The wheels of progress 😩😩😩 pic.twitter.com/1DlshF6bw2
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) May 18, 2020
The right way to go, of course, is tweeting abuse from an account using your real name linked to your business as well. I'm sure this kind of thing goes down really well with prospective clients! https://t.co/lBifowPzOB
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) May 20, 2020
Whenever I feel down, I remember that by just living and thriving I’m spiting this guy. That’s power. pic.twitter.com/9fGnrYWCfB
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) May 19, 2020
Now you should try on a motorway. Right hand lane preferably.
— Lilith Black (@LilithBlack18) May 19, 2020
The Novara Media editor and political activist posted the video of her learning to ride a bike (above) on 18th May; and although she has got plenty of encouragement from followers, a number of the comments are abusive, threatening and racist from accounts that have made little attempt to hide the identity of their owners. Nigel Ward - who made the first comment from the horrendous selection above - has even had his place of work and the address identified in the comments section underneath his post.
It's also evident that a number of the abusive comments come from accounts that share content related to far-right nationalism and Britain's relationship with the European Union, such as these charmers,...
Hope she falls off numerous times 😉👍 pic.twitter.com/fckOjepXMn
— WhyMeWhyToon9🇬🇧🏴⚫️⚪️ (@WhyMeWhyTheHel1) May 19, 2020
Please fall
— Alex Sweeney 🇬🇧 (@Alex_sweeney91) May 18, 2020
Sarkar was also questioned for walking with the bike while in a seated position; however according to Cycling UK's video guide on teaching adults to ride a bike, this is best practice for learning. Sarkar also went a sensible step further by removing the pedals, presumably to ensure her ankles don't knock against them while walking with the bike.
Sarkar says she was never taught to ride as a child because her mother didn't have the time to teach her, commenting: "Here’s why I didn’t learn: my mum was a working single mum, and my sister had a really bad respiratory illness. Mum was almost always working or caring - she didn’t have the time, tho (sic) she wanted to."
Since posting the video other adults have contacted Sarkar to say they too are learning to ride. She said: "One of the really nice things these last few days is grown ups (mostly women, but not sure how representative that is!) telling me they’re learning how to cycle for the first time too."
A bike rental company owner confirmed he had come across many adults who were learning to ride a bike after not getting the opportunity to learn as youngsters.
Aside from their pound shop racism, they’re reinforcing a ridiculous stigma about adults who can’t ride a bike. I have a bicycle rental company, and believe me, there are *tons* of adults who never learned to ride for one reason or another. It’s normal.
— jared (@jared_za) May 19, 2020
These outfits to have you cruising in style, even if you have nowhere to go. https://t.co/ShlO6xcsh8
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) May 19, 2020
When Chris Boardman notably said he wanted to see more "normal people in normal clothes" riding bikes, it's questionable whether he was referring to £300 designer shirts and floral swimsuits... but nevertheless, the world's foremost fashion magazine have put together a guide to cycle-friendly gear that's a bit less Lycra-heavy than your typical cycling apparel buyer's guide; after all, cycling shorts have been bang on trend for at least a couple of summers now, and it's refreshing to see cycling hit the fashion mainstream if it encourages more people to ride.
Whether it's beach cruising or city slicking Vogue have a number of choices that might not strike you as typical pieces that would be found in a cyclist's wardrobe; although for the 'road warrior', they've recommended the road.cc-approved Salsa Journeyman all-road bike and some BOA-equipped Giro Espada shoes, even if we're not too sure about the other picks of a leopard-print belt bag and $160 Stella McCartney running jacket.
For some slightly less glam recommendations, check out our buyer's guides section.
This cyclist is completing his daily exercise with two brightly-coloured knitted boobs tucked in his jersey to help raise funds for a local breastfeeding charity. 🌈https://t.co/nSYRnOSTrw
— ITV News Border (@ITVborder) May 20, 2020
After being forced to abandon his plans to ride Land's End to John O'Groats due to the pandemic, Andy Bruce is now completing his daily exercise by cycling with a pair of knitted breasts tucked into his jersey. He's doing so in aid of the South Cumbria Breastfeeding Support charity, hoping to raise £1,000.
He told ITV News: "All my cycling holidays that I'm running this year have been cancelled but I still need to cycle for my own sanity so instead of the Land's End to John O'Groats trip that I was due to run, I'm cycling for 15 days and taking these fabulous knitted boobies to help raise funds for a local and national breastfeeding charity.
"When I started this the weather was slightly hotter than this and they did get a bit on the warm side."
Let's hope for Mr Bruce's sake the weather stays a bit nippier so he doesn't overheat...
