Charges dropped against driver accused of “deliberately ramming” cyclists; Extinction Rebellion targets Santos Tour Down Under; Flood causes dramatic crash; Only Connect does cycling; Designer builds world’s tallest bike + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Flood causes spectacular crash in Argentinian race
🚴 Tremendo accidente en la llegada de la Revancha de la Doble Bragado, la clásica ciclística del verano en Buenos Aires
😱 Bajo una lluvia torrencial, varios pedalistas cayeron en el sprint final
🏆 La carrera fue ganada por Agustín Martínez
📹 /valeenlozzia_03 (IG) pic.twitter.com/lyASmF7J79
— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) January 17, 2022
The Revancha de la Doble, a race held in the Argentinian city of Bragado, must have watched last year’s Paris-Roubaix or 2019’s sodden world championships in Yorkshire and thought “hold my beer”.
Because a short and sharp storm, which flooded towns and cities across the province of Buenos Aires, had an even more devastating effect on Sunday’s race, held for the first time since 2019, than the mud in the Arenberg forest or the saturated streets of Harrogate (though I was there in Harrogate that day, and I don’t think I’ve ever been completely warm since…).
Despite the commissaire’s decision to reduce the length of the race by an hour due to the harsh weather conditions, the finishing straight in Bragado remained completely flooded as the riders entered the final kilometre. In scenes reminiscent of a Cat 4 sprint finish, six riders fell in the melee and three were taken to hospital (although none were seriously injured). How the whole peloton didn’t go down, I have no idea.
Agustín Martínez, a former Argentinian U23 time trial champion, survived the chaos to triumph in the race’s fifteenth edition.
“It was an unexpected victory for me in this historic race, although it was a very unusual race with a lot of rain,” Martínez said after the race. Maybe he was just happy to still be upright after all that carnage…
Only Connect: the cycling edition
Cycling nerds the country over were shouting in unison at their television sets at around 8.20pm last night. And no, it wasn’t because the BBC aired a repeat of last year’s SPOTY…
On last night’s episode of Only Connect – the best quiz on TV, by far – viewers may have immediately recognised four famous bike brands hidden in the connecting wall. Unfortunately, the quizzers had no clue what a Cervelo was, but at least one of them did recognise Raleigh.
Anyone else shouting “bike brands!” At the TV? #OnlyConnect pic.twitter.com/Jtvj4R4R7w
— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) January 17, 2022
The question setters also included Teide (the preferred altitude haunt for the pro peloton these days), no doubt as a bonus treat for us bike geeks.
It’s not the first time that cycling has been featured in this series of Only Connect. On an earlier episode the 1999 Tour de France was provided as an example of an event with no winner (the sport’s existential questioning aside).
Here’s another one that was included this year: What comes fourth in this sequence?
2: e.g. Nicolas Frantz
3: e.g. Greg LeMond
4: Chris Froome
Answers in the comments! First to answer correctly wins a knowing nod of appreciation from me (what more could you ask for?).
Most importantly, who would have buzzed in straight after Nicolas Frantz for a five pointer?
Brooks is inviting three cyclists to ride from northern Italy to Birmingham
Ever dreamt of cycling from Italy to the West Midlands (what do you mean you haven’t)? Well, Brooks England could make all your dreams come true.
The historic saddle manufacturer is running a three-week cycling adventure in late April this year from northern Italy to the historic factory near Birmingham where the brand was founded and where each Brooks England leather saddle is still produced today.
The riders will be following a set course which is aimed at highlighting aspects central to the Brooks brand, such as the traditions of handmade craftsmanship, wanton exploration, and unwavering authenticity.
This initial trip, which is meant to be the first in a series of such journeys, will welcome three riders from around Europe, each chosen through an online application process.
To commemorate the ride, each member will receive a unique saddle stamp in recognition of their effort.
Wanna be part of Brooks’ first ‘Roots Journey’? You can apply on their website.
Bike thieves target Israel Cycling Academy
Today, 17 of our Israel Cycling Academy @FactorBikes were stolen from the team’s truck near Girona, Spain. The frames are silver, red, and black as pictured below.
