We're kicking off Thursday with some road safety chat, everyone's favourite. Travis and Sigrid, the page that shares the adventures of... well, Travis and Sigrid, the viral sensations who we've also spoken to for features and a podcast episode in the past too. Sigrid, a Norwegian Forest cat, and her owner, Travis Nelson, have been taking the internet by storm over the last few years since Nelson decided to take her for a ride during Covid.
> Meet Travis the human and Sigrid the cat, the viral sensations who have just switched to an e-bike
While many of their videos include pleasantly surprised pedestrians and wholesome feline fun, the reality of cycling on UK roads means some end up like this...
"So much for hi-viz," was Travis's takeaway from this one, the rear-view showing the bright yellow hoodie he was wearing at the time. It looks like a classic 'sorry, mate, didn't see you' situation where the driver saw the car in front go, saw the Tesco van stopped, and continued without a look right at the imminently arriving pet and pedaller.
As a side note, Threads is a lot more enjoyable for reading comments and replies. As Travis pointed out underneath this, the same Twitter video "got 40k views and about 50 comments blaming me". Anyway, some more pleasing Travis & Sigrid content followed... including a demonstration of just how visible that hoodie should have been...
Our scroll on Threads also brought us this discussion started by rock_n_donuts, a graphic designer and cycling kit designer based in the UK.
"Is cycling getting too dangerous?" he asked. "I used to ride 200-300 miles a week and now I'm starting to prefer running more than cycling! last year got hit twice by cars [drivers] which is maybe why I'm getting biased on the matter but I've ridden for 14 years now."
The comments made for pretty depressing reading, numerous people making similar points and raising the standard of driving, near misses and worse as the reason why they've been put off riding on UK roads.
A selection of the replies:
"Bigger cars with more distracted drivers between phones and touch screen monitors, I think for sure it's not as safe. I try and do as much MTB and gravel as possible to make up for it."
"That’s why I ride MTB/gravel pretty much exclusively now. Used to do a 70km round trip commute but not keen on the road any more."
"In a word; Yes. Will I ever stop? No. Here's to 14 more good years in the saddle."
"The local area is particularly bad, we train and race all over the country and this region has the biggest number of road rage and near misses."
Has anyone here reduced their mileage due to the danger of British roads? Has gravel and MTB become more tempting? As ever, let us know your thoughts in the comments and we'll round up some on the blog later...
British Cycling's selection for the next weekend's UCI Cyclocross World Championships has sparked plenty of discussion due to the fact Great Britain will have zero representation in the elite women's race.
Not even Xan Crees, the newly crowned national champion, has been selected for the biggest event on the calendar.
We'll have a more in-depth look at this later today and we've contacted British Cycling for clarification about the selection process, but for now here's some of the reaction.
Former national champion on the road Brian Smith has called it a "very poor decision". He wrote on social media: "I know the sacrifices to become a national champion... I think it's a very poor decision by British Cycling not to allow newly crowned national women's elite champion Xan Crees to test herself against the best at the upcoming World Championships."
Tagging British Cycling's performance director, Smith continued: "Don't even mention budget. Send our national champion."
On Facebook, Crees's team Spectra Racing commented under British Cycling's selection announcement: "We are incredibly heartbroken to publicly see the news that our Xan Crees (the new national cyclocross champion) was not selected for the World Championships. We also feel the same for Anna Kay. Both deserved to go!
"Regardless of selection criteria, and whether either Xan or Anna met said criteria, which most cyclocross criteria is often times vague and elusive, the point and what should have been a factor in selection is *representation* in all age categories. Not just the elite women but also the U23 men.
"The UK's proximity to these World Championships (being in France) should have provided a perfect opportunity to really fly the GB flag with more than 2 riders in each men's race and only 3 in the junior women's. Where it is incredible to see the U23 women squad be the biggest, and there certainly is some incredible talent in that age category, we shouldn't have *just* 11 riders representing GB when we have some great talent!
"It should be more than just medals, it should be about providing lifetime opportunities because unless BC are going to invest Olympic medal funding into cyclocross, the criteria can't just be about medals."
We'll have more on this story later...
Steve's Bike Shop, an Altadena cycle shop that has served the cycling community for over 40 years, burned down during the LA fires — a GoFundMe campaign now being launched to support its owner who, along with his sons, had been fighting fires elsewhere and "ignored their own interests and safety in order to help save other people's homes".
The fundraiser states: "They saved other business owners' homes and structures under HORRIFIC high wind and heat conditions. Steve never thought of his own business. Only other people and their property.
"Due to the fire, he lost his entire bike shop. Tools, inventory, and the building he rented. In exchange he fought to save the community he cares deeply about. I worry about his financial future after this loss and am asking for help. It is something he would NEVER do for himself. That is why I am asking for him.
"My name is Kelsey Chapman and I've had the pleasure of being his mechanic for the past 11 years. He is more than my boss, but a mentor and a best friend.
Please help me help Steve. Altadena's original bike shop needs to stay in our community. We are far stronger with Steve here."
More than $15,200 has been donated at the time of writing and all the details can be found at GoFundMe.
Javier Romo wasn't a name too many had on their lips coming into the Tour Down Under, but the Spanish rider earned Movistar their first victory of the 2025 season with a perfectly timed late attack on stage three.
Despite some desperate last-ditch pulling in the heavily reduced front group, Romo held on impressively and takes the race lead too. Behind, it was Jhonatan Narváez in his new UAE Team Emirates colours who was the fastest from the bunch; while a rider who left UAE this winter, Finn Fisher-Black, was third.
It all sets the rest of the week up nicely, a host of talented riders, including Jay Vine, Magnus Sheffield, Chris Harper, Luke Plapp, Juan Pedro López, Sergio Higuita, Bauke Mollema, and British pair Oscar Onley and Thomas Gloag all 15 seconds down on GC. Defending champ, Welsh rider Stevie Williams, has work to do having slipped into the second group on the day and now finds himself 35 seconds back on GC.
In the same letter they also refer to EAPCs as Electrically Assisted Peddle Cycles, so there's that too... now those pesky e-bikes are selling goods up and down the country as well as being a menace. Disgraceful.