11 things we've learned this week

1.Getting kids saddled up is all very well, but other considerations need to be made to have the desired effect

Cycling UK have said that getting more children cycling to school should be a public health priority after the Millennium Cohort Study highlighted a ‘stark’ increase in the proportion of children who are overweight or obese between the ages of seven and 11. The BBC reported that the study of nearly 12,000 children found 25 per cent were overweight or obese at age seven, rising to 35 per cent at 11. It's a good idea, but perhaps needs to go hand-in-hand with improving kids' diets amongst other lifestyle choices. 
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2. 903 million kilometres and counting; and that's just on Strava

​Research by Strava confirms coffee and cake is the UK cyclist’s treats of choice, helping riders clock up a collective 903 million kilometres on the social network in the year to October, with London’s Regent’s Park hosting the most popular segment, followed by Herne Hill Velodrome. If only we'd remember to upload all our rides, it might have tipped over the billion mark... honest! 
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3. A bad week for buses 

This happened to my good friend (a doctor) today on Camberwell New Road. The No 63 went straight into her bike as she was waiting at a red light. Lovely pedestrians helped and she’s ok apart from a twinge. Think @TfL should pay? #cycling #london pic.twitter.com/XvFwg945HH

— Alix Culbertson (@alixculbertson) December 6, 2017

Our Thursday live blog exploded into life after we posted this tweet depicting a catastrophic-looking bash from a London bus, and another article based around the close-pass experiences of a Devon cyclist also contained far too many close shaves involving public transport, plus this bus that ran a red light. Thankfully the rider who took the shunt from the bus in London emerged largely unscathed, and we presume a new bike will be on its way to her soon courtesy of TFL...
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4. Recycling gear is the way forward

Not just because we can make a pun out of it, but it's a bloody good idea too - a Bristol-based sportswear company, GRN, is manufacturing cycling jerseys made from plastic bottles, and they were also invited to attend an event at Downing Street last week to celebrate Small Business Saturday. Their website states that the UK alone produces 14.5bn waste plastic bottles a year and that recycling a tonne of them will save 1.5 tonnes of CO2. We wish them the best of luck. 
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5. Wiggo's not off the hook in the eyes of the public

...or with road.cc readers at least, because he seems to be with Brian Cookson. The ex-UCI President said that Sir Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky and the sport as a whole should have their reputations “reinstated” in the wake of UK Anti-Doping’s failure to bring charges relating to the now infamous Jiffy bag delivered to the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné. Looking at our comments section, a lot of you thought otherwise...   
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6. Not eggsactly what you expect to happen on your commute...

Poultry puns aside, the story of how a former British Lions rugby player who now hosts a show on BBC Radio Scotland was pelted with eggs by a car passenger as he cycled home from work in Glasgow yesterday could have ended up a lot worse. Let's hope the authorities poach the culprits...  
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7. Cycling isn't just fun, it could save lives

Providing less incidents happen like the one involving the badly behaved buses mentioned above of course, Sustrans say that if government targets for walking and cycling were met in England and Scotland, it would prevent more than 13,000 premature deaths from air pollution and result in £9.31bn in benefits to the public purse over a ten-year period. A good reason to get on yer bike! 
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8. Faith in humanity (sort of) restored... 

A ghost bike installed on a road in Northern Ireland where a cyclist was killed earlier this year which was stolen at the weekend has been found after an appeal on Facebook. Whether the culprits had a brief moment of humanity or if someone confronted them and claimed it back, it's something positive out of what was a tragic incident in the first place. 
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9. These potential new laws sound promising, but there's no guarantee they will be enforced

A report published today by the London Assembly’s Transport Committee says that cyclists should be allowed to turn left at traffic lights when they are on red, and has also urged Transport for London (TfL) to trial 20mph speed limits on main roads and at busy junctions in outer London to protect vulnerable road users. It sounds sensible enough, but have you seen many cars sticking to 20mph limits? Us neither...
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10. This record will probably be fixed for a while 

A former US Marine has set a new world record by riding 415 miles in 24 hours on a fixed wheel bike – and he’s now aiming to take part in next year’s Race Across America. Rather him than us... 
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11. I think we've found the ideal button-pressing scenario in which a helmet debate will inevitably spring up

Just watch the video in the link, see what we mean, and then try to enjoy the rest of your weekend! 
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