Please contact us if anyone has any information 🙏 pic.twitter.com/yKqkVg5jft
— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) January 17, 2022
Israel Cycling Academy announced yesterday that 17 of the team’s Factor bikes have been stolen during the squad’s training camp in Girona.
The UCI Continental team, which features British rider Mason Hollyman, acts as a development team for the top-level Israel-Premier Tech outfit, fronted by Chris Froome, Michael Woods and Jakob Fuglsang.
Bike thefts have become a worryingly common occurrence on the professional scene in recent years, with thieves recently targeting the Italian track team at October’s world championships, while Team BikeExchange had to rely on borrowed equipment to finish the Tour de l’Ardèche in September after their bikes were stolen before stage 5.
Extinction Rebellion to target Santos Festival of Cycling
📣 BREAKING
Rebels from XRSA are today announcing they will perform road blocks to stop the Santos Festival of Cycling race and challenge the social license of festival sponsor @SantosLtd.
We are demanding that @EventsSA find a new naming rights sponsor for the #TourDownUnder. pic.twitter.com/nusyLlBKWu
— Extinction Rebellion South Australia (@XRSouthAus) January 17, 2022
The South Australia branch of Extinction Rebellion has announced that it plans to disrupt the upcoming Santos Festival of Cycling in protest against the event’s sponsor.
The group says they will put up road blocks to peacefully stop the men’s and women’s stage races, which will take place between 21 and 29 January. These races form part of the Santos Festival of Cycling, held for the second successive year in place of the elite-level Tour Down Under due to ongoing Covid restrictions.
Gas and oil producer Santos, which has sponsored the Tour Down Under since 2010, is one of Australia’s worst greenhouse gas emitting companies. Its status as the race’s naming rights sponsor has long been viewed as one of cycling’s most egregious forms of ‘greenwashing’.
Announcing their protest, Extinction Rebellion tweeted: “One of the world’s worst carbon polluters, Santos continues to pursue massive oil and gas expansion in Australia and around the globe. Their actions will drive global emissions to tipping points from which there is no return. They must be stopped.”
“We understand that people will be frustrated by this action, but we cannot continue to give Santos our social consent,” said Anna Slynn, one of the group’s leaders. “We intend to stop the race safely. We are declaring our intention today so that race organisers are prepared for when this happens.”
For a mode of transport so intrinsically associated with green living, professional cycling’s environmental track record (spoiler – it’s not great) has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.
Growing pressure has been placed on teams and races to avoid sponsors intent on ‘greenwashing’ their earth-damaging activities by associating with an environmentally friendly activity such as riding a bike.
At the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire anti-fracking campaigners protested petrochemicals giant Ineos, the sponsor of a team, lest we forget, which wore a special rainforest rescue jersey at the 2011 Tour de France. In 2012 the Australian GreenEdge team, set up with the apparent aim of promoting green travel (the clue’s in the name), also came in for a lot of flak when it incongruously accepted mining company Orica as its title sponsor.
When asked last year about the race’s relationship with Santos for a Procycling article on the sport’s environmental impact, Events South Australia executive director Hitaf Rasheed said: “While none of our sponsors have any direct involvement in the organisation or running of [the Tour Down Under], we value these partnerships as they allow the race to continue to grow and elevate the event to a world-class offering.”
Tweet of the day?
Yesterday we published a story about a particularly aggressive driver who took exception to a cyclist challenging him over his phone use behind the wheel – and then proceeded to try to ram the bike rider into oncoming traffic.
When a Twitter user defended the motorist by arguing that the cyclist “was in his blind spot”, Mat Burnham responded with this absolute cracker:
Drivers was on his fucking phone. EVERYWHERE was in his blind spot.
— Mat Burnham (@MatBurnham) January 18, 2022
Mic drop.
Custom bike designer builds world’s tallest rideable bicycle
Even Conor Dunne might struggle on a bike this big.
