Taylor Phinney: Cycling was “f*cked up”; Rusty Raleigh Chopper sells for £700; “We are not the Netherlands”; Cyclists are entitled…to get home alive; Tell me you’re a cyclist without telling me you’re a cyclist; Big Mamil Energy + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
How much? Rusty old Raleigh Chopper sells for almost £700
This story is for the kind of cyclists – like me – who can’t seem to part with that knackered old rust bucket in the corner of the garage.
‘But you haven’t ridden it in ten years…’
Well, your bike hoarding may pay off some day, as earlier this week a battered, rusty Raleigh Chopper – which had spent 35 unloved years in a garden shed – fetched hundred of pounds at an auction in Derbyshire.
The seller, who owned the iconic 1970s bike as a child, was initially going to just throw it in the skip.
Instead, rather fortuitously, they took it to Hansons Auctioneers, who sold the bike for £692, almost seven times the estimate.
“It was in my dad’s shed. I didn’t realise it was there, just rusting slowly. It was mine in the late 1970s and early 80s when I was nine or 10,” the bike’s now former owner told Derbyshire Live.
“It’s got the original gear shifter – not the later T-bar from those pesky safety people. It was great for wheelies and potholes. I remember seeing the Chopper advertised in Look-In, a kids magazine at the time.
“The advert featured a bike with a T-bar gear shifter but this one has a single-lever shifter. My dad came home with the Chopper. He bought it second hand from some chap.”
> Raleigh Chopper vs Alpe d’Huez
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said: “This was an exceptional result for an iconic bike. Due to its rusty condition, it was destined for the skip. However, it has now been saved for posterity. I hope its new owner will enjoy restoring it to its former glory.”
So there’s hope for that rusty old bike in the shed yet…
Or better yet, you could restore your old children’s bike and ride it around the route of the Tour de France (like this guy). Hmmm… I’d probably just take it to the auction.
“Felt like Ffordd Pen Llech”: G’s tough day in the break
2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas has certainly been put through his paces this week at the Tour of the Basque Country.
Now I remember why I’ve only done this race once before 🤣 Savage climbs but the support here is incredible. Big day out with the boys, stronger day by day 👌 #Itzulia2022 pic.twitter.com/eHKXbUqUHv
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) April 6, 2022
On Wednesday’s stage three he spent kilometre after kilometre on the front of the peloton, over some shockingly steep ramps, to help tee up an attack by Ineos Grenadiers teammate Adam Yates, who unfortunately punctured in the closing kilometre as Pello Bilbao won the small-group sprint.
Yesterday, the 35-year-old Welsh rider made the break of the day on another relentlessly tough stage. Despite being caught by the GC group with nine kilometres to go, another of Thomas’ Ineos mates, Dani Martinez, took the stage by a whisker ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (the Colombian nearly ‘doing an Alaphilippe’ in the process by celebrating a little prematurely as the world champion threw his bike at the line).
Go in the break they said
Be fun they said pic.twitter.com/8sgopRdqJU
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) April 7, 2022
And it wouldn’t be Geraint Thomas without a sneaky reference to an iconic Welsh climb – surely even the gruelling hills of the Basque Country have nothing on the former ‘world’s steepest street’?
This was far steeper than it looked. Felt like Ffordd Pen Llech 🤣 Sure there’ll be plenty more out there today eh @ehitzulia 🤦♂️👍pic.twitter.com/zv48cchcv2
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) April 8, 2022
Oh, and while he’s building up his form ahead of the Tour de France after what he described as a “slow winter”, Thomas is also doing his best to relocate some missing nappies…
A bit random one but I need your help Tweeps… Anybody on @airfrance AF1592 flight this evening from Lyon – Biarritz and just realised they have the wrong carry on bag? My wife has your undies and you have Macs’ clothes/nappies etc 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/pv9exOTQYD
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) April 7, 2022
Big Mamil Energy
Big mamil energy is some random bloke sitting on while I tow him at 30kph+ along the windy, flat section and then accelerating past me on the climb without saying a word. Well done to u.
— amylaurenjones (@amylaurenjones) April 7, 2022
I once had a mamil shout at me because he sat on my wheel when going up a climb and when I accelerated he was dropped. Stopped at the top to take a photo and he went off his head at me for going faster than him 🙃
— Kerry (@Kerry13_) April 7, 2022
Ugh, this happens to me aaaaall the time! Then I always do a little wave as I pass them once they’ve blown from their big effort up the hill just to pass me. Smugness overload.
— Charlotte Eleanor Broughton (@char_broughton) April 7, 2022
I was once pounding along into a strong headwind towards the hills on the Tour of the White Horses and started feeling pretty lonely. Looked behind and there are about 30 blokes sitting, no, cowering, behind me, got to the first hill and they all pushed off. Not one thanked me.
