve seen in recent times, from a CX race in West Sussex!
11 February 2019, 21:14
Chpt3 launch updated signature Brompton
The new version costs £1,990 in the UK and is limited to a run of 1,000 bikes. Improvements include a fabric scoop saddle, 6 speed gearing on all bikes, new Schwalbe One 35mm tyres and Fabric slim dual texture kraton rubber grips. They can be ordered online on the Brompton X CHPT3 landing page now, click here for more info.
11 February 2019, 21:14
US amateur female cyclist, 50, banned for 4 years for doping
A 50-year-old amateur cyclist in the United States has been banned for four years after testing positive for an androgenic-anabolic steroid at the Capital City Cycling Classic in Michigan.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency said that Jennifer Pate, of Birmingham, Alabama had accepted the suspension, which resulted from a urine sample collected on 11 August last year, the day of the competition.
USADA CEO Travois Tygart said: “Regardless of the competition level, athletes deserve to be on the starting line knowing that their competitors are free of powerful performance-enhancing substances that can impact the results of races they have worked hard to prepare for.
“USA Cycling’s RaceClean initiative and others like it are giving athletes the knowledge and tools they need to compete clean, while also ensuring that those who choose to use performance-enhancing substances to get an edge are held accountable,” he added.
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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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mdavidford 19 minutes ago
They did the towns pretty quietly too. It's only [certain elements in] that there Oxford that's really kicked up a fuss about this stuff. Mind you, most of the time, you'd be doing well to get over 20 going through town anyway.
mdavidford 27 minutes ago
You're conflating the throttle and the pedal assist. The throttle should only get it up to walking speed; about 6kph. Once it takes it past that, whether or not it's capable of 15mph or 58mph is entirely irrelevant.
chrisonabike 42 minutes ago
@ktache Isn't it "LTNs BAD, cul-de-sacs and a quiet village green good*"? * As long as we can drive into town, of course...
chrisonabike 46 minutes ago
@Robert Hardy As Rendel suggests, I'm not certain that any wheeled mode of transport - even at speeds well below the limit - would have avoided tragedy here. Although the road around the *outside* of the park where IIRC this occurred (Outer Circle) isn't "the main drag" (that would be e.g. Park Road / Marylebone Road) it is wide enough to put a question mark over "casual crossing". And indeed there are signalised crossings... Leaving aside "but racing cyclists!!" for now, looking at how safety might be improved here let's see how others do this. For example: West End of the Vondelpark in Amsterdam is on a "main road" (Amstelveenseweg). (The rest are very much "streets"). What happens there where pedestrians are crossing to and from the park? As it's a main road (and with tramlines) there are cycle paths (in this case unidirectional). That means that everyone knows where everyone else is and what to expect. The cycle path is really obvious, and it's only a couple of paces wide. People expect cyclists in that section, but being narrow compared to the road lanes it's simple to cross - so much so that no lights are used. cross. (Although unusually - presumably due to very high flows of pedestrians and cyclists - there is a *marked* crossing point). Once you've negotiated the cycle lane you can then wait (again in "pedestrian space") and concentrate on "watching for the cars" at a signalised crossing if needed (because it takes longer to cross the road part). I think there is space in the Regents Park case for cycle paths of some kind...
ktache 1 hour ago
Oxfordshire very quietly made all it's villages 20mph a couple of years back.
Mr Blackbird 1 hour ago
My favourite bit was when they passed The Lion & Snake at the top of the hill. I had a nice burger with bang bang cauliflower wings and chips there a few years ago. Maybe an alternative refuelling option for the cyclists.
ktache 1 hour ago
Those high pressure slick roadie tyres exert more pressure than a landing jumbo jet...
belugabob 2 hours ago
maybe we shouldn't be making cars so big and heavy?
fatbikephil 2 hours ago
It's worth noting that Fife (where Dunfermline is) started implementing 20's in 2005. By 2015 all residential zones and town centres had them. The additional new ones in Dunfermline reported above are just for a small number of remaining streets to meet the guidance from the SG. Fife Council used traffic calming and compliance is very good as a result. The vast majority of people support them.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@Robert Hardy The lady was standing on a traffic island in the road giving every appearance of waiting for the cyclists to go by. She then, according to independent eye witnesses, for unknown reasons, stepped out in front of the rider when he was two metres away. Even at 15mph two metres takes 0.30 of a second; the baseline reaction time as employed by the guidance in the Highway Code is 0.67 seconds. To have had that amount of time to react (that's to even start pulling the brakes) the rider would have had to be travelling at 7.5mph. The lady's death was, sadly, caused by her own actions in stepping straight in front of a cyclist who had no chance to stop and would not have done even if he had been going at one third of his actual speed. That's why no criminal proceedings were taken against the cyclist. Just for your information, as you seem to think "it was a road in a public park" is somehow damning, the Outer Circle marks the outer perimeter of the park, and it is a very busy standard London road. The Daily Mail and The Evening Standard tried this "cyclists thundering through a public park" line with pictures of locations in the park where cyclists are banned, it has no validity.
5 thoughts on “Live blog: US amateur woman cyclist, 50 gets 4 year doping ban; dog drugged driver who shouted “fu*cking bicyclists” and killed rider gets up to 15 years; teen cyclists pulled of M6; Women’s cycling club appeal after break-in; Brompton Chpt 3 collab +more”
Why didn’t the teenagers on
Why didn’t the teenagers on the M6 just walk back on the grass the otherside of the barrier? It must have been obvious after a very short interval that it was a motorway.
hirsute wrote:
They’re teenagers.
Ronnie Pickering – never
Ronnie Pickering – never heard of him.
People predictably get
People predictably get hysterical about cyclists on the hard shoulder of a motorway. I haven’t done in the UK because it is illegal but I have done it in Montana, Idaho, Utah and Colorado and riding on a 10ft wide “cycle lane” well away from traffic always felt a lot safer than many single and dual carriageways that I normally have to use. I don’t think it is just the traffic volumes on motorways that make it unthinkable but more the attitude of drivers.
Dingaling wrote:
Huh? It isn’t a case of being hysterical, it’s just plan common sense. 70MPH+, heavy flow, auto pilot mentality, debris, and the point of the hard shoulder is it is somewhere to breakdown in/emergency vehicles etc. Drivers aren’t looking out for a cyclist and nor should they be. Yep, many dual and single carriage ways aren’t much better but in most cases a cyclist can avoid them if they so choose.