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Live blog: NYPD tickets cyclists heading to memorial ride for hit-and-run victim, Tour de Yorkshire stage winner flies flag (literally), Anti-fracking protesters chant “You’ve sold your soul, you’ve sold your sport out” at Team Ineos bus + more
SUMMARY

Dan Lloyd approves of our new General Cycling Nonsense feature
Touché
— Daniel Lloyd (@daniellloyd1) May 1, 2019
For some reason or another…
'Pure Skills'
Peter Sagan’s wheelies? That girl who does tricks while riding the rollers? It all pales into insignificance compared to the skill and endeavour of this gentleman riding through the Greater Manchester suburb of Leigh with a fireplace around his neck, spotted by April Fillingham. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Ms Fillingham said:
“I was in my friend’s car when I saw this guy riding down the road on a bike with this massive fireplace. We had to turn back and take a better look. It must have been really heavy but he had this massive smile on his face.
“It was pure dedication. He must have really wanted that fireplace.”
It's #bikesatpollingstations time
I couldn’t persuade Charlie Cat to join me for #CatsAtPollingStations so it was just #BikesAtPollingStations for me! @LovetoRide_ @TreasuryMog @roadcc pic.twitter.com/16km1TFjDM
— Rob Bounds (@rob_bounds) May 2, 2019
Voting in local elections has been happening this morning up and down the country, and as well as feline and canine friends some have been using it as an opportunity to take their two-wheeled friends along too…
The protests against fracking and Team Ineos have begun
The anti fracking protest is growing in size at the #TdY start in Doncaster #BBCTDY @RadioHumberside @looknorthBBC @BBCYork @BBCSheffield pic.twitter.com/4ZT3WlwaUe
— Andy Comfort (@andycomfort) May 2, 2019
The race has barely begun yet the protestors are out, making their frustrations known.
We’ll keep an eye out for roadside protests and amusing helicopter shots when we get live pictures at 1pm.
Your TdY Stage 1 Winner...
Today some of the team are helping our Selby colleagues engaging with crowds @letouryorkshire …. Sgt Leach has already finished the race …. Well ahead of the pack …. #TDY #community #engagement pic.twitter.com/evjHbtWgzs
— NYP York South (@NPTYorkSouth) May 2, 2019
…is Sgt Leach of North Yorkshire Police! But how did he train for such a historic win? Well…


Success hasn’t changed Connor one jot…
The British road champ is still proper Yorkshire, as you will see in this video courtesy of his team Madison Genesis. The Tour de Yorkshire began today, with Swift hoping to add some stage wins to his already impressive CV.
Faith in humanity = restored
We’re always glad of a good news story, and particularly one where someone gets their stolen bike back’ the suspects have been arrested too.
"You've sold your soul, you've sold your sport out"
Anti fracking protests outside the Team INEOS team bus at the start of the @letouryorkshire in Doncaster #doncaster #TDY #TdY2019 @DonnyFreePress #fracking @SheffieldStar pic.twitter.com/peFodI2Wo4
— Sheffield Star in Pictures (@pictures_star) May 2, 2019
Things aren’t so cheery down at the Team Ineos bus. The full quote from the most vocal man in the middle: “It’s unlawful, they’re trying to buy the law here. We’re checking them out. You’ve made the wrong decision here. I’m a cyclist myself and you’ve sold your sport out, you have, you’ve sold your sport out! If you think this is the end of it, you’re wrong!”
Meanwhile, here is Chris Froome's new Pinarello Dogma F12 race bike
You probably saw the news about Pinarello’s brand new Dogma F12 yesterday, well here today is Chris Froome’s brand new race bike. We’ve taken a bit of a detailed look at the new bike the equipment that sets his bike apart from the peloton. What do you think of the new red livery as well?
Read about Chris Froome’s Pinarello Dogma F12


































Tour de Yorkshire: Team Ineos controlling the race
A mixture of @TeamINEOS & Nic Dlamini of @TeamDiData have been keeping the break in check. 80km to go and the lead is just 1 min 20 seconds. #TDY pic.twitter.com/DwTjhvsz0H
— Tour de Yorkshire (@letouryorkshire) May 2, 2019
A small break has a lead of just over a minute, but it’s the new red and black jerseys dicating the pace of the peloton.
Ee bah gum, that looks grotty!
The breakaway at Howden during a heavy downpour – #TDY #Stage1 pic.twitter.com/eLIPyaPa8n
— British Cycle Sport (@VeloUK) May 2, 2019
It’s a lovely spring day in Yorkshire…
Perhaps this needs a rethink...
“Is the glue on the stickers waterproof?”
