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Unimpressed TikToker films penny-farthing rider apparently holding up bus driver...even though the lights are red; "Come on, kids, queue for your bike lane ice cream"; Hour Record reaction; Mountains! Giro queen stage; Sign banter + more on the live blog

It's Tuesday, praise the Lord, the Giro d'Italia is back...no word yet if Mathieu van der Poel survived the rest day pineapple-related assault...either way Dan Alexander is here for your live blog...
24 May 2022, 16:29
Mark Cavendish MAKES Giro d'Italia time cut

53 minutes and 11 seconds after Jan Hirt crossed the line in Aprica, so did Mark Cavendish...

He'll have another mountain day tomorrow before the final opportunity for the sprinters at this year's race in Treviso on Thursday. Arnaud Démare and Fernando Gaviria also made the cut...

Man of the match today? The lad from Lancashire...

24 May 2022, 15:46
Jan Hirt wins Giro d'Italia stage 16 — Carapaz retains GC lead by three seconds

It was a stage of last man standing: Alejandro Valverde, Hugh Carthy, Thymen Arensman and Lennard Kämna all tried their best to be the breakaway success story, but it was Czech rider Jan Hirt for Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert who was the eventual winner after nearly six hours of mountain action.

Arensman came closest, frustrated to cross the line seven seconds back. In the GC group Jai Hindley outsprinted Richard Carapaz for the four remaining bonus seconds and cuts the Ineos rider's lead to three seconds...

João Almeida battled admiarbly to limit his losses on the final climb where he was distanced early, but never gave up, holding his loss to 14 seconds. Almeida is third on GC at 44 seconds, while Mikel Landa is fifth at 59 seconds. Vincenzo Nibali lost 40 seconds, yet still rose to fifth overall due to Domenico Pozzovivo, Emanuel Buchmann and Pello Bilbao sliding backwards.

The time cut is a little over an hour. It remains to be seen if Mark Cavendish or Arnaud Démare will make stage 17...

24 May 2022, 15:20
Darth Vader dust caps?? TAKE MY MONEY
darth vader dust cap - via Brick Caps

While usually the Facebook algorithm doesn't always do its magic when road.cc ed Jack is leafing through the newsfeed (various types of ridiculous NFT, suede boots, expensive gins) sometimes you have to hand it to Mr Zuckerberg, who has nailed it with a well-placed ad for the marvellous Brick Caps. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Brick Caps (@brick.caps)

Apparently these have been around since Christmas just gone, and come in various flavours such as Lego, The Simpsons, Minecraft and a number of Marvel characters - you can also design your own. 

Prices start from £4.49 each for Batman up to £12.99 for a Snowtrooper, and you can get them to fit Schrader or Presta valves - the website is here

Oh and if you're worried about any lost watts, Brick Caps are fairly confident it'll be grand... 

brick caps sponsored fb post reply
24 May 2022, 14:13
TikTok reaction...
Penny farthing (TikTok)

Time for some of your thoughts...

In reference to my line: Maybe I'm wrong, but to me, at least, it looks more like the rider is stalling riding up to the red traffic lights so they can roll on through easily when they turn green again? 

brooksby commented: "But that's not how many motorists drive, so they can't get their head around it. Many motorists seem to be foot-to-the-floor until they have to brake hard, then foot-to-the-floor again. The idea of easing off the accelerator or lightly applying the brakes, for a smoother drive and to avoid coming to a complete stop, seems to pass them by..."

IanMK added: "Weird how the driver filming the 'slow-moving' cyclist is travelling at the same speed despite not being held up by him. How does that work?"

Anyone else?

24 May 2022, 13:26
Mortirolo mayhem

The one positive of ascending the Mortirolo's 'easy' side was that the riders just had to descend its fearful steep side...*Jaws theme*...

Unfortunately, the pressure preceded a crash by Dominico Pozzovivo in the group of GC favourites, although he was quickly up and back on his bike. Ahead, in the breakaway, Hugh Carthy clawed his way back to the front of the race. I say clawed because...well...

Others just seemed to be having a blast...

Carthy, Alejandro Valverde, Koen Bouwman, Wout Poels, Lennard Kämna, Jan Hirt and Thymen Arensman are the remaining escapees at the head of proceedings...  