— The Mechanic (@hayres) April 8, 2022
And on the other side of the coin:
One time I towed a group of older gentlemen almost the whole Schelde path from Gent to Oudenaarde into a block headwind and when I pulled off they all thanked me. I’ll never forget that.
— Laura Weislo-USA (@Laura_Weislo) April 7, 2022
Any of our readers have their own examples of encountering – or perhaps displaying – Big Mamil Energy?
(I was going to shorten it to BME, but an acronym within an acronym feels like too much…)
Come on, don’t be shy…
Tell me you’re a cyclist without telling me you’re a cyclist
Tell me your husband is a cyclist without telling me your husband is a cyclist, I’ll go first:
Sam calls our son’s vests “base layers”
😂👌
— Tara Bennett (@Tee4Tara) April 7, 2022
Since it’s Friday, let’s have a bit of fun in the comments – who can better Sam Bennett’s wife Tara’s excellent example?
My tell is that I say ‘clear’ when crossing the road as a pedestrian…
Any others?
Move over Sergio Leone…
Now this is what you call a shot:
Para verlo en bucle 🙌🙌. Ese cambio de rasante y el pelotón que aparece de la nada #Itzulia pic.twitter.com/EPjlr5jjw0
— iker gallastegi (@ikguallas) April 7, 2022
Cyclists are entitled… to get home alive
Thanks to @Pflax1 for creating this gem. Has already sparked multiple conversations today. Onward pic.twitter.com/5rxhLOVQLQ
— Josh Hare (@thejoshhare) April 6, 2022
A stylish t-shirt that doubles as pro-cycling propaganda? Count me in…
Journalist Peter Flax’s sartorial response to what he describes as the “feeble-minded pronouncement” that cyclists are ‘entitled’, simply because we want to get from A to B safely, is certainly a great conversation starter.
Promoting the t-shirt earlier this year, Flax said: “It’s time for bike riders to reappropriate the truth when it comes to entitlement. To take this misinformed invective and flip it into an anthem. Let’s be blunt: Cyclists may be entitled — but not in the way these idiots suggest.”
If you want to look cool, reframe a tired conversation, and troll anti-cycling motorists at the same time, you can buy the t-shirt from Flax’s website.
“We are not the Netherlands”: Hove councillors win at cycling bingo
On Wednesday, you may recall, we reported that cyclists in Hove had lodged a petition to have “well-planned and high-quality permanent cycle lanes” installed on the Old Shoreham Road, after a pop-up bike lane was removed by local councillors in November 2021.
A counter-petition was created urging the council to keep the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane free – though as the Brighton Argus made clear in their questionable front pages, both petitions were the target of jokesters (though the Argus, in their haste to make the story all about a fake Hitler signature, neglected to mention in their report that 200 bogus, duplicate or triplicate names had been added to the anti-cycle lane petition).
> ‘Crass and insensitive’ front page slammed after ‘Adolf Hitler’ signs bike lane petition
In any case, the two petitions were brought in front of Brighton and Hove City Council last night. Unfortunately, despite local cyclist Darren Callow’s best efforts to convince the council that the cycle lane would leave a “positive legacy for future generations”, he was greeted with some familiar tropes from councillors opposed to the proposed scheme:
Actually got a “some of my constituents are keen cyclists” from a councillor. I had to laugh.
— Just some kid I used to know. (@Daren68) April 7, 2022
Just remembered, we were also treated to “we are not the Netherlands” did anyone else get something on their bingo cards?
— Just some kid I used to know. (@Daren68) April 7, 2022
The state of some of the responses. Apparently cycle lane users very confused when width of the lane changes? And the ‘killer’ statistic “I walked along there and counted 3 bikes”.
— Alex (@hove85) April 7, 2022
Well done Darren. You were great and I was laughing with you. Some of the falsehoods and blatant lies said tonight were very disturbing. Im disappointed the whole thing wasn’t resolved tonight & it drags onto another ETS meeting. But great job though from you and thanks so much.
— Adam Bronkhorst (@AdamBronkhorst) April 7, 2022
Both petitions for and against the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane have been referred to the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee for another round of almost certainly tedious back-and-forth.
If you don’t have much on this weekend, you can watch last night’s meeting at this link. Don’t forget to stock up on popcorn…
‘But why can’t we be like the Netherlands?’
Instead of asking who would like to travel like this, perhaps we should ask who wouldn’t? 🚲 pic.twitter.com/oOdX2fA1v0
— Dr. Natalia Barbour (@natalia_barbour) April 7, 2022
Cycling was “f*cked up”: Taylor Phinney opens up about drug abuse and the culture of silence within pro cycling
Former American pro Taylor Phinney has opened up about drug abuse and the culture of silence in the peloton in a revealing interview for the ‘Outspoken’ Thereabouts podcast.
Phinney, the son of ex-7 Eleven rider Davis Phinney and Olympic gold medallist Connie Carpenter, retired in 2019 at just 29 after nine years as a professional at BMC and EF Education First.
