Photoshop accusations as cyclists unconvinced by out the saddle century; Geraint Thomas backs campaign to save home velodrome; Using a chainring to cut pizza; Serious road safety legislation; Cycling up Snowdon + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Photoshop accusations as cyclists unconvinced by US rider's out the saddle century
I’m calling Bullshit on this one. pic.twitter.com/BfxUDTltvN
— RiksRedGuard (@RiksRedGuard) July 22, 2021
We’re pretty trusting here at road.cc. We saw this ride uploaded by Chad Tavernia and assumed it was genuine and, to be honest, we still haven’t been completely persuaded otherwise. The reaction on Twitter to yesterday’s live blog story however, has been anything but trusting…
Many have accused the photo of being photoshopped, with one tweeter saying the lack of hole where the seatpost would enter the frame is the big giveaway…
Others have pointed to Chad Tavernia’s claim he did it all on no food and one bottle as clear evidence he’s trolling but I’m not so sure…Chad’s Strava shows he’s clearly a very strong rider, his bio lists his race wins and he racked up more than 30 hours on the bike the previous week. Call me naive…I’ve got no issue with that particular claim.
Photoshop experts, do your worst…what do you reckon? Legit or not?
😂
— Col Sturgess (@ColinASturgess) July 22, 2021
That’s nothing mate, I once rode a double century with no pedals and all I had was two sips of pernod and black out my water bottle.
— Barrington (@Barrington65) July 22, 2021
Use your chainring to help you refuel after a hard ride...
Who knew. pic.twitter.com/W4JYfBGDnf
— Saddle💙Jockey 🇨🇦 🇬🇧 (@J2onyabike) July 22, 2021
Using a Campag chainring to slice a Hawaiian pizza has been added to the list of things that can get you banned from Italy…
Rohan Dennis to skip Olympic road race to focus on time trial
Two-time TT world champion Rohan Dennis will skip Saturday’s Olympic Games road race to concentrate fully on the time trial. The decision announced by Cycling Australia means the Aussie team will start with just three riders for the road race. Richie Porte and Lucas Hamilton will lead the team with the help of Luke Durbridge.
Dennis has unfinished business with the Olympics having dropped out of the medals in Rio because of an untimely mechanical. The world champion in the discipline in 2018 and 2019 will face stiff competition this time around…Filippo Ganna, Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Tom Dumoulin, Rémi Cavagna, Kasper Asgreen, Stefan Küng and Primož Roglič are all down to start. What a race!
Move over Poirot...road.cc reader investigates 'The Photoshopped Pinarello'
OnYerBike got involved with the Photoshop debate and suggested it could well be red tape covering the seatpost hole. Some red tape that, I don’t know, perhaps matches the red tape Chad finished his bar tape with. Great spot.
Added to that, “Flicking through Chad’s past Strava activities, he has done long (>50 mile) no-saddle rides before,” OnYerBike commented. “In addition to generally being a strong rider. So to me it’s plausible that a) he could do it and b) it’s the sort of crazy thing he would chose to do. So maybe I’m just gullible, but I’m leaning towards believing Chad over random Twitter folk who can’t accept someone is better at something than they are.” Hear, hear…I’m all in for believing Chad now…
Serious cycling legislation
Campaign to change the law so when drivers beep at you for no reason, cyclists are allowed to lob one (1) paint balloon at their windscreen.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) July 20, 2021
Cycling up Snowdon: Richard Parks summits Wales' highest mountain by bike (with a bit of walking)
This one slipped through my live blog net the other week…Former Welsh rugby player Richard Parks climbed Snowdon by bike for his BBC series Extreme Wales. Now, I assumed this was a unique achievement. Who’d be crazy enough to ride a bike up Wales’ highest mountain? 4,232 people, according to Strava…
Anyway, it’s a cool video…On the Strava segment, the climb is 6.77km at an average gradient of 14.3 per cent and gains 977m of elevation, which includes likely sections of walking on the loose surface…
Kieran Wynne-Cattanach has the glory of holding the KOM. He set a top time of 52:47 back in April, nearly six minutes faster than second place. Anyone here made it to the top by bike?
Geraint Thomas backs campaign to save home velodrome
Without Maindy stadium I’d have never fell in love with cycling, along with many other kids. Would be so sad to see it demolished!!
