Driver tells road safety meeting kids cycling should take more responsibility for crashes; Meanwhile… Dutch children cycle to school without controversy; TDF confirms 2024 Nice TT finale (+ your thoughts); Rebellin tributes + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Davide Rebellin tributes
Davide Rebellin – what an absolute tragedy… RIP pic.twitter.com/hCqd4OO5vk
— Graham Watson (@grahamwatson10) November 30, 2022
The tributes to Davide Rebellin from across the cycling world continued last night…
Davide Rebellin died when he should have finally lived. It’s immensely sad.
— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) November 30, 2022
Tragic news to hear of the sudden death of former Italian professional cyclist, Davide Rebellin.
My thoughts are with his close ones during this difficult period. pic.twitter.com/V3I9yjw8tz
— David Lappartient (@DLappartient) November 30, 2022
L’ultima intervista di Davide a Eurosport nel giorno del suo ritiro dal ciclismo…soltanto un mese fa 💔 pic.twitter.com/7sclReTerk
— Eurosport IT (@Eurosport_IT) November 30, 2022
"Could make a finish for the ages": Your thoughts on Tour de France ditching Paris for Nice finale
[📷: A.S.O/Charly Lopez]
As we shared on yesterday’s blog, the Tour de France is likely to swap out the final stage in Paris for a seaside finale in 2024 because of the Olympic Games being held in the French capital just days later. So what do you make of the rumoured finish in Nice?
Rendel Harris hopes the procession will be dropped in favour of “full-on racing”…
“It would be really great if in finishing in Nice in 2024 the organisers could, for once, eschew the usual processionary stage and have full-on racing, there are such wonderful mountains all around the area that it could make a finish for the ages. Knowing ASO I’m 99 per cent sure they’ll just go for a dull pootle along the coast with a sprint finish on the Anglais, but hope springs eternal.
Miller replied: “I suspect the riders enjoy the last stage being relatively low stress. One last sprint and they can have a big party and then take their family for a beach holiday.”
But Rendel’s got an idea… “I’m sure they do and by God they earn it, but just every now and again it might be nice to have a last day that actually meant something? Two thirds of the Giro last days since 2008 have been individual time trials and produced some amazing finales…imagine Pog, Rog, Bernal, Vingegaard — maybe even Pidcock! — all within two minutes of each other and an out and back 40k TT over the Col de Braus on the final day. A man can dream… but as I said, almost certainly won’t happen.”
I’m sold.
[📷: A.S.O/Aurélien Vialatte]
AlsoSomniloquism: “After my volunteering stint with the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, I was looking at Paris Olympics for an encore and wondering if I could go early and catch the finale. (I was aware it was probably being moved but no decision had fully been made).
“However I do hope, as you mentioned, that they decide a good full race now rather then a GC procession.”
Fredy: “Very seldom watch the final stage of Tour de France as such an anticlimax. Hopefully Nice will be nice 👍”
HarrogateSpa agreed: “With you on that one. Ok, there’s the sprint, but all the divving about and sipping champagne beforehand…it’s not sport.”
No controversy, no Twitter row... just Dutch kids cycling to school
Compare this…
Dutch children love to cycle to school in groups. In December that is in the dark. pic.twitter.com/moV93jBgjM
— Mark Wagenbuur (@BicycleDutch) December 1, 2022
To how this went down…
> Sajid Javid blames father of five-year-old cyclist for letting child ride on road
All we’re seeing here is a group of human beings travelling to school… no cycling kit, no hi-vis, basic lights, no helmets even, just a country with a safe culture and infrastructure for cycling…
I imagine the rest of Europe + US having mild heart attacks now 😅
— Suzanne Beenackers (@SLBeenackers) December 1, 2022
It reminds me of the reader email we shared on yesterday’s live blog:
I was born and raised in Holland. Road division is as follows: Main carriageway, grass verge, cycle path and then footpath. I have cycled to school, gone shopping all on my bike. Not once was I involved in an accident or disagreement with a car driver. There it is. Dutch common sense.
Where do we buy this ‘common sense’ thing you talk of?
Nice final stage TT CONFIRMED
It seems A.S.O has listened to the readers of this live blog (and the rest of the cycling world)…
💛 #TDF2024: a finish @VilledeNice 💛
After 110 editions concluded near or in Paris, the Tour de France will finish far from Paris for the first time in 2024 with stage 21 in Nice on July 21. pic.twitter.com/QkyRbAPpmz
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) December 1, 2022
And what’s more…
⏱ 35 years after Greg LeMond stripped Laurent Fignon of the Yellow Jersey by eight seconds, a time trial will decide the title among the contenders! 💛#TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/cwOrINt9cm
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) December 1, 2022
Past investor in Rapha and Evans Cycles leads $23 million investment in Classified Cycling
Classified Cycling, the brains behind the innovative Powershift drivetrain, has raised $23 million (£19 million) in investment, led by a former backer of Rapha and Evans Cycles — Active Partners.
