Welcome to Tuesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Rhianna goes aero; Breaking the Bianchi; Lorry driven through London bike lane; Jeremy Vine – not bright enough?; Bernals & Nibali skip Worlds; Liz Truss – helmet rebel…ish; Lorry drafting (again); Keeping your shed dry (comments) +more in the Live Blog
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, Sep 17, 2019 19:44
SUMMARY
17 September 2019, 19:44
Yeah.
I’ve three bikes in my kitchen. I can’t face putting them into the shed. That’s normal, right?
— Ms Sara D (@SaMcDuff) September 16, 2019
17 September 2019, 19:44
Sir Dave Brailsford is back on his bike
After revealing a prostate cancer diagnosis recently and having undergone a 5 hour operation last month, the Team Ineos GM is now back on his bike proper after uploading a 50km ride to Strava. Over the last couple of weeks Brailsford appears to have been walking and also uploaded a quick spin on a hybrid and an indoor spin bike. Photos on his Strava account show he’s taken to using ISM saddles, with their trademark split nose design renowned for their pressure-relieving qualities.
17 September 2019, 19:44
Egan Bernal won't be riding at the Road World Championships after all
Egan Bernal no estará con la selección Colombia en el Mundial de Ciclismo de ruta en Yorkshire.
Lo reemplazará Carlos Betancur. pic.twitter.com/ngHlpTxQ7m
— El VBAR (@VBarCaracol) September 17, 2019
Despite being named in the Colombia squad hours earlier, Egan Bernal has ultimately decided not to race at the Road World Championships. Initially reported by Colombian news outlets on social media, sure enough the Colombian Cycling Federation have now announced on their website that the 22-year-old will not be in their senior men’s squad in Yorkshire.
The CCF said that Bernal was included by head coach Carlos Mario Jaramillo, but decided yesterday, the deadline for registrations, to decline the call-up. Bernal will now be replaced by Carlos Betancur, who will join Nairo Quintana, Fernando Gaviria, Álvaro Hodeg, Sebastián Molano, Sebastián Henao, Esteban Chaves and Daniel Martínez in Colombia’s eight-man squad.
17 September 2019, 19:44
A little bit drafty...
Here’s a video that falls into a genre that has popped up regularly over the years – a cyclist drafting a lorry at speed, in this case 80 kilometres an hour.
Tras-camion pic.twitter.com/V14q8QSrgj
— David.AR.Tri (@DavidARTri1) September 17, 2019
Checking the name of the firm on the truck, this one seems to be from Ecuador, though we can’t see this chap following Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz to Team Ineos.
It bears remarkable similarities to a video from closer to home that we featured a few years back – from Greater Manchester, in fact.
Drafting trucks, of course, is not a good idea, but someone who has the skills to pull it off and has turned it into something of an art form is the Brazilian Evandro Portela whom we featured hitting a speed of 124 kilometres an hour behind a lorry – and who then went on to set a Guinness World Record for the highest draft-assisted speed achieved on a bike on a public road, at 202 kilometres an hour.
17 September 2019, 19:44
Matt Stephens - what a funghi ... !
When they said drugs are an issue in cycling, I thought they meant PEDs, not mushrooms
— Gethin (@Gethin76) September 17, 2019
17 September 2019, 19:44
Vincenzo Nibali and Michał Kwiatkowski also skipping World Championships
While you’d expect that anyone who’s anyone in pro cycling would do their utmost to get on the start line for the sport’s premiere one-day road races, Vincenzo Nibali is the latest name to confirm he won’t be appearing after we heard that Colombia’s Egan Bernal has also dropped out. Nibali told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he was not on form, and didn’t believe he was even fit enough to play a supporting role for his Italian teammates.
I feel to much respect for this jersey and Polish eagle to start in UCI Worlds 2019. After @LeTour I said, that my body called for a break. A real one. Since then I’ve not been chasing any results. I truly needed that. I will keep my fingers crossed for team at #Yorkshire2019. pic.twitter.com/oKaA4Ehytx
— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) September 17, 2019
Meanwhile, Michał Kwiatkowski has not been named in Poland’s squad, citing fatigue in the tweet above as his reason for the no-show. What’s going on, something to do with the great (terrible) British weather perhaps?
