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Local paper letter warns of speeding "muscular" cyclists; Ineos 1-2-3; Motorist bingo; World record attempt; I hear you're a racist now, Chris! Boardman laughs off former racist cyclist typo; Mini Sagan; Groenewegen's return + more on the live blog

It's another sunny Tuesday over here...Dan Alexander will have your live blog updates throughout the day...
Tue, Apr 27, 2021 09:11
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Local paper letter warns of speeding "muscular" cyclists; Ineos 1-2-3; Motorist bingo; World record attempt; I hear you're a racist now, Chris! Boardman laughs off former racist cyclist typo; Mini Sagan; Groenewegen's return + more on the live blogoxon travel cycle lane picture 2 - via twitter.PNG
27 April 2021, 16:01
The road.cc sock/sandal game is strong
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by road.cc (@road.cc)

Get with the vibe folks. If you fancy looking this cool then do scoot on over to the road.cc shop to get your very own pair of legendary road.cc socks. 

27 April 2021, 15:58
When there is a bike race on but you really need to get to work...
27 April 2021, 15:27
Ineos Grenadiers 1-2-3 as Rohan Dennis wins Tour de Romandie prologue ahead of Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte

Filippo Ganna was not even in Ineos' top-three riders on this afternoon's Tour de Romandie prologue. Over the 4km course, Rohan Dennis was flying, winning the stage by eight seconds from his teammates Geraint Thomas and Richie Porte. Rémi Cavagna was just behind in fourth, while Marc Hirschi did enough for a top-ten finish too.

Our Drink at Your Desk Live! guest from Friday, Alex Dowsett, probably would have wanted a longer, flatter course to help him better 42nd place. Chris Froome has said he is treating the week as a training race and appeared to be taking it relatively easy at times during his 130th place ride...only ten riders went slower than the four-time Tour de France champion. 

27 April 2021, 15:04
Cycling UK want local cyclists affected by a change in the right of way at Bolton Abbey to get in touch
27 April 2021, 14:29
A shocker from the North East
27 April 2021, 14:16
Bike share firm Donkey Republic to be floated on Nasdaq First North stock exchange
donkey republic 2.jpg

Crowdsourced bike share brand Donkey Republic believes inner city construction and traffic congestion will make bike sharing a common part of city life in the near future. Their target is to have 50,000 "donkeys" by 2024 which would hit the numbers required to make the venture profitable. 

To secure extra investment, Cyclingindustrynews reports Donkey Republic will be floated on the Nasdaq First North stock exchange in Copenhagen with the aim of reaching an IPO target of DKK100m (£11,686,244). The company currently has 13,000 registered bikes across 60 cities in 14 countries.

27 April 2021, 13:17
Cheltenham Police put up 'pass cyclists safely' signs...let's play Driver Logical Leap Bingo

You know the drill with these...it all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to motorists about overtaking cyclists safely. Motorists then inundate said reasonable request with "but what about" and general anti-cycling comments.

Dan Harte has christened it Driver Logical Leap Bingo and his money is on single file riding, helmets, hi-viz clothing and they all jump red lights...that is a fairly strong bingo card there, Dan.

Here we go, in the comments we have...

A thumbs down for "pack/race cyclists"...

Cyclists need to give drivers the same space too...

And there we go, a single file riding complaint as well...

27 April 2021, 12:55
Vincenzo Nibali back training ahead of possible Giro d'Italia appearance

Vincenzo Nibali is back on the bike 11 days after fracturing his wrist in a training crash. The two-time Giro d'Italia winner had a plate and screws fitted to the injury and is using a specially-designed carbon cast to allow him to continue to train. He has returned to altitude to finish off his preparation for the Giro d'Italia, with his physio saying he is 100 per cent convinced Nibali will take to the start in Turin a week on Saturday.