Cardiff Council: Save Maindy Velodrome! – Sign the Petition! https://t.co/B6f0jUujnH via @UKChange— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) July 23, 2021
Geraint Thomas has urged people to support a campaign opposing plans to demolish his home velodrome in Cardiff. The Maindy outdoor velodrome is set to be demolished to make was for a school expansion, and will be replaced by a new track at the Cardiff Sports Village.
Thomas shared the petition to his 480,000 Twitter followers: “Without Maindy Stadium I’d have never fell in love with cycling, along with many other kids. Would be so sad to see it demolished!”
The project is subject to planning permission and Thomas has backed the petition, which has around 2,000 signatures in the hope it will help save the home of his former club, Maindy Flyers.
For those wondering if UAE Team Emirates have the resources to build a dominant GC team around Tadej Pogačar
I think they’re doing just fine for funds…Yesterday we took a closer look at the bike which carried Tadej to victory, it’s a beauty…
Elia Viviani repping Italy with the flag at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony
Elia Viviani in #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/mVEcMExBgG
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) July 23, 2021
Elia Viviani got the nod to be the Italian flagbearer alongside sports shooter Jessica Rossi. Viviani won the omnium in Rio five years ago, while Rossi took gold at London 2012.
Toms Skujiņš gets his hands on delicious new 'First Light' Trek Emonda
A beautiful bike for a beautiful place.
Can’t wait to go real fast on it.
Got to say well done to the people at @TrekBikes on what they call “First Light”.
If you want to find out more, check out Project One pic.twitter.com/i7IPuCuNIm— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) July 23, 2021
Everyone seems pretty much agreed that last night’s Bike at Bedtime – Trek’s special edition First Light paint job created for the Tokyo Olympics – is definitely more hot than not. 72% of our Instagram followers agreed to.
The lucky Trek-Segafredo rider Tom Skujiņš is already showing his off ahead of the Olympic road race tomorrow – check out Trek’s Project One to see more of its custom paint options.
Chad Tavernia confirms road.cc reader's detective work...Red tape is the truth behind 'The Photoshopped Pinarello' mystery
We got in touch with Chad to clear up the rumours and accusations…and, as road.cc reader OnYerBike spotted earlier…it was the same red tape Chad uses to finish his bar tape that was covering the seatpost hole. Sherlock Holmes would be proud. Chad’s even going to prove his effort by repeating it live on Zwift in December.
“I have committed to a December attempt at replicating the effort on Zwift, on my rollers,” he told us. “As far as the hole. I used red electrical tape to cover the seatpost hole in case of a storm so rain would not get in my frame.”
The same tape we can see on your bars? “Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. It had to match!”
OnYerBike, take a bow…
Positive Covid test for Spanish soigneur risks forcing Alejandro Valverde, Izagirre brothers, Omar Fraile and Jesús Herrada out of Olympic road race
🔴 ÚLTIMA HORA | Positivo por COVID de un masajista del equipo español de ciclismo. Veremos si peligra la participación española en la prueba de mañanahttps://t.co/H2Wiyew6V0
— SER Deportivos (@SERDeportivos) July 23, 2021
A positive test within the Spanish camp has threatened to derail the nation’s chances in the Olympic Games men’s road race tomorrow. Alejandro Valverde is the big favourite for the Spaniards but it remains to be seen if they’ll be allowed to start or if they avoided contact with the staff member so will be okay. One to keep an eye on…
And just like that...everything is fine
All negative. Panic over. Valverde can still become Olympic champion. https://t.co/mbBd9s8sRq
— José Been (@TourDeJose) July 23, 2021
Alejandro Valverde and the rest of the Spanish team will be on the startline…they’ve been given the all clear. Panic over.
Yorkshire hoteliers bet big on cyclists with dedicated bike storage and cleaning facilities
Hoteliers Simon Rhatigan and Simon Kershaw own the Bike & Boot overlooking North Yorkshire’s seaside resort of Scarborough. They told Forbes how the venue is tailored for cyclists, and their next two, soon to open in the Peak District and Sherwood Forest will follow suit. The Bike & Boot features dedicated bicycle storage in a secure basement and a cleaning zone with hose, cleaning products, lubricants, workstands and tools.
“Spending £10,000 on a bicycle isn’t unusual anymore,” Kershaw told Forbes. “And if you’ve invested that much on one of your cycles, you don’t leave it in the boot of your car; you don’t leave it strapped to the car; you want to bring it into any hotel you’re staying at.”
