Milan-San Remo coronavirus update; Lovely vid of cyclist covering all Zone 1 London streets; 20mph limit for London Congestion Zone; Halesowen cycling team bag Mapei sponsorship; Lance hangs out with Tyson (Mike, not Fury) + more on live blog
SUMMARY
Weekend catch-up
Another wet and windy weekend, deary me. Here’s what you missed from us if you’ve had your mind on other things…
Former Swiss pro leaves the team he founded after admitting involvement in Aderlass doping ring
“It feels great to be a bike racer again” – Chris Froome makes his racing return at the UAE Tour
Jail sentence for bike thief who seriously injured pedestrian
Just Lance and Mike Tyson, hangin' out
Just a coupla fighters.. pic.twitter.com/WoJpaPfAFQ
— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) February 23, 2020
Presumably this was taken in Vegas at the weekend for the Fury vs Wilder bout. Who would you like to see Lance take on in the ring?
Cyclist Robert Hazeldean, who was sued for crashing into a pedestrian, reveals case outcome "not the result I was hoping for"
So, 8 months since the last hearing, I’m finally able to update on the outcome of my case. It’s not the result I was hoping for, but I do at least feel free of it now.
1/11
— Robert Hazeldean (@RobHazeldean) February 24, 2020
Hazeldean made national news in June last year, after he was found partially liable for a crash at a junction near Canon Street station back in 2015 in which himself and Gemma Brushett were both knocked unconscious. Though Mr Hazeldean was described as a “calm and reasonable road user” and Ms Brushett was using her phone when she crossed the road, Hazeldean was found jointly liable and was initially ordered to pay compensation and costs of £100,000 after Brushett sued. Crucially, Hazeldean did not have insurance and was facing bankruptcy, so a crowdfunder was launched to cover legal fees.
Hazeldean was left with a personal bill of nearly £3,000 after the £59,643 raised through crowdfunding didn’t quite cover the costs for both sides, damages plus interest and the fees for the crowdfunder – full story here.
Edinburgh tram track accidents increased in 2019
Please RT – Edinburgh tram designs criticised after new figures show number of cyclists who fell off their bikes last year due to the tracks. Comments by Prof Chris Oliver @CyclingSurgeon Spokes – The Lothian Cycling Campaign @SpokesLothian https://t.co/wbM2K9f0Pp pic.twitter.com/yZSrCMt9sM
— Chris Oliver (@CyclingSurgeon) February 24, 2020
More than 30 cyclists fell off their bikes due to Edinburgh’s infamous tram tracks in 2019, new figures have revealed – full story on this to follow.
Ewan wins on Hatta Dam...again
It’s that man @CalebEwan again! The 2019 Hatta Dam stage winner repeats the feat with a ferocious final ascent to claim victory ahead of his rivals #UAETour pic.twitter.com/1CVAIA5lQ9
— UAE Tour Official (@uae_tour) February 24, 2020
Caleb Ewan of Lotto Soudal has taken another stage win on the Hatta Dam, backing up on his stage win in last year’s race.
Wow, what a finish on Hatta Dam! @Sammmy_Be tried to get the jump on @CalebEwan but had to settle for 2nd place despite pushing such high numbers!
Avg Speed: 27.3 km/h
Avg Power: 1060 W
Power-to-weight: 14.52 W/kg
Max Power: 1480 W
Avg Cadence: 89 rpm
_______________
🇦🇪 #UAETour pic.twitter.com/Mee1rqCC8J— Velon CC (@VelonCC) February 24, 2020
The Aussie pocket-rocket beat Sam Bennett into second despite the Irish National Champion’s whopping 1,480W sprint.
Halesowen Athletic and Cycling Club bag Mapei sponsorship
After appearing on the jerseys of one of the world’s most famous cycling teams back in the 90’s, a market town in the West Midlands might not be the place you’d expect Mapei to pop up again three decades later… but thanks to Mapei UK Ltd, Halesowen Athletic and Cycling Club will have the iconic tiled squares on their purple kit for 2020. Their chairman David Viner said: “This is a total game changer for the Halesowen cycling club, with support from a huge cycling name who have a UK base close to the velodrome where we develop our young riders.
