Welcome to your Monday live blog, brought to you by Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the road.cc team
Police bike theft unit disbanded: “…feeling is public do not care if their bikes get stolen”, Colombian Team Sky sponsorship looks “very unlikely”, Stravadown (again), Geraint Thomas’s cycling essentials, Copenhagen wheel spotted, Crap contraflows +more
All today’s news from the site and beyond as we start a new week…
Mon, Feb 18, 2019 16:32
SUMMARY
18 February 2019, 16:32
Weekend catch-up - this weekend we were mostly talking about...
18 February 2019, 16:32
Despite #stravadown there were still plenty of impressive uploads yesterday
And while lots of us were unable to humble-brag quite so effectively yesterday, plenty of (presumably not Garmin or Android-using) pros and famous faces were out in force to rub salt into the wounds – Andre Greipel uploaded his data from a 100 mile stage from the Tour of Oman, cyclists-turned-triathlete Cameron Wurf simply did 30 miles of ‘TT touring‘ (perhaps trying to emulate his friend Chris Froome’s 116 mile gravel ride on a Pinarello Bolide) and Romain Bardet bagged a KOM during a 95 mile epic through the South of France. We were most impressed by Sir Dave Brailsford’s efforts though (check out the pic above and the link here), consisting of a 56 mile ride in Colombia which took in the infamous Medellin to Las Palmas climb, with an average power of 229 watts and average speed of 19.7mph. It’s pretty impressive for what will be Brailsford’s downtime as he’s out managing his team for the Tour Colombia 2.1 – check out this article where Brailsford reveals the secrets of his own training, which include a mostly low carb diet and riding at a low cadence to build strength in winter.
18 February 2019, 16:32
Beijing handcycling and rowing Paralympic champion now targeting skiing
Rachel Morris MBE has told the BBC that next on her list for more Paralympic glory in Tokyo 2020 is Nordic Skiing, and the 39-year-old will become the first woman to represent Great Britain at the World Para Nordic Skiing Championship in Canada on Sunday. She said: “I’ve always wanted to do a winter sport and the opportunity just came along,”
Morris won gold in the handcycling time trial at Beijing 2008, and won bronze in the road race at London 2012.
18 February 2019, 16:32
Something felt missing from yesterday?
Here are directions for how to manually export your activity from Garmin to Strava: https://t.co/TWK2qnBnYU
— Strava Support (@StravaSupport) February 16, 2019
Well for lots of cyclists, runners, Nordic skiers or whatever people use Strava for nowadays, a whole day’s effort was virtually lost as the ‘social network for athletes’ was failing to upload activities. The saying goes if it’s not on Strava then it didn’t happen’, and it mostly seemed not to be happening for those syncing to Strava from a Garmin GPS cycle computer/watch or Android devices from having a peruse of the social media anger generated on other platforms yesterday. Strava Support were busy directing people to their manual upload instructions, a process that will now feel convoluted in the age of instant Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity. How did you cope, were you forced into reverting to the archaic method of plugging your device into a computer, or were you happy to keep your ride to yourself on this occasion? Do let us know your tales of woe in the comments, but for now here’s a selection of our favourite overreactions…
The sun’s out and basically all of the UK have gone outside and broke #strava
— Paul David Chambers (@MannersCost) February 17, 2019
When @Strava goes down on a Sunday pic.twitter.com/9q8I2hPI8Q
— Katie Mann (@realKatieMann) February 17, 2019
Crisis across the UK. Emergence of swarms of fair weather riders leads to @Strava crash and the horror of lost activities.
— Lancashire Road Club (@LancsRC) February 17, 2019
When you want to show off about your first ever 10k and Strava is down pic.twitter.com/FjBzCyMoPo
— Aimi Brookes (@Littlegingerbud) February 17, 2019
#strava is down! Can’t gloat without evidence! pic.twitter.com/nHZv46uqBb
— Kam Birring (@kambirring) February 17, 2019
18 February 2019, 16:32
The essentials according to G
Geraint Thomas now scribes for GQ magazine (a bit of a climbdown from when he landed a couple of road.cc columns back in the day of course) and has been informing their presumably less bike-orientated readership what they absolutely need to start out. His top must-have is a decent pair of padded shorts and a breathable waterproof, while he ranks glasses and helmets as slightly lower in importance in terms of finding something absolutely perfect. Puncture repair kit also features, and he recommends practising clipping in and out of cleats away from the traffic to start with to avoid comical topplings over. Brakes, tyre pressure and a well lubed chain are his three big essentials check before heading out for a ride. Read the full column here.
18 February 2019, 16:32
Brailsford says Colombia sponsorship "very unlikely" for Team Sky
Speaking to Marca, Brailsford said that any sponsorship agreement between his team and the nation of Colombia was “very unlikely” despite recent developments. Brailsford met with the Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez and a representative of the oil company Ecopetrol last week, as we reported on Friday.
