Welcome to Tuesday on the road.cc live blog with Simon MacMichael, Jack Sexty and the rest of the road.cc team.
29/01/2019, 18:16
Iljo Keisse apologises (sort of) for rubbing genitals against waitress
Deceuninck-Quick Step cyclist Iljo Keisse has apologised for an incident yesterday that has made headlines in which he allegedly rubbed his genitals against a waitress in Argentina as she posed for for a photo with the Belgian cyclist and his team mates.
We say "apologised" - but people replying to his tweet are unconvinced.
I want to apologize to everybody for the gesture during a photo taken this week. I didn’t want to offend anybody and I deeply regret it. I know I’ve made a mistake but I’m not a disrespectful person. I’m really sorry. @vueltasanjuanok
— Iljo Keisse (@IljoKeisse) January 29, 2019
29/01/2019, 16:46
Froome goes for a 116 mile ride, on gravel, on a TT bike…
Going back to his routes growing up on the dirt tracks around Kenya, Froome embarked on an impressive 5 and a half hour ride in Columbia ahead of Tour Columbia 2.1, his first UCI event of the season. Averaging 21.5mph with nearly 9000ft of climbing on the epic ride posted to Strava, Froome is seen riding his custom Pinarello Bolide over some pretty gnarly gravel tracks, where the aero gains of the bike might not exactly be offering him an advantage...
29/01/2019, 12:51
Peloton (the overpriced spin bike, not a group of cyclists) get Twitter rinsing over ads that show their bikes in inappropriate domestic locations
Sometimes I’ll move the Peloton bike into our gallery so I can spend time with my half gay husband while he reads Architectural Digest wearing combat boots pic.twitter.com/jdBWowR4z3
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
Peloton, who charge two grand for a stationary bike then make their customers pay £40 a month on top for Orwellian virtual spinning classes with shouty instructors, haven't had it easy since trying to get pally with the cycling crowd. A cringey ad campaign on TV and social media has generally been taken pretty badly by most of us who believe their pricing structure to be pretty ludicrous, while they also further alienated themselves by trying to sue YouTuber Shane Miller for calling a segment on his channel 'Digital Peloton News' - they claimed to have trademarked the word 'Peloton', which led to much anger and laughter at the audacity of it all in equal measure, and Peloton swiftly backed down.
I put the Peloton bike in the kitchen of our loft so I can get a workout and also cook the vegan three-bean tortilla soup recipe I downloaded from Goop. pic.twitter.com/GMj4YPu50r
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
Over the last 24 hours they've been gloriously sent up in a Twitter thread from an Arizonian calling himself Clue Heywood, who spotted Peloton ads always appear to show their spin bikes in grandiose and/or inappropriate locations in the condos, mansions and luxury apartments presumably owned by the majority of their well-heeled clientele. Peloton have done most of the work for him as almost every 21st century yuppie cliche is covered from their promo shots. There's also no sign of a fan anywhere, do rich people not have hygiene standards nowadays?
In the mornings, after my housekeeper meticulously makes my bed, I like to ride my Peloton bike in the window of my high rise and literally look down my nose at people. pic.twitter.com/4tCrIOVVA2
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
29/01/2019, 12:25
Rapha too expensive? Meet Raphp, its budget-friendly Chinese cousin...
The Chinese manufacturing industry has sometimes been known to take a liberal approach to trademarks - and it appears the familiarly-named 'Raphp' brand, spotted on aliexpress.com, might be pushing the boundaries of this liberalness. The jersey in the pic above is named 'RCC Raphp 2018 Top Pro Team Aero Cycling Jersey' and costs a mere $16.84. According to the product description it will (sic): "help the players even in the most adverse circumstances can maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity, and discharge sweat; which we believe will also help to achieve your best performance."
So, has someone in Rapha's production line been slipping the odd garment or two out the back door and used their creative license? Well the material on the Raphp jerseys are listed as 100% polyester if that's to be believed, whereas both Rapha's Brevit and RCC Classic are a blend of 64% poly and 36% merino wool - we reckon the latter two will probably be more effective at helping the players to discharge sweat, so do head over to rapha.cc if you want to shop for some more authentic wears. If anyone owns some Raphp and wants to share a short review, feel free to do so in the comments though!
29/01/2019, 12:15
Van? What van?
Somebody mentioned to us the concept of 'last mile hubs', where vans from out of town can bring goods in order to be distributed by bike in the urban centre.
Unfortunately nobody told us about the van part... pic.twitter.com/SnwbCkd0nh— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) January 29, 2019
You might have spotted Pedal Me on Dragon's Den at the weekend (find out how they got on by clicking through to yesterday's live blog here) - and they've been getting plenty of admiration on social media for laughing in the face of heavy goods vehicles with one of their expertly-loaded cargo e-bikes in this clip.
29/01/2019, 11:56
Hot forum topic: how much do you spend on bike security?
Big old motorbike locks, secure sheds, fancy locking quick releases... or, as some suggest, nothing at all because the bike lives in the house with you? Join the convo here.
29/01/2019, 11:48
We know what our answer is to today's top Twitter hashtag...
#ThingsIWouldBan Potholes!! pic.twitter.com/xe3cGsoyQg
— road.cc (@roadcc) January 29, 2019
Maybe Piers Morgan as well, but at least that can just be ignored...
29/01/2019, 09:48
NSW motorist who filmed himself driving on cycle path gets charged
A motorist in New South Wales who filmed himself as he drove along a cycle path as he hurled abuse at two cyclists riding side by side on the road has been charged with with using a mobile phone while driving, using offensive language and driving on the cycle path, reports 7 News.
Footage of the incident went viral on Facebook with 2 million views in 12 hours, as we reported on Sunday.
A new South Wales Police spokesperson confirmed that a man had handed himself in at Illawara Police Station. He is expected to appear in court at a later date.
29/01/2019, 09:31
Two thirds of women don’t feel confident cycling on the road, says British Cycling
New research from British Cycling shows that 64 per cent of women don’t feel confident cycling on the road with around two thirds of women also claiming that the behaviour of motorists and lack of infrastructure also makes them feel unsafe.
The results have been published as British Cycling relaunches its One in a Million campaign, which has already increased the number of women cycling regularly from 525,000 to more than 800,000.
Julie Harrington, British Cycling’s chief executive, said: “Aside from reaching our million women target we want to create a cultural shift which normalises cycling for everyone – so that an equal number of women to men are riding bikes in this country.
“Cycling is increasingly being understood as a fundamental part of the solution when it comes to issues of public health and air quality however change will not come unless people feel safe on the roads and we know this disproportionately affects women,” she added.