Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news

CyclingMikey says second angle of Gandalf Corner stand-off with Sir Ian McKellen's agent proves he didn't jump onto bonnet; Cav Q&A gets existential; Shell era begins with medals galore; Aero friends + more on the live blog

One more day and you can all head off into the weekend... Dan Alexander is bringing you home with Friday's live blog...
Fri, Oct 14, 2022 09:07
44

SUMMARY

No Live Blog item found.

CyclingMikey says second angle of Gandalf Corner stand-off with Sir Ian McKellen's agent proves he didn't jump onto bonnet; Cav Q&A gets existential; Shell era begins with medals galore; Aero friends + more on the live blogCyclingMikey Sir Ian McKellen's agent (CyclingMikey)
14 October 2022, 15:44
Revenge is a dish best served cold...(with pasta)

The Italians got their revenge on Great Britain, Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan racing into the individual pursuit final, as Dan Bigham will have to settle for a bronze medal showdown against Portugal's Manuel Alves...

At least Bigham won the coolest wheels comp...

14 October 2022, 14:06
DuraAce-ic Park, DuraAce-ic Park, get it... Jurassic Park...DuraAceic Park...no? Okay...

Well, after five minutes of trying to shoehorn a groupset name pun into a 90s classic I've given up... there was something in it, I'm convinced. Any help from the comments would be gratefully received as my brain has reduced to mush...

Anyway...

14 October 2022, 13:56
Happy hi-vis man

Only one hi-vis jacket in this... and it's not riding a bike...

By contrast, here in the UK it must be the annual 'nights are drawing in day' as Roads Policing Scotland have dropped a classic of the genre...

14 October 2022, 13:42
14 October 2022, 11:51
"Cycling needs funding, yes, but surely this doesn’t have to be the answer…"

Here's the work of Adrian Ridley, commenting on British Cycling's Shell deal...

GB Shell kit (Adrian Ridley)

"Cycling needs funding, yes, but surely this doesn't have to be the answer…" he wrote.

Powerful stuff.

Check out more of Adrian's work on Instagram or over on his website...

14 October 2022, 11:10
Shimano 105 Di2 - It's a GRAVEL groupset

14 October 2022, 10:57
"The new facility will be behind fences": Geraint Thomas' former coach slams plan to bulldoze velodrome where Tour de France winner's journey began
Geraint Thomas, 2022 Commonwealth Games men's road race (Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

[Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com]

Plans to bulldoze Maindy velodrome — the outdoor Cardiff venue where Geraint Thomas first got into the sport — will be "a detriment to cycling", according to the 2018 Tour de France winner's former coach.

If development work goes ahead, Maindy Park would disappear under concrete as part of an expansion of the neighbouring school, Cathays High, while the velodrome would be relocated to the International Sports Village five miles away.

"The new facility is going to be extremely limited," Alan Davies, who received an MBE for services to youth cycling in Wales, told Wales Online.

"The level of banking that is proposed I don't think will be safe to ride anything other than the fixed wheel bikes. If you want to grow the sport you have to get kids interested at an early age.

"At no point have people been presented with options or choices. That causes me a disquiet because you're no longer delivering a facility that the community want, you're delivering what will fit."

Meanwhile, Davies' greatest talent — the Ineos Grenadiers rider — says he is undecided on if he will ride the Tour de France again, saying he has nothing left to prove and wants to "make the most of" what's left of his career.

"When I won the Tour, it was nice to come back the next year to show it was not a fluke. And it was nice to come back this year as well, when people thought I was done. Now I feel like I have nothing else to prove.

"I don't even know if I will do the Tour to be honest, maybe the Giro. It's all up in the air, really. I wouldn't mind doing something different."

14 October 2022, 10:38
"Anyone who watches this and blames CyclingMikey needs their head testing": Jeremy Vine has his say
14 October 2022, 07:55
CyclingMikey releases second angle of Gandalf Corner stand-off with Sir Ian McKellen's agent to prove he didn't jump onto bonnet

If you missed yesterday's news, the agent of Sir Ian McKellen (and several other big-name actors) was cleared of assaulting CyclingMikey over an incident at Regent's Park's infamous Gandalf Corner in September 2021.