The Marca report suggests that guerrilla groups sabotaging Ecopetrol pipelines recently has affected their finances, while the Colombian government would be unlikely to invest so much money in a single sport despite despite the country experiencing a cycling boom. Sky’s new recruit Ivan Sosa came second in the Tour Colombia 2.1 which concluded at the weekend, and they already have a potential Colombian star of the future in 22-year-old Egan Bernal. Despite these most recent comments, Brailsford did say it’s only a mater of time before there’s a Colombian-backed World Tour team.
18 February 2019, 16:32
Our story today on a dodgy contraflow cycle lane got you talking ...
Here are a couple that got shared on Twitter – and here is our original story.
Bike lanes of Belfast. This is Amelia St’s taxi parking *cough* bicycle contra flow lane. pic.twitter.com/QQcHkQYpNa
— Brian Shannon (@BrianShannon123) February 16, 2019
.#Leicester Granby Street ditto. pic.twitter.com/ij16t23fgR
— veloman (@veloman8) February 18, 2019
18 February 2019, 16:32
La Passione launch Livery collection of PSN jerseys
The Italians have launched their second line of PSN jerseys, made with premium dyed stretch Italian fabric. Further details have been added including colour inserts on the sleeves, reflective logos an piping along the back pockets. They’ve also released new Zenith, Magenta and Forest sock colours to match the new jerseys. See the full range on the La Passione website here.
18 February 2019, 16:32
Connor Swift gets custom National Champ version of the Genesis Zero SL Disc
Swift’s new ride looks very tasty indeed, with Dura-Ace disc brake deep rims, a Union Jack print on the chainstays, fork and seat tube and of course, a super slammed and extra-long stem. He’s still using a rim brake custom Genesis Zero SL from 2018, but wanted the disc option too it seems.
18 February 2019, 16:32
British Transport police is disbanding its bike crime unit in London and the SE to focus on violent crime
British Transport Police (BTP) will reportedly shut down a unit dedicated to targeting bike thieves in London and the south east – so the force can concentrate on fighting violent crime instead.
A BTP source told The Sunday Times: “Cycle theft is no longer seen as a priority: the feeling is that the public do not care if their bikes get stolen.”
But the source added: “Officers on the team are angry. They see cycle theft as a major problem that will get worse without a dedicated team.”
Sam Jones, senior campaigns officer at Cycling UK, expressed disappointment at the decision.
He said: “Bicycles are not just playthings. For many people, they are the means to reach work or education, and for some, their profession is reliant on access to a bike.”
18 February 2019, 16:32
Copenhagen Wheel spotted in the wild in London
We’ve covered the Copenhagen Wheel – the rear-wheel device that is billed as turning any bike into an e-bike – a few times on road.cc over the years.
But we’d never seen one outside of a bike show until today when your correspondent, sitting in a cafe in west London, looked up and saw that tell-tale red disc on the rear wheel … and in the space of 10 seconds managed to run outside, get the camera on the phone ready, ask the rider’s permission, and snap this pic.
I only the Beast of Bodmin or Sasquatch were this obliging ….
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Jack is group editor across road.cc, off.road.cc and ebiketips, overseeing all three sites in the F-At Digital group to make sure everything’s up to scratch. He’s been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of road.cc including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town, and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master’s degree in print journalism, and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it’s a long story).
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Latest Comments
chrisonabike 10 minutes ago
Harm minimization - at least they're not driving...
Gm_Crop 8 hours ago
I'll counter that by saying the Bryton 750se I have drives me nuts at times. Inconsistantly picks up on routes created on Komoot and the app re-syncs every few seconds when trying to set up the device and sends me back to the home screen. The most infuriating one is that I turned live track on. Once. It now won't turn off and repeatedly flags up the live track is starting, and then disconnecting every few seconds whilst riding. I haven't timed it but it wouldn't suprise me if 10-20% of the time the the screen is covered with an error message. That's been about 6 weeks now. Other than that it's great :/
IanGlasgow 9 hours ago
RE: Police launch road safety operation... by clamping down on cyclists using footbridge Meanwhile in Glasgow, Police Scotland are riding their motorbikes over the pedestrian and cyclists only bridge. https://x.com/FietserGlasgow/status/2065106152917012523?s=20
Rendel Harris 10 hours ago
@Paul J Van Schip certainly seems a bit of a dick, but he's a European and multiple World Champion on the track, pretty sure you don't get there without having some talent in your legs.
