Who'd have guessed it?
With work starting to improve safety at the most dangerous junction in London at Lambeth Bridge, thanks to the @tfl team for successfully moving the palm tree from the roundabout to its new home in nearby Pimlico. 🌴 pic.twitter.com/kH4jA6J8TS
— Will Norman (@willnorman) December 7, 2023
Versus the way the situation was portrayed by a certain national newspaper's website...
Right, yep. Not the hardest game of spot the difference, not that it stopped Conservative MP Nickie Aiken sharing the Mail's story and urging Transport for London to have a "rethink". Aiken was accused of "spreading lies" and of neglecting her "position of responsibility" by failing to focus on the safety of cyclists in the city, to "score political points".
Thankfully, Will Norman was on hand last week too...
Think it might be high time to update our old-favourite, the '10 of the most hysterical anti-cycling Daily Mail headlines' feature...
Breaking: Car Culture in Liverpool pic.twitter.com/JbRSrKOgMG
— Cllr Ed Lamb (@edwardlamb) December 7, 2023
Thankfully, no injuries reported from this...
Not necesarily news I expected to be writing today, but here we are...
Boots and Raleigh have teamed up to sell exclusive gift sets from the iconic British bicycle brand in the run up to Christmas. Because who doesn't want to wake up to Raleigh-branded body wash? Beats Lynx Africa every time...
They're also selling the obligatory mug x socks combo, and a gloves gift set. That poor pedalling Santa we featured earlier is going to be rushed off his feet with all the trips to Boots required when these hit the Christmas lists. In fairness, give me anything Raleigh branded over the generic 'I like cycling' genre of gifts (much of which forms the backbone of inspiration for Jo's now-famous gift guide)...
> Don't buy me this! Gifts not to buy for cyclists this Christmas to avoid a festive faux pas
Raleigh and Boots say the sets have been "meticulously crafted to provide a combination of retro style, and practicality". Oh, but if you want to be a really popular gift giver, skip the Boots trip and just get me one of these... anyone... please... okay, I'll settle for the socks...
> Back to the future: Raleigh relaunches iconic Chopper (again)
Comments section time.
ktache makes the point that it's funny which trees being 'cut down' (and those not even being cut down, just relocated) attracts certain sections of the press' attention... "Just wait until the Mail hears how many trees have to be cut down for any road junction 'improvements' let alone any new roads."
Interestingly, as Surreyrider points out, not so much frothing fury "about the number of trees cut down for the Wisley junction 'improvements' in Surrey".
Brooksby might have predicted the next twist in the tale... how long until the 'EXCLUSIVE' suggests it's actually a plastic remake? Don't give them ideas...
Extra kudos to chrisonatrike for the reference to a very good song by a very good band. A fake Chinese rubber plant, perhaps?
Vasilis Anastopoulos believes in Mark Cavendish. That much should already be obvious considering the Greek coach oversaw the Manx Missile's return to the top of the sport, four-stage haul at the 2021 Tour, and has since left Soudal Quick-Step to reunite with his star pupil at Astana.
Speaking to Portuguese Cycling Magazine, Anastopoulos responded emphatically to the question of is it realistic to believe Cavendish can win a 35th Tour stage win next year and overtake Eddy Merckx's record? "Yes," the coach replied instantly.
"Mark is a great champion and a real fighter. If he didn't like it anymore, he would have stopped a long time ago. That is also why we have recruited certain riders, in order to build the best sprint train. Mørkøv, Ballerini and Cees Bol are good and experienced riders, who can drop Mark in the last meters of a sprint. Then it is up to Mark to complete it.
"Mark had a very good level last year and we hope to make a little bit of progress so that it is enough. In the Tour stage in which he crossed the line in second place, he suffered a mechanical problem. Without mechanical failure he could have won, I'm sure.
"The stages in the coming Tour are very tough and it is therefore important that Mark is able to survive the longer climbs and days. And then at the end I still have the right freshness and energy to be able to sprint."
No need to wait until 2025 to see a Rockstar 💥 pic.twitter.com/haryJZXaee
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) December 6, 2023
Presumably rated 18+ purely for Mr Lefevere's 'full on' newspaper appraisals...
And the hitman of the rival gang?
Welcome to Giro City 🌴🌆#Giro#GirodItalia#GTApic.twitter.com/nT2rzDtcJg
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) December 7, 2023
Few days late to this, but bloody hell...
My son is bonkers/awesome/crazy?! Insert own word, personally I think he is crazy sitting on Zwift for that long. He started at 5am and finished at 5pm. #cycling@UKCycleChatpic.twitter.com/OpCfePmyJR
— Leah Hunting (@whoopydeedoo) December 3, 2023
And to think I get bored usually around the six-minute mark of riding indoors...
It's not Alec's first live blog appearance, that came after he completed a 340km solo ride at an average speed of 27km/h around Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire (because why not?)...
Found him 🎅 pic.twitter.com/xANP9vfX8E
— Dan Walker (@mrdanwalker) December 6, 2023
With the price of looking after nine reindeer it looks like the main man has opted for a simpler, economical mode of transport this Christmas. It helps burn off the mince pies too, I guess...
One commenter hoped he's on more than £38,000 per year, while someone else questioned if the reindeer are striking over pay and conditions. 'We do all the work and just get a few carrots chucked at us while you get drunk, eat all the good scran, and take all the glory for lobbing a few presents down chimneys...'
As a result, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer is out and a HumanForest hire bike is in. Missing a trick not going for a Santa-nder Cycle, but what do I know?