17 September 2019, 19:44
Lime surpasses 100 million rides
Over 100 million rides have now been taken with the bike and scooter share firm globally since their launch in 2017. A current share scheme success story when others have struggled due to low uptake and vandalism amongst other things, Lime now employs over 700 workers and has received $777 million of funding to date.
They estimate that one in four Lime trips replace a car journey, and collectively their users have travelled 25 million miles by e-bike or e-scooter that would have otherwise been taken by car – preventing 1.2 million gallons of gas from being burned.
17 September 2019, 19:44
Surprisingly irritating...
How is the lever clamp over the bar tape this is sooo vexing… pic.twitter.com/Gb4BszoJXc
— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) September 17, 2019
17 September 2019, 19:44
Florida couple arrested for drunk cycling found having sex in back of police car
A couple in Florida who were arrested for riding bicycles while drunk were subsequently discovered having sex in the back of a police car – while handcuffed.
Newsweek reports that a Nassau County deputy saw a vehicle nearly clip Aaron Thomas, 31, and Megan Mondanaro, 35, as they rode their bikes, which had no lights.
The deputy, noticing that the pair – both of whom have prior convictions – smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes, put them in the back of his patrol car.
“While I was outside of my patrol vehicle, Megan and Aaron took their clothes off and started to have sex,” he said in his report. “When I opened up the door to stop them, Aaron was naked and Megan had her pants down.”
While Thomas was getting taken out of the car, he managed to flee and was later caught, resulting in an additional charge of theft of the handcuffs he was wearing.
As Newsweek – which headed its piece ‘Florida man and woman have sex in back of police car after getting arrested for DUI’ points out, the state has something of a reputation when it comes to out-there news stories.
It’s a phenomenon that hasn’t gone unnoticed on social media – and there’s even a website (with the tagline, “Worst Super-Hero Ever”) that aggregates news stories in which the term “Florida Man” appears in the header.
17 September 2019, 19:44
Lorry caught on camera driving in London cycle lane
— Ben Rometsch (@dabeeeenster) September 17, 2019
Ben Rometsch, who tweeted the clip and photos clearly showing the driver’s number plate, says cars, vans and lorries crossing the cycle lane at the bottom of Pitfield Steet is “a regular occurrence”: “Someone is going to die on this bike lane soon; cars, vans and lorries are regularly driving across it. THIS IS INSANE.”
It’s not known if police are aware of this particular footage yet, but Hackney’s branch of the London Cycling Campaign replied to say they will raise the issue with Hackeny Council in a meeting tonight.
Hi Ben, we are meeting with the lead member for streets tonight from @hackneycouncil we will be sure to mention this. Thanks. JK@hazzer2001 @nataliexgould
— Hackney LCC (@hackney_cycling) September 17, 2019
17 September 2019, 19:44
UK cabinet minister breaks the law shocker
Another Law Liz has broken this week; it’s illegal to cycle in Australia without a helmet.
Being a helmet doesn’t count. https://t.co/1h536d3Elp
— (@SpinarelloDogma) September 17, 2019
Admittedly, on a scale of 1-10, failing to wear a bike helmet in Australia ranks somewhat lower than this…
In normal times this would be a resignation matter at best. https://t.co/037XKad934
— Dr Craig Dalzell (@thecommongreen) September 17, 2019
17 September 2019, 19:44
Jeremy Vine "not wearing enough lights"
Evidently I am not wearing enough lights pic.twitter.com/Xae7QKIjg4
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) September 17, 2019
Despite CCTV footage from the broadcaster’s house showing that he left for work lit up like a Christmas tree (presumably in the early hours of this morning), it wasn’t enough for a London black cab driver to pull out into his path, seemingly oblivious.
17 September 2019, 19:44
Rhianna goes aero for weird sponsored post
Some “aero socks” would look good with those shorts riri https://t.co/AjJBPQz5hH
— Adam Blythe (@AdamBlythe89) September 17, 2019
…but not quite aero enough for Adam Blythe, who suggests some aero socks to go with Rhi Rhi’s cycling shorts. maybe a TT lid wouldn’t go amiss too?
