Sky News cycling poll slammed by Sarah Storey & West Mids Police; Video preview of worlds finishing circuit; THAT team car; Road champ v MTB champ; Recovered bikes alert; Kiwi driver who doubled back to hit cyclist gets grounded; Cool Ritchey stem + more
SUMMARY
12-month ban for Kiwi driver who doubled back to hit cyclist on pavement
This is quite the sentence. A Kiwi motorist who deliberately hit a cyclist and broke his leg has basically been grounded.
Sean Woollgar, a cyclist from Carterton just outside Wellington, was riding home from the supermarket in 2017 when Joshua Rowland started beeping his horn at him.
Woollgar said he turned and said, “Hey, what’s up?” and the motorist then started tailgating him and driving alongside “really close.”
“At that point I got a bit angry, and I went up onto the pavement and swore,” said Woollgar.
He tried to ride away, but Rowland followed him. Stuff reports that he eventually turned round, mounted the pavement and drove into Woollgar.
As the cyclist lay on the ground with a broken leg, Rowland walked up to him and said, “serves you right”.
Woollgar’s leg was so badly broken he will likely never have full use of it again.
In court this week, Rowland’s lawyer said his client’s head “was not in a good space” when the incident took place.
Rowland pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and also admitted driving in breach of his limited licence terms, unaccompanied and without displaying an L plate.
He was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention, 200 hours of community work, disqualified from driving for a year, and was ordered to pay $5000 emotional harm reparation to Woollgar. He also has to take treatment programmes and counselling as directed.
Woollgar said he never wanted Rowlands to go to prison. “He has got anger issues. He needs to deal with it and prison is not the place for that.”
He did say that he would have liked him to be banned from driving for more than 12 months though. “Hopefully he will appreciate how lightly he got off,” he said.
"A mountain of pure muscle and blond hair"
Mark Cavendish has paid tribute to Marcel Kittel after the German sprinter agreed to have his contract with Katusha Alpecin terminated early by mutual consent yesterday.
1/3 For many years of my career I felt unbeatable, invincible. 1 rider came that changed that. A mountain of pure muscle and blonde hair. That rider is @marcelkittel. It seemed like cyclings version of Rocky IV. He was the first rider I ever had to “work out” how to try and beat.
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) May 10, 2019
2/3 Marcel, I want to say thank you for a rivalry that lifted my game, but above all gave an excitement to cycling fans.
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) May 10, 2019
3/3 As competitors, we all try to have an edge on each other. But as humans, we should only wish for peace and happiness for each other. From my heart, I wish you the all the best for your next chapter. pic.twitter.com/R0sq6JlObY
— Mark Cavendish (@MarkCavendish) May 10, 2019
New Ritchey Chicane stem with magnetic top cap launched
Weighing 175g for the 100mm version, this snazzy new 7050 aluminium stem has aero in mind with hidden bolts and a smooth external shape, and an angle of 80°. Price in euros is quoted at €109.95, and it’s already for sale online at Depor Village.
Recovered bikes alert - haul found at Cardiff property
South Wales Police Cardiff have uploaded a gallery of stolen bikes recovered from a property in the Riverside area of the city. If you or anyone you know has had a bike gone astray, the number to call and a reference number is there.
HGV blind spot project that will save hundreds of lives up for award
Loughborough Design School project led to the introduction of the Direct Vision Standard.
If you think that lorry drivers actually being able to see pedestrians and cyclists is a good thing, maybe you’d like to vote for them.
National Road Champ vs National MTB Champ
Matt Walker and Connor Swift go head-to-head in a race down Cwmcarn’s legendary black run, followed by a climb up the Gospel Pass.
From the forum - Your cycling deals
We’ve got a brand new spot over on the forum where you can post links to cycling deals that you find.
That way, you can share the savings and point out stuff that we might have missed!
Sky News have been discussing “whether it’s a motorist’s responsibility to make a cyclist feel safe”
West Midlands Police were unimpressed with the tone used.
Society is defined by how we take care of the vulnerable in any given situation. Driver behaviour has created an environment where people are now scared to make positive life choices & use #activetransport, the onus for change lies with those who pose the #greatestthreatofharm.
— West Midlands Police Road Harm Reduction Team (@WMPRHRT) May 10, 2019
Dame Sarah Storey also stepped in when the Sky News Twitter feed published a follow-up poll asking whether it was time for cyclists and motorists to “bury the hatchet”.