His stage win and stint in the pink jersey at the 2012 Giro d’Italia cemented his status as American cycling’s next big thing as it emerged blinking from the Lance Armstrong era and forced to deal with the aftershocks of the Texan’s doping confession less than nine months after Phinney’s Italian triumph.
> Giro d’Italia Stage 1: Phinney flies to time trial win, Team Sky’s Thomas second
Despite his undoubted talent Phinney generally failed up to the high expectations placed upon him after his 2012 breakthrough, which also included a career-high silver medal at the world time trial championships and fourth place in both the road race and time trial at the London Olympics, largely due to the after-effects of a career-threatening injury sustained in a crash at the 2014 US road race championships.
Never a conformist, Phinney often cut an eccentric figure in the conservative, insular world of professional cycling.
In the candid podcast interview, he revealed how his outspoken nature often got him in trouble with team management, especially when it came to doping, which Phinney says was still rampant even during what is generally perceived to be the post-EPO era.
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“There was a time when I was quite outspoken about finish bottles in races,” he said. “When I first started racing the EPO and blood doping era was seemingly past but there was still a huge amount of opiate abuse in the sport.
“I don’t know if that has completely gone away but it was pretty widespread in my first couple of years that you would smash a couple of Tramadol at the end of the race, which is basically like taking a Vicodin or two along with a bunch of caffeine and maybe some Sudafed.
“That’s a bomb right there, if I took one of those right now it would send me to the moon. I was never into that. I would get offered that, but I was like I don’t think I need an opiate painkiller today to get through this race.
“But [Tramadol abuse] was just a thing, especially in the Classics, so many of the guys were doing that. I was kind of like, ‘this is fucked up’.
“So I said some stuff about it in an interview, and then I also talked about how there was a fair amount of coincidentally timed cortisone injections being given to some people going into certain races.
“You don’t need it. If you need a cortisone injection you should be out for a while. Not like, I just got a cortisone injection and now I’m like, winning Flanders.”
.jpg)
Phinney said that he only received cortisone – the drug at the centre of Bradley Wiggins’ TUEs before the 2011 and 2012 Tours de France – after he broke his leg at the 2014 US Nationals.
“I was just flying and half of my leg didn’t work,” he said. “I was like, OK, I think I understand this now. I spoke out about that and I received quite a bit of backlash from the management.”
Phinney then talked about how the law of silence within cycling regarding doping – commonly known as the omertà – was still prevalent throughout his career and that he wrongly assumed that he would be celebrated for speaking out about some of the sport’s darker secrets.
After racing as a junior for Trek-Livestrong and then briefly as a stagiaire for Lance Armstrong’s Radioshack team, Phinney turned pro with BMC, where he was managed by Jim Ochowicz, the man in charge of Armstrong’s Motorola team in the mid-1990s. In 2017, he joined the Cannondale team owned by Jonathan Vaughters, a former teammate of the Texan known for his anti-doping stance.
He said: “I mean, of course, as an entitled young American, a confident young man, I was like of course I should be able to say whatever I want about this because in my mind this is wrong and that’s what you grow up reading about in the news. People talking about the things that are wrong and then hopefully the thing gets fixed.
“But once you’re inside of the machine and you start talking about the things that are wrong, and then those things are closely linked to where your paycheque is coming from.
“You’re in a position where people can tell you what to do and punish you for not obeying the most random rules that they can put in place at any point in time. You realise actually you’re not like Harry Potter, you’re not the hero of this story because you have to shut up.”
“I definitely struggled in my first couple of years just with feeling like I couldn’t express myself. Or that I wasn’t celebrated in the way I thought I should be for speaking out honestly about things I thought were wrong within the actual group of the peloton or management itself.
“Outside of that people were like ‘yay he’s speaking up’ against this or that. But within the group, there’s very much this ‘this is our secret, our world’.
“As the rider, because you go out to do the race, in your mind you think you are the most important person. It’s also everyone has this job to make you think you’re important. But you realize there are all these people above you holding these strings and you really have no power.
“You can’t do anything about it, they own your image rights. They own… they own you.”
British Cycling suspends transgender policy
BREAKING: British Cycling Board of Directors has voted in favour of an immediate suspension of its transgender policy.
“We understand there are concerns regarding the extent to which our current policy appropriately reflects the Sports Councils’ Equality Group guidance” pic.twitter.com/TRWSvZ29ZC
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) April 8, 2022
We will have more on this story as we get it.
BikeExchange rider crashes over barriers at Tour of the Basque Country
A scary moment here for BikeExchange’s Lucas Hamilton, who misjudged a corner at the Tour of the Basque Country and ended up flying over the barriers.
Fortunately, the Australian rider – who in the breakaway alongside Marc Soler and Carlos Rodríguez at the time of the crash – didn’t have too far to fall, though his bike ended a bit further down the ravine.
