“Is his new kit still with Evri?”: Tom Pidcock dons Ineos colours during training ride with Q36.5 teammates; Why don’t cyclists use the bike lane? Because it’s blocked by beer kegs; LFGSS forum to shut down citing Online Safety Act + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
From ancient Roman weapons to tools to “terrorise” cyclists: How caltrops on a bike lane led to a cyclist suffering hearing loss in a shocking new low
In case you missed it yesterday evening, strange things are happening on Edinburgh’s “infamous” Leith Walk…
“Oh god”: Nils Politt pushing 416W power just to stay on Tadej Pogačar’s wheel at UAE training camp
The classics season is coming soon. Well maybe not that soon, and Tadej Pogačar, after winning two Grand Tours, has made it well-known that he wants to be back racing (and most probably) winning a few races in the spring before he embarks on his Tour de France defence.
And Nils Politt, a one-day race specialist, after clinching a podium place at last year’s Ronde van Vlaanderen, is back in training with UAE Team Emirates. Although, as F1 driver Carlos Sainz would know, training with Pogačar is not for the faint-hearted, and the German rider has shared a video on social media showing himself pushing over 400W power, just to stay on the world champion’s wheel.
416watts pra andar de boa na roda do Pogacar.
Oh god. pic.twitter.com/uwTxL1LP9s
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) December 17, 2024
Pro cycling, ladies and gentlemen…
30 new bike hangars coming to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Richmond council has announced that between Monday 16 and 23 December, ie will install 30 new bike hangars so residents can “securely store their bicycles”.
The council said: “All units will be managed by CycleHoop on our behalf. Spaces are available to rent on a first-come, first-served basis via the CycleHoop website and cost £72 per year, plus a refundable deposit. All fees will go to CycleHoop for management and maintenance, including cleaning.”
“The sentencing doesn't have to stop there”: Cyclist slams Police Scotland’s “ludicrously lenient” punishment for three different driving charges by wife of ex-Scotland footballer
The wife of the former Rangers and Scotland footballer received six penalty points and a £255 fine having agreed a deal with prosecutors to only be punished for a mobile phone offence…
Cyclists lament impending loss of LFGSS - London Fixed Gear & Single Speed - as cycling forum with “cult following” announces March shutdown citing UK Online Safety Act
Big news for terminally online cyclists today. London Fixed Gear & Single Speed, or simply known as LFGSS, is set to shut down on 16 March 2025, with Dee Kitchen, better known as Velocio and the owner of the forum, citing the introduction of the UK Online Safety Act as the reason for the website’s demise.
“On Sunday 16th March 2025 (the last day prior to the Act taking effect) I will delete the virtual servers hosting LFGSS and other communities, and effectively immediately end the approximately 300 small communities that I run, and the few large communities such as LFGSS,” they wrote in a statement.
“It’s been a good run, I’ve administered internet forums since 1996 having first written my own in Perl to help fans of music bands to connect with each other, and I then contributed to PHP forum software like vBulletin, Vanilla, and phpBB, before finally writing a platform in Go that made it cost efficient enough to bring interest based communities to so many others, and expand the social good that comes from people being connected to people.
“Approximately 28 years and 9 months of providing almost 500 forums in total to what is likely a half a million people in that time frame… the impact that these forums have had on the lives of so many cannot be understated.”
Ofcom published a detailed codes of practice and guidance that tech companies will have to follow to comply with the Online Safety Act yesterday, which carries the threat of significant fines and closure of sites if companies breach it.
This means that every site and app in scope of the act — including Reddit, Discord, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and yes, even yours truly road.cc, now has three months to assess the risk of illegal content appearing on their platform.
Kitchen added: “We’re done… we fall firmly into scope, and I have no way to dodge it. The act is too broad, and it doesn’t matter that there’s never been an instance of any of the proclaimed things that this act protects adults, children and vulnerable people from… the very broad language and the fact that I’m based in the UK means we’re covered,” they wrote in a blog post announcing the news.
