Barking mad: Cyclist and pet pup have a pop at bus driver for close pass; Gammons sending cyclists underground; Police say LTNs don't slow emergency services; Rapha Black Friday Challenge; Dowsett hosting Zwift Hour Record workouts + more on the live blog

Dr Peter Gammons (@Gammons4London) is UKIP's candidate for London Mayor, taking our fight to the Khanage left behind by Labour.

WATCH: https://t.co/52T2dMmlzn pic.twitter.com/XBreMfZdW3

— UKIP (@UKIP) November 12, 2020

Dr Peter Gammons (whose name is quite apt according to some on social media), has wasted no time in forming a revolutionary cycling plan for the capital. His ingenious masterstroke "to get London moving again" is to send cyclists underground...by converting a network of "over 2 million miles of unused tunnels, streets, and chambers beneath London". 

"I want to convert these disused spaces into walkways, safe cycle lanes, and create the world's first underground 'Pod' transport system", added Gammons. 

It's just as well nobody has thought of an underground public transport system in London before now...Gammons' own website claims he is: "One of the world’s most famous and in-demand Inspirational and motivational speakers. It is historically documented that he has spoken to larger crowds that any other person in history, with crowds of up to 4 million people in a single rally."

Gammons also wants to reverse what he has called a "war on motorists", which he claims is being waged by the current London mayor Sadiq Khan - you can digest the full announcement here. 

A European night to remember for @BritishCycling.

The 🇬🇧 team stormed to women's team pursuit victory while @elinorbarker outsprinted her rivals to win the women's elimination race 🥇

Report and reaction from Plovdiv 👇 📸 @swpixtweets 📸

— Team GB (@TeamGB) November 13, 2020

Team GB added wongold medals and one bronze on the second day of competition at the UEC European Track Championships in Bulgaria yesterday. The women's team pursuit squad of Katie Archibald, Neah Evans, Laura Kenny and Josie Knight took gold, beating the Italian team by three seconds. Elinor Barker joined the team on the podium having missed the final to compete in the elimination race - where she also won gold.

Speaking on the team pursuit performance, Laura Kenny said: "That’s the fastest time we’ve done since Rio, so that shows the form that we were in going into an Olympic year.

"It’s good to know we are still moving forward, Josie (Knight) is here for her first European competition and that shows the way British Cycling moves forward too. I personally think we’ve got a lot more to come, we’ve got people sat at home itching to get into this team and that can only help us move forward."

Ollie Wood also won bronze in the men's scratch race to conclude another succesful night for Team GB.

There's not going to be any Black Friday deals to be had at Rapha this year... instead they've set the challenge for cyclists worldwide to ride one million kilometres on November 27th to help raise money for World Bicycle Relief. If the target for the Strava challenge is reached, then Rapha will donate £120,000 to World Bicycle Relief, which which will be enough to distribute 1000 bikes for those who need them most.

British Cycling's squad of nine who will compete at the UCI eSports World Championship on Zwift next month includes Dame Sarah Storey, Ed Clancy and Elinor Barker. The trio have won 13 Olympic and Paralympic golds between them and are joined by Megan Barker, Dani Christmas, Jenny Holl, Max Stedman, Andy Tennant and Robert Scott. 

The inaugural eSports World Championship will be held on Wednesday December 9 with riders racing on Zwift. Both the men and women's events will use the same 50km course, the Watopia Figure 8 Reverse with Hilly KOM Finish. 

Stephen Park, Performance Director for the Great Britain Cycling Team said: “I’m really looking forward to the inaugural UCI Cycling Esports World Championships, and I’d like to commend the UCI and Zwift on this exciting collaboration.

“Amongst the talented Great Britain Cycling Team line-up, we have reigning Olympic and Paralympic champions, including Elinor Barker, Ed Clancy and Dame Sarah Storey, all vying to add another rainbow jersey to their collection."

A Hackney Police sergeant has asked people to ignore "scaremongering" online about LTNs and stressed that they don't prevent emergency service vehicles from attending incidents. The inconvenience that LTNs cause for emergency service vehicles is one of the most common arguments wheeled out by anti-LTN groups, but sergeant James Higgins asked the public to: "Please don't believe any scaremongering online."

He said: "I've seen it myself online - there's a lot of scaremongering that us, the local police team, won't be able to get to help people, we won't be able to catch suspects, there'll be a victim in need and we won't be able to get there because we'll need to do a u-turn. That's just completely false. Please don't believe any scaremongering.

"We break down doors to get to victims to help them, we break down doors to catch suspects. I'm sure we will drive through this filter."

LTNs have been the subject of heated debate in the past months. Anti-LTN group OneWandsworth blamed a segregated bike lane on the A24 in Tooting for preventing an ambulance to attend to an injured motorcyclist, despite the road being blocked by cars.

In August, this LTN in Ealing was vandalised with oil poured on the road and planters vandalised.

🌿🚸 This week, we launched a new School Street and traffic filter outside Harrington Hill School.

⬇️ Watch @MPSSpringfield police sergeant James Higgins explain why he supports the School Street and how the filter doesn’t affect his ability to respond to emergencies ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/W5Hy29iK6s

— Hackney Council (@hackneycouncil) November 12, 2020