While the Irish ex-pro’s frames measured at a nosebleed-inducing 62cm, they pale in comparison to this 7.41 metre monster designed by renowned bike builder Adam Zdanowicz and officially designated by Guinness World Records as the world’s “tallest rideable bicycle.”
Zdanowicz, who has built bikes for celebrities such as Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, constructed his record-breaking model from 30 damaged bikes which had been donated by a local primary school as part of their ‘Rubbish for Some, Treasure for Others’ project.
Adam described riding the bike as “a challenge and a great adventure”.
Impressive, though I’m not sure how useful it would be for cyclo-cross…
Introducing the future of the school run: the bicycle bus
🚴LISTEN: Meet the #Worcestershire children dumping the school bus for pedal power! Pupils in #Evesham are powering themselves home from school in a ‘Bicycle Bus’ 🚌 🚲👏👏👏 https://t.co/yc8M0QKv9P
— BBC Hereford & Worcester (@bbchw) January 17, 2022
A community group in Evesham has embraced a green, healthy version of the school run – a ten-seater ‘bicycle bus’.
Evesham Adventure Playground Association bought the bike bus from a Dutch company, and it has been used since Christmas to transport children from three different schools to their after-school club. The passenger-powered bike, which will be used by other community organisations when needed, replaces the group’s old nine-seater minibus.
“We thought instead of using the diesel miles, let’s have a pedal mile,” the association’s Dave Bowker said.
The community group’s main aim is to help cut pollution in the town and to encourage schoolchildren to be healthy. Though don’t worry – the new mean machine features a pedal-assist battery, so little Jimmy won’t have to push MVDP-esque watts on the last hill home…
Sneaky bit of drafting there, Jakob…
“Guys, we have to hurry up a little bit” @jakob_fuglsang’s TT victory was stolen today 🤣 pic.twitter.com/uvKH1uuMVl
— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) January 17, 2022
Israel-Premier Tech are currently training in Girona, which meant a chance to test out the team’s time trial equipment for new signing Jakob Fuglsang (I can hear Carlton Kirby say “birdsong” as I type).
Unfortunately for the Danish veteran, his session was rudely interrupted by the Spanish branch of Extinction Rebellion – or should that be Extinction Re-baaaaaa-llion? (I’ll get my coat…)
Some on Twitter were quick to point out the flagrant contravention of traffic laws going on in the clip, with one user writing: “Five abreast, holding up the traffic, probably don’t even stop for red lights.”
Typical sheep, think they own the road. Bet they don’t even pay road tax…
“Stop building bike lanes – nobody uses them!”
I’m not sure who all these people were on bicycles this morning, because no-one cycles in January, in freezing temperatures. Very odd 🤔 #c9 #chiswick #cycling 🚲❄ pic.twitter.com/P9O5vQtBoq
— Stefan Velo (@velostefan) January 18, 2022
French ‘doctor’ Bernard Sainz convicted of doping offences… again
🚴♂️⚖️La sentence est tombée pour Bernard Sainz alias “Docteur Mabuse” du cyclisme. https://t.co/WCBV2uCuel
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) January 17, 2022
Bernard Sainz, the infamous self-styled ‘naturopath’ known in cycling circles as Dr Mabuse, has been sentenced to a year of house arrest after being found guilty of the illegal practice of medicine and incitement to doping.
Sainz, who will have to wear an electronic tag throughout the course of his house arrest, was convicted after an undercover investigation by France Télévisions and Le Monde showed the 78-year-old providing riders with guidance on how to dope. He has also been banned from working in medicine or sport for five years.
Despite not holding a recognised medical license, Sainz has treated bike riders and racehorses for half a century. His clients in the peloton have included Raymond Poulidor, Cyrille Guimard, Philippe Gaumont and Frank Vandenbroucke.
Sainz claims that he only gives his clients “homeopathic treatments” which have “allowed some people to recover their health on the margins of conventional medicine.”
He’s been arrested on suspicion of drug-related offences in every decade since the 1980s and has been convicted on three previous occasions for aiding doping in both cycling and horseracing. Sainz was last seen at the Tour de France in 2015, holding an official accreditation from the race organisers.