17 September 2019, 19:44
While Bernal, Nibali and Kwiatkowski are skipping the Worlds...
Tony Martin is going… and at the moment, he looks like this! The heroic German is back on his bike following his horror crash at the Vuelta, and according to this Instagram post he’ll be heading to Yorkshire to represent Germany as planned.
17 September 2019, 19:44
When your Bianchi's steerer tube snaps in a sprint
La vidéo de la potence de Simon Pellaud qui casse après le sprint final (via @LNC_CYCLISME ) pic.twitter.com/VGTUQm3ZOC
— Bertrand Guyot (@bguyot1982) September 15, 2019
A bit of a sketchy moment for the IAM Excelsior rider Simon Pellaud at the French one-day race the Tour du Doubs yesterday as the steerer tube of his Bianchi snapped as he sprinted for second.
The video shows the Swiss 26-year-old, who tweeted afterwards, “I will never forget that feeling,” wrestling with his bike before sliding across the line to finish fifth … the outcome could have been a lot, lot worse.
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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
chrisonabike 5 hours ago
"All that's required is an to roads policing" - that's a big all... Although no doubt the "idiots just keep coming" aspect does apply: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9lel2wz93o "Man charged after car crashes through bowling alley" - luckily they only skittled over skittles.
chrisonabike 6 hours ago
Almost any change to roads and streets is accompanied by a period of heightened danger, and in the UK "look out for cyclists" will need to be learned... practically. And over the time it takes for cyclists to become a regular feature. OTOH once (if...) good designs are in and frequent enough such that drivers encounter them AND the cyclists on them regularly (another big if) I don't think they should be much more difficult than a footway to deal with. These things are all over NL - don't have the collision stats but they should. (NL isn't perfect but collecting info on the safety of designs to feed back into better designs as required is part of the "sustainable safety" philosophy - if they're really a killer I think they'd be altering these.)
wtjs 7 hours ago
I'm in the happy position of agreeing with everybody here! I've never considered a bike with a stand, yet I'm impressed by the ingenuity and adaptability of this axle. I tow a Yak Bob with a Robert Axle, employing my El Cheapo Vitus gravel bike and I just have to be very careful where I stop. Hedges are generally a dead loss, and I seek walls, telegraph poles and signposts and generally lean the widest part of the Bob against it. One very awkward task is removing the two steel pins which lock the trailer arms onto the special mounting slots on the Robert axle, and when you have one out, the sodding weight in the trailer can twist the whole caboodle and bend the Bob fitting before you can get the other out and unhitch. I doubt if a stand would help with that. You can imagine that this combo is a real pain when you have to get it over the bridge at railway stations, and it nearly resulted in Merseyrail nearly parting me and the trailer on the platform from the bike on the train. It's a long story for another time. Another axle example recently featured on here, with a 12mm front axle bearing the Herculean weight limit of a monster American front rack.
HoarseMann 9 hours ago
This has nothing to do with the type of bike - it's the type of behaviour that's the problem. Banning the sale of such bikes will not curtail the behaviour. They'll just find another type of vehicle and continue to drive dangerously as there's such a lack of enforcement. I'd sooner see them ban the bally. But really, all that's required is an improvement to roads policing.
AidanR 9 hours ago
The EAPC Bill is welcome, but full of holes. What's to stop an overpowered but temporarily limited e-bike being sold and subsequently delimited? This is often a trivial process.
Sredlums 10 hours ago
@KiwiMike Yeah, in my over four decades of riding all over Europe I've never 'been for a ride in the countryside'. That must be it. Or, and I know this is a wild concept, you just accept that I just voiced my personal experiences and never missed a kickstand, like I wrote. Anyway, what's the big horror of laying your bike on its side for the very few occasions where there is nothing to lean your bike against?
mdavidford 10 hours ago
They may have looked, but did they see?
jackcycles 10 hours ago
Ds2025: where they are going wrong is that they are crushing the motorbike rather than the person sat on top of it. If they did the latter this issue would be solved in less than 24 hours.
