British sprinter accuses race organisers of “playing with our health”, as motorists make their way onto roundabouts used by peloton; Pogačar set for early Vingegaard clash?; ‘Mighty Atom’ Eileen Sheridan dies; Archibald’s golden 20 + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Potholes aplenty on Glasgow worlds course
In exactly six months’ time, Annemiek van Vleuten, Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Longo Borghini and co. will be getting ready to set off from the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, on the way to Glasgow for the final road race of Scotland’s ‘mega’ cycling world championships in August.
Worryingly, while heavy rain made several sections of the course impassable the last time the UK staged the road worlds, in Harrogate in 2019, the treacherous state of this year’s pothole-laden route – as spotted by local cyclist Liam – may prove more hazardous to the peloton than an early Van Vleuten attack:
Hello @DLappartient, Glasgow 2023 may be remembered for all the wrong reasons. With 6 months to go this is the state of the roads for the Elite Men and Women: pic.twitter.com/uoeIcV7moN
— Liam McReanan (@LiamMcReanan) February 11, 2023
— Liam McReanan (@LiamMcReanan) February 11, 2023
UK has some of the worst roads in W. Europe. The roads around Glasgow some of the worst in UK.
These roads have been like this for years, decades. Kilometre after kilometre, the whole course is like this. Very dangerous in a peloton. Is there enough time/money to fix them?
— Liam McReanan (@LiamMcReanan) February 11, 2023
We’ll have more on Scotland’s pothole worlds shortly…
Weekend roundup: 15-minute mania
From bizarre bin lorry crashes to 15-minute city meltdowns, here’s what you may have missed on road.cc over the weekend:
> GB News presenter claims 15-minute cities and LTNs are “un-British” and “illiberal”
> Tory MP attacks 15-minute city concept with known conspiracy theory
I can sense a pattern forming here…
> Pedestrian safety campaigner accuses “cycling fraternity” of “plotting” against him
> Police urge against scrapping low traffic neighbourhood, saying it reduces crime
> Cyclist’s bizarre high-speed crash into bin lorry caught on CCTV
> “Drastic slowdown” in demand sees MIPS’ net sales slump 46% in final quarter of 2022
Monday Motivation
🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/y9he4CQP9m
— Anders Mielke (@AndersMielke) February 11, 2023
Wait 'til you see the bad ones...
That’s the good ones too….
— velofellow (@VeloFellow987) February 13, 2023
Katie Archibald wins record 20th – 20th! – European track title
Hat-trick hero!
What a week for Katie Archibald, as she adds the European Madison title to the Omnium and Team Pursuit she has already won over the past two days, to cement her status as a track cycling goddess.
Did we mention that’s Katie’s 20th European title?! pic.twitter.com/44q8klR4bZ
— Scottish Cycling (@ScottishCycling) February 12, 2023
In more promising Scottish cycling-related news, yesterday Katie Archibald completed a superb hat-trick of gold medals at last week’s European track championships by clinching the Madison alongside the returning Elinor Barker – the 20th European title in the Scottish rider’s scintillating decade-long career.
The British duo’s dominant performance in the Madison, in which they finished 13 points clear of silver medallists France, came after an even more crushing display by Archibald (who also powered GB to victory in the team pursuit earlier in the week) in the omnium the previous day, winning the scratch, tempo, and elimination race, before gaining a lap in the final points race to wrap up a thoroughly convincing win.
A 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅!
🇬🇧 The greatest rider in the 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 of the European championships @_katiearchibald wins her 1️⃣9️⃣th title!🏆@britishcycling | @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/ifAQ7FwNed
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 10, 2023
Katie Archibald. Twenty European titles.
Good night 👋 #EuroTrack2023 pic.twitter.com/reIrs5XQfw
— British Cycling (@BritishCycling) February 12, 2023
The 28-year-old’s hat-trick in Grenchen, Switzerland, saw her take her tally of European titles to 20, ten years after she claimed her first gold medal in the team pursuit in Apeldoorn.
“I’ve only missed one Europeans in my career, it’s the first thing I wore a GB jersey for,” Archibald said yesterday.
“I was selected in 2013 to ride with El for the first time, and I’ve only missed once since then. which was last year. It’ll now be my tenth season of having a European jersey and I’m proud every time I get to do that.”
