Welcome to Tuesday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
GB Worlds medallist breaks collarbone due to ‘punishment braking’ driver; Uber teaches users Dutch Reach; Russ Downing retires; American Flyers script on eBay; Pedersen to debut rainbow jersey; Vandals kill off another bike-share scheme +more on live blog
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Tue, Oct 01, 2019 17:03
SUMMARY
1 October 2019, 17:03
What on earth???
We spotted this on Twitter earlier, and have now found out the leg/alien in question does indeed belong to Slovenian cyclist Jani Brajkovic.
1 October 2019, 17:03
If only it looked like the opening scenes on Sunday...
Thank you @Yorkshire2019 #Yorkshire2019 pic.twitter.com/sszCF5hzbU
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 30, 2019
1 October 2019, 17:03
World TTT bronze medallist reveals she broke her collar bone swerving to avoid angry driver who 'punishment braked' on a descent
More details have emerged about the incident we reported on last week which left Lauren Dolan with a broken collarbone just two days after winning a bronze medal at the Road Cycling World Championships in Yorkshire.
Dolan, who scooped a bronze medal as part of Great Britain’s Team time trial mixed relay squad last week, has revealed that on a training riding just two days later, she ended up in hospital with a broken collarbone thanks to an assault by an impatient driver who deliberately braked in front of her and her father on a training ride in Devon.
She calls for a long overdue change to “a culture that needs addressing”, and that the shocking behaviour shown by this driver is becoming “all too familiar”.
As she says in the Instagram post above, Dolan isn’t even hopeful of getting a conviction for the dangerous driver even though he has been tracked down, because of lack of camera evidence or witnesses. We’re hoping the witness statement of her father and some common sense shown from the police will bring this criminal to justice, and Lauren is back on the road soon.
1 October 2019, 17:03
Guardians of The Stray in Harrogate claim site has been left with "atrocious damage" due to World Champs Fan Zone flooding
The rain was relentless, but could more have been done? Full story here.
1 October 2019, 17:03
Sportful's new autumn/winter clothing - First Look
Have a peruse of Peter Sagan’s kit supplier in our guide to Sportful’s latest gear.
1 October 2019, 17:03
Apparently it's #InternationalCoffeeDay
…so have a brew on us! And every other day too, because coffee.
1 October 2019, 17:03
Video of Brisbane cyclists stopped outside of bike lane sparks (unwarranted) anger online
The clip, shared on Reddit, highlighted the fact that the cyclists were not using a narrow bike path while stopped at an intersection – the video is accompanied by the caption: “Stanley St Bikeway, $100mil well spent.”
After the initial wave of hatred came a few sensible comments, with one pointing out how the cycle path is too narrow for a group of cyclists to merge into when going downhill at speed, so they took the lane as is permitted by Australian law, as is the same here in the UK.
Another said: “The bike path is great for commuters riding slowly but not a large group like that.
“Know your road, know what’s safe to do. This is the safest path to take for that group.”
1 October 2019, 17:03
More Brisbane madness: this time a driver in the bike lane, telling a cyclist to "f&*king move"
Stanley St Bikeway – cyclists please share the road from r/brisbane
Where to start?
1 October 2019, 17:03
Fancy the original screenplay of American Flyers? Yours for 300 quid!
With a Buy It Now price of just over £300, the original screenplay of this most classic of cycling movies starring Kevin Costner can be all yours, as it’s currently for sale on eBay! Here’s the description: “This is an Original Movie Script used during the making of the 1985 Movie, “American Flyers”. This script has the original, Ladd Company, production cover. It has all white pages inside and it is 125 pages long. It is an early Working Draft. This draft has some pages inside that have written notations next to the printed text. However, this handwriting inside is not done by hand it is all copied from the master script. Furthermore, this is exactly how this early draft was issued to the various Writing and Development crew members. This script is in very good overall condition.”
