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Good luck for Roubaix? Mathieu van der Poel wipes bird poo from helmet mid-race (+ Cav third); Trump supporter falls off bicycle, faceplants... goes viral; Scrap the congestion zone... archers can't take longbows by bus + more on the live blog

Dan Alexander is on live blog duty for you this Wednesday, raring to go with all the usual silliness and maybe some proper news too
05 April 2023, 15:47
Good luck for Roubaix? Mathieu van der Poel wipes bird poo from helmet mid-race (+ Cav third)

It's a shit and run...

Maybe we need to start taking helmets' poo-preventing powers into account in our reviews... 'great ventilation for those hot summer days, although not going to stop anti-social avian excrement... three stars'...

The good luck theory rumbles on, Van der Poel recovering from his trip to the convoy for wet wipes to lead out teammate Jasper Philipsen to victory. I'm sure a win at Roubaix on Sunday and the seagulls of northern France can do whatever they like, as far as Mathieu's concerned.

 On the racing front, Philipsen won and Mark Cavendish achieved his joint best result yet in the blue of Astana, sprinting to third at Scheldeprijs. Sorry, yes, the race was Scheldeprijs, I was too excited by the bird crap thing to remember to mention that important detail...

Anyway, without wanting to sound too much like a certain Alan Partridge, anyone else suffered the flyby splatter mid-ride?

05 April 2023, 16:29
Wackiest 3D-printed cycling tech | Is this the future of cycling?

05 April 2023, 09:07
Trump supporter falls off bicycle, faceplants... goes viral

Here's the best bit of Trump's big day in court... (from the perspective of a cycling website, at least)...

The extended cut shows the offending item was a skateboard rolled into the path, prompting a chase on foot...

One amused viewer wondered if it was the deep skate's doing... 

The outfit, admittedly not seen in our how to dress for spring cycling guide, was made famous by the Capitol rioter Jacob Chansley, who was by chance this week released from prison to a federal halfway house in Arizona. This road-rashed imitator was not Chansley, however, just a fan (apparently)...

No word if the headwear had Mips... not sure any of our reviewers are particularly up for finding out either...

Anyway, get stuck into as much cycling-related Trump content as you want...

> Toe strap-gate: Trump mocks Biden bike fall with spoof golf video

> Cyclist sacked after giving Trump the finger now building bike lanes after winning election

> "Racism is unacceptable" – Trek-Segafredo reacts to rider's pro-Trump tweet

> "Donald Trump" claims Box Hill KOM on Strava

05 April 2023, 14:24
"I don't know anybody who is not zig-zagging around or sometimes bouncing across the potholes and that is not a political point. We all do it": Northamptonshire councillors say cyclists are taking their lives in the hands riding on pothole-strewn roads
Pothole in Didcot, Oxfordshire (credit - Tim Masters)

Northamptonshire councillors have spoken out about the state of the roads in the county, arguing the government's grant is not even half of what would be needed to keep the roads well maintained, Northants Live reports.

At a meeting of North Northamptonshire Council, Cllr Martyn Reuby said it is one of his "greatest fears" he will be knocked from his bike by hitting on of the area's many road defects.

"It is one of my greatest fears that I hit a pothole, lose control of my bike and end up under the wheels of a vehicle. I literally would stand no chance and the likelihood of this seems more possible with the terrible state of the roads," he said.

Another councillor, Graham Lawman, said their budget was "limited" and "not enough to catch up, let alone improve the position", the £3.8 million government grant well short of the £8.1 million estimated needed to keep the roads in a "steady state".

05 April 2023, 13:28
Who else? SD Worx and Lorena Wiebes sprint to Scheldeprijs victoy

It's a sprinty day at Scheldeprijs. Barely any wind and lovely spring sunshine making it almost certainly two races for the sprinters, a prediction that came true in the women's race this lunchtime as Lorena Wiebes continued SD Worx's all-conquering classics campaign...

A hat-trick at the race for Wiebes and yet another victory for her team. Just the Tour of Flanders, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Gent-Wevelgem, Nokere Koerse, Ronde van Drenthe, Strade Bianche and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for them this spring, is a first Paris-Roubaix and a near perfect set next? 

05 April 2023, 12:17
Mountain bikers urged to check for ticks after deadly virus found in UK

Mountain bikers and hikers have been asked to check themselves for ticks after returning from outdoor activity as health officials confirmed a potentially deadly virus is present in the UK.