Hatchet? Please stop such inflammatory reporting. People moving around their villages, towns & cities shouldn’t have to do so in fear of their life because there’s a bully in a metal box who wrongly perceives they have right of way.#greatestthreatofharm https://t.co/jg6N6CRBql
— Dame Sarah Storey (@DameSarahStorey) May 10, 2019
Citroën teams up with Surrey County Council to fill potholes
It’s “part of the brand’s commitment to advanced comfort” apparently.
Swingeing penalties in the Giro
If getting banned from cycling doesn’t discourage you maybe this 2000points fine will. pic.twitter.com/u5epzM7wZQ
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) May 10, 2019
Irish cyclist dies after hitting parked motorbike during road race
Gardai investigating.
A number of reporters are saying Simon Yates is *very* confident ahead of the Giro
@SimonYatess: “There are many favourites for the Giro but I do believe that I’m in great shape and I’m confident in winning it. I’m confident in my abilities. I’ve dedicated the last twelve months to this race now”. #Giro pic.twitter.com/41hlijR2lb
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 10, 2019
Video: On bike recce of the finishing circuit of this year's Road World Champs course in Harrogate
Your chance to join legendary bike tester, rider, and proud Yorkshireman, Guy Kestevan on a one off, on bike recce of the 14km finishing loop of this year’s Road Worlds, round the lumpy (not bumpy) roads of Harrogate. The start/finish goes the wrong way up/down a one way road so the only way for Guy to get the recce vid was to jump on to the course (he got the nod to do so) ahead of the Women’s Tour de Yorkshire – which also used the same loop. Guy’s always entertaining an enlightening company and he is in this vid too. He’s also a strong rider – at the very top end of ‘mere mortal’, so you get a good impression of how hard that finishing lap is going to be even for the pros.
There are team cars, and then there are team cars
This McLaren will follow Bahrain Merida’s Vincenzo Nibali in the tomorrow’s Giro d’ Italia opening time trial. Lucky for some.
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Latest Comments
@wtjs "Nothing changes if we don't want it to. I love you", (oops a quote from GEN V). I didn't need to put that last bit in, but hey you write so passionately and so long and obviously have an emotional attraction to cycling. "If you don't have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true"
@eburtthebike Most of the people cycling mikey confronts with his vigilante behaviour are using their phone while stationary in traffic; while illegal, conflating those offences with the murderous actions of this deviant person is patently ridiculous.
@Rendel Harris Of course it wouldn't work; the sort of person that would be banned would have plenty of mates that would fill jerry cans for him so he could fuel his car at home.
@BroomBroomBroom I cycle commuted for 30 years, with a number of close passes and a few crashes that gave me pause to consider the risks of cycling on public roads, but what made me give up was a diagnosis of osteoporosis because cycling was my exercise activity and because cycling is not weight bearing exercise, it leads to bone loss; I now mix walking and jogging to commute and have introduced a program of weight-lifting to try and reverse the osteoporosis.
More on the "e-bike scourge" from the beeb: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmn068ywr9e1o OTOH well, yeah - stuff that facilitates crime (and is cheaper / easier to get than cars / ICE motorbikes) is gonna be used by criminals. Plus: Well... I'm not happy either with the lack of interest in doing something about the mass sale of things which almost all aren't going to be used legally. But ... like guns? Don't think that's a helpful analogy there.
@Rendel Harris It should be simpler. In this case, and other cases where individuals drive while banned, there will be many people who know there is a banned driver behind the wheel and turned a blind eye. If we could find a way to make it culturally unacceptable the cases would drop. The change it attitudes around drink driving made a huge difference and it wasn't just the punishment. Unfortunately, we see the media run campaigns on the 'war on motorists' rather than try and change societal attitudes. The sequestration of vehicles as a punishment I think is an opportunity. Car removal, for many motoring offences and if you let a banned driver drive your vehicle I would include vehicles from employers and associates of a banned driver.
"Over the course of the evening, your friend made Gabrielle Debotte write a note on her phone with a false account that she had not seen you on the day of the collision at all." I sincerely hope that friend is in police custody awaiting trial for aiding and abetting and perverting the course of justice. And I hope he gets the same judge.