According to his DS Matt White, Hamilton – who has since abandoned the race – suffered a bloody nose and a few cuts, but doesn’t appear to have broken any bones and was speaking clearly while he was being treated in the ambulance.
A frightening one then, but as White told GCN commentator Nico Roche, “he got lucky”.
#Itzulia @lucashamilton8 was helped back over the barriers by team staff but unfortunately he has abandoned the race ❌
More info when we get it. pic.twitter.com/1Fhu30Vheu
— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) April 8, 2022
“They get on their bikes and they’re free”
Here’s an inspiring a story for a Friday afternoon.
Pedal Power Cycling Club, an joint initiative from Brain Injury Matters and cycling and walking charity Sustrans, was established in 2019 for adults with brain injuries to help their recovery and physical mobility, as well as providing a social space form them to enjoy cycling.
The club meets every Friday morning in Belfast’s CS Lewis Square, in the shadow of Harland and Wolff’s Samson and Goliath cranes, for breakfast and a cycle on specially adapted bikes and trikes to cater for those with brain injury.
48-year-old Graham Hill, a keen cyclist who discovered he had a brain tumour in 2012 which affected his ability to walk, says the club has rekindled his love of cycling.
“I had a road bike and I used to go out 50, 60, 70 miles no problem,” Graham said. “And I cycled around Lough Neagh six times.”
“It was back in 2012, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour… I spent months and months in hospital.
“I was seeing a physiotherapist there and she says: ‘Do you like cycling? Brain Injury Matters have this Pedal Power’. So I’ve been coming ever since.
“I’m not very good on my feet, and my balance is non-existent – so I can’t walk very far.
“But if I’m sitting on a bike like this, like a trike, I can go for miles.”
Dr Jonathan McCrea, head of services at Brain Injury Matters, said: “It is one of the most spine-tingling moments when you see people who have had profound life-changing injuries come here.
“They have lost their sense of self and all of sudden they leave their walking frames behind, get on the bikes and they’re free.”
Pog apologises to Van Baarle for Flanders outburst
One of the sagas of the week seems to finally have been settled – Tadej Pogačar has apologised to Ineos Grenadiers rider Dylan van Baarle for his angry outburst after the dramatic finale to last Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.
Pogačar uncharacteristically lost his cool after he was boxed in when Van Baarle and Valentin Madouas caught the 23-year-old Slovenian and Mathieu van der Poel in the final 400 metres of the Ronde, leaving the two-time Tour de France winner a disconsolate fourth.
But Van Baarle has revealed that Pog apologised a day later, in the way only a true Gen Zer can – through Instagram.
The Dutchman told Laurens Ten Dam’s Live Slow Ride Fast podcast that Pogačar reached out to him on the social media app to write: ‘Sorry, but I was frustrated and I wish you the podium’.
“He doesn’t have my number, but sent it via Instagram,” Van Baarle said. “That was really cool.”
Explaining his rival’s outburst, Van Baarle said: “He thought I had deviated from my line and locked him up on purpose,” he said. “But he was probably frustrated that he screwed up himself. I was probably the first one he met after the finish.”
And now this is finally all done and dusted, and we can all move on with our lives, let’s enjoy one last watch of a rare angry Pog moment:
Vlasov and Vingegaard go for a run as Remco takes yellow
Shades of Froome on the Ventoux here as Aleksandr Vlasov and Jonas Vingegaard resorted to running with their bikes after crashing on the slippery steep final climb to Mallabia at the Tour of the Basque Country.
Chris Froome inspired pic.twitter.com/K2Vt4AQ5r8
— Robyn (@robynjournalist) April 8, 2022
As Carlos Rodríguez held on grimly for an impressive breakaway victory, Remco Evenepoel moved into the race lead after instigating the crucial move on the day’s penultimate climb, distancing both the yellow jersey Primož Roglič (who looked lacklustre) and Adam Yates, who now sit a minute behind the young Belgian on the GC going into tomorrow’s crunch final stage.
Rodríguez’s Ineos teammate Dani Martinez, second on the day, also sits second overall, two seconds behind Evenepoel. That’s a lot of seconds…
Tell me you’re a cyclist: your submissions
Earlier today I asked you all to come up with your own examples for that ubiquitous internet challenge: ‘Tell me you’re a cyclist without telling me you’re a cyclist’.
And fair play, you came up with some great ones. Here are some of the best:
Rambling on country lanes, I have succumbed to the odd “Car down!”
When writing down directions my kids naturally write in “Audax”: R@T, L@X, 3@O, and so on.
You can tell our man VecchioJo Burt is a cyclist because he tucks his head down with his hands on the top of the steering wheel when driving downhill.
My son says ‘Allez’ a lot, has done since he was 3. He also has 4 bikes. He’s 8.
I take the dogs for a walk, and as soon as I take them off the lead, they drop me.
Always makes a head check before turning right, even if it’s only turning into an aisle at the supermarket.