The hotel’s most successful cycling night came the day before the 55-mile Velo2Velo Scarborough Bike & Boot Sportive and saw 128 bikes stored in the basement.
Simon Geschke out of Olympic road race after testing positive for Covid
More then disappointed to miss the Olympics tomorrow but also glad everyone else tested negative. It’s a dark day in my career, but i will be back soon later this year hopefully. https://t.co/cUCusFltBU
— Simon Geschke (@simongeschke) July 23, 2021
23 July 2021, 08:07
23 July 2021, 08:07
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Chrisonabike There are a number of police forces in England and Wales that are using portable testing equipment already... How effective it is another matter, I haven't looked into the results of failing (I would hope they just seize and crush the motorbike without any faff but I am sure there are appeal processes, promises not to use them on public roads etc).
Woah there - a precision-engineered European-made product, with unparalleled adaptability, is somehow a ‘rip off’? Compared to what - Temu? As per the article, most quality through-axles go for £50-60+, but aren’t adaptable and don’t provide any stand or trailer capability. If you want to balance your £3-4-5k suspension or carbon bike, or bikepacking setup on a budget product subject to highly focused stresses, fair play. Cycling’s a broad church.
@eburtthebike I've found Spanish drivers to be almost entirely excellent around cyclists.
I agree, the study was made after cycle paths that had been introduced in Berlin during the 70’s and 80’s caused a big increase in cycling deaths. It is an interesting study for cyclists to read in order to know what dangers exist at badly designed junctions. Here in Paris we have very few bi-directional paths. The ones I have cycled on have no building entrances or courtyards (so no cars crossing the path) and every junction is traffic lights to prevent accidents.
We have enough regulation. They're running a motorbike without insurance/registration and possibly without a licence, and the punishment for being caught with all that is pretty severe already. The problem is lack of enforcement.
In my experience with anything less than one of those serious mid-bike two-foot kickstands, a wall / tree / hedge is the better option, or the bike will sometimes show you the alternative and lie down by itself. Maybe I've got panniers that are just too large and the wrong balance of (too much) cargo though? And of course Edinburgh streets are great at funneling gusts of wind...
I agree there's a clear legal line * but I do see something here. Like much tech it's entirely opaque from the outside (without even invoking things like the VW emissions cheating).** I know in NL they have trialled semi-portable "test stations" to check max motor speeds. However with the latest "but there's no money" crisis I can't see that over here. Indeed it's hard to see the police being motivated to do any more roads policing, with this even further down the priority list. Hope I'm wrong... While I guess many of us *would* be fine with EAPCs as a means to attract "non-cyclists" ... perhaps there's an "attractive nuisance" element to this? We're ushering people into an apparently effortless, easy and minimal consequence mobility mode without the "learning experience" of managing a lighter, unpowered machine on roads. And it's still (busy) *roads* where the new power-assisted riders will often find themselves. Not like in more advanced countries where people usually cycle in much safer and more controlled environments. OTOH we should always balance such concerns against "but cars and full-power ICE motorbikes now" though! Number plates, licences and insurance aren't necessarily mitigating that well... * As soon as there are laws games will be played. How long can you be above the "continuous rate power" for? Can we have *multiple* legal motors on one machine? ** Is the power / speed actually regulated by software, and how long will that keep a child armed with the internet from unlocking it?
And maybe a planning obligation to have traffic Marshalls controlling access out of the site not obstructing the path and restricting it if cyclists are likely to be obstructed …one can hope
I'll stick to my low rider with Karrimor Kalahari dry bag panniers and Karrimor Kalahari barbag thanks.
How is the Hover Air X1 Smart more jersey pocket friendly? It doesn’t fold, like the original Hover Air X1 (which is excellent BTW). Are your jersey pockets larger than standard? You did read the part about this also being available only for Japanese market?
32 thoughts on “Photoshop accusations as cyclists unconvinced by out the saddle century; Geraint Thomas backs campaign to save home velodrome; Using a chainring to cut pizza; Serious road safety legislation; Cycling up Snowdon + more on the live blog”
Hawaiian pizzas are an
Hawaiian pizzas are an obscenity and should be banned!
I’m no photoshop expert, but
I’m no photoshop expert, but if I was taking off the saddle and had a roll of carefully colour matched tape lying around the garage (e.g. left over from finishing off handlebar tape…) I would certainly be inclined to use it to cover up the seatpost hole. Done neatly, it might be pretty hard to spot from a low-res image.