> REVIEW: Classified Powershift Kit & Wheelset
Existing investor Bridford Investments Limited was also involved in the funding round, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reports, while retired pros Tom Boonen, Anna van der Breggen, Marcel Kittel and André Greipel have also invested in the brand.
With the investment Classified Cycling hopes to expand to e-bike drivetrains and develop business in the US and European markets.
When Liam got his hands on one of Classified’s Powershift hubs for review he was impressed, calling it a “really interesting bit of tech that has the power to change road bike design for good”.
“It’s a front derailleur-killing design that I think is going to really shake things up, particularly in the aero bike world, by allowing you to run what is effectively a 2x setup while reaping the benefits of 1x. And with more wheel brands on board, things are going to get even better”…
Lamborghini goes gravel... and it's as skin-crawlingly cringeworthy as you'd expect
WHAT. IS. THIS.
You absolutely must watch (with sound) Lamborghini’s latest debut video. If you make it to 25 seconds, there’s no turning back. pic.twitter.com/ZCBVDH2L8S
— Engineering Explained (@jasonfenske13) December 1, 2022
So far my favourite take on this one is: “Someone got paid a f***load of money for that”… Yep, that’s the Lambo Sterrato, presumably named after the famous sterrato of Strade Bianche…
Woke bike hangars: How it started vs how it's going...
How it started…
> Bike hangars are “woke” (apparently) as car parking row rumbles on
How it’s going…
You may have seen last week that the ‘WOKE’ bike hangers in Brighton, got a lot of publicity in the national press thanks to one persons campaign against them.
Apparently, as a result of all the publicity, there have been so many more enquiries for new bike hangers. pic.twitter.com/qERH1w0X4X
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) December 1, 2022
Comment of the day
Send me one, and I’ll let you know!
— Matt Comley (@Mattjobsacuk) December 1, 2022
If the World Cup was pro cycling...
Robert Kišerlovski, your time has come. Croatia vs Belgium for a place in the last 16, payback for the final stage of the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire…
If revenge is a dish best served cold, German Sergej Fuchs’ dinner for Andrey Amador is still defrosting. The Germans need to beat Costa Rica tonight, a match 14 years in the making for the now-retired Fuchs, ever since a young Amador beat him to the Tour de l’Avenir prologue back in ’08…
Amador went on to ride for Movistar and Ineos, winning a Grand Tour stage and twice finishing in the top 10 of the Giro d’Italia. Fuchs never bettered his l’Avenir effort, retiring in 2013 after a short career at Continental level…
There you have it — today’s World Cup action in pro cycling (yes, that sound you might have just heard was us scraping the bottom of the Procyclingstats barrel…)
"Cyclists are returning to the capital – now is the time to invest in infrastructure"
Here’s an opinion piece published in yesterday’s Evening Standard calling for further investment into London’s cycling infa…
Before whoever made the point on yesterday’s blog about funding being needed for the rest of the country has to dig out their comment, I’ll say it for you – it would be ideal if infra didn’t just pop up in London…
Anyway, that wasn’t the point of this post, as usual I’ve been sidetracked…as the Standard said:
Cycling or walking isn’t for every journey, but a city in which locals and tourists alike can get around under their own steam, or on public transport, is within our grasp if we make the investments now.
Driver tells road safety meeting kids cycling should take more responsibility for crashes
As if by magic, to perfectly demonstrate the difference in attitudes towards cycling in the UK vs the Netherlands, the Shropshire Star comes in hot with coverage of a road safety meeting that heard how 85 per cent of drivers exceed the speed limit at one site…
🚶We’ll be at the Radbrook Road Safety Group meeting on 25 Nov to update on a number of schemes to help improve the safety of school pupils in/near the Meole Brace area of #Shrewsbury.
📍 It’s at Radbrook Community Centre, at 7.30pm.
