“More needs to be done”: Shocking congestion showing why more Londoners don’t cycle; Jakobsen on working for “idol” Mark Cavendish; Bike shop jargon; Froome breakaway; Vaughters addresses ‘Super League’ views + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Beale-ing good: EastEnders actor Adam Woodyatt loving life on two wheels
“Another day, another bike ride” is a slogan we can get behind. Especially if it includes Ian Beale becoming a mega cycling fan. Adam Woodyatt has been filling his time while on a break from the soap by hitting the lanes and trails on his mountain bike in a slightly terrifying disguise…you would definitely ride faster if you saw that coming up behind you.
Woodyatt says cycling has helped him slim down and that a bit of encouragement from co-star Jake Wood (Max Branning in the show) has helped keep him on track.
“He goes running – I go cycling,” he said. “Like my mate Mr Wood says, ‘you got to get out there. You got to do it.’”
Too right.
Fabio Jakobsen recalls emotional return to racing helping "idol" Mark Cavendish win
The amazing @FabioJakobsen returned to competition last week and yesterday he completed his first race with the Wolfpack in more than a year 😃
So, so proud 🤗 🤗
Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/9hyiN4RDCC— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) April 19, 2021
Fabio Jakobsen’s return to racing, coupled with Mark Cavendish winning four stages, made the Tour of Turkey a race to remember for Deceuninck-Quick-Step. Jakobsen had not raced for nine months since last August when he suffered a horrendous crash at the Tour of Poland which left him in a coma in hospital. His recovery has been long but the 24-year-old was delighted to be back in the peloton alongside his idol…
“It’s great to work for him,” Jakobsen said. “He finished it off four times, so he deserved it. Hearing Mark say that he’s proud of me is really special. That already started in December, the guys took me along the rides and supported me all the time. Mark is one of my idols and he’s a really big example for me. I listen to him and follow all his advice. I hope to be as good as Mark one day.”
Despite not getting his hands in the air, the 2019 Dutch national champion feels as though his comeback is a victory in itself. “In my mind I’ve already won a couple of races, which makes me confident. I think they were a bit nervous back home, but they are happy for me and I’m excited to see them again and spend time with them before my next race, where I hope my improvement will continue.”
Jakobsen’s return to the peloton was celebrated by fans, fellow pros and pundits alike and a touching photo of him checking up on a rider who had crashed did the rounds on social media early in the week.
“The first stage still felt a bit weird, as I had to find my feelings on the bike again,” he continued. “There’s always a couple of times the bunch makes a swing to the left or right, and guys have to brake. The first time it happened I felt a bit scared, but the second time that feeling already got less and the third time it was almost gone.
“Everybody is happy I made it back and the welcome I got was touching and beautiful to see. I spoke with a lot of guys in the peloton and it felt like coming home in a race. I spoke with colleagues from my age, but also older guys. They all said they were glad I was back and they were happy to see me at the race. It feels good that I’m back.”
Haute Route Crans-Montana
The Haute Route is counting down the days until the first of its ‘real’ events in 2021. With travel and mass-participation events put on hold during the pandemic, the Haute Route Crans-Montana will see a return to the multi-stage challenge in its traditional form: lots of cyclists riding long stages over challenging terrain. In 50 days, 300 riders will take on the three-day Swiss challenge, taking in 223km of riding and 8,100m of elevation gain, including the monster climb over Sanetsch Pass. The Haute Route Watopia kicked off the 2021 series in true pandemic style with 68,000 people riding on Zwift, but I’m sure we’re all looking forward to ditching Zoom calls or virtual challenges and getting back to normal…
Chris Froome makes the breakaway on stage four of the Tour of the Alps
LETS FUCKING GOOO CHRIS BRING IT HOME
— Has Froome Been Dropped Yet? (@FroomeHas) April 22, 2021
First 2021 Tour of Britain teams revealed
Introducing the first 𝙨𝙞𝙭 teams for the 2021 Tour of Britain 🇬🇧@BritishCycling // @canyondhbsungod // @RibbleWeldtite // @saintpiran1 // @SwiftProCycling // @TrinityRacing_ #TourOfBritain 🔴🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/bq8fjujeN5
— Tour of Britain 🇬🇧 (@TourofBritain) April 22, 2021
The first six team who will be riding the Tour of Britain have been revealed. SweetSpot and British Cycling have decided to invite all five of Britain’s UCI Continental teams as well as the GB Cycling Team. Canyon dhb SunGod and SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling return to the race having previously won jerseys at the event. Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, Saint Piran and TRINITY Racing will all be making their Tour of Britain debuts in September.