Describes any other cyclist in terms of the bike they were riding (“This woman came by on a Colnago C64…”; “What, the one who was naked and throwing out free money?”; “Was she, I didn’t notice”).
Dresses in elbow-length shirts and three-quarter length trousers in summer even on the hottest days because they want to preserve the pro tan (an extreme case but I have known more than one person do it!).
I jog round the block with my daughter and find myself pointing out holes and shouting hole left or right without batting an eyelid, exactly the same as I’m on a club ride. 12-year-old daughter does it as well.
I actually do that one too while walking, performing the ‘cyclist’s point’ if there’s something unsavoury to step in ahead…
I’ve been known to wear a casquette with a small amount of luft when walking around town.
Quite normal to see me wearing a rain cape while walking about town if it’s raining.
Shaved legs in summer is normal.
And finally…
When driving not being afraid to sit behind a cyclist (not right on their wheel!) for a couple of minutes because there is nowhere safe to overtake.
Have a good weekend everyone!
8 April 2022, 08:14
New podcast alert! I'm not on this one, but it's still good I promise...
Can next month’s RideLondon-Essex sportive help make the county’s roads safer for cyclists?
We also pay tribute to Richard Moore , plus share some of our cycling confessions ... who almost crashed into Bradley Wiggins on a Paris-Roubaix recce?
8 April 2022, 08:14
Colorado drivers will have to think of another cycling bingo cliché now…
Colorado approves bill to let cyclists ride through red lights
Law aims to cut collisions by reducing number of interactions at junctions between drivers and people on bikes
8 April 2022, 08:14
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Latest Comments
The cyclist here needs to look into Section 142 of the Magistrates' Court Act 1980, firstly because there was no offence, and secondly because it appears that the police mislead the Court. "A magistrates’ court may vary or rescind a sentence or other order imposed or made by it when dealing with an offender if it appears to the court to be in the interests of justice to do so;] and it is hereby declared that this power extends to replacing a sentence or order which for any reason appears to be invalid by another which the court has power to impose or make." https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/43/section/142
I wonder how well advised the cyclist was in Court? And in this case would cycling legal insurance cover the cost of a specialist solicitor?
@quiff I would expect the police had not been trained with the change, perhaps.
@courteousdriver The Highway Code does not differentiate between cars and bikes in this instance, it says that when overtaking parked cars you must give way to oncoming traffic. It's not for you to decide whether or not they have sufficient space in your opinion, you should not drive in the oncoming traffic lane if there is any oncoming traffic, full stop. Not a difficult rule to understand and one that one would have thought a self-named courteousdriver would have no trouble obeying.
@mctrials23 It seems to me that the car moved closer to the kerb on his side of the road, and the cyclist was able to proceed entirely within his own lane - both at very slow speed. So there is no ground for an offence. The concerning point is that the copper thinks that the same "gap" should apply to the different types of vehicle. That's peak carbrain.
Peripheral to your point, but parking facing oncoming traffic is advised against at all times, but only an offence at night, I think?
@mac f 1896 If you look closely at the video you will see that the cyclist remains entirely in his own lane on his side of the white lines as he passes the oncoming vehicle, which also stays entirely within its lane. There is therefore no need for either road user to give way to the other and as they are both travelling at low speeds there is no danger to themselves or to any other road users. I would love to see a transcript of the magistrates' court proceedings as prima facie there is no justification in law for the guilty finding or for the penalty imposed.
@perce pedantry but I think Séamus Ennis would be scunnered with that ... had he not been Irish... (Uilleann pipes are bagpipes of course, though personally I'd much rather those - or small pipes - than the GHB)
@quiff I think you are probably right here - but - is that _really_ being inconsiderate to the oncoming driver? Looking again at the video, the oncoming driver appears to be over the centre line when approaching the parked vehicle and just seems to be straightening the bend a little, so you would expect them to be moving towards the kerb anyway. As driving interactions go, it's about as benign as it gets. I expect the magistrate has never ridden a bicycle, but I also wonder if they've ever driven a car?!
Thanks - I only had a quick peek on Streetview and I'm glad it works for locals, but it looked like "you say 'shared used facility', I say 'same old not-over-generous footway now with the odd blue sign". We don't need cycle paths absolutely everywhere, but looking at the size of the road, where it goes and runs though I would be thinking more like this (minus parked cars): https://maps.app.goo.gl/gswbQefKzc47nEJm8 Or... declare it an urban freeway and get rid of the junctions and houses next to it! Maximum flow...
63 thoughts on “Taylor Phinney: Cycling was “f*cked up”; Rusty Raleigh Chopper sells for £700; “We are not the Netherlands”; Cyclists are entitled…to get home alive; Tell me you’re a cyclist without telling me you’re a cyclist; Big Mamil Energy + more on the live blog”
Positive cycling story
Positive cycling story
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-60989252
“They have lost their sense of self and all of sudden they leave their walking frames behind, get on the bikes and they’re free.”