A 50-year-old man from Yorkshire, who was mountain biking when he was bitten, is the first domestically acquired case of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). It has also been detected in Hampshire, Dorset and Norfolk.

Common in many parts of the world, TBEV causes a range of disease, some are completely asymptomatic while others might experience mild flu-like illness to severe infection in the central nervous system, such as meningitis or encephalitis.

"Although the risk to the general public is very low, it is important for people to take precautions to protect themselves from tick bites, such as covering their ankles and legs, applying insect repellent and checking clothes and your body for ticks, particularly when visiting areas with long grass such as woods, moorlands and parks," Dr Heln Callaby of the UK Health Security Agency said.

05 April 2023, 10:35
Republican senator Mitt Romney claims "removing automobile lanes to put in bike lanes is, in my opinion, the height of stupidity"
Mitt Romney (Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)

More politics from across the pond...

After the reintroduction of a tax credit of up to $1,500 for those purchasing a new electric bike, US senator Mitt Romney told Business Insider "removing automobile lanes to put in bike lanes is, in my opinion, the height of stupidity, it means more cars backing up, creating more emissions".

"I'm not going to spend money on buying e-bikes for people like me who have bought them — they're expensive," he said. "I don't want to add to the unfairness of the current system where electric cars are free riders and don't pay to help maintain our roads and bridges through a gas tax or any kind of surcharge. We're over-subsidising electric vehicles as it is now."

Bureau of Transportation Statistics suggest that 52 per cent of US journeys are shorter than three miles, with nearly 60 per cent less than six miles away from drivers' homes. The group estimates that if 15 per cent of these driven journeys were made by e-bike, carbon emissions could drop by 12 per cent.

05 April 2023, 09:48
The one we've all been waiting for... Drum & Bass on the Bike — Bristol
05 April 2023, 08:23
Cambridge congestion zone — what's it all about?

The proposed scheme, expected to be implemented by 2028, would see drivers who enter the zone between 07:00 and 19:00 on weekdays have to pay a daily charge of at least £5. Funds raised will go towards an improved bus network expansion, expected to cost £50 million, and improving infrastructure for cycling and walking.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership says it wants to see 20,000 extra journeys taken by bus, a 50 per cent reduction in car trips, a five per cent reduction in carbon emissions and 10,000 extra park and ride spaces.

Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP for Cambridge, told a BBC debate in February, he wants a "transformed transport system for this city".

"People are spending 65 hours a year stuck in traffic jams in Cambridge. What a waste of time and damage to the environment, damage to people trying to get to work and small businesses," he said.

"We have a chance to have a transport system fit for this city. We all know that for so long this city has struggled with transport. We need a new bus system that is cheap, reliable and that people can believe in. I think it is worth having a try."

05 April 2023, 07:58
Won't somebody please think of the children who can't take longbows on the bus — latest bizarre congestion charge campaigning

Some live blog gold for you to kick off today... cheers to the reader who dropped this into our inbox after spotting a Cambridge resident making the case for their child needing to be driven around town... because "have you ever tried to carry a longbow on a bus?" 

Longbow archer (Hans Splinter/Flickr/ CC BY-ND 2.0)

A question I'm sure we've all been asked at some point or other...

Putting the facetiousness to the side for a second, the mother created a challenge for anyone to take two children to school on transport advocated by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (a body including three local councils, businesses and the University of Cambridge that has proposed the zone), pick up groceries, get to work, pick up the kids, take one to swimming and the other to archery, feed them both and get home. Could you do all that without driving? 

One reply, from Nick Flynn reckons so... "There are probably plenty of people in Cambridge who have two children who need to go to different places, then work elsewhere, and manage to buy groceries, all without a car. I'm one of them."

So... how did that go down? "If you read the challenge, you would note the older child has archery. Have you ever tried to carry a longbow on a bus? Will the school allow the teenager to bring a weapon to school? An archer can string, knock and loose an arrow in minutes. #getreal" 

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

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

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70 comments

Avatar
Rome73 | 1 year ago
2 likes

I wonder if Mitt Romney recieves any funding from the fossil fuel industry? 

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
10 likes

I checked for ticks after my last ride in the Forest: it was the bottom bracket.

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Dbloke | 1 year ago
0 likes

I like the cycle paths round Manchester.
Its like they forget that some of us hate curbs, tramlines and sharp turns

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Matthew Acton-Varian | 1 year ago
7 likes

Potholes - Even drivers swerve to avoid them.
A friend recently took a trip to wath La Ronde and said that the backroads were excellent. 

