🚴LISTEN: Meet the #Worcestershire children dumping the school bus for pedal power! Pupils in #Evesham are powering themselves home from school in a ‘Bicycle Bus’ 🚌 🚲👏👏👏 https://t.co/yc8M0QKv9P
— BBC Hereford & Worcester (@bbchw) January 17, 2022
A community group in Evesham has embraced a green, healthy version of the school run – a ten-seater ‘bicycle bus’.
Evesham Adventure Playground Association bought the bike bus from a Dutch company, and it has been used since Christmas to transport children from three different schools to their after-school club. The passenger-powered bike, which will be used by other community organisations when needed, replaces the group’s old nine-seater minibus.
"We thought instead of using the diesel miles, let's have a pedal mile," the association’s Dave Bowker said.
The community group’s main aim is to help cut pollution in the town and to encourage schoolchildren to be healthy. Though don’t worry – the new mean machine features a pedal-assist battery, so little Jimmy won’t have to push MVDP-esque watts on the last hill home…
Even Conor Dunne might struggle on a bike this big.
While the Irish ex-pro’s frames measured at a nosebleed-inducing 62cm, they pale in comparison to this 7.41 metre monster designed by renowned bike builder Adam Zdanowicz and officially designated by Guinness World Records as the world’s “tallest rideable bicycle.”
Zdanowicz, who has built bikes for celebrities such as Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, constructed his record-breaking model from 30 damaged bikes which had been donated by a local primary school as part of their ‘Rubbish for Some, Treasure for Others’ project.
Adam described riding the bike as “a challenge and a great adventure”.
Impressive, though I’m not sure how useful it would be for cyclo-cross…
Yesterday we published a story about a particularly aggressive driver who took exception to a cyclist challenging him over his phone use behind the wheel – and then proceeded to try to ram the bike rider into oncoming traffic.
When a Twitter user defended the motorist by arguing that the cyclist “was in his blind spot”, Mat Burnham responded with this absolute cracker:
Drivers was on his fucking phone. EVERYWHERE was in his blind spot.
— Mat Burnham (@MatBurnham) January 18, 2022
Mic drop.
📣 BREAKING
Rebels from XRSA are today announcing they will perform road blocks to stop the Santos Festival of Cycling race and challenge the social license of festival sponsor @SantosLtd.
We are demanding that @EventsSA find a new naming rights sponsor for the #TourDownUnder. pic.twitter.com/nusyLlBKWu
— Extinction Rebellion South Australia (@XRSouthAus) January 17, 2022
The South Australia branch of Extinction Rebellion has announced that it plans to disrupt the upcoming Santos Festival of Cycling in protest against the event’s sponsor.
The group says they will put up road blocks to peacefully stop the men’s and women’s stage races, which will take place between 21 and 29 January. These races form part of the Santos Festival of Cycling, held for the second successive year in place of the elite-level Tour Down Under due to ongoing Covid restrictions.
Gas and oil producer Santos, which has sponsored the Tour Down Under since 2010, is one of Australia’s worst greenhouse gas emitting companies. Its status as the race’s naming rights sponsor has long been viewed as one of cycling’s most egregious forms of ‘greenwashing’.
Announcing their protest, Extinction Rebellion tweeted: “One of the world's worst carbon polluters, Santos continues to pursue massive oil and gas expansion in Australia and around the globe. Their actions will drive global emissions to tipping points from which there is no return. They must be stopped.”
“We understand that people will be frustrated by this action, but we cannot continue to give Santos our social consent,” said Anna Slynn, one of the group’s leaders. "We intend to stop the race safely. We are declaring our intention today so that race organisers are prepared for when this happens.”
For a mode of transport so intrinsically associated with green living, professional cycling’s environmental track record (spoiler – it’s not great) has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.
Growing pressure has been placed on teams and races to avoid sponsors intent on ‘greenwashing’ their earth-damaging activities by associating with an environmentally friendly activity such as riding a bike.
At the 2019 Tour de Yorkshire anti-fracking campaigners protested petrochemicals giant Ineos, the sponsor of a team, lest we forget, which wore a special rainforest rescue jersey at the 2011 Tour de France. In 2012 the Australian GreenEdge team, set up with the apparent aim of promoting green travel (the clue’s in the name), also came in for a lot of flak when it incongruously accepted mining company Orica as its title sponsor.
When asked last year about the race’s relationship with Santos for a Procycling article on the sport’s environmental impact, Events South Australia executive director Hitaf Rasheed said: “While none of our sponsors have any direct involvement in the organisation or running of [the Tour Down Under], we value these partnerships as they allow the race to continue to grow and elevate the event to a world-class offering.”
