Cyclist slapped with 'parking ticket' by Lime for leaving bike in car parking bay; Show your council this the next time bike lanes are snowed under; Where's Cav?; If the World Cup was pro cycling; Peculiar puncture; Best new kit + more on the live blog

£2 parking ticket for not blocking the pavement🫠 https://t.co/zS6d9Fw90I pic.twitter.com/Ota7OJHina

— CycleGaz™ (@cyclegaz) December 12, 2022

It seems this one isn't a new problem...

I see badly-parked @limebike bikes every day. I go out of my way to find a spot that doesn’t block pavements, and I get this. Sorry, I didn’t realise the carriageway was only for cars. Cc: @IslingtonBC pic.twitter.com/t3GNRALUyu

— John McGarvey (@johnmcg) December 12, 2022

 According to Lime, who we've contacted for further comment on this specific case, London users like Gaz should "park like your gran is watching" and should "never leave your e-bike in a way that obstructs the pavement or could create an access issue for pedestrians, including those with disabilities or access needs".

And while in Camden, City of London, Hackney, Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham users are required to leave their bikes in designated parking bays, Gaz was in Westminster and John in Islington.

> Wandsworth says it may start impounding Lime e-bikes if pavement parking isn’t tackled

But, Lime adds, "being in other boroughs is no excuse to park irresponsibly. When you're elsewhere, make sure to still park out of the way, avoiding creating an obstruction for people using the pavement."

Thoughts?

Conservative councillor Robert Nemeth, who last month appeared in the local press supporting a "concerned and distressed" resident who didn't want one of the "giant ugly" bike hangars outside her house, is back in The Argus...

He told the local paper the scheme introduced by the Green Party-run council avoided "scrutiny of financial, legal and equality issues and numerous other related matters".

> Hove woman persuades council not to locate "unattractive" cycle hangar outside her home

Cllr Nemeth argued there was "public frustration" and "unfavourable national press coverage" of the scheme since it started earlier this year. The comments come not long after Green councillor Steve Davis revealed the city's bike hangars had enjoyed a 100 per cent take-up rate since installation in July.

"Since then we have installed 40 more, and all but one of the total of 360 spaces have now been snapped up. This means that 359 residents now have somewhere safe and secure to store their cycles," he said.

This attraction in a tourist park in Urubici, Santa Catarina, Brazil, which lets you ride a bike across a slack line 500 ft in the air, is NOT for those who fear heights 😅 pic.twitter.com/9h4hxgX89i

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 14, 2022

I mean, there is a Strava segment, right?

I'm now picturing KOM hunters from around the world rocking up with skinsuit, aero helmet and asking if they can fit their own aero bars... although at those speeds you might be better off walking the tightrope...

I mean, I'll carry on cycling obviously; picking my way along ice-rutted cycle paths. But with deep anger in my heart.

— Ned Boulting (@nedboulting) December 14, 2022

Semi-final time and last night, seven years after the fact, Eduardo Sepúlveda finally got revenge on Kristijan Đurasek for beating him to the 2015 Presidential Tour of Turkey GC...

You can't say I'm not putting the Procyclingstats hours in to this live blog series...

'Good luck finiding Morocco vs France' I hear you say. Well, I'll raise you the final stage of this year's Tour du Cameroun, won by pure Moroccan domination...

I'm sure there's nobody in Casablanca, Rabat or Marrakesh who wouldn't take 4-1 tonight...

A new kind of puncture for me! Went straight into the tube, or I might not have noticed 👎 pic.twitter.com/GKxoiII1aI

— Dave McCraw (@david_mccraw) December 14, 2022

After Ryan spent the weekend on the ground at the new Dublin round of the cyclocross World Cup I'm making the case for a team trip to... the Benidorm round in January. 

And while he enjoyed Saturday night watching England's crushing quarter final exit alongside a certain Tom P, come Sunday morning he got even more behind the scenes access — taking a look at his rather fancy bike.

Now you can too...

> Check out Tom Pidcock's Pinarello Crossista F cyclocross bike

Look at this hero go...

Gr8 to see @wfcouncil #CycleLanes being cleared of snow & ready for safe use for cyclists. This is about cultural & system change, as well as infrastructure. #BuildItAndTheyWillCome but also #MaintainItAndTheyWillCome! Thanks to our contractor #Rineys. @WeSupportWFMH @willnorman pic.twitter.com/sym5LfgRFs

— Labourstone (@Labourstone) December 13, 2022 

 These are nothing new in some parts of London, but does anyone outside the capital get the same glorious gritting?