Welcome to Thursday’s live blog, with Jack Sexty, Simon MacMichael and the rest of the team.
Live blog: World Naked Bike Ride coming to Ipswich, Pokemon Go grandad has 22 smartphones on bike (video), Regent’s Park cyclists block driver on wrong side of road, Cav to miss Milan-San Remo squad, Team Ineos to face anti-fracking protests + more
All today’s news from the site and beyond…
Thu, Mar 21, 2019 16:30
SUMMARY
21 March 2019, 16:30
Going for a ride...
Modeling cycling attire. pic.twitter.com/d3FiHlCFRN
— You Had One Job (@_youhadonejob1) March 19, 2019
If you aren’t familiar with the ‘You Had One Job’ Twitter account, we reckon this might be their best find yet.
21 March 2019, 16:30
Scotsman Dean Nicholson adopts a cat on round-the-world bike ride
Hello kitty! Dean was cycling around the world when he came across an abandoned cat – and now they’re completing the trip together.
[Tap to expand] pic.twitter.com/KVMjxbt3rw
— STV News (@STVNews) March 20, 2019
While riding through Bosnia in late December Dean was chased by a cat on a hill desperate to be fed, and since then Nala hasn’t left his side. The pair are currently rolling through eastern Europe, and he’s now raising funds for animal welfare charities. If you want to donate Dean’s JustGiving page is here.
21 March 2019, 16:30
Anti-fracking campaigners say protests possible at Tour de Yorkshire and Road World Championships events due to Ineos sponsorship
Speaking to the BBC, Steve Mason of Frack Free United says there will almost certainly be protests over Ineos’ involvement in cycling at the Tour de Yorkshire in May and the Road World Championships weekend in September. Ineos actually has permissions to explore for shale gas in the county, but work has yet to begin because of issues with planning permission.
On Tuesday’s live blog we reported that Friends of the Earth campaigner Tony Bosworth says the Ineos deal with what is now known as Team Sky is an attempt at ‘greenwashing’ by the corporation: “Taking over Team Sky is the latest blatant attempt at greenwashing by Ineos. It’s a harsh change of tone that may see Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign to clear plastic pollution from our oceans ditched from the team jersey in favour of Ineos – one of the biggest plastic producers in Europe.
“This is also a company that wants to frack large swathes of northern England and the East Midlands. Ineos has also been lobbying hard for the government to relax safety rules so fracking companies can trigger larger earthquakes before having to down tools.”
21 March 2019, 16:30
Nokere Koerse Highlights
Catch up with a crash-filled edition of the Belgian semi-Classic
21 March 2019, 16:30
Cycling on the rise in London
Highest levels of cycling in central London since records began We had an average of 188,000 daily journeys or 573,646km per day in Q3 2018 pic.twitter.com/Gz19gZRtbj
— Will Norman (@willnorman) March 20, 2019
Let’s hope it continues on an upwards trajectory (and accident rates go downwards)
21 March 2019, 16:30
Cavendish left out of Dimension Data Team for San Remo
The first monument of the year is upon us… we are looking forward to this weekend's @Milano_Sanremo!
Details: https://t.co/PqsqnI26Wv pic.twitter.com/ycp0HTO0N9
— Team Dimension Data (@TeamDiData) March 21, 2019
Team Dimension Data have today revealed their team for Saturday’s Milan San Remo. It’s notable for one admission, 2009 winner Mark Cavendish not included in the seven-man squad.
The Manx rider has been struggling to find form after recently discovering that he’s been suffering from an Epstein Barr virus for the last two years.
Dimension Data will instead hope that Italian sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo can survive the Poggio for a chance on the Via Rome finish.
21 March 2019, 16:30
No idea what's going on here...
How did I miss this classic pic, @SadiqKhan @willnorman? Thankfully @TfL has published it in its latest board papers pic.twitter.com/VEipDbWRLn
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) March 21, 2019
A bizarre image, apparently from a recent TfL board paper!
21 March 2019, 16:30
Trolling a trolley dumper...
What to do when someone uses a trolley to block the bike path each day? Put in on board and take it far, far away. #cargobike pic.twitter.com/en39Cw4l0r
— Fiona Campbell (@FionaBike) March 20, 2019
21 March 2019, 16:30
Win a ride with the Team Sky Zone Hoppers at Paris Roubaix
Fancy a chance to get right into the heart of one of the most chaotic races of the year?
Team Sky are giving you the chance to win a ride in one of the team cars that drive to several cobbled sectors to support the riders with wheels and bottles.
Head over here to enter. Then go an practise your wheels changes and 50kph bottle hand-ups, just in case!
