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Driver charged over three incidents of cyclists rammed in road rage attacks; Councillor demands mandatory helmets and 'road tax'; Movistar pro's wounds from Vuelta barbed wire crash; Sir Chris Hoy gets a cargo bike; Paralympic gold + more on the live blog

It's Friday and it's a bank holiday weekend - what more could you want? Dan Alexander has the honour of keeping you entertained with the final live blog of the week...
27 August 2021, 15:51
As good as it gets in the UK?

Name the road, bonus points if you've been up it...may as well chuck it on the bucket list if you haven't... 

27 August 2021, 14:06
Driver charged over three incidents of cyclists rammed in road rage attacks in Adelaide
Adelaide man charged road rage ramming (screenshot 9 News)

Nine AustraliaĀ reports a man has been charged after allegedly ramming cyclists in three seperate road rage attacks in Adelaide. He is also alleged to have lied about his car being stolen.

Police say the white Ford Fairmount was travelling on Lady Gowrie Drive, North Haven at around 6.30am when the driver steered at a cyclist, knocking them to the ground. The rider suffered bruises and grazing.

A short while later a second cyclist was then forced off the road into the verge before a third cyclist was hit by the driver of the same vehicle, throwing him off theĀ significantly damaged bike.Ā Ā 

Police arrested a 25-year-old man who has since been charged with endangering life, leaving the scene of an accident, property damage and making a false report to police as investigators dispute the claim his car was stolen at the time of the offences. The suspect is due to appear in court next month.

27 August 2021, 13:38
Friday fail
27 August 2021, 13:05
Local Bike Shop Day tomorrow: support your local store
Bike shop interior (CC BY-ND 2.0 jun.skywalker:Flickr).jpg

Tomorrow is Local Bike Shop Day, an annual celebration to raise awareness of services offered by independent cycle shops across the country and the role they've played in supporting cyclists over the past 18 months.Ā 

New shop The Bicycle Rooms in Stratford upon Avon is launching this Saturday and will offer free safety inspections all day.

Elsewhere Cycle Solutions Uplands is joined by Gower Gelato, who will be handing out Gelato pots free to customers who spend in store or book their bike in for a service. G64 Cycles in Glasgow is offering 3 for 2 on bike maintenance lubricants/cleaning as well as free lights and a cable lock to any bikes sold on the day.

27 August 2021, 12:43
Cycling in Wales up 68 per cent during lockdown, new government report reveals - motor traffic levels dropped to lowest level since 90s
Gravel Fondo Cymru wales

Cycling in Wales increased by more than 68 per cent during 2020 as motorised traffic on Welsh roads fell to levels not seen since the 1990s, according to new Welsh Government research. Cyclists covered more than 320 million vehicle-kilometres (vkm) on Welsh roads last year, compared to 190m vkm the year before.

The trend follows a spike in cycling activity elsewhere in the UK during the Covid lockdown and emergence from restrictions. Interestingly the the number of vehicle-kilometres clocked up by cyclists in Great Britain in 2020 was the highest since 1962.

By contrast, car use in Wales fell by 26.3 per cent during lockdown, with motorists driving over 7.5 billion fewer vkm than in 2019. However, the volume of motorised traffic in Wales was still equivalent to 7,760km (4,823 miles) per person.

Greg Wilson of Quotezone.co.uk commented on the numbers: "Itā€™s extraordinary that lockdown saw cycling increase to levels not seen since 1962, a time when less than 40% of households owned a car."

27 August 2021, 11:26
More Paralympic success in the velodrome

Kadeena Cox followed up on yesterday's success to add the C4-5 500m time trial to ParalympicGB's medal tally in Tokyo. The 30-year-old defended her title from Rio, beating Canadian world champion Kate O'Brien's time by 0.411 seconds.

"I knew I was going to have to do something special, and that if I put everything together that me and my coach had worked on, it would be amazing," she told the BBC. "I executed a race that was near-perfect - I'm so happy."