“The act simply does not care that this site and platform is run by an individual, and that I do so philanthropically without any profit motive (typically losing money), nor that the site exists to reduce social loneliness, reduce suicide rates, help build meaningful communities that enrich life.
“The act only cares that is it “linked to the UK” (by me being involved as a UK native and resident, by you being a UK based user), and that users can talk to other users… that’s it, that’s the scope.”
“I can’t afford what is likely tens of thousand to go through all the legal hoops here over a prolonged period of time, the site itself barely gets a few hundred in donations each month and costs a little more to run… this is not a venture that can afford compliance costs… and if we did, what remains is a disproportionately high personal liability for me, and one that could easily be weaponised by disgruntled people who are banned for their egregious behaviour (in the years running fora I’ve been signed up to porn sites, stalked IRL and online, subject to death threats, had fake copyright takedown notices, an attempt to delete the domain name with ICANN… all from those whom I’ve moderated to protect community members)… I do not see an alternative to shuttering it.
“The conclusion I have to make is that we’re done… Microcosm, LFGSS, the many other communities running on this platform… the risk to me personally is too high, and so I will need to shutter them all.”
The news has been received with some confusion and despair, with cyclists recognising that the forum had been one of the mainstays of the a niche cycling subculture online.
One person wrote: “I’m an occasional poster on LFGSS, been on it for years, it’s quite a good forum, bit sweary at times but that’s no bad thing. A sad loss,” while another jokingly remarked: “I don’t get LFGSS. Its weird. You click on a thread and the page returns instantly. No 30 second delay. That’s just not normal. It has always just worked really well. Again, just weird… Other than that its a really good cycling forum. Diverse and lots of non bike chat. Big shame when it goes.”
Another user on Singletrack, a separate forum, observed: “Quite a cult following for many years, there was some very useful information on the site. As with many forums though, it had its ups and downs, I’d be surprised if the user figures for it now are even a tenth of what they were back in the day.”
However, the observation seems to go against Kitchen’s statement, who noted that “the peak of the forums has been the last 5 years”, in which it has “plateaued around 275k monthly users across the almost 300 websites on multiple instances of the platform that is Microcosm”. Although, they added that LFGSS as a single community probably peaked in the 2013-2018 time period when it alone was hitting numbers in excess of 50k monthly users.
What does this mean for the road.cc forums? If people want to know we will attempt to provide an explanation later today, but from what I’m hearing, there are no plans to shelve it anytime soon. In the meantime, let us know in the comments what you make of LFGSS shutting down and how you feel about it.
MAAP is making a comeback to the peloton, and it's a thing of beauty
Brace yourselves for this one, Australian cycling apparel company MAAP is making a comeback to the UCI WorldTour peloton in partnership with Team Jayco-AlUla, and the purple-green colourway is truly a sight to behold!
Is a downward titled saddle really the key to unlocking pro-level speed? We take a deep dive...
Why don’t cyclists use the bike lane? Because it’s been blockaded by beer kegs
A “minor inconvenience”, or just a glimpse of “everything else that the neoliberal moment has ruined”?
This image of beer kegs and a delivery truck (with a Hobgoblin side curtain) shared by Martin Booth, Bristol 247’s editor, pointing out the Broad Street bike lane and its apparent exit being completely blocked has racked up a lot of engagement on social media — and as usual, folks are divided.
It would appear that the kegs are being delivered to Hort’s Townhouse, the pub just across the bike lane, and lots of people, some even cyclists, could be seen defending the draymen’s choice to unload the kegs out of the truck and onto the cycle path to make the work easier. However, cyclists argued that at the end of the day, it shouldn’t be an accepted practice because of how impractical and dangerous it can make the simple task of getting around via bikes.
Adam Hibbert wrote: “I’m afraid while we’re fixing everything else that the neoliberal moment has ruined, we are at some point going to have to re-lay most of our city centres to bring them back into being some sort of reasonably simple, navigable space. Just look at all this clobber.”
