Welcome to Wednesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Tie your shoelaces tight – Latest cycle safety advice from the US; Spitting distance… is too close – nasty Manchester close pass vid; NYPD ticketing cyclists AGAIN after another rider is killed; Best TdF rider announcement ever? + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Wed, Jun 26, 2019 17:10
SUMMARY
26 June 2019, 17:10
GBDURO 2019: Lachlan Morton is still smashing it
Morton has steamed ahead on GBDURO, an unsupported mixed-terrain version of LEJOG, reaching the second checkpoint of four inn 63 hours after 1,100km of riding. The route is 1,960km in length, so Morton should finish by the end of the week.
Many of the 26 who started have already pulled out but 13 are still going strong, check out the live feed and results here.
26 June 2019, 17:10
Documentary about Phil Liggett to premiere in 2020
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if.com reports that the feature-length documentary, called ‘Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling’, will get a premiere in October 2020 and a cinema release shortly afterwards. It will folow the commentator around some of the biggest events on the cycling calendar, including the Tour de France.
Backed by Demand Film and produced by Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe, this will be their follow-up to the popular ‘MAMIL’ documentary. Liggett said: “As we have been filming in secret at various locations and scanning the archive I was not aware how full my life has been and how privileged I have been to be a part of this wonderful sport and pastime of cycling.
“Demand Film did a great job with MAMIL and I know that they can be trusted to handle my story and share it with the world.”
26 June 2019, 17:10
Eilidh Cairns' mother writes to leader of Kensington & Chelsea over bogus "aunt"
The woman claimed at a public meeting earlier thois month to be Eilidh’s aunt – and said the cyclist, crushed to death by a lorry at Notting Hill in 2009, would have opposed a cycleway planned for the same route. Full story here.
26 June 2019, 17:10
Police are reportedly trying to hand out tickets to cyclists, not drivers, after bike courier was killed in Manhattan on Monday morning
I am disturbed by reports of a NYPD crackdown on cyclists near the intersection where cyclist Robyn Hightman was killed yesterday by traffic violence. Trucks and cars are the cause of the overwhelming number of traffic fatalities in our city. https://t.co/w3zPRPqCQD
— NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson (@NYCSpeakerCoJo) June 25, 2019
20-year-old Robyn Hightman became the 12th cyclist killed in New York City this year on Monday, hit by a truck driver who drove off unaware before returning to the scene shortly afterwards after being informed by a witness, according to CBS New York. The Gothamist reports that police in the area where Hightman was killed were found to be looking for cyclists committing minor traffic violations instead of ticketing drivers breaking the rules. Officer Carlos Negron told the Gothamist:
“Our unit is specifically the bicycle unit—whenever there’s a pedestrian struck or a bicyclist struck, anything that involves a bike, we try to respond to it.
“As far as the female who passed away unfortunately, yesterday, I believe she was riding off the bike lane, you know. It’s sad, but it’s sad that she was off the bike lane, you know? Maybe if she had been on the bike lane, maybe she’d still be alive.”
It’s not illegal for cyclists in New York to ride out of a bike lane if there are surface hazards or obstructions in front such as vehicles or pedestrians.
20-year-old Hightman ran a cycle courier company, and was an ambassador for the Hagens Berman Supermint team while riding competitively for Spin Peaks. A vigil was held in New York yesterday, and the Supermint team have also left a lengthy tribute on their Instagram page.
#robynhightman, killed by a speeding trucker this morning. The driver fled, came back, and the police sent him on his way. #VisionZero @NYC_SafeStreets @TransAlt @SpinPeaksRacing pic.twitter.com/HG5GxT9dy9
— Blythe Austin (@bblytherss) June 24, 2019
26 June 2019, 17:10
Not sure I'm too popular with the bloke from the council who cuts the grass round here
Still, 72 flats (and 200+ residents) in this block and NOT A SINGLE bike parking space, what do they expect? And this is one of London’s more bike-friendly boroughs.
It looks even better with the bike removed 🙂
26 June 2019, 17:10
A little OTT?
ok mate calm down pic.twitter.com/jFMdrhTdeR
— matthew (@handsblinx) June 25, 2019
One wonders what happened to this cyclist to make him want to adopt full body armour on the morning commute…
26 June 2019, 17:10
4-time Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea's custom Vitus ZX-1
Vitus have presented Reas with this custom version of their ZX-1, with a Kawasaki green paint job and weighing in at 7.5kg. Here’s the full spec:
Frame: Vitus ZX-1 Disc (52cm)
Fork: Vitus ZX-1 Disc
Derailleur: SRAM RED eTap AXS 12 speed
Front Derailleur: SRAM RED eTap AXS
Shifters: SRAM RED eTap AXS
Brakes: SRAM RED AXS Hydraulic disc
BB-set: CeramicSpeed EVO386 SRAM DUB Bottom Bracket
Crankset: SRAM RED Quarq AXS DUB Power Meter
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR SuperFlow
Bars: Prime Primavera Carbon – 38cm
Stem: Prime Primavera Carbon – 100mm
Wheels: Prime BlackEdition 50 Carbon Disc
Chain: SRAM Red AXS 12 speed
Cassette: SRAM Red AXS 12 speed
Tyres: Schwalbe Pro One MicroSkin TL – 25mm
Bar tape: Prime Race Comfort
Pedals: Look Keo Blade
Bottle Cages: Prime Carbon Bottle Cages
You can watch a video of the bike being built here.
