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The next Tadej Pogačar? 15-year-old boy smashes 340km at 27km/h; Should you use WD-40 on your chain?; Aero bars; You can't park there, Sir; Mur de Huy hell; Commute checklist; "A cycling city" + more on the live blog

It's Tuesday, no, it's Wednesday...being closer to the weekend than you think is another bank holiday perk, isn't it? Dan Alexander is here for your middle of the week live blog.....
20 April 2022, 16:33
Dylan Teuns steep gradients into victory

A Teun up for the books and all other Teun-related puns...

Pog went pop, Valverde was distanced moments later and Alpahilippe too far back either to make a challenge. This was the outcome:

Something of an upset with the Bahrain Victorious rider soloing away up the Mur de Huy. On a side note...

20 April 2022, 15:45
So...who is 15-year-old cycling sensation Alec Perry?
Alec Perry Strava 200 miles

We came across Alec's monster ride earlier today, and shortly after road.cc Simon pointed out he has made headlines before...

In 2016, Alec made local paper headlines for inspiring a GP to ride Land's End to John O'Groats to raise money for the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society. Alec was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis two years before then, and described it being like "a burning volcano in his joints" but refuses to let it get in the way of doing what he loves – riding a bike.

Then, during those surreal sunny lockdown days of summer 2020, Alec was back in the papers having become a "local legend" for racking up the miles without that pesky school day getting in the way.

Alec hit the 6,500-mile mark five months after the schools shut, clocking 400 miles a week on average.

20 April 2022, 13:35
What is it actually like to ride the Paris-Roubaix cobbles?

20 April 2022, 11:16
"A cycling city"... as a motorist drives down the bike lane

A reminder last month: "One month, two dead cyclists": Oxford's cycling city sign defaced after second death 

20 April 2022, 11:15
Commute checklist

 

20 April 2022, 10:56
As hard a climb as you're ever likely to find — Mur de Huy hell

Prior to this morning, 12 of the past 15 winners of the women's Flèche Wallonne were from the Netherlands, the last seven (all Anna van der Breggen) were all Dutch winners too.

But, Annemiek van Vleuten could not quite make that 13 from 16, as Marta Cavalli rounded the Movistar rider as the steepest ramps of the infamous Mur de Huy softened, meaning the Italian is on for the Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège hat-trick.

Just look at those gradients...

 Mur de Huy is one of the hardest climbs on the calendar and makes the pros look like us lot blowing our way up the local rise. The men's race is underway, with three-time champ Julian Alaphilippe back to defend his crown against: five-time winner Alejandro Valverde, Michael Woods, Tadej Pogačar and Tom Pidcock. The only big-name missing is Alec Perry...

Mur de Huy (via wikimedia commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

Tadej's tuft is out, can anyone beat him?

Pogacar tuft (screnshot GCN/Eurosport)
20 April 2022, 09:47
You can't park there, Sir!
20 April 2022, 09:36
Schwalbe UK goes carbon neutral
schwalbe pro one launch 2

Schwalbe UK is now carbon neutral, the company has announced. Bikebiz reports the tyre brand has calculated its operational carbon footprint to 70.46tCO2e and has bought verified carbon credits to rebalance its operational greenhouse gas emissions for 2021/2022.

The carbon credits project will ensure 28,752 hectares of forest is protected for conservation purposes, and by working alongside Plannet Zero, Schwalbe says it has achieved carbon neutrality in accordance with PAS 2060.

"At Schwalbe, we strive to be the most sustainable bicycle tyre manufacturer in the world. This is why Schwalbe UK began working with Plannet Zero in 2021 to help measure our operational carbon footprint," a statement said.

20 April 2022, 09:18
POLL: WD-40 as chain lube?

What could ever go wrong with a yes/no vote?

Poll Creator

20 April 2022, 09:01
Should you use WD-40 on your chain?

When does the milk go in the tea? (At the end, obviously) Tea, dinner or supper? (Tea) Disc brakes or rim brakes? (Honestly, whatever you want, I don't care) Coca-Cola or Pepsi? (Either) Was that dress blue or gold? (Blue) WD-40 as chain lube? (No comment)...

It's a community-splitting question as old as blue cans of multi-purpose lubricant... should you use WD-40 to lube your bike chain?

What do we reckon? Yay or nay? Play nicely, let's try not to fall out in the comments... 

20 April 2022, 08:53
My kind of aero bars...
20 April 2022, 07:48
The next Tadej Pogačar? 15-year-old boy from Northampton smashes 340km at 27km/h
Alec Perry Strava 200 miles

What were you doing at 15? Actually, probably best you don't answer that one... Whatever the answer, it's almost certainly not: "Yeah, I was just casually knocking out 340km rides with 2,800m of elevation in under 12 and a half hours. Average speed? Think that was 27.3km/h, but I'd have to check, pal..."

We're pretty baffled/impressed/stunned by this monster day out by 15-year-old Alec Perry. I'll say that again...15 years old...

Alec's Strava is private, so you'll have to request a follow to leave some well-earned kudos, but Leah shared her son's ride, saying he is desperate to be in the Tour de France. Going like that the 2027 peloton better watch out...(cc: Dave Brailsford).

Tom Pidcock, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Jeremy Vine were just three of the names getting the ride forwarded to them. I suspect this won't be the last we hear of this one...

Now, allow us all a second to retrieve our jaws from the floor, and we'll get stuck into some of the amazed reaction to Alec's epic...

Get that man a beer! Sorry, no...not beer...I mean...age-appropriate drink of choice... 

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

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48 comments

Avatar
brooksby | 1 year ago
0 likes

Secondhand bikes and city traffic: the joy and grit of an African cycle race

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/apr/21/secondhand-bi...

