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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...
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?
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...
Well. That's ONE way of adjusting saddle height on a public hire bike ... 🤷🤣 pic.twitter.com/t5uHdmOxLm
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..."
> Staff Bikes: Liam’s HOT PINK Kinesis 4S Disc Winter Bike
Yesterday vs today. 🤔🧐 pic.twitter.com/XWESGQbRcu
— The Department of Parks & Recreation 🦌 (@ldnparks) October 7, 2022
When you spend all morning seating tires only to realize you put it on backwards as you roll out 🤦♂️ #FML pic.twitter.com/ZPbRDINWvJ
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...
Another clip from the YouTube video, describing the police response. pic.twitter.com/IE35jlpChP
— 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...
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.
Details of an exclusive @WilierTriestina 0 SLR of @vincenzonibali!#LoveMyWilier #RaiseTheBar #Wilier0SLR #AstanaQazaqstanTeam pic.twitter.com/Omxg2G5hiA
— Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) October 7, 2022
One final Shark attack or a Bala sprint would go down lovely... although a certain Tadej Pogačar might have something to say about dream the farewell.
Always special to be here!💜 pic.twitter.com/NSHrg7tJ0o
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...
> "Steady Sunday drive": Driver reaches 191mph on UK roads
A man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving following reports of a Ferrari reaching speeds of more than 180mph on the A61 near #Dronfield. More here: https://t.co/GEW8q9EYia pic.twitter.com/SRdSzwwisc
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.
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?
— Katy Rodda Still Wants 2m (@KatyCycles) October 6, 2022
"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.
In fact why do we even let kids eat in public?
Making kitchen staff wash their hands slows down how quickly they can make food, which means people are hungrier longer.
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...
A post shared by trench_tales (@trench_tales)
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...
> Can it be real? Mechanic shares double cleat horror set up
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.
I'll add this one here...
None that I've ever seen are that wide. With the exception of some utterly shite mixed-use paths, the only cycling infra on my old commute was ...
yeah it was the obree endura short documentary iirc that showed the superman is the same as a pro Tt cda
Dave on twitter with 15 followers says pog is finished - yeah maybe just ignore Dave on twitter?
After purchase (see my original comments pre-purchse down below in comments) ...
well Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won the womens race, Sina Frei (2nd) only just joined the WWT 2 months ago and Chiara Teocchi (3rd) is pro conti....
That's an amazing way of putting it, and I intend to steal that phrase shamelessly. Thank you.
Prepositions depend on the anatomy and assault method. I have been punched on the nose, kicked up the arse and kneed in the wedding vegetables. It...
Crash in Poole pub car park caught on CCTV...
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