ℹ️ Find out more at https://t.co/9ZFxwq8Cpp pic.twitter.com/CfWW8Am2tZ
— Shropshire Council (@ShropCouncil) November 2, 2022
The Radbrook Road Safety Group was set up after two mothers’ sons were involved in collisions, Angela Warren showing the local press the mangled wreck of her son’s bike after he was hit by a driver. The group is calling for wider road safety measures, such as 20mph speed limits BUT, shocked by the outrageous calls for kids to be kept safe while getting from A to B, one resident isn’t so sure…
The man, who did not want to be named, told the Star: “Kids on bikes do not stop. Some responsibility should be put on cyclists and parents, not everything on car drivers.” I’m starting to see why these words were given anonymously…
He also branded 20mph speed limits “unnecessary”, something a member of the council rubbished in reply… “If a mistake is made it should not cost serious injury or loss of life,” Ffion Horton responded. “We are talking about children who are under the age of 18 after all. There are seven schools in a small area with a total of 5,000 children. There are a crazy number of kids. We are making it safer to walk and cycle.”
Ms Horton stressed that the Highway Code emphasises pedestrians and cyclists should be treated with priority due to their vulnerability on the road, something the council must design road safety measures to promote.
1 December 2022, 09:01
1 December 2022, 09:01
1 December 2022, 09:01
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Not sure if I'm missing something but presumably this extends to those selling modification kits too, not just vehicles that are already illegal out of the box?
@Rendel Harris As a subsidiary company, unless there is a buyer then they all die. I would hope there is a buyer but the bike industry is difficult to predict. Lapierre are neither a budget brand or a full on marquis brand either. That makes it a lot more dangerous for them as a brand. The shift towards people buying Chinese bikes is contributing and these are the brands which are hit hardest. Cheaper chinese bikes are not going to effect Colnago or Pinarello, the attract a different market. Lapierre could easily go and if no one sees them as a viable worthwhile brand to rescue.
@tomlew I was only going on the number of Babboes I see around, so maybe they are losing money, I don't know. They certainly don't seem to have lost popularity. As for Lapierre being a "non brand", as SS says, they are popular on the continent and are used by a major World Tour team, so they're not that invisible.
Anyone who has a traffic misdemeanor should have to drive around without any windows in the car imo, that way they can't not be lullee into a sense of security by realising that they are actually travelling as the majority feel they're invincible in a motor vehicle
@Rendel Harris Let's not forget Babboe have recently faced major trouble with customer-right regulator around their quality issues. Not only did they fail to meet quality standards, but were also caught red-handed blatantly lying to both customers and - AFAIK, can't confirm personally - the regulators. They were recently desperately selling out stocks of Babboe accesories, which indicates struggles with overstocking and/or poor production line and/or warranty service management. And considering how long these items have been available, they must have mountains of non-cashable stock there. Also, despite Accell's attempts, Lapierre remains a non-brand in road cycling. It's effectively a money pit.
Long-time Accell b2b partner here. I've never seen a company so full of idiots on each and every level, from customer office workers to managers and policymakers. A company which can't respect its 15-year-long VIP partnership, and whose warehouse can't see the difference between a chanring and a grease, does not deserve to exist on a competitive market. It's not just about tough times for the industry. Accell failed miserably to reap the benefits of the covid era wisely, or to understand the post-covid world, and now are paying the price for it.
@mitsky Parents aren't automatically liable for damages caused by their offspring but yes, you could bring a civil case against them if it could be shown that they knowingly facilitated the child's unauthorised use of the machine, e.g. by hiring it for them. Failing that, insured or not you could sue the hire company if you could prove that they did not take reasonable precautions to safeguard against unauthorised hire. But yes, it is extraordinary that no regulator has imposed a TP insurance requirement upon the operators considering the nature of their business.
@Smoggysteve The group as a whole is struggling, that doesn't necessarily mean that every subsidiary in the group is. From the number of Babboe cargo bikes I see in well-heeled areas I'd imagine they might be doing OK, and the same might well go for Lapierre. They have an agreement to act as supplier to Picnic-Post NL through 2028 which might attract investors. I should imagine as the fairy godmother company has handed their shares back to the creditors there will be a fair bit of asset stripping going on and some of the more successful brands will continue, though I fear poor old Raleigh hasn't got much cachet. Hopefully someone will at least buy up the name and keep it alive in some fashion. If they fancy going back to 531 steel and making a modern version of the Road Ace I had in 1986 I'd certainly consider buying one!
@mdavidford To stop you just have to squeeze between two cars and you'll very quickly come to a halt.
It does have brakes - you just have to operate them with your feet. And they probably aren't going to do the tyre a lot of good.
46 thoughts on “Driver tells road safety meeting kids cycling should take more responsibility for crashes; Meanwhile… Dutch children cycle to school without controversy; TDF confirms 2024 Nice TT finale (+ your thoughts); Rebellin tributes + more on the live blog”
Translation issue, the Dutch
Translation issue, the Dutch “kids cycling to school” roughly translates into the English “gang of hoodlums on bikes.”
