Welcome to the road.cc live blog on this Friday that doesn’t really feel like a Friday, with Jack Sexty, Alex Bowden and the rest of the team.
Live blog: Canyon Ultimate model made entirely from Lego; Ride with Quick-Step in Roubaix (for €3k each); 6 points and £230 fine for driver who left cyclist with brain injury; Alternative Peloton ad you can’t unsee; Supermarket edition near miss +more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Fri, Jan 03, 2020 21:15
SUMMARY
3 January 2020, 21:15
Close-passing and 'must get in front', supermarket edition
Most bicycle riders have experienced some level of aggression from drivers on the road.
Australian motoring group RACQ, takes a closer look at some of this type of behaviour but in a supermarket setting… pic.twitter.com/UOcbBB5Hwu
— Safe Cycling Ireland (@SafeCyclingEire) January 1, 2020
Sadly this Australian ad highlighting poor driver behaviour by changing the setting to a supermarket will seem all too familiar to many cyclists, particularly the first impatient shopper we’re introduced to.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Makes sense...
We live in confusing times. pic.twitter.com/v2jKMLDPDu
— Joe Simpson (@JoeSimpsonArt) January 2, 2020
3 January 2020, 21:15
How much does a big crash cost you?
Not to one-up you but to agree with you…I’m on the hook for $250k from my crash in June. Places I was taken while unconscious, in pain, and on heavy drugs https://t.co/xid7OLdNhu
— Phil Gaimon (@philgaimon) January 2, 2020
Some time off work, a broken bike, pain of course… and if you live in the USA like Phil Gaimon, an extremely hefty medical bill. We know where we’d rather live when it comes to healthcare, and let’s hope it doesn’t change to much any time soon…
3 January 2020, 21:15
28 cyclists were killed on New York's streets in 2019; while Oslo recorded no cyclist or pedestrian fatalities
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The New York Times has asked what went wrong on the streets of New York City last year, as total traffic deaths rose to 219 from 203 in 2018 and the highest number of cyclist deaths for two decades was recorded. A vocal part of New York’s cycling community say Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to improve street safety and add in 250 more miles of protected bike lanes has been undermined by the attitude of some traffic police, such as the tendency to issue fines to cyclists for traffic violations in wake of a fatality instead of policing drivers. Some have suggested banning cars, but officials say they have to ‘balance the needs’ for those who rely on motor vehicles for commuting and business to get around the city.
Oslo may have some of the answers, as it’s been revealed the Norwegian capital recorded no pedestrian or cyclist deaths at all in 2019. This was achieved partly thanks to a big increase in pedestrianising streets, giving priority to cyclists and pedestrians at junctions and encouraging clean modes of transport. Deaths rose to a high of 41 in 1980, before finally reaching zero 39 years later. Additionally according to Oslo-based road policy director Anders Hartmann, no children were killed in a traffic incident anywhere in Norway in 2019; the first time this has happened since ‘at least World War 2’.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Anyone recognise this guy?
Because he lost his GoPro on the South Downs recently. The post was shared on the Lewisham Cyclists Facebook group, the link to join is here if you have any information.
3 January 2020, 21:15
RideLondon raised £11.5 million for charity in 2019
The record amount brings the total raised up to £77 million since the inaugural RideLondon seven years ago. London’s mayor Sadiq Khan said: “My congratulations go to everyone who helped raise this fantastic sum for charity at the 2019 edition of Prudential RideLondon. Their efforts will help some great causes make a real difference to people’s lives.”
As we reported yesterday though the event may be under threat, with Surrey County Council launching a public consultation over whether it should continue to host events forming part of the UK’s biggest annual cycling event – the current agreement for the county to host expires this year, and the consultation will help the council decide whether to continue to stage it during the following five years. Full story here.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Sustrans back York's car-free plans
York’s decision to ban private cars in the city centre is a positive step in the right direction to improve health, cut #airpollution and encourage #walking and #cycling @cyclingindustry : https://t.co/SCxWC1GOSK pic.twitter.com/S5QEWPzaGd
— Sustrans (@sustrans) January 3, 2020
York will become the first car-free city centre if plans to ban private cars by 2023 are realised. The policy, initially proposed by Labour councillor Johnny Crawshaw and now backed by the council, is aimed at eliminating “non-essential” journeys by car within the medieval centre, the area bounded by the city’s historic walls.
Sustrans’ HQ is in Bristol, a city that itself will be the first to ban diesel cars from the centre starting in 2021 in an effort to lower its illegal levels of air pollution; it is currently falling way short of the target.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Now you see him...