26 June 2019, 17:10
E-cargo delivery firm Zedify open new London depot
With ULEZ now enforced in Central London, are e-cargo deliveries set to boom? Full story on ebikeTips.
26 June 2019, 17:10
... and elsewhere in Manchester, we have this
Vauxhall Astra YE55CNK. No insurance, no tax, no MOT.
Close-pass at speed, then driver drives into cyclist (with indicator on to intimidate), whilst back-seat passenger spits through window.
Manchester needs infrastructure to protect cyclists from these psychopaths. pic.twitter.com/vbZ1UDl8YK
— nalladrah (@nalladrah) June 25, 2019
26 June 2019, 17:10
Police respond over Manchester cyclist whom they warned over behaviour after he was threatened by driver while filtering ...
“It is not appropriate for any retaliation, be that physical or verbal,” says GMP.
Follow-up to our story from Friday, read the full article here.
26 June 2019, 17:10
The latest bike safety idea from the US? Tie your shoelaces properly
Oh, and wear a helmet and arm and knee pads.
Advice comes courtesy of Ross Gullickson, the chief of police in North Mankato, Minnesota, who says: “The singular biggest thing that people can do to protect themselves is wear a helmet, wear pads on the knees and elbows and tie their shoe laces tight.”
Glad we got that one straight.
In case you don’t know how to tie-up shoelaces properly, here’s an educational TED Talk on the subject.
Or maybe just buy slip-on shoes or ones with a Velcro closure … ?
26 June 2019, 17:10
Best Tour de France rider announcement ever?
Maxime Monfort – and your kids – we salute you.
So happy to announce that I’m selected by @Lotto_Soudal to ride @LeTour
Let’s fight with the boys for big results in July pic.twitter.com/M8r9xuWsXA— Maxime Monfort (@maxmonfort) June 25, 2019
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to ebiketips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
Oldblokey 3 hours ago
With so many people using and looking at mobie phones whilst driving and other distractions, may I suggest you always wear Hi viz and stay at home.
kil0ran 3 hours ago
The design of the "car" has played a role in this. SUVs and what the Americans call "trucks" are exempt from the pedestrian safety regulations which apply to passenger cars. Had the victim been hit by a car designed in the past twenty years he would have been "scooped" onto the bonnet and either over the roof or off to one side. Still a serious injury risk and potentially fatal but they have the benefit of those passive safety systems to improve their chances. With vehicles with such a high bonnet line as this Volvo has what tends to happen is the person bounces off the bonnet and falls on the road in front of the vehicle where they're then run over. This has happened time and time again and is becoming more of an issue as the numbers of vehicles exempt from the safety standards grows.
whosatthewheel 5 hours ago
@Accessibility for all Reducing the speeds wouldn't have helped in this case as the driver was reported doing 65 in a 40 zone on the approach to the junction, his driving described by the witnesses as erratic and evidently had no intention to stop to give way even though he had been warned by the passenger who apparently shouted "bike" three times just before the collision. He would have likely flown through that junction even if it was traffic light controlled with a red light for him at the time. In my own experience the entire area i.e. east of Lymm towards Warburton and along Dunham Road all the way up to Altrincham and past into Hale Barns, all those wealthy, posh settlements around Manchester Airport are best avoided by road cyclists. A disproportionally high number of psycho drivers must for some reason live in that area because every single time I went there on my road bike in the past, I either got harassed myself or witnessed proper dickhead driving - speeding, close passes, overtaking into oncoming traffic or round a blind bend, accelerating towards pedestrians already crossing the road, you name it. I gave up road cycling in that area years ago and only use the local TPT these days.
Hollis Jones 5 hours ago
In respect of the murder charge: based on him hitting Mr Mullins and making no attempt to help him (this killing him), how would the case compare to a hit and run driver who seriously injures or kills a cyclist, knowingly, and flees the scene without helping? Would this make the cut for a murder charge? Or is there something very different going on here that I’m missing? Genuinely curious because I don’t recall there being a murder charge before for this kind of thing unless it was premeditated. In fact, in my experience most cases like this seem to go the opposite way - where the driver can merely say the sun was in their eyes and get away with a slap on the hands.
jaymack 6 hours ago
@Rendel Harris...and there was me dishing out the praise!
whosatthewheel 6 hours ago
@polainm He must also be an already hardened criminal. It wasn't mentioned during the court proceedings to avoid influencing the jurors and ensuring he had a fair trial, but he had been released from prison shortly before this incident and was couch surfing at his cousin's house days before. Just look at his face, he's only 35, but looks older than his victim who was 56. Must have spent half his adult life in prison.