Some people also pointed out that the parklet behind the kegs would mean that the cycle lane is perhaps ending there, however, the truck being parked across the exit makes it impossible to exit, instead forcing cyclists to jump on the pavement.
However, Brian said: “Based on the blue sign in the background and the direction of the bike painted on the lane, it looks like the start of a bike lane, not the end.
“What’s more it looks like a contra flow lane, meaning cyclists have to cycle into the path of oncoming cars to get around the truck.”
Only if the street was a tad broader (sorry, I had to do it)…
This isn’t the first time trucks transporting beer to pubs have come into conflict with cyclists. Last year, a Dublin cyclist was an unexpected witness to a Guinness truck driver who seemed to completely ignore the cycle lane separator wands, as he drove over them and proceeded to park on the pavement, to apparently make unloading the beer kegs a little bit easier.
> My Guinness! Truck driver smashes down cycle lane wands, cuts across and parks on the pavement
The incident led to a similar scenario of people defending the driver and bringing to attention the weight of the kegs, however the cyclist questioned how did that justify the crushing of public property, and pedestrians having to deal with trucks on the pavement. He also said that “if it’s so difficult, Guinness Ireland should provide suitable staffing and lifting and transport equipment”.
What do you think about the Broad Street beer truck and kegs? Let us know in the comments!
“To leave a road in that sort of state is really quite serious”: Cyclist slips and injures wrist as council leaves roads covered with diesel for days after street sweeper fire
In a bizarre incident, a street sweeper in central Winchester caught on fire last week, and now, a cyclist has bruised his wrist after the council didn’t clean the diesel spilled on the road.
On Wednesday 11 December around 11:30am, a street sweeper burst into flames on Upper High Street prompting evacuations and road closures. As a result of the fire, a large quantity of diesel was spilt on the roads.
However, according to Nick Wray, the council failed to clean the street or put up any signs warning cyclists, pedestrians and other road users about the slippery roads.
The Hampshire Chronicle reports that Wray was left with an injured wrist after he came off his bike in Upper High Street on Sunday, December 15. The cyclist said: “Stuff happens, the fire is unfortunate, I’m just really surprised that it’s been such a long period, with apparently reports that there were no warning signs or the road wasn’t closed or it wasn’t washed down. I appreciate that these aren’t easy things to do at this time of year.
“I’m really quite bruised and battered. My wrists are quite bruised on the side I landed on, and I broke a metal pedal, so it was quite an impact.
He continued: “To leave a road in that sort of state is really quite serious.”
Hampshire Council announced a road closure yesterday in order to clean the roads. It wrote on social media: “Our highways service has been working on site at Upper High Street in Winchester to clear a large diesel spillage caused by a vehicle fire on Wednesday 11 December. We have undertaken several deep cleaning treatments to remove the fuel residue. However, this has penetrated the surface of the road and pavement creating slippery conditions for road users and pedestrians.
“Following further site assessments this morning, we have closed a short section of the High Street between the roundabout at Sussex Street and its junction with Tower Street to undertake further specialist cleaning. A section of pavement on Upper High Street is also closed, with a short diversion for pedestrians in place. Access to Tower Street car park remains unaffected.
“Overnight road closures are currently planned for Wednesday 18 December and Thursday 19 December from 10pm until 6am, with a third overnight closure if needed on Friday 20 December, to replace the road surface at the roundabout.
“We apologise for the disruption this will cause in Winchester city centre at this busy time of year, but it is essential to ensure the road and pavement can continue to be used safely.”
Goodbye to the Wild West? CCTV cameras to FINALLY be introduced on popular cycling path to tackle bikejacking epidemic
Consultation underway for plans that include new lighting and widespread CCTV for Bristol & Bath Railway Path, proposals coming just weeks after robber caught by police within 24 hours of council installing a camera at one section.
