Category: Cycling

The 14th stage of the Tour de France was marred by a series of punctures, caused by tacks thrown on to the road, on the final climb of the day.  Race leader Bradley Wiggins temporarily called a halt to competitive racing after defending champion Cadel Evans was among those to suffer a puncture showing another example of how cycling is often a more gentlemanly sport than many others.  Wiggins, who still leads by more than two minutes, slowed the pace to allow Evans to return to the group.

The day’s drama unfolded back at the summit of the Mur de Peguere, a Pyreneean mountain which was making its debut as a climb in the Tour.  Race official Jean-Francois Pescheux confirmed:

The nails were mainly thrown on the ground around 200m from the summit.  It was obviously done on purpose. We have the tacks but we don’t know who spread them. They are imbeciles.  Sky showed they are for fair play.  They saw that something had happened and they slowed the peloton so that things could come together for the ride to the finish.

Tour etiquette dictates that rivals do not take advantage of another rider’s misfortune and, as soon as he realised what was happening, Team Sky’s lead rider called for a truce.  “I thought it was the honourable thing to do,” said 32-year-old Wiggins who is aiming to become the first British rider to win the race. “Nobody wants to benefit from someone else’s misfortune.”  Wiggins sportingly decided that, seeing as there was no car on hand to help his rival, it would be unfair for him to take advantage of his misfortune.

Wiggins, Froome, Evans and Vincenzo Nibali, the four riders in contention to win this year’s race, all reached the summit together but BMC rider Evans immediately jumped off his bike and removed his damaged back wheel.

However, the Australian’s support car was struggling to get up the narrow mountain road which was lined with thousands of spectators and his first team-mate who could offer support, Britain’s Steven Cummings, also had a rear wheel puncture.  Evans waited for more than one minute for assistance and then suffered two more punctures on the descent.

George Hincapie, Evans’s BMC team-mate, who is riding in a record 17th Tour de France, said: “There was something on the road. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Any thoughts that Evans would lose significant time in the race though were tempered by the actions of Wiggins, who also had to change his own bike on the descent, although it is unclear whether he too suffered a puncture.  Evans acknowledged the sportsmanship of Wiggins as the peloton crossed the line more than 18 minutes after race winner Sanchez.

Industrial Revolutions is the amazing new film from street trials riding star Danny Macaskill. Filmed and edited for Channel 4 ‘s documentary Concrete Circus.

I’ve been loving watching Daniel grow into a small child – this video is one of the things I’d love to do with Daniel when he’s a little older!

BUCS 2011 X.C Carnage! from Joe Bowman on Vimeo.

There’s been a few rants in the local press about the number of cyclists on the pavement in Tonbridge town centre, especiall over police fining just 1 rider in 12 months.

I have a few thoughts on this:

• I don’t see that many cyclists on the pavements so is there really a problem or is it just our local Courier having a moan?
• Some of the cycle lanes, let alone the shared use pedestrian/cycle lanes are just not well planned, for example by the main bridge on the High Street you end up weaving on and off the road to follow the cycle lane, it’s much more straightforward, sadly just to stay either on the pavement or more dangerously (as it narrows so much on the bridge) the road.
• Many road users don’t respect cycle lanes – people park in them or they cut up cyclists who are obeying the rules of the road (and often it’s not just bus drivers and white van men!).
• Some of the roads are just point blank dangerous – for example in North Tonbridge with cars parked on the side of the road it isn’t possible for two cars to drive past each other, let alone for a cyclist to be on the road too; and then there’s the A26 to Tunbridge Wells or Pembury Road that many people would need to use for a commute to a work place or school, for example.
• Why do mobility scooters, which normally weigh more and often driver faster, have no restrictions – they are allowed on the pavements?

As a cyclist I want to normally cycle on the road – it’s faster, and more straightforward, I don’t have to keep stopping and starting, but sometimes, even in Tonbridge it can be very dangerous cycling on the main road, and especially if I were a young child, I wouldn’t cycle on the High Street, I’d use the path.  Whilst that isn’t technically legal I don’t see how it is any worse than a mobility scooter so long as they are courteous and give way to pedestrians.

Thougths anyone?