Still trying to figure out how he even did that? pic.twitter.com/IwyHOUUFy0
— Hannah Walker (@spannawalker) January 1, 2020
3 January 2020, 21:15
The alternative Peloton ad (that you really can't unsee)
Sent from friend. Absolutely brilliant #peloton pic.twitter.com/xUQSqdVoYZ
— Scott T (@Cycling_4p) January 2, 2020
At first we decided not to embed this video directly, but alas our childish side prevailed and it’s way too good not to share. If you’re prudish, squeamish or both, perhaps don’t watch past 0:12…
3 January 2020, 21:15
Trek slim down the e-road version of the Domane with the new Domane+ LT
The new Fazua-powered Domane+ LT weighs in at 3.6kg with battery pack attached at 10.7kg without – full story over on eBikeTips.
3 January 2020, 21:15
More pros flock to disc brakes, as Lotto Soudal riders latest to make the switch
Could 2020 be the year we see almost complete adoption of disc brakes in the pro peloton? A day after Movistar announced their new partnership with SRAM and a complete switch to disc brake brakes, now Lotto Soudal have also made the switch – although they are sticking with Campagnolo components for 2020. Read more about the latest wave of pro team disc adoption here.
3 January 2020, 21:15
To have a bike plan, first you need a car plan
‘The most important part of of a bicycle plan is the car plan’
Will be using that. https://t.co/25pS2Hq4xY
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) January 3, 2020
Hopefully Mr Boardman’s Bee Network masterplan for Manchester will also see the transformation of the main road network to accommodate the new infrastructure.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Scottish government make an extra £700,000 available to help people buy e-bikes
The money will be allocated to fund an interest-free loan scheme, whereby Scots can purchase an e-bike worth up to £6,000 with a four-year repayment period on the loan – full story over on eBikeTips.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Driver who left 81-year-old cyclist with life-changing brain injury given £230 fine and six points
Cumbria Crack reports that 56-year-old Debra May Chapman hit John Craig on Bridgegate Avenue in Barrow, after failing to see him on her right and pulling out in front of him. Mr Craig was riding his e-bike at the time of the collision on the 22nd June 2019 and was sent over Chapman’s bonnet, leaving him with a significant brain injury that means he now needs one-to-one personal care.
Chapman pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention at North and West Cumbria Magistrates Court in Carlisle yesterday, saying she was very sorry and the incident was “a momentary lapse of concentration.”
She was sentenced to a fine of £230 with court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £30 plus six penalty points, meaning that Chapman is still free to drive having previously held a clean driving licence.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Bradford's Queensbury Tunnel row rolls on as Highways England reject council's request for abandonment delay
The leader of the Queensbury Tunnel Society Norah McWilliam said the rejection of the extension request is “another inexplicable act” by Highways England, after plans to turn it into Europe’s longest cycling tunnel were put on hold indefinitely after they ceased inspection and repair works of the tunnel on safety grounds. Contractors began filling in the No 2 Shaft of the tunnel back in October which the Society described as an act of “ruthless vandalism”, and they still hope to eventually secure funding to undo the damage and begin revamping the tunnel.
Ms McWilliam continues: “If the funding bid is successful, they (Highways England) could be relieved of all responsibility for the tunnel, something the Department for Transport – as its owner – is keen to achieve. So why are they unwilling to create a little breathing space for decision-making? This attitude amounts to a bloody-minded refusal to look for a positive outcome.”
3 January 2020, 21:15
Bridgenorth pothole plea after cyclist breaks arm
The Shropshire Star reports that ‘road racer’ Nick Morris is calling for Shropshire’s highways to be sorted out properly after numerous friends have damaged bikes and sustained injuries.
Morris said: “There have been a few lads who have come off on the roads around here. There was one who hit one in front of him and broke his arm. Then two people went into the back of him.
“The state of the roads is pretty horrific really. It’s pretty easy to get punctures and broken wheels. There’s potholes and broken tarmac in a lot of places. We kind of know the roads around here so know where most of the bad areas are. But we do still have to point them out to each other.
“Riding at night now is a no-no because you just can’t see them. And they’re not ones that you can just hit and get away with it. They’re not just going to puncture your tyre or break your wheel, you’re going to come off.”
3 January 2020, 21:15
Ride with Deceuninck Quick-Step in Roubaix (for 2,999 euros per person, not including flights)
The extravagant ‘Wolfpack Experience’ packages include a four-night stay at the team hotel, useage of Specialized pro level bikes or the Creo e-road bike on group rides with team car support and the chance to meet the riders. The Flanders trip takes place from April 2-6 and Roubaix from April 9-13, with the sign up fee of 2,999 euros required before the end of January. If you really like Deceuninck Quick-Step and have a lot more money than me, you can find out more here.
