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Orange Bikes confirms death of Michael Bonney; Shane Sutton testimony at Freeman tribunal delayed; Suction cups aid Chris Froome recovery; Porn Pedallers in controversy with Remembrance tweet (now removed); Bikini cafe row + more on the live blog

All today's news from the site and beyond.....
UPDATED Tue, Nov 12, 2019 13:26
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Orange Bikes confirms death of Michael Bonney; Shane Sutton testimony at Freeman tribunal delayed; Suction cups aid Chris Froome recovery; Porn Pedallers in controversy with Remembrance tweet (now removed); Bikini cafe row + more on the live blogMichael Bonney.PNG
11 November 2019, 19:04
11 November 2019, 19:04
Sutton appearance at Freeman tribunal delayed

Shane Sutton, who had been expected to appear at the tribunal into Dr Richard Freeman today, is now due to give evidence tomorrow after today’s section was taken up by legal arguments.

Shane Sutton (picture source Team Sky 2013).jpg

The pair both worked at British Cycling and Team Sky at the same time, with Freeman claiming that Testogel that he ordered and which was delivered to the National Cycling Centre in Manchester was not meant for an athlete, but rather for Sutton to help him overcome an erectile dysfunction.

Sutton denies ever having heard of the product, let alone suffering from the condition, reports the Guardian.

However, separately, Mary O’Rourke QC, who is acting for Freeman, says she plans to cross-examine Sutton about an affidavit she believes he gave to the Daily Mail which she asserts is “totally inconsistent” with what he told a parliamentary committee investigating doping in sport, and which she claims is kept in a safe in the office of the newspaper’s editor.

11 November 2019, 18:08
Orange Bikes confirms death of Michael Bonney

Orange Bikes has confirmed “with great sadness” the death of Michael Bonney, its former managing director and company “lynchpin,” who was paralysed from the neck down after a crash during a sportive in 2013 and took the decision last Wednesday to refuse further medical assistance.

Bonney announced the decision to bring his life to an end in a Facebook post last Tuesday, saying it was “time to end the suffering,” with his refusal of further treatment including the ventilator he relied on to breathe being switched off.

His post was widely reported in the mainstream media, and this evening Orange Bikes said on Facebook that he passed away on Saturday.

The UK bike industry is a close-knit one and many of us at road.cc and our sister sites knew Michael. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

11 November 2019, 18:07
11 November 2019, 16:41
Children in Need Rickshaw challenge nears the end of day 4

For the eight day challenge to raise funds for Children in Need, The One Show's Matt Baker plus a six-strong team of youngsters are taking on a 400 mile route from Holyhead to London with a modified rickshaw. They've already taken on Ffordd Pen Llech in Harlech, the recently-crowed world's steepest street, and today they've arrived in Crewe. The donation link is here.  

11 November 2019, 16:41
11 November 2019, 11:43
Froome's recovery from latest op continues

Some followers/supposed medical experts of Froome's on Twitter have replied to question the use of suction cups in the photo, which is presumably an effort to promote blood flow and reduce inflammation in the areas where a metal plate was removed from the four-time Tour de France champ's leg. Rather than imparting our medical wisdom (of which we have none), we'll be seeking the opinion of an expert to ask them what they think of 'cupping' to aid recovery. 

11 November 2019, 08:59
Glasgow e-bike hires now twice as popular as regular bikes

Nextbike have reported their e-bike hires are now double that of their regular bikes in Glasgow, with each e-bike getting hired 2.8 times a day on average compared to 1.4 times a day for the regular bikes - the e-bikes were only introduced to the streets of Glasgow a month ago. Full story on eBikeTips. 

11 November 2019, 14:40
Next level banter from sexist clickbait Twitter account with bought followers

Imagine thinking it's 'queue'? 

11 November 2019, 14:55
Kendal Mountain Festival to host Rapha Road Bike session on Saturday 16th November
Lachlan Morton - Rapha Road Bike

Once again the Trek Bike Night will appear at the north's premier festival for all things outdoors - and this year there will also be the Rapha Road Bike Session for those who prefer drop bars and gravel adventures. Hosted by Harry Dowdney, guests will include Lachlan Morton, who will be telling all about his 'alternative calendar' which included taking on GB Duro, Dirty Kanza
and The Three Peaks in 2019. 

There's a whole load more going on at Kendal between 14th-17th November - much of it bike-related - so click here for tickets if you fancy heading over. 

 

11 November 2019, 14:17
Almost makes up for how freezing it is

In one of their coldest Novembers on record, at least Norwegians who are cycling through it have something to keep the worst of the ice and cold off their saddle when the bike is parked up!