Dubbed Gandalf Corner due to Mikey's 'you shall not pass' interventions to motorists ignoring the keep left sign to cut the corner, and beat the traffic, on the wrong side of the road, since seeing the footage some have somewhat strangely come to the conclusion the road safety campaigner might have jumped onto the bonnet deliberately...

Accusations Mikey rubbished by releasing this second angle last night...

Regardless, a jury at Southwark Crown Court acquitted the theatrical agent of dangerous driving and common assault...

14 October 2022, 09:45
"Whether CyclingMikey did or did not jump on the bonnet, the driver is not safe to be on the road"

Some of your early comments have started to roll in...

OldRidgeback suggested it's irrelevant if Mikey jumped on the bonnet or not, the driving was still dangerous... "Mr Lyon-Maris shouldn't be allowed to drive. Whether CyclingMikey did or did not jump on the bonnet, the driver is not safe to be on the road."

CyclingMikey Sir Ian McKellen's agent (CyclingMikey)

Rendel Harris agreed: "Precisely. In all these semantic debates as to whether CyclingMikey (CM) jumped on the car or was forced to pull himself on or whatever, people are overlooking (quite deliberately, in the case of the usual suspects) the fact that Lyon-Maris was illegally and dangerously driving the wrong side of the traffic island when he was stopped.

"Virtually every other driver whom CM has stopped there has, after grumbling, accepted that they were in the wrong and reversed back to join the traffic queue to take the turn legally. Lyon-Maris deliberately drove his car at a person on foot because he didn't like being told to obey the law, that's the bottom line. Doesn't matter whether you think CM is a total prick and shouldn't do what he does, the driver was breaking the law and when someone attempted to stop him doing so he drove his car at them. These are the facts of the case."

ChasP compared someone climbing onto the bonnet to avoid being run over to "accusing someone of bullying for hitting your fist with their face".

espressodan added: "The fact that it was a jury verdict says everything there is to say about the influence of cars on society and most drivers threshold for acceptable conduct on the road."

14 October 2022, 09:55
Aero friends
14 October 2022, 09:07
Shell era begins with Track Worlds medals galore

The Great Britain men's team pursuit squad of Dan Bigham, Ethan Hayter, Ollie Wood and Ethan Vernon became world champions last night, handing out a shellacking (sorry) to the world's best team pursuiters.

"It was a clean, solid ride," Bigham said of the gold medal-winning race. "All of us are on cloud nine. We really focused on executing good, clean rides and having that drilled into us. It's not about being here to win, it's about doing everything we can to perform to the best of our ability and getting maximum performance out of it."

In the women's race the British quartet, powered by a returning Katie Archibald, Neah Evans, Anna Morris and Josie Knight took silver, losing out to the Italians in the gold medal race.

14 October 2022, 08:57
Cav Q&A gets existential

What's the meaning of life? Is there life after death? These probably aren't the sort of questions Zwift expected to pop up when they put out the call for fan input for an interview with Cav...

Let the amusing interrogation begin...

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.

Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.

Add new comment

44 comments

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
4 likes

Secret_squirrel wrote:

I do wonder if there had been a careless driving charge whether that would have stuck.  But we shall never know.

I suspect it might have done, simply on the basis that the jury took over four hours to decide and at one point returned to court to ask the judge for clarification on what exactly constitutes dangerous driving, which implies that they thought it was pretty close. It's always struck me as odd that juries aren't allowed to propose a lowering of the charge, it has to be either/or, e.g. (as I understand it, willing to stand corrected) if someone is on trial for murder the jury have to find them guilty or not guilty, they can't come back and say we don't think they are guilty of murder but we definitely think they are guilty of manslaughter.

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
7 likes

He had already been charged and accepted "Careless" for the initial wrong side of the road / cutting the corner part of his poor driving. Apparently driving down the wrong side of the road approaching a busy junction and the wrong side of the pedestrian refuge is not dangerous to anyone else on the road and a "momentary lapse". 