Rod Marton 10 hours ago
I came this way today with the car boot sale in operation. There was a marshal at the entrance, who stopped a car turning right across the cycleway as I was approaching. So that certainly works. I think it necessary for the marshal to be there, I couldn't say if the driver would have turned if he hadn't been there but you always have to suspect the worst. Unfortunately there is no marshal at the exit, and there was certainly a car stopped across the cycleway as I was approaching it. But he pulled onto the road before I reached it, and the following car stayed off the cycleway as I went through. Ideally there should have been a marshal there too. On the whole, though, it's a really high standard piece of infrastructure. Just a pity it doesn't extend a bit further.
eburtthebike 11 hours ago
“absolute carnage” So right! Just look at the bodies piled up, blood running in the gutters and injured people limping away. It's a bit of a problem with a road, delaying some people for minutes at a time: it isn't carnage, let alone 'absolute carnage'. Anyone who exaggerates so ridiculously really shouldn't be allowed to comment in public, unless they want to demonstrate their idiocy to all and sundry.
23 thoughts on “Rhianna goes aero; Breaking the Bianchi; Lorry driven through London bike lane; Jeremy Vine – not bright enough?; Bernals & Nibali skip Worlds; Liz Truss – helmet rebel…ish; Lorry drafting (again); Keeping your shed dry (comments) +more in the Live Blog”
A lot of sheds are terrible
A lot of sheds are terrible places to store anything, they get damp and everything put into them rots. I have had to place a bicycle in them a points in my life and it’s not good for it. Any tools left in there start to die. Often very unsecure too. Some are good, but that’s relatively rare.
Garages and basements are better.
I have two in the living room at the moment, right by the front door. One of them is to be mothballed. The Ti XTRd hardtail is locked to the bed. Luckily my better half is “accepting” of my habit. Rented flat, security is always an issue.
ktache wrote:
I’m not allowed to bring my bikes through or into the house, not even to work on them
ktache wrote:
To keep your shed dry, raise it up off the ground on bricks with a layer of plastic damp proof course on top of the bricks. That should keep out rising damp. Add some miniflo guttering to get the water away from the cladding on the walls. You could also add membrane inside to keep out further moisture.
I watched that bloke drafting
I watched that bloke drafting that lorry through my fingers.. what a headcase, I do hope the lorry was aware of what he was doing.
When living in Edinburgh in
When living in Edinburgh in the early 90s, drafting te local busses was normal practice, but there were 2 good reasons… Back then the drivers were nice and often flashed their hazard warning lights to let us know they’d seen us drop in behind, in return we made sure we let them see when we departed too.
Secondly, the brakes on the busses then were to put it mildly, crap. (Slipstreaming an empty artic was not advised as a friend found out they stopped rather quicker)
. . . Ah the memories of screaming down North Bank St/The Mound looking back to see we had a Police van following at a “we might want a word” distance and simply hoping we made the lights at the bottom…. We did, and thanks to a black cab doing a quick U-turn the Police didn’t. (Might be the last time I was glad to see a cabbie doing a quick U turn without looking.)
I feel for you brooksby,
I feel for you brooksby, there is nothing better than fixing, servicing or general fettleing in the warm and dry in front of the telly. It makes it much easier to bring myself to do it, especially during the foul winter months, when you have to do more of it anyway. Stripping down wheels and pedals in a big comfy chair, luxury it is.
Are you at least allowed to fix punctures to your inner tubes in the house?
ktache wrote:
Yes, but the bike stays outside
“Lorry caught on camera
“Lorry caught on camera driving in London cycle lane”
Wow, even road.cc now has self-driving lorries! Come on, the lorry wasn’t caught, the driver was caught driving a lorry in a London cycle lane.
“Lorry caught on camera
“Lorry caught on camera driving in London cycle lane”
I’m sure the Met cycle safety team will be straight onto this, as soon as they’ve finished booking all the cyclists riding furiously.