11 November 2019, 13:15
Portland 'Bikini coffee shop' owners in hot water after fight with cyclists
Portland oregon - wikimedia commons

Oregon Live reports that Jon Elston and Amanda Ingles, owners of Hot Bikini Brew in Portland, got into a fight with cyclists outside his coffee shop

Lt. Tina Jones  said that Elston and Ingles were  driving south on Southeast 6th Avenue towards their shop when the incident began, with Elston yelled aggressively at a cyclist. Jones said another cyclist yelled at Elston, who then got out of his car holding a hammer and approached the cyclist. Jones said Elston dropped the hammer amid a struggle, but then allegedly punched the victim. The man’s glasses got smashed and he had a facial injury that Jones said required stitches.

Jones said other cyclists joined in the fight, and Ingles knocked a woman’s phone out of her hand. She said Elston then punched that woman and knocked her unconscious. Ingles fled the scene in her vehicle, and officers later arrested Ingles and Elston.

They were booked into jail and released the same day - Elston is charged with second-degree criminal mischief and two counts of fourth-degree assault, and Ingles faces one count of second-degree criminal mischief and one of harassment. Both don't deny there was a fight, but Ingles claimed the cyclists started the argument after one of them cut across in front of them without signalling. She also said Elston happened to be carrying a hammer because he planned to board up a broken window. 

For those not familiar, a bikini coffee shop is simply a coffee house where the servers wear bikinis (to our knowledge customers don't have to). Back in March, California-based bikini coffee shop Bottoms Up Espresso had their licence revoked after city council members decided unanimously that it was operating more like 'an adult business' than a café.

11 November 2019, 11:13
Porn Pedallers defiantly tweet further remembrance photos

It appears the group did more than most to pay their respects, although this morning Rebecca More - who appeared in the original tweet with the hashtag '#CockDestroyer', said she had nothing to do with the words that accompanied the photo. The original tweet has now been removed. 

11 November 2019, 09:03
Probably a bit inappropriate...

Remembrance Sunday is a time of quiet reflection for most of the UK, remembering the brave soldiers and servicemen/women who gave their lives in the two World Wars and later conflicts; however, not everyone is convinced the Porn Pedallers - a group of cycling enthusiasts who work in the adult industry - have managed to pay their respects appropriately in this tweet...

The photo shows Rebecca More, who tweets under the handle 'more_milf', standing next to a cenotaph in her Porn Pedallers cycling kit, which doesn't seem too untoward - but some couldn't help but question whether the hashtag #CockDestroyer was appropriate to use on a post to mark Remembrance Sunday. 

The Porn Pedallers appear to be revelling in the notoriety, retweeting most of the coverage their post has generated. Perhaps they should have sat this one out, or at least dropped that last hashtag... 

11 November 2019, 11:25
Jurassic Parcours

Jack Sexty

Arriving at road.cc in 2017 via 220 Triathlon Magazine, Jack dipped his toe in most jobs on the site and over at eBikeTips before being named the new editor of road.cc in 2020, much to his surprise. His cycling life began during his students days, when he cobbled together a few hundred quid off the back of a hard winter selling hats (long story) and bought his first road bike - a Trek 1.1 that was quickly relegated to winter steed, before it was sadly pinched a few years later. Creatively replacing it with a Trek 1.2, Jack mostly rides this bike around local cycle paths nowadays, but when he wants to get the racer out and be competitive his preferred events are time trials, sportives, triathlons and pogo sticking - the latter being another long story.  

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18 comments

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 4 years ago
2 likes

I'd sooner listen to the views of someone who fought in several WWII campaigns.

https://www.express.co.uk/videos/6094878428001/BBC-Breakfast-War-veteran...

Victor Gregg's book is also an excellent read and a proper tribute to a generation who gave so much for our country.

Avatar
brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes

Cut across in front of them without signalling = Threaten to hit with a hammer

I'm not sure that's a proportionate response...

Avatar
quiff replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
5 likes
brooksby wrote:

Cut across in front of them without signalling = Threaten to hit with a hammer

I'm not sure that's a proportionate response...

Anecdote alert. People do seem to get really incensed by this. I met a charming van driver some months ago who thought that another cyclist weaving in front of his van seemed to present some unacceptable risk to the safety of his darling daughter, but seemed to think it was perfectly ok for her to sit illegally on the bench seat beside him without a child seat, while he shouted out the window threatening to kill cyclists, and swerved into their path.     

 

Avatar
TheBillder | 4 years ago
4 likes

Perfection. Balance restored.

Avatar
TheBillder | 4 years ago
6 likes

I think we're largely in agreement on the Remembrance question. There certainly are people who misuse the symbol (across the political spectrum), and many who either conform automatically or assume that all should. They're all wrong.