35-year-old retired MotoGP rider Aleix Espargaró to join Lidl-Trek next season
A slightly odd and rather baffling piece of news this time. Retired MotoGP rider Aleix Espargaró is set to join Lidl-Trek in a special ambassadorial role in the 2025 season.
The role will mark an interesting career pivot for the 35-year-old Spaniard, moving “from leather to lycra” as the Lidl-Trek press release put it, with the three-time MotoGP race winner attending “pretigious” events with the team as well as “promoting the sport to a wider audience.”
“I’m thrilled to join the Lidl-Trek family, which is home to some of the world’s best cyclists,” said Espargaró, a long-term hardcore cycling fan, in a statement.
“I’m excited to learn from some of the best cyclists and staff in the sport, push my limits, and share this special journey with fans.
He added: “After a back injury forced me to give up running I turned to cycling for recovery and training. Over time, it became more than just preparation — it became my passion.”
“Living in Andorra, I made friendships with many pro cyclists, which inspired me to train at a higher level.”
Espargaró has already raced in gravel and MTB and even done some tests at the team’s training camp in Denia. There are also rumours that he could very well be racing for Lidl-Trek’s Future Racing devo’ squad.
With former Mercedes driver and 10-time F1 race winner Valtteri Bottas also out of a seat on the grid as of now, the Finn is also rumoured to continue his foray into gravel cycling. To be fair, he’s been more of a cyclist than a driver for these last few years, anyway.
Old kit, new bike... Tom Pidcock goes on training ride with new Q36.5 teammates — in Ineos Grenadiers kit
The good ol’ logjam of contracts, sponsors and logistics in pro cycling…
A product of the classic sartorial mishmash that constitutes pro team winter training camps, Tom Pidcock, who left the Ineos Grenadiers a few weeks ago after a tumultuous transfer saga, has been spotted in his old team’s kit (no, not the brand new one) on a training ride with his new Q36.5 Pro Cycling teammates.
Also accompanying him on the ride was the 28-year-old Dutch puncheur Milan Vader, who after agreeing to join the Swiss ProTeam from Visma-Lease a Bike two months ago, was also seen in his old team’s colours.
While the sight of Pidcock and Vader riding in Ineos and Visma colours at a Q36.5 training camp may seem odd to newcomers to the sport, it’s a common one within the world of pro cycling.
While Pidcock is focused on his fresh start at Q36.5, until 1 January he’s still technically an Ineos rider – so we won’t be seeing him in his new kit until 2025 – a consequence of cycling’s weird transfer policy that tends to make big-name signings look like opportunistic tourists who have latched onto the back of the group during December training camps.
(Of course, the best example of this is when a team starts from scratch, and riders rock up in all their different team kits, resembling a large breakaway at a stage race instead of a new, unified squad. Cycling, eh?)
But it’s not all old-school kit for Pidcock, because if you look closely at the video, you can also notice that the double Olympic champion is testing new waters with his Scott Addict RC, adorned with a custom paint job, although he’s set to remain on Pinarello for the off-road season.
Speaking of off-road season, Pidcock announced this morning that he won’t be taking part in any cyclocross races this winter, instead opting to focus on preparing for the 2025 road season with his Q36.5.
He wrote in an Instagram post: “On Sunday I watched my first cyclocross of the this season and it reminded me I should probably officially mention that this year, I will not race cyclocross.
“With a lot of change I want to make sure I have the time to settle into a new environment to get to know my new team and teammates well. But so far my plan will be to return to the field next year.”
A lot of change, but not a change of kits just yet…
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Latest Comments
Finally! A new bike with a paint scheme that's not boring.
My Wilier stockist tells me this will also be available as a frameset. I've got high hopes for this one.
@chrisonabike See those white lines mate? That's a Gove Way that is.
My Giant TCR is certainly a bit of an all-rounder. It bats right handed at 5 or 6 and bowls right arm leg spin as well as fielding regularly at backward point. It has just signed a two year contract with Northants.
