“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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Pretty impressive stuff from Axel Laurance there - from sliding along prone on the tarmac to back up on his feet all in the one movement. Shame he didn't manage to land it back on the bike again for the full effect, but good going nonetheless.
This has always happened in politics. It's just easier to find out about it now.
@Kadinkski Why not go full H2G2 and bring out peril-sensitive sunglasses - they could help people develop a relaxed attitude to danger?
It's not the cycling that is the hazardous bit, it is the car drivers knocking you off with 2 tonnes of steel. The Dutch manage to survive without helmets because it's normal. Assuming cars must be the dominant form of transport is the problem.
@ajuk.uk@gmail.com I'd also note that you seem to ignore that simply changing the numbers on a sign does "work". It does bring average speeds down and there are fewer consequences. I'm assuming you would welcome fewer deaths and injuries - but perhaps you think that's overstated / think that the "principle" is more important? Or you think that's a price worth paying for some other reason / "just one of those things"? I think measurable "reduced average speed" leading to things like measurable "reduced KSIs" is an improvement and will gladly take it * - until we get round to rebuilding the roads / adding a lot more traffic police / making humans "better" somehow (increasingly unlikely outcomes)... You seem to differ here - is that fair? Is that because "respect for the law" / avoiding people getting used to breaking the law is an axiom? Or just the *most* important thing? If so is that because "it's a slippery slope" and once "respect" has lost you feel that *all* bets are off? While things like "belief" and "respect" clearly are important, I would disagree that in this instance "respect for the law" is *the* most important aspect. People have been breaking any law I can think of for as long as I can remember. But "it's complicated" - the numbers who do so vary immensely. Some laws are broken by many if not all, some of the time - but even then people may not completely ignore them. Because of this complex interplay between human behaviour, law, etc. I am less worried that "5mph over the speed limit and next they'll be 10mph and ignoring the lights". Especially since in some environments the "respect for the law" has been observed in the breach for time. I'll take "25 in a 20" over "32mph in a 30mph limit" while acknowledging that where we would want a 20mph limit the goal is to have people going at *most* 20mph. (And maybe in e.g. a car park 20mph is far too high anyway?) * I do have an ulterior motive - I would also like to see less motor traffic in urban environments and what is there being less obtrusive / noisy - and I think lower speeds help that.
I'd be interested if they could see a couple of hours ahead and tell me when I'm going to run out of energy half an hour from home, so I can cut the ride short.
@ajuk.uk@gmail.com Lots of points there - can only pick a couple. Hmm... basing road safety principles on our busy modern roads on what applied in the 1930s? Yet it sounds like you favour the 1936 version because "better than 1930". Can we not do better than that? Where I think we agree: that the *better* way of setting the speed limit is to modify the road design. And obviously that sometimes levels of compliance are sometimes extremely poor. It varies - but in fact I think the situation you describe in your last paragraph has largely come to pass - effectively speeding (in some ways) *has* become socially normalised already! It must have, because such high percentages do it! And I don't think that's something new. It likely has at least as much to do with "risk of getting caught" combined with the consequences. Of course society's view of speeding / those who speed is also involved. Where we differ - I would question the whole "goal is identifying genuinely dangerous drivers" idea. (How is that defined?). Why? I am not convinced that is in fact what our system does (even if you feel it is or should be set up to do so). Or rather - the way we do it is extremely ineffective. In practice it's reactive policing and we determine they're dangerous because after lots of "minor offences" they kept playing the odds and killed someone in such an egregious way that their lawyer can't convince other drivers that it's just "one of those things". Of course it's open to you to argue that's a problem of success - we already have reduced offending to very low levels compared with how it was...
I've been working on some glasses with an overlay that sees up to 5 seconds ahead. Idea is to warn of upcoming collision or hazard. Have developed a working software model using AI, but I'm struggling with the product design aspect - like how to get this into the glasses but in a way that doesn't distract the rider. Maybe it only appears when an imminent collision is identified? I'm kind of looking for help with developing the product - have sent PoCs to Smith, oakley, and Apple but no response - I'm excellent with the tech/software, but not partnerships or product development. Will be doing a kickstarter but let me know if anyone is interested in chat first and potentially coming onboard. Could be a complete gamechanger!
I think modern politicians need a different skillset to succeed than earlier generations. Obviously there's a lot of overlap, but the (social) media environment is now such that politicians need to always be in campaign-mode to some degree, at the expense of time spent getting to grips with their brief and governing.
@mctrials23 Yes, all of that and especially (I'm sure you meant this under the training understanding/advancements) huge blocks of altitude training which effectively legally simulates doping with EPO.
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.