20th… yes, TWENTIETH European title for @_katiearchibald as her and @elinorbarker win the Madison 🤯#EuroTrack23 pic.twitter.com/9awxAdi9K1
— CERATIZIT – WNT Pro Cycling (@ceratizit_wnt) February 12, 2023
Barker, meanwhile, brought her own collection of European champion’s jerseys to ten with her wins in the team pursuit and Madison, in her first international competition since giving birth to her son, Nico, in March 2022.
“After team pursuit Katie said this is the day that we get to do the thing that we’re one of the best in the world at,” the 28-year-old Welsh rider said after claiming gold alongside Archibald.
“We don’t get to do it very often, so let’s just go and enjoy it. For me it’s my first Madison for a really long time. I used to do it all the time and maybe forgot quite how special it is, and it’s also a privilege to get to ride with somebody like Katie. What’s not to enjoy?”
Tadej Pogačar rumoured to be set for early clash with Jonas Vingegaard at Paris-Nice
Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar may be set for another interesting double this spring, with L’Équipe reporting this morning that the Slovenian may take on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche (where he will defend his title) on 4 March before heading straight up north for the following day’s opening stage of Paris-Nice.
If true, that busy week will mark Pogačar’s debut at the Race to the Sun – eschewing his habitual early season rendezvous at Tirreno-Adriatico, where he’s taken the last two editions – and will see him go head-to-head in an earlier-than-expected encounter with reigning Tour champ Jonas Vingegaard.
According to the French sports daily, the UAE Team Emirates rider’s potential change of plans stems from a desire to mix up his usual spring programme and to alleviate some of the pressure on his shoulders heading into his crunch showdown with Vingegaard in July.
Pogačar on his way to winning the 2022 Strade Bianche (Anton Vos/CorVos/SWpix.com)
Swapping Tirreno for Paris-Nice isn’t the only notable change on Pogačar’s calendar. The Slovenian is currently making his season debut at the Spanish one-day Clásica Jaén Paraíso, after deciding to skip his team’s home UAE Tour for the first time since 2019.
He will then ride the Ruta del Sol later this week before his rumoured March double-header.
“Paris-Nice is still in our thinking,” UAE Team Emirates boss Mauro Gianetti told L’Équipe. “We are in the process of evaluating the possibilities, it is not quite decided. We will already see how he is for his recovery, morally, physically.”
Come on, Pog v Jonas at Paris-Nice? Give the people what they want!
‘How about this for a new soap? Coronation Street… but in cars’
Coronation Street & Albert Square are set in 15 minute cities. Imagine trying to pitch a new show to a producer ‘it’s about a community where most of the storylines are set in the characters’ cars as they drive to the shops’
— Jo ❤️ Balham (@JoRigby_Balham) February 12, 2023
‘Sorry, no real interaction between the families other than the occasional exchange on Nextdoor about parking’
— Jo ❤️ Balham (@JoRigby_Balham) February 12, 2023
‘Before you say no, we have got an episode where the council does a consultation on reducing traffic & Sharon Davies returns (by car) to her old primary school to hold a meeting to try to stop it’
— Jo ❤️ Balham (@JoRigby_Balham) February 12, 2023
It seems as if 15-minute cities are the topic on everyone’s lips these days, and might just provide the theme for an upcoming episode of your favourite cycling-related podcast…
EastEnders would however be infinitely improved if it spent more time on Phil Mitchell being stuck going through the Blackwell tunnel or being angry he can’t get parked at the big Tesco. https://t.co/9dzJiIxlS8
— Pauly G (@canIgetaP) February 12, 2023
Good point…
Emma Pooley, Maurice Burton, Rebecca Romero, and Paul Sherwen inducted into British Cycling’s Hall of Fame
Maurice Burton, Emma Pooley, Rebecca Romero, and Paul Sherwen became the latest inductees into British Cycling’s Hall of Fame, as part of the governing body’s annual awards dinner in Manchester on Saturday night.
First launched in 2010 to mark British Cycling’s 50th anniversary, the Hall of Fame now constitutes 69 members, ranging from world champions to coaches, volunteers, organisers, and race officials.
The shortlist for 2023 was decided by a selection panel chaired by British Cyclin’s president Bob Howden and including Dame Sarah Storey, following a public nomination process (the first such process since 2016).
Maurice Burton at the Skol Six 1980.