But then driving along with someone clinging to your bonnet as they no longer have any safe option to disembark is not dangerous either so shouldn't be surprised.

Avatar
the little onion | 2 years ago
16 likes

Given widespread prejudice and ignorance against cyclists, there is a strong justification for not allowing jury trials of driver-ists who are accused of driving into cyclists.

My comparison would be jury trials in the southern US in the 1950s, where it was impossible due to widespread prejudice for an all-white jury to find a white person guilty of murdering or assaulting a black person.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to the little onion | 2 years ago
5 likes

Yes... but I'm not convinced the judges would necessarily be able to set aside their own bias either, such is the ubiquity of motoring and all the unspoken assumptions we carry.  And there is some wooly law.  They'd still have to put their finger in the air and make the judgement 'now, is it *far* below the standard of a careful, competent driver?'

Avatar
I love my bike replied to chrisonabike | 2 years ago
15 likes

If it was a learner driver taking their driving test, would they have passed, been allowed to carry on, or been stopped & not carry on any further?

Seemingly from the verdict, they'd have passed?

Avatar
the little onion replied to I love my bike | 2 years ago
10 likes

Frankly, this should be the standard for dangerous/careless driving offences - is it so bad that it would have cuased someone to fail their driving test?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to I love my bike | 2 years ago
6 likes

I love my bike wrote:

If it was a learner driver taking their driving test, would they have passed, been allowed to carry on, or been stopped & not carry on any further?

Seemingly from the verdict, they'd have passed?

This should be the standard used.

I'd consider that careless driving would be non-intentional driving that would cause a driving test fail (e.g. failing to look and see a pedestrian/cyclist/driver) and dangerous driving would be intentionally flouting Highway Code recommendations (e.g. deliberately driving on the wrong side of the road) that would immediately cease and fail a driving test.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to I love my bike | 2 years ago
3 likes

I love my bike wrote:

If it was a learner driver taking their driving test, would they have passed, been allowed to carry on, or been stopped & not carry on any further?

Seemingly from the verdict, they'd have passed?

He was found guilty of driving offences, so they wouldn't have passed.

Avatar
OldRidgeback | 2 years ago
15 likes

Mr Lyon-Maris shouldn't be allowed to drive. Whether CyclingMikey did or did not jump on the bonnet, the driver is not safe to be on the road.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to OldRidgeback | 2 years ago
13 likes

OldRidgeback wrote:

Mr Lyon-Maris shouldn't be allowed to drive. Whether CyclingMikey did or did not jump on the bonnet, the driver is not safe to be on the road.

Precisely. In all these semantic debates as to whether CM jumped on the car or was forced to pull himself on or whatever, people are overlooking (quite deliberately, in the case of the usual suspects) the fact that Lyon-Maris was illegally and dangerously driving the wrong side of the traffic island when he was stopped. Virtually every other driver whom CM has stopped there has, after grumbling, accepted that they were in the wrong and reversed back to join the traffic queue to take the turn legally. Lyon-Maris deliberately drove his car at a person on foot because he didn't like being told to obey the law, that's the bottom line. Doesn't matter whether you think CM is a total prick and shouldn't do what he does, the driver was breaking the law and when someone attempted to stop him doing so he drove his car at them. These are the facts of the case.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 2 years ago
6 likes

Was this video presented to the court?

Avatar
espressodan | 2 years ago
17 likes

The fact that it was a jury verdict says everything there is to say about the influence of cars on society and most drivers threshold for acceptable conduct on the road.

Avatar
squidgy replied to espressodan | 2 years ago
7 likes

The contrast with Sherrilyn Speid who nudged an eco protestor with her range rover is stark. A slick legal team works wonders for the in-justice system.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to squidgy | 2 years ago
6 likes

squidgy wrote:

The contrast with Sherrilyn Speid who nudged an eco protestor with her range rover is stark. A slick legal team works wonders for the in-justice system.

She did plead guilty to dangerous driving though, didn't she, so we didn't get a chance to see what a jury would have made of her case – on this showing she probably should've taken her chances!

Pages

Latest Comments