Rendel Harris 6 hours ago
@jaymack They did offer him manslaughter though but he declined to plead guilty. Without wanting to seem curmudgeonly, yes great that they preferred the most serious charges but hard to see how they could have done differently considering that Richardson got out of the car, saw Mr Mullins was stuck underneath and then got back in and carried on. That clearly moved it above anything that falls under death by dangerous driving.
Velophaart_95 6 hours ago
@thrawed Agree - the UK winters are utterly grim; grey, wet & windy. Not the type of weather you really want to go out and ride. Everything get covered in filth, and takes time to clean it after a ride. Oh for colder, drier & crisper days which can be enjoyable to be out in.
polainm 7 hours ago
@ymm In my view, lax sentencing of dangerous drivers, especially where cyclists are involved, makes the judge, jury and CPS complicit in UK driver culture. This driver is a sociopath.
slc 7 hours ago
@Mr Blackbird i reckon the libido is a bit overrated. I'd let that go rather than a limb or a nice bike.
15 thoughts on “Live blog: Tie your shoelaces tight – Latest cycle safety advice from the US; Spitting distance… is too close – nasty Manchester close pass vid; NYPD ticketing cyclists AGAIN after another rider is killed; Best TdF rider announcement ever? + more”
There is a beautiful tribute
There is a beautiful tribute to Robyn Hightman by the Hagens Berman team on instagram (via Peter Flax):
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzGtB9MFSdz/
Fair made me want to cry.
NYPD really don’t get it do
NYPD really don’t get it do they? Victim blaming of the highest order.
Boris also did this after
Boris also did this after that terrible spate of cyclist deaths in London, and the headphone nonsense.
Didn’t Dave Brailsford
Didn’t Dave Brailsford recently advocate a similar level of protection as that commuter for the peleton recently.
I like the way that it is both protecting and high visibility.
There is something more aggressive commuter about a full face too.
Being called a cunt for the
Being called a cunt for the socks you’re wearing though, not harsh enough if you ask me, full on paedo socks them, especially with the joe 90 glasses and the rest of the Blakes’ 7 bad guy outfit!
As for NYPD, like the MET only with guns and bigger bellies. If only she hadn’t have walked outside the safety of her home to go about her lawful business, she wouldn’t have gotten raped and murdered, bunch of victim blaming cunts!
“Ross Gullickson, the chief
“Ross Gullickson, the chief of police in North Mankato, Minnesota, who says (link is external): “The singular biggest thing……” I stopped reading there, he’s obviously an idiot.
tbf on the shoelace thing, if
tbf on the shoelace thing, if youve had a loose lace catch in your front mech and jam everything up whilst it simultaneously feels like your foot is being yanked off and you cant just declip yourself from the pedal, it can be quite awkward to control your bike at that moment.
Awavey wrote:
Been there, done that many years ago. Surprisingly painful and destructive to shoes, mech, and foot. Had a friend in school who broke his ankle in a similar accident and ground the side of his foot almost down to the bone.
Obvs all his citizens are toting Giro Empires…
Close passed last night by
Close passed last night by someone in another Vauxhall Astra who also threw the remains of a ham roll at me, hitting me on the arm!
All on camera for TVP to ignore…
Lastboyscout, define it a
Lastboyscout, define it a islamophobic or anti-semitic, it would have to change their response, because then it becomes a hate crime, which general death threats to cyclists don’t seem to count as. Foolish them for using a ham sandwich as the weapon.
ktache wrote:
The driver was Asian in appearance, certainly.
On the other hand, I’d prefer not to end up in court and splashed all over the front of the gutter press.
On the armoured commuter
On the armoured commuter photo, has anyone here in Bristol noticed the bloke who appears to commute into the city centre on the fattest tyred Fat Bike you have ever seen?
Like many SUV’s, I suspect it never actually goes off-road. The noise of its knobbly tyres on tarmac is quite something…
brooksby wrote:
I have. I know our roads are pretty bad, but I don’t think they’re that bad. In Palermo the Sicilians were fond of them, I suppose for riding on polished uneven flagstones, or possibly they just thought they looked cool.
Punctures will be costly.
brooksby wrote:
There’s a bloke round here on a fat e-bike, pretty sure he has more rubber on that thing than I did on my Mk1 Golf. Awesome noise, just needs to broadcast Ride of the Valkyries for the full I love the smell of NOX in the morning experience.
I have recently put some 3
I have recently put some 3 inch 27.5+ Maxxis Chronicles on my new build, my “ultimate commuter” they roll relatively well and I am very pleased with them moving through the bus destroyed roads in the centre of Reading. The grip is phenominal, and I am seeing how low I can go pressure wise. They handle almost any surface and the bike just pushes on through anything.
I did it just because I could, and they look damn cool. I’m glad I didn’t have to fit the mud tyres that I might have needed, and if my next commute is all tarmac I will change to a 29 with 2-2.5 faster rubber.
It’s my first go running tubeless too.