Martino Donati said he had never seen the Sicilian so focused. "I’ve never seen Vincenzo so determined and so willing to work hard. The chance of him being at the Giro? For me it's 100 per cent," he told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Otherwise, what would be the point of doing all this extra work. When it was necessary, he came for a session at 6:50 in the morning. We’re working on his wrist but also on his arm and back."

27 April 2021, 11:24
Mini Sagan: Peter Sagan's three-year-old son shows off his skills

As his dad prepares for the final warm-up race ahead of the Giro d'Italia, mini Sagan (three-year-old Marlon) has been showing off his skills... 

27 April 2021, 11:03
27 April 2021, 10:36
Your comments on shared-use paths...
Brighton seafront (Twitter)

We jumped on the part of the letter which bizarrely called out "muscular" cyclists for causing a danger to pedestrians. However, as many of you have noted in the comments, there were actually some fair points made about how cycle lanes and pedestrian walkways can be better segregated for everyone's safety...

Carior commented: "I was all prepared to grumble about the "muscular cyclists" too fast point but I think as cyclists we need to think about what we want. From personal experience (which includes riding along the pictured sea front) it's about as useful as a chocolate tea pot for anything other than pottering very slowly on a touristy bike ride.  Pedestrians (myself included) pretty much disregard the painted lanes and you certainly can't ride at the type of speeds I expect many of us enjoy for fitness and fun along them and personally I would never use it - but then you get the "get in the cycle lane" crap from motorists.

"I don't think anyone really enjoys using those shared-use paths for anything other than pottering from A to B.  That said, I struggle to believe that people would be using them riding fast on expensive bikes!"

Jetmans Dad added: "The problem with shared-use facilities is that the local council puts them in and thinks their job is done, as far as cycling infrastructure is concerned. East Riding of Yorkshire Council has done a great job of turning roadside footpaths into shared-use by just adding signs that say they are. 

"They are often way too narrow even if they were dedicated cycle paths, never mind accommodating pedestrians as well, but the council is proud of how many miles of cycleway they have put in, and drivers now have free reign to abuse me for getting in their way and holding them up by not riding on the "footpath". Shared-use should not count as cycle infrastructure."

EddyBerckx summed up the general mood in the comments well: "Despite the undoubted exaggeration (though 'muscular' is better than being called 'fat') I do agree with his point as do most cycle campaigners I think - pedestrian and cycling spaces shouldn't be mixed...they only ever sort of work when there is little traffic (of both sorts) . They are bodge jobs and nothing more."

27 April 2021, 10:23
Change of plan for Dylan Groenewgen who will return to racing at the Giro d'Italia following nine-month suspension

Dylan Groenewegen will return to racing at the Giro d'Italia next month in a revised comeback from his nine-month suspension. Groenewegen has been banned since November for his involvement in the crash that left Fabio Jakobsen in a medically-induced coma. The ban was retroactive so will be lifted on May 7, the day before the Giro starts in Turin.

The Dutch sprinter had originally been scheduled to ride lots of smaller races, starting with the Tour of Hungary, while he finds his feet in the peloton again. However, Jumbo-Visma announced their Giro d'Italia team this morning with Groenewegen replacing Chris Harper who is out with an eye condition.

"Dylan is one of our leaders, but he has not been able to race for a long time due to his long suspension,” directeur sportif Merijn Zeeman said. "We had mapped out a nice program for him that would allow him to return to the peloton in the shadows.

"However, due to corona, the Tour of Norway has already been postponed and it remains to be seen whether the other races he would ride will remain on the calendar. With this solution we opt for more certainty, because after nine months without racing it is the intention for Dylan to return to competition."

27 April 2021, 09:50
Josh Quigley world record attempt underway

Spare a thought for Josh Quigley who is out on the roads again today for the second day of his week-long cycling distance world record attempt. Josh racked up 320 miles on day one with four laps of his 80-mile loop in Aberdeenshire, averaging an impressive 18mph (29km/h) for just shy of 18 hours...

With 2,177 miles the current record, Josh has seven more 320-mile days ahead of him...