@ktache You have to realise that Michael Gove, one of the elite, gifted team of Brexit architects, operates on a highly elevated plane of thinking. This leaves a lot less spare brain capacity for functions like coordination and awareness of his surroundings. In fact I once read a column in the Sunday Times that described his jogging style as "...like a nun being chased by a bee...".
Presumably if you've already got a Discovery / Alfa Romeo / Bentley * then the incentive *not* to drive it is small. Particularly if you're in that phase of life where walking is a bit more effort and you've many decades of driving habit under the belt. And ALL the friends, neighbours and relatives drive, without exception. * or in fact any car...
Steady - he might just blow through the lights...
"Accept cyclists"?
That does look nice, but a shame not to see a Campagnolo option.
Has Bishops Stortford been annexed by the USA?
23 thoughts on ““Is his new kit still with Evri?”: Tom Pidcock dons Ineos colours during training ride with Q36.5 teammates; Why don’t cyclists use the bike lane? Because it’s blocked by beer kegs; LFGSS forum to shut down citing Online Safety Act + more on the live blog”
I had thought that you can’t
I had thought that you can’t proceed any further on that cycle lane anyway – there’s a planter of hedge and then tables for the cafes, etc, along there. This is the streetview, when the cycle lane was temporary rather than permanent, but you can see how all the tables are laid out – that hasn’t changed.
At the end of Newmarket Ave
At the end of Newmarket Ave there’s a more recent StreetView (hopefully this link works: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7drtrht1CwqytEHk6)
I’m struggling to understand the contraflow bikelane. The markings seem to make no sense, given it seems evident that the intention was already to continue the al fresco pub/cafe spaces when it was put in. I did think that maybe it could exist to bypass the barrier, although the markings wouldn’t seem to align with that being it’s sole aim.
So, I would say the beer kegs don’t seem to be a particular problem where they are (it looks to me like their are within the area bounded by the planters). But the lorry stopping there to unload and blocking the entire carriageway is a problem. Presumably the driver thought it acceptable to obstruct the carriageway given I assume there is little motorised through-traffic, and cyclists’ journeys obviously don’t matter.
Can we tone down the hearing
Can we tone down the hearing loss bollocks please. It makes you sound like the daily mail of cycling.
Yeah, but my hearing loss led
Yeah, but my hearing loss led to MASSIVE HOUSE-PRICE INFLATION.
lesterama wrote:
WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU
Hard to get through when some
Hard to get through when some just want to bury their heads in the
sandtree. (from here)I see the local government
I see the local government paper on local government is going to crack down on the scourge of bikes and ebikes left on the pavement and give a response to 2020 pavement parking consultation.
Also it will be easier to change a footpath into a cycle track.
Utterly brain dead scope of
Utterly brain dead scope of the online safety act.
Classic case of Politicians completely failing to target the right offenders and crushing the little businesses whilst the big businesses will laugh at the restrictions and fight Ofcom in court.
The sheer hubris of thinking the Uk can regulate the SM Goliath’s let alone Joe Schmo in another country.
More to the point – does this
More to the point – does this mean the demise of road.cc forums? I can hear the revenants getting their first complaints ready…
The owner of the LFGSS forum
The owner of the LFGSS forum may have interpreted it differently to us or has other reasons to be concerned, but we’re very confident the Online Safety Act won’t affect how our forum operates.
Jack Sexty wrote:
I’d agree with you – it looks to me like you can avoid liability if you have a process to remove illegal content (and follow it). LFGSS is run by an individual and not for profit, so they’re reluctant to be held responsible for approx 300 forums. Road.cc has more resources and it’s not like the forum gets a huge amount of posts.
Hacker News thread here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42433044
hawkinspeter wrote:
— hawkinspeterThat is a fascinating discussion, thanks.
LFGSS used to be fun to dip into, a nice window into a part of the cycling community I’d never otherwise know about. But nothing lasts for ever, particularly on the internet.