3 January 2020, 21:15
Check out this Canyon Ultimate... made entirely out of Lego
We appear to have missed this since it was shared in early November (thanks to Dave Lake for bringing it to our attention), but… how cool is it?! It’s a full-sized model that appears to be to scale, and according to the uploader was built by a Jens Fischer.
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Jack has 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 the website 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
StevenCrook 14 minutes ago
Bike, helmet, lycra. That's all most people see and it inevitably ends up as lowest common denominator because all that gets discussed is the bad stuff, true or not.
StevenCrook 14 minutes ago
Bike, helmet, lycra. That's all most people see and it inevitably ends up as lowest common denominator because all that gets discussed is the bad stuff, true or not.
hawkinspeter 1 hour ago
It's only natural that they'd try to use the huge active travel pot as we all know that there's never any money available for new roads etc.
hawkinspeter 1 hour ago
From what I remember of it, it was plausible that it could have been a balancing reflex, but from the timing of it, it looked more deliberate to me. Personally, I wouldn't stick my knee out for balancing, but would be using my upper body as it's more effective for that due to it being heavier and further from the ground, thus a longer "lever". Certainly, the cyclist's actions immediately afterwards and with the legal action suggest that they're not the nicest person.
Hirsute 1 hour ago
Not sure what ebike you have but specialized ones are much easier to use above 15mph. I can do 20 on the flat if the wind is not against me.
eburtthebike 2 hours ago
“The worst thing is the funding to do this, which will increase danger to cyclists, is coming from the active travel pot,” cycling writer Edward Pickering, the vice-chair of the Exeter Cycling Campaign, told road.cc on Friday." How can it be that funds to make cycling safer will be used to make it less safer? I hope Active Travel England will be casting a very sharp eye on this, and demanding that the money is used for what it is intended for, not the opposite. If it is used to make cycling more dangerous, they should demand that it is returned, so that the cost falls on the tax-payers of Exeter. The article doesn't mention whether there has been an examination of the economic case, which I suspect would show that there wasn't one, with re-opening costing more in the long term than leaving it closed to motor traffic.
Rome73 2 hours ago
I was reading in the Harlngey local rag this week that a copper was sacked after going into a local pret, taking a sandwich, leaving without paying, getting back into his (illegally) parked car and driving off. It was all caught on camera.
David W 2 hours ago
I have not seen the video (maybe I did when it first went viral?), but I see that knee as possibly an automatic balancing reflex. He moved onto fresh snow with a slight drop towards the side to get around the child standing in the path, so I would find it entirely plausible that it was not an intentional act to hit the child, Even so, it was totally unacceptable to go past as any speed, and to not stop having made contact.
Rome73 2 hours ago
Recently I managed to get my TERN up to 24 mph - that was going down a very long decline from Hampstead. The road was clear and wide so I thought I’d give it a go. It didn’t feel comfortable at that speed either. To sustain 20mph on an e bike is very difficult, unless it’s downhill - 30mph is impossible.
tomlew 3 hours ago
I forgot to mention one thing. The article provides a link to the GCN piece, which in itself extends their range. That may not have been your best move if what you wanted to achieve was to reduce their impact.
21 thoughts on “Live blog: Canyon Ultimate model made entirely from Lego; Ride with Quick-Step in Roubaix (for €3k each); 6 points and £230 fine for driver who left cyclist with brain injury; Alternative Peloton ad you can’t unsee; Supermarket edition near miss +more”
I’ve been to Oslo (lovely,
I’ve been to Oslo (lovely, but expensive). The amount of cyclists in mid summer is not surprising, but there are LOADS in the middle of winter when it is cold, wet and almost permanently dark. It is the perfect reposte to those that say that hills, dark and a wet climate, rather than a lack of infrastructure, is the fundamental limitation on the number of cyclists.
Pass the eye bleach when you
Pass the eye bleach when you’ve finshed with it.
That supermarket video is
That supermarket video is great – it really highlights how differently people behave when on a road.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Doesn’t seem different to Australian supermarkets to me, people shop as bad as they drive. I’ve seen all that and worse. At the supermarket it’s usually a woman on the phone who runs into you and then gives you the finger, despite it being her fault. So not entirely accurate, but close.
It didn’t even cover the litterers – the people who take stuff out of their trolley and leave it on the nearest shelf. I couldn’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen meat, frozen foods and deli items left on random shelves. Or the park-anywhere types who leave the shopping trolley obstructing walkways because they won’t walk the 10 steps to the return bay. The lane changers who switch checkout lines every time the next one looks like it’s moving faster. The double-parking ones who block an aisle to have a conversation with their next door neighbour. The ones who remember something they’ve forgotten while at the checkout and go back to get it, forcing everyone to wait. MGIF’s are as common in the supermarket as on the road, especially at the deli counter.
what I don’t know is did driving cause the supermarket behaviour, or vice versa?