24 May 2022, 13:11
"Come on, kids, queue for your bike lane ice cream"

We had Travis on the road.cc Podcast back in October to talk about cycling in London with his co-pilot Sigrid the cat...

Travis' latest video has got some traction on social media and shows Westminster Bridge's latest attraction — the queue for a 99...

"There have been, and will continue to be, accidents caused by this," he suggested.

The clip also brought the usual 'no profile picture accounts' out for a moan...

24 May 2022, 11:05
Comment of the day
24 May 2022, 10:47
£1 million target for Cure Leukaemia as The Tour 21 returns this summer
Tour 21_2021 (press release)

The Tour 21 is back this summer and will see 19 amateur riders form a team to ride the entire route of the Tour de France one week ahead of the professionals. The goal is to raise £1 million for Cure Leukaemia, the official charity partner of the Tour de France in the UK.

And once again this year NBC Sports will share a five-part documentary series on its YouTube channel, beginning on June 24. 

"It's great to once again have the support of the NBC Sports team as we head towards the final phase of training and fundraising before the event gets underway next month," commented James McLaughlin, Chief Executive of Cure Leukaemia.

"Capturing the highs, lows and emotions of the ride in this format is a brilliant way of telling the world just what the riders put themselves through in order to reach the finish line in Paris for a great cause."

24 May 2022, 10:32
Explosive start rips Giro d'Italia to shreds

Some start at the Giro...you'd think the stage was nearly finished, let alone still got 155km to go...

Wout Poels, Wilco Kelderman, Lennard Kämna, Guillaume Martin, Hugh Carthy, Lorenzo Fortunato, Koen Bouwman, Alejandro Valverde, Simon Yates, Giulio Ciccone, Davide Formolo are all in the 22-man group up the road. You know it's hard when the pace causes Mathieu van der Poel and Thomas De Gendt to sit up...

Cav was also on the move trying to build an advantage ahead of the big climbs. He's now back in the peloton and facing a long day to make the time cut in Aprica...

24 May 2022, 09:58
So how's the Giro going, Alex?

24 May 2022, 09:25
"We need less entitlement, less 'them vs us', less victim-blaming, and so much more focus on getting from A-B safely, in an environment where everybody is respected": DCS Andy Cox addresses reaction to Jeremy Vine video

Over the weekend, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox reminded motorists that they have "a responsibility to protect vulnerable road users", after footage posted by broadcaster Jeremy Vine showing a lorry close passing a police officer received a backlash from angry drivers.

> "Drivers have a responsibility to protect vulnerable road users": Hi-vis police officer close passed by lorry driver

Today, DCS Cox added to his comments, in the tweet above, summing it up nicely: "The continued unhealthy nature of replies to this reinforce the need for a substantial road danger mindset change. We need less entitlement, less 'them vs us', less victim-blaming, and so much more focus on getting from A-B safely, in an environment where everybody is respected."

24 May 2022, 09:16
Even the pros stop for a picture up here
24 May 2022, 08:59
"I gave this challenge everything I physically and mentally could": Chris Hall finishes seven Everests challenge on 56,496m

Chris Hall didn't quite reach 61,936m but 56,496m is more than we could ever do, and, in his own words, "We may not have hit the full elevation for 7 Everests but that's not really the point. Support really is everything."

"I gave this challenge everything I physically and mentally could. I’ve persisted and suffered through this week managing 56,496 meters over 92 hours of ride time. Thank you everyone for the messages and support. It really means a huge amount. If you are able, please donate to the incredible work Movember carry out in supporting mental health awareness."

The challenge wasn't without setbacks and bizarre twists...

On day two it appeared Chris' box of supplies — bottles, energy products, food — had been stolen...although it later emerged a well-meaning passer-by had stumbled across the box and taken it to the local foodbank...

"A lady from the foodbank saw the post, got in contact and turned up to bring it all back. Thank you so much to the staff and to everyone who got in contact to offer help," he wrote on Instagram during the week.

"The fact that there's some very well-intentioned, kind-hearted person in Snowdonia unintentionally scuppering cyclists' Everesting attempts at Stwlan Dam is brilliant."

24 May 2022, 08:53
Sign banter
24 May 2022, 08:46
😬
24 May 2022, 08:38
Mountains galore! Giro queen stage

5,000m of climbing...three first-category climbs, one unclassified climb of 5km at 8.7 per cent... Mortirolo (although admittedly not the infernal ascent from Mazzo), an undecided GC battle...today's going to be a huge day over in Italy...