27 August 2021, 10:41
Wout van Aert, Mark Cavendish and now world champ Julian Alaphilippe confirmed for Tour of Britain

If Wout van Aert and Mark Cavendish wasn't already enough, Deceuninck-Quick-Step have confirmed their world champion and all round entertainer Julian Alaphilippe is coming to the Tour of Britain as part of his prep for the defence of his rainbow jersey. Some of you may remember Alaphilippe won the race back in 2018, winning the stage into Bristol also.

The race will be the French darling's final outing in the rainbow jersey, but who'd bet against him defending his crown in Flanders next month? "I am really looking forward to racing the Tour of Britain, which will be my last in the rainbow jersey, that I have been so proud to wear for the last 12 months," Alaphilippe said.

"I had a successful race in Britain the last time I was there in 2018, and I know it will be a hard-fought race this time. It will be the perfect race for me to take on, ahead of the world championships. We come here with a strong team and will look to race hard, as we always do."

27 August 2021, 10:28
Road (race) rage
27 August 2021, 09:57
Ribble Cycles sponsors grassroots British CX team
Garden Shed UK - Ribble - Verge Cyclocross team (press release)

Ribble Cycles has taken on sponsorship of Garden Shed UK - Ribble - Verge Sport CX team as they look to build upon previous success in the upcoming season. Full disclosure, when I first looked at this press release I thought Ribble had sponsored an actual garden shed. Not my sharpest moment. There was me thinking Clive from Telford would be nipping out to get his lawnmower from a Ribble branded shed.Ā 

Anyway, Garden Shed UK - Ribble - Verge Sports the cyclocross team was founded in 2019 by Tom Dussek and Jenson Young to offer support and racing opportunities to U23, Junior and Youth riders. Key rider Oli Akers, winner at Koppenbergcross and Youth National Series enters his third season with the team.

27 August 2021, 09:42
"The school run is about to get a whole lot more fun": Sir Chris Hoy joins team cargo bike

Top comment from someone questioning Chris' abilities to ride a cargo bike on British roads. Yeah, the six-time Olympic champion and 11-time world champ is going to struggle...

Perhaps they were from Bath Conservatives...who on Wednesday said you can't use a cargo bike anywhere hilly, only to get shut down by a cargo bike courier who's been delivering up Bath's steep hills for years...

And while we're on the subject of Tories talking nonsense about 'steep hills', you might have seen the news this morning that a Camden cycle lane has been voted through despite a Conservative claim the three per cent incline was too severe.

27 August 2021, 09:10
"Don't try to go against a barbed wire fence": Movistar domestique Nelson Oliveira shares pictures of war wounds after crashing into a barbed wire fence during stage 12 of the Vuelta

Ouch, ouch, ouch. Poor Nelson Oliveria ended up in the barbed wire on stage 12 and finished the stage 14 minutes down on the day's winner Magnus Cort. The Portuguese rider on the Movistar team rolled across the line bloodied and with little of his team shorts left around his legs. 

The veteran campaigner reassured concerned fans on Instagram: "Don't try to go against a barbed wire net - I'm fine and nothing serious, tomorrow will be another day - thank you all for your affection"

Shades of Mitch Docker at the Tour of Flanders and Johnny Hoogerland at the Tour de France in 2011. Many other riders, including Ineos' Adam Yates and Dylan van Baarle were involved. Max Schachmann has abandoned the race and Alpecin-Fenix Grand Tour debutant Tobias Bayer didn't finish the stage.

27 August 2021, 08:57
Peloton slashes prices as gyms reopening and less need for home exercise sees sales growth slow
peloton bike plus.PNG

Home trainer makerĀ Peloton will slash the price of its flagship model in response to slow sales off the back of gyms reopening and reduced demand for home workouts. The US firm will cut the price by around 20 per cent to $1,495 from Thursday, whichĀ will apply to all its markets in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany.

More to follow shortly...