Bill H 10 hours ago
Poor Vincent cannot get over the simple fact that given the choice people prefer dedicated cycling spaces, rather than pretending to be cars like vehicular cyclists.
pbunyon 10 hours ago
What is the point of the fancy air sensor if it can't account for changing weather conditions?? If all you care about is a delayed approximation of aerodynamic watts in steady conditions, you don't need any special sensors for that. Just your speed on a decently flat course is enough to approximate rolling resistance and drivetrain losses. And the rest must be aero. If you assume a less aero body position at the same watts, your speed will drop while rolling resistance also drops, which means approximated aero watts goes up. And that's enough to demonstrate what you've shown in your testing protocol ("I sat upright and the number went up a little while later").
chrisonabike 11 hours ago
Your correction is accurate - it's almost always been "the (lack of) thought that (doesn't) count". "Massive" - less than a billion a year spent on active travel (trying to catch up / building a network across the entire country) Not massive - 6 billion every year (2026-2030) spent on road *maintenance* of existing "already built, goes everywhere, very convenient" road network for inactive travel Ultimately the reason "cycle infra" is *needed* is those unbelievably colossal amounts spent every year (and for more than a century now) on making mass motoring not just viable but apparently the "best choice" for most journeys. As the Dutch and others have shown, the majority of people *are* prepared to cycle and even mix with very light, slow local motor traffic *if* cycling is also made safe and convenient for the whole of their journey (including secure parking at both ends). (The history of the financial drivers of the current situation are a complex topic but note that while people complain about "crumbling roads" and underfunded motor infra - with some reason - by us continuing the fuel duty escalator freeze (for example) we're actually helping motorists pay *even less* for that activity / subsidising more of the cost of driving than ever.)
belugabob 11 hours ago
yes, but people will still object - which was my point.
Astralstroll 13 hours ago
So ' Priority of Road Users' and 1.5 metre clearance at 30mph has been been reduced to 'sharing'? NCN route 2 here in South Hams is an absolute scream with white vans, tractors and total idiots who refuse,or are totally incapable,to reverse on high Devon banked lanes ...means you have to get off and pedal back to a passing place....could be at that all day...so I don't bother...
Mr Anderson 14 hours ago
@MaxiMinimalist Agreed. The big problem I see now is today's parents grew up being driven to their schools, and therefore, see private motor vehicles as the only viable form of transport. The vast majority of UK infant and primary schools have a catchment area that is within easy walking distance from home to school. Yet, the traffic caused by pupils being driven to/from school is astonishing. Banishing the "School Run" should be a priority for all schools.
9 thoughts on “Police bike theft unit disbanded: “…feeling is public do not care if their bikes get stolen”, Colombian Team Sky sponsorship looks “very unlikely”, Stravadown (again), Geraint Thomas’s cycling essentials, Copenhagen wheel spotted, Crap contraflows +more”
For the avoidance of any
For the avoidance of any doubt: I’d care if my bike was stolen, and I’d be f-ing furious if I discovered that there was no chance of recovering it because the powers that be had decided to close a unit dedicated to that recovery…
(Yes, I know most forces don’t even have such a dedicated team; that makes it even more stupid that btp are closing theirs)
There’s a difference between
There’s a difference between not caring about your bike being stolen and believing that, after many years of ineptitude, the police and courts are so fucking useless that there’s no point reporting it.
I did actually experience the rare joy of having a stolen bike recovered, albeit with many hundreds of pounds worth of damage. The thief went to court, was found guilty and ordered to pay me back £2 a week, which he never did. I was told he didn’t pay his fine either.
A vlogger now based in
A vlogger now based in Bristol used the Copenhagen wheel.
Connor Swift’s Genesis was painted in Bristol too.
https://www.instagram.com/businessasusual.cc/p/BuCU6tbgSxq/
I’d be gutted if I bought a
I’d be gutted if I bought a copy of GQ on the back of that Thomas column
I’ve had 2 bikes stolen and
I’ve had 2 bikes stolen and reported them both and about all the local police do is check if they’ve been taken to the local cash converters or equivalent, they then contact you a couple of times to say they’ve made no progress and then it gets put on file and nothing more done
I’ve had 2 bikes stolen and
I’ve had 2 bikes stolen and reported them both and about all the local police do is check if they’ve been taken to the local cash converters or equivalent, they then contact you a couple of times to say they’ve made no progress and then it gets put on file and nothing more done
You covered a handcycling
You covered a handcycling item…?
You remembered we exist!? Nobody remembers we exist, holy shit.
Can we see more mention in your general guides to things going forward, as well as remembering to mention, when covering a lot of the crap off kickstarter, much of which very much deserves a mocking, what might seem useless to most people is often actually really good for us lot?
Bike theft in France is over
Bike theft in France is over half a million per annum and that’s the reported ones, it was one of the reasons put forward for the proposal to register bikes, ludicrous that it was.
I’ve been lucky I suppose, not had a bike stolen since the mid 80s but mater had her bike pinched (an xmas present from me) whilst locked up to a drain pipe outside the care home she was volunteering at. The bastards basically ripped the drain pipe off the wall of the care home building so they could steal it, pointless reporting it to police because there’s two hope’s of them doing anything and like the chances of getting the bike bike one of those Hope’s died a long while ago.
One upside is that police are looking into violent crime, so that will be the thousands of violent crimes against people on bikes every day right? Yeah thought not you weak as piss tossers!
The British Transport Police
The British Transport Police are lying through their teeth. They are disbanding the bike theft unit for the same reason that the Met suddenly developed a belief that foxes have opposable thumbs and skill in the use of a scalpel – not to mention the ability to arrange cat corpses in a manner designed to cause maximum upset. That reason is money.