📷 John Coles. pic.twitter.com/uJWwkKZ3t2
— cycling archives (@mission753) August 28, 2020
A six-day stalwart and leading track rider, Burton is one of British cycling’s true pioneers, battling institutional and societal racism to be now regarded as the country’s first black cycling champion. The Londoner won the national junior sprint title in 1973, before taking the amateur scratch race in 1974, the same year he represented England at the Commonwealth Games.
Frustrated by the national federation’s unwillingness to select him for the 1976 Olympics, and the racist boos that greeted him during races, Burton instead threw himself into the six-day scene in Europe, before a crash ended his career and he took over the De Ver cycle shop in Streatham in the late eighties.
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Emma Pooley celebrates her time trial rainbow jersey win in 2010
Pooley and Romero, meanwhile, were two of Britain’s leading lights as the sport boomed in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
One of the sport’s most gifted climbers and time trialists – and one of my favourite riders of all time – Pooley won the world time trial title during a sensational 2010 which saw her also win Flèche Wallonne, the Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs, the GP de Suisse, the Tour de l’Aude, the Giro del Trentino, the GP Plouay, and both the national road and TT crowns.
Pooley also twice finished second at the Giro Donne – winning four stages along the way – and took silver in the 2008 Olympics TT, as well as being a vital cog in Nicole Cooke’s road race winning GB machine in Beijing. Since retiring in 2017, the combative climber has now turned her attention to the worlds of triathlon and duathlon.
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Another skilled multi-discipliner, Romero first tasted Olympic success in 2004 in rowing, before switching to the bike, where she took the rainbow jersey in the individual and team pursuit at the 2008 worlds. Later that year in Beijing, she became the first British woman to compete and medal in two different Olympic sports, winning gold in the individual pursuit ahead of GB teammate Wendy Houvenaghel.
Finally, the late Paul Sherwen became one of the voices of cycling for many fans who came to the sport in the 1980s and 1990s, when he moved into TV commentary – alongside his long-time colleague and friend Phil Liggett – after a successful road career that saw him win multiple British national titles and race seven Tours de France. He died in 2018, aged just 62.
“There is no greater honour in British cycling than being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and as you can see from the current roll call of 69 members, induction is reserved for those who have made a marked impact on the history and growth of our sport,” British Cycling president Howden said.
“Exceptional champions and equally fierce campaigners for gender parity in the sport, I’m delighted to welcome Emma and Rebecca to the Hall of Fame, and as Britain’s first black cycling champion Maurice is one of our sport’s true pioneers, whose inspiration and legacy continues to blaze a trail for others.
“Paul’s death in 2018 left a huge hole in our sport, and he is warmly remembered by millions as the voice of the Tour de France, alongside fellow Hall of Fame inductee Phil Liggett.”
‘Just ease yourself into the season. Nothing crazy today, eh Tadej?’
As all of the cycling world knows by now, Tadej Pogačar doesn’t do things by halves.
Starting the season as he means to go – with a rampaging solo attack – at his first race of 2023, through the Strade Bianche-lite gravel of the Clásica Jaén Paraíso, the Slovenian stormed off the front with 42km to go, and has currently built a lead of almost a minute over a chasing group which includes the Ineos Grenadiers’ Ben Turner and Ben Tulett, Lotto-Dstny’s Andreas Kron, and (ominously) his UAE Team Emirates colleagues Marc Hirschi and Tim Wellens.
February 13, 16h03 – Tadej Pogačar’s first attack of 2023
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) February 13, 2023
Pogi alert! #ClasicaJaen23
— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) February 13, 2023
42k out. Pog. Race over.
— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) February 13, 2023
Nice to see Pog is taking his build-up to the Tour a little slower this year…#ClasicaJaen23🇪🇸
— Will Newton (@InsidePeloton96) February 13, 2023
Game over. Who says long-distance attacks are boring?
Legendary place-to-place record-breaker, the ‘Mighty Atom’ Eileen Sheridan, dies aged 99
Eileen Sheridan 1923 – 2023 RIP
She who held all the records. pic.twitter.com/QRSrOiF3KC— Road Records Association (@RRA_GB) February 13, 2023
Eileen Sheridan, the legendary cyclist who broke a series of place-to-place records in Britain in the 1950s, has died, just eight months shy of her 100th birthday.
Known as the ‘Mighty Atom’, due to her diminutive stature (she was only 4ft 11in tall), Sheridan established herself at the leading time triallist of her day in the UK, taking national titles at the 25, 50, and 100 miles distances, along with setting a new 12-hour record, and winning the British Best All-Rounder title twice.