Philh68 wrote:
We get similar supermarket behaviour in the UK, but most of it is just laziness with not putting stuff back where you got it from.
I haven’t encountered people smashing into you when they’re on the phone, so maybe you’re unlucky with that one.
hawkinspeter wrote:
“Creative shelf stacking” – when you find a box of eggs and a packet of bacon abandoned near the bread, or a bottle of whiskey next to the coffee, that sort of thing.
LOL at American medical bills
LOL at American medical bills! What’s the score over there? Actual cost then mutiply by 10? I seem to remember some guy getting charged $47k for having a snake bite antidote. Surely the antidote does not cost anything like that, where do they get their numbers?
Rick_Rude wrote:
It’s simple; their system is driven by profit, not need. There are a number of recent stories about diabetics dying because they can’t afford insulin since the pharma companies increased the price by ten times. As the report uncovered before the election showed, the one the tories blacked out every word in, they are going to do the same to us.
burtthebike wrote:
Happy New Year from the drug companies: https://www.businessinsider.com/more-drugmakers-hike-us-prices-as-new-year-begins-2020-1?r=US&IR=T
burtthebike wrote:
The healthcare system is around 20% of the entire US economy. Hospitals the single largest employer in some cities. Hence why Obamacare was attacked and repealed by Trump. Simply can’t afford for it to be affordable.
The “Peloton” ad is from Only
The “Peloton” ad is from Only an Excuse. It’s a tv programme shown on BBC Scotland each and every Hogmanay. It used to be a satirical take on Scottish football but has broadened its scope to take on a wider range of social commentary. Not as funny as it once was unfortunately, but that piece made me laugh!
Another joke of a sentence.
Another joke of a sentence. This joke is wearing a bit thin.
CygnusX1 wrote:
For driving without due care and attention then the sentencing guidelines are 5 to 6 penalty points and a fine of 75 to 125% of weekly income (link). This is where the driver has low culpability but has caused high harm. Culpability and harm being defined in the sentencing guidelines linked.
So here, I suspect the sentence is probably towards the max of what the court could give out whilst remaining within the guidelines.
Whether this was the correct charge the driver had to answer for is a valid question. I imagine there was a conversation which went along the lines of “100% sure we can get a guilty verdict for driving without due care and attention or 30% (made up number to illustrate the point!) sure we can get a guilty verdict to something more severe – which should we go for..”
I’m sure the civil claim against the driver’s insurance will reflect the injuries caused and care costs. Should we hope this leads to insurance becoming too expensive for the driver in question and forces them off the road? Does this lead down the path towards more uninsured drivers? I don’t know.
£250 for leaving someone in
£250 for leaving someone in one to one care for the rest of (what will likely be short now) life?
Since she is a nurse perhaps the sentence should have been to look after him 24 hours a day for the rest of his life.
hirsute wrote:
Given she works in the area, there’s a very real chance that she could be looking after him, how weird would that be?
Yet again, negligence whilst driving is accepted. What if someone had been severely injured because she had a ‘momentary lapse’ and adminstered a near fatal dose of medication? Would that have been a £250 fine and carry on as normal?
HoarseMann wrote:
Given she works in the area, there’s a very real chance that she could be looking after him, how weird would that be?
Yet again, negligence whilst driving is accepted. What if someone had been severely injured because she had a ‘momentary lapse’ and adminstered a near fatal dose of medication? Would that have been a £250 fine and carry on as normal?— hirsute
Without wishing to sound paranoid or cynical I can’t help but wonder what the outcome would have been had a cyclist caused similar injuries to a pedestrian whilst making a dangerous/illegal manoeuvre.
hirsute wrote:
Maybe there’s a Texan connection? After all, she’s very sorry but it was Just An Accident ™
Good job but struggling to
Good job but struggling to see the point of a LEGO replica bike. Serves no functional or artistic purpose whatsoever.
Blackthorne wrote:
I know, right? It’s like people build stuff out of LEGO just for fun and don’t even care about the practicality of it.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I know but this is different. I like your squirrel. It’s cute, creative, and an original interpretation. This LEGO bike is none of those. It’s a cold replica that takes up half a living room.
Blackthorne wrote:
Thank you, though it’s not my model – just found the picture.
Building large lego replicas does take a lot of skill and planning so I think you’re underestimating how good that lego bike is.