“We have known him for 30 years and he is still at large,” French Cycling Federation lawyer Paul Mauriac told L’Équipe. “The damage is done, it is irreversible. Mr Sainz is a cat that always lands on his feet, unfortunately.”
Go on Joe, you know you want to...
Looks like EF are currently shooting their new kit outside my apartment. I guess it would be bad form to leak it😜#GironaThings
— Joe Laverick (@JoeLavo) January 18, 2022
Charges dropped against driver accused of “deliberately ramming innocent cyclists”
There has been a stunning turn of events in the case of a man accused of deliberately ramming innocent cyclists off the road at North Haven – all charges against him have been dropped. 7NEWS Adelaide at 6pm | https://t.co/8ftPfGh39Y @HannahFoord7 #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/VI2skIosvM
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) January 18, 2022
Police in Adelaide have dropped all charges against a motorist accused of deliberate and “aggressive driving towards cyclists” in August last year.
The 25-year-old was arrested last year on suspicion of targeting three cyclists in separate incidents while driving a stolen car early in the morning on Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven. The driver knocked two of the cyclists off their bikes and forced another one off the road, causing minor injuries.
Cyclist Sam Beveridge captured one of the incidents on camera. He told Australian television at the time that he first witnessed the driver heading in the opposite direction on the other side of the road. According to Beveridge, the driver then performed a U-turn on the road and immediately began to drive towards him, “ramming” him from behind and throwing him off his bike.
Police are hunting a stolen car with plates XFI869 used by an ‘aggressive driver’ to target three cyclists in North Haven. The riders were knocked off their bikes or forced off Lady Gowrie Drive in separate incidents on Thursday morning. The latest in 7NEWS at 4pm and 6pm. #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/8ObNkGH2RI
— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) August 10, 2021
Beveridge subsequently handed the footage of the incident to police, who later recovered a stolen white Ford Fairmont, which matched the vehicle description given by the victims.
In Adelaide Magistrates Court today, however, prosecutors unexpectedly dropped all charges against the accused man. No explanation was offered in court.
Jooperstars
.@OutOfCycling 😘 pic.twitter.com/zWWWWXO5kP
— Toms Skujiņš (@Tomashuuns) January 16, 2022
When Trek-Segafredo’s Latvian champion, and wearer of the coolest kit in town, Toms Skujiņš posted this image of him lifting weights over the weekend, it got me thinking (naturally enough) – how would today’s gym-going generation of professional cyclists fare on a modern version of Superstars?
While Superstars may be best known these days for a certain perm-tastic footballer crashing spectacularly onto a cinder track during the bike race, cyclists themselves never really made a mark on the show.
Because, let’s face it, cyclists – remarkable physical specimens, yes, but not traditionally known for their all-round athletic ability or indeed upper-body strength – tended to perform poorly when pitted against athletes from other sports in what was essentially a televised sports day.
In 1980 Joop Zoetemelk – who would go on to win the Tour de France later that year – finished dead last in the international version of Superstars, a whopping 45 points behind British judoka and Superstars legend Brian Jacks.
The Dutchman came last in the 100m sprint, basketball competition, swimming race, obstacle course, and gym test, before – perhaps wisely – sitting out the weightlifting contest.
In the gym test, each athlete had to complete as many parallel bar dips and squat thrusts as they could in the allotted time. Jacks scored a staggeringly impressive total of 80. Poor old Joop’s score? One. Yes, that’s right. One. At least his Tour win later that summer gave him some consolation.
Fortunately for Joop, other leading lights of the 1970s peloton didn’t quite cover themselves in glory either on Superstars. In 1976 Raymond Poulidor finished bottom of his heat behind winner Bjorn Borg. Walter Godefroot and Freddy Maertens also came last when they took on the Superstars challenge.