In 1950, she began her new habit of breaking place-to-place records, setting a new best time for London-Birmingham before taking the London-Oxford record soon after.
Eileen Sheridan vient de décéder à l’âge de 99 ans. Star des années 1950, l’Anglaise est l’une des plus grandes championnes cyclistes de l’histoire.pic.twitter.com/BQDzZpL2Xg
— David Guénel (@davidguenel) February 13, 2023
The following year, at the age of 28, she was signed by bike manufacturer Hercules as a professional record-breaker and duly attacked – and succeeded in breaking – the 21 coveted place-to-place records. In 1954, she completed the most famous of these landmark solo trials, Land’s End to John O’Groats, on less than an hour’s sleep in two days and 11 hours.
After knocking 11 hours off Marguerite Wilson’s previous LEJOG record, she continued on to set a new 1,000 record too.
Eileen Sheridan taking a drink at speed from her husband Ken. pic.twitter.com/8iOqa7w8Hb
— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) November 28, 2022
Of the 21 records Sheridan set during that illustrious three-year spell in the 1950s, five – including London-Edinburgh – remain intact, while her 1,000 mile marker stood until 2002, when Lynne Taylor surpassed it.
Adolphe Abrahams, known as the founder of British sports medicine, described Sheridan as “a human machine of the highest grade”.
Eileen died at the weekend, aged 99. Tributes have since poured in across the cycling world for one of the sport’s true pioneers:
Sorry to hear that Eileen Sheridan has left us today, aged 99.
An incredible sporting hero and trailblazer. https://t.co/Wwv1yT9xtK
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) February 13, 2023
Eileen Sheridan RIP at 99
Link below to her explaining the intricacies of her End to End record to me whilst sat on her back door step in Isleworth.Listen to RRA in conversation with Eileen Sheridan by Road Records Associationhttps://t.co/EDGkbTgHhO
— Mr Broadwith (@24HourMaths) February 13, 2023
Very sad to hear the news about Eileen Sheridan. We occasionally spoke on the phone after I first met her for @rouleurmagazine & @thebikeshow interview. One of the undisputed greats. 99 years, what a life. My thoughts are with her nearest and dearest. pic.twitter.com/bVpLeGr5D3
— Jack Thurston (@jackthurston) February 13, 2023
Tadej Pogačar, doing Tadej Pogačar things
💚 @TamauPogi se marcha en solitario camino a Baeza.
Todavía 33 kilómetros para el final de esta #ClásicaJaén23.
¡ESPECTÁCULO!
— Clásica Jaén Paraíso Interior (@ClasicaJaen) February 13, 2023
In arguably the least surprising development of the 2023 road racing season so far, Tadej Pogačar’s long-range solo attack at today’s gravel-heavy Clásica Jaén Paraíso stuck, as the UAE Team Emirates leader cruised home for a comfortable victory on his first outing of the year.
49 seconds behind Pogačar, who has already thrown down the gauntlet for Tour de France rival Jonas Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma, the Ineos Grenadiers’ promising classics star Ben Turner outsprinted Pog’s teammate Tim Wellens for second.
Que exibição de Tadej Pogacar @TamauPogi (@TeamEmiratesUAE) na #ClasicaJaen23, atacando com mais de 40 km pro fim para vencer sua 1ª corrida da temporada, com @benjeturner (Ineos) e @Tim_Wellens (UAE) completando o pódio.
pic.twitter.com/WnyUUsgjxT— BikeBlz (@BikeBlz) February 13, 2023
And, before anyone starts worrying, the Jaén Paraíso’s organisers kept up their tradition – introduced following last year’s inaugural edition of what will surely become a February staple – of awarding the winner a giant golden olive:
Literally my face if someone ever handed me a giant olive https://t.co/DO70EOXR9U
— kate wagner (@derailleurkate) February 13, 2023
That’ll look well next to your yellow jerseys, Tadej…
Guess who’s back? Back again…
I refuse to accept that Valverde isn’t wearing full Movistar kit under his civvies, ready and raring to drop into the race at a moment’s notice.#ClasicaJaen2023🇪🇸 https://t.co/eVPqJefKlM
— Will Newton (@InsidePeloton96) February 13, 2023
Tenner says he’ll back out on the road by the end of March…
British sprinter accuses race organisers of “playing with our health”, as motorists make their way onto roundabouts used by peloton
We’re not even halfway through February and we’re already on to our third instalment – at least – of ‘sketchy sprint finishes caused by poor organisation’ (I’ll think of a catchier title this afternoon, I promise…).