Today, 17 of our Israel Cycling Academy @FactorBikes were stolen from the team's truck near Girona, Spain. The frames are silver, red, and black as pictured below.
Please contact us if anyone has any information 🙏 pic.twitter.com/yKqkVg5jft
— Israel – Premier Tech / Israel Cycling Academy (@IsraelPremTech) January 17, 2022
Israel Cycling Academy announced yesterday that 17 of the team’s Factor bikes have been stolen during the squad’s training camp in Girona.
The UCI Continental team, which features British rider Mason Hollyman, acts as a development team for the top-level Israel-Premier Tech outfit, fronted by Chris Froome, Michael Woods and Jakob Fuglsang.
Bike thefts have become a worryingly common occurrence on the professional scene in recent years, with thieves recently targeting the Italian track team at October’s world championships, while Team BikeExchange had to rely on borrowed equipment to finish the Tour de l'Ardèche in September after their bikes were stolen before stage 5.
Ever dreamt of cycling from Italy to the West Midlands (what do you mean you haven't)? Well, Brooks England could make all your dreams come true.
The historic saddle manufacturer is running a three-week cycling adventure in late April this year from northern Italy to the historic factory near Birmingham where the brand was founded and where each Brooks England leather saddle is still produced today.
The riders will be following a set course which is aimed at highlighting aspects central to the Brooks brand, such as the traditions of handmade craftsmanship, wanton exploration, and unwavering authenticity.
This initial trip, which is meant to be the first in a series of such journeys, will welcome three riders from around Europe, each chosen through an online application process.
To commemorate the ride, each member will receive a unique saddle stamp in recognition of their effort.
Wanna be part of Brooks’ first ‘Roots Journey’? You can apply on their website.
Cycling nerds the country over were shouting in unison at their television sets at around 8.20pm last night. And no, it wasn’t because the BBC aired a repeat of last year’s SPOTY…
On last night’s episode of Only Connect – the best quiz on TV, by far – viewers may have immediately recognised four famous bike brands hidden in the connecting wall. Unfortunately, the quizzers had no clue what a Cervelo was, but at least one of them did recognise Raleigh.
Anyone else shouting "bike brands!" At the TV? #OnlyConnectpic.twitter.com/Jtvj4R4R7w
— Simon MacMichael (@simonmacmichael) January 17, 2022
The question setters also included Teide (the preferred altitude haunt for the pro peloton these days), no doubt as a bonus treat for us bike geeks.
It’s not the first time that cycling has been featured in this series of Only Connect. On an earlier episode the 1999 Tour de France was provided as an example of an event with no winner (the sport’s existential questioning aside).
Here’s another one that was included this year: What comes fourth in this sequence?
2: e.g. Nicolas Frantz
3: e.g. Greg LeMond
4: Chris Froome
Answers in the comments! First to answer correctly wins a knowing nod of appreciation from me (what more could you ask for?).
Most importantly, who would have buzzed in straight after Nicolas Frantz for a five pointer?
🚴 Tremendo accidente en la llegada de la Revancha de la Doble Bragado, la clásica ciclística del verano en Buenos Aires
😱 Bajo una lluvia torrencial, varios pedalistas cayeron en el sprint final
🏆 La carrera fue ganada por Agustín Martínez
📹 /valeenlozzia_03 (IG) pic.twitter.com/lyASmF7J79
— SportsCenter (@SC_ESPN) January 17, 2022
The Revancha de la Doble, a race held in the Argentinian city of Bragado, must have watched last year’s Paris-Roubaix or 2019’s sodden world championships in Yorkshire and thought “hold my beer”.
Because a short and sharp storm, which flooded towns and cities across the province of Buenos Aires, had an even more devastating effect on Sunday’s race, held for the first time since 2019, than the mud in the Arenberg forest or the saturated streets of Harrogate (though I was there in Harrogate that day, and I don’t think I’ve ever been completely warm since…).
Despite the commissaire’s decision to reduce the length of the race by an hour due to the harsh weather conditions, the finishing straight in Bragado remained completely flooded as the riders entered the final kilometre. In scenes reminiscent of a Cat 4 sprint finish, six riders fell in the melee and three were taken to hospital (although none were seriously injured). How the whole peloton didn’t go down, I have no idea.
Agustín Martínez, a former Argentinian U23 time trial champion, survived the chaos to triumph in the race’s fifteenth edition.
“It was an unexpected victory for me in this historic race, although it was a very unusual race with a lot of rain,” Martínez said after the race. Maybe he was just happy to still be upright after all that carnage…