Welcome to Wednesday's live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
18/12/2019, 20:42
Jail for man who stole bike ... from police
A man has been jailed for 10 months for a string of offences including stealing a bike in Hull ... from Humberside Police.
In a round-up of the latest convictions at Hull Magistrates' Court, the Hull Daily Mail says that besides stealing the £500 bike, Ireneusz Andrezejewski, aged 44, was also convicted of "having a kitchen knife with a serrated edge in the car park of Tesco at St Stephens shopping centre; possessing cannabis; and breaching a suspended sentence."
He has also been ordered to pay £85 in costs plus a £122 victim surcharge.
18/12/2019, 20:25
Geraint Thomas is on TV tomorrow night ...
Even if you don't live in Wales, you can catch up with it on BBC iPlayer.
Geraint Thomas fought to defend his 2018 Tour de France title in what would become one of the most dramatic races of the last 30 years.
Geraint Thomas: #TheRoadwillDecide
Tomorrow 9pm BBC One Wales & @BBCiPlayerpic.twitter.com/VzJ7xTV3rq— BBC Wales (@BBCWales) December 18, 2019
18/12/2019, 14:43
Swedish authorities suggest national road champs should be held on bike paths after refusing permission to stage event in 2020
Swedish authority @Trafikverket wont allow Swedish road cycling championships 2020.
Suggest using bicycle paths in stead of the road...https://t.co/rVdRz8jPT3
— Svensk Proffscykling (@SEProffscykling) December 18, 2019
The bemusing suggestion came after the Transport Administration rejected the Swedish Cycling Association's request to arrange a championships around the municipalities of Lindvallen in Malung; Swedish Cycling's Leif Karlsson says the decision "threatens cycling as a form of exercise", and notes that the Transport Administration have become increasingly harsh in recent years with many road cycling events being refused.
The championships would have ran between June 20-23 with numerous other events taking place over the weekend. The Transport Administration finally rejecting the plans because of a 4km stretch of road on the proposed course, that they say is protected because of the high volume of traffic on it. They suggested lower traffic roads or cycle lanes should be used instead, with the Cycling Association saying cycle lanes would be completely unsuitable for a high speed professional road race.
Karlsson says the Swedish Bicycle Association will appeal the decision, and is seeking compensation for having to change plans and most likely cancel the event entirely with little notice.
18/12/2019, 16:02
Mince pie calorie stats
Here's a tasty #Christmas fact to get you feeling festive.
Did you know that one mince pie will give you enough fuel for 23 minutes of #cycling? pic.twitter.com/LsOQ7fQDne
— Sustrans (@sustrans) December 17, 2019
That should read: 'This is how long you need to ride to burn off a mince pie, you greedy git.'
18/12/2019, 16:51
Will you be able to pair smart glasses with e-bikes soon? Bosch launch smart glasses with integrated display
The tech giants have teased a video showing an e-biker with a heads-up display thanks to their new smart glasses tech, called Smartglasses Light Drive... full story and video over on eBikeTips.
18/12/2019, 12:23
George Young's Coaches have licence revoked following inquiry
On the live blog: @Glos_Police officer allegedly tells cyclist "Maybe you should consider trading in your bike for a Hummer" following shocking close pass by a coach. An appropriate response? https://t.co/xEtixyxy5F#cyclingpic.twitter.com/p3v9xFrCso
— road.cc (@roadcc) January 10, 2019
To jog your memory, this story originally began with cyclist Matt Coldrey being told by Gloucestershire Police that they wouldn't be taking action against George Young's Coaches for the shocking close pass above; Mr Coldrey was also asked if he had a vendetta against the company, and was told: "maybe you should trade your bike for a Hummer."
Back in October, it was revealed that following a backlash from our reporting and elsewhere, Gloucestershire Police changed their tune and the driver ended up with six points on his licence and a fine.
For those of you following this story - the coach operator has now lost their licence. A victory for vulnerable road users, the police, the school children subjected to this company's lack of care for safety and the journalism of @GlosLiveOnline& @RoadCChttps://t.co/TIQZWktwfChttps://t.co/6GkISJ2ioG
— my bike riding account (@CyclistGlos) December 18, 2019
But that's not all... Gloucestershire Live report that George Young's Coaches will now have their licence revoked completely from Monday 23rd December, after an inquiry found that passengers were often exposed to a degree of danger in their vehicles due to high levels of exhaust fumes, leaking water, faulty luggage doors and insecure bumpers amongst other things... not to mention the poor standard of driving captured in the clip above.