Flicking through Chad’s past strava activities, he has done long (>50 mile) no-saddle rides before, in addition to generally being a strong rider. So to me it’s plausible that a) he could do it and b) it’s the sort of crazy thing he would chose to do.
As for 1 bottle and no food, I’ve done 100km on <1 bottle and a couple of energy gels, and (based on his strava profile) Chad is a far, far stronger cyclist than me.
So maybe I’m just gullible, but I’m leaning towards believing Chad over random twitter folk who can’t accept someone is better at something than they are.
Seems rather unlikely that
Seems rather unlikely that tape would match the paint at the rear though.
How about a photo of the bike with the saddle in for comparison?
No idea about the stats but he looks 50 times fitter than me !
I meant the red finishing
I meant the red finishing tape he has used on his bars looks like a close match for the red paint at the back of the bike.
I mentioned yesterday that
I mentioned yesterday that the weight details shows he is slightly lighter then the “light” pro climbers so that would help woth that. Also his average heart rate is alot higher then his normal ones for that distance which lends credence to it being harder work.
hirsute wrote:
Not so odd if the no saddle stuff is habitual. Which it appears to be. If only in case he gets caught in a shower. You dont want to be hanging ya Dogma upside on the line to dry, then theres the BB to think of, possibly DI2 too.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
Beat me to it – if its habitual, then I wouldn’t even be surprised if he’s had something bespoke 3d printed for it.
Massive lol at the thought that ‘cyclist may try and colour co-ordinate everyhting on bike to the nth degree’ (at unecessary expense) being unusual.
Not quite what I said which
Not quite what I said which was to query whether you could get an exact match of tape not whether anyone would try.
I like the 3d print idea though.
I’d agree, & it’s not hard to
I’d agree, & it’s not hard to just pull a saddle/seatpost off the bike for an appropriate selfie,so why go to the effort of photoshopping it?
I’d say it’s not faked
Im a late arrival to the
Im a late arrival to the ‘bloke doing 100 miles without a seatpost’ party, but 20.7 mph on only 170 watts, and with the reduced aero that standing up would cause… I know the Strava wattage is an estimate, but over the course of a long ride not that much out, surely? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
OnYerBike wrote:
I am quite prepared to accept this as a legit ride but seriously … are we still promoting this idea that riding long distances with minimal nutrition is a good/tough/hard thing to do?
[as in … look how tough/hard I am, rather than … look how tough/hard this was to do]
He’s a cat 2 racer. Already
He’s a cat 2 racer. Already a nutter by the standards of most Mamils. I dont see the difference between this and celebrating the feats of Ultracyclists tbh.
Jetmans Dad wrote:
Yes. Yes we are. And it does make it harder to achieve. Well done that man.
Low-traffic schemes halve
Low-traffic schemes halve number of road injuries, study shows
Road injuries halved in low-traffic neighbourhoods installed during the coronavirus pandemic when compared against areas without the schemes, a new study has found.
The improvement in safety is more than twice that created by 20mph urban speed limits.
The research, which examined police data on casualties for 72 low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) put in place in London between March and September last year, also showed no apparent increase in danger on roads at their outer boundaries.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/23/low-traffic-schemes-halve-number-of-road-injuries-study-shows
Curiously, the benefits
Curiously, [i]”The greatest reduction in injuries was among pedestrians and people in cars, with a modest effect at most for cyclists…”[/i]
Perhaps not so surprising,
Perhaps not so surprising, given that
(In other words, they’re just counting raw numbers of injuries, so that could be reduced car occupant injuries in line with reduced car usage, but the same number of cyclist injuries despite more cycling.)
On Ash Sarkar’s tweet (with
On Ash Sarkar’s tweet (with which I whole-heartedly agree 😉 ) I’d like to share an anecdote.
Broad Street in central Bristol is currently completely closed at one end while a new luxury hotel is being built. The rest of the road is filled with bar and cafe tables. So the only bit that can be used by motor cars is the end from the Grand Hotel car park entrance out onto Wine Street.
I was passed on the footpath at speed by a bloke riding a motor scooter (food delivery), who wanted to get past the building site and didn’t want to go around the block.
Once past the building site I thought I’d just walk on the road. And almost immediately got beeped at by a car which had come out of the car park and was in a desperate hurry to get to the ‘main road’.
Five minutes later, that very same car was parked in the disabled spaces outside Waterstones on Union Street. With no blue badge displayed.