27 August 2021, 07:51
Councillor demands mandatory helmets and 'road tax'...accuses cyclists of 'splitting hairs' when educated on the fact there is no such thing

Let's start Friday with some local politics silliness. Cllr Judy Butt from Poole's hot take stemmed from the proposed Highway Code changes that will see cyclists given priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead. It will also establish a hierarchy of road users, with those with the potential to cause the most danger to others deemed to have greater responsibility.

"HELMETS MUST BE MANDATORY!!" is Judy's price for the changes and she couldn't help herself having a sly point about the "law must mirror their responsibility on the road and other tax playing (sic) motorists safety". Yes, sometimes it does seem like we play road tax when talking about cycling online.

In fairness to Cllr Butt she was happy to engage on the subject (if you can give a local politician credit for explaining controversial their opinions?) 

 And here it comes...

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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69 comments

Avatar
pockstone | 2 years ago
5 likes

If Councillor Butt thinksĀ  there is a 'price' that cyclists have to pay for their (as far as I know, already existing) protections being restated in the Highway Code, what 'price' must pedestrians pay? How will we know when they've paid it? After all, no pedestrianĀ  ever contributed a penny to the building, upkeep and policing of the road system, just like cyclists.

I think the slogan 'Butt out!' might be usefuly employed at the next round of Council elections in Poole.

Avatar
Sniffer replied to pockstone | 2 years ago
2 likes
pockstone wrote:

If Councillor Butt thinks,

Unlikely.

Avatar
brooksby | 2 years ago
6 likes

From the Grauniad:

Quote:

Toyota pauses Paralympics self-driving buses after one hits visually impaired athlete

Toyota has apologised for the ā€œoverconfidenceā€ of a self-driving bus after it ran over a Paralympic judoka in the athletesā€™ village and said it would temporarily suspend the service.

... one of the buses pulled away from a T-junction and drove through a pedestrian crossing while Kitazono, a visually impaired athlete, was walking across.

Tokyo police said that vehicle operators had told them they ā€œwere aware that a person was there but thought [the person] would [realize that a bus was coming] and stop crossing the [street]ā€, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

...which I read as their having programmed this thing to assume that pedestrians would get out of its way even if they're on a pedestrian crossing?Ā 

Avatar
Sriracha replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
1 like

There are many examples of AI being imbued with the bias and prejudice of its progenitors and mentors (it learns from its environment). I don't see why self driving vehicle algorithms would be the exception.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/02/04/the-role-of-bi...

Avatar
TheBillder replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
2 likes

As an ex-programmer, I have to say that bias and prejudice is often (usually?) outweighed by incompetence somewhere in the process from requirements gathering to implementation via development and testing.

But perhaps that's exactly why I'm ex.

Avatar
iandusud replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
2 likes

brooksby wrote:

From the Grauniad:

Quote:

Toyota pauses Paralympics self-driving buses after one hits visually impaired athlete

Toyota has apologised for the ā€œoverconfidenceā€ of a self-driving bus after it ran over a Paralympic judoka in the athletesā€™ village and said it would temporarily suspend the service.

... one of the buses pulled away from a T-junction and drove through a pedestrian crossing while Kitazono, a visually impaired athlete, was walking across.

Tokyo police said that vehicle operators had told them they ā€œwere aware that a person was there but thought [the person] would [realize that a bus was coming] and stop crossing the [street]ā€, according to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

...which I read as their having programmed this thing to assume that pedestrians would get out of its way even if they're on a pedestrian crossing?Ā 

So in otherwords programmed by a typical driver to behave like a typical driver!

Avatar
ktache replied to iandusud | 2 years ago
0 likes

But even the most incompetent of drivers will generally stop for a pedestrian on a pedestrian crossing.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to ktache | 2 years ago
1 like
ktache wrote:

But even the most incompetent of drivers will generally stop for a pedestrian on a pedestrian crossing.

šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ˜‚
Oh ktache, bless you.