I can only think of one act
I can only think of one act of parliament, that in the 14 years the Conservatives led this country (or failed to lead more like), that was beneficial to some of the population and was delivered competently with a broader understanding of it’s impact. The rest are like UK Online Safety Act, passed as a populist measure, written by a lazy, incompetent government, and failing to address what is a genuine problem. As is typical of their 14 years tenancy of No 10, all they wanted was something that they could point Daily Mail, Telegraph and Express readers to, so that they could claim they were doing something. BSers the lot of them, but we are still allowing them to gaslight us on their record and their lies about the new government.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
At the same time as the Govt proposes “letting tech firms use copyrighted work to train AI – consultation suggests opt-out scheme for creatives who don’t want their work used by Google, OpenAI and others“
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/dec/17/uk-proposes-letting-tech-firms-use-copyrighted-work-to-train-ai
Why, it’s almost as if they just want to roll over and let all the Big Tech bro’s do whatever the f- they want, while regulating the little people out of existence.
I was sure that Labour was left-of-centre and vaguely on the side of the People rather than the corporations, or did I imagine that…?
TBH this is pretty much a
TBH this is pretty much a standard trope of government (any stripe). Or much regulation.
Political imperitive (“something must be done”) is converted into laws. While doing this the bigger corporations have the cash and connections to negotiate things so that regulations which finally do emerge are going to be bearable for them.
Government is happy – they’ve done “something” – and have successfully “agreed this with business”. The big corporations will accept this as just another cost (if they didn’t manage to shut the whole idea down).
For SMEs though the burden may be excessive. If only because they may lack the legal competence and resource to assess a safe minimum level of work to comply. And dealing with any breach could be a relatively massive time and money drain.
Meanwhile criminals won’t give a stuff. The less organised / more desperate will take their chances, the bigger fish can employ specialists to work round regulations (see the effectiveness of eg. the FCA and SFO)!
30 new bike hangars coming to
30 new bike hangars coming to London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
I’ve never seen one of these in the wild, and I’m sure they’re a worthy idea, but doesn’t it just mean that somebody turns up at 3 in the morning, cuts through all 4 legs in no time and hoists the whole thing onto a trailer? Or are there more anchor points in the centre?
Most of the ones I’ve seen (e
Most of the ones I’ve seen (e.g. the “Bikehangar” brand) don’t have much security against that – they just have 4 brackets which are bolted to the surface (e.g. see here).
Probably not the biggest risk though. I don’t know details of the locking mechanism (edit seems to be a (key) lock securing a locking bar which connects to the two sides) but that’s probably the quickest way in. Then just cut off any bikes you want / have time for and leg it? (A quick Google confirms this has happened e.g. here).
Plus of course they rely on everyone remembering to lock them after use.
Yep, I imagine getting into
Yep, I imagine getting into it is a lot less hassle than removing the legs and lifting it (and the bikes dangling out of the bottom of it) onto a trailer.
Ah! but you get plenty of
Ah! but you get plenty of untroubled time at home to remove all the bikes from whatever they’re locked to. Maybe the best defence is that nobody with a fairly expensive bike (>£1000?) puts it into one of these?
As I found with our block’s
As I found with our block’s “secure bike storage” if it’s worth more than a “pub bike” and certainly if it looks new and shiny, in many places the only sure way is to keep it in your house / flat / room.
Erm – Winchester took a week
Erm – Winchester took a week (gosh – until someone went public saying they’d been injured) to announce road closures due to dangerously slippery road surface? Hmm…
No mystery on the Pidcock kit
No mystery on the Pidcock kit conundrum, most riders contracts go from 1st Jan to 31st Dec, so they’re obliged to ride in their old team kit till their new contract kicks in to appease sponsor/contractual obligations.
As can be seen at many teams training camps currently if people bother to look.
I was just about to type more
I was just about to type more or less the same thing. I believe in some cases it goes beyond that – unless fully released from contract then getting caught in someone else’s kit before 31-Dec can result in financial penalties.