“Life is short, let’s do something dumb” (and incredibly hard, too): Pair attempt cycling around roundabout for 24 hours; Garda nabs bike thief with sting op in first week on the job; David Cameron holds maglia rosa at G7 meeting + more on the live blog

To get the context clear to you, Ladd Circle is a fairly big roundabout with a park in the middle in Portland, Oregon in the USA. And since 2016, local cycling campaign group Bike Portland has been organising an event called the Ladds 500. Participants have been coming in the hundreds on all sorts of rides, including penny farthings, to camp in the park and have a day of fun.

The aim is to complete 500 laps around the park, switching hands with your teammates after every few laps — it’s not a race, it’s a relay. In the words of the organisers, “prizes are awarded not to the fastest finishers, but to “whoever looks like they’re having the most fun.”

Now that out of the way, two cyclists, who were taking part in the event held during the weekend, they decided to make things just a little bit harder for themselves. How? Spend the entire 24 hours before the relay cycling around the roundabout. Or, at least try to…

 

 

 

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A post shared by Christa Mrgan (@antichrista)

Posting under the username bicyclecrumbs, the cyclist shared a video documenting their day on Instagram. “Sometimes you set out to do something hard. Sometimes you set out to do something dumb. Sometimes it’s both, you end up on lap 1066 of round-a-bout questioning your choices and ultimately failing,” they wrote.

“Yesterday we set off to do 24 hours of Ladds, a round-a-bout here in #Portland that is about .15 miles. With the goal to lead into the 500. With the first 100 miles crushed out in 5:51 I fell apart at 9:00 pm (ok I’ll admit it my year of no zone 2 might not be sustainable)and couldn’t crawl my way out of it. Failing happens, it happens to the best of them. You have to learn to accept it and keep rolling.”

 

 

 

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A post shared by Bicycle Crumbs (@bicyclecrumbs)

“The story isn’t just that. It’s the community that came out and did laps, dropped off Taco Bell or cookies or bagels. Talked to us, took photos or videos. Simply recognized we wanted to try something strange and without question supported it. It turned into something so much more fun and better than expected. If I could do this everyday and replicate this energy everyday I would. I thought I just wanted to smash out laps, the opposite was so much fun. This support is 100% what made the entire day. Support your friends so hard always!

“Ladds was a terrible day on the bike for me, I’ve never cracked worse. It’s mind numbingly hard to remember to eat or drink. You can sit at 17mph the entire time and it doesn’t feel like much work, but it will get you. Brent crushed out 200miles no issues at all.

“I get asked a lot what’s with the bike challenges or made up events? Why not just race that’s already a “game”? Well for me speed isn’t the goal.  I honestly don’t even love going over 30mph. There’s this sweet at about 17 mph where it just feels like you are at the perfect speed to take in the world. I’m just trying to find ways to do that all day.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Adam Latcham (@latchy3)

In what seems to quickly and infamously take on the moniker of the spring of crashes, the Tour of the Alps today was witness to two more high-speed crashes, with Chris Harper of Jayco-AlUla and Ben O'Connor of Decathlon-AG2R both crashing out on the high-speed descent at the same spot with just 24km to go.

> Horror crash at the Tour of the Basque Country, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Primož Roglič, and others involved, race neutralised

While the O'Connor was still able to get up and continue, even managing to bag a third-placed finish, his compatriot Harper, chasing Simon Carr, who would eventually go on to take a fine solo victory in stage four of the race, had to bow out.

Le casque a sans doute évité le pire pour Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla). L'Australien était bien conscient après sa grosse chute sur cette 4e étape du Tour des Alpes. Tombé au même endroit, Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) est lui rapidement reparti. #TotApic.twitter.com/dXMvjfXIt2

— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) April 18, 2024

As Harper chased down Carr of EF-Education Easy-Post, just under 20 seconds between them, the lack of motorbikes around the Australian meant that he had no references for the descent off the second and the last mountain in today's stage. Coming off the bend of one corner, he hit a nasty bump in the road, his bike vibrating under him as he lost his balance and was launched into the air.

He slid on the ground and went head-first into a roadside pole, his helmet most likely saving him from what could've been a very, very bad crash.

O'Connor, following closely behind Harper suffered a similar fate, however, he was able to get back up on the bike straight after. Cameras showed that Harper was able to sit up on the ground and was conscious.

> Disaster as nasty crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen takes out Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Biniam Girmay, and Jasper Stuyven

Carr, meanwhile, won today's mountainous stage with a 45km solo attack, while Michael Storer from Tudor Pro Cycling Team came in second.

Only one man can stop Pogacar winning the Giro pic.twitter.com/8FuVrKYp0D

— Thomas Harvey 🚲 (@_ThomasHarvey_) April 18, 2024

I am trying not to laugh too hard but I for one definitely didn't have David Cameron holding maglia rosa in my live blog bingo when I woke up this morning! Ah, might as well get a few laughs out of this awkward photo op...

He'll get the peloton to vote on all abandoning the giro on stage 16

— Thomas Harvey 🚲 (@_ThomasHarvey_) April 18, 2024

I'm just going to let the picture speak this time.

G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Italy today...
(📷: RCS press release) pic.twitter.com/03b9qVjP3V

— the Inner Ring (@inrng) April 18, 2024

I assume the only logical question to ask would be who is Mr Cameron backing for the Giro this year? It's gotta be Geraint Thomas, surely? Or is Cameron a cheeky Pogačar fan himself, or maybe he's a backer of the underdogs, maybe someone like Antonio Tiberi, or maybe even a good ol' Bardet fan. Discuss in the comments...

Turns out, it was a campaign arranged by the organisers of the Giro d'Italia, taking the general classification leader's pink jersey to the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

> Statue of David Cameron riding a bike sells for £25,000

 Antonio Tajani, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: “The Giro d’Italia is an exceptional showcase for Italy in the world: it contributes to economic growth, attracts tourism and investment, and enhances the territories it passes through. That is why it is the Ambassador of Italian sport in the world. Sports diplomacy is an important tool for promoting Italy, which adds to the tools and actions of the Farnesina for growth diplomacy. This is why, since the beginning of the year, the Farnesina has wanted to create a new office dedicated precisely to sports diplomacy.”

Meanwhile, of course the current Foreign Minister and the former Prime Minister was not immune to jokers on the social media.

NGL - Jersey's going to be a squeeze for Dave. Must have skipped pre winter training camp.

— Steve (@stephen365) April 18, 2024

"The majority of cyclists are safe and obey the Highway Code, however, we are educating, engaging and where necessary enforcing those road users who go through red lights, putting themselves and pedestrians at risk"...

Read more: > Almost 1,000 cyclists fined for jumping red lights in last nine months since City of London Police introduced "Cycle Response Unit"