“I think so.” pic.twitter.com/2R1vvgJdg7— Simon Warren (@100Climbs) May 2, 2019
Bad weather. Awesome Photography
Proper @letouryorkshire #photography alert @TeamDiData rider Nicholas Dlamini #TeamSWpix @_AlexBroadway_ follow the race all on https://t.co/pZvqP4zLef pic.twitter.com/7TvU8JfmnC
— simon wilkinson (@swpixtweets) May 2, 2019
The weather may be bad on today’s stage of the Tour of Yorkshire but it has brought out the best in Alex Broadway. He managed to make the weather look quite beautiful.
Tour de Yorkshire stage winner flies the flag - literally- as he crosses line
Roompot-Charles cyclist Jesper Asselman flew the home flag – literally – as he crossed the line in Ripon this afternoon to win a rain-drenched stage of the Tour de Yorkshire from the break, with the peloton breathing down his neck but just unable to make the catch.
The Dutch rider, whose only previous pro win came at the Ronde van Drenthe in 2016, rode by the barriers on the right hand side of the finishing straight to overhaul his riders from the break – and somehow managed to inadvertently pick up a spectator’s blue Yorkshire flag with the white rose at its centre.
NYPD tickets cyclists headed to memorial ride for hit-and-run victim
We’ve mentioned several times recently on road.cc how the New York Police Department’s standard response to the death of a cyclist on the streets it patrols is to ticket riders in the ensuing days – at times, for ‘offences’ that don’t exist, such as not wearing a cycle helmet, which is not legally required for adult cyclists there.
But now it’s emerged that ‘New York’s Finest’ reacted to a cyclist being killed by a hit-and-run truck driver a couple of months ago by issuing fines to people heading to a memorial ride for her.
Aurilla Lawrence was killed on 28 February, and the actions of NYPD officers following her death have led her father, Kenny Lawrence, to pen a heartfelt piece for Gothamist in which he calls on the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, to protect cyclists.
“On February 28th, 2019, my daughter Aurilla Lawrence was struck by an oil tanker truck near the intersection of Broadway and Rodney Street in Brooklyn,” he wrote. “The driver attempted to pass Aurilla and came back in on her causing her to lose control. She ended up under the wheels of his truck.
“This driver took my daughter’s life, and he didn’t even stop. He left her to die alone on the street as he continued on his way.”
He went on to say: “Far too many families have had to bury a loved one this year because of unsafe streets and reckless drivers. Nothing will bring her back, but at the very least Mayor de Blasio ought to be doing everything in his power to make sure nobody else’s family has to go through what mine has.
“But they’re doing the opposite. I was furious to learn that the morning after Aurilla was killed, police were out giving tickets to bicyclists on the same block where she was struck. The truck driver was the one who killed my daughter and fled the scene, so why were the police out on the street treating cyclists like criminals? Did Mayor de Blasio not understand that many of these cyclists who were being targeted were actually headed to a memorial ride in honour of Aurilla?”
In conclusion, he said: “It’s impossible to feel that way if you live in fear that you might get run down every time you get on your bike. But Aurilla was a fearless bicyclist. Mayor de Blasio, please honour her by being a fearless mayor and doing everything you can to eliminate all this senseless death.”
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Latest Comments
@Clem Fandango A few years ago, I regularly used Amazon deliveries. On one sad occasion, a driver, in his haste, tripped in my corridor and gave himself a concussion by whacking his head on the open front door. I left him with a neighbour whilst I moved his van and called an ambulance. The van stank, probably because he practically lived in it. It was full of plastic bottles of piss, presumably because he couldn't afford to have a day where there were reasonable comfort brakes. God knows how tired he must have been. In the end I took him to hospital as the ambulance was taking too long. Amazon sent a person in less than an hour. Not to see if he was alright, but to collect the van and continue with the deliveries. I imagine this problem will be 'solved' in a couple of years as the human will no longer be required to drive the van 16 hours a day as an AI will be doing it. Fewer concussions perhaps, but not sure that's going to be much comfort to the chap who brained himself on my door. I regret my prior use of Amazon.
I've had only one modern bike computer, a 1040, usually combined with a Polar H10. When I cycled from home through the Lakes, over the Coast to Coast and back to Garstang via Wensleydale I was away 7 days. The 1040 began at 95% and used up one small battery pack on the way. I let the unit choose the route home on its own. This is the perfect such device for people like me for whom such features as voice control are several innovations too far. The same trip could probably be managed with my subsequently bought Forerunner 255 with its breadcrumb navigation but it would have been considerably more tricky.
