If Frosties did cycling jerseys — pro team's tiger stripes set a new standard for garish cycling kits; "The obsession with MGIF is just bizarre"; Last Christmas I gave you...a £250 sculpture made of bike chains; Chopper Everesting + more on the live blog

Drumroll please... 

QuizMaker

> Cycling tech innovations that never took off: Bright ideas consigned to the cycling scrapheap, from Spinaci bars to shoe-based power meters

The notorious must get in front (MGIF) overtake is one well-known to anyone who's ridden a bike on the road for even a short length of time. We're talking about the overtake from another road user displaying a level of impatience that'll make you laugh, cry, or just give a worn-down shake of your head, apathetic at its frequency.

The MGIF overtake is normally accompanied by the road user responsible sitting at a traffic light or road junction just seconds later while the cyclist freewheels up behind, begging the question — why? Why bother? Why bother rushing an overtake only to 'save' a couple of seconds? I say 'save' in quotes because much of the time you'll end up at the exact same spot, at the exact same time as you would have done without the impatient overtake.

There's the context you probably already knew if you're a regular here. A MGIF overtake will often be accompanied by the inevitable aborted pass when the perpetrator realises they can't actually pull it off safely. Ahem...

The obsession with Must Get In Front is just bizarre, this person started an overtake on a speed bump and then had to abandon it because.
1. They didn't pay attention to how long the cargobike is
2. They didn't pay attention to the bikes width
3. I was indicating to turn right pic.twitter.com/xgqZgO80j0

— Cycling In Kilkenny 🚲 (@CyclingInKK) December 20, 2023

This video from Cycling in Kilkenny, a "person that walks, drives, cycles a bike and runs very long distances", was accompanied with a post questioning the logic of such manoeuvres.

"The obsession with Must Get In Front is just bizarre," they said. "This person started an overtake on a speed bump and then had to abandon it because. 1. They didn't pay attention to how long the cargo bike is 2. They didn't pay attention to the bikes width 3. I was indicating to turn right."

Elsewhere in Ireland...

Behind every impatient idiot you’ll find another. Cycling 2 abreast along the Douglas Road, first one overtakes only to hit the brakes and indicate/turn right. Second plays follow my leader and gets the hump withe everyone else for his own impatience pic.twitter.com/ltaTbBcZfY

— Righttobikeit 🇺🇦 (@righttobikeit) December 13, 2023

Another live blog classic of the genre...

> "The must get in front is just irresistible": Cyclist overtaken by driver who gets to sit in traffic two seconds sooner 

A 2020 study from the United States found that cyclists don't hold up drivers. Researchers from Portland State University’s Transportation, Technology & People Laboratory sought to look into the idea that motorists believe cyclists riding on the road hold them up, but found that: "Bicycles are not likely to lead to reduced passenger car travel speed", and "In most cases, the differences in speed were not significant from a practical standpoint."

The study was carried out on six streets in Portland, Oregon, and involved two scenarios – the first where a cyclist rode in front of a passenger car, the second where it was another car in front of a car. While "a few statistically significant differences" between those two scenarios were identified, "the actual speed differences were generally in the order of one mph or less".

Waiting a few seconds might just be that, a few seconds, and anyway... it'll save you looking like a wally sat waiting at the next red light when the road user rolls up next to you...

Preaching to the choir and all that, I know, anyone got any ideas of how to spread the MGIF gospel?

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town... and he's just done a three-day Everesting challenge on a Raleigh Chopper, riding 211km in the pissing rain, so just accept what's he's got you with a smile and a thank you, you ungrateful little....

Day one done ✅ It started soggy but we didn’t let that stop us! 🙌 Finished the day with just over 2000m of elevation in the bag…only 6848m to go until we reach the top of Everest! 😳Back at it tomorrow - please donate to help kids with cancer across the UK - thank you- Santa’s… pic.twitter.com/mf0HJnDY1a

— Cyclists Fighting Cancer (@CyclistsvCancer) December 19, 2023

The Cyclists Fighting Cancer team are back raising money for a great cause, "helping getting more children living with cancer to get pedalling and conquer their own mountain". The guys have set a £1,000 target for this Everesting challenge and are more than halfway there... there can be no doubt they've picked a proper epic effort worthy of support either.

Three days, three Santa suits, three Raleigh Choppers, 211km and hill repeats until 8,848m is ticked off. Those roast potatoes and pigs in blankets will be well-earned...

Day one yesterday saw the first 2,000m on the board... "It started soggy but we didn't let that stop us!" the team explained. "Finished the day with just over 2,000m of elevation in the bag…only 6,848m to go until we reach the top of Everest. Back at it tomorrow — please donate to help kids with cancer across the UK — thank you!"

The challenge comes after a 12-year hiatus for the CFC team, who in 2011 completed a coast to coast ride from Liverpool to Grimsby over two days. 160 miles, in Santa costumes of course... oh, and including a cheeky time trial up Snake Pass, because why not?

Cyclists Fighting Cancer has provided over 9,500 new bikes and specially adapted trikes to children living with cancer and their families throughout the UK since the charity began in 2005.

Check out the team's Just Giving page here for more information...