If you happen to make an impulse purchase (here’s the link again), do let us know and send us pics… or we’ll swap you for some irreplaceable road.cc socks perhaps? All this has reminded us, we need to update our guide to the Best Cycling Films with this classic, which you can watch on Amazon Prime or Youtube Movies for a small fee…
1 October 2019, 17:03
Support from cycling community and beyond for Lauren Dolan following assault by dangerous driver
A terrifying thing to happen & down to the blinkered selfishness of an entitled driver who decided it was his right of way as he’s in a metal box. I desperately hope there’s a way to prosecute as Devon police should fear his actions to the next innocent person
Heal fast Lauren https://t.co/Mx0529G0lh— Dame Sarah Storey (@DameSarahStorey) September 30, 2019
Heal quickly champ! https://t.co/mK9JQcB5dS
— Brian Smith (@BriSmithy) September 28, 2019
Former British road champ Brian Smith and Dame Sarah Storey were amongst those to tweet their best wishes to Dolan, with Storey saying: “A terrifying thing to happen & down to the blinkered selfishness of an entitled driver who decided it was his right of way as he’s in a metal box.”
1 October 2019, 17:03
Uber introducing new safety feature warning passengers to look out for cyclists when opening doors
Uber say they will soon be sending alerts out to passengers warning them to look out for cyclists when opening car doors in heavily trafficked areas and/or places that are popular for cycling – the reminders will also reference the “Dutch Reach technique”, i.e. opening the car door with the hand that’s furthest away from the door handle which forces the passenger to look over their shoulder.
Research carried out by the ride-sharing giants found that 16% of people have opened a car door in front of a cyclist before. Fred Jones, head of new mobility at Uber, said: “By the end of October,
more than five million alerts will have gone to Uber passengers across the UK, encouraging them to use the Dutch Reach technique.
“By cleverly combining data and education, we hope that more passengers will practise caution around cyclists, and ultimately improve the safety on our roads. Whether you’re an Uber passenger or a cyclist we want to help you get there safely.”
Duncan Dollimore of Cycling UK said: “It’s vitally important to educate anyone who uses a car to check before opening their door as every year around 60 cyclists are killed or seriously injured by car dooring incidents. It’s also one of the reasons people tell us puts them off from cycling.
“The Dutch Reach is a simple technique that few people use but could make a real difference to the number of collisions in the UK, and combined with Uber’s alert to passengers, encouraging them to look over their shoulders before opening their door, it should mean our roads are becoming safer for cyclists everywhere.”
1 October 2019, 17:03
Another hire scheme could be going under due to vandalism
Beryl, formerly makers of smart lights and now also rolling out their own hire bike schemes, have announced in an email to subscribers that they have suspended their Enfield service after just three months in operation due to reports of vandalism. A council spokesperson said: “Beryl made the commercial decision to suspend its bike-share scheme in Enfield from Monday 23rd September.
“Talks are ongoing between Enfield Council and Beryl on potential next steps. Those users with accounts for the bike share scheme should contact Beryl directly for information on refunds.
“The first months of the bike share trial in Enfield have shown a growing demand for affordable access to short bike rides. Enfield Council is keen to support affordable, accessible and active travel options across the borough and will continue to look at a number of options to work alongside its growing cycle infrastructure.”
The news comes less than a fortnight after dockless bike stations in Edinburgh closed due to ‘wanton destruction’, and in the past other UK share schemes such Mobike and ebikes Derby have either suffered or shut down due to vandals.
1 October 2019, 17:03
Mads Pedersen to debut rainbow jersey on Saturday
Mads Pedersen, the Danish Trek-Segafredo rider who was the surprise winner of the men’s elite road race at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Harrogate on Sunday, will debut the rainbow jersey in Belgium on Saturday, his team has confirmed.
World Champion @Mads__Pedersen will be showing his new @SANTINI_SMS jersey in 3 more races before he calls an end to his season:
Oct 5: Tour de l'Eurométropole (which he won last year!)