It's almost as if tarmac damage is accelerated by heavy vehicles.

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hutchdaddy | 1 year ago
6 likes

More b***ocks from the Daily Mail

Cyclist caught ignoring Britain's widest cycle lane as she rides in lane dedicated to other traffic | Daily Mail Online

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11941587/Cyclist-caught-ignoring-Britai...

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IanMK replied to hutchdaddy | 1 year ago
10 likes

One photo of the a cyclist "caught" not using the cycle lane on an, other than a driver overtaking, empty Road. The problem with the cycle lane is obvious from the photo it's NOT flat and follows the contours of the driveways. It's obvious that if I want to do 20mph on what looks to be a pretty flat road I need to be on the road NOT the cycle path. Also it's not clear from a still that she's not about to turn right.

Lots of other supporting photos of cyclists, checks notes, actually using the path!

But why let the facts get in the way of another opportunity to bash cyclists

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Seventyone replied to IanMK | 1 year ago
6 likes

I like in Wimborne and I am certain this is not the cycle lane that called all the controversy about how wide it is. That one doesn't have a red surface like this.

Incidentally that cycle lane is currently out of use in parts for roadworks. In particular there are quite a few signs placed in it warning road users of roadworks, and in some spectacular irony, a large sign warning that there will be "cyclists in carriageway" put in the middle of the cycle lane to ensure this is the case.

The part of the road which is actually dangerous to cycle on (closest to Wimborne) has no cycle lane on it as it is too narrow.

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wtjs replied to hutchdaddy | 1 year ago
11 likes

It is unnecessary to repeat this yet again, as we all know it, but I'm about to do it anyway: The Mail is despicable ClarksonScum-Land! Would this execrable hyper-junk rag publish these for the edification of its frothing Tory readers?

https://upride.cc/incident/ye10aju_mini_redlightcross/

https://upride.cc/incident/ds6972_porsche_redlightpass/

https://upride.cc/incident/fd67nej_bmw420_redlightcross/

https://upride.cc/incident/t90jdt_audiwithcaravan_rljatspeed/

https://upride.cc/incident/f2yny_rangerover_redlightcross/

What does this say about the attitude of Tories (and Lancashire Constabulary- they ignored all these offences, and will ignore the most recent) to traffic lights?

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brooksby replied to hutchdaddy | 1 year ago
11 likes

hutchdaddy wrote:

More b***ocks from the Daily Mail

Cyclist caught ignoring Britain's widest cycle lane as she rides in lane dedicated to other traffic | Daily Mail Online

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11941587/Cyclist-caught-ignoring-Britai...

Unless that road is a motorway, it certainly isn't a "lane dedicated to other traffic" 

Avatar
Scrapples | 1 year ago
2 likes

Cyclist caught ignoring Britain's widest cycle lane as she rides in lane dedicated to other traffic (msn.com) https://www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/cyclist-caught-ignoring-britain-s-widest-cycle-lane-as-she-rides-in-lane-dedicated-to-other-traffic/ar-AA19v904?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=f0acff04822646b7bc3bdd1432764015&ei=83#comments

Brazen! Don't see that word often, one from the daily heilers disctionary, plenty of bingo wins in the comments

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Shake replied to Scrapples | 1 year ago
9 likes

I rode down that road recently, and as can be seen in that photo, it's so littered with stones you're almost guaranteed a puncture. Plus as you would expect, the lane stops and starts all the way along the road.

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

Sandford police up to their usual!
https://mobile.twitter.com/Sandford_Police/status/1643549337098567680

Although I should really practise some emergency stops.
Not entirely sure of the optimum technique.

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IanMSpencer replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

There a couple of replies there that suggest that the authors should give up both their driving and their InterWeb licences.

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JustTryingToGet... | 1 year ago
4 likes

The trump supporter video is class.

It looks to me like:
-Too busy dicking about on a bike to look for hazards
-Came a cropper due to personal choices
-Appreciate this is circumstantial but looks like rage and going after the person who had the skateboard because obviously all their fault rather than personal responsibility
-Whilst leaving their bike to be a hazard for others.

Textbook MAGA really.

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yourealwaysbe replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
9 likes

It looks to me like the skateboarder pushed the board under the bike.

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JustTryingToGet... replied to yourealwaysbe | 1 year ago
0 likes
yourealwaysbe wrote:

It looks to me like the skateboarder pushed the board under the bike.

