Welcome to a seasonal edition of the road.cc live blog. We hope that you and yours had a wonderful Christmas!
Live blog: Video: Pro cyclist ‘injures himself’ (breaks arm) getting arrested by park rangers – Froome says incident’s “appalling”; Video – Koala flags down cyclist and climbs bike for a drink; Ex-pro’s tweet asking people to share kids’ Xmas bikes + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we try and get over the Christmas excess
Fri, Dec 27, 2019 19:42
SUMMARY
27 December 2019, 19:42
In the bleak midwinter ...
… you should be looking forward to longer and warmer days.
So, coach tickets are still going for next year’s Dunwich Dynamo.
Make it one of your 2020 New Year’s resolutions.
Dunwich Dynamo coach tickets are now on sale! Early bird tickets are still available.
Get them here: https://t.co/pW2Hz67JdD
— Southwark Cyclists (@southwarkcycle) December 24, 2019
27 December 2019, 19:42
Random pub meet = Christmas Day Santa ‘chapeau’
Our news editor Simon’s annual festive tradition these past five years has been the Christmas Day bike ride in London, which departs at 11am from the Southwark Needle – it’s such a friendly affair that he’s now even on first name terms now with some of the other participants (no Rapha pun intended).
Even so, he was mildly surprised when some bloke he mentioned it to in a pub near Paddington actually turned up on Wednesday morning … and way more surprised when he saw what the guy was riding.
A Santa ‘chapeau’ to him.
Yesterday, pick bike up from where parked last week, spend 10 mins outside pub decorating it, bloke in Santa hat/beard gets chatting, I say it’s for bike ride today. He asks details, so I say, London Bridge, 11am.
And he turns up.
ON A PENNY FARTHING (+ hat/beard)#legend https://t.co/CAjBh3huyC
— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) December 25, 2019
27 December 2019, 19:42
Worst Retirement pro cyclist posts Best Christmas thread
Ex-pro cyclist Phil Gaimon – he of The Worst Retirement Ever series of posts on social media – has kicked off a Twitter thread that for many kids taking to two wheels for the first time, or whose parents gave them a new bike this year, will be The Best Christmas Ever.
On Christmas Day, the former Cannondale Pro Cycling rider invited followers on Twitter to share pictures of kids who had been gifted a bike this year. There was a fair old deluge of replies, and a lot of very happy faces.
It’s a fantastic thread.
If your kids got a bike today, please respond to this with a picture or video of them enjoying it.
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) December 25, 2019
27 December 2019, 19:42
Video: Koala flags down cyclist and climbs bike for a drink
With bush fires blazing in South Australia and temperatures still high, a koala climbed onto a cyclist’s bike to drink from her water bottle.
“We’ve seen literally hundreds of koalas over the years, we have never seen a koala do this,” Anna Heusler told 7 News.
“We were descending from Norton Summit Road back into the city early this morning and we came around a bend and there was a koala sitting in the middle of the road.
“Naturally, we stopped because we were going to help relocate him off the road.
“I stopped on my bike and he walked right up to me, quite quickly for a koala, and as I was giving him a drink from all our water bottles, he actually climbed up onto my bike.”
The cyclists then escorted the koala back into nearby trees.
27 December 2019, 19:42
Simon Yates keen to perform at the Olympics
Simon Yates is targeting the Giro d’Italia and Tokyo Olympics this coming season.
He’s told Cycling News that he believes the former will be the best way to prepare for the latter.
“I think going to the Tour would mean it’s a little too short to get over the jet-lag and get used to the conditions,” he said.
“I think we [Great Britain] only have a small team – four riders – and it’ll be a strong team, whoever goes. I don’t know if they’d be doing the Tour coming into it or whatever.
“I don’t know who the guys will be, or even if I’ll be going yet. I need to make sure of my own space. But when I was a kid, I wanted to be an Olympian. I’ve not been before, so it’s very motivating to go and try to pull off a medal or even win.”
