Live blog: POLL: do you ride in ice and snow? + “grabbed” cyclist wins $2.25m from NYPD, sledging, crap parking, active travel, youngest round the world cyclist, e-bike factory catches fire (again), win an Elite turbo trainer + more

Hi @CambsWater, is it your policy for your operatives to block a major cycle route? They could easily park round the corner. No work is taking place on the route itself. Can you please phone them and tell them to move it? Cc @CambsCC pic.twitter.com/oJ0YW6sk1K

— Camb. Cycling Cam. (@camcycle) January 22, 2019

This time Cambridge Water – although they replied swiftly to tell their workforce to move the van sharpish on this occasion. 

New album dropping next week. Watch this space for tour dates… pic.twitter.com/sD7is1Q2MP

— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) January 23, 2019

We’re thinking gangster rap? 

Registration for the UK’s biggest #cycling, #walking & #scooting challenge is officially open. Sign up to the #BigPedal today, backed by @angellicabell https://t.co/PpjKz2MIPb pic.twitter.com/X08J3aQmPj

— Sustrans (@sustrans) January 22, 2019

Organised by Sustrans and taking place between the 25th March and 5th April, the Big Pedal will encourage young people from across the UK to travel by bike, foot or scooter for their journey to and from school. Participating schools will compete to make the most journeys by bike, on foot or by scooter, and lots of schools will also be closing roads to motor vehicles outside theirs schools to limit traffic volumes and increase safety. Find out more here. 

 

 

 

 

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Ran into some sudden bike problems, but big thanks to @redbike in Edmonton I am back on the road and cruising. Getting close to home now!! @spokensport306 is organizing a fundraising ride for my return on Tuesday. Bundle up and come on out to ride with me the last 5km of my world tour, or come to the finish line for some hot chocolate and stories. link to the event in my bio. #bikepacking #kona #apidura #bikewander #cycling #bike #biking #aroundtheworld #spokensport #worldbybike #biketouring #konasutra #outdoorschool #warmshowers #travel

A post shared by B’yauling Toni (@byaulingtoni) on Jan 17, 2019 at 2:27pm PST

An 18-year-old from Canada is set to become the youngest person to ride round the world on a bike as he finishes his circumnavigation today.

B’yauling Toni (no typo, that’s definitely his name) set off from Saskatoon seven months ago, a week after finishing high school, reports cyclingmagazine.ca – and while he won’t break the record for the quickest circumnavigation of the world by bike, he will have been the youngest person to have done it.

He told the website: “I was surprised by the mental drain of the constant grind. Over a long period of time my body is tired but recovers but my, the mental struggle tends to just pile. Things become hard to remember and my mind feels fuzzy and overwhelmed.

There are times when I was struggling so much that I wondered why I was putting myself through this, but I don’t think I would ever quit. In my mind it is not really an option.”

Yes it’s been done in a quicker time, but not at a younger age… chapeau!

Using real footage from Hammer Series races in Norway, the Netherlands and Hong Kong, you can ride the course virtually on your home trainer using the Kinomap app and compete for the chance to win prizes. To enter, simply download the app and choose a Hammer Series team to start earning points. On 31st January one fan from each team will be randomly chosen in a draw and will win their chosen team’s jersey – you need to complete at least one activity to be in the draw. To compete for the Elite trainers, you have to complete a solo activity. 

All the info for entering and signing up is here. 

Well, it will be if you go and ride it today…

 

 

 

 

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ARENBERG / Our #VeloflexArenberg tubulars are dedicated to the Trouée of Arenberg, probably the most famous cobblestone road all over the world and one of the toughest and most spectacular stretches of road of the Paris-Roubaix. ・ Repost from @amisdeparisroubaix: ・ Snow day Alessandro Malti #cycling #parisroubaix #arenberg

