Tadej Pogačar isn’t winding down for Christmas… smashes 209km and 4,200m of climbing at 35km/h average speed on team camp ‘salad ride’; Raleigh owner’s financial situation “unsustainable” according to new report; eBay eek + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Meanwhile in France...
Anyone recognise this route? Christmas cobbles… what a treat…
Mayor and cycling figure write to BBC over "inappropriately light-hearted" collision report
Tuesday’s ‘BBC News at Six’ show ended with the following report of CCTV footage from Birmingham which has gone viral this week, showing the shocking and horrendous incident in which a mum and daughter narrowly avoided a potentially catastrophic situation after a driver’s car flipped and smashed into a zebra crossing post…
If you want to understand how much, as a society, we’ve slowly normalised road danger, watch this clip from tonight’s BBC News at Six.
I personally don’t think horrific crashes like this should be in the light-hearted “and finally” section. pic.twitter.com/QXxp46LA2r
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) December 19, 2023
West Midlands Police has since confirmed that the incident is being investigated, the woman and child left “shaken but not physically injured” while a “woman in her 40s suffered cuts and was spoken to at the scene and is assisting with enquiries”.
Adam Tranter, the West Midlands’ walking and cycling commissioner, said the BBC report shows “how much, as a society, we’ve slowly normalised road danger”.
“I personally don’t think horrific crashes like this should be in the light-hearted ‘and finally’ section,” he added.
Tranter and West Midlands regional mayor Andy Street have now written to the BBC, stating: “This kind of reporting fails to acknowledge the trauma and long-lasting impact collisions have on victims, families and communities.”
“It is imperative for influential media outlets like the BBC to report on road collisions with the gravity and empathy they warrant,” Tranter concluded.
How Zwift can make your outdoor rides better
eBay eek of the week
I have no words…
Jo’s currently trying to convince us to shell out £300 just because… why not? It would make an interesting video for the YouTube channel, that’s for sure.
Wiggle making "considerable trading profit" with administrators "optimistic" over sale of business
> Wiggle making “considerable trading profit” with administrators “optimistic” over sale of business
Raleigh owner's financial situation "unsustainable", according to new report
Credit rating provider Fitch Ratings has downgraded Accell Group, Raleigh’s parent company, and has labelled its current financial situation as “unsustainable”. Bike Europe reports Accell Group responded to the news by saying the report “reflects the difficult market circumstances”.
The Fitch report states: “The downgrade reflects our expectation that Accell Group’s EBITDA margin or the operating profit as a percentage of the revenue, will drop to low single digits in 2023-2024. Excess inventory stock in the market and weaker consumer demand, which together with high competition will lead to a deeper discount environment for a longer period than we previously assumed.
“This translates into a high working-capital requirement at end-2023 leading to eroded liquidity headroom and negative free cash flow.”
Accell Group ‘Long-Term Issuer Default Rating’ and senior secured debt rating have been downgraded, the definition of its new rating CCC being “vulnerable to non-payment, and is dependent upon favorable business, financial, and economic conditions for the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation”.
Last month Accell announced job cuts and restructuring at Raleigh as it deals with a “challenging market”. It was also announced that the bike manufacturer would be closing its Parts and Accesories division.
UCI drops Covid protocol, introduces 'High Temperature Protocol'
[Alex Broadway/SWpix.com]
The UCI has announced the Covid-19 Protocol has “been judged no longer necessary for the 2024 season”.
“The virus is still circulating today, and with the winter season, there has been a slight resumption of the epidemic,” a statement explains. “Thanks to extensive vaccination campaigns, however, forms of the disease remain relatively mild, including in susceptible individuals.
“Wearing a mask, hand hygiene and ventilating enclosed spaces – all effective measures during a pandemic – are still relevant. People who test positive are no longer obliged to isolate, but the continuation of barrier measures remains essential. These are the responsibility of team doctors as part of standard prevention against respiratory infectious diseases.”
The UCI has however introduced a High Temperature Protocol, in addition to the Extreme Weather Protocol, which means that when necessary a “working group will be convened by the President of the Commissaires Panel at the request of the UCI, the teams, the riders or the organisers, to agree on an action plan to mitigate the risks to riders’ health and safety.