The most amazing part of the story is the question it raises, but never addresses, ie. should a man subject to dizziness and vertigo be driving at all? Forget Mr. Ross's anger management issues, which are, admittedly big issues, and consider the warning labels on medicines dispensed around the world warning that: "Medicine may cause drowsiness or dizziness. Do not operate heavy machinery." Should someone suffering from bouts of dizziness sans medications be licensed to operate potentially deadly machinery? Forget cyclists, dizzy drivers regularly run into and injure or kill other motorists and pedestrians. And as a longtime journalists, I am left gobsmacked as to how carbrained someone would have to be to author that story. Not to mention how out of touch with reality an editor would have to be to put it into print. The mere suggestion that the cyclists weren't riding far enough to the right and that people should sympathize with Mr. Ross for his being charged with crimes for running into them, or getting so close to them that they could run into him (as Mr. Ross claims) borders on a invitation to other motorists to do what Mr. Ross did and ignore the three-foot requirement in Georgia's safe passing law.
@slownomad An EAPC is only legal to use on the road if it conforms to the EAPC Regulations 1983. An EAPC with a cut-off speed of say 20mph or a bigger motor is still an electrically assisted pedal cycle, but it is treated as a motor bike & needs registration, tax, insurance & a helmet.
@DS2025 That was my thought. My octogenarian father is prone to bouts of vertigo so he has given up cycling, motorbiking and driving. Declaring that medical condition publicly after a serious collision is quite incriminating.
700 quid and less battery life. I'll stick to my 1040 solar, thank you very much. Has more features than I'll ever need. Actually, THE star of the Garmin ecosystem is the one feature they make available for free: Garmin connect and its online platform. Were it not for that I'd have switched to an Apple Watch and other brand bike computer a long time ago.
Don't bother then, get out & watch the racing instead!
So because I have nothing better to do with my life I went and looked out a picture. Meh. Not much in it, but I think I prefer the new one - nicer purple.
Here's me and tens of thousands of my closest friends (not all pictured) not riding bikes in IOWA.
@mdavidford I think there's context and audience (for want of a better word). The discussion could have already clarified the type of bike. But for an audience who are bikers or have biker friends, relations or aquaintances, bike may well default to motorbike. I think the e- bike naming thing is probably a lost cause. The public and popular press seem to view any kind of fast moving bicycle, with or without pedals, provided it is not obviously petrol powered, as an e-bike. Whilst you might have expected a little bit of tinkering with your bike (motorised or otherwise) 40 years ago. It is now easily possible to very substantially modify the performance of your steed. That, the total disregard many people seem to show for (or ignorance of) the rules and the lack of effective enforcement means that this problem is probably going to get worse, before it hopefully gets better.
18 thoughts on “Live blog: NYPD tickets cyclists heading to memorial ride for hit-and-run victim, Tour de Yorkshire stage winner flies flag (literally), Anti-fracking protesters chant “You’ve sold your soul, you’ve sold your sport out” at Team Ineos bus + more”
Fireplace? Should have been
Fireplace? Should have been on a tandem with a stoker.
I’ll get my hat.
Typical, just when everyone else starts to realise that bicycles are the answer to pollution, this clown rides a coal-fired one. This has set cycling back fifty years as a green form of transport.
I bet he’ll sleep like a log
I bet he’ll sleep like a log tonight
I once saw someone cycling
I once saw someone cycling along with another bike over his shoulder.
He must really hate fixing punctures at the roadside!
I’m loving the look of
I’m loving the look of unrestrained joy on Sgt Leach’s face.
Can we check the spelling on
Can we check the spelling on soul out please? Unless they’ve actually been selling their shoes or Ineos have moved to selling fish
Fireplace guy must be on a
Fireplace guy must be on a hot lap….
…. I wonder if he’s wearing
…. I wonder if he’s wearing a hearth rate monitor?
shutuplegz wrote:
So fast, he absolutely flue past!
I can’t lose that image of a
I can’t lose that image of a blood transfusion bag in the same colours as teh kit with the tag line IntravIneos. Not that I have an axe to grind re Sky and doping or Ineos for that matter. Frankly. money into the sport is all for the better.
I’m at Doncaster station and
I’m at Doncaster station and bumped into a couple of elderly anti fracking supporters both holding their banners and wearing the tshirts.
Good luck to them
‘Peddling Plastic’ protestor
‘Peddling Plastic’ protestor in her pink microfibre fleece and plastic rucksack, demonstrating the challenges we all face. Don’t want to use plastic, but it makes such useful stuff!
Drinfinity wrote:
I suspect that may be our civilisation’s epitaph…
brooksby wrote:
On a similar topic, there have been umpteen reports on BBC R4 about climate change and the current wave of protests, almost always including electric cars, but as yet, not a single mention of cycling that I’ve heard. Nice to see their decades old policies are still in force and bicycles are still not allowed to be mentioned.
Drinfinity wrote:
Drinfinity wrote:
Well said. Whilst nobody these days can deny the problems plastic is causing, it is always galling to see protesters ignorant of the subject they are protesting about.
I am glad that the TdY are
I am glad that the TdY are doing their bit for equality and getting a man in a dress to present the race winners award.
Can I just say, I love
Can I just say, I love fracking!
alansmurphy wrote:
I agree – definitely one of the most positive things being done at the moment.