I didn't see it but could be. Not that it would make any difference to someone dickng about... and still dumbass to have your own equipment creating exactly the same hazard

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wycombewheeler replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
1 like

are we now calling riding with one hand in a reasonably straight line on an empty (closed?) road "dicking about"?

Now whether the skateboarder lost balance or wheteher it was a deliberate assault is unclear, but the skateboard definitely appears suddenly under the bikes wheels.

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cyclisto replied to yourealwaysbe | 1 year ago
5 likes

To me it seems like a direct assault, worthy to be prosecuted in court, this is not funny for me at all.

Trump supporters have many reasons to be ridiculed and to offer us laughter, but violence is in any case unacceptable.

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AidanR replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
6 likes
JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote:

The trump supporter video is class.

It looks to me like:
-Too busy dicking about on a bike to look for hazards
-Came a cropper due to personal choices
-Appreciate this is circumstantial but looks like rage and going after the person who had the skateboard because obviously all their fault rather than personal responsibility
-Whilst leaving their bike to be a hazard for others.

Textbook MAGA really.

Someone riding a bike crashed because someone else deliberately pushed an object into their path. Are we so blinded by partisanship that people are celebrating an assault on a cyclist?

Avatar
JustTryingToGet... replied to AidanR | 1 year ago
1 like
AidanR wrote:
JustTryingToGetFromAtoB wrote:

The trump supporter video is class.

It looks to me like:
-Too busy dicking about on a bike to look for hazards
-Came a cropper due to personal choices
-Appreciate this is circumstantial but looks like rage and going after the person who had the skateboard because obviously all their fault rather than personal responsibility
-Whilst leaving their bike to be a hazard for others.

Textbook MAGA really.

Someone riding a bike crashed because someone else deliberately pushed an object into their path. Are we so blinded by partisanship that people are celebrating an assault on a cyclist?

I've missed the bit where it was pushed. Which would be a bad thing obvs.

But I can still call him a dick for dicking about, and leaving obstacles for others.

Also, and I don't know about anyone else on here, but I've come off my bike a few times. When I have contributed to that (and I have, because I have dicked about on my bike) I take it on the chin (or knee, or hip or wherever else i've injured)

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AidanR replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
8 likes

Man waves whilst riding bike, gets taken out by someone shoving something under his front wheel, then gets blamed for waving. C'mon.

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mctrials23 replied to AidanR | 1 year ago
4 likes

Yes. Welcome to the modern world where you have to see every event through a political lens. Bad things happening to people on the other side of the politial spectrum are OK because they are clearly horrible people through and through. 

Its such a bizarre point of view and does nothing but divide people further. 

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ktache replied to AidanR | 1 year ago
2 likes

But would such a prosecution be politically motivated?

Deep Skate was very funny though...

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Paul J replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
4 likes

If you look, someone deliberately rolled a skateboard into their path. So this is actually an assault on a cyclist.

Just cause we might disagree with their (perceived) politics does not really justify that or make it funny.

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Paul J replied to Paul J | 1 year ago
4 likes

Oh, and the way road.cc has framed this is similarly a bit off too.

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cyclisto replied to Paul J | 1 year ago
4 likes

Imagine exact the same incident but instead of a saman wanabe, was a mother waving her daughter while cycling and somebody threw a skateboard at her course causing to crash similarly.

For exact the same incident and same malicious intention what would the road.cc title be "Mother of three falls off bicycle, faceplants... goes viral? I don't think so...

Avatar
Adam Sutton replied to JustTryingToGetFromAtoB | 1 year ago
6 likes

I should imagine the same response if someone shoved a skateboard under, I don't know, say Saint Mikey of Cylings bike.

However f***ed up a persons beliefs or political leanings. Responses like these are as much why society by and large is in so much trouble. Assault is assault. 

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IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
13 likes

Recently had news that this driver attended their driver awareness course. Deserved or too harsh?

The screams are real!

https://twitter.com/IanMSpencer/status/1643544126820941826?s=20

Bingo cards at the ready on Twitter!

I didn't put it forward for NMotD as it wasn't!

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Hirsute replied to IanMSpencer | 1 year ago
5 likes

Should have been 6 points at least and a short ban.

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mctrials23 replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
1 like

I think that the government should ban people for short periods much more often. Perhaps if you weren't allowed to drive for a month when you do something like this you would take it a little more seriously. If you are caught driving when banned its upped to a year. 

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