Is there any rubber left? The impossibly worn tyre that earned bike shop visitor a standing ovation from mechanics... after he only came in "for a tube"; Threatening call to cyclist; 5000km without a puncture; Remco, West Ham fan? + more on the live blog
It's nearly the weekend and we've got one final live blog to bring you this week. Dan Alexander will be on duty for the morning with editor Jack and others possibly getting involved this afternoon...
From impossibly worn to impossibly un-worn tyres: charity fixed gear cyclist completes 5,000km ride across Europe... and doesn't get one puncture
What's the biggest distance you reckon you've covered without getting a puncture? Even across multiple days and months we reckon 5,000km is good going, and Pietro Franzese has just managed to go that far without flatting on one epic ride from Milan's Piazza del Duomo to North Cape in Norway, according to his tyre sponsor Vittoria.
Riding a fully loaded fixie, Pietro ran 28mm Vittoria Corsa N.EXT tyres with the brand's Air-Liner Road insert for extra puncture protection. It clearly worked, as he completed his mission through eight countries to raise cash for Italian foodbanks without incident: "A winning combination for those looking for reliable and comfortable tyres" boast Vittoria, and our own Aaron Borrill agreed in his review of these tyres published a couple of weeks ago.
Not to rain on Vittoria's parade, but if Pietro's route had have taken him through a post-industrial British town after a heavy Saturday night, we're not quite so sure his tyres would have held up...
07 October 2022, 14:56
US Covid-19 jab clinic offering chance to win a bike for getting vaccinated
Not the jab the American first-time recipients hoping to win a bike will get
While most citizens of the USA who were willing and able received their first Covid-19 vaccination dose many months ago, a Niagara Falls clinic is hoping to entice the unvaccinated to come forward by offering them the chance to win bikes.
Buffalo News reports that four bikes are being given away, in adults and children's sizes, and that first, second and booster vaccinations are being administered. No news on what the bikes are... what do we reckon, Trek Madone, Specialized Tarmac, a nice bit of titanium?
07 October 2022, 14:21
Ganna's hour and the UCI gravel world champs... clear your schedules!
If you're getting big bike race cravings after the road world champs concluded last month, fear not because there's plenty going on this weekend.
I suppose the first one is more someone racing themselves but it's a race against the clock nonetheless, because Filippo Ganna is after the Hour Record that his Ineos colleague Dan Bigham broke in August. It's led to a unusual situation where Bigham, as his role as performance engineer for Ineos, has been heavily involved in helping Ganna take the record off him by imparting his expert advice to the Italian on aerodynamics and bike fit. Maybe Filippo should have a quick check his tyres before the gun goes?*
Anyway, you can catch Ganna's attempt live on YouTube for free at this link from 18.45 UK time tomorrow.
Over in Ganna's native Italy, the inaugural Gravel World Championships is being taken more seriously than we anticipated and will be live on Eurosport from 1pm-3pm for the women's race on Saturday and between 1pm-3pm on Sunday for the men's. It will be the first race back for Mathieu van der Poel after some time in Australian police custody, and from this Insta snap it seems like he's going for a road bike in the new Canyon Ultimate with some thicker tyres over something more gravelly.
Will the Dutchman prevail? He'll have names such as Peter Sagan, Nathan Haas and Greg Van Avermaet to fend off, so we're expecting some fireworks.
* Tongue very very firmly in cheek...
07 October 2022, 11:43
Hey, as long as there's rubber on those tyres I'm not going to judge
— Simon MacMichael 🏴🇮🇹🇪🇺❤️💙🚲 (@simonmacmichael) October 7, 2022
07 October 2022, 11:27
Reaction to THAT tyre
Careful! He'll have you for frivolous upselling 😜
— Tad Piesakowski #FBPE #alsoacyclist (@tadpies) October 7, 2022
Andrew Spittlehouse has "a 1983 Raleigh on its original tyres and tubes. Takes a few decades to get the rubber in perfect condition." I'm going to be having nightmares about a steep descent in the wet tonight...
brooksby reckons it's like "the tyre you'd expect to see on a 1960s shopper that you found at the back of your grandparents' shed, behind a woodpile..."
No arguments there...
07 October 2022, 11:21
Staff Bikes: Liam’s HOT PINK Kinesis 4S Disc Winter Bike
Cyclist knocked off bike by left hook van driver later receives threatening phone call
Cheers to hirsute and the people on Twitter who tagged us in this one...
Staffordshire Police declined to take action against this driver. The owner of the company then contacted the victim by telephone and threatened him. @StaffsPolice should reopen this case. Source: MonkeyShred YouTube channel. pic.twitter.com/oIHZzpzGXW
— The Department of Parks & Recreation 🦌 (@ldnparks) October 6, 2022
At least it seems Staffordshire Police have finally taken note (after much social media poking)...
The RPU have not dealt with this - we are now in contact with the rider about this
— Staffs Police Roads Policing Unit (@RoadPolicing) October 7, 2022
Which at least addresses this...(kind of)...although maybe the RPU could have a word with their non-traffic colleagues...
— The Department of Parks & Recreation 🦌 (@ldnparks) October 6, 2022
Perhaps the most unique part of this tale is the phone call from an unidentified man after the rider shared the clip on Instagram and someone tagged the company, in which he threatened the cyclist and suggested he go on a driving awareness course.