Looking out of my hotel room
Looking out of my hotel room on the outskirts of Amsterdam,we were greeted by the rear view of a male cyclist sprinting past on a drop bar bike wearing nothing but a thong. I’m not sure we should import all Dutch ideas… but it did cheer us up for the day.
Sounds very ‘high speed, low
Sounds very ‘high speed, low drag’ to me. ?
Brought his own skin suit?
Brought his own skin suit?
IanMSpencer wrote:
Had he taken all necessary action for gains, or was there just a bit of downy fluff?
There is surely merit in a thread for best outfits or non-outfits seen on a bike
In Britain, I’d be terrified
In Britain, I’d be terrified of a dickhead reversing out of one of those spaces without looking… is this not an issue in NL? And if not, how have they tackled that?
One of my (many) driving bug bears is people reversing outs of spaces/drives when I think they should reverse in. Though those parking spaces look like they make it difficult to reverse in by design.
JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote
One would guess that a big part of the way it’s tackled is by making cycling so attractive that virtually every driver also cycles and (anecdotally, I wonder if there have been any studies?) in my experience drivers who cycle regularly on the road are far more likely to watch for cyclists when manoeuvering.
This, and even if they do not
This, and even if they do not or hardly ever ride themselves, EVERYBODY here in The Netherlands knows people who do. In many countries cyclists are regarded as weird, ‘lycra clad’ activist nut cases by car drivers. Over here cyclist are actual human beings you can relate to. It could be your own kid, your father of mother, your colleague, a friend, your kid’s classmate, you name it.
That simple fact makes all the difference in the behaviour or car drivers.
Highway code rule 201: When
Highway code rule 201: When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can.
I only wish I could. Most of
I only wish I could. Most of the time my selfish and inconsiderate neighbours park directly opposite my drive, making it difficult to get in and out. This is on a new estate where most houses have at least two off road parking spaces
Bigfoz wrote:
Don’t be silly – that would deny them the opportunity to save a couple of seconds when getting home from work Don’t worry that it takes many more (dangerous) seconds to reverse out, in the morning – thereby putting them into the “gotta hurry, I’m late” frame of mind, before they’ve even started their commute.
Cyclists have right of way,
Cyclists have right of way, and the drivers are cyclists, so obey.
It’s not always been so good in NL, and isn’t always as rosy as it seems.
I don’t know about this
I don’t know about this particular place, but generally speaking places like these would not have high levels of motorized traffic. So movement in and out of these parking slots would be few, drivers can in no way feel they have any priority here and the high levels of cycling (and the fact they’re very likely to cycle on these streets or similar streets themselves) would make them very careful in looking out for cyclists.
Just popped in to the local
Just popped in to the local village co-op for some lunch (forgot to pick mine up this morning). What struck me versus the Dutch is that’s it’s absolute chaos. Street parked cars presumably dumped as close to their house as they could get and that’s in the middle of the day. There are NO marked bays at all and almost no parking restrictions so completely uncontrolled. You can see that with minimal amount of paint it could be so much more pleasant for all users. At least that would be a start.
#dnftcp Chilled evening news
#dnftcp Chilled evening news reporting from Grote Markt in Den Hague. https://twitter.com/i/status/1598022222744293376
Drunk cyclist on motorway
Drunk cyclist on motorway posed ‘serious danger’ – https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23161187.southampton-man-got-drunk-rode-bicycle-m3-near-eastleigh/
Yes he did!!!
Yes he did!!!
Just think how many drivers had to put down their coffee cup to pick up their phone so they could live stream the “cyclist” on Facebook…. or whatever it is the kids use now days.
essexian wrote:
The real danger is when they progress from simple Facebook posting to using Metaverse VR – you can hardly see anything through those headsets.
Let’s just be grateful he
Let’s just be grateful he wasn’t driving a car – as if anyone would do such a thing as drunk or drugged driving these days…
Not often in life one voices
Not often in life one voices a wish one day and it’s fulfilled the next! Great news about the Tour TT, now let’s hope they make it mountainous (as I said yesterday, an out and back up the Braus would be nice, though plenty of other excellent climbs are available) and not a top-ten-covered-by-thirty-seconds beachfront run.
Does anyone apart from me
Does anyone apart from me think the anonymous driver who told the Star about kids taking more responsibility drives around like a c@nt, not giving a monkeys about anyone else?
Daveyraveygravey wrote:
20mph is unnecessary (in a small area with 5k school kids) is just a different spelling of drives like a c@nt. Or a prick, as they have neither the warmth or the depth.
