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Live blog: Sheffield lifestyle magazine jokes about using razor wire on pavement cyclists, Herrada wins Ventoux Challenge, bonkers Chris Froome crash conspiracy theories on the internet, weekend catch-up + more

All today's news from the site and beyond.....
17 June 2019, 17:35
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Sheffield lifestyle magazine jokes about using razor wire on pavement cyclists

The editor of a Sheffield lifestyle magazine has penned an editorial in which razor wire is suggested as a way of dealing with pavement cyclists.

The editorial takes the shape of a – we hope – fictional conversation between Grapevine editor Ian MacGill and a friend going by the name of Mr Smith who demands razor wire “because I’m sick and tired of nearly being killed by cyclists speeding along the pavement here. They need to be taught a lesson.”

The editor expresses the reservation that cyclists may be decapitated,” receiving the response, “Exactly! Word will soon get around that there’s a high price to pay for anti-social behaviour.”

The reservation, however, turns out to be that “our pavements will become covered in red slime and gore, which raises all kinds of health and safety issues” – such as the magazine’s staff slipping on it.

In the final paragraph, the editor actually gets to the point of the column. “Eventually Smith calmed down,” he wrote, “and agreed that his plan was a bit too radical (and messy). Yes he is right to be concerned about a dangerous problem that will not be solved until bicycles are given licence plates that can be photographed by CCTV, and riders fined whenever they misbehave.”

Of course, it’s well-documented that bike licensing schemes don’t work – whenever they are introduced, they tend to be quietly dropped afterwards, but obviously it’s the razor wire references that are attracting attention on social media.

He’s not the first journalist to suggest something of that nature – Matthew Parris did that in The Times a few years back – but such comments, even if made in an attempt at satire are ill judged and inflammatory, and miss the point that some individuals do actually go out and set traps for cyclists, as has happened in Fife, Scotland in recent days.

17 June 2019, 17:30
17 June 2019, 16:47
Jesus Herrada takes the win on Mont Ventoux

Today was the inaugiural Mont Ventoux Denivele Challenge one-day race - and the victory went to Cofidid rider Jesus Herrada who raced away from AG2R-La Mondiale's Romain Bardet to take the win on one of cycling's most famous finish lines. Watch how he did it here.

17 June 2019, 15:11
Well since you asked...

Guardian journalist and cycle campaigner Helen Pidd made a request for her Twitter followers to give her examples of bad cycling infrastructure for an upcoming article... the thread it's spawned features an amusing yet sad collection of the worst cycling infra Britain has to offer, and is currently around 300 posts long and growing.  

17 June 2019, 14:53
dhb launches new Featherlight jersey
dhb-Aeron-Lab-Superlight-Rain-Defence

Described as "the world’s lightest water and wind resistant jersey, the dhb Aeron Lab Featherlight weighs just 95g in a size medium. There a no taped seams to allows for maximum stretch of the fabrics, and it comes in orange, navy or mid grey colourways. The price is £120 and it's on sale at Wiggle now

17 June 2019, 11:08
Sir Clive Woodward joins e-bike revolution
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The World Cup-winning rugby coach is the latest to become a Ribble e-bike ambassador, and is now the proud owner of a Ribble SLe e-road bike. Sir Clive says: “High performance, achieving goals, continuous learning and development are key for everything I stand for – I like to challenge the traditional school of thought in order to adapt and succeed. This e-bike will allow me to take my cycling to the next level.”

17 June 2019, 08:54
Froome crash conspiracy, now a meme

You might have seen that former pro Phil Gaimon also suffered a nasty crash last week at a velodrome... and so  a 'Flat Earther' has set out to lend his medical advice pointing out the differences between Gaimon and Froome lay in their hospital beds. 

17 June 2019, 08:33
Chris Froome crash conspiracy theory craziness

While Chris Froome's injuries were horrific and we wish him all the best, we can't help but find amusement in some of the ridiculous conspiracy theories doing the rounds on Twitter at the moment. We'll start with these ones, that suggests Froome crashed on purpose for  various reasons such as avoiding doping tests: 

Then we descend into full Masonic conspiracy theory madness, complete with satanic references...

