That is terrible news. RIP.

Yeah, it was a great race to follow. It looked like Hall had snatched it the day before the accident when he briefly took the lead. One hell of a loss too early!

Terrible for all that knew him and the racers / race.

Gotta say though - riding in black / all dark kit as he did makes one very hard to see

FLATULENTFRIEND wrote:Gotta say though - riding in black / all dark kit as he did makes one very hard to see

IKR, I steamed into the side of a black Commodore this morning. So hard to see.

dave_sharpe wrote:IKR, I steamed into the side of a black Commodore this morning. So hard to see.

It's perfectly appropriate to say "Sorry mate, I didn't see you!" and cycle off.

FLATULENTFRIEND wrote:Gotta say though - riding in black / all dark kit as he did makes one very hard to see

No it doesn't.

Contrast against background is key, not what you're wearing. Bright colours on roads where bright colours are expected does little if anything for driver inattention.

So please check with other MAMILs before you head out on a bunch ride that you aren't wearing the same kit

dwgknz wrote:

FLATULENTFRIEND wrote:Gotta say though - riding in black / all dark kit as he did makes one very hard to see

"No it doesn't."

Yes it does.

It may have been his fault he was hit (there is talk of him being delirious beforehand) but look at the time he was hit - in the dark of early AM wearing completely black kit.

Roadworks et al don't switch to black kit during the light of day for some kind of contrast.

I dunno - those big aussie highways, especially just before dawn when you get that tunnel vision of oncoming headlights (from the right) I can accept that a person in black on the left might not be the easiest to see. Doesnt make it his fault, but certainly would be challenging on the driver to spot him at closing speed differentials of >70kph*.


*its fair to say that the average aussie highway actual speed is >100kph

FLATULENTFRIEND wrote:

dwgknz wrote:

FLATULENTFRIEND wrote:Gotta say though - riding in black / all dark kit as he did makes one very hard to see

"No it doesn't."

Yes it does.

It may have been his fault he was hit (there is talk of him being delirious beforehand) but look at the time he was hit - in the dark of early AM wearing completely black kit.

Roadworks et al don't switch to black kit during the light of day for some kind of contrast.

During night time colour is irrelevant. Roadworks et al have minimum safety requirements linked to the area of retro-reflective on their clothing for night work and not colour. Colour does little at night, as can be evidenced by the number of truck drivers who drive through orange cones if they don't have a ring of reflective tape.

I went through the highlight reels and I couldn't find a rear shot of Mike Hall's bike WITHOUT a reflective tag on the rear of his saddle pack. Which would indicate that it was more than likely that IF he was hit from behind, he did have a rear reflector at the very least.

dwgknz wrote:...During night time colour is irrelevant...

Not wanting to hijack the thread (as it may have nothing to do with Mike's death), this statement is misleading. There is a distinct difference between black and a light colour at night. The vast majority of my driving and riding is in the dark, and I live in the Land of the black-clothed Ninjas (bicycle and motorbike riders wearing black / dark clothing and having no lights / reflectors (and commonly traveling in the wrong lane direction, just to add to the fun). Light-coloured clothing is easier to see (=lower Ninja-rating) than black / dark coloured clothing. Nowhere near as good as having lights / reflectors, but certainly not irrelevant.

There's a reason why cat burglars maintained a tradition of not wearing light yellow or pink jump-suits, and it's not all to do with style.

Did a number of the competitors ride into Sydney anyway?

Interesting to see some of the back story to the two then leaders of the race. Needless to say, it does not have a Disney ending.

Moving video. To be honest I think you've got to have a bit of a screw loose to do what the front runners do in these events, and that came across in the video. Kristoff made no mention of Mike at the end which was interesting. Guessing there was no love lost between them.
RIP Mike.