The national Great Britain Cycling Team has been a mainstay at the race, competing at 13 of the 16 modern Tours to date, including every edition since 2012 and has provided a platform for young British riders such as Tao Geoghegan Hart, Simon Yates and Hugh Carthy. With five UCI Continental Teams on the startlist it will be the most home teams at the race since 2015.
Race director Mick Bennett said they wanted to reward the teams in recognition of the challenges faced during the last 12 months as the pandemic cut racing opportunities.
“Together with British Cycling, we understand the challenges that they have faced over the past 14 months,” he said. “We hope that these early invitations give them the chance to plan ahead to September, safe in the knowledge that their place is assured, so that they can arrive at the Tour of Britain in the best possible condition. We know from recent editions of the race that the Great British squad and domestic teams can illuminate the race – I’m looking forward to more of the same later this year.”
Alexei Sayle's lockdown bike ride
Another Richmond Park driver where they shouldn't be
Hi, thanks for highlighting, will take a look into it
— Royal Parks Police (@MPSRoyal_Parks) April 21, 2021
Derek Green speculated this driver must have a special pass that allows them to ignore no entry signs and squeeze past closed turnings…At least, ignoring the driving for a second, it is good to see so many people out using the park to ride their bikes…
Richmond Park is too dangerous to cycle in. Which is an absolutely staggering thing to say about a park. Too dangerous for people. It’s almost criminal negligence.
— Elisabeth Anderson 💙 (@velobetty) April 22, 2021
Pello Bilbao dedicates Tour of the Alps win to Michele Scarponi
The descent to the Tour of the Alps stage-four finish is crazy 😲⚠️
Pello Bilbao led the riders down… then took victory! 🚴♂️💨#TotA pic.twitter.com/c2MzxOXFxF
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) April 22, 2021
A twisting descent off the mountain decided this afternoon’s stage in the Alps…Dan Martin fell after coming into a hairpin bend too hot. Pello Bilbao managed to bridge across to Simon Yates and Aleksandr Vlasov and won the sprint ahead of the Russian with race leader Yates third.
Today marked the fourth anniversary of Michele Scarponi’s death. The popular rider’s final race was the Tour of the Alps back when it was called Giro del Trentino. That year he won the opening stage on the way to finishing fourth.
At the finish, Bilbao dedicated his win to Scarponi, his former teammate at Astana.
We will always remember you like this. Today we want to celebrate you with a great stage.
Ciao Michele 💙 pic.twitter.com/GsIuZt3t4l
— Tour of The Alps (@Tourof_TheAlps) April 22, 2021
Bike shop jargon
Anyone got any bad bike shop experiences? I’d say I’ve been fairly lucky whenever I’ve needed to get a bit of extra knowledge for a bike-related issue. No talking down to and no fleecing an extra job or three…
Fettle is certainly an interesting idea. It looks like bike repair if you really don’t want to have to go to a bike shop. Plus the ad is actually quite funny. No doubt there will be plenty of people loyal to their local bike shop and lucky enough to get great service every time. But I guess it is a good opportunity to ask you lot for any bike shop shockers?
EF Education-Nippo boss Jonathan Vaughters explains Super League comments
Folks: I’m fine with all the Twitter screaming about this. I have no emotional tie to football. I’m not a fan of the sport. So, you can tell me I’m wrong. I probably am. That’s fine. No problem. But from a sports business perspective, I think the SL idea had merit. 🤷♂️
— Jonathan Vaughters (@Vaughters) April 20, 2021
Jonathan Vaughters spoke to Cycling Tips to clarify his support for football’s now-collapsed European Super League. The team boss came under plenty of criticism from cycling fans this side of the pond for failing to realise that British football clubs are more community-centred and have longer established traditions of loyal fanbases than in American sport.