During the phone call, which is fully explained in the longer video below, the cyclist believes: "This guy clearly thought I was some young kid who needs to be taught a lesson. He constantly interrupted me, paid no attention to what I said, constantly made this loud sniffing noise down the phone and generally just seemed pretty annoyed — probing into my own driving history and trying to give life advice."
Then came the threat that "someone very close to him [the caller]" who is "ex-forces, serving police and had a serious cycling accident" is "not happy"... "so unhappy in fact, and I quote, 'just do a bit of digging, mate, because I'm not saying this threatening [ly], you're making a rod for your own back [...] you're putting a mark on yourself'."
Charming. Let's hope Staffordshire Police get to the bottom of this...
07 October 2022, 09:40
Vincenzo Nibali's last dance gets exclusive Wilier 0 SLR
Come tomorrow evening, Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde will no longer be professional bike racers, with the evergreen pair bowing out from pro racing at Il Lombardia.
The Remco Evenepoel 'God Tour' is well underway. Having been greeted at the airport by hundreds of fans, and then by thousands in Brussels, last night the world champ took the homecoming to his football club — Anderlecht.
The Belgian side lost their clash with West Ham in the Europa Conference League (a 1.Pro race, for anyone who couldn't care less about football) as Remco took the applause of the crowd, no doubt some very confused cockneys watching on.
Evenepoel was in Anderlecht's academy as a boy before hopping over the border to PSV Eindhoven, ultimately switching to cycling as a teenager. A pretty good decision, we'd say...
07 October 2022, 08:34
Derbyshire Police arrest Ferrari driver seen speeding at "more than 180mph"
A man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.
It is in connection with a video which emerged on social media of a Ferrari reaching speeds of more than 180mph on the A61 northbound near Dronfield.
The man, who is from South Yorkshire, has been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
We would like to speak to anyone who may have noticed a Ferrari in the area between around 3.15pm and 3.45pm on Sunday 2 October and may have dashcam footage which could help with our investigation.
07 October 2022, 08:27
If the standard UK road safety approach was applied to food safety in the hospitality trade
Here's an interesting hypothetical...
If the standard UK road safety approach was applied to food safety in the hospitality trade, instead of addressing danger at source - what advice would you give? It’s on you not to be poisoned - what would you choose?
"Sorry, ma'am, if you're allergic to peanuts you should have been wearing your yellow hi-vis nut allergy tabard... could you please move over to the side of the restaurant so other diners can get past"
And the police won't bother prosecuting if you just had an upset tummy but didn't actually vomit.
Is there any rubber left? The impossibly worn tyre that earned bike shop visitor a standing ovation from mechanics... after he only came in "for a tube"
As I sit at my desk this Friday morning I can look a couple of metres to my left and see the front tyre of my beloved roadie, flat as a pancake from a slow puncture. It's the second this month which, even by my very stingy standards of getting every last mile out, probably warrants some fresh rubber...
I say 'my very stingy standards'. I'm not sure I can ever claim that title again having now seen this...
Everyone's favourite mechanical nightmare Insta page, Trench Tales, is back with another absolute belter. We'd love to know how many miles it takes to remove every last dot of rubber from a tyre, leaving nothing but a finger hole...
Fantastically, the owner visited their shop just "for a tube". Superb. Writing on Insta, Trench Tales explained: "Trench tyre. Previously holding on by a thread but now it's mercifully dead. Rider came in just 'for a new tube', and earned himself a standing ovation from the staff."
Is it dead? I reckon there's a couple more miles in that one...
PS. Go give Trench Tales a follow and a like, truly one of our favourite social accounts, documenting perfectly the level of nonsense working in a bike shop brings you on a daily basis.
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.
Re: Arrested Ferrari Driver. As I mentioned with the assaulting van driver yesterday, can the Police also charge the passenger with something as well as he is obviously encouraging the driver with filming it for SM means.
"Yes, our drunk and negligent waiter did pour a gallon of scalding soup all over you, but you weren't wearing a napkin, so as far as we're concerned, it's your fault".
The food safety inspector came in and inspected to their standards in 1973 so we don't need any further testing ever again. We have been cooking for a long time, there is no reason to think we might need additonal safety training and testing.
You know when you read about fires being (allegedly) started by e-bikes, or hear about some e-bike being ridden antisocially and how it's the fault of all cyclists wherever? I reckon that the e-bike in question looks like this one (note the stylish use of duct tape and bin liners to protect the battery).
Curiously enough, I did see it being ridden shortly after taking that photo by a bloke with a big Deliveroo cube on his back. Didnt stop him to ask his nationality, though...
Was at St Ives LEL2022 doing same and saw a rider whose rear tyre was in the process of delaminating - would have looked like this if made it to Dunfermline - replaced tyre and added a tube as was running tubeless on arrival.
"Yes we do have a healthy dessert option, but you must appreciate that it doesn't attract the sugar tax, so you can't expect to receive the same level of service that people choosing the full fat option get, can you?"
"Look at that salad clad, self righteous, MAMIL (Middle Aged Man In Leaves). He doesn't even pay food tax but thinks he owns the table. Leafists should stick to the salad bar instead of taking up space in the restaurant which was designed for proper foods. Does he even know the heimlich manouver?"