So...how are the sprinters feeling this morning?

24 May 2022, 08:26
"Time started to tick down really really slow": Reaction to Ellen van Dijk's stunning Hour Record

Ellen van Dijk, take a bow...

The Trek-Segafredo rider smashed Joss Lowden's previous record, set at the same Swiss velodrome last September, of 48.405 kilometres, adding an extra 800m to the benchmark which now sits at 49.254 kilometres...

Afterwards, Van Dijk said she had "done exactly what we wanted to do" and suffered through the pain barrier as time seemed to stand still in the closing 15 minutes.

"In the first half-hour, I was around 18.1-18.2 [seconds per lap) and that was well under the pace I knew I needed to ride, so I thought if I don't slow down too much and don't go over [18.5] then I should have it. I don't think I was ever over 5, maybe sometimes, but I couldn’t hear everything," she said.

"If I felt great I wanted to accelerate in the second part. At 45 minutes I thought 'Okay, I need to accelerate' and I thought I was accelerating, but I was actually slowing down. Then the time started to tick down really really slow. I have to say!

"Everything became a little blurry, especially at the end, and I was not so straight anymore. I was just so happy when I heard that it was over. This was all I had for today and I am very happy I broke the record! This whole project has been so amazing for me, the whole build was such a great experience. I couldn't wish for more support from Trek, it was really, really the best I have ever had."

Compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten was one of the many pro riders to congratulate Van Dijk on her monumental achievement...

24 May 2022, 07:51
Unimpressed TikToker films penny-farthing rider apparently holding up bus driver...even though the lights are red

@1965davemac1965

No wonder buses are always late 😅

♬ original sound - Northern monkey

"No wonder buses are always late," one TikTok user joked, uploading this footage, possibly filmed from the middle seat of a van (we'd hope not from the driver's side)...strangely, there aren't any TikToks we've seen of snarled up urban high streets congested with vehicles carrying the same caption...funny that...

MyLondon shared the clip with a story headlined: 'London bus gets stuck behind man on a penny-farthing bicycle going very slowly and it's painful to watch' and explaining that "the man wobbled from side to side as he battled to control the bike moving at a snail's pace".

Did he?

Maybe I'm wrong, but to me, at least, it looks more like the rider is stalling riding up to the red traffic lights so they can roll on through easily when they turn green again? 

This possibility got a grand total of one sentence in MyLondon's reporting, while the rest talks of "the biker wobbled from left to right as he appeared to struggle to manoeuvre the high wheeler on a busy London street."

What do we reckon?

If we're talking penny-farthings we'd be remiss not to mention Jeremy Vine's high-wheeler adventures...

Perhaps most notably, it's almost two years to the day when he rode up Park Lane on a penny-farthing... and was, naturally, wrongly 'accused' of not wearing a helmet...

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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21 comments

Avatar
PennyFarthingGuy | 1 year ago
4 likes

I ride a 50" Penny-Farthing (yes even in big cities like London) and we slow-peddle as we approach red lights to avoid delaying trails motorists having to remount from a halt. It's also more dangerous mounting when traffic is zipping along next to you. And the reason the PF rider is in the center of the lane is because if he were on the margin, the trailing motorist would just race past him, braking at the light causing him to dismount. We also slow-pedal our approaches to right turns to stage the turn in relation to traffic passing in the opposite lane. There is indeed a method to our madness although it's not apparent to other road users 

Avatar
ktache | 1 year ago
0 likes

Jar jar Binks valve caps for the irony, but for some reason, some of the most expensive...

Avatar
Seagull2 | 1 year ago
3 likes

Not in relation to anything above, but a line in a newspaper report in Ireland today caught my eye , in relation to an incident last night in the south of the country -

          " The cyclist, a 19-year-old woman, was removed from the scene by ambulance to Cork University Hospital. Her condition is understood to be critical, gardaí said.

The driver of the car did not require medical treatment. " 

I wish that last line was included in every serious bike vs motor vehicle collision, in perhaps the optimistic hope that people re-reading that line many many times would realise the great disparity in the levels of vulnerability for different road-users. 

Avatar
chrisonabike | 1 year ago
0 likes

Is the ordinary the SUV of bicycles?  (Big tyres, "unnecessary", "toff associations" etc.)? Not sure if even the new ones have pneumatic tyres though...