“We would like to thank Mapei for this support. We have a long and proud history of developing talented young cyclists and this new backing will enable us to develop the club on a sustainable basis for the future.”
In initial beneficiaries of the sponsorship will be the 10 junior and under-23 riders in Halesowen’s Academy, who launched their new jerseys today. Their academy manager is renowned cycling journalist William Fotheringham, who commented: “We have a very specific goal at the academy, which is to support these riders as they make the transition into the junior and under-23 ranks, and to make sure that when they leave us – hopefully for better things – they are seasoned racers with a real passion for the sport.
“Our main role is to give them racing opportunities, particularly in stage races, and Mapei’s support will make that much easier for us to do, so we would really like to thank them for the faith they have shown in us.”
'Extra foamy' Halfords gel...
Picked these gels up at Halfords today. Lemony flavour, bit strong, foamy after taste. 3.5/5.@roadcc pic.twitter.com/7jXmRQY0qx
— Trevor Hughes (@moist_gibbon) February 23, 2020
Thanks for the review Trevor. Wonder if it comes in a caffeine version?
20mph speed limits will be enforced across the whole London Congestion Zone from 2nd March
Transport for London have announced that from Monday next week, the speed limit across all roads they manage in the central London Congestion Charging Zone will be set at 20mph. Although this means it won’t apply to all roads inside the area, many boroughs set speed limits of 20mph anyway. All in all, 19 of the 37 roads in the Congestion Charging Zone managed by TfL will have their speed limit reduced to 20mph (you can see the full list here).
TfL say 20mph zones have been shown to have no net negative impact on exhaust emissions according to research from Imperial University, and that vehicles were shown to move “more smoothly, with fewer accelerations and decelerations, than in 30mph zones.” They also set out plans to expand 20mph zones: “The second phase will look at a further 140 kilometres of our road network in inner and outer London, including on the inner ring road, high-risk roads and roads in town centres.
“We’ve completed a risk analysis to identify roads in inner and outer London where speeds should be lowered to reduce the risk of road users being killed and seriously injured, focusing on town centres and roads with the highest risk of a collision occurring.”
Does this affect cyclists? It means that hopefully those who ride in the area will be doing so alongside drivers sticking to a safer speed limit, and the law will technically only apply to motor vehicles; although cyclists found to be riding in excess of 20mph and deemed to be doing so dangerously can have other charges brought – such as the “wanton and furious driving” law used to convict Charlie Alliston over the death of Kim Briggs – should their riding cause injury.
Remco Evenepoel says "the best is yet to come" after Volta ao Algarve victory
The 20-year-old Belgian beat world TT champion Rohan Dennis to clinch victory in the stage and the overall standings at the Portuguese stage race, and told Eurosport: “The Volta ao Algarve is not a three-week race like the Giro. That is something altogether different. I’m just working towards my goals now, and I want to be prepared in two months.
“I said I wanted to come to Algarve, I did my very best and performed as well as possible. Next up is Tirreno-Adriatico and we’ll see how we go there. It’s about going step by step, race by race, then we’ll see in the end what the season brings.”
Velo Essex pre-registration closes on Wednesday following 'strong demand'... but some folks aren't happy
With entries capped at 15,000 for the sportive on 20th September, organisers are urging potential participants to pre-register for Velo Essex by Wednesday this week after receiving thousands already.
Of course, no large organised sportive with closed roads would be complete without some major concerns that car journeys may be interrupted for a few hours… and the Braintree and Witham Times have become the first to step up with their article titled: ‘Fears Velo Essex cycling event in mid Essex will cause traffic chaos.’
A full story on this will follow…
Katy Marchant says women's GB track squad is missing Jess Varnish and Becky James
Britain’s women have so far failed to qualify for women’s team sprint in Tokyo, and are also yet to secure spots for the individual sprint and keirin – with Katy Marchant telling NewsChain that the team are missing out on the experience of riders such as Varnish and James.
She said: “A lot of the riders now are a lot younger.
“We were thin on the ground after the Rio Olympics. With Becky leaving, I was the sole rider. Then we had two or three academy riders and that is not enough to produce an Olympic gold-winning team.”