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
“Such recommendations could be, for example, moving start zones to shaded areas, supplying teams with cold drinks and crushed ice during the race, increasing the number of refueling motorbikes, altering the start time or potentially neutralising sections of the race. It should be understood that these measures will only be recommendations, depending on the severity of the climatic conditions, and their application will remain the responsibility of the working group.”
All systems go for Visma-Lease a Bike: New signings, new kit, contract extensions
Jumbo-Visma, soon-to-be Visma-Lease a Bike, have been busy at their team presentation today, with the new (particularly yellow) kit for 2024 unveiled…
That new kit 🤤#beyondvictory pic.twitter.com/wlHTOd5fa9
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) December 21, 2023
Appearing at the presentation was Cian Uijtdebroeks, the Belgian GC prospect whose transfer saga from Bora-Hansgrohe has been one of the stories of the off-season. Bora still don’t recognise the transfer and want compensation for his services. For what it’s worth the UCI hasn’t acknowledged the transfer as having happened yet either.
But on stage at the presentation today was Uijtdebroeks, who it was revealed recently was the alleged victim of bullying suffered at the Vuelta with his former employers. The 20-year-old said he would ride the Giro in 2024 and told Sporza he is “not making a big soap opera out of it, but I wasn’t feeling well”.
“I really didn’t feel well. That’s why the contract with Bora was broken on December 1. I wanted to take this step,” he said. “Whether there was a Whatsapp group in the Vuelta (where teammates allegedly gossiped about Uijtdebroeks)? I will not go into detail. We know our arguments, the reasons why it was broken. These arguments are clear to anyone who needs to be informed. Was I bullied? I don’t give any details about what happened.”
Oh, and in a third bit of Visma-related news, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss have reportedly signed contract extensions, Wielerflits saying both have extended their stay until the end of 2027.
I pulled the perfect cargo bike shift – here’s how it happened
> I pulled the perfect cargo bike shift – here’s how it happened
Tadej Pogačar isn't winding down for Christmas... smashes 209km and 4,200m of climbing at 35km/h average speed on team camp 'salad ride'
It might not surprise you to know I don’t think I, or anyone at road.cc, has ever undertaken a salad ride…
A ride to stop and get a salad on? A ride fuelled only on salad? Perhaps not considering the monstrous numbers on display from Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates teammates, including new signing and chief workhorse Nils Politt. Just the 209.8km for Pog and the rest, the Slovenian who has signalled his intention to make his Giro d’Italia debut in 2024 clocking a minute over six hours on his Wahoo.
The most gifted mental mathematicians among you will know that means an average speed of 34.8km/h… not just for a few hundred metres on the flat with a nice tailwind… but for six hours while tackling as much elevation, 4,206m, as a Grand Tour mountain stage.
> Tadej Pogačar uploads Tour of Flanders win to Strava… gets flagged
Oh, and a casual top speed of 96.7km/h while descending back down to base just outside Benidorm… something tells me Tadej and the boys weren’t racing back to get on the fishbowls and shots from Irish pubs however… *tuts* salad ride…
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If the police are overwhelmed with evidence showing dangerous driving, then that shows that the dangerous driving is endemic: the graveyards and hospitals are full of the victims. If it is endemic, then one of two things must be true, or both: the detection rate is not high enough, and/or the punishment is not sufficient to deter. So in this case, we have the victims providing the evidence, in most cases all the officers need to do is view that evidence. If the officers don't have time, then the process should be automated, possibly by AI. If the driver disputes it, then a real person could view it, but if they consider the driving to be dangerous, the driver should pay for the officer's time. Then we have the lack of punishment, or punishment which doesn't fit the crime, because it does not deter people from offending. The current system of points and fines is clearly not working, and something rather more effective has to be done, like confiscating the car for instance. ".......the Chief Inspector recommended that road users use a rear-facing camera and evidence their own speed at the time of the overtake." I fail to see what the speed of the vehicle being overtaken has to do with the overtaking vehicle passing too closely. Would it be ok if you were doing 5mph, or 25mph? Baffling.