Oct 8: Tre Valli Varesine
Oct 9: Milano-Torino@harperjojophoto pic.twitter.com/1KO9Tmn0SM
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) October 1, 2019
1 October 2019, 17:03
Russ Downing retires
Russ Downing has announced his retirement from racing at the age of 41.
One of the founder members of Team Sky in 2010, he won the overall title at the Tour de Wallonie that year, and the previous season, riding for CandiTV-Marshalls Pasta, took the overall at the Tour of Ireland.
Over the past few years, alongside his brother Dean, he has been an ambassador for Yorkshire cycling, the Rotherham pair acting as ambassadors for the Yorkshire 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart as well as last week’s UCI Road Cycling World Championships.
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
Gm_Crop 28 minutes ago
I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
IanGlasgow 32 minutes ago
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Bill H 2 hours ago
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
pbunyon 2 hours ago
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
chrisonabike 3 hours ago
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
belugabob 3 hours ago
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
Astralstroll 5 hours ago
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
Mr Anderson 6 hours ago
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
MaxiMinimalist 7 hours ago
When I was a kid (that was during the previous millenium when phones were connected to a plug in the wall), I rode my bicycle to school, music academy, sport grounds, parties even during the winter. The government didn't have to spend, correct that, didn't have to think of spending massive amounts of money to build cycling specific infrastructures. Over the past 3 or 4 decades, cars have grown bigger, taller, safer (for their drivers) and faster. Meanwhile, motorists have become abusive, aggressive, hypersensitive to people moving on two wheels, aka cyclists. Spending billions upon billions on new infrastructure won't address the crux of the matter. Sadly.
24 thoughts on “GB Worlds medallist breaks collarbone due to ‘punishment braking’ driver; Uber teaches users Dutch Reach; Russ Downing retires; American Flyers script on eBay; Pedersen to debut rainbow jersey; Vandals kill off another bike-share scheme +more on live blog”
Total support for Lauren and
Total support for Lauren and best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Lauren is right, and the culture must change, but when the law makers and opinion formers either don’t care about cyclists or are hostile to them, there isn’t much chance of change. As an example of their indifference, why isn’t this story all over the media? Maybe I’ve missed it, but I’ve seen and heard nothing.
Instead of positive measures, some politicians are now proposing populist measures which won’t actually make any difference, like locking people up for longer and denying them remission, and promising to restore the cuts to the police that they themselves instituted.
Punishment braking is the
Punishment braking is the moton equivalent of “stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself!”
“What, officer? But I had to brake… It’s not my fault if the Bl00dy Cyclist (TM) was too close / too fast”
“What do you mean, but I had only just overtaken them? I had to, I mean, I’m in a car!”
“No, I deny all responsibility for their injuries. I’m a good driver, I am.”
Is that even a human leg? It
Is that even a human leg? It looks like someone shaved a chimp…!
brooksby wrote:
Looks like something out of the Alien franchise about to unfurl its wings
Unfortunately I think Lauren
Unfortunately I think Lauren calls it right when she is pessimistic about the chances of securing any kind of justice. The police only seem to act consistently and tenaciously when the cyclist involved just happens to be an off-duty officer, even when decent camera footage is available in the cases of normal folk. No footage at all means that it will just come down to her word against the driver, so the case will get filed in the “too difficult” pile.
And Lauren’s story is the
And Lauren’s story is the EXACT reason I have sold my beloved road bike and bought a gravel one, and will endeavour to find the road less taken with less car users making rides fraught with danger!
I thankfully haven’t had too many intentional incidents but I have just had so many near misses this summer with drivers taking no notice of anything smaller than a car! Too busy texting or calling or smacking the kids or f…ing about with the Spotify or whatever.
I decided it was only s matter of time after a woman in a 4×4 almost took me out properly and then tried to justify it because she had dropped her phone!!!
I don’t own a GoPro, there’s no actual point, the police won’t prosecute 99% of the time!!