21 March 2019, 16:30
Commuter can be heard shouting "you nearly took out four people" to driver who attempts to cut traffic queue by driving on wrong side of the road
Another day another driver endangering cyclists in #regentspark @RPcyclists @metpoliceuk pic.twitter.com/JWOkTcXvM4
— Merv Charles (@mervcharles) March 20, 2019
According to commenters under the video this has become a common problem in the area – as traffic builds up heavily due to a pedestrian junction ahead, cars move into the other lane to attempt to cut the queue, and in this instance the culprit was apparently close to hitting four cyclists on the correct side of the road. Do you ride this road on your commute, and what do you think could/should be done to stop it from happening?
21 March 2019, 16:30
Cycling grandad and Pokemon Go fan lands smartphone brand ambassador gig
A 70-year-old grandfather from Taiwan who became an online celebrity after hooking up 11 smartphones to his bike to play Pokemon Go has landed a gig as brand ambassador for Asus.
When the tech brand heard about Chen San-yuan’s exploits, they decided to make him the brand ambassador for their Asus ZenFone range, reports Mashable.
He now has an array of no fewer than 22 of them on his bike, with the partnership aimed at highlighting the device’s battery and GPS capabilities.
台湾のポケモンマスターの進化はとどまるところを知らない pic.twitter.com/byrXqJWcke
— 阿雞 (@SCMcrocodile) March 9, 2019
21 March 2019, 16:30
Electric dockless bike hire brand Lime now operating in Islington
Electric bikeshare expands in London! @limebike is operating in LB Islington as of this week. Several pedelec bike groups spotted on the Cally Road 🙂 [N.B. Earlier tweeted that was available in W/minster too but this is a bug in the app – it’s actually a new do-not-finish zone] pic.twitter.com/4DXLKmZEto
— Oliver O'Brien (@oobr) March 21, 2019
21 March 2019, 16:30
World Naked Bike Ride coming to Ipswich for first time
The World Naked Bike Ride is coming to Ipswich for the first time in July this year.
Cyclists will join the ride, which aims to highlight the vulnerability of the human body as well as protesting against car and fossil fuel dependency, on Saturday 6 July.
Co-ordinator Robert Brown told the Ipswich Star: “It isn’t a race, it’s a gentle, leisurely ride around town.
“Our motto is ‘bare as you dare’ but we find once people get on the bike and start cycling naked they love it.”
Other places in the East of England to host similar rides include Clacton, Chelmsford, Colchester and Cambridge, where more than 200 people take part each year.
“Most people are supportive – you get the odd nasty comment but that is usually from someone who is narrow-minded,” Mr Brown added.
“We are not breaking the law or doing anything illegal and we have worked with the police, who helped us decide on a route around Ipswich.”
He added that the ride would take place whatever the weather.
“Once we have organised an event, nothing stops us,” he explained. “At one of the Chelmsford rides, it started to hail heavily and it started to sting, and we ended up having to take cover in a bus shelter.”
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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
eburtthebike 36 minutes ago
@JLasTSR It takes time. I got knocked off nine years ago in broad daylight on a roundabout, by a driver who was wearing very dark glasses, I'm suspicious that he was actually visually impaired. No prosecution. It took me a few years to get my confidence back. I wish you all the best in getting the enjoyment back.
Rendel Harris 2 hours ago
@tomlew That sounds like someone who is thinking about GC to me. I don't think your comparison with 16-year-old footballers is particularly valid, ultimately football at every level is played on roughly the same size to pitch, the goals are the same size and there are eleven players on each team. If professional football was played on a pitch three times the size with goals half the size and for five hours instead of ninety minutes, that might be a good comparison. I have no objection to Seixas riding this tour for experience, I think it's a good idea, but as I've said, I don't think he's got any chance of winning unless something major happens to the big contenders (he's already shipped 39 seconds and 27 seconds respectively to the big dogs) and if he tries too hard he could receive humiliating setbacks that could damage him psychologically throughout his career. You say "If I were a prodigy cyclist youngster with a realistic shot at winning, I might take [the risk] even if I knew it might be the end of my career", but he doesn't have a realistic shot at winning and in taking the risk he might be putting in jeopardy the possibility of winning multiple Tours in future. I don't think this is a situation where a "death or glory" approach is suitable. We shall reconvene in three weeks time and see what happened, and I'm quite happy to be proved wrong and if he does win this year it would certainly mean we had had a thrilling Tour.
tomlew 3 hours ago
@Rendel Harris I absolutely know all that. But that's exactly what I said: he is risking a lot, but the reward might be worth it. It is only a matter of judgment. And by the way, AFAIK nobody said he's going to ride to win the GC. Maybe the plan is exactly to learn his lessons this year so that next year nobody can say he's too inexperienced to really go for victory. Of course, he could ride the Vuelta, but what better place is there to learn the TdF than TdF itself? Times have changed. No more pecking orders, 16-year-old footballers are already shaking the world (even though most of them do indeed get chewed and spat out badly, but again: that's a risk they take). Why wouldn't the same happen in cycling?
darnac 4 hours ago
Sôme interesting comments from Wright and Stewart about 'losing' thé team élément a bit with thé new format
choddo 10 hours ago
And I don’t know when you wrote this but I think it was published 9 days after Onley was confirmed out of the Tour.
choddo 10 hours ago
Paul Seixas’ team is Decathlon CMA CGM
GravelIsNothingNew 11 hours ago
The best thing about the TTT as Stage 1 is that it emphasises the fact that cycling grand tours incl the TDF are a team sport.
mdavidford 11 hours ago
If you click through and read the story you'll see that the first motorist hit the cyclist, and the second, following, motorist then also hit them while they were lying in the road - both were convicted of causing the cyclist's death.