@rbrtribble All accidents including eg: a touch of a bumper should be reported to the police and an interview with a traffic cop before driving away from the scene What sort of dream world is this?! None of these fanciful wishes will happen in the car-crazed 'we'll give you a subsidy so you can drive and park everywhere with no thought to sensible fuel-conserving driving' UK. Sadly, the succession of dreadful Tory nonentity transport ministers has been followed by a succession of equally dreadful Labour ones, all desperate to avoid being accused of the 'war on the motorist'. Lilian Greenwood was charged with implementing the January 26 Government Road Safety Strategy until she was moved to be replaced by another deadbeat intent on doing nothing for fear of upsetting drivers. Labour could fight the established police strategy of ignoring and actively opposing any legislation to the benefit of cyclists, but they won't. The police are intent on protecting motorists from VED evasion, MOT offences, mobile phone offences, white line offences and most importantly cyclist-close-passing offences. I ask yet again for the evidence of effective police action against this latter offence (not the joke advice letter or joke driving course), but this evidence never appears. The obvious conclusion is that this police action does not exist.
@kingleo They aren't the only ones!
@Sniffer This is why I would like to see every driving licence having a readable chip that showed the driver status and making it impossible to get fuel from a petrol station without presenting it at the pump as proof of validity. Of course there would be ways around it, getting mates to fill up the car etc, but with an estimated 650,000 unlicensed or licence suspended drivers in the UK restricting the fuel supply could do a lot to hamper them. The same chip could carry proof of insurance and MOT for the car, again, no proof, no fuel. Cut offenders off at source.
12 thoughts on “Sky News cycling poll slammed by Sarah Storey & West Mids Police; Video preview of worlds finishing circuit; THAT team car; Road champ v MTB champ; Recovered bikes alert; Kiwi driver who doubled back to hit cyclist gets grounded; Cool Ritchey stem + more”
David Beckham banned from
David Beckham banned from driving for using mobile phone
Good.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48213106
The outcome of this could
The outcome of this could have been so different. The cyclist could have been killed, so the sentence appears lenient. There is no mention of any treatment for his “anger problems”.
leaway2 wrote:
Can’t disagree with the leniency of the sentence but he will have to attend treatment for his problems: “He also has to take treatment programmes and counselling as directed.”
leaway2 wrote:
Should have a perma until he can prove he is capable of using public highways safely
This isn’t one of those
This isn’t one of those tragic one punch knockouts to serious head injury things, even the stupidest of people knows that driving a car into a person is going to result in serious injury. I don’t really know how you can write it off with a lenient sentence. He may as well have shot him as the intention was the same.
So, when Sky News are
So, when Sky News are discussing domestic abuse, do they think its acceptable to ask whether its the responsibility of the abusing partner to not scare or harm the weaker partner? I would have imagined that they’d take that as a given…
brooksby wrote:
I too am struggling with the question they pose and the premise from which the begin.
Does a driver have no responsibility to other road users, whether cyclists, pedestrians or other drivers?
Why are we supposed to “bury the hatchet”? What a dumb-fuck term to use!
And what are people who both drive and cycle supposed to do? Apologise to myself, kiss and make up with my non-lycra self when I’ve done nothing wrong?
Goodness me, and people wonder why we blame the mainstream media for stoking hatred!
They clearly don’t want their readers, viewers or listeners to get along with people they define as a ‘them’ and not part of ‘us’. It doesn’t seem to matter whether that group is gypsies, migrant workers and refugees, Johnny Foreigner (whether here or minding their own business in his/her own country), LGBT, ethnic or religious minorities etc etc… they seem to put so much effort into turning us against each other. It’s about time we all turned on them.
Simon E wrote:
It’s Kay Burley, she is to news reporting what Boris Johnson is to integrety
Simon E wrote:
It’s Kay Burley, she is to news reporting what Boris Johnson is to integrety
Why the focus on car drivers
Why the focus on car drivers responsibility toward just cyclists, unless the agenda is to perpetuate the “us v them” narrative?
I mean, why not re-title the section “Is it the motorist’s responsibility to make pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, other vulnerable road users and each other feel safe?”
Or maybe run a section entitled “Is it the responsibility of HGV drivers not to crush motorists and their families to death in flaming wrecks due to careless driving?” and see if there are the same kind of responses?
The Guy Kestevan video of the
The Guy Kestevan video of the ride around the World Championship course is well worth a look. I enjoyed it very much. A lovely ride around Harrogate.
Perhaps if there weren’t
Perhaps if there weren’t quite so many people driving SUVs over them there wouldn’t be quite so many potholes in the roads needing filling.