Transcontinental Race No. 6 - TCR6 - #TCRN06 - 2018

Fucking weather and people that control it not thinking of Neil or thinking of Neil....

Well catching up with this thread after a few days has been enjoyable! Where's @Velocio with the magnifying glass and finger print duster, who is @LastManStanding ??

I reckon it's hippy. He's the kind of bozo that would get a laugh out of this.

I reckon it's hippy. He's the kind of bozo that would get a laugh out of this.

Don't be ridiculous, you know he's never used an alias! Idiot.

Don't be ridiculous, you know he's never used an alias! Idiot.

Screw you, hippy!

I think it should be quite obvious who it is, for any folks that are on FB anyway :).

I am not. Pray tell.

No. It is not obvious. To me at least.

Bloody Zuckerberg.

First he puts Trump into power, then he's all up in LFGSS creating aliases. Zuckerburg! shakes fist

You mean it's not hippy?

Will miss tomorrow night’s gig at LMNH. Have to go to a meeting. Was looking forward to it.

Bad luck: I can't make it either - have to do nursery pick-up

I'll be there.
My Aunt has invited me to do a TCR talk for her WI meeting so I shall be trying to pick up tips.

Mike's inquest - pasted from facebook

The Coronial Inquest in Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) into the death of Mike Hall will take place from September 24 to 26 ( that is, next Monday to Wednesday). Mike’s former partner, Anna Haslock, will be in attendance, as will representatives from the Australian Cycle Alliance inc (Cycle).

A number of parties will be giving evidence at the Inquest, including representatives of the driver’s insurer.

Unlike other similar tragedies where cyclists are struck from behind and killed on public roads, the ACT Police have not yet laid any charges in relation to this incident, and the name of the driver has not been made public.

Under the ACT Coroners Act 1997, the ACT Coroner has wide powers.

For example, the coroner is charged with getting to the truth, and has inquisitorial powers to cut through any missing or misleading information presented by partisan lawyers.

Also, the domestic partner of the deceased has standing before the Court to be represented, and to appear and examine witnesses.

And additionally, if the Coroner decides there is an indictable offence in relation to the death, they must notify the Public Prosecutor and suspend the Coronial Inquest.

Needless to say, the findings of this Coronial Inquest will be of interest to many - both cyclists and those not currently cycling regularly.

It is in the public interest that all the facts be established in this case. Cycle believes that it is also in the public interest that these facts, and any recommendations by the Coroner, also be made public.

Cycle will be reporting on the progress of the Inquest, when appropriate, next week.

You can follow this on our website:
https://cycle.org.au/index.php/articles/mike-hall-inquest

I hope the contributions we all made will help mike’s wife in the long run .
Be more mike everyone .

I really hope that will be a fair inquest. They're not known for that over here, no idea if the Australian system is different. It'll probably be traumatic for Anna in any case, but it would be worse if there was just some standard whitewash.

No, it won't be fair. I think inherited much of the British 'justice' system (improved it though, obviously). But by the same token, Oz is full of car-lovin' eejits and that will no doubt have an impact on the legal eagles too.

One thing that I heard that was encouraging is that Mike being tired from riding too long is not being considered a factor.

The car was being driven by a construction worker on a 60km commute in to Canberra.

Yes, having followed a good few inquests in the UK, I did worry that they'd be quite similar. Fingers crossed.

Day 3 and 4.

English:
https://cyclingadventurestom.wordpress.com/2018/09/17/tcrno6-day3-a-day-in-the-alps/
https://cyclingadventurestom.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/tcrno6-day4-does-vrsic-mean-terrible/

Dutch:
https://cyclingadventurestom.wordpress.com/2018/08/30/tcrno6-dag3-een-trektocht-door-de-alpen/
https://cyclingadventurestom.wordpress.com/2018/09/11/tcrno6-dag-4-de-vrsic-elijke-pass/

News from Mike's inquest. Sounds like the police are saying that he was hard to see and that his red light was not very visisble! Surprising that none of the other x,xxx cars who had passed him across australia ran into him.

British ultra-endurance cyclist Mike Hall was in the midst of the “Hunger Games on wheels” when he died after being hit by a teenage driver near Canberra.
P-plater Shegu Bobb was 19 when his car hit Hall on 31 March last year on the Monaro Highway, south of the national capital, in darkness at 6.22am.
Known as one of the best ultra-endurance riders in the world, Hall was running second in the inaugural Indian Pacific wheel race, a single-stage unsupported 5,500km event from Fremantle to Sydney.
An inquest on Monday heard Hall was wearing dark clothing, with limited reflective qualities.
Bobb told police he thought at first he had hit a kangaroo and had suffered significant shock and distress after the incident.
Police re-creations showed the bike was “virtually indistinguishable” in the dark, with the rear red light on Hall’s bicycle difficult to see.
There was no evidence Bobb had been speeding when he hit Hall, who was riding in the verge on the correct side of the road.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Ken Archer, said the race had been described as a gruelling test and likened to the “Hunger Games on wheels”.
An autopsy found Hall died almost instantly from major head and other injuries.
“The bike was effectively impaled on the front of the car,” Archer said.
The inquest heard Bobb had seen a truck parked in an unusual place on the highway.
When he refocused on the road, he saw something briefly but had no time to avoid what he believed was an animal.
No charges have been laid.
Hall’s death sent shockwaves across the global cycling community, with thousands of riders taking part in tribute events in Australian cities, including one at the Sydney Opera House where the race was due to finish.
Hall’s mother, Patricia, travelled to Australia to attend the three-day inquest, as did his partner, Anna Haslock.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/24/mike-hall-british-distance-cyclist-in-hunger-games-on-wheels-when-killed

What a shame. The issue in these cases is almost always lack of observation from the driver.

Edit: by which I mean, if a driver is looking out for cyclists on the road as well as motor vehicles, there's a far better chance they're going to see and avoid the cyclist.

P-plater Shegu Bobb was 19 when his car hit Hall

Why is it that cars always hit things, not the drivers who are supposedly in control?

19-year old on p-plates seems like he could have been really inexperienced. Low-light can be tricky even for experienced drivers (i.e. you need to understand the limitations of visibility, not that it's technically challenging somehow) so yeah, perhaps Mike Hall wasn't easy to see but that's just the "the sun was in my eyes" SMIDSY bullshit at a different time of day.

No possibility of sun in eyes excuse - he was travelling due North! So any sun would have picked Mike out clearly. I think it happened just before sunrise, though.
Yes, just checked it - sunrise on 31 March in Canberra is 7:15 and Mike was killed at 6:22