In the news

[sam]

The Craven Herald & Pioneer:
Craven will increasingly see groups of cyclists coming into the area to ride the Tour de France route, police have warned...

“They are a law unto themselves. We have an elderly population in Embsay and we’ve had incidents where car wing mirrors have gone missing. Something needs to be done,” said Councillor Quinn.



"Every cyclist worth his salt" will want a trophy.

[sam]

Victoria Pendleton, CBE – Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire



Flanked by much decorated previous winners of Best Hat award

[sam]

"For me, putting my helmet on now is a habit and I’ll wear it even if I’m going to the shop for a pint of milk."

[sam]

"A cyclist outraged by the bad behaviour of his fellow bikers has captured their dangerous moves on camera," reports the Daily Mail. The unidentified documentarian recorded many provocative maneuvers, including this:





Cue howls of laughter and the inevitable reference to Darwin. In defence of the acrobat, who was unharmed by his truncated somersault, a sign conveniently out of shot advises other road users to yield to tumbling cyclists:

[sam]

What can you do when Bicyclist bullies try to rule the road? Grab that broom from the garage to arm yourself for battle:

[sam]

Very much the motorist's bad, yes – but a cyclist looking to not have it happen again would perhaps want to bone up on his hazard perception. This might sound like blaming the victim. The trick is to not become a victim in the first place.

Video footage invites second guessing. My guess is that the cyclist might have been able to avoid this. You're approaching an intersection where a car may turn. A car is coming. Do the geometry. Slow down. 22mph is a good clip on a road which is not short of hazards.

I imagine that were Mr Thoburn to read this he would offer the same comment to me as he did to the driver just before the collision.

From the Romford Recorder:

Mr Thoburn, who was only wearing the camera for the second time when he was hit, issued advice to drivers and cyclists alike.

“Take your time, people are always in a rush these days and cycling is growing. We need investment in cycle schemes and lanes, we need awareness from drivers that we have as much right to be on the road as drivers,” he said.

“And we need awareness from cyclists as well, there are as many bad cyclists as there are bad drivers.”

Entirely understandable to want to get up on a soapbox after being knocked off your bike, but there are no grand lessons to be learned from this. Just be glad that after watching your life pass before your eyes, you landed on your feet.

[sam]

Somebody won the Tour de France today. The name flashed before my eyes, into my brain, then bounced back out again. Italian, I think?

Remember how Sherlock Holmes didn't allow certain mundane facts, like the earth going around the sun, to crowd more important things out of his head, like varieties of cigar ash? Although I don't solve mysteries or relax with cocaine, I can empathise. Racing only intrudes into my thoughts insofar as it creeps into practically everything cycling.



I'm not here to diss racing. But I think it's mostly a bad influence. The kit alone turns us into The Other; it separates (and lifts? is this a bra ad?) cyclists when I believe what we need is mass integration. George Hahn put it thus in So I Don't Wear a Helmet. Get Off My Ass:

From the time Lance Armstrong took his first major victory in the early ’90s, cycling culture in America has been dominated by racing. Drunk on it, actually. Not only does everyone suddenly need a helmet, but we also need specialized gear and tight Lycra clothes with taint padding. The bikes themselves are razor-thin, feather-light contraptions, helping the non-professional rider go even faster. It’s all about the extreme… extreme lightweight, extreme racing, extreme speed, extreme tension on the face of the rider. And apparently extremely dangerous all of a sudden.

Nor does it help that champs are given a platform to pontificate on matters which have nothing to do with their area of expertise, which is going faster than the next guy.

As I don't live in an isolation tank, some cyclesporty stuff does seep in and stay. Miguel Indurain, for example. Won the big one a handful of times, got to keep the medals? There was something about him I admired. He reminded me of Bjorn Borg: icewater in his veins, heart beating once a minute.

[sam]

Ruffled feathers



In other bird news

[sam]

For Halloween this year I'm going as a psychopath.



The costume looks easy.

[sam]

Wiggo was in the news again, at least my custom tailored feed of it. It's all kind of a blur now.