He accpted he was probably wrong about football but explained how a ‘Super League’ could work for cycling: “Cycling is so fragmented,” he said. “There is not a unifying force in cycling. The AIGCP [the association of professional men’s teams – ed.] is totally dysfunctional. Velon, for all intents and purposes, has sort of lost its bite. The sport is run by ASO and, to a lesser degree, the UCI. Neither one of them really see value in either financial fairness or in elimination of promotion or relegation.
“If you look at my Twitter feed, people are like, ‘This is greedy owners, you’re thinking about this from a greed perspective, and it’s only about making money. You’re not seeing this from a fan perspective, from an emotional perspective. But they’re right, I’m not seeing it from a fan’s perspective because I’m not a fan of football. I know nothing about football. I only know about the business side.”
Good driving
Big shout out to this tipper driver at @MarshallsGroup Scout Moor quarry. This is how you pass people on bikes 👍#cycling #activetravel pic.twitter.com/vyRAcsb2IO
— PassPixi (@PassPixi) April 22, 2021
Let’s do some more good driving shall we? You can check out Near Miss of the Day 573 for the usual standard but let’s highlight how it’s done properly too…Top stuff.
Giro-E to run parallel to the Giro d'Italia
The Giro-E is the world’s only stage event exclusively reserved for e-bike riders. This year it will run parallel to, on the same day as, the pros riding the Giro d’Italia and will involve e-bike riders covering shorter routes based around the same host cities and towns as the professional race. It starts on 8 May and arrives in Milan on 30 May taking in all the highlights of the pro’s experience too: signing on, six jerseys, awards ceremonies and hospitality. Over 21 stages the route covers 1,540km and 25,500 metres of climbing. Highlights of the route include the fearsome Zoncolan, Passo Giau and Pordoi.
Drink at Your Desk Live! with Alex Dowsett
Tomorrow’s Drink at Your Desk Friday guest is @TeamIsraelSUN pro @alexdowsett!
We’ll be live on Facebook and Youtube tomorrow at 4pm so hit the link below to set a reminder and leave your questions in the Chat Box. https://t.co/1zvnaTAx8o
— road.cc (@roadcc) April 22, 2021
We’ll give you another nudge tomorrow closer to the time but we’ve got the second episode of our new YouTube series Drink at Your Desk Live! coming up at 4pm tomorrow. We’ll be cracking open a cold one with special guest Alex Dowsett to get the weekend started in style. If you missed our first episode with Watford and former England goalkeeper Ben Foster then check it out here…
22 April 2021, 08:05
22 April 2021, 08:05
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Latest Comments
Rice cakes or flapjacks work well for me, gels and chews and bars on longer rides. Most of the time I'll stick to using carb drinks, seems to work better for me as I don't always feel like eating on the bike even though I know I have to, so the drink keeps me topped up.
I always ride with gels and a peanut butter Clif Bar as emergency bail-outs (which very rarely get used), but my go-to for longer ride is 100% peanut butter with salad in a white bread sandwich - protein, fat, carbs. And a banana, of course. Very old school.
@jaymack Exactly this. My regular go-to snacks are Squashies, porridge oat bars and jam sandwiches.
@Velophaart_95 It's about eight seconds from the traffic lights to the bus stop. Discount say three seconds for getting up to speed and letting Vine go first would have delayed the bus driver by about five seconds. You might also want to consider the fact that the bus driver is breaking the law by moving into an occupied cycle lane (Highway Code 140: Do not drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a broken white line unless it is unavoidable...You should give way to any cyclists in a cycle lane, including when they are approaching from behind you). I rather think that the one who needs to "give your head a wobble", if you must use that tedious and rather asinine cliche, is yourself.
@kingleo MGIF ... that's why. It happens regularly - e.g. dangerous overtake, just to have to stop at the entrance to the fuel station, because the forecourt is already rammed (and can be seen to be, from a distance)
Forgive my paranoia but one would assume that users of Garmin bike computers probably self-sort into a group one could easily name as "owners of expensive bikes". Surely there's a risk of scrotes using it to ambush cyclists and nick bikes?
Ah, that's a shame. Personal service was good from them in my experience (up there with Fairlight) and the bikes looked the part. The original Classic Electric was a perfect UK city/further bike with a powerful motor coupled to a surprisingly elegant and light frame. They've not be accepting bike orders for about three weeks - which is to their credit as it hopefully means fewer customers will lose out due to the closure. I was all set to order from them as I was in the market and was disappointed to see they were closed for new orders .
