What can be done to stop bike thefts?; Two men chase off gang of bike thieves; Fundraiser for cyclist who was hit by three motorists; Cav goes close; Chris Froome realistic about his chances; Low San Remo audience; Catalunya TT + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Fundraiser for cyclist who suffered severe brain injury after being hit by three motorists
On March 9, Tom Harris was cycling along the A4174 near the Hambrook lights in Bristol when he was hit by a driver at speed. He was then hit by two more drivers after the initial collision. Tom was transported to hospital with a severe head trauma, was anaesthetised by the critical care team and underwent surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain. His family say they were preparing their last goodbyes.
Two weeks on after a successful surgery Tom remains in intensive care but is awake. For the first five days after the surgery he was under full sedation and on a ventilator but can now breathe on his own. The 20-year-old is unable to eat or drink and can only speak a few words.
The family say the crash means he will need to relearn many things he previously took for granted due to the severity of the brain injury and they are asking for donations to help Tom rebuild his life when he is eventually able to leave hospital.
Chris Froome not bothered about winning this week
Race bound 🛫 @voltacatalunya 🚴🏻♂️💨 #voltacatalunya100 pic.twitter.com/pN40YKFv7e
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) March 20, 2021
Chris Froome says he knows his week at the Volta a Catalunya isn’t going to be about him and is an opportunity to build more form ahead of the Tour de France. Speaking before stage one in Calella, the 35-year-old told Eurosport that he doesn’t feel ready to challenge for victories just yet. Froome finished the opening stage in 96th place, 8:30 behind the lead group.
“I know I’m not going to be personally fighting for the victory here,” he explained. “I won’t be at that level yet, but I’m hoping to see some progression. It’s good to have a good team of guys here, and we’ll look to be up there fighting for the victory with Dan Martin and Mike Woods. It’s a good week ahead. I’m just coming off an altitude training camp, so it’ll be good to see what my progression is.”
So close for Cav at Coppi e Bartali
🇮🇹 #CoppieBartali Victoria para Jakub Mareczko en el sector inaugural de la primera etapa. @aular_orluis no ha podido pelear en el sprint por una caída en la parte final del recorrido.#SúmateAlVerde 💚 pic.twitter.com/mtOOB0tyWE
— Team Caja Rural-RGA (@CajaRural_RGA) March 23, 2021
He’s getting closer…Second place for Cav this morning at Coppi e Bartali. I’m sure the riders weren’t thanking whoever decided to have a race finish just before midday local time…Anyway, plenty of time to rest ahead this afternoon’s team time trial. Cav was pipped by Italian sprinter Jakub Mareczko and importantly looks fully recovered from his crash at Nokere Koerse last week…
Cav’s teammate, Jannik Steimle, who also crashed at the Belgian race last week has returned home from hospital. The German suffered a fractured rib, a minor pneumo and concussions. It was decided that he wouldn’t be operated on due to the “specific nature of the fractures in his shoulder”.
Rule of six discount from climate-positive cycling brand
Climate-positive cycling kit brand Presca is offering a 20 per cent discount on their clothing to celebrate the end of winter and the upcoming easing (hopefully) of restrictions on gatherings and exercise. The Joy of Six discount allows you to get 20 per cent off any six items, including their latest Link collection. If you’re not in the market for a whole new wardrobe then you can grab a six per cent discount on any purchase with the code joyofsix. You can also join their Strava club to see their favourite group rides around the country come March 29.
All Presca’s kits use materials that are fully recycled and recyclable and redesigns materials that pollute the planet into performance sportswear built to last.
More people watched David Gaudu play computer games than Milan-San Remo
seems more people in France watched a Twitch livestream of Styros and David Gaudu playing Pro Cycling manager on Saturday than saw Milan-Sanremo… something I didn’t expect to type
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) March 23, 2021
FDJ climber David Gaudu took part in a Twitch stream on Sunday where he played the cycling computer game Pro Cycling Manager against other gamers. One for the younger generation I’d imagine, Gaudu attracted 200,000 people to watch the stream…That’s ten times more than watched Milan-San Remo in France…
This was largely due to the race not being broadcast on TV, instead it was only available via the Eurosport player. The result: an audience of just 20,000 in a country with one of the largest cycling fanbases…
La Passione partners with Flanders Classics for exclusive Ronde van Vlaanderen collection
We are delighted to announce our new partnership with the high-quality cycling clothing of @LaPassionecc 🇮🇹. It will be celebrated with an exclusive Tour of Flanders collection this spring. 🤩 We are very much looking forward to it!