Varnish quit cycling and brought an employment case against British Cycling after her controversial omission from the Rio 2016 team; after initially losing the first tribunal that concluded Varnish was not an employee of British Cycling, she recently won the right to appeal. Marchant claimed she “never had a problem” with culture at British Cycling despite the scathing attack on coaches from Varnish, who claimed bullying took place.
Brit Max Stedman wins Tour of Antalya
In bike racing, you need a bit of luck, which we had, but most importantly, you also need a f***king good team. They were awesome today. This one’s for the @canyondhbsoreen riders and staff, a big step for us. @tourofantalya 🥇 pic.twitter.com/eQleLRYtRK
— Max Stedman (@MaxStedman_) February 23, 2020
The 23-year-old Canyon DHB p/b Bloor Homes rider triumphed in the four-stage race yesterday, clinching the overall victory. Riders faced some pretty familiar conditions which would have played into the hands of British teams, with footage from the 2nd stage on Friday showing marshals desperately trying to clear water from the finish line…
Very wet @tourofantalya pic.twitter.com/swjsgtye1Q
— José Been (@TourDeJose) February 21, 2020
Re the tweet above...
This road being built on the side of a mountain pic.twitter.com/fablkBPpBo
— Engineering (@engineeringvids) February 24, 2020
This actually looks far more terrifying, he should do this one instead.
Footage of mtb'er riding along the side of a mountain is terrifying the internet
Cycling on the mountain 😱 pic.twitter.com/2e8yCY4NKB
— Science And Nature (@InterestingSci1) February 24, 2020
Rather him than us…
Chris Boardman says waterproof kit is best cycling innovation in last 30 years... do you agree?
It’s definitely true that the level of waterproofing in the best quality gear is on another stratosphere compared to the heavy gear of old… but how about lights? They’ve also come a hell of a long way since the Ever Ready that dominated the bars and seatposts of the 70’s and 80’s (at least until they ran out after an hour or so anyway) and you can read all about that here.
Have lights or clothing come on the most? Let us know your thoughts as always…
"Pretty much everything that’s wrong with car culture in a single tweet": Ram Trucks panned for 'dominating from every angle' slogan
Dominating from every angle. pic.twitter.com/KN6K7so7kX
— RamTrucks (@RamTrucks) February 23, 2020
The cycling community and the general public alike were dismayed at the semantics behind the marketing tactics of American commercial vehicle manufacturer Ram Trucks… in fact, just their actual name carries some pretty worrying connotations…
Ban these death machines.
— Debaser (@MattyLangMSP) February 23, 2020
How long did it take you to maximize pedestrian and cyclist fatality rates on this one?
— It’s Herb! (@HMendowitz) February 23, 2020
It would be an honor to be run over by this
— Allyn West (@allynwest) February 23, 2020
Dominating who or what? Kids that can’t be seen because of the height and good length? Cyclists, pedestrians? Cars that are squished by this head level hood? Ban this ridiculous macho menace. Honestly look at yourselves
— Richard Underhill (@RichUnderhill) February 23, 2020
A recent Belgian advertising campaign for BMW SUV’s garnered a similar reaction, with slogans such as ‘born to rule’ and ‘leader of the gang’ appearing on billboards alongside images of the imposing cars.
Terrific graphic from guy who rode every street in Central London
Remember Davis Vilums, the guy who decided to make his commute a bit more interesting by riding every street in Central London?
Well, today is the fifth anniversary of him beginning that quest, and he’s come up with a rather lovely visualisation of how he managed to cover all the roads in Zone 1.
There are a lot of them.
Exactly 5 years ago I started my journey to visit every single street in Central London. This is how London’s grid emerges, using only my cycling journeys.
Here’s a little story, how I did it.https://t.co/VwnjnLz832 pic.twitter.com/kGMwp2tqz5— Dāvis Viļums (@DavisVilums) February 23, 2020
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Latest Comments
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.
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.
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.
@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?
They may have looked, but did they see?
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.
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.
“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.