I did have a point to make…
100miles without food, maybe.
100miles without food, maybe. Only one bottle, even if that’s possible it’s stupid.
I did 75km fater work, Tuesday last week. Did the first 40miles in 2 hours. I had one 650ml bottle, even after my big recovery meal and trying to rehydrate I was 1.5kg lighter the next morning!
ChrisB200SX wrote:
I can do about 70-75 miles on no food, and that takes me about as long as it takes Chad to do a century. In hot weather, I’d want at least four, probably five bottles for a century, so that would mean taking two and planning to refill. In cooler weather, I could see doing it with just one, but not ideal. His ride was at 65 °F / 18 °C, and pretty sunny, so I’d say “plausible.”
Looking at the analysis in Strava, I see he really did only stop once, for about 2½ minutes to take the photo.
I’m no photoshop expert…
I’m no photoshop expert…
…but I am a pizza expert, and a chainring would make a hopeless pizza cutter. Rather than making a clean, continuous cut, at best it would make a series of perforations, and while that might make it easier to tear the base, it’s going to leave large parts of the topping unsevered, so that when you try to take a slice you’ll end up leaving half of it behind.
Not to mention the impracticalities of operating it.
Besides, who cuts a pizza in squares like that, with some bits all crust and others all topping – that’s all kinds of wrong.
mdavidford wrote:
An integrated power meter would be useful though, for optimising the cut.
And in regards to other cycling debates, this is one application where a disc brake would definitely have the edge over a rim brake.
I’m no photoshop expert, but
I’m no photoshop expert, but if that’s a Campag chainring someone’s done a hell of a good job of disguising it!
It doesn’t appear to be a
It doesn’t appear to be a Hawaiian either, unless someone (brooksby?) has airbrushed out the pineapple. Even then, it would normally be ham, not pepperoni.
And why would you use a
And why would you use a chainring when there’s a perfectly appropriate tool out there?
Some interesting news on LTNs
Some interesting news on LTNs published in the Guardian –
Low-traffic schemes halve number of road injuries, study shows. Research on police data for London neighbourhoods finds greatest reduction in injury rates among pedestrians and people in cars.
They do mention other longer term studies which showed reductions in harm to cyclists as well, but it seems like the drop in pedestrian injuries is dramatic – more than the drop they saw when they introduced 20 mph limits on some side roads in London.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/23/low-traffic-schemes-halve-number-of-road-injuries-study-shows
I cycled up Snowdon many
I cycled up Snowdon many years ago, before Strava was invented – fully rigid steel Trek mountain bike, canti brakes and a hangover!
Went up the Llanberis path and down the Ranger trail, before looping back into Llanberis.
Was very cold at the top and couldn’t feel my fingers or the brake levers for most of the initial descent.
If you want to try, there are currently time restrictions on cycling up: https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/mountain-biking-snowdon-heres-what-you-need-know
I cycled to the top and then
I cycled to the top and then destroyed my rear wheel about 100m from the summit on the way back down. Carried my bike all the way to Llanberis.
Yeah likewise here, a loooong
Yeah likewise here, a loooong time ago on my first MTB, a polished alloy framed Claud Butler. I seem to recall I did have the gloriously smooth (not!) plushness of a Girvin Flexstem to help ease my progress. What a piece of crap that was was.
When I was a foolish student,
When I was a foolish student, I tried doing a ride & hike of Snowdon from Manchester. I got the pace wrong, hit the wall far too early, arrived at Pen-y-Pass after dark with my bike lights fading, tried riding up the Miner’s track anyway (with quite a lot of pushing), realised it would be dangerous to try ascending higher than Glaslyn at night, slept under a tarp in the pouring rain, and had a very slow and demoralising ride home the next morning.
But if you have good weather and some modern technology (including suspension, and proper bike lights!) it would be a great day out!
When you’re a CHAD you can do
When you’re a CHAD you can do anything.
Regarding Rohan Dennis, it’s
Regarding Rohan Dennis, it’s surely pretty dissapointing for whoever was 5th pick in the Aussie cycling team for the road race. Leaving the decision this late presumably means that it’s too late to draft in someone else to take his place. He had better go out and do a bloody good job in the TT now!
They couldn’t draft in
They couldn’t draft in someone to take his place anyway – countries are limited to a certain number of riders total across the two events, which is why the TT riders (almost) always ride the RR as well.