I visited the Cycling UK
I visited the Cycling UK forum for the first time in ages last night, and there’s a thread on there that Carradice has been sold to (or bought by, depending on whether you are glass half full or glass half empty) Aquapac International Ltd https://aquapac.net/(link is external)
I can’t help but think they’ll be changing their style, or else becoming a ‘luxe’ brand…
The broker’s announcement is at https://www.kbscorporate.com/kbs-corporate-completed-the-acquisition-of-carradine-of-nelson/
Re: Chopper.
Re: Chopper.
Why do they look so small nowadays. I remember it carrying five lads in one go as long as the “stoker” was the biggest one.
My mate had one of the 5
My mate had one of the 5 speed ones in purple. I thought it was very cool. But it wasn’t so good to ride. I wonder how much an original five speed would be worth now?
Only had a three speed.
Only had a three speed and had graduated from the Tomahawk. Easist bike in the world to pull a wheelie on and, as mentioned, as a friend carrier it couldn’t be beat. Our record was six:
One on the rear shelf (not present on article one),
One on seat facing backwards,
One on seat facing forwards.
One on top tube with gear stick furthest forward.
One sitting in between handlebars.
One standing on pedals turning them.
However I do think the original gear stick placement did alot to reduce child births in the following 10-20 years.
As for ride comfort, it was either use the chopper or the heaviest bike known to man or child in the Grifter. BMX’s were a legend from across an ocean at the time and racing bikes had razor blades for seats.
I taught myself to ride on a
I taught myself to ride on a Tomahawk (it seemed old and rusty then) happy memories of wobbling down the garden path and crashing into the raspberry canes because I couldn’t make a turn.
I didn’t have a Chopper – I
I didn’t have a Chopper – I had the smaller Budgie.
There was also a Chipper in
There was also a Chipper in the range as well IIRC.
I had a Chippy, then
I had a Chippy, then eventually a Chopper. I wanted one with the gear changer like one of my friends, but mine was a single speed.
I think it had a plastic panel where the shifter should be with raised square buttons like
[ R ]
[ A ]
[ L ]
[ E ]
[ I ]
[ G ]
[ H ]
We used to press those to pretend we were changing gears.
That sound like the Tomahawk
That sound like the Tomahawk as that had the panel rather then the stick and no gear changes.
Normal range changes was
Chipper
Tomahawk
Chopper (With weird advertising image from the 70’s)
“Tell me you’re a cyclist
“Tell me you’re a cyclist without telling me you’re a cyclist”
I’m totally on board with calling vests base layers – best things ever!
I also say ‘clear’ when crossing the road with my family, in fact I find myself saying ‘clear, clear’ as I check each direction…
I jog round the block with my daughter and find myself pointing out holes and shouting hole left or right without batting an eyelid, exactly the same as I’m on a club ride.. 12yr old daughter does it as well.
I’ve been known to wear a casquette with a small amount of luft when walking around town.
Quite normal to see me wearing a rain cape while walking about town if it’s raining.
Shaved legs in summer is normal..
Tell me you’re a cyclist…
Tell me you’re a cyclist… always makes a head check before turning right, even if it’s only turning into an aisle at the supermarket. Describes any other cyclist in terms of the bike they were riding (“This woman came by on a Colnago C64…” “What, the one who was naked and throwing out free money?” “Was she, I didn’t notice.”). Dresses in elbow-length shirts and three-quarter length trousers in summer even on the hottest days because they want to preserve the pro tan (an extreme case but I have known more than one person do it!).
RendelHarris wrote:
I’d thought it was just me 😉
Yep, shoulder check before
Yep, shoulder check before changing direction when walking just about anywhere.
I also now look both ways 3 times before crossing roads after having been nearly killed by a driver and now only having one kidney… feels like I have to be even more careful than I always have been.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I always remember seeing a (heavily tanned) guy on a sunlounger at the poolside in Southern France, sunbathing in bibshorts (no jersey) and socks, on his way in and out the pool area he would remove his socks from the milkiest white feet to walk through the foot bath then put them back on again.
Strangest tanlines ever
Maybe he told his other half
I take the dogs for a walk,
I take the dogs for a walk, and as soon as I take them off the lead, they drop me………
My son says Allez a lot, has
My son says Allez a lot, has done since he was 3. He also has 4 bikes. He’s 8
Good la
Good lad
Big Mamil Energy? – coming to
Big Mamil Energy? – coming to the end of a 50km commute I tagged on to the back of a decent rider in Poole, he lost me at every junction due to the brief pause in traffic. I had to work like crazy to get back on his wheel every few hundred metres, after a couple of miles he turned and asked me if I was enjoying the tow… No idea!
Ride On wrote:
Following other people is fraught with social nightmares. If you’re faster than them but not by much and overtake, you might find they were taking in the view and then blast past as they get back up to their nominal speed, or you’ve underestimated the wind and they just waft by. If you tuck in behind, you’re either getting a free tow or stalking.