Roll on some quiet bridleways
VinnyRM wrote:
I find there are very few quiet bridleways in the middle of the city…
Terrible what happened to
Terrible what happened to Lauren, but if she was with her father, isn’t the evidence of 2 witnesses enough? At least the driver has been found, which is a start…
The culture that needs to
The culture that needs to change is not to do with cycling or driving. That’s just where we experience it most. It’s a generalized culture of agreession, opposition and intolerance, of claiming personalized rights with no thought for responsibility to others either as individuals or a general societalized mass. Rage we experience on the road is merely another expression of the rage that some experience as sexism, racism, and any old you’re-in-my-place-ism.
Bmblbzzz wrote:
Nobody has any patience. I see it all the time, especially amongst motorists
zero_trooper wrote:
With four words, you get to the heart where I spent a paragraph waffling round the edges (and on further thought, sexism, racism etc are rather red herrings here, since they tend to be conscious actions or activities with reasonings and ideologies – however spurious, nevertheless conscious mental processes – behind them).
If only she was a hobbyist
If only she was a hobbyist gravel rider rather than a medal winning road cyclist.
Lauren Dolan needs to bring a
Lauren Dolan needs to bring a civil suit against the driver.
Jackson wrote:
EXACTLY!!
Get yourselves insured then you can sue.
Civil law is based on the balance of probabilities not beyond reasonable doubt as is the case with criminal law. And there’s no CPS to fuck it up or wimp out….
It’s disgusting what happened to Lauren – karma would dictate that the driver receive a punishment beating to balance the punishment beating (braking) they gave her – but that’s not how the world works, unfortunately.
It’s a good opportunity for
It’s a good opportunity for the British media to undo a smidge of bias.. I wonder if any publication will take up the story and report it correctly.
Share the story on social
Share the story on social media as much as possible. If the ‘regular’ British media won’t publish it, we can!
This is why I always ride
This is why I always ride with a camera, even if the police aren’t interested I’m sure the insurance people will be.
I rode out from Harrogate
I rode out from Harrogate yesterday morning and had two unpleasant incidents in 35 miles. The first was a delivery van that was in too much of a hurry to get past and overtook only to have to slam his brakes on, locking up his wheels, to avoid hitting an oncoming car that was in plain sight on straight stretch of road.
The second was coming to the end of Norwood Lane, turning left into Beckwithshaw. I took the lane as I didn’t someone to try and overtake me on the corner, only to get a mouthfull of abuse from the driver who clearly had wanted to do just that.
We’ve had a great week for cycling here in Harrogate but I do fear that there might be a backlash from some car drivers who feel that we’ve deprived them of their right to roads.
According to the Beeb she
According to the Beeb she “came off her bike”
:rollseyes:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-49893019
Utterly shit reporting on almost every level.
kil0ran wrote:
I don’t know why people carry on paying for the BBC when there’s so many better alternatives.
“By cleverly combining data
“By cleverly combining data and education, we hope that more passengers will practise caution around cyclists, and ultimately improve the safety on our roads. Whether you’re an Uber passenger or a cyclist we want to help you get there safely.”
Living in San Francisco we get a lot of Uber’s features early. In reality these alerts mean that we receive notifications throughout the journey, at bad times and bring focus to phone rather than surroundings to the point where they lose all value.
Pretty sure this is only to avoid liabilities at lowest cost rather than actually create a safe experience.
The examples from Brisbane is
The examples from Brisbane is par for the course in Australia. Always amuses me when one person in a car accuses a group of riders using less space than they are of “hogging the road”… if these motorists want to display their ignorance of the laws as well as their selfish entitlement, well that is their right.
Australian drivers don’t understand the difference between a bicycle lane and a bicycle path. Paint a bicycle symbol up a wall they’d expect you to ride there. But Queensland have no requirement for cyclists to use either a lane or a path, unlike other states. Brisbane, traffic always seems slow to me. If there’s a problem it’s cars obstructing cyclists and preventing them from riding faster.
Couldn’t resist…
Couldn’t resist…
So relieved that I’ll not see
So relieved that I’ll not see Valverde in the rainbow jersey again.