The two-time track cycling Olympic gold medallist turned jockey has kept a lower profile as of late, and in one of her latest Instagram posts says that she rarely gets recognised nowadays: "I think I am quite nondescript....which is no bad thing. It allows me to be a chameleon which I enjoy", she says.
Pendleton also says that when out riding her bike on the road, some males don't appear to take it too well when she overtakes them:
"If I’m out about on my road bike and I overtake a man for example .... I will hear a rapid crunching gears as they try to “make amends for it” occasionally combined with a mumbling of “I must of been daydreaming...like they need an excuse!” Usually followed with a pedal mashing (usually short lived) stomp back past me.
"It doesn’t bother me I think it’s funny. I’ve always been underestimated because of the way I look....one day I want to be intimidating.....but for now this is what I look like, a self portrait."
In a post from yesterday, Pendleton also let her Insta followers in on her familiar-sounding lockdown routine: "I get up, drink coffee, eat porridge, train and then faff about the house, making more mess to try and make less, do gardening, admin, housework, DIY...days punctuated only by food not time. Trying to keep busy and resist snacking.....or get lured back into trying (one more time) to make a kickass sourdough!"
Today would have been the finish of the 103rd Giro d’Italia in Milano. The winner would have received this exact jersey, the only difference being the team logo in the window on the front. Shop now https://t.co/WkVXWiPJVY#castellicycling@CastelliCyclingpic.twitter.com/9l1y9bn19w
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 31, 2020
Yesterday would have been the final day of the 103rd Giro d'Italia, which hasn't yet happened for obvious reasons... and now you can now buy an exact replica of the pink jersey that the General Classification winner would have been proudly wearing on the podium. It comes in the high-end 'Race' or more wallet-friendly 'Competizione' flavours, priced at £130 and £87 respectively on Castelli's website.
All being well, the rearranged Giro will take place between 3rd-25th October.
Numerous people have commented on Leicestershire Live's coverage of the incident and court report that 37-year-old Aaron Baxter's sentence appeared to be extremely lenient, after he was given an eight month suspended jail term and a 12 month driving ban for aggravated vehicle taking, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving without a licence or insurance. Baxter had a previous conviction for driving without insurance in 2015, and didn't reapply for his licence.
Baxter hit the 22-year-old victim on 19th August last year as he attempted to overtake another vehicle, and failed to spot the cyclist indicating to turn right as he pulled back in. The cyclist was knocked off his bike and was sent into a wall on Narborough Road South in Leicester, after Baxter hit him at around 29mph. He suffered what were described as horrific injuries, including a bleed on the brain, a broken eye socket and damage to both knees. He was placed in an induced coma at the scene before being taken to hospital in Coventry, where he spent two weeks recovering. He then spent six more weeks in recovery at home, and suffered from stress and anxiety.
Father-of-six Baxter stopped at the scene but then drove off in the white transit van, saying he had to take his children 'somewhere'. He then returned - testing negative for alcohol - and it was learned that he had taken his father's van without permission for the journey.
During sentencing, Judge Dean said that the fact Baxter was the victim of an alleged knife attack that almost cost him his life in October last year - three months after his motoring offence - was "powerful mitigation", explaining: "I don't know whether the fact you were a victim of an unrelated knife attack in October has brought home to you how the cyclist must have felt as a consequence of your actions in August last year.
"There was more than momentary inattention - you didn't see him in time to avoid striking him.
"You accepted responsibility for what happened at the scene and expressed remorse.
"You've been punished by being the victim of an unrelated crime since this and are still affected by that and your life has been changed by the attack upon you as well."
A public service announcement from our own Jo Burt, who had to carry home someone's very expensive broken inner tube because they couldn't be bothered to do it themselves... it's not hard, is it?
‘You could have lost your life there, boy’ said the 4x4 driver to my 11 year old son on his bike. He was far left on the road, her car was so big it straddled across the lane. And she not only expected him to stop for her but then told him that she has nearly killed him.
— Jo Rigby (@Jo_Earlsfield) May 31, 2020
Earlsfield Labour Councillor Jo Rigby claimed that her son was told this by the driver of a 4x4, even though he was 'far left on the road'. She continued: "And on his own street. Which is 20 mph. And was built in 1895. Simply no room for these enormous vehicles."
Not her kid. She would have detached from it if she had of killed him. This is the anti-cyclist narrative and why we need the media to stop feeding it.
— Jo Rigby (@Jo_Earlsfield) May 31, 2020
She then says that anti-cycling narrative in the media is to blame for the driver's poor attitude.
For all the motorists that moan about being delayed by a minute or two before they can overtake a cyclist or horse rider...
Footage from a motorway, where there are no cyclists or horse riders.
The vast majority of delays are caused by motorists.pic.twitter.com/OnlSxUvTn1
— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) May 30, 2020
...and they cite this footage from a motorway at the weekend (curious since the country is supposed to be in lockdown) as to why it's not cyclists or horseriders that do 99.9% of the 'holding up'. While some questioned their use of a motorway traffic jam to illustrate the point, they say that it simply served to show that "the vast majority of queues are caused by motorists and their own actions.
We get numerous meaaages from drivers complaining they are ‘held up’ by cyclists or horse riders and make them late.
The vast majority of queues are caused by motorists and their own actions - a point illustrated well by a big queue on a motorway.— Roads Policing Unit (RPU) - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) May 30, 2020
Been carefully drawing up your list of six friends and relatives to meet up with in a park somewhere all weekend? Here's what you missed on road.cc...
Police escort group of four cyclists off Cheshire motorway
Nottingham cyclist hospitalised after axe attack
Manchester plans £10m bike hire scheme – says it's learned from Mobike failure
Primal launches Dominic Cummings eye test jersey
Police retrieved "five pieces of fingers" from the Humber Bridge after a cyclist fell off his bike
Cyclists to be allowed back into Richmond Park – but only at weekday commute times for now