Avatar
CumbrianDynamo | 2 years ago
2 likes

I would have thought if your surname was Butt you would do your best not to issue public statements that make you look like an arsehole, but the memo obviously didn't get through to the Poole councillor

Avatar
wtjs | 2 years ago
12 likes

The so-called 'changes' in the Highway Code will have no effect whatsoever on cyclists, because the police will continue to refuse to enforce them and in practice will maintain that 'I didn't see him' and 'I didn't mean to do it' are sufficient excuse for pretty much any offence against a cyclist. There is no change in regulations about 'close-passing', which means that there still aren'tĀ anyĀ regulations which the police can't thwart byĀ 'using discretion'. We're still on our own until we can claim to have been killed or seriously injured.

Avatar
brooksby | 2 years ago
1 like

I'm guessing that's an old photo illustrating LBS Day?

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mdavidford replied to brooksby | 2 years ago
0 likes

At least 5 years old, by the looks of it.

https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/how-buy-bike-9-steps-finding-your-b...

Apparently belongs to this Japanese Flickr user (and maker of cycling caps).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/enishi-kyoto/

Avatar
David Roy | 2 years ago
9 likes

More head injuries whilst driving cars, so using the councillors logic, all motorists should wear a helmet

Avatar
Hirsute replied to David Roy | 2 years ago
5 likes

Do I wear the helmet when I'm commiting a crime or if I am subject to a crime?

Asking for a friend.

Avatar
mdavidford replied to David Roy | 2 years ago
7 likes

Where is reading the Daily Mail on that chart?

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markieteeee replied to mdavidford | 2 years ago
1 like

It's more likely that reading the Daily Mail is the result of a head injury, rather than the cause of a head injury.

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Grahamd replied to markieteeee | 2 years ago
1 like
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DoomeFrog replied to David Roy | 2 years ago
8 likes

I can attest to this, I once forgot to put the bonnet stick thing up and was looking under the bonnet when it crashed down on my head.

Never happened on my bike when I have been maintaining it.

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brooksby | 2 years ago
0 likes

Memo to self: Avoid barbed wire at all costs!Ā 

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
4 likes

Stop me and buy one !

Made in Bristol !

Ā 

Avatar
Captain Badger | 2 years ago
1 like
Quote:

"Don't try to go against a barbed wire fence"....

....when death is on the line!!!

HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHA
HA......

Avatar
Llewelyn77 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Hello

Where can I get that anti helmet poster from??? It can't seem to separate it from the tweet?

I someone could link it or upload the original that would be great. Tony

Avatar
Hirsute replied to Llewelyn77 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Save Image As

Avatar
markieteeee replied to Llewelyn77 | 2 years ago
8 likes

Here

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Llewelyn77 replied to markieteeee | 2 years ago
1 like

Thankyou.

Avatar
markieteeee replied to Llewelyn77 | 2 years ago
4 likes

If you use it anywhere remember to credit the artist Dave Walker.

Avatar
TheBillder replied to markieteeee | 2 years ago
3 likes

Among the wondrous things about that image is that it's not anti helmet - it's just pro the actions that are more significant. So it manages to move the debate forward without antagonising. One of the best pieces of graphic design / communicative art that I've seen.

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
5 likes

Ribble Cycles sponsors grassroots British CX team

Ā 

Unfortunately there is a bit of a delay in getting the bikes to the team.

Avatar
PRSboy | 2 years ago
0 likes

Re the Peloton story, I see the company has been subpoenaed by the DoJ and Dept of Homeland Security reĀ deaths and injuries that have arisen in accidents involving their treadmill machines.

Avatar
Captain Badger replied to PRSboy | 2 years ago
6 likes
PRSboy wrote:

Re the Peloton story, I see the company has been subpoenaed by the DoJ and Dept of Homeland Security of deaths and injuries that have arisen from their treadmill machines.

Perhaps use of helmets needs to be mandated

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