Jeremy Vine denies graffitiing 'F*@! Off' on 'Cyclists Dismount' sign; Police catch cyclist riding down M55 hard shoulder; talkRADIO presenter must drive everywhere; Cycling out in the spring weather; Strade Bianche should go ahead + more on the live blog

Wow, this question certainly flushed out some prejudice. https://t.co/lCFqJF9TMK

— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) March 1, 2021

Most of us will already know that legally the answer is yes... but this is Twitter, where anyone can create their very own permanently incensed moral code.

Maybe I’ll just get out of my car and push it through the red light...?!?

Cyclists can’t just pick and choose which laws they want to obey.

— Slater 💙 (@Grossberger101) March 1, 2021

I'll get out my car and push it across in that case

— Jamie Scott (@Jamie2090) March 1, 2021

Even if we know that those who think a pedestrian pushing a bike through a red light should be hung, drawn and quartered are actually talking cobblers, it's a great opportunity to share this classic Mr Bean clip... 

New research from Halfords has found that more children than ever before are set to cycle to school once they re-open next week. Over a third of adults in the UK have bought a bike since the start of the pandemic, with 28 per cent of those being kid's bikes. Last Christmas saw the biggest ever sales of kid's bikes at Halfords and 37 per cent of respondents said they were planning to buy themselves or a family member a bike in the next six months.

The number one reason for buying a bike was to keep fit with 58 per cent of 2,000 adults polled saying they wanted to cycle for exercise. Almost half said it was to spend time outdoors with their families, while 30 per cent wanted to avoid public transport. 

The high street chain also announced today that their profits approach £100 million due to the cycling boom.

RCS Sport has today told Cyclingnews that Strade Bianche should be unaffected by the province of Siena being put under new restrictions. "For now, the race is confirmed," RCS explained. "Even though Siena is now classified as 'code red', that has no impact on the race, only on the public. Of course, anything can happen with the virus, but at the moment we have not yet received any notice that the race cannot take place."

Earlier today we shared a report from the Netherlands which claimed a decision about the men's and women's races would be made this week.

Shock news: the fitness-to-practice medical tribunal of former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman - who is accusing of doping a rider - will not be handing down its decision tomorrow as 'further time is required'. Verdict now expected on March 12.

— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) March 1, 2021

One day possibly in the near future the Dr Richard Freeman case will reach a verdict...That day will not be tomorrow however. The case has been rumbling on for two years and a verdict was expected to be heard on Tuesday, but this has now been pushed back until March 12 at the earliest...In February, Freeman was charged with violating anti-doping rules.

Some campaigners say they want LTNs to be removed as a matter of social justice.

Occasionally the mask slips and they reveal their real motives; LTNs affect their perceived right to drive everywhere for short journeys, polluting other people’s neighbourhoods in the process. pic.twitter.com/JkkQSo5iGN

— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter) February 28, 2021

talkRADIO presenter Cristo Foufas is no stranger to slating LTNs and defending the need to drive in London...Yesterday he shared his journey running errands across South London, travelling exclusively by car...One Twitter user described Foufas' inability to understand the geography of his own neighbourhood as "hilariously brilliant", while others questioned why parts of his journey couldn't be done by public transport, bike or on foot? Anyway, here it is in all its glory...

This diagram is hilariously brilliant. How can a single person not understand the geography of their own neighbourhood? This journey planning is absolute madness. Would love to see how he finds things in a grocery store, does go 6 times to each aisle before finishing?

— Justin Gist Preuninger (@elegancehq) February 28, 2021

Opening Weekend of the Belgian Classics lived up to its billing with racing across an uncharacteristically mild final weekend in February. On Saturday, Deceuninck-Quick-Step and Anna van der Breggen did what they do best, winning the men's and women's races respectively. It was Davide Ballerini who benefited from his super strong team, including the help of World Champion Julian Alaphilippe. On Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel came to the party, attacking from 83km to go, only being reeled in during the closing stages. The Dutch champion's attack showed off some of his bike handling skills...

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by How The Race Was Won™ (@howtheracewaswon)

And thankfully nobody was hurt and this pet pup was back on the side of the road before causing any crashes...

Went out for a few hours this morning on the old bicycle. Genuinely insane amounts of folk enjoying a ride on what was a pretty chilly February day in London, and a more diverse, younger crowd too. Feels like a permanent switch for many. 👍

— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) February 28, 2021

Another weekend of glorious weather brought out thousands of cyclists onto the roads, bike lanes and trails around the country. There are plenty of videos from London doing the rounds on social media...

#CS3 in London ☀️

This is people centred infrastructure.

So many people out walking 🚶‍♀️ and cycling 🚲

Safe infrastructure with dedicated space for active travel means that when conditions are right all ages all ability active movements are enabled.

More of the same please! pic.twitter.com/KHqwwymMGv

— Dermot Hanney (@HanneyDP) February 27, 2021

And it wasn't just in London, there were similar scenes up and down the UK, like this video from Manchester...

A really lovely part of today was cycling along the Manchester Road share path.

I counted more people cycling and walking towards Manchester than in cars.

I have even provided a soundtrack.

🐕❤️🚲 pic.twitter.com/CoF4s6EXSL

— Harrie Larrington-Spencer (@tricyclemayor) February 28, 2021