More info 👉 https://t.co/ZS7dlqMHJg #RVV pic.twitter.com/oeQ7z1vc8L
— Ronde Van Vlaanderen (@RondeVlaanderen) February 15, 2021
It’s that time of year. The Tour of Flanders is just 12 days away…La Passione has partnered with Flanders Classics, the organisers of most of the major Belgian cobbled races, to present a new Ronde van Vlaanderen collection, inspired by the Monument. Featuring the traditional black, yellow and grey colour scheme of the race, the collection is designed to represent the heritage of Flemish cycling.
The kit is made to La Passione’s high standards and features a race fit to keep you aero even in the most hostile Belgian conditions. The jersey also has several nice touches including the race’s race profile on the chest and full climbs logo on the back as well as the RVV logo and cobbles on the right sleeve.
Cloughie was a toughie on bike crime...
I was a young teenager when I acquired this autograph as I sat having a pre match lunch with him. My mate and I turned up at hotel on our bikes and he looked after us. “Don’t leave the bikes outside, they’ll get bloody pinched round ere” Post House hotel, Middlesbrough. Genius pic.twitter.com/k9v5VnO5nJ
— Graeme Bandeira (@GraemeBandeira) March 21, 2021
Michał Kwiatkowski to take off following broken rib diagnosis
As it turned out today, I have a fractured rib 🙃 It hasn’t been an easy Italian campaign since the crash in Laiguelia, physically and mentally on the same time. “Rest to be the best” mode ON@INEOSGrenadiers
— Michał Kwiatkowski (@kwiato) March 22, 2021
Michał Kwiatkowski let his Twitter followers know that he’ll be off the bike for a little while after finding out he has a broken rib dating back to a crash at Trofeo Laigueglia at the start of March. Since then the Polish rider has struggled for form, suffering at Tirreno-Adriatico before finishing 17th at Milan-San Remo at the weekend. The former world champion says he’ll be taking some time off to regroup for bigger goals later in the season, notably his fifth Tour de France in a row with Ineos Grenadiers.
In today’s racing, Rémi Cavagna is in the hotseat at Catalunya after setting a rapid time of 22:32 in the stage two time trial. Of the other early starters, nobody has managed to get within 30 seconds of the Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider yet. Chris Froome was exactly two minutes behind and currently sits in 20th place with most of the field still to go.
Exciting road.cc news
Here’s a couple of exciting things happening here at road.cc for you to keep an eye out for. We’ve launched road.cc Recommends, a new curated section and monthly YouTube show with all the best cycling products out there. It’ll be a one-stop shop for all the best bikes, tech and gear that we’ve tested. And rather than giving you our annual round-up of the best stuff in the road.cc Bike of the Year awards, we thought we’d have a change up and give it to you all year round, as and when we test it…Check out everything you need to know about road.cc Recommends…
As if you needed another excuse to crack open a cold one or pour yourself a glass of something nice this Friday…We’ll be bringing the drink at your desk Friday spirit to you virtually with a live chat with former England goalkeeper Ben Foster, who far more importantly also loves his cycling. You can catch the first episode of Drink At Your Desk Live this Friday at 4pm on YouTube and our Facebook page.
Cyclists told to avoid parking their bikes in an area of Oxfordshire due to filming...possibly the next season of Endeavour
#Oxford cyclists told not to leave bikes ahead of filming https://t.co/Hf0fM1yYGC pic.twitter.com/cfLdMUW9RP
— OXFORDSHIRE (@DailyOXFORD) March 22, 2021
Cyclists trying use the railings or bike racks in a part of Oxford were met with this sign asking them to stop doing it ahead of filming this week. The Oxford Mail speculates it could well be for season eight of the Inspector Morse spin-off, Endeavour. Good news if you like the show, bad news if you’ve got a bike to park.The signs appeared on the railings and bike racks on Catte Street, near the Bridge of Sighs on New College Lane.
Bystanders chase off gang of bike thieves using angle grinder in busy park
This video from Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets shows the shocking moment four hooded bike thieves attempted to steal bicycles on a busy Sunday afternoon. A witness said the group were cutting bike locks with an angle grinder at around 3pm and didn’t seem to care that there were hundreds of people around.