Last September he broke the record for riding the North Coast 500, a 516-mile route across the Highlands and north-west coast of Scotland, by five minutes. The achievement was even more impressive considering it came just nine months after he suffered a fractured skull, pelvis and ribs when he was hit by a driver in Texas during his around-the-world attempt.

27 April 2021, 09:43
Shocking video of raging motorist driving at horse rider

No bikes involved, just one very angry motorist and a horse rider... 

27 April 2021, 08:27
I hear you are a racist now, Chris! Boardman laughs off former racist cyclist typo

Chris Boardman may have spat out his coffee when he opened Twitter this morning to discover he had been called a "former racist cyclist" in a Manchester Evening News story. The article has since been amended to "former race cyclist"...

Boardman saw the funny side and pointed out at least he was a former racist...the Father Ted memes have been flooding in...

27 April 2021, 07:56
Local paper letter warns of "muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds"
Brighton seafront (Twitter)

In this letter published on The Argus' website, Richard Williams starts by saying he wholeheartedly agrees with the proposal to make new cycle lanes on Old Shoreham Road and elsewhere permanent. Later on, he added that he wants to see more cycle lanes on busy roads too...where Richard does not want to see any cycle lanes, however, is anywhere next to pedestrian spaces.

"The cyclists who use the lanes are often muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds, and they are a danger to pedestrians," he wrote. "The markings indicating the lanes are not always intuitively obvious to the casual walker and we should remember that many pedestrians in Brighton will be tourists who are not familiar with the area.

"Young children, too, are not good at spotting or understanding the markings on the pavement and they are, of course, particularly vulnerable if a cyclist collides with them. I would, therefore, support more cycle lanes on busy roads but I believe that all cycle lanes on pavements should be suppressed."

Thoughts? There was briefly a pop-up cycle lane in one of the empty lanes, seen in the picture above, before it was removed and cyclists wanting to use the cycle lane were pushed back next to the seafront pavement...

We also could not let this pass without having a chuckle at the reference to ""muscular individuals riding performance bikes at high speeds". Muscular? Muscular cyclists? I wonder what they are feeding them down in Brighton?

Dan Alexander

Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. 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 joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

Add new comment

77 comments

Avatar
brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

Slides.  The only footwear to make Crocs look fashionable...  

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
1 like

I think there is a niche to be filled by the inventor of SPD slides meself...

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Aapje | 3 years ago
0 likes

There are plenty of shared roads in The Netherlands, but these are in more rural areas where the number of pedestrians is usually limited. In busy areas, like the one pictured, it is not appropriate infrastructure.

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Keesvant replied to Aapje | 3 years ago
0 likes

As Aapje points out, even desegnated bike paths are not sutible for road cycling at speed.
The paths were not built with groups of cyclists riding at 35kp/h in mind.
Riding on a bike path is unsafe at speed.
Therefore we use the road, causing frustration to motorists.
But have to not to endanger children and older people on the bike path.
It works best if we cyclists avoid busy roads ...

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James_GB | 3 years ago
2 likes

Chris Froome: Pay me €5.5million
ISN: Okay, but you have to try and win some things
Chris Froome: Sure thing
Also Chris Froome: finishes 130th
ISN: 😑

Avatar
quiff | 3 years ago
1 like

road.cc wrote:

You know the drill with these...it all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to motorists about overtaking cyclists safely. Motorists then inundate said reasonable request with "but what about" and general anti-cycling comments.

Are we (the non-existent collective of cyclists) not guilty of this too? It all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to cyclists about following Highway Code advice on making themselves visible. Cyclists then inundate said reasonable request with "but when are you going to enforce speed limits and ASLs? When are you going to provide safe infrastructure"?

Don't get me wrong, I understand why they're different - e.g. a cyclist has very little control over their own safety compared to the person piloting a speeding lump of metal whilst speeding / drunk / Facebooking etc; and no perceived slight or inconvenience caused to a motorist by a cyclist justifies unsafe or aggressive driving). But it seems a bit high and mighty to complain about motorists' whataboutery when it's exactly the same instinctive reaction we have when police run the flip-side campaign.    

