11 things we've learned this week

1. If anyone can help in the fight to reduce cycle-related collisions, it's Chris Boardman

The British Cycling policy advisor, Manchester's cycling and walking commissioner and general top bloke Boardman says it's 'concerning' that there has been a 5 per cent annual rise in the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads. If anyone can help to lobby the government, who scrapped casualty reduction targets for road users in 2010, it's Boardman, with his wealth of knowledge, experience and common sense approach to road safety.

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2. Marco Pantani's cause of death is finally a closed case, in the eyes of the law anyway

Italy’s supreme court has put an end to the lengthy legal battle brought by Marco Pantani's parents, who insisted the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France winner was murdered in 2004. They claimed that persons unknown had forced him to take a lethal dose of cocaine, but a judge in Rimini last year ruled that his death was not due to murder but rather suicide or accidental overdose - the ruling means Pantani's family will have to shoulder the legal costs of the case. 

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3. More 'Cycle Superhighways' are on the way in the capital

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan opened a second consultation in the space of a week for a new Cycle Superhighway, the latest one providing a link from Greenwich to Tower Bridge. The planned route of Cycle Superhighway 4 (CS4) will run along Creek Road, Evelyn Street, Lower Road (which will be subject to a separate consultation next year), Jamaica Road and Tooley Street. In our book, it's another positive step towards creating some safer spaces for London's cyclists. 

Read more here p.s... did you enter our comp to win some road.cc socks? The answer was that the route proposed above formed part of the 2007 London to Canterbury Tour de France route.... who'd have thunk it!  

4. If there's still love for the LBS... 

...It's certainly not to be found in the latest sales figures released by online bike behemoths Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles, now both owned by the same company called WiggleCRC. Combined sales were £370.1 million in the 12 months ended 3 January 2017, according to their parent company’s latest accounts. 

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5. So that's what 'triple everesting' looks like... 

To celebrate his 40th birthday, a Lithuanian man climbed the equivalent elevation of Mount Everest three times over in a 48 hour period. Saulius Speičy repeatedly climbed the Three Crosses climb in Vilnus, just 200m long but including 16% ascent at its worst, approximately 483 times for a total height gain of 26,592m.

Read more here
 

6. There's something positive to be said for the wasteful/forgetful Burning Man attendees...

...as thousands of bicycles abandoned at the festival recently are being sent to hurricane victims in Texas and the Caribbean. The bikes were used to get around the sprawling community and art-focused festival in the Black Rock Desert that took place over nine days at the end of August and start of September. While one of Burning Man’s 10 guiding principles is to “leave no trace” through respect for the environment, it appears that the fact many have ignored it has had some sort of positive outcome in this case... 

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7. Brexit can lead to seriously epic rides...

Brexit, bikes, protesting... this story had it all, so said one eye-rolling road.cc commenter. Whether you agree with the apparent irony of an expat cycling 600km to Britain from France to deliver an anti-Brexit speech or not, you have to commend the effort...

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8. That's one way to claim your lane 

Brooklyn Bridge in New York is, apparently, a bit of a pain for cyclists, and this cyclist has had enough. The rider clearly concluded that a bell wasn’t sufficient and instead employed a car horn. Bicycling.com reported that the horn was produced by a Boston firm called Loud Bicycle.

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9. Beard prejudice is alive and well in cycling...

 Well at least in the UCI Professional Continental team Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise, anyway, whose sports director Walter Planckaerted says it won’t sign riders with beards: “We’re cyclists, not motocross riders or rugby players. I’ve nothing against motocross, but a rider with a beard doesn’t fit. Snot and food stay in a rider’s beard. That’s filthy.” Each to their own, Walter? 

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10. Always make the best of a seemingly hopeless situation

After John Hoopingarner of Ohio thought he'd entered a race in Birmingham, Alabama, he was at first dismayed to find out Velo Birmingham was actually in the UK: but after realising his mistake, he booked a flight and rode it anyway! "I am hoping to come back next year. I've been promised free entry so I'm tempted to take the organisers up on it", he said after finishing the ride. 

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11. ...and if his day wasn't going to be spoiled, neither was anyone else's due to some incidents of sabotage

Reports of tacks, nails and even razor blades on the roads to disrupt the ride was sad to hear, but the general consensus was that organisers worked hard to ensure dangers were cleared quickly and a hard-working team of mechanics were quick to repair anyone who punctured on route. 

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