Several bystanders got involved to stop the thieves with two of the offenders fleeing. The other two were confronted by a man who tried to restrain one of the thieves before he scrambled away with the help of his mate. The video works best if you watch in full screen mode.
Cheryl Chance said she’d “never have seen anything like this, these youth are so brazen, not the least bit scared. Shocking.”
Iqbal Khan added: “Thieves have become so brazen nowadays. It was good to see that some people are willing to stop it.”
Last year in nearby London Fields in Hackney, a bike thief was caught on camera lunging at a bystander with an angle grinder when they tried to intervene. At the time, a senior police officer said that thieves “have become brazen, greedy and lazy” due to the slim chances of being caught.
What can be done to stop bike thefts?
Data from last November estimated that 110,000 bikes had been stolen since the start of the pandemic. You’ve probably all seen the video on the blog earlier of the gang of bike thieves using an angle grinder to cut through locks in Victoria Park during the middle of a busy Sunday afternoon, so we’re asking: what can be done to stop bike thefts? If thieves aren’t put off by hundreds of people watching their crime and have tools for cutting through locks then is there anything we can do other than cross our fingers and hope for the best? What extra steps do you take to stop your pride and joy getting nicked?
Getting your bike signed up to the national bike register, Bike Register, is probably a sensible start for making it easier to identify if the worst does happen. Good quality locks would be the next obvious port of call. Our buyer’s guide for the best bike locks out there is worth a read if you’re in the market for some extra protection.
I’ve started using multiple locks too: one to fix the bike to wherever you’re parking it, and another two to lock the wheels to the frame. Maybe it’s excessive but definitely better than having to walk your bike home without a front wheel…
Help from the public and well-doing bystanders is obviously greatly appreciated by cyclists. Our earlier blog post attracted loads of comments from you lot praising the pair who tackled the thief and chased him off. But what can we do to make sure this isn’t necessary?
If you’ve got any less obvious top tips for keeping your bike safe, let us know and we’ll share some of the best ones later on…
Rohan Dennis wins Volta a Catalunya time trial
#VoltaCatalunya100 – GC after Stage 2 pic.twitter.com/tqOeOYTILM
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) March 23, 2021
Rohan Dennis dethroned Rémi Cavagna with a huge TT performance at Catalunya to beat the Frenchman by five seconds. Cavagna had set the best time but was bested by Dennis’ 49km/h average on the rolling course around Banyoles. There’ll be plenty of relief for the Aussie who failed to win a race last year and hasn’t won a TT since the World Championships in Yorkshire in 2019.
Of the GC riders, João Almeida came out best in third, 28 seconds behind Dennis. However, he did enough to take the overall race lead by one second. Adam Yates led home the British riders, finishing seventh for his new team, 12 seconds faster than Geraint Thomas and 35 seconds faster than his brother Simon.
23 March 2021, 09:04
23 March 2021, 09:04
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With so many people using and looking at mobie phones whilst driving and other distractions, may I suggest you always wear Hi viz and stay at home.
The design of the "car" has played a role in this. SUVs and what the Americans call "trucks" are exempt from the pedestrian safety regulations which apply to passenger cars. Had the victim been hit by a car designed in the past twenty years he would have been "scooped" onto the bonnet and either over the roof or off to one side. Still a serious injury risk and potentially fatal but they have the benefit of those passive safety systems to improve their chances. With vehicles with such a high bonnet line as this Volvo has what tends to happen is the person bounces off the bonnet and falls on the road in front of the vehicle where they're then run over. This has happened time and time again and is becoming more of an issue as the numbers of vehicles exempt from the safety standards grows.
@Accessibility for all Reducing the speeds wouldn't have helped in this case as the driver was reported doing 65 in a 40 zone on the approach to the junction, his driving described by the witnesses as erratic and evidently had no intention to stop to give way even though he had been warned by the passenger who apparently shouted "bike" three times just before the collision. He would have likely flown through that junction even if it was traffic light controlled with a red light for him at the time. In my own experience the entire area i.e. east of Lymm towards Warburton and along Dunham Road all the way up to Altrincham and past into Hale Barns, all those wealthy, posh settlements around Manchester Airport are best avoided by road cyclists. A disproportionally high number of psycho drivers must for some reason live in that area because every single time I went there on my road bike in the past, I either got harassed myself or witnessed proper dickhead driving - speeding, close passes, overtaking into oncoming traffic or round a blind bend, accelerating towards pedestrians already crossing the road, you name it. I gave up road cycling in that area years ago and only use the local TPT these days.