If you’re a bit slower than them but think you could use some inspiration for training, so speed up for as long as you can, you look like a hopeless over-estimater of own ability. Which is shameful. Especially if they’re riding a full sus MTB in work clothes. Even more so if said work clothes are a habit and wimple.
I tend to turn off to avoid etiquette disasters / looking like a typical man.
This only happened to me once
This only happened to me once but a guy caught me just after a stop at Velolife, rode up alongside and said I’m knackered mind if I have a tow? I said sure why not? But upped my pace with a tad of BME. After 3-4 miles I was starting to blow a bit due to a mild headwind and overcooking the BME when he nipped past – said my turn – and let me hang on his wheel a for about the same distance again before peeling off. We cycled mostly in silence but pulled alongside every so often for a chat.
He had a giant tattoo of a pacman or a space invader character on the back of one calf – I can still remember it pumping up and down hypnotically as I was tucked in behind it.
Havent ever got near the Strava PR’s I set that day. On my regular loop too
Was a real sense of comeradery about the whole thing.
That the one at warren row?
That the one at warren row? Love that place! The chocolate awesome cake is indeed awesome but terrible if you have to ride after…
TheBillder wrote:
“Any good scalps on the way in?”
“None.”
“Oh, not got good legs today?”
“No I mean nun – I skinned Sister Agnes, been trying to take her for weeks.”
You can tell our man
You can tell our man VecchioJo Burt is a cyclist because he tucks his head down with his hands on the top of the steering wheel when driving downhill.
Tell me your a cyclist
Tell me your a cyclist without telling me your a cyclist:
When driving not being afraid to sit behind a cyclist (not right on their wheel!) for a couple of minutes because there is nowhere safe to overtake.
“Tell me you’re a cyclist
“Tell me you’re a cyclist without telling me you’re a cyclist”
When writing down directions my kids naturally write in “Audax”
R@T
L@X
3@O
and so on
I drive with my windows open,
I drive with my windows open, so that I can point out the potholes, to following motorists
Is “Big Mamil Energy” a meme
Is “Big Mamil Energy” a meme I missed somewhere?
Ask you kids tonight and let
Ask you kids tonight and let me know what the answer is !
I’ll add it to my list.
I’ll add it to my list.
To be honest, I’ve never even been comfortable with “meme” in the first place.
brooksby wrote:
Maybe its an energy company, with power provided by big middle aged fellas pedalling away on stationary bikes running generators.
My new band name
My new band name
This bloke actually got the
This bloke actually got the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61020319
Judge Daniel Williams said some would find the sentence “inadequate”, but he said only Parliament could change the law.
I will hapily stand corrected
I will hapily stand corrected, but I thought the maximum sentence was 14 years for a waste of space like this.
If that is correct then the 9 years and 4 months doesn’t really tie in with the line
“Judge Daniel Williams said some would find the sentence “inadequate”, but he said only Parliament could change the law”
Unless there an automatic reduction for pleading guilty, and in fairness he seems to have pleaded guilty from the outset
He did plead guilty to both
He did plead guilty to both counts and this means a reduction. Looks like 1/3 off as 9 years 4 months is 2/3 of 14 years.
hirsute wrote:
indeed, and they HAVE to apply the tariff reduction, it isn’t optional.
Did no one actually decide to
Did no one actually decide to call the Police with someone driving eratically and on the phone? Not saying it would have saved this terrible incident from happening, but there was no discussion that had happened.
The last Dashcams vid had a similar convo happening in the car with them laughing at a persons driving, they crash over a full traffic island and continues and the people in the car querying whether to call the Police.
Although with national newspapers publishing stories of snitching and Vigilantism when reporting road crime, maybe that put them off.
hirsute wrote:
Serious question about British law. In the US (with all its legal flaws I’m not defending) he’d have been charged with two counts of the equivalent of death by dangerous driving, plus another for the serious injuries. So he could be sentenced for each count separately and consecutively if convicted. Is that not a possibility in the UK? Is the maximum penalty the same whether you kill one child or a school bus full of them, as long as it’s a single incident?
I believe sentences here
I believe sentences here normally run concurrently, not sure if there are exceptions to that but probably under very particular circumstances
Sentences tend to run
Sentences tend to run concurrently here, although I have read of consecutive sentences.
On the other hand, this
On the other hand, this happened about an hour south of me when I was seventeen years old. It made national news.
27 fatalities, driver convicted of 27 counts of manslaughter, got sixteen years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrollton_bus_collision
Generally it’s kill two, get
Generally it’s kill two, get one free here.
e.g. https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/purley-driver-jailed-10-years-7001368
Very rare for sentences to run consecutively.
Even rarer to get a life ban. The only one I’ve heard of (involving a cyclist) is this one
https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/4425581.driver-who-caused-death-of-derek-witt-had-never-held-a-licence/
hirsute wrote:
He’d obviously have got a much lesser sentence if he’d killed cyclists.