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Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
1 like

Not to poo-poo the Schwable accomplishment but I'm assuming its only a sales and distribution operation so a fraction of the carbon costs of making the tyres that happens in other country.

Also offsetting is sometimes percieved as the lazy option rather than reducing....

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
1 like

Having just come back from Australia, where my preferred chain lube, GT85, is not available except by extremely expensive import, I did some research, and found out that WD40 bought out GT85.  WD40 do produce something similar to GT85, WD40 with PTFE, but it is three or four times the price of GT85.

Wierd.  It looks as if they bought GT85 just to stop it being sold in some markets.

Avatar
brooksby replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
6 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

Wierd.  It looks as if they bought GT85 just to stop it being sold in some markets.

Good lord.  You really think a huge multinational would do something like that??  My faith in humanity is gone...

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to eburtthebike | 1 year ago
0 likes

eburtthebike wrote:

Having just come back from Australia, where my preferred chain lube, GT85, is not available except by extremely expensive import, I did some research, and found out that WD40 bought out GT85.  WD40 do produce something similar to GT85, WD40 with PTFE, but it is three or four times the price of GT85.

Wierd.  It looks as if they bought GT85 just to stop it being sold in some markets.

I'm still using a can of GT85 (not for chain lube though) though I can't remember where I bought it from (not Australia though). You can buy it from EBay for under £5 a can.

Edit: just realised you said that Australia is where you can't buy it

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eburtthebike replied to hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
4 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

I'm still using a can of GT85 (not for chain lube though) though I can't remember where I bought it from (not Australia though). You can buy it from EBay for under £5 a can.

Aldi regularly sell it for a ridiculous price, less than my wholesaler was charging.

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brooksby | 1 year ago
3 likes

Just been looking through my paper copy of the new Highway Code.

Rule 163 on overtaking actually says at the end "You should wait behind the motorcyclist, cyclist, horse rider, horse-drawn vehicle or pedestrian and not overtake them if it is unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances." (my emphasis).

Well, that hasn't changed anything yet... 

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hawkinspeter | 1 year ago
5 likes

Dagnammit - I'm late to the choco-joke party.

Anyhow, just finished eating a whole Yorkie

...and been banned from Crufts

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mdavidford | 1 year ago
1 like

Starting Strava before you've checked for your pass, keys, etc. seems like a bit of a fail.

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brooksby replied to mdavidford | 1 year ago
1 like

Asking as a non Strava-ist: doesn't that mean your journey would be logged as taking several minutes longer than it actually did?

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Rendel Harris replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
6 likes

I just look at the "moving time" rather than "time elapsed" - removes any temptation to risk orange lights or similar for time's sake, also saves any faffing about stopping and restarting it at cafe stops etc.

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Jimwill replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
0 likes

Yeh, but you can just crop the ride and take that time wasted looking for keys and stuff off.

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brooksby | 1 year ago
2 likes

"Have you started Strava" is higher up the list of priorities than "Keys" and "Rear light"??? 

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nosferatu1001 replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
4 likes

Sounds like an honest more than sensible cyclist 😂

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Miller replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
4 likes

Yes. And?

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brooksby replied to Miller | 1 year ago
0 likes

Miller wrote:

Yes. And?

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
8 likes

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61022329

Islington Council, which charges £25 a year for electric vehicle permits, and as little as £30 for other cars, has the highest bike hangar rental cost in London, at £107 a year.

Seems a bit unbalanced in terms of charges.

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brooksby replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
3 likes

And this surprises you how, exactly...?   3

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Hirsute replied to brooksby | 1 year ago
3 likes

That the bike charges are so low !

About time these cyclists started paying for the roads !

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BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
0 likes

Remember that's £107 per space - and there are six spaces per bike hangar. And two hangars can be fitted into one car parking space. So that's a lot.

However, Islington don't profit on the hangars as they cost money to install and to maintain and manage. (I don't work for Islington by the way) 

There are other reasons why the cost is high. In other boroughs where the cost is subsidised residents obtain spaces in a hangar and then don't use the space. The result is half empty hangars which frustrates those who don't have a space and gives ammunition to the antis. 

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mdavidford replied to BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP | 1 year ago
0 likes

Lukas wrote:

Islington don't profit on the hangars as they cost money to install and to maintain and manage.

Unlike car parking spaces which don't require any maintenance from having cars continuously driven in and out of them.

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peted76 | 1 year ago
4 likes

"Should you use WD-40 on your chain?"

 

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mdavidford | 1 year ago
1 like

Asked and answered...

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Shake replied to mdavidford | 1 year ago
3 likes

WD-40, it's in the name. Water Displacer, not lubricant 

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Rendel Harris replied to Shake | 1 year ago
2 likes

Shake wrote:

WD-40, it's in the name. Water Displacer, not lubricant 

It's a water displacer and a lubricant, it drives out water and lubricates at the same time as well as providing an anti-corrosion layer. It's not ideal for bike chains as it's too light, you'd probably want to give it a new coat every ride, but it's certainly not just a water displacer. They do make a bike-specific range as well but I've yet to try it.

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BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

The bike specific range is very good. I prefer to clean and lubricare  chains reguarly as I really don't like wet lube. It's so sticky and attracts so much urban filth onto the chain. 

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Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
20 likes

I once attached some hazlenut chocolate bars to my stem, but that's a different Topic...

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mdavidford replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
8 likes

I tried a Twirl on my bars once - that just ended in some Time Out.

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GMBasix replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
7 likes

Rendel Harris wrote:

I once attached some hazlenut chocolate bars to my stem, but that's a different Topic...

That's nuts!

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Drinfinity replied to GMBasix | 1 year ago
9 likes

I nicked a bike once.

The police put a Bounty on my head. Which was nice.

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