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
3 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Is the ordinary the SUV of bicycles?  (Big tyres, "unnecessary", "toff associations" etc.)? Not sure if even the new ones have pneumatic tyres though...

Not really, as they've got less features.

If you want to compare a bike with an SUV, I'd vote for the extra fat tyred e-bikes although I think they do look cool (as opposed to SUVs).

//i0.wp.com/www.wheelieworld.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Green-Fat-Tire-Electric-Bike.jpg)

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
1 like

I vote for the abolition of me and my kind!

EDIT - I'd forgotten - the previous examples are dangerously underequipped!

https://www.recumbent.news/2010/01/07/computer-recumbent-bike-by-steve-roberts/

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
2 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

I vote for the abolition of me and my kind!

They look fun.

Go for fat tyres on them and we may have a winner

//www.motrike.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/F326-3-scaled.jpg)

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
2 likes

As you like it - go Full Fat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEYl_OdaTf4

Avatar
eburtthebike | 1 year ago
4 likes

Regarding the pineapple on a pizza story, my local pub had an Italian evening, with two choices of typical Italian food; ham and pineapple pizza and lasagne and chips.  It wasn't very busy.

Avatar
brooksby | 1 year ago
14 likes

Quote:

Maybe I'm wrong, but to me, at least, it looks more like the rider is stalling riding up to the red traffic lights so they can roll on through easily when they turn green again? 

But that's not how many motorists drive, so they can't get their head around it.  Many motorists seem to be foot-to-the-floor until they have to brake hard, then foot-to-the-floor again.  The idea of easing off the accelerator or lightly applying the brakes, for a smoother drive and to avoid coming to a complete stop, seems to pass them by... 

Avatar
IanMK replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
3 likes

Weird how the driver filming the 'slow moving' cyclist is travelling at the same speed despite not being held up by him. How does that work?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to IanMK | 1 year ago
2 likes

IanMK wrote:

Weird how the driver filming the 'slow moving' cyclist is travelling at the same speed despite not being held up by him. How does that work?

That'd be the strobe effect from the camera - it just looks like the driver's going the same speed

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism replied to IanMK | 1 year ago
3 likes

Didn't want to speed whilst filming as well. 

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Mungecrundle replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
5 likes

Should have followed Police advice to "cycle like you drive".

So, fail to look further up the road than the end of the bonnet / your mobile phone, whichever is closer.

Approach stationary queue of traffic at lights at above the posted speed limit. Extra credit for pointlessly overtaking a cyclist whilst doing so.

Apply brakes as late as possible to narrowly avoid collision.

Grumble about cyclists holding you up.

Avatar
ktache replied to Mungecrundle | 1 year ago
0 likes

And the cost of fuel...

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vthejk replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
6 likes

I say this a lot, but I feel like my driving is so different now that I more usually cycle everywhere. Anticipating hazards, foot off the gas and rolling while covering the brakes before coming to a stop, actually stopping at junctions, shoulder checks....

I mean, these are all very basic driving skills but seem to have all but disappeared from everyday driving practice for some reason.

Avatar
ktache replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
1 like

I'm guessing you really don't want to be stopping on the ordinary, looks like a fast one too, with that gearing. Long trackstand would be properly skillfull though.

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chrisonabike replied to ktache | 1 year ago
1 like

It's not quite trials yet or "do a wheelie" but:

Penny Farthing stunts

Avatar
Clem Fandango | 1 year ago
3 likes

I thought that was just Jacob Rees-Mogg out for a morning constitutional on his velocipede (my mistake - no top hat...).

The oiks on the omnibus ought to be doffing their caps in deference.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 1 year ago
6 likes

The anti-cycling media will take anything, literally anything, involving a cyclist and put a negative spin on it, including an Ordinary rider not holding up a bus.  As for the wobbling side to side and struggling to manoeuvre it, sheer imagination and malice.

They completely ignore that the video appears to have been shot by the driver on a mobile phone; illegal, dangerous and stupid, but not even mentioned.

Avatar
OnYerBike replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
0 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

They completely ignore that the video appears to have been shot by the driver on a mobile phone; illegal, dangerous and stupid, but not even mentioned.

From the very high position and flat windscreen, looks to me like the driver was filming from an HGV.

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