In respect of the murder charge: based on him hitting Mr Mullins and making no attempt to help him (this killing him), how would the case compare to a hit and run driver who seriously injures or kills a cyclist, knowingly, and flees the scene without helping? Would this make the cut for a murder charge? Or is there something very different going on here that I’m missing? Genuinely curious because I don’t recall there being a murder charge before for this kind of thing unless it was premeditated. In fact, in my experience most cases like this seem to go the opposite way - where the driver can merely say the sun was in their eyes and get away with a slap on the hands.
@Rendel Harris...and there was me dishing out the praise!
@polainm He must also be an already hardened criminal. It wasn't mentioned during the court proceedings to avoid influencing the jurors and ensuring he had a fair trial, but he had been released from prison shortly before this incident and was couch surfing at his cousin's house days before. Just look at his face, he's only 35, but looks older than his victim who was 56. Must have spent half his adult life in prison.
@jaymack They did offer him manslaughter though but he declined to plead guilty. Without wanting to seem curmudgeonly, yes great that they preferred the most serious charges but hard to see how they could have done differently considering that Richardson got out of the car, saw Mr Mullins was stuck underneath and then got back in and carried on. That clearly moved it above anything that falls under death by dangerous driving.
@thrawed Agree - the UK winters are utterly grim; grey, wet & windy. Not the type of weather you really want to go out and ride. Everything get covered in filth, and takes time to clean it after a ride. Oh for colder, drier & crisper days which can be enjoyable to be out in.
@ymm In my view, lax sentencing of dangerous drivers, especially where cyclists are involved, makes the judge, jury and CPS complicit in UK driver culture. This driver is a sociopath.
@Mr Blackbird i reckon the libido is a bit overrated. I'd let that go rather than a limb or a nice bike.
28 thoughts on “What can be done to stop bike thefts?; Two men chase off gang of bike thieves; Fundraiser for cyclist who was hit by three motorists; Cav goes close; Chris Froome realistic about his chances; Low San Remo audience; Catalunya TT + more on the live blog”
All the best Tom. You can get
All the best Tom. You can get through this.
As an aside I decided to look at the article about this on the day and the comments on Bristol Live seems to be what unfortunately what is expected. I particularly liked the one asking if a car is travelling at 70mph on a 70 carrriageway and a bike is travelling 10mph on a 70, which is unsafe and then blarting when the obvious answers are made. (although it was a 50 and I’m guessing young Tom was going faster then 10).
“Dual carriageway” equals
“Dual carriageway” equals “motorway” is how many drivers’ brains are programmed. Coupled with bad driver training (how often do you see someone nearly drive into the back of a tractor etc) and an attitude of “if you’re on a fast road it’s your own fault” the problem will only continue.
In fact, with the number of drivers – mainly van drivers, I have to say – running Netflix or YouTube on their phones while they’re driving it’s only going to get worse. It’s painfully obvious at night: you only have to glance across into their cab and you’ll see the video playing.
It is also just off the
It is also just off the junction of the M4 and people carry that speed off Motorways, especially if the road is very similar.
I’ve often felt that motorway
I’ve often felt that motorway off-slips should have chicanes at the bottom – like urban designers love to put in on any cycle lane entrance/exit they can. Preferably a chicane with a 2-foot high speed bump. That’d make drivers scrub their speed and enter the non-motorway road at an appropriate speed. The number of times I’ve nearly been hit at the M48/Chepstow junction crossing by cars that have clearly barrelled off the M-way is just mad.
If you travel on the German
If you travel on the German Autobahn network, you’ll note that most junctions have fairly tight radius curves. You really do have to step on the brakes as you exit the autobahn. The downside of this is that in wet/icy weather, you do get quite a few crashes.
Has there been any update on
Has there been any update on the story? Did the police track down the three motorists who hit him? (three motorists? f-ing h-ll…).
All I found was the initial
All I found was the initial Bristol Post story on the 10th. Nothing else yet and as it was early, they only had one driver involved at the time.
Update on Bristol Post today
Update on Bristol Post today on this story:
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/family-devastated-cyclist-left-life-5219870
and if anyone feels they have low blood pressure this morning…
This could have been me, it
This could have been me, it could have been you. Donate if you can please.
Best wishes to Tom for a full
Best wishes to Tom for a full recovery.
The shared use segregated path is fine as it goes, but no use if you want to cycle fast and then of course the drivers aren’t expecting non-motor traffic on the dual carriageway so they don’t pay enough attention.