27 December 2019, 19:42
Video: Pro cyclist suffers broken arm in dispute with Table Mountain park rangers
Nic Dlamini, a South African who rides for NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Dimension Data) suffered a broken arm earlier today during an altercation with rangers at the Silvermine section of the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP).
Wtf @TableMountainNP @SANParks @VanHaywood. Someone just broke Nic Dlamini’s arm pic.twitter.com/oYQGiTNUPM
— Lawrence Lindeque (@larrymontana) December 27, 2019
South African National Parks, which manages the area, told News24 that Dlamini was arrested because he hadn’t paid for an activity permit.
“What seems to have happened, the rangers were alerted of a cyclist that entered gate 1 of the Silvermine section of Table Mountain National Park without making any payment,” said SanParks spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli.
“On investigation, they found the cyclist in question, stopped him and asked for the necessary permit which he did not produce. As per the law, that is a transgression which requires them to be fined or apprehended.
“It is alleged that the cyclist became quite aggressive with the rangers, hence the scuffle. The arm may have broken as a result of him resisting arrest.”
Dlamini was taken to hospital by the rangers.
The matter is under investigation with SanParks seeking statements from everyone involved.
NTT Pro Cycling tweeted: “We are aware of a video in which one of our riders, Nic Dlamini, was involved in an incident in Cape Town earlier today. He’s currently undergoing medical assessment after which we’ll be able to provide a full update on what transpired.”
27 December 2019, 19:42
Chris Froome says Table Mountain debacle is "appalling"
Apparently @nich_dlamini “injured himself”. Appalling @TableMountainNP https://t.co/kITWXmAm90
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) December 27, 2019
Froome, who lived in South Africa as a teenager, was reacting to the statement put out by Table Mountain National Park, that claimed Nic Dlamini (who they hadn’t officially named) “injured himself” in the confrontation.
27 December 2019, 19:42
Tour de France stage winner Heinrich Haussler’s been racing cyclo-cross this winter
His aim was to finish on the same lap as the winner in the Zolder cyclo-cross World Cup race.
Heinrich Haussler @Bahrain_Merida in Cyclocross Zolder #TelenetUCICXWC pic.twitter.com/LX5yy4c1Up
— José Been (@TourDeJose) December 26, 2019
He came in 51st.
Mathieu van der Poel won.
Racing again today at Loenhout Azencross, he finished 41st.
Mathiu van der Poel won.
27 December 2019, 19:42
Nic Dlamini's team "highly distressed" at how he was treated by park rangers
NTT Pro Cycling has responded to the Dlamini incident that features in the footage below.
“NTT Pro Cycling would like to be clear that we fully condemn violence in any form and are all highly distressed to see our teammate treated in this manner,” it has said.
Team principal Doug Ryder added: “I was both devastated and appalled to see the video of Nicholas on social media.
“To watch a young man who I know so well in such unnecessary distress made me feel sick, to be honest. The way in which he was treated is simply not acceptable.”
The team’s released a full statement in which it has called upon SANParks to urgently account for “the level and scale of physicality employed by the officials in subduing Nicholas.”
It has also asked, “What type of message does this send to both local and foreign visitors who want to visit [one of South Africa’s premier tourist attractions]?”
The team’s demanding a full apology and immediate disciplinary procedures against the officials involved.
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Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Latest Comments
Gd29 4 minutes ago
These stats aren't evidence, they show correlation. Without isolating the variables they don't actually say that much about the impact of the change. Speed limits are an ineffective tool when the problem is drivers not driving in an appropriate manner for the conditions and environment. Those drivers weren't following the speed limit and/or paying sufficient attention anyway! If that is the problem and you don't deal with it, but you want to keep reducing injuries/fatalities, you have to keep dropping speed limits until you prohibit road use entirely. The solution is driving standards improvement (education) and enforcement. In wider terms but more importantly it's better city and road design, and reducing commuting distances by reforming the housing market (to an easily exchanged basic human need - shelter, not primarily an asset with massive financial inertia to change) But that's expensive, in £, time, administration, politics.