Cyclists have fared significantly better, however, in modern iterations of the show: Chris Boardman finished second behind rugby player Austin Healey in a 2002 revamp, restoring cycling’s reputation somewhat, though Lizzie Deignan failed to lay a glove (excuse the pun) on Helen Glover in a 2012 Olympic special.
So how well do you think the more rounded pros of today such as Van der Poel, Alaphilippe and Vos would cope in a game of basketball against the likes of Rafa Nadal, Adam Peaty and Lucy Bronze?
Maybe I need to get out more…
18 January 2022, 09:54
'Do as I say, not as I do' - Doug Ford must be taking his cues from the politicians at Westminster...
Cyclists angered by Canadian politician's road safety interview...while driving through snowstorm
"We're just making sure people are safe in their cars," Ontario's head of government Doug Ford told CP24 from behind the wheel of his vehicle
18 January 2022, 09:54
There was a lot of chatter on yesterday’s live blog about Panorama’s ‘Killer Roads’ investigation, some of which we've collated together in this story. Did anyone watch it? Personally, I was too busy catching up on Junior Bake Off and Only Connect...
"The killers are the imbeciles on them": BBC under fire for 'Britain's Killer Roads?' Panorama investigation
Reaction to BBC's Panorama investigation blaming dangerous roads, reduced police numbers and inactive speed cameras for road fatalities
18 January 2022, 09:54
"We're not against the cycle lane, we just want it to be done in the right way"
Plans to segregate cycle lane shelved — to delight of residents who park in it
Homeowners appeared in a local news video asking for plans to be scrapped so they could continue to park on the A46, where there is currently an unsegregated cycle lane
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I take a different view. 'Vehicular cycling' gets you modal share of 2%, whereas proper joined-up cycle facilities can result in 30%+. Most infrastructure projects are to provide for utility cycling - short trips in town - not leisure cycling in the countryside. The original designs for Harrogate Station Gateway (funded 2019) were excellent. Since then North Yorkshire Council has (a) failed to build anything at all and (b) diluted the cycling elements of the scheme to the point that they are disappointing and do not provide a useful route.
I don't drive often, and I assumed that drivers around us were pulling out on me when I'm cycling for exactly the reasons you cite. But then I hired a car and, lo and behold, drivers still did this. It turns out it has everything to do with them being crap and aggressive, and not much to do with what it is they're pulling out in front of (except possibly lorries!).
I wonder if it's a location thing? I live in Canterbury and, apart from the odd close pass, I find the vast majority of drivers are actually very considerate. In fact it's a common occurrence for someone coming the other way to stop and pull in if we're both on a narrow lane. I do the same if there's a wide bit close to me, or someone's been stuck behind me for a little while, and I almost invariably get a 'thank you' wave or flash of the hazard lights.
On one occasion when we went to watch the Tour on a cobbled stage, one of the sponsors in the publicity caravan was a chain of retirement homes. My wife is somewhat younger than me; the lady leaning out of the open-top car took one look at us and made absolutely sure she actually passed one of the fridge magnets to her rather than throwing one on the ground as usual. We still laugh about it. Well, my wife does!
@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.
32 thoughts on “Charges dropped against driver accused of “deliberately ramming” cyclists; Extinction Rebellion targets Santos Tour Down Under; Flood causes dramatic crash; Only Connect does cycling; Designer builds world’s tallest bike + more on the live blog”
SPOILERS – I’ve not watched
SPOILERS – I’ve not watched last night’s Only Connect yet!
Sorry! I haven’t given too
Sorry! I haven’t given too much away, if that helps…
Ryan Mallon wrote:
That’s alright – I scrolled past quickly; and as long as no-one tells Mrs K I’ll be able to impress her when we watch it this evening 🙂
So presumably that Brooks
So presumably that Brooks cycling odyssey will start in Birmingham, then they’ll fly the contestants to Italy and make them ride back? 😉
brooksby wrote:
not forgetting to make them apply for a visa as if they are not UK citizens when re entering the country.
brooksby wrote:
Wasn’t there some bloke recently who did a century out of teh saddle?