The company's main source of work comes from school contracts, with 19 coaches operating across two Gloucestershire schools. Traffic Commissioner Nicholas Denton said that company director Kevin Young “had no idea of the importance of the ‘Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness’ or even what it was”, and he along with Gwendoline Ruth Young will be disqualified from holding an operator’s licence until 23 December, 2022.
road.cc is quite often asked why we do our near miss of the day series and report on bad driving in general, both of which could be considered off-putting to cyclists; and while the reasons for this coach company losing their licence weren't directly because of the driver's actions on that day, hopefully the publicity didn't do any harm, and the roads in Gloucestershire are now that little bit safer...
18/12/2019, 16:10
Muc-Off launch Lab.94 - a new brand of technical gear, bags and backpacks
Muc-Off have just launched a new 'technical equipment' brand named Lab.94. This means a new hydration pack for both trail riding and commuting, plus modular components for the backpack to adapt its use - read the full story over on off.road.cc.
18/12/2019, 16:06
See ya at Bike Live in April!
Our Cannock Chase demo day is back on Saturday 25th April, with Canyon, Giant, Live and Cube already confirmed for a fun day of riding, eating and mingling with your fellow cycling brethren... TICKETS HERE.
18/12/2019, 14:59
But cyclists...
Figures released by the DVLA have found that since April 2016, 13,373 drivers in Glasgow were prosecuted for running red lights - more than 10% of all recorded offences in England, Wales and Scotland. In Edinburgh there were 8,022, Nottingham registered 5,775 and in Bristol there were 5,048.
18/12/2019, 14:34
Introducing the walking bicycle from Carv...
Carv's creators spent seven months replacing the rear of a bicycle with this outlandish walking skeleton structure made out of metal rods, which features over 400 custom-made parts. Good luck getting it on the train, or anywhere for that matter...
It also looks strikingly similar to this contraption we saw at this year's Eurobike show. Maybe the pair should duke it out and race to determine the greatest weird walking hazardous bike thingy of them all...
18/12/2019, 14:25
Wot is that
Doing research for a book and revisited the amazing 1994 edition of Paris-Roubaix. Was Museeuw’s bike of choice that year up there with the most epic fails in the industry? pic.twitter.com/2PNMK1dzNU
— Brian Nygaard (@nygaardbn) December 18, 2019
Commentator Brian Nygaard asks if this monstrosity that Johan Museeuw was made to ride at the 1994 Paris-Roubaix is the biggest bike fail of all time... we wouldn't exactly disagree!
18/12/2019, 14:32
Cycle-ball highlights
Of course, we know you wouldn't have missed out on the Cycle-ball at the 2019 Indoor Cycling World Championships! But if you want to relive the drama, here's a couple of minutes of highlights...
18/12/2019, 11:41
Would you wait longer for your shopping if it was delivered by bike?
A new survey from branding and customer experience agency I-AM has found that almost three quarters of consumers would be happy to wait longer for deliveries if the method of delivery was more sustainable.
In two notable examples of big companies embracing sustainable deliveries, Co-Op are already trialling online shopping delivery by cargo bike in some parts of London, and DPD have recently bought a fleet of four wheeled e-cargo bikes - and the research found a lot of planet-conscious consumers would approve of deliveries by bicycles or greener vehicles... 65% even said they would be happy for their order to be handled by a drone or a robot.
It does appear money eventually talks though, as while 92% back greener deliveries, only 50% would be in favour if it meant higher costs. A third said the ideal amount of time to receive products ordered online would be within 24 hours; and if the Co-Op's claims that they can cut their delivery time down to two hours using e-cargo bikes that are more convenient to park, sustainable deliveries could actually cut delivery times.
Would you pay more, or potentially wait longer, if you knew your shopping and Amazon bits weren't been delivered by a Diesel-guzzling thing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments as always...
18/12/2019, 11:32
An actual decent 2020 kit launch
Introducing our new design for the 2020 season!
"The 2020 kit radiates like the light of a thousand stars on our power within, as individuals and as a team. We are strong, brave, vivacious role models—the heroes of our story!"@alexismryan#TakeTheLeadpic.twitter.com/Ns07PCpOHs— CANYON//SRAM Racing (@WMNcycling) December 17, 2019
We're liking the new Canyon/SRAM kit from Rapha for the new season, which is more than can be said of the unusual Barney the Dinosaur-inspired kit we featured on yesterday's live blog.