Avatar
brooksby replied to quiff | 3 years ago
5 likes

quiff wrote:

road.cc wrote:

You know the drill with these...it all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to motorists about overtaking cyclists safely. Motorists then inundate said reasonable request with "but what about" and general anti-cycling comments.

Are we (the non-existent collective of cyclists) not guilty of this too? It all starts with a police force making a reasonable request to cyclists about following Highway Code advice on making themselves visible. Cyclists then inundate said reasonable request with "but when are you going to enforce speed limits and ASLs? When are you going to provide safe infrastructure"?

Don't get me wrong, I understand why they're different - e.g. a cyclist has very little control over their own safety compared to the person piloting a speeding lump of metal whilst speeding / drunk / Facebooking etc; and no perceived slight or inconvenience caused to a motorist by a cyclist justifies unsafe or aggressive driving). But it seems a bit high and mighty to complain about motorists' whataboutery when it's exactly the same instinctive reaction we have when police run the flip-side campaign.    

But speed limits and ASLs are law, to protect vulnerable road users.

Practically all of the 'what-abouts' spat up on twitter threads like that one are personal opinion, 'something I was told down the pub' or 'I would like to happen', and not law.

I think that might be the difference.

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quiff replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
2 likes

Oh I totally agree there's a difference. I guess I was trying to make two points: 

(1) we should recognise that we all seem to have the same instinctive reaction to police campaigns, i.e. "what I'm doing is fine, it's the other guy who's the problem".

(2) It's quite nuanced to explain why a cyclist's "but what about" is legitimate concern, while a motorist's "but what about" is whataboutery.   

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Awavey replied to quiff | 3 years ago
7 likes

No because the motorists 'pile on', I believe thats the social media term for it, is because they are misinformed & displaying intolerance.

The cyclists 'pile on' is because the source messaging is misguided, potentially blaming the victim as a cause and the most effective way to improve cyclists safety,which is the whole purpose of the messaging in the first place, is not to encourage takeup of ppe, but actually tackling any of the examples that put cyclists in danger every day that then get highlighted to them.

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quiff replied to Awavey | 3 years ago
1 like

Totally agree, and very well put. I think the cynicism of the bit I quoted just rankled because it didn't seem to recognise that cyclists and motorists often seem to react in the same way to these campaigns, and it's hard to win people over by dismissing their concerns as whataboutery (even if that's what it is).     

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to quiff | 3 years ago
3 likes

For stupideness, look at the picture explaining why "single file is better" the one nutter is  spreading around. 

We might post pics of actual law breaking. They are posting pics which demonstrate bad driving which is then blamed on cyclists for some reason.

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quiff replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
0 likes

I did get lost down that particular rabbit hole. The weirdest bit was where he convinced himself that he (advocating compulsory single file cycling) and the cyclists (advocating two abreast) were actually in agreement.  

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to quiff | 3 years ago
1 like

There was also the bit when he decided he wasn't going to continue "four day old arguments". Someone said it was two from 25th to 27th and he stated Sunday, Monday, Tuesday to show he was right. 

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Keesvant replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
0 likes

I like the way the brits look at single file cycling..
It is a give and take between motoristst and cyclists.
We ride 2 abrest, a car comes up from behind, we give space and change to single file, car can pass.
Driver waves friendly all is well

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Hirsute replied to Keesvant | 3 years ago
1 like

Why can't the driver use the whole of the otherside of the carriageway?

It also means they spend less time on the wrong side of the road.

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brooksby replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
1 like

hirsute wrote:

Why can't the driver use the whole of the otherside of the carriageway?

It also means they spend less time on the wrong side of the road.

My god!  You want them to think logically???

Avatar
pockstone | 3 years ago
17 likes

Re. ranty road tax horse nutcase. I've had a few 'road tax' rants directed at me (None on this epic scale I'll admit.).