In principal, driverless cars have the potential to be much safer than human drivers, by virtue of the fact that they should be intent on following the rules of the road, nor driving whilst drunk/drugged, never be tired, frustrated, irrational etc, etc. Another advantage is that mistakes can be corrected and rolled out across the entire fleet (try that with humans. Add to that the resulting reduction in car ownership, increased car sharing, and the sheer amount of street space given over to parked cars will plummet. The key factor, however, is how much of those principles the owning companies are prepared to commit to. (Altruism isn't their strong point)
I'm going to take a close look at some of the lights mentioned. For reference: I extensively used the following: - Nightrider lumina (don't recall the exact model): horrible temperature control and after 18 months it bricked up on me and they refused to honour the warranty, will never buy anything from them ever again; - Lezyne 1600 XXL, two issues, firstly the strap that attached it to the handlebar never kept in place really well over rough terrain. Secondly: a cop stopped me and although -to me riding the bike- it appeared well adjusted, he claimed I was blinding oncoming traffic. He actually held the bike so I could check for myself from inside his car and he was simply right: the light level on the ground was ok but indeed, I was blinding oncoming traffic. That's a hard no, it had to go even though he didn't fine me. I don't want to annoy/be a risk to other road users; - Then the Lupine: solid as a rock, mounted on a GoPro mount, USB-C charging, StVZO compliant...but alas not enough oomph considering terrain and desired speed; Thinking back, it somehow seems like a light I had on my bike back when I was riding long distance events (Audax, crazy distances but lower average speeds) might have been ideal, that was a Son Edelux and it ran on a Son hub dynamo. But I don't want to install a dynamo and again, lower speeds.
Well that all blew up quickly! A pause to savour: "cyclists have a dislike for linguistic accuracy and authentic meaning." Apparently it's something to do with the cyclic muscle movements - ah, no, that would affect runners and rowers also. Circular motion of the limbs?
@mattw Yeah, and Oxford Street will be full of unicorns and rainbows by then as well. 🤣
@stulemanski Actually I think they do, as long as there is good behaviour. Complete cycle bans are vanishingly rare in the Netherlands, which is the best comparison. In 10-20 years time there will be a mobility track, and there will be no real problems.
@Rendel Harris That assumes training, expertise, and the time to do a proper job including full consultation. This does not happen, and then rapid assumptions are made based on "me". That also happens with cycling groups who campaign for something and completely ignore eg tricycles or other varieties of vehicle, in favour of standard cycles. Both lived experience and professional experience are essential. This week I have been looking at a brand new £50k 3m-wide path upgrade in my local Green Flag Park, where the Council have spent perhaps £3k installing a 3 ply chicane with 1.5m gaps and 1.5m spacing between barriers at one end of it. The path also includes a 1-in-9 30m long hill. I have since been talking to a lady who is a wheelchair user and has a fully-trained assistance dog which walks alongside, who is thereby prevented from entering the park she pays for with her Council Tax. Those dimensions are unusable for most small mobility scooters, never mind other mobility aid users, and are flat out unlawful, and not in accordance with several sets of Government Guidelines. Yet when I complain I expect to be stonewalled to the door of the Court in the hope that I will get exhausted and go away. At the door of the Court they usually capitulate, and will have spent 7-10k on legal letters and compensation and doing what they should have done at the start. That £3k could have been spent sorting out perhaps 10 other anti-disabled barriers around our Green Flag Parks. Every complaint so far I have made has been met with "Does Not Meet Threshold for Action".
@flowboy I'm not sure what your point is, FB. Unforfunately, in a world of insufficient resources and gutted Councils with no expertise (for example the near-vanishing of Accessibility Officers) due mainly to available resources being halved since 2010, the only things that will get a response are likely to be details supported by a credible threat of legal action. That's how it is. Even then they often rely on obfuscation via complaints procedures that can take 12 months and have no teeth.
@flowboy I'm not sure what your point is, FB. Unforfunately, in a world of insufficient resources and gutted Councils with no expertise (for example the near-vanishing of Accessibility Officers) due mainly to available resources being halved since 2010, the only things that will get a response are likely to be details supported by a credible threat of legal action. That's how it is. Even then they often rely on obfuscation via complaints procedures that can take 12 months and have no teeth.
@Rendel Harris I have recently come out. I have been called a lot worse. Sticks and stones. So are you saying I cannot call people like myself names? If a call myself and people like me, a ‘homophobic slur’ are you going to get the nasty words police on to me? If you are straight, then your opinions and fake anger mean nothing. Unless you are gay, you are clueless. So stop getting all worked up about a name. I can cope with it. If you can’t, it’s on you.