Ace Ventura 👏
Ah yes, Waze. That "community-driven app" that's owned by Google. Of course, they're famously "community-driven". The app that sells itself on being able to drive places faster by using cut throughs and rat runs down residential streets. The app that features alerts of where drivers might be caught speeding, rather than alerting drivers they are speeding. And you can now use audio apps, even news apps, directly through Waze. While driving. More of this is not making anyone safer.
@Backladder I'd thought of that one, but I'd want to be sure that the councils would a) not have cocked their own side up legally and b) stick to their guns once the first letters from M'very expensive friends arrived (and if the likes of a Mr. Loophole has already one once and hammered some hapless LA ...) Bureaucracies can be extremely bureacratic ... but they can also get risk-averse (and let those with disabilities / cyclists / pedestrians worry)
13 thoughts on ““More needs to be done”: Shocking congestion showing why more Londoners don’t cycle; Jakobsen on working for “idol” Mark Cavendish; Bike shop jargon; Froome breakaway; Vaughters addresses ‘Super League’ views + more on the live blog”
I’ll be honest – Adam
I’ll be honest – Adam Woodyatt has really aged since he was on Eastenders.
I wouldn’t have recognised him!
Skeletor rides a bike?
Skeletor rides a bike?
More like Ghost Rider
More like Ghost Rider
brooksby wrote:
Someone’s been at the Charley….
I’ve given myself a challenge
I’ve given myself a challenge to ride to work every day this week; I usually only do it 2 or 3 times and rest/recover on the other days by driving. Not sure if I want to use the tag #another dayanother ride though!
I started with one day a week
I started with one day a week, then two, and now average over four. There’s the occasional day I’m running late, or have to do something requiring a car after work. Or like last week, when I felt really crappy on day two after my first COVID-19 jab.
Nine miles each way and I love it!
I’m currently on 22 of 22 days cycling in April, with only one day cheating by just riding 2.25 miles around my neighborhood.
I started with a couple of
I started with a couple of days then built up to every day over a few months (basically once my workmate’s patience had worn out giving me a lift), which I’d been doing for over 5 years until last March brought that to a stop & my commute now consists of a staircase & about a 5m walk. Not having a car or any other alternative is a great motivator (although I realise I am lucky to be able to do that), plus the vids you get when it’s dark & snowing – makes it look like you’re making the jump to lightspeed
The Richmond park driver, she
The Richmond park driver, she pretty much turns witout looking for bikes coming on the left or indicating. Luckily the MTB’r had some sense.
Quote:
… or has Boris’s phone number?
With Alexi Sayle continueing
With Alexi Sayle continueing his ride in lockdown, I get to repost the link to his Hello John, gotta new … Morrisons
https://ngataonga.org.nz/collections/catalogue/catalogue-item?record_id=149878
Thanks to working at home I
Thanks to working at home I’ve only been into the office twice in 2021. The traffic on my ride into London this week was the worst I’ve ever seen. On one stretch of road I saw both of the cyclists in front of me almost taken out my right turning cars less than 100m apart. Frankly it was depressing. My commute is 13 miles and virtually the whole route was gridlocked. I’d imagine the average person new to cycling would be put off in their first attempt of riding in that.
Due to the nature of my work,
Due to the nature of my work, I’ve been going in at least once a week for the last couple of months.
Yesterday, with the schools open and non-essential shops open, the morning commute was definitely at pre Pandemic levels with queuing traffic levels.
No obvious noteble bad driving though although there were a couple using the bus lanes and a MGIF (Not dangerously) at some lights where road works had narrowed the lane from two to one and there was queing traffic straight after the lights. So the driver behind took the opportunity to move up a space and save 1 second by over taking in the larger area of the lights “square”.
An LBS I no longer use lost
An LBS I no longer use lost my custom not to jargon, but because when I took my son’s road bike in for a service they “diagnosed” a worn chain and cassette with the naked eye – no gauge needed it seems. Then they claimed that they didn’t have the tools for Campagnolo components, which was odd given that they built the bike in the first place. I think they were at it, frankly.
I just decided there and then that I’d do my own work from now on unless a task is really beyond me. In that case a shop will be asked to do just that specific job.