Having just taxed my car this morning, it occurs to me , perhaps  the DVLA should  put an explainer on their website and VED reminders about what people are paying for...and what they are not paying for..., and to remind people who need a license to use the roads that they do so on sufferance, not by right.

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Bungle_52 replied to pockstone | 3 years ago
3 likes

What a brilliant idea. Have you suggested it to any one who may be able to take it forward?

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Gkam84 | 3 years ago
1 like

Josh was going some when I caught up with him yesterday on his final loop out of Ballater, managed to pull alongside and have a word, looked metronomic, but did notice, he doesn't wear any eye protection and looked rather sore. It's pissing on rain here, so that's not going to help with half the road covered in standing water.

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brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

OT, but I found this referenced on slate.com

https://slate.com/business/2021/04/roundabout-kentucky-rowan-county-conf...

and it's quite *funny/*worrying (*delete as appropriate)

https://twitter.com/OregonRolledA20/status/1386160018056093698

 

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
2 likes

brooksby wrote:

OT, but I found this referenced on slate.com

https://slate.com/business/2021/04/roundabout-kentucky-rowan-county-conf...

and it's quite *funny/*worrying (*delete as appropriate)

https://twitter.com/OregonRolledA20/status/1386160018056093698

 

Have some American friends from Pennsylvania. Whenever they drive over here they have the double whammy of having to drive on the correct side and try to understand roundabouts. It drives them bonkers

Avatar
pockstone replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
1 like

Yet bizarrely, about 75% of the cars in the video seemed to have no problem whatsoever driving on the 'correct' side of the road (and to hell with any oncoming traffic).

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Captain Badger replied to pockstone | 3 years ago
0 likes

pockstone wrote:

Yet bizarrely, about 75% of the cars in the video seemed to have no problem whatsoever driving on the 'correct' side of the road (and to hell with any oncoming traffic).

Oh I hadn't thought of it like that - I shall show them the vid forthwith!

Avatar
Hirsute | 3 years ago
8 likes

Shared areas - there was an article from a few weeks ago (maybe Wales) where a lady filmed the cyclists on a 20mph road in the same sort of set up and moaned they should have been on the shared area !
You can't win !

Avatar
PRSboy | 3 years ago
20 likes

Good grief, that man with the horserider... absolute comedy gold.

Best bit was when the horse started trolling him by eating his hedge.

And that horse/rider combo sets the standard of those who should be on the road.  Talk about bomb-proof, total control and trust.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to PRSboy | 3 years ago
4 likes

PRSboy wrote:

Good grief, that man with the horserider... absolute comedy gold.

Best bit was when the horse started trolling him by eating his hedge.

You're so right; this would be a brilliant sketch; no need to pay a writer either, it's all there!

Avatar
eburtthebike | 3 years ago
19 likes

Young lady horserider vs outraged gammon; 10-nil to the lady and the horse. 

For those who are bound to question why a horse is featured on a cycling website, just imagine how he treats cyclists.  I would suspect that he claims to be an animal lover, and hence had some respect for the horse, but there would be no restrictions about running over any arrogant, lycra lout who held him up for a second.

Avatar
Captain Badger | 3 years ago
18 likes

Wow, much kudos to the lass on the horse - how calm and collected! The horse too, I would have expected it to be much more agitated

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
7 likes

"Go to your mummy to change your nappy" was a rather cutting insult from someone who is old and doddery enough that he probably needs Adult ones.

Lovely that he also goes around and clears up the horse manure, I bet his roses must bloom in his garden.  

 

Avatar
STiG911 replied to Captain Badger | 3 years ago
19 likes

Captain Badger wrote:

Wow, much kudos to the lass on the horse - how calm and collected! The horse too, I would have expected it to be much more agitated

Held up by 8 seconds, then spends 3 minutes arguing about it like a deranged wankmuppet.

What an utter Gammon.

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