Last month, you may recall, the Tour Down Under was marred by lines of parked cars dramatically reducing the width of the road in the closing kilometres of a stage, while over in Argentina, world champion Remco Evenepoel lambasted the organisers of the Vuelta a San Juan after a “hectic and dangerous” finish which forced the peloton to navigate spectators standing on central reservations and in the middle of the road.
Yesterday’s finish of the sprinter-friendly one-day race, the Clásica de Almería, proved just as sketchy, as motorists were able to make their way onto the same roundabouts used by the bunch on the finishing circuit around Roquetas de Mar – separated from the race, it seemed, by only one piece of rope and a police officer’s motorbike.
However, no such rope was available at the exit of the roundabout, potentially creating an opportunity for a rider – amidst the chaos and confusion of a sprint finish, and the intense battling for positioning within the peloton – to be spat out right in the face of oncoming traffic.
While thankfully there have been no reports that anyone was injured in the closing kilometres of the race, British sprinter Dan McLay – who recorded a DNF as Matteo Moschetti secured a surprise win for the new Q36.5 team – took to Twitter to vent his frustration at the Clásica de Almería’s organisers.
Fucking disgrace @Clasica_Almeria . If you can’t close a road properly you can’t have a race on it. Just playing with our health.
— Dan McLAY (@McLAYDan) February 12, 2023
“F***ing disgrace Clásica de Almería,” the Arkéa–Samsic rider bluntly tweeted. “If you can’t close a road properly you can’t have a race on it. Just playing with our health.”
Seems like the “lessons” Evenepoel alluded to in Argentina still haven’t been learned…
13 February 2023, 09:30
I told you we’d have more on the Scottish pothole worlds (to give it its official title)…
Cyclist raises alarm over "dangerous" potholes on 2023 World Championships road race routes
Pictures from the Scottish roads to be used for the elite men and women's road races paint a concerning picture six months out from the showpiece event
13 February 2023, 09:30
Yep, hi-vis, that’s the answer…
Police ask pedestrians to wear hi-vis following spate of road deaths in Scotland
The comments from Police Scotland after six pedestrians died in collisions in 13 days have prompted accusations of victim blaming
13 February 2023, 09:30
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Latest Comments
@mctrials23 I wasn't thinking of identifying poor driving, which is obviously tricky without supplementary evidence, but given the huge amount of incidents that involve excessive speed GPS for keeping people to the speed limit is perfectly valid; even if there were issues with identifying the exact speed at any point, if it can be measured (as you can) that somebody has gone from point A to point B, a mile apart, on a 20 mph road in two minutes instead of three then get the fine and points in the post. Remove excessive speed and you remove the cause of numerous injury and fatality incidents.
@Sheen wheels I have a version of the R8100 and you definitively need ceramic for the socket Oh no, you don't! Ceramic sockets pretty rare and, as far as I know, only with ceramic and not metal 'ball' (femoral head)
@mitsky Its another one of those things that makes no sense isn't it. Someone was saying in another thread that we need a harder driving test. I don't think we do. Everyone who has passed in the last 20 years has done a test that is more than happy to fail you for behaviour that 90% of drivers exhibit every time they get behind the wheel. The test is fine. The fact that getting your license seems to be considered some weird proof that you will continue to drive safely is the issue. The fact that when you prove that you cannot drive safely its not immediately revoked is the issue.
@Rendel Harris The issue with GPS chips, as everyone who has one of those black boxes will attest to, is that they are crap. They interpret heavy braking as poor driving rather than someone else forcing it. They see rapid acceleration where there is none. All we need is a much higher chance of people being caught and punished for their everyday shit driving. I'm sure as a cyclist that every single time you go out on your bike you will have a dozen or more times when you think "that would have been a nasty accident if someone was coming the other direction". Eventually, when bad behaviour suffers no consequences it becomes completely normalised. Then we struggle to treat it as anything but a normal, unavoidable accident when that bad behaviour does incur consequences.
Drivers regularly pull out in front of me and cause me to slam on the brakes or avoid them. Very often they have seen me and just assume I'm not going very fast or they assume I will slow down/stop (which I do). Too many drivers don't look for cyclists, hate giving way to them or expect the cyclist to be moving slowly and just pull out.