I'm criticising them for not riding in secondary position, not primary. At least 60cms (2 feet) from the edge of the road as the HC explicitly recommends. Leaving aside the small minority of riders who find mounting and dismounting a bike difficult - which sounds suspiciously similar to the motorists "but, but what about disabled drivers?" when talking about LTNs - what's wrong with able bodied riders walking the few metres over that narrow, Victorian bridge? Sure, if there's clearly no-one on it I wouldn't condemn anyone for riding it slowly, but if it's not clear forcing pedestrians to stop and squeeze to the side is, frankly, a rather entitled opinion. Plus it's easy to hold a road bike a little ahead of you and hold the saddle - normally no need to hold the bars if it's straight - so you're really not taking up much more room at all. There's a railway underpass near me that links to a shared then segregated path. It's narrow, and the path approaches at an angle so you can't see if it's clear, but many riders still choose to pedal through despite the clear 'no cycling' signage. Why?? Personally I don't go that way, except on foot, preferring the surrounding roads.
I think you're giving drivers too much credit. Many would not think twice about blocking the road if it makes their life easier, such as when turning right onto a busy road.
28 thoughts on “Milan-San Remo coronavirus update; Lovely vid of cyclist covering all Zone 1 London streets; 20mph limit for London Congestion Zone; Halesowen cycling team bag Mapei sponsorship; Lance hangs out with Tyson (Mike, not Fury) + more on live blog”
I think Mr Hazeldean has
I think Mr Hazeldean has forgotten an important bit of advice – if you’re heading towards pedestrians in the road, slow down and be prepared to stop even if you believe that you have priority.
Personally, I wish that he’d gone for bankruptcy and not had crowd-funding to ensure that the lawyers got paid.
hawkinspeter wrote:
Yup, peter, because the motorists do that all the time. They definitely don’t just sound their horn and carry on regardless…
I’ve never seen a motorist
I’ve never seen a motorist just ploughing into a pedestrian crossing the road – the motorist typically uses their horn and screeches to a halt and then (rightfully) shouts at the pedestrians getting in their way. As I remember, Mr Hazeldean didn’t reduce his speed and just relied on the pedestrians not being dumb enough to step into his path after he used his horn.
I’ve never seen either but
I’ve never seen either but tbh, the KSI of peds by motorists gives a bit of clue here as to the behaviour of the average “in a rush” motorist…
Motorists only kill 9
Motorists only kill 9 pedestrians every week.
To me, that says there is quite a bit of ploughing on.
hawkinspeter wrote:
No, neither have I.
But I have seen and experienced plenty of motorists who will use their horn and who will not slow down until the Last Possible Nanosecond before they run down someone crossing.
Or who think that the very moment the traffic lights change is when they can start moving regardless of whether pedestrians are still crossing.
I was once crossing at a pelican crossing, when cars had stopped all across the crossing (because they didn’t wait behind the white line until they could get all the way across and then got caught when the lights changed – crossing left to right here: https://goo.gl/maps/28eBmhT6rMh8aDDq7), and had a car actually start moving and run up into/against my leg because the cars ahead of him had started moving and I should have got out of his way…
I certainly don’t want to
I certainly don’t want to defend the toxic drivers that infest our roads, but I also don’t want to defend cyclists who attempt to do similar things. Luckily, (or not for Mr Hazeldean) cyclists will cause less damage and will tend to suffer some pain themselves which acts as a good deterrent, so it’s not nearly as big a problem.
I’m with you on the annoyance of cars just blocking pedestrian crossings – I think it’s just lack of awareness and stupidity on their part.
Blocking pedestrian crossings
Blocking pedestrian crossings is an offence, liable for a 3 point and £60 fine, I believe.
There is no excuse for it, for me a pedestrian crossing is a sacred thing.
ktache wrote:
Funny you should say that. Got threatened by a driver yesterday, as I was on a zebra crossing. Threatened as in : you don’t have priority on zebra crossings, get off or I’ll run you down. And yes: a zebra crossing. No, I wasn’t loitering.
Shaved head, large black BMW.
Kent Police are now going to have a chat about a public order offence. Although I’m not holding out hope that he’ll ever see the inside of a cell.
hawkinspeter wrote:
I was out running with a friend and our dogs last year and we came up to a pedestrian crossing. A bloke in a white van stopped to let us cross. Just as we were about half way over, a VW Passat overtook the van and shot right in front of us. This was in posh Dulwich (down the road from Dulwich College) as it happens. I was astounded, as was my friend. Even the white van driver looked shocked.