A cycleway big enough to
A cycleway big enough to drive a truck through, never seen that here in Australia so I had to look it up on Google. That lorry on the cycle way at Pitfield Street, are you sure he didn’t just pull up for a kebab? Any time I see a sign that says best kebab I’ve got to find out if it’s true!
I have some sympathy for the driver, they don’t make it easy for you when you’ve got 40ft of trailer behind you, and one way streets limiting your options. Still shouldn’t have done it, but maybe it’s not as clear cut as it looks. I am puzzled that there’s no bollards or other annoyances to both drivers and cyclists though. Nothing like my council, it’s more bollards than path here!
Philh68 wrote:
I expect he was delivering to Sainsburys
https://goo.gl/maps/KpruwsSMqAYdkyd56
And doesn’t understand road signs or they were in his blind spot.
Lorries like that should simply be banned from such built up areas.
hirsute wrote:
sainsburys sell yorkstone do they? I’d be looking for a nearby construction site. Banning artics from built up areas isn’t realistic when it comes to construction supplies, but they should use traffic controllers if there’s access or egress issues.
The outside turning radius for those lorries is 12.5 metres, meaning you need at least 25 metres width to u-turn. Heavy rigids can have just as much difficulty though because of the wheelbase and overhang. If the choice was reversing back the way it came, doing a 3 point turn by reversing into a one way street or use the cycle way in crawl gear, I can see why they’d use the cycleway. Far safer than reversing a lorry that size. But I’d make sure I had a council permit and traffic control for it.
Philh68 wrote:
No doubt that will be his story
Perhaps they could use smaller lorries and accept there will be more trips. Your numbers on the area required to use the vehicle simply illustrate its unsuitability for a dense environment.
Quote:
And a bill for cleaning, I’d hope?
“Another Law Liz has broken
“Another Law Liz has broken this week; it’s illegal to cycle in Australia without a helmet.”
I’m all for having a go at cabinet ministers but she doesn’t appear to be cycling. Is it really against the law in Australia to sit on a bike without wearing a helmet?
FrankH wrote:
It’s not illegal to cycle in Australia without a helmet. It’s illegal to cycle on a road or road-related area without a helmet. And in the Northern Territory, adults are exempt from wearing helmets when riding on footpaths or cycle paths. Furthermore, there are exemptions on medical and religious grounds in some states.
Sitting on a bike with a foot on the ground is not riding. But I know where that photo was taken, it’s near the ferry wharf at McMahons Point. Liz is clearly on a footpath, and it’s illegal to ride a bike on footpaths in NSW (and Victoria, it’s allowed in other states and territories). That’s another $114 fine in addition to the $344 for not wearing a helmet if we’re going to be sticklers for the rules… because as cyclists we always obey the rules. Don’t we?
Philh68 wrote:
In Victoria it’s illegal to ride without a helmet on a bike path through a park! I got done last year. $200 fine if I recall.
cafezinh062 wrote:
yes, considered a “road-related area”. Pretty much anywhere that resembles a path anywhere on public land and they’ll try and ping you for it. National parks, fire trails, you name it. Australian road rules reg. 13-1(c) defines it as “an area that is not a road and that is open to the public and designated for use by cyclists or animals”. Which makes me wonder what happens if you just ride where bicycles are forbidden…
Philh68 wrote:
If we’re going to be sticklers for the rules, that’s $0 fine for not riding a bike on a footpath in addition to the $0 for not riding a bike while not wearing a helmet.
It does suggest that she
It does suggest that she seems unaware of regulations the are in force in other parts of the world, that does not bode well for effective and easy trading.
How did Florida man take his
How did Florida man take his clothes off whilst handcuffed??????
Highly trained professional?
Highly trained professional?
I don’t really understand how a big trailer behind you stops you seeing basic road signs in front of you.
Signs from the highway code that you are meant to need to know for a standard driving test…
Bromptons are really popular
Bromptons are really popular in Australia with tourists from Asia. They released a special 20 year gold model for the Asian market this year, only 1000 of them. Needless to say the few that made it to Australia were snapped up fast. But as for locals riding Bromptons, I rarely see them.