From the news article on the
From the news article on the 10th showing the traffic back to the M4, I’m guessing he had come from Fitton heading out of Bristol which meant the shared use cycle lane was on the wrong side of the road anyway.
I don’t know the
I don’t know the circumstances, but I do know the ring road racing fraternity make that road a total dangerfest for many other road users and it’s heartbreaking that a young man has been smashed up so badly. Best wishes for your recovery.
The guy with the camera
The guy with the camera should really just give up any ambitions in photography.
This video from Victoria Park
This video from Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets shows the shocking moment four hooded bike thieves attempted to steal bicycles on a busy Sunday afternoon
All I saw was the pavement?
ChasP wrote:
That’s why it says you should watch it full screen. Zero for comprehension; must try harder.
Full screen the video and you
Full screen the video and you should be able to see a lot more
Iqbal Khan added: “Thieves
Iqbal Khan added: “Thieves have become so brazen nowadays. It was good to see that some people are willing to stop it.”
—-
Quite a rich statement seeing as if the thieves were to pull a knife out and stab you, resulting in injury or even death. Mr Khan and Cressida Dick would have been extremely quick to flip it around and say it was your own fault for intervening and should have stayed back, dialed 101 and left it in the hands of the police to deal with (which they obviously wont because its an issue of very low priority)
Yet Mayor Khan still wants to cut police funding by around £110mil as he mentioned in 2020
The laws on non-lethal means of self defence and their usage should be relaxed. The government can ban anything and everything it wants to but if there arent suffecient police numbers to keep the public safe, then the public should be legally allowed to arm themselves in a way that they can protect themselves.
The big irony is that criminals are crimnals and they dont care about following the rule of law. Its not the wolf that needs protecting, Its the flock.
Im not saying that the UK public has to arm themselves with guns. but things like pepper spray or civilian models of tasers that run a lower voltage perhaps.
That’s a bit harsh on Mr Khan
That’s a bit harsh on Mr Khan (the one quoted here, not the Mayor).
You do realise that Iqbal
You do realise that Iqbal Khan is one of the eye-witnesses, and not Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London?
RoubaixCube wrote:
He doesn’t “want” to – something which anyone with any sense would be able to deduce from the fact that pre-pandemic he devoted an extra £110M of business rates to policing. He will probably have to make the cuts thanks to the fact that London is facing a predicted £493M shortfall in income for the next two years due to Covid and the fact that over the last decade central government has imposed over £1BN in cuts on the Met’s direct grant and is demanding a further £600M in cuts by 2024.
Unless you believe that the mayor is responsible for the pandemic and/or the last ten years of coalition/Tory government, blaming him for the cuts is nonsensical.
…and it was his predecessor
…and it was his predecessor as mayor, Boris Johnson, who closed police stations in London. The Tories cut 44,000 police officers. That was a move made by Theresa May when she was in charge of the Home Office.
Im well aware that the buck
Im well aware that the buck doesnt stop with mayor Khan and its the culmination of 3 or 4 previous governments that have run the police force into the ground. But he is still going to cut funding regardless of any amount it will affect the overall performance and its already bad as it is.
RoubaixCube wrote:
You’re well aware it’s not his fault but you’re still blaming him for it, in other words.
RoubaixCube wrote:
No, it is quite explicit in the article (which you provided) that the emergency services (fire and police) are being protected as much as possible from the brunt of the cuts
“The Met and London Fire Brigade face the smallest percentage cuts because of their critical public safety roles and because they have already been cut over the last decade.”
Furthermore:
“The Met police currently has 32,401 officers – up 800 on when Mr Khan became Mayor in May 2016”
I’m not seeing anything to correct my view that you didn’t actually read your referenced source. ….
RoubaixCube wrote:
“Wants to cut”? why, it’s almost as if you didn’t read your own source…..
“The scale of the challenge is far beyond anything that any local or regional authority could have prepared for. My first priority is to protect frontline emergency services, which is why we have outlined proportionately smaller savings for the police and fire brigade.”
The Oxford filming signs seem
The Oxford filming signs seem a bit superfluous, given that pretty much every railing around there already has ‘cycles left here will be removed’ signs.
Would they let you leave your
Would they let you leave your bike there if it was “vintage”?
I’m guessing that it isn’t
I’m guessing that it isn’t filming for the pilot of the “Lewis” spinoff “Hathaway”…