Or a baby
Or a baby
He was also convicted of driving while uninsured
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-61040451
After being convicted, it emerged Davis had made 11 previous court appearances for 35 offences including driving without insurance and drink-driving.
But cyclists should have an mot, pass a test, have insurance and a number plate.
hirsute wrote:
He was also convicted of driving while uninsured
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-61040451
After being convicted, it emerged Davis had made 11 previous court appearances for 35 offences including driving without insurance and drink-driving.
— hirsuteThis case is the perfect example of why we need a wholesale change in driving laws, enforcement and attitudes. The current laws clearly didn’t prevent this [insert epithet of your choice] from continually re-offending when he should have been banned for life for his previous convictions.
Never mind, I’m sure the government’s report about a complete revision of the road laws will be published soon.
They need to urgently
They need to urgently privatise channel 4 first.
Rambling on country lanes, I
Rambling on country lanes, I have succumbed to the odd “Car down!”
IanMSpencer wrote:
In my youth I went rambling with an organised group quite often – it was common for the person at the front or rear to shout “petrol” if we were on a lane and there was a motor vehicle approaching.
‘But why can’t we be like the
‘But why can’t we be like the Netherlands?’
3rd comment in treads out all the tired old bullshit…
Taylor Phinney wrote:
…because, as everybody knows, that’s Robbie McEwen.
BME
BME
Riding from the chain ferry at Sandbanks into Purbecks when I realised I had 2 guys on my wheel, while riding into a headwind. They held my wheel for several miles until the first big hill, at this point one of them jumped off my wheel and went, his mate in doing the same said to me “you big fellas are supposed to slow down up hill”. My response was “thought you were supposed to do a turn”. He was sheepish, and didn’t dissapear, obviously guilted into giving me a tow up the last 500m or so up the hill. Saw them repeatedly on my ride that day, despite me going a longer route
Quote:
Not sure that a few seconds of mildly grumpy arm waving really qualifies as a ‘saga’.
I was being sarcastic, for
I was being sarcastic, for the record. Should have made that clearer, but I was watching the race while writing that…
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
By the way, you missed an opportunity:
You’re welcome.
Give away my cycling by my
Give away my cycling by my dislike of stairs and walking. When walking my arms tend to not really move that much and the palms face backwards with the occasional pointing to side or flick across my back.
Re Why Can’t We Be Like The
Re Why Can’t We Be Like The Netherlands – What I’ve noticed on Soshul Medja is a bizarre argument that goes “some people (infirm, carrying heavy loads, delivering to supermarkets) can’t cycle, therefore there shouldn’t be cycling infrastructure”, as if the proposal was to ban motor vehicles altogether. It’s a sort of “cycling isn’t the solution for everyone so it can’t be the solution for anyone” which I just don’t understand.
Karlt wrote:
This is a well known debating tactic to make a reasonable proposal out to be something ridiculous and radical by making it a bizarre absolute, and is beloved of anyone opposing active travel provision. If you keep an eye on the reports of the attacks on active travel provision, you’ll find this entirely invalid argument being made time and time again.
They don’t have a valid argument to make, so try to make your arguments appear illogical and stupid.
eburtthebike wrote:
This is a well known debating tactic to make a reasonable proposal out to be something ridiculous and radical by making it a bizarre absolute, and is beloved of anyone opposing active travel provision. If you keep an eye on the reports of the attacks on active travel provision, you’ll find this entirely invalid argument being made time and time again.
They don’t have a valid argument to make, so try to make your arguments appear illogical and stupid.— Karlt
Additionally, the same criticism can easily be applied to motor vehicles – not everyone is capable of driving and there’s a considerable investment needed to get a car legally on the road. I’d say that a larger percentage of the population is capable of cycling than driving (e.g. someone with epilepsy won’t be allowed to drive, but could possibly ride a bike depending on the nature of their attacks).
And in a similar vein, you
And in a similar vein, you can’t expect people to use their bike for every single activity so we shouldn’t have cycle lanes or active travel.
I’m tired of typing it is not either/ or !
They know they cannot win
They know they cannot win using reasonable argument.
As the school holidays demonstrate, reducing traffic by a few percent allows everything to flow better meaning a massive reduction in congestion. So getting a few out of their cars onto bicycles and walking, will help the recently worried about less than able and emergency services.
But of course the average motorist suddenly shows less concern for these recently worried about groups when storing their often pointlessly huge vehicles on the roads and pavements.
I actually had a trouble free
I actually had a trouble free trip to town yesterday. On the way back I realised that as the school hols had started, this was why there were much fewer vehicles on the road.
Caught me by surprise too.
Caught me by surprise too.
And that Friday seems to be the most popular working from home day as well.
Even in the before times Friday was quieter on the trains, but only in the mornings, evenings were some of the busiest, especially at the end of the month.
And Fridays were the only evening that the train would actually depart early!