Good to see the UCI are
Good to see the UCI are concentrating on the important stuff again….
Re Lamborghini, they’re all
Re Lamborghini, they’re all at it. I present for your enjoyment the Porsche 911 Dakar complete with bento box on the roof, flip-chip suspension geo changes, custom fitted frame bags, additional lighting, and a gravel tax vs the standard car
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmADLllSxOE
Re lamboghini and to quote Mr
Re lamborghini and to quote Mr Creosote of Monty Python, “Better. Better get a bucket. I’m going to throw up.” ” Garcon! A bucket for Monsieur”.
I can’t find the advert but
I can’t find the advert but the other day on Youtube, I was presented a (maybe) Hyundai advert which had toy cars representations of their latests ones racing around a hobbyist room with some tag-line of “not just for driving”. As it was Youtube, it could have been US based.
Displaying my ignorance, what
Displaying my ignorance, what’s a 2x setup?
(Or is this just argot)
2 chainrings at the front
2 chainrings at the front derailluer
Just short hand for 2
Just short hand for 2 chainwheels (think it might have started with gravel bikes which tend to have 1 chainwheel).
That hub somehow allows the gearing for a single chainwheel to mimic having the normal 2 small/large chainwheel setup.
In other words it is still a
In other words it is still a 2x set up because the 2 is in the hub (just to confuse you).
I also object to it being called innovative because Brompton have been doing similar for years – they put a very simple 2 speed derailleur on a 3 speed Sturmey Archer hub to get a 6 speed. All it needs is someone to get clever at Sun Race to get clever and they can adapt their existing hubs. I am sure there is a way they could cable through an adapted through axle design and use a hub gear with a deraileur freehub. I think a triple hub with a low range derailleur could be very nice instead of all these dinner plates. I thought my 3×10 Tiagra was more or less ideal gearing.
For that mattter, Sachs had
For that mattter, Sachs had an internally geared 3-speed hub that took a 7-speed cassette. Sturmey Archer has something similar even today. What’s interesting about the Classified is the wireless shifting and the removable transmission.
The other well-known one
The other well-known one (discontinued but you still find them) is the SRAM DualDrive with 8-10 cogs.
…and of course, Sachs was
…and of course, Sachs was taken over by SRAM.
Cheers.
Cheers and thanks all.
Well. as a backwards-looking harbinger of the future, I have a 3x setup. 24-36-48 no less. With a Gruber-assist (hence the 48).
And I threw out a 2x compact chainset to get it, having cycled then pushed up a few too many hills.
So there !
Powershift drivetrain needs
Powershift drivetrain needs to be coupled with a floating chainring that moves more than the usual spacing of 2x chainrings, if such a thing exists yet.
I suspect this will make it
I suspect this will make it on to the blog at some point – https://newsroom.bathnes.gov.uk/news/bath-bike-park-project-entry-hill-will-not-proceed
Really sad that the Bike Park Path project at the old Entry Hill golf course has been cancelled. Would have been a brilliant community facility. One of the depressing realities of the current economic climate is that the capital cost of this sort of project is just going to skyrocket
But the capital costs are
But the capital costs are still far less than most of the road projects – that will probably still go ahead
Of course. But, different
edit
belugabob wrote:
Of course. But, different pots of money. Council only had a limited amount that it was allowed to put towards the project, and the failure to get additional funding (didn’t succeed in getting the British Cycling fund and didn’t attract a significant commercial backer).
There are vast pots of money made available for the thousands of questionable road schemes, but all too often far too little for community sports schemes
No comments from “Rakia”,
No comments from “Rakia”, that’s made my day.
Banned according to Rendel.
Banned according to Rendel.
I shall miss perce rambles. Maybe there will be a Christmas special though.
hirsute wrote:
Second that, perce is quality.
in the end Treks new kit
in the end Treks new kit wasnt that different at all, looks abit weird on the back but I wonder if the orange is the hi-viz training kit
RLJ caught !
RLJ caught !
https://mobile.twitter.com/SurreyRoadCops/status/1598385945568575503
I’d question driving at over 50 in a 20 though just to catch him
hirsute wrote:
Looks like their top speed was at least 58 – also looks like they are in the bike box at the start of the video. The lights could have been green when they entered it, but I’d expect a police driver who is trained to a level where they are allowed to drive at 58 in a 20 to also drive with the presence of mind to not get caught in a bike box, even if the light were green.
‘Dust is gold, dirt is for
‘Dust is gold, dirt is for the bold’. I made it to the end.