Moving Target

7th London cyclist killed by lorry, 29th June
1 July 2009 by Buffalo Bill

From the london paper:

Witnesses said [the female cyclist] became trapped between the lorry and railings at the height of morning rush hour, just after 8.30am yesterday. She was rushed to hospital but died a few hours later.

The woman’s name is given as Catriona.

The london paper makes this the 5th 6th female cyclist [see comment #1] to have been killed so far in 2009 by a collision with lorry (out of a total of 6 7 cyclist/lorry deaths).

Female cyclist critically injured by lorry, Peckham, 2nd June
4 June 2009 by Buffalo Bill

This from Southwark News

The collision, which happened as the concertina lorry turned left from Bellenden Road to Peckham High Street, brought Peckham to a four-hour standstill, as ambulance crews had fought to cut the woman, thought to be in her late-20s, to safety.

The injured cyclist was taken to King’s College Hospital shortly after with severe leg and hip injuries, although her condition is now thought to be stable. A lorry driver has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.

This follows the deaths of 5 London cyclists, 4 of whom were female, as the result of collisions with HGV/LGV/lorries so far in 2009. Another report from Londonist here

ECMC organisation DQs non-fakenger
4 June 2009 by Buffalo Bill

In the wake of the great f*kenger debate surrounding the ECMC 2009 decision to admit non-messengers to the event, which took place last weekend, it has emerged that a messenger/exenger attempted to pass himself off as a ‘fakenger’. Fortunately for all concerned, the organisers unmasked the impostor, and DQed him. However, the organisers have drawn criticism from Cassandra Castillo, curator of the Cyclecourier.org, a message-board for messengers and exengers:

ECMC 2009 results
3 June 2009 by Buffalo Bill

The winners of the main race were:

Male
1. 708 – Stefan ‘Porno’ Fröhlich, Zürich
2. 448 – Martin Brunner, Zürich
3. 001 – Michael Brinkmann, Bremen

Female
=1. 326 – Johanna ‘JoJo’ Reeder, Stockholm
=1. 850 – Nadine Schloss, Frankfurt
3. 507 – Nathalie Wenger, Geneva

All the rest of the results (including the polo) are here. If you want to know how two riders ended up in a dead-heat for 1st place after nearly 4 hours of racing, check this video. I have posted some other pics and stuff to my twitter, worth a look, I reckon.

My congratulations and felicitations to the winners, organisers, volunteers and especially Harry Potter and Bongo the only 2 London riders to make the final.

The picture is of Mikey Qboss’ shoulder. As you can see, it’s broken, and he won’t be able to work for at least 4 weeks, possibly longer. As the crash happened out of work, he is NOT eligible for a London Courier Emergency Fund pay-out, so there is a benefit organised for this Friday. Please come along to the Foundry and throw down some cash (you don’t have to race if you don’t want to).

Latest news from Berlin - bring a brake!
27 May 2009 by Buffalo Bill

This from Achim, one of the 2009 European Cycle Messenger Championship organisers:

There are a lot of rumours, the facts are like this: If you get stopped [in Berlin] with a fixed-gear without a front brake, and you are unlucky, the cops will confiscate your bike. Since April, this happened over 15 times already.

Safety in numbers, says Cyclists Touring Club
7 May 2009 by Buffalo Bill

I am a member of the CTC. And this morning, I downloaded a leaflet called ‘Safety in numbers’, which puts the case that more cyclists = less collisions per mile cycled.

ECMC 2009 race-course
6 May 2009 by Buffalo Bill

In 1994, the defunct Royal Victoria Dock was used as the venue for the Cycle Messenger World Championships. Since then, Budapest’s Neppstadion, and various other venues have been used for CMCs. However, a CMC has never taken place at such an iconic place as the now idle Flughafen Tempelhof, aka a set in an Indiana Jones movie, and the lifeline for West Berliners during the 1948 blockade of the city by the Soviets.

As the organisers say here: the bottom line is we will be throwing a once-off, staggering, spine-tingling, nerve-jangling, goose-pimpling ECMC slap bang in the middle of the German capital.

Paris Courier Champs pics and results
6 May 2009 by Buffalo Bill

The CPCV 09 happened last weekend in Paris. Pics from the race and the polo here, results here. Congrats to London polo team La Schmoove, who placed 3rd.

Track bike t-shirts for Ugandan couriers
1 May 2009 by Buffalo Bill

Not exactly sure what this is about, but a skim read seems to indicate that buying these shirts will support a courier start-up in Uganda. Gotta be worth a look. More here.

Cycle Jumble 2nd May Herne Hill Velodrome
1 May 2009 by Buffalo Bill

Organised by Velo Club de Londres, starting at 1000.

London Cycling Campaign
30 April 2009 by Buffalo Bill

Their e-newsletter is in my inbox. Despite my having resigned from the organisation two and a half years ago in protest at their participation in ‘Share the Road’, a deeply flawed road ‘safety’ initiative, launched by TfL in partnership with the LCC. I do share their number 1 goal, which is to get more Londoners cycling regularly, but I disagree with the promotion of the London Cycling Network.

This is not for charity
29 April 2009 by Buffalo Bill

This guy, Julian (Emre on the forum), who is a London courier, and regular(ish) contributor to the MT forum, is going to cycle round the world. Why? Why does anyone ride a bike anywhere? Is it simply because they want to get from A to B? Or is the motivation, in the old cliche, more in the journey than the arrival?