Bikmo have announced their the huge funding boost is led by Development Bank of Wales, alongside specialist global insurer Hiscox, plus existing and new angel investors. This will support their growth across the UK, Ireland, Germany and Austria.
Their CEO David George commented: “We are here to support people’s active lifestyles, and we want riders to know that we can cover them, plus their bike and equipment, whether on road or trail. This investment will enable us to grow and support the recreational riders as we always have, plus the new riders we can all see rediscovering the freedom and utility of riding a bike in the fresh air.
We are all riders at Bikmo so we understand that cyclists need to know that they are protected if something happens, and we see that the vast majority of home insurance policies aren’t adequate. Cycling is more important than ever for our physical and mental health, and as a practical mode of transport for us all to remain safe and socially distanced.”
Bikmo also recently partnered with Cyclescheme, and recruited Gareth Mills from Strava as their Chief Marketing Officer.
In the video above, Simon Monk discusses London's Streetspace campaign and what else is going on to make cycling better and safer in London.
The lockdown video to end all lockdown videos wasn't quite done in one take, as the Austrian trials and stunt specialist shows us in this behind-the-scenes video. Here's the finished edit if you missed it first time...
It’s easier to drop worldclass riders in a TDF stage than to win a zwiftrace. That says it all.
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) May 20, 2020
The Belgian has been getting himself stuck in to Zwift racing since the lockdown began... but could Mr De Gendt be insinuating that this futuristic new cycling world is actually operating more like a 90's peloton in this tweet? It's thought that 'cheating' on Zwift is rife - made possible by inputting a lower weight to make watts go further or lowering height to make the avatar more aero - and De Gendt claims it's easier for him to drop riders on the Tour de France than it is to win a Zwift race at the moment.
It's not the first time the Lotto Soudal rider has had trouble with the platform, after he was actually banned from a race because Zwift identified his numbers as suspicious; eventually his results were reinstated after he called it out on social media. Maybe everyone else just has 'superhuman power' too?
— Carlos CR (@CarlosCR_) May 19, 2020
Most of us didn't get this, until our niche racing news correspondent Liam pointed out that it's in reference to the snow-covered bank that ended poor old Steven Kruijswijk's hopes of winning the GC at the Giro d'Italia in 2016. Here's what happened next...
It always sucks having to explain a joke, but it's in reference to this unfortunate ending of Steven hopes if ya didn't get it (most of us didn't until our niche racing news correspondent Liam
For anyone out there griping about paying for Strava, just ping me after every ride and I'll remind you that you suck for free.
— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) May 19, 2020
Dorset council have announced that cycling will be banned on Weymouth's seafront between 10am-5.30pm from 22nd May to 31st October. No further reasons have been given for the enforcement of the Public Space Protection Order, with some questioning the move and asking for alternatives.
A similar ban has been previously discussed in Bournemouth, with leader of the council Vikki Slade saying that they would consider a ban unless their 10mph speed restriction was adhered to by cyclists, report the Bournemouth Echo.
She said: "We are asking that the Prom is used sensibly. There have been issues with cyclists going too fast and their being too many of them.
“We want to give it one more weekend to see if people can behave fairly and responsibly and I have asked police to carry out a few more patrols in spots where people have been cycling in groups and cycling too fast.
“It’s frightening for people if you are cycling along at high speed and there have been accidents. I don’t want to have to take cyclists off the Prom.”
A life.
(joking, OK?)
— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) May 19, 2020
Yesterday's live blog was dominated by the news that Strava is putting a number of features behind a paywall, so we asked Twitter if they had any alternative recommendations. Looks like Mr Boulting has answered that question once and for all...
💵 El diario @lequipe publica el salario anual de los ciclistas mejor pagados:
1️⃣ Sagan 5M€🇸🇰
2️⃣ Froome 4’5M€🇬🇧
3️⃣ Thomas 3’5M€🇬🇧
4️⃣ Bernal 2’7M€🇨🇴
5️⃣ Aru 2’6M€🇮🇹
6️⃣ Kwiatkowski 2’5M€🇵🇱
7️⃣ Alaphilippe 2’3M€🇫🇷
8️⃣ Valverde 2’2M€🇪🇸
9️⃣ Nibali 2’1M€🇮🇹
1️⃣0️⃣ Carapaz 2’1M€🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/LNNg5xGSCn— COPEdaleando (@Copedaleando) May 19, 2020
L'Equipe's round-up revealed that Peter Sagan is the highest earner, raking in €5 million a year, with Chris Froome second on the list with €4.5 million and Geraint Thomas third on €3.5 million.