[Must say I'm glad to agree with you as I usually do - tho this level of harmony isn't what the internet was invented for. Might need some sort of cute pic of a small mammal to redress the balance...]

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to TheBillder | 4 years ago
8 likes
TheBillder wrote:

I think we're largely in agreement on the Remembrance question. There certainly are people who misuse the symbol (across the political spectrum), and many who either conform automatically or assume that all should. They're all wrong. [Must say I'm glad to agree with you as I usually do - tho this level of harmony isn't what the internet was invented for. Might need some sort of cute pic of a small mammal to redress the balance...]

Will this do?

 

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
3 likes

To balance my political slur against Boris - I bet Tony Blair happily wore a poppy whilst planning the Iraq war (I still think he should be put on trial for war crimes).

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... | 4 years ago
4 likes

Regarding poppies - I have no idea.

I know two of my grandparents hated the poppy and were cynical about the whole remembrance business, because they were very bitter about losing fathers in WW1 and consequently their families being left in poverty with no support. From what I remember, they always saw the remembrance rituals as being in bad-faith - politicians pretending to care, while busily preparing for the next war - the same politicians who did nothing for them back then.

On the other hand, it's clear that many others of their generation (and later) who experienced war and its effects feel entirely differently. So I don't know either way, myself, whether to go with what my grandparents felt, or what other people's grandparents felt.

(And there seems to be a strong whiff of attention-seeking about the porn-pedallers lot...though I guess more than a few of those being commemorated would have had a fairly 'robust' attitude to sexual matters themselves)

Avatar
liam92 | 4 years ago
0 likes

I used one of the e-bikes in glasgow last night to zip along to the next train station from the one I was at which was closed. Given that it was raining and about 3 degrees, I was more than happy to pay the extra £1 to get there in half the time!

In response to the stats on how popular they are, there is only 1 or 2 max at the stations, and I would say only about a third of stations roughly have them available so its no surprise that where there is so few, that they are relatively popular compared to the regular bikes which can see piles of 20+ sitting at stations at a time. 

Avatar
TheBillder | 4 years ago
4 likes

Hawkinspeter, I think there's a big group of people who can combine poppy wearing with a hatred of war and distaste for all that Mr Johnson brings to the world.

Someone I knew, who died a couple of years ago, was never the same after navigating bombers in WW2. He was staunchly committed to peace and social justice and would have loathed where we have got to as a nation. But he took Armistice Day and the support work for those who lost more than he had extremely seriously.

Those who drag this into thoughtless pseudo-patriotism and xenophobia do us all a dis-service.

And frankly I think Porn Pedallers need to decide if they are about conquering discrimination against their industry, or becoming notorious. Either of those is fine by me, free speech etc, but they can't credibly do them both at the same time.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to TheBillder | 4 years ago
7 likes
TheBillder wrote:

Hawkinspeter, I think there's a big group of people who can combine poppy wearing with a hatred of war and distaste for all that Mr Johnson brings to the world. Someone I knew, who died a couple of years ago, was never the same after navigating bombers in WW2. He was staunchly committed to peace and social justice and would have loathed where we have got to as a nation. But he took Armistice Day and the support work for those who lost more than he had extremely seriously. Those who drag this into thoughtless pseudo-patriotism and xenophobia do us all a dis-service. And frankly I think Porn Pedallers need to decide if they are about conquering discrimination against their industry, or becoming notorious. Either of those is fine by me, free speech etc, but they can't credibly do them both at the same time.

Yes, I didn't mean to disparage poppy wearing.

My issue is with the automatic wearing of poppies without considering why they should (or should not) be worn.

Avatar
brooksby replied to hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
6 likes
hawkinspeter wrote:
TheBillder wrote:

Hawkinspeter, I think there's a big group of people who can combine poppy wearing with a hatred of war and distaste for all that Mr Johnson brings to the world. Someone I knew, who died a couple of years ago, was never the same after navigating bombers in WW2. He was staunchly committed to peace and social justice and would have loathed where we have got to as a nation. But he took Armistice Day and the support work for those who lost more than he had extremely seriously. Those who drag this into thoughtless pseudo-patriotism and xenophobia do us all a dis-service. And frankly I think Porn Pedallers need to decide if they are about conquering discrimination against their industry, or becoming notorious. Either of those is fine by me, free speech etc, but they can't credibly do them both at the same time.

Yes, I didn't mean to disparage poppy wearing.

My issue is with the automatic wearing of poppies without considering why they should (or should not) be worn.

And with those people who insist you MUST wear a poppy, or ask why you aren't wearing one.

(Answer 1: None of your business, Answer 2: I made a donation, but I don't wear any badges or symbols).

Avatar
Rick_Rude replied to TheBillder | 4 years ago
0 likes

They died so you could coom.