I was making more reference
I was making more reference to how all those British made Brooks saddles are distributed from Italy and don’t ship to the UK cos Brexit… 😉
brooksby wrote:
So was I! Great minds etc
e.g. Indurain
e.g. Indurain
Correct! Though Victoria
Correct! Though Victoria Coren may have pressed you to include the number 5 in your answer.
Now ‘fess up – who would have buzzed in after Nicolas Frantz for a 5 pointer?
Victoria Coren Mitchell you
Victoria Coren Mitchell you mean?
I think that is a sequence
I think that is a sequence going the wrong way, my answer would be 1: eg Geraint Thomas.
That crash on the flooded
That crash on the flooded stretch of road should have been prevented by rerouting the riders. It’s lucky nobody was badly hurt.
ah…that flood reminds me of
ah…that flood reminds me of riding in Lagos, Nigeria….once on a group ride we walked through a flooded road section only for me to ‘discover’ a deep hole hidden in the water and go tumbling over….everyone ahead had missed it
What comes fourth in this
What comes fourth in this sequence?
2: e.g. Nicolas Frantz
3: e.g. Greg LeMond
4: Chris Froome
5. e.g Tadej Pogačar in 2025
If he keeps winning, 2025
If he keeps winning, 2025 would be Pog’s sixth Tour – are you backing somebody else to surprise us in the next few years? Pidcock for ’24?
Well clearly that’s exactly
Well clearly that’s exactly what I meant, the alternative would be that I can’t add up single figure numbers and that would just be silly…
LOL! Good one!
LOL! Good one!
Incidentally, cycling also
Incidentally, cycling also appeared on another recent (last week?) episode of Only Connect, when the example answer in a round two question was the 1999 Tour De France (the sequence having been something with three winners; something with two winners; something with one winner and then something with no winner).
Ryan did mention that before
Ryan did mention that before setting the TDF one.
Apols – I skimmed to avoid
Apols – I skimmed to avoid spoilers!
Evesham Adventure Playground
Evesham Adventure Playground Association actually bought more than one bike bus, as they loaned one to Bury St Edmunds Rickshaw for trials https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/bicycle-bus-trial-in-bury-st-edmunds-8593440
Awavey wrote:
Doesn’t look particularly suitable for the job – I’d stick with a trials-specific bike, or at least some sort of MTB.
Lets hope that Road Safety
Lets hope that Road Safety Expert and General Good Egg – Nick Freeman – doesn’t spy them riding “illegally” two abreast like that.
I had seen that in a twitter
I had seen that in a twitter thread linked off another story from here a few weeks ago.
I’m guessing the locomotion is only provided by the adults with the kids just having the appearance of helping. I’m also guessing that it will only be able to be used on roads due to cycling paths (even dedicated ones) having street furniture. In which case for most of the time they will be stuck in the queue breathing in fumes.
it says it has battery
it says it has battery-powered electric assist, so presumably yep doesnt have to rely on the kids pedalling, sounds quite noisy too almost milk float like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr2-_JGpGzQ
there arent many cycle paths in Bury anyway, they got a few coned off cycle lanes as part of the Covid funds, and theres a bridge over the A14, but this wouldnt fit in those so its stuck on the roads most of which are much like they look in the video in the centre. Be interesting to see if they move ahead with it.
AlsoSomniloquism wrote:
I hope so. I know from riding a tandem with my kids, a lot of my pedalling effort went on moving their legs around! Until I shouted turbo, then I got a bit of assistance for about 10 seconds.
Ha, I use ‘turbo’ when my 7
Ha, I use ‘turbo’ when my 7 year old is stoker too!
Brooks saddles not worh the
Brooks saddles not worh the effort these days.
Adelaide seems nice this time
Adelaide seems nice this time of year – I wonder what’s going on in that area….
…WTF?
I’m so pleased to see those
I’m so pleased to see those bus cyclists using helmets. Presumably they also do while on a regular bus.
Never noticed when I’ve
Never noticed when I’ve previously seen the clip in the past but where Kevin Keegan fell off is the Bracknell athletics stadium.