Mr Blackbird 6 minutes ago
@OnYerBike I also find Zwift is a best bet if you want a very easy recovery ride on a windy day. A lot of my cycling is on the fens, where wind is a huge factor, making it difficult to keep power at a low level. An indoor ride on a flat course like Tempus Fugit or similar is perfect - as long as I ride to my power level and don't try to catch other riders.
mdavidford 6 minutes ago
Bet that Patrick Stewart was a menace - running red(shift) lights at warp speed, and then appearing out of nowhere...
jaymack 18 minutes ago
@DrG82 - on the other hand not doing it would merely have been a waste of life.
OnYerBike 19 minutes ago
@Rapha Nadal I believe there other platforms such as TrainerRoad that would let you do that, although you'd need both the (standard) Zwift subscription and a subscription to TrainerRoad on top, which comes to a higher total. I know Zwift does now let you sync with Garmin etc. so it does "know" about your outside bike rides, although it's unclear how thoroughly integrated this is (e.g. if you manually recreate the recommended workout outside, is that recognized as being equivalent training?) That said, whilst in general I much prefer riding outside, indoor training does have distinct advantages for structured training - you can just focus on hitting the target power and not have to worry about traffic/traffic lights/potholes/hills etc.
mdavidford 1 hour ago
No - it's just that that bright yellow demands all the attention, so the rest of your kit gets overlooked.
mdavidford 1 hour ago
Except that, er, they did consider exceptions, in that they specifically provided in the legislation for local authorities to apply exceptions. You could argue over how long they had to implement them, but to say they weren't considered is just not true. And the fact that a few roads have now changed back isn't 'backtracking' - it's authorities using the legislation as designed.
Clem Fandango 1 hour ago
@Rendel Harris I'm confused. Who the hell was he shouting at?? You were "invisible" after all. After years of riding I've concluded that all of my bikes have a cloaking device fitted to them. It's the only explanation for the litany of close passes, left hooks, near misses and collisions that I've been on the end of. Even when wearing bright clothing & running lights in broad daylight, I once found myself airborne over the bonnet of a Kia Sportage whose driver piled onto the roundabout I was already negotiating. The drivers response, having stood by whilst passers by helped my broken form out of the road, was the ubiquitous "I didn't see you". Never fear though, there is a safety mechanism that kicks in occasionally (but only if another rider jumps a red light). At that point I can be seen from space by Daily Mail readers - I know this because I've more than once been subjected to a tirade of abuse about red light jumping cyclists from drivers.......whilst I have been waiting at a red light.
Rapha Nadal 2 hours ago
I feel that this is the way platforms are heading now but this would only appeal to me if i could take a session outside rather than being chained to the turbo for all of them.
the little onion 2 hours ago
@Boopop I think every cyclist has stories of being lit up like a Christmas tree, and all the works, yet still having a SMIDSY moment
3 thoughts on “Live blog: Video: Pro cyclist ‘injures himself’ (breaks arm) getting arrested by park rangers – Froome says incident’s “appalling”; Video – Koala flags down cyclist and climbs bike for a drink; Ex-pro’s tweet asking people to share kids’ Xmas bikes + more”
The koala video is the best
The koala video is the best thing I have seen this year for showing the best of humanity. Poor thing must have been parched.
biker phil wrote:
it would have been parched. Drought is bad across Australia. Really bad. November rainfall was the lowest on record, everything is parched. If the eucalypt trees are struggling then koalas will have to look for water. But that’s curious behaviour for a wild animal – it’s like the koala has had water from cyclists before and learned to trust them, or it’s been rescued and rehabilitated at some point. Given it’s happened in the Adelaide Hills before (a similar story was around in 2018, during heatwave conditions) it’s possible they’re learning cyclists are nice people who don’t mind sharing a drink.
Skinny cyclist arms it looked
Skinny cyclist arms it looked to me.