23 thoughts on “Tadej Pogačar isn’t winding down for Christmas… smashes 209km and 4,200m of climbing at 35km/h average speed on team camp ‘salad ride’; Raleigh owner’s financial situation “unsustainable” according to new report; eBay eek + more on the live blog”
Unreal Pog!
Unreal Pog!
Pog’s and my definition of
Pog’s and my definition of salad rides differ. Mine is honking like a wet lettuce.
“… a mum and daughter
“… a mum and daughter narrowly avoided a potentially catastrophic situation after a driver’s car (my emphasis) flipped and smashed into a zebra crossing post…”
Again. Language matters.
http://rc-rg.com
Please don’t follow the BBC’s (and most other media outlets) example of bad reporting.
Or this on on the Bristol
Or this on on the Bristol Post website
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/m5-closed-12-hours-after-8989715
I am presuming that the person who reportedly suffered minor injuries was the driver, who was supposed to be in control of their vehicle, but the Post clearly doesn’t have much interest in letting its readers know…
brooksby wrote:
For mash, have crash?
For mash, have crash?
Is it not fair under the
Is it not fair under the guidelines to describe the incident as the “driver’s car” collided with the post, in this case, with “driver’s” used to acknowledge that a human being was driving it at the time and not avoiding the human element of vehicle collisions?
Genuinely interested on different thoughts as we covered the guidelines when they were first published and have referenced them numerous times since and aim to follow them at all times. Sorry if it was a bit clumsy but not quite the ‘car crash’ or ‘car collided with’ you might hear elsewhere.
The guidelines suggest
The guidelines suggest replacing ‘car’ with ‘driver’, rather than supplementing it. I sympathise with copywriters though, as following the guidelines can lead to some tortuous sentences. E.g. in this case, “the driver flipped and collided with a lampost” is unclear, while “the driver flipped their car and crashed it into a lampost” risks attributing blame when the circumstances aren’t clear in the video (could have been dangerous driving, could have been caused by someone else’s dangerous driving, could have been a medical episode etc). Horrendous video to watch though. I still don’t understand how they weren’t hit.
The chief reporter of my
The chief reporter of my local rag has an annoying click-bait habit. It goes like this: a few days after any noteworthy local incendiary, there comes a follow-up piece headlined, “Fire chief reveals cause of [factory etc] blaze”. Who can’t resist clicking on that? After wading through a rehash of the original article interspersed with ads, the reader is rewarded with the knowledge that the fire chief has determined the fire was accidental.
quiff wrote:
How about “the driver lost control of their car which then flipped and crashed into a lamppost”?
“Tuesday’s ‘BBC News at Six’
“Tuesday’s ‘BBC News at Six’ show ended with the following report of CCTV footage from Birmingham which has gone viral this week, showing the shocking and horrendous incident in which a mum and daughter narrowly avoided a potentially catastrophic situation after a driver lost control of their car which then flipped and smashed into a zebra crossing post”
Fragment, consider revising! But yes, it can be done, I just think sometimes it makes for an unwieldy sentence for dubious benefit.
quiff wrote:
You might think it’s a dubious benefit, but the car industry put a fair amount of time and effort into controlling the narrative of car crashes, so they certainly think that the words matter a lot.
I am generally of the view
I am generally of the view that words absolutely do matter (I can usually be found here quibbling language or punning, rather than engaging with substance!)
I’m just not convinced that in reality when people read “car hits cyclist” they think it has happened without human agency. In fact arguably if the car industry wanted to control the narrative of car crashes, they should be delighted with guidelines which suggest replacing ‘car’ with ‘driver’. Anyway, not dying on this hill, I gues I’m just ambivalent.
I think it’s more that those
I think it’s more that those who approve of the status quo just need to keep the usual … usual, and the rest takes care of itself. People naturally don’t want to engage in effortful thinking / resist changes to well-worn mind-groves.
I don’t believe in magic (or even majick) BUT … adverts and salesmen and political activists get paid (often lots) by someone. Maybe changing the words alone isn’t enough to change the status quo – but changes in language always seems to accompany that.