Girona, Spain. Back to #campef this week, as we go to our home away from home to get some essential training miles in and meet new teammates. But don't worry, the team also found some time for a little fun. Who do you think won this sprint? #exploretheworldpic.twitter.com/it3aG0Ujhm
— EF Education First Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) December 17, 2019
Rapha are also official kit supplier of EF Education First, and although their new kit hasn't officially been launched it's been teased numerous times in the past week or so, being worn by Logan Owen at the US Cyclocross National Championships at the weekend.
18/12/2019, 11:20
Going to the Netherlands any time soon? Go check out Sunweb's performance centre with all new bike fitting equipment
Sunweb have their own performance centre in the Dutch city of Sittard, and it will now host bike fit equipment from the Shimano-owned bikefitting.com. This includes their full dynamic bike fitting equipment with advanced bike fitting technologies including a 3D Motion Analyser and pedal analysis, which the team will use to monitor riders progress through the season.
Sunweb's Keep Challenging Experience Centre is also open to fans, so if you happen to be in Limburg you can go get the full behind-the-scenes experience. You can also arrange a fitting for yourself through Team Sunweb by emailing bikefitting [at] keep-challenging.com.
18/12/2019, 11:10
Chris Boardman complains of red tape preventing the installation of safer infrastructure
A cheap and fast way of protecting people at junctions used all over the world. But not yet allowed in the UK. WE have to ‘prove the case’ to Government
We spend so much time worrying about the risk of change, and give zero weight to the consequences of not changing. https://t.co/lnsDvTyQ3F
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) December 18, 2019
As if to illustrate why roads such as the one mentioned further down the page aren't safer for cyclists and pedestrians, Boardman outlined his frustrations in trying to make the streets safer. Will anything change under the new Conservative majority government? According to this Guardian article by Peter Walker it might be a tall order, with just £1 per person pledged for cycling infrastructure in the Conservative manifesto.
18/12/2019, 10:56
Check out these snazzy (French) leather saddles in (British) racing green
Brooks eat yer heart out... because we think these leather saddles and accessories from French specialists Cycles Berthoud might just be even more classy and luxurious.
The limited edition holiday green items include saddles both with and without cutaways, bar tape and bar ends, with saddles priced between 174 and 254 euros and the calf leather bar tape priced at 74 euros. Check it all out on their website here.
18/12/2019, 10:35
Has the new Giant TCR blown its cover?
In pictures shared on Twitter this week, the brand new 2020 Giant TCR Advanced cmay well have been unveiled at the Team CCC launch with star rider Greg Van Avermaet... full story here.
18/12/2019, 09:28
Chris Boardman and Manchester Council challenged to act fast over danger to cyclists on city centre street
Hey @Chris_Boardman@AndyBurnhamGM - if you're so serious about cycling, why are we having to take matters into our own hands? Why do we need human bollards?
— JenOnTheMove (@JenOnTheMoveUK) December 16, 2019
Campaigners for better cycling infrastructure formed human bollards on Sackville Street in Manchester City Centre to protest the lack of a segregated cycle lane on the busy street. Manchester's cycling and walking commissioner was called out by one of the campaigners, while footage also shown a BMW driver complaining because they couldn't use the cycle lane/painted section of road....
This person was unhappy about not being able to drive in the cycle lane. pic.twitter.com/ElF54eoyTg
— JenOnTheMove (@JenOnTheMoveUK) December 16, 2019
Any immediate changes to the street would of course need approval from the City council, and in the comments Councillor Jon-Connor Lyons said he has personally called for better infrastructure on Sackville Street, but it comes down to the council being "willing to listen."
18/12/2019, 09:25
"Use a van", they said. "You'll get more in it", they said...
— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) December 17, 2019
Not quite so, as once again the folks at Pedal Me show just how much stuff you can actually carry using an electric cargo bike that's properly built for the job.
18/12/2019, 09:16
STOLEN BIKE ALERT: 9 high-end bikes stolen in Yeovil, police appealing for info
The robbery happened at 12:30am on Sunday morning at Rock and Road on the Lynx Trading Estate in Yeovil, with nine bikes stolen including Specialized Kenevo and Levo e-bikes and Specialized S-Works Tarmac road bikes, all worth between £3,500 and £9,500 each.
Police a warning people to be vigilant over "too good to be true" bike offers online; if you have any information for the police the reference number is 5219288385.