@Rendel Harris By the time someone is looking at prison time its too late. As has been proven time and time again, the severity of punishment is a poor deterrent to bad behaviour if people don't think its going to happen to them or they don't think they will be caught. Now I do think that there should be far more severe and immediate punishments for bad driving when drivers are caught but this would need to be coupled with a massive push to actually act on information/proof of bad driving. As anyone that submits footage to the police knows, its a crapshoot and certain police forces are anti-cyclist. This would try to essentially put people off misbehaving whilst driving before they cause an accident rather than getting the tired old excuse of "it was a single dangerous incident, they definitely don't do this all the time and their luck finally ran out". Perhaps it should go even further and if you have a history of speeding and you hurt someone speeding, that is looked upon in a very dim light.
Can we talk about “Washing up liquid contains a lot of salt – not a great idea to use a corrosive substance on a bicycle”? This is an urban myth. I have washed all of our many bikes using Fairy liquid or Ecover for decades. I’ve never found any evidence of corrosion, paint, laquer or decal wear, or any sign of anything. I regularly service forks and bearings, swapping a lot of gear, and everything has always been fine. Here’s far too much info below - long story short, Fairy liquid in 5L of hot water has a borderline-homeopathic amount of salt, it’s fine to use on a bike. ============ The honest answer is that neither Fairy nor Ecover publicly disclose the actual sodium chloride concentration in the consumer products I could find. The safety data sheets list hazardous ingredients above reporting thresholds, but sodium chloride is not reported for either product. However, we can put some realistic bounds on it. Fairy Original The SDS lists: Sodium laureth sulfate: 20-30% Lauramine oxide: 5-10% Alcohol: 1-5% No sodium chloride is declared. 15 In detergent formulations, sodium chloride is commonly used as a viscosity modifier (thickener) and is typically present at around 0.5-3%, sometimes lower. The absence of declaration suggests it is either not present or present at a low concentration that does not require reporting. This range is an informed formulation estimate, not a value stated by Fairy. Ecover The Ecover ingredient information lists: Sodium lauryl sulfate Lauryl glucoside Cocamidopropyl betaine Alcohol Lactic acid Sodium octyl sulphate Again, no sodium chloride is listed. Ecover's formulations tend to rely more heavily on plant-derived surfactants and may use little or no salt for thickening, but I could not find a published concentration. 63 What does this mean for bike washing? Let's assume a worst-case 3% salt content in Fairy. If you add: 10 mL Fairy to a 5-litre bucket Then salt introduced would be approximately: 10 mL × 3% ≈ 0.3 g salt Distributed through 5 L water ≈ 60 mg/L salt For comparison: Typical seawater: ~35,000 mg/L Lightly salted winter road spray: often hundreds to thousands of mg/L The wash bucket above: ~60 mg/L So even under a pessimistic assumption, the salt concentration is hundreds to thousands of times lower than the salt exposure your bike gets from winter roads. From a corrosion perspective, the quantity of salt introduced by washing-up liquid is essentially negligible compared with: Riding on salted roads Coastal spray Leaving winter grime on the bike Therefore my practical conclusion remains: ✅ Fairy or Ecover in a wash bucket is extremely unlikely to contribute any measurable corrosion risk. ✅ The important thing is rinsing and drying afterwards. ✅ Winter road salt is the real enemy, not washing-up liquid.
Another example of a driver's actions that would have been a straight fail in a driving test but is barely likely to lead to a disqualification... I'm wondering if having a driving licence is like a "Get out of jail free" card...
Yes indeed. I have a version of the R8100 and you definitively need ceramic for the socket.
@perce I'm not sure I agree with that. I think thats just confirming that he is take fully responsibility and recognises that the cyclist could have done nothing to mitigate it.
32 thoughts on “British sprinter accuses race organisers of “playing with our health”, as motorists make their way onto roundabouts used by peloton; Pogačar set for early Vingegaard clash?; ‘Mighty Atom’ Eileen Sheridan dies; Archibald’s golden 20 + more on the live blog”
Hopefully, as with Surrey
Hopefully, as with Surrey roads before the 2012 Olympics, the impending World’s will lead to the roads being resurfaced. And once again, motorists can be grateful for cycling for improving the quality of road surfaces.
Or, in other news, the Scots
Or, in other news, the Scots could employ Surrey CC’s pothole contractors, and in six months time it will be as if they had never been….