I appreciate Your effort to
I appreciate Your effort to avoid the usual “A car hit…” wording but using “driver’s car collided” still leaves some implication that it was the car at fault (ie self driving, without indication of the actions of the driver/losing control).
I appreciate the driver probably didn’t intend that to happen intentionally, so hence it was an accident, and the cause is yet to be determined.
As I’ve often said to other media sources: it would never be written the same if a bike was involved: ie “… a bike collided/hit…”.
It is ALWAYS “… a cyclist hit…”
And this is always when the incident is first reported, before investigations have even begun.
(Applied to this incident, would the wording be
“… a cyclist’s bicycle collided with…”
… ?
Which sounds ridiculous.)
But with the strive towards keeping reporting as concise as possible (for brevity), this is still leading to over simplification of the language used.
For everyone’s benefit and to ensure that dangerous/careless driving is not excluded as a cause, I would strongly request using a few more words or an extra sentence to explain the current situation (with the cause unknown whilst it is investigated).
ie (I know I’m not a journalist so this is my humble attempt.)
“… a mum and daughter narrowly avoided a potentially catastrophic situation. The driver of a [car type, ie SUV in this case] ended up on the wrong side of the road, hitting a lampost at a pedestrian crossing and nearly colliding with the parent and child. The cause of the incident is still being investigated. Footage can be seen here…”
More wordy, yes.
But indicates what happened whilst also keeping it in mind that it isn’t just a car fault.
Lets not forget that if the cause of even a small number of crashes was car design/faults then there would be uproar against the manufacturers.
But it is usually careless/dangerous driving (ie speeding/not to the conditions) and as it happens so much, is thought of as almost something we have to just live with.
I put this in ‘Drivers and
I put this in ‘Drivers and their problems’ on the forum, but still:
When you didn’t realise that London was a part of the North:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/20/disbelief-at-plan-to-fix-london-potholes-as-part-of-network-north-project
And this one:
And this one:
You passed your driving test but didn’t realise that meant you were joining an eternal police line-up…
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/20/police-to-be-able-to-run-face-recognition-searches-on-50m-driving-licence-holders
brooksby wrote:
That’s such a bad idea and I blame all those people who voted for Sunak.
eBay Eeek of the week:
eBay Eeek of the week:
Eben Weiss did several posts about the Softride over the summer:
I thought there were some
I thought there were some excellent arguements, facts and figues here against “Road Tax” for cyclists and if most motorist watched this I would hope that they could finally understand what a waste of time it is to even mention the T word for cyclists. (despite being Canadian it is relatable for blighty and beyond)
https://youtu.be/Wjv8WQu92c0?si=zhGVyIFCC3Q3l_lU
Decided to try a cycle route
Decided to try a cycle route today as I had lots of time.
Gave up after 40m of NCN 1
Utterly appalling – there are better routes in dutch small towns.
Meanwhile, we spunk away 1 BILLION on a road to save up to 10 minutes, until in 5 years time there will be no time saving.
Yeah. What kind of bugs me
Yeah. What kind of bugs me is not so much that “cycling” still mostly equates to “recreation” for the powers that be (when they think of it at all). It’s that even that “recreation” is qualified – can’t give them as much as (walking / cycling etc.). So it’s “narrow footpath down a muddy track / round the garages at the back of a chocolate-and-glitter-path estate”*.
I know that this is the Notional Cycle Network (being charitable here – an amazing effort to somehow stitch together some kind of continuous routes across the UK). I know that “but nobody cycles”. It’s the vicious cycle we have to break out of (for any change) – somehow…
Meanwhile other countries not only have a network for actually getting around everywhere – just like the roads. They also have much better-quality “narrow paths in the countryside” for recreation also! Heck – they signpost these with the intention that people will ride to the ride!
(Of course you could also use the effective public transport that we in the UK mostly haven’t got…)!
* Actually needs one of those word clouds – perhaps Jeremy Clarkson / Nigel whatsischops could supply one? “sporty”, “lycra”, “yoof”, “dangerous”, “MAMIL”, “wobbling”, “thief”, “trouser clips”, “irritating”…
NCN4 aka Kennet canal towpath
NCN4 aka Kennet canal towpath looks just like that, and worse, with the added amusement of threatening you with an unguarded deep cold canal.