A post shared by Veloflex Tires (@veloflex.it) on Jan 23, 2019 at 4:01am PST

The badass bikepacking 18-year-old B’Yauling Toni, who became the youngest person to ride around the world yesterday, is shown here cycling through treacherous Canadian conditions to make it to the finish line. This photo is from a Facebook event page from a local bike shop who organised a procession to welcome him back. Toni was also raising money for Canada’s Outdoor School Program, which gives kids across the country the chance to take canoeing, camping, backpacking, cycling trips and more across the province of Skaskatchewan to benefit from outdoor learning as well as standard academic education. He was in the Outdoor School Program in 2016 and found it so life-changing, it inspired him to raise funds for the organisation so they can continue their good work : “The passion for learning Outdoor School sparked in students left me questioning our formal education system. I believe that this program should be available for anybody, and the Outdoor School Alumni Association works to make this possible by helping to cover tuition and supply gear to students in need”, says B’yauling. 

He’s already raised $12,000 on the GoFundMe page, click here to donate some more. 

…no, not that Stella, this one is a Dutch e-bike brand! And this time a fire broke out at their showroom which involved 36 bikes and 80 batteries, according to forbes.com. Thankfully the damage was minimal this time around after a speedy response from local fire crews, however in July last year 300 residents living close by to the factory in Nunspeet had to be evacuated overnight after a Stella warehouse caught fire. At the time the local mayor described it as a “wake-up call”: “The risks caused by this fire caught us by surprise. We need to work on this and find out the risks which come with the storage of e-bike batteries. I also call for a national campaign to register where these batteries are stored in what quantities.”
One of Stella’s delivery vans carrying e-bikes also went up in flames in November and had to be destroyed. 

It’s not the first time e-bikes on fire has been making the news recently, after a Pinarello retrofitted with a motor system blew up earlier this month due to a faulty battery – the Australian escaped without serious injuries. 

Featuring Sustrans representatives, MP’s and active travel advocates, the inquiry sought to get Britain on their bikes and on foot and discussed ways of providing further investment. Click the link here to watch it on the Parliament Live TV website. 

Today our own @ReWhite14 is joining @WeAreCyclingUK & @livingstreets to provide evidence to the House of Commons Transport Committee inquiry into Active Travel. We urge a significant increase in investment in #walking and #cycling. pic.twitter.com/DZ5xIo9vCp

— Sustrans (@sustrans) January 23, 2019

“Are you serious?” said this person who witnessed me cycling, in the dark, in the snow, one handed, with a camera in my free hand. Well yes, filming for my blog is dead serious! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/kQMxBcpOvX

— Mark Wagenbuur (@BicycleDutch) January 22, 2019

It looks like this guy would, much to the bemusement of the passing pedestrian… although to be fair there’s plenty round here that would do the same even down to shooting a bit of video at the same time. 

The New York Post reports that injured cyclist Charles Puccio, 62, has been awarded almost half of the $5 million he sued the NYPD for after alleging that Detective Noel Lawrence grabbed him, causing him to swerve and crash. Detective Lawrence denied the charge, but the judge ruled in favour of Puccio. Why he was grabbed is unclear, but he was left with foot, back and knee injuries that required hospital treatment. 

Staying with today’s theme here’s a wintry blast from the road.cc archive from back in the days (Jan 2010 to be precise) when if it snowed outside* the road.cc team went sledging in the park for the afternoon well, except for poor old Simon in London. As you can see from the state of the sledge he possibly didn’t get the short straw. Here’s a flavour of Dave’s review…
A mixed bag, this one. On the one hand we found it in the park last time it was snowing, and it’s been waiting in the cupboard ever since, so it’s not like we had to fork out our hard-earned or anything. For general going downhill duties it put up with plenty of runs and though it wasn’t the fastest sledge on the hill, it was quick enough for some laughs.

You can read the full review here – worth it for the comments including one from OldRidgeback – who commented on the blog earlier. 

 *which it didn’t do again for another 8 years

…No, that’s not a warning about yellow ice (which sounds potentially unpleasant) but a yellow – be alert – warning about ice on untreated roads, pavements and cycle paths across a large swathe of the UK. The lack of gritting of cycle paths in many parts of the country has long been a bone of contention for cyclists. The warning is in effect from 18:00 tonight until 11:00 tomorrow morning. So however you may be travelling between now and then take care. You can read the full warning here on the Met Office website.