Yeah, I was thinking about
Yeah, I was thinking about full resurfacing, like Box Hill got, rather than botched patch repairs.
Indeed – but in parts that’s
Indeed – but in parts that’s beginning to crack…..
It was over a decade ago, to
It was over a decade ago, to be fair.
I’d have said the Zig-Zag
I’d have said the Zig-Zag road is in pretty-good shape – especially compared to many other roads in the area. Now the eastern end of Box Hill Road is in a poor state. And I’m not sure if the patching they did some months ago actually improved it or made it worse…
The road up Box Hills isn’t
The road up Box Hills isn’t managed by the council – it’s owned by the National Trust and they resurfaced it.
GPWM
GPWM
It doesn’t make sense to fix
It doesn’t make sense to fix them too early. Need to get the worst of winter out of the way first…
If the repairs are done
If the repairs are done properly with the right sort of equipment they can be done at any time of year.
Who does the right repairs ?
Who does the right repairs ? Don’t want Essex contractors doing it !
hirsute wrote:
Careful. If you’d replaced ‘Essex’ with ‘Irish’ you’d have been called out on it and banned by now.
But not if you’d cast doubt
But not if you’d cast doubt on the professional culture of coppers in Lancashire.
I think this is a national
I think this is a national thing now – subcontracted to the lowest bidder and a level of workmanship to match. There are (properly done) pothole repairs in my old village that are older than I am, but anything done in the last ~10 years has maybe lasted six weeks, tops.
I wonder how much cheaper the new penny-pinching, lasts-all-of-five-minutes pothole filling method is than the old “proper” way, and if it’s still cheaper when you consider that it has to be done three times a year instead of once every decade or two.
But they don’t seem to verify
But they don’t seem to verify the repair or even utility works ‘making good’ – edges are left bare and it doesn’t take long for it to go again.
I noticed some instant pot hole filler 1 km away but this time they didn’t bother making it convex. Won’t be long before buses and lorries have ripped it out.
But it would cost even more
But it would cost even more if you had to pay one of your council officers to check up on your “lowest bidder” / “developer / utility company agrees to make good” …
One of the minor, lightly
One of the minor, lightly trafficked pot holed roads I ride in Cheshire was repaired for the 2016 Tour of Britain.
It has now reverted to its former condition.
There was a guy marking
There was a guy marking potholes on the road between Kingston and Hampton Court this morning with white paint. However he’d missed about 20 of them … so many potholes everywhere, and it’s not been that bad a winter.
They only mark the ones that
They only mark the ones that need doing this week/month.
Or the budget will do X potholes this month – chose wisely.
It’s so short-sighted though
It’s so short-sighted though – fill in the hole and it’ll need redoing a few months down the line. Resurface the road and it might last a few years. Sigh.
Essex say they only have the
Essex say they only have the budget to do half the holes, but today it was reported they have magicked up an extra 9M to help.
Don’t know how this cyclist
Don’t know how this cyclist was not hit
Is this edinburgh and hence a forum member ?!
hirsute wrote:
“Ah, but that’s just filtering; perfectly reasonable. Besides, the cyclist should have been in the gutter”
BalladOfStruth wrote:
A traffic light 2 miles up the road has a right filter arrow, therefore this is only using the right hand lane to turn right. Perfectly legal.
We jest, but scrolling
We jest, but scrolling through the comments, there actually are people blaming the cyclist. Beggar’s belief.
hirsute wrote:
Well spotted – wisnae me! I’m still trying to work out how they’ve upended themselves there though. Must be the curse of Greyfriars Bobby.
Must be
aitorbk
Must be
aitorbk
I was also trying to work out
I was also trying to work out what happened – my best guess is they saw the BMW about to left-hook them and grabbed the front brake?
Proper speeding pavement
Proper speeding pavement cyclist hit by car as he crosses junction, at 1’17”.
Discuss.
Warning taxi drivers of
Warning taxi drivers of ‘sneaky’ cyclists with cameras in the headline instead of warning them not to break the law.
https://twitter.com/Naughtycabbies/status/1624813878679937024
But but the cyclist in the
But but the cyclist in the picture is going “hands free” AND on his phone. (Also no hi-vis, in the middle of the road etc.)
Sneaky.
Sneaky.
The addicts hold their phones by their groins to minimise being caught, meaning their view is further away from where they should be looking.