Shocked because the white van
Shocked because the white van driver stopped?
brooksby wrote:
What’s that got to do with how we behave? The “but motorists…” response gets really tiring in these discussions about how we as cyclists should behave.
mustgettaller wrote:
I was just pointing out that cyclists end up in court or whatever, whereas the same behaviour from motorists is (often) taken as “just one of those things” and the squashed pedestrian is just written off as if they’ve been struck by lightning (except in certain very specific circumstances).
I wasn’t intending it as “why should we have to behave well when motorists don’t”.
Jeez. This is a dumb comment.
Jeez. This is a dumb comment.
fenix wrote:
Hi, fenix: you didn’t quote, so I don’t know which one of my comments was particularly stupid 😉
Indeed. The details about
Indeed. The details about litigation after the fact and the rules around counter suing and whatnot are really shite and he got screwed and lawyers got paid. But hard not to agree with the original rulling of joint liability.
Take care of each other. Even if other people don’t.
At least it has now it has
At least it has now it has explained to me why certain big corporations seem to counter sue the victims of their incompetence. It is to cover in case they can prove their is fault on both sides and not just them.
hawkinspeter wrote:
If you did this in certain parts you’d be moving so slo you’d be better off walking.
The fact that the legal fees came to ~£30k makes you think about the cover limits you select when taking out insurance policies.
Walking speed is still
Walking speed is still quicker than falling off and lying unconcious for a bit.
Those legal fees were excessively high because he didn’t have legal representation and didn’t know about a significant loophole with the capping of legal fees. A lawyer will easily prevent you falling into that trap.
I agree with you on being
I agree with you on being prepared to stop, but I commute through this junction and think “there but for the grace of god go I”. This area is packed with pedestrians at peak times, many of whom are walking along (not across) the road because the pavements are packed (how long do you wait for them to clear?) and there is no signalled crossing here. I ride very carefully through here, but no matter how slowly you’re going or prepared you are for the eventuality, if someone steps out at the last minute, there’s not much you can do. Yes, getting off and pushing is an option. But the bus drivers aren’t going to do that, and I can’t see a judge having come to the same decision if the ped had walked out in front of a bus here.
If you’re slowing down a bit,
If you’re slowing down a bit, then usually that is sufficient.
Taken from https://clinicalnegligencebarrister.wordpress.com/2019/06/24/brushett-v-hazeldean-the-facts/
Little point us debating it
Little point us debating it as we weren’t there, but the defendant’s own account as reported in the note of judgment is that “he continued freewheeling into the junction.Pedestrians appeared to notice the horn. Once they cleared, he pedalled again and accelerated as it was uphill on the other side of the junction.” The judge didn’t come to a specific view on whether he slowed down, but didn’t seem keen on Mr H’s view – “[Hazeldean] gave every impression of being a reasonable road user. This was difficult to square with the picture presented by Mr H. ”
Yet, Mr Hazeldean included Mr
Yet, Mr Hazeldean included Mr H’s statement as part of his defence.
If you’re at all worried, then join Cycling UK or a similar organisation that’ll provide 3rd person coverage (some house insurances will also cover this). Also, bear in mind that this case was notable because it is so rare – cycling is actually very safe.
Yes, that is an odd detail;
Yes, that is an odd detail; wonder what happened there. At trial he relied only on the other 3 witnesses’ statements (not on Mr H, who gave evidence for the claimant).
Quote:
Which translates as “Brushett’s lawyers were blood-sucking so-and-so’s who wanted to see whether they would be able to drain him dry”.
The linked article on Velo
The linked article on Velo Essex doesn’t seem to contain any real complaints about traffic concerns. I actually like the Village Parish council leaders response of the TdF was good for the village and hopefully this one is as well. And she did have a right to complain if the first she actually knew about it was when the announcement was made publicly.
Ram trucks: “Only got 4”?
Ram trucks: “Only got 4″? Get a 4×4 and dominate.”
Without commenting on the
Without commenting on the rights and wrongs of the Hazeldean case it’s worth remembering the ‘hierarchy of vulnerability’. Pedestrians are at the top, followed by cyclists and then motorists. So however the pedestrian behaves, the cyclist and motorist must compensate for that by slowing down and taking care.