I will forgo the usual posting about the Tour today, because after all it is only a bike race. Jimmy Ray Westmoreland was involved in an accident caused by a driver, driving with a suspended license who ran a stop sign. The cyclist was revived by EMS and was in critical condition in intensive care. Jimmy Ray Westmoreland, died at 7:49 p.m. July 13. The news of the Tour pales in comparison to this tragedy. All of us in the cycling community need to communicate, advocate, encourage and educate other riders and motorist of proper care and attention to people on bikes. Some of these accidents are due to riders being in the wrong and not obeying existing traffic rules and law. Mr. Westmoreland’s death was caused by motorist negligence. Let’s all work together to promote a safer environment for cycling. The fact of the matter is, cycling is continuing to grow and our area will only see more cyclist of all types sharing the roads. Everyone be attentive and ride defensively. Be safe!
Tour De France Stage 15
Chris Froome laid it all out there and buried everyone. I’m not saying he is and I certainly hope he isn’t but it’s hard to wrap my head around a guy who is 6’2″ tall and weighs 150 lbs (69 kg) can both climb like he does (this is not the hard part of my credulity), but can also time trial fast enough to almost beat the 6 time world time trial champion, Tony Martin. The only thing which kept Froome from beating Martin on the time trial was the pick up in the wind by the time Froome started. I believe Froome is clean and certainly hope so. And if so, then this is one of the great performances of the Tour. If he’s not clean then cycling will take a hit it will take years to recover from. With the latest testing protocols I believe a cheat can be caught. Heaven knows, Froome will be under a microscope. Great job, Mr. Froome! I’m pulling for you.
Tour de France Stage 13
Crosswind is the word of the day! If you ever wanted to see a world class rotating paceline, check the tour with about 30km to go! Saxo-Tinkoff with Alberto Contador and a group of 14 riders are trying to put the hammer down on the peleton and the Froome group. Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish were very attentive and made that group. I’m not sure they’ll stay away but it is a very impressive to see. A very astute move by Saxo. These flat stages aren’t so easy after all. This Saxo team looks awesome. Andy Schleck has joined himself at the hip with Froome. He may surprise us when we get back into the mountains. What a stage! 25 for Cavendish!
Rider education and safety.
I found this statistic about cycling accidents in South Carolina. In South Carolina, 13 people were killed and 478 injured in more than 500 bicycle crashes in 2009, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. Although the SCDPS determined that cyclists were at fault in 61.2 percent of those accidents. Although it is important to educate drivers, educating riders would benefit safety more it appears from the statistics. We need to emphasize safety to all we ride with, especially those new riders who may be not be familiar with riding and riding in a group. Below are some practical safety directives to pass on.
The most common causes of bicycle accidents, according to Bicycling magazine, include accidents where:
- A motorist fails to see a cyclist and makes a left turn immediately in front of the bike. This accounts for almost half of all bike / car crashes, according to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.
- A motorist passes a cyclist on the left and makes a right-hand turn into the bicycle’s path.
- A cyclist traveling next to parked cars lined up on the street strikes a car door opened by the driver or backseat passenger.
- A motorist pulls out of a driveway or parking lot directly into the path of a bicyclist.
- A motorist hits a cyclist from behind.
That’s why it’s important to use common sense and follow the South Carolina traffic laws, including riding as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable and using proper signals
Tour de France Stage 10
The peloton let the breakaway dangle off the front within eyesight for the longest time only to catch them just under 6 km. Smart racing to keep other breakaways from happening. The longest breakaway in tour history was 315 km. In 1912 Eugene Christophe on an Alpine stage which covered Aravis, the Telegraphe and the Galibier soloed for 315 kilometers. That’s over 180 miles by yourself! That was when the tour was over 5300 km long.
It’s hard to believe no one else fell when when Cavendish brought the Argos rider down. I wonder if Cav will get penalized for the shoulder bump! Phil called it a “real thump on the shoulder.” It looked intentional to me. Kittel’s helmet looks way to small for that big egg head.