Even more ironic the Porn Pedallers were out in No Nut November.

Avatar
CyclingInBeastMode replied to TheBillder | 4 years ago
0 likes
TheBillder wrote:

Hawkinspeter, I think there's a big group of people who can combine poppy wearing with a hatred of war and distaste for all that Mr Johnson brings to the world. Someone I knew, who died a couple of years ago, was never the same after navigating bombers in WW2. He was staunchly committed to peace and social justice and would have loathed where we have got to as a nation. But he took Armistice Day and the support work for those who lost more than he had extremely seriously. Those who drag this into thoughtless pseudo-patriotism and xenophobia do us all a dis-service. And frankly I think Porn Pedallers need to decide if they are about conquering discrimination against their industry, or becoming notorious. Either of those is fine by me, free speech etc, but they can't credibly do them both at the same time.

People who have sacrificed their lives for FREEDOM to choose what they feel is right and DEMOCRACY of the people you mean right?

If you think that the generation that endured WWII weren't nationalistic then you have absolutely ZERO understanding of the majority of the people of that time, particularly service personnel. I've been amongst them a lot more than most so I know first hand how they have felt and are feeling about the political maters at hand.

You also fail to grasp or don't want to grasp that many are more concerned about the impact on our communities in so many different ways, the way things have gone economically that have continued to slide/get worse whilst within the common market and the imbalance in many aspects due to being a member state that have impinged negatively upon the UK, often more than most other states.

Some of us have seen the massive injustice in trade terms/conditions that has undermined and destroyed businesses in the UK, that jobs were lost on a massive scale right from the outset and on our own doorstep, the people with lived amongst, friends and families left to ruin and poverty due to these imbalances. For some towns/cities they've never recovered having the heart ripped out and 40 years on still struggling due to the after effects.

Yeah, you talk about pseudo patriotism and for sure some people are looking at the picture in the wrong way but you're so far off the mark with regards the WWII generation and so much more and that freedom, right to free speech and democracy is precisely what your elderly friend fought for!

Avatar
brooksby replied to CyclingInBeastMode | 4 years ago
3 likes
CyclingInBeastMode wrote:
TheBillder wrote:

Hawkinspeter, I think there's a big group of people who can combine poppy wearing with a hatred of war and distaste for all that Mr Johnson brings to the world. Someone I knew, who died a couple of years ago, was never the same after navigating bombers in WW2. He was staunchly committed to peace and social justice and would have loathed where we have got to as a nation. But he took Armistice Day and the support work for those who lost more than he had extremely seriously. Those who drag this into thoughtless pseudo-patriotism and xenophobia do us all a dis-service. And frankly I think Porn Pedallers need to decide if they are about conquering discrimination against their industry, or becoming notorious. Either of those is fine by me, free speech etc, but they can't credibly do them both at the same time.

People who have sacrificed their lives for FREEDOM to choose what they feel is right and DEMOCRACY of the people you mean right?

If you think that the generation that endured WWII weren't nationalistic then you have absolutely ZERO understanding of the majority of the people of that time, particularly service personnel. I've been amongst them a lot more than most so I know first hand how they have felt and are feeling about the political maters at hand.

You also fail to grasp or don't want to grasp that many are more concerned about the impact on our communities in so many different ways, the way things have gone economically that have continued to slide/get worse whilst within the common market and the imbalance in many aspects due to being a member state that have impinged negatively upon the UK, often more than most other states.

Some of us have seen the massive injustice in trade terms/conditions that has undermined and destroyed businesses in the UK, that jobs were lost on a massive scale right from the outset and on our own doorstep, the people with lived amongst, friends and families left to ruin and poverty due to these imbalances. For some towns/cities they've never recovered having the heart ripped out and 40 years on still struggling due to the after effects.

Yeah, you talk about pseudo patriotism and for sure some people are looking at the picture in the wrong way but you're so far off the mark with regards the WWII generation and so much more and that freedom, right to free speech and democracy is precisely what your elderly friend fought for!

I'm confused.  What does wearing or not wearing a poppy have to do with supporting "Austerity (TM)" and the Conservatives' gutting of British heavy industry?

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
4 likes

That hashtag made me chuckle.

I'm not a big fan of wearing poppies to show respect - I tend to believe that we should take on board the lessons of WWII and not allow demagogues to become popular and gain power.

However, it looks like a lot of people are happy to wear poppies and vote for Boris, so I must be a minority.

Avatar
brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes
Quote:

Porn Pedallers court controversy by using the hashtag ‘#CockDestroyer’

If that's the case then they probably need to adjust their saddles... 

Avatar
Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
0 likes

#Cockdestroyer. Lest we forget.

I think we'd better forget.

Time to press the reset button the world.

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