Social media can be strange sometimes. We'll be keeping an eye out for more conspiracy theory madness over the morning...

17 June 2019, 08:29
That one probably won't patch up...

Dan Martin shared this rather unlucky puncture from the Dauphine, with a nail embedded right in his tyre and exiting through the rim. Has anything similar ever happened to you?

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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10 comments

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Kendalred | 4 years ago
0 likes

Is it irony that the address of this rag in Sheffield is London Road? The road which gave it's name to the Planet X much lauded commuter/all-rounder?

Fuckwits.

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dottigirl | 4 years ago
1 like

Riding Vale lanes: PING, BANG, PING, PING.

Rear flat.

I followed my usual routine of finding the hole in the tube and checking for a cause in the tyre. Nothing there, but for some reason, I plugged that hole in the tube with a finger, and blew it up again. And found another hole. And another. And another...

Inner tube looked more like a colander.

Eventually, I find a thin, rusty, bent nail in the sidewall of the tyre, caught under the rim. It must have been trapped between the tyre and frame, bouncing back and forth. Just glad I checked for more holes before I put a new tube in. Didn't fancy the walk home. Rim was scratched to **** and a bit dented, but I rode it for a while longer.

 

Avatar
jollygoodvelo | 4 years ago
2 likes

Let's hope he's filled in his ADAMS whereabouts correctly or when the testers come knocking at Froome Towers, Monaco there'll be hell to pay.

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Miller | 4 years ago
3 likes

Ach, tubeless would have dealt with that screw easily. 

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Hirsute replied to Miller | 4 years ago
1 like
Miller wrote:

Ach, tubeless would have dealt with that screw easily. 

Depends how big the screw was.

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Blackthorne replied to Miller | 4 years ago
2 likes

Miller wrote:

Ach, tubeless would have dealt with that screw easily. 

I detect sarcasm. This happened to me exactly. Sent sealant mist spraying in all directions.

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kil0ran | 4 years ago
1 like

Wondering - and clearly not important with Froome because he's out for a while - is there an immediate exemption granted for traces of drugs given in emergency medical treatment? Blood transfusions, adrenaline, steroids, opiods etc all widely used. Clearly you're not gaining an advantage but are you allowed to ride on a big dose of painkillers following a crash like Roglic's road rash in the Giro, or Dan Martin hitting the wall in the TdF?

Avatar
Rich_cb replied to kil0ran | 4 years ago
0 likes
kil0ran wrote:

Wondering - and clearly not important with Froome because he's out for a while - is there an immediate exemption granted for traces of drugs given in emergency medical treatment? Blood transfusions, adrenaline, steroids, opiods etc all widely used. Clearly you're not gaining an advantage but are you allowed to ride on a big dose of painkillers following a crash like Roglic's road rash in the Giro, or Dan Martin hitting the wall in the TdF?

I don't think you'd be in any fit state to race if you'd legitimately needed a blood transfusion.

Think the rules on painkillers are pretty strict. Tramadol being a recent example of stricter policy.

That said, Froome's biological passport will be all over the place now, conspiracy theorists will have a field day if he does make a comeback.

Avatar
Bigfoz | 4 years ago
1 like

About 15years ago, commuting home through East London, near City Airport, there's a big bang and back wheel locks solid. In rush hour traffic. Bit hairy. Screw through sidewall of tyre, out through top of tyre, right through mudguard (how the hell?) immediately screwing the tyre solidly to the mudguard. Took a while to sort that out. Needed a new tube, new tyre and new mudguard before we were finished. 

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Dingaling | 4 years ago
1 like

Something a bit like that happened to me some years ago. A screw went through my rear tyre and punched a hole in the bed of my Mavic Ksyrium rim. With the screw firmly locked in place the wheel did a couple of revolutions before I could stop and the screw head had put some horrible scratches along the seat tube. I think I was swearing to myself for the remaining six miles home.

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