Rendel Harris 13 hours ago
I may be reading far too much into it, but I felt as though Pogacar and UAE weren't actually that bothered about winning today. Not having yellow to defend and all the extra press etc to do this early in the race is an indisputable advantage; I just got the impression that they were out to lose no more than a handful of seconds but not to bury themselves for the win. With about 2.5kms to go I thought that if Pogacar really wanted it he would have gone from there, but he stayed with Del Toro for nearly another kilometre even though the body language was saying that no way was Del Toro in as good shape as Pogacar. Even after the finish he didn't seem as wiped out as Ganna (whom I don't think I've ever seen quite so shattered) or Jonas. As I say, might be reading too much into it but I would not be surprised if UAE had played a very clever hand not to lose any meaningful time but to avoid the burden of yellow from the get go.
Rendel Harris 13 hours ago
@tomlew It's not his youth so much as his inexperience. He's never ridden a race longer than eight days before. Pogacar won his first Tour, it's true, but he'd already finished a Vuelta. There's simply to much for him to learn and become accustomed to in my opinion for him to have a realistic chance of victory, particularly as he's up against probably the greatest of all time and a double Tour winner, both of whom seem to be at the peak of their powers. It's not entirely beyond the bounds of possibility but he'd need a hatful of luck and something fairly catastrophic to happen to both of those guys before he'd realistically be in with a shout. Don't forget nobody has won their first Grand Tour since Hinault in 1978, forty-eight years is a hell of a lot of precedent.
17 thoughts on “Live blog: World Naked Bike Ride coming to Ipswich, Pokemon Go grandad has 22 smartphones on bike (video), Regent’s Park cyclists block driver on wrong side of road, Cav to miss Milan-San Remo squad, Team Ineos to face anti-fracking protests + more”
So Ineos is destroying the
So Ineos is destroying the planet…
From what I’ve seen, the TdF and other major cycling tours do a pretty good job of doing this already without the help of Ineos.
MarkiMark wrote:
They should definitely stop them from throwing bottles away like they do. It’s not a good image.
DrJDog wrote:
Many/most pro races have now introduced so-called ‘green zones’ for dumping stuff like gel wrappers and empty bidons so we should see less of this from now. Fines to be levied on riders who chuck bottles outside those zones.
Round-the-world cat is a
Round-the-world cat is a lovely item.
Is it me, or does Sadiq Khan
Is it me, or does Sadiq Khan look like he’s been (badly) photoshopped into that photo…?
To get plod to attend then
To get plod to attend then ring 999 and tell them that a driver who deliberately veered onto the the wrong side is drunk and nearly wiped out 4 people (don’t mention cyclists), when approached you suspect that they have a weapon of some sort in the vehicle.
They’ll be round sharpish!
BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
…and maybe mention something about them being a possible terrorist (e.g. “Yes, the driver has a swarthy complexion and also has a beard”).
HawkinsPeter wrote:
Actually if it’s the MET they should ring and say a cyclist was riding in the middle of the road and nearly mowed down 4 people. They’ll send a ‘Viper’ rapid response unit round with their glock’s ready to rumble!
“you said there was a cyclist threatening people?”, “er, I said motorist but as you’re here …, don’t forget your sworn oath cuntstable”
The cyclist has only
The cyclist has only adequately made their point when the motorist reverses back the way they came and then drives appropriately on the correct side of the island.
While the motorist is still in the wrong and still trying to get away with it then the point clearly has not been accepted.
Khan does the decent thing
Khan does the decent thing and takes City Hall to the tip.
My original comment wasn’t
My original comment wasn’t really aimed at the riders throwing bottles and wrappers away. A lot of these end up as souvenirs for someone roadside.
It was more about air miles, transfers, helicopters, and that circus that goes round ahead of each stage giving away feebies.
My original comment wasn’t
My original comment wasn’t really aimed at the riders throwing bottles and wrappers away. A lot of these end up as souvenirs for someone roadside.
It was more about air miles, transfers, helicopters, and that circus that goes round ahead of each stage giving away feebies.
I want my cat to come riding
I want my cat to come riding with me, I’d love that.
peted76 wrote:
The best cyclists have a parrot.
ChrisB200SX wrote:
Indeed but a bit too soon for me 🙁
ChrisB200SX wrote:
Indeed but a bit too soon for me 🙁
There’s less waste in the
There’s less waste in the back of the lorry than in the cab.