Council blasted for issuing more “nonsense” nuisance notices on bikes parked on pavement; “Cycling teams, enough with the shady sponsors”: Movistar accused of sportswashing after Saudi Arabia deal; Amy Pieters takes first steps + more on the live blog

Powerful, moving stuff here on road safety from the Transport Accident Commission in Victoria, Australia:

What do you think would be an acceptable number of people being killed on our roads?

Powerful message by Transport Accident Commission (TAC) Victoria. pic.twitter.com/d4RBMdxmMG

— Cycling Professor 🚲 (@fietsprofessor) October 24, 2022

Thanks to road.cc reader IanMSpencer for flagging this in the comments yesterday.

Well, search no more…

pic.twitter.com/1p4TJ4P96J

— Gasstationfoodcyclist (@thegsfc) October 24, 2022

Three-time Madison world champion Amy Pieters has walked for the first time since a training crash last December left her in a coma for four months.

The 31-year-old former Dutch road race champion, who has won the European road race championships, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, the Ronde van Drenthe and the GP Plouay during her eleven-year professional career, has been undergoing rehabilitation since waking from a coma in April.

The SD Worx rider was on a training camp in Calpe near Alicante when she crashed two days before Christmas last year, losing consciousness and sustaining serious head injuries.

> Amy Pieters shows signs of “awareness” four months after crash that left her in a coma

Pieters, who had won a stage of the Tour of Britain and finished fourth overall in her last road race of 2021, was placed in an induced coma and underwent an operation to relieve the pressure on her brain, before being repatriated to the Netherlands by air ambulance in early January.

Since waking from a coma in April, she then moved her recovery to the Daan Theeuwes Centre in Woerden, a specialist brain injury facility. There, her rehabilitation has improved – despite some setbacks – and she has cycled on a side-by-side tandem and, most recently, taken her first steps.

Amy Pieters has taken her first steps!

Amy has been in therapy for a while at the Daan Theeuwes Center in Woerden. She has also already been able to cycle along on a side-by-side tandem.

Read more about her rehabilitation: https://t.co/S3fbOLTDkN#smiletoenjoy pic.twitter.com/Q4nK8sSDel

— Team SD Worx (@teamsdworx) October 25, 2022

“Amy has taken her first steps!” an update on her website says. “Amy has been in therapy for a while at the Daan Theeuwes Center in Woerden, the Netherlands. Various exercises and training sessions are given that Amy participates in. Amy has already been able to cycle along on a side-by-side tandem.

“Lately, it’s been a little more difficult to motivate Amy with physical exercises. Talking is not yet possible, which makes it difficult to explain herself. Not being able to explain or express herself is sometimes a bit difficult for her and also for us. Fortunately, she can be motivated by playing a game. We take it for granted that she chooses her own moment. And that moment comes because suddenly she is standing!

“With a little help, she gets up from her chair and takes her own steps. She walks for short moments when supported. This is what we like to see.

“Amy sets the pace. There are days when she doesn’t want to show this again, and then there comes another day when she wants to stand, starts walking, and immediately makes a serious effort. What she shows then is the conviction that Amy will be able to walk again! Amy’s tiny steps are already turning into real steps. What a progression!

“We now hear more and more soft sounds from her. Then we’re glad to hear from her. Sometimes we suddenly hear a small word clearly escape from her mouth. She does not repeat this yet, but it’s so nice and hopeful to hear her familiar voice in this spontaneously uttered word.”

However, the update also emphasised that there have been several setbacks and interruptions to Pieters’ recovery, and that she has suffered a number of epileptic seizures.

“However, there are also moments of panic,” the update continues. “Everything seems to be going a little better and then suddenly we are again confronted with the facts. Amy had an epileptic seizure. Ambulance at the door and panic everywhere. The last time Amy had an epileptic seizure, she had a massive relapse. Probably by acting well and quickly and letting her sleep for a long time, Amy has no further serious consequences, apart from a considerable fatigue. Thank God.

“We must have patience and hope. We are convinced that Amy will show us some very beautiful things.We can’t thank the people often enough who help Amy. This also applies to her fellow rehabilitators, who continue to motivate each other positively. This strengthens everyone. But also, thanks to the volunteers, therapists, doctors, friends, acquaintances, family and everyone who gives Amy a warm heart.”

Il y a 50 ans aujourd’hui, Eddy Merckx battait le record de l’heure à Mexico (49,431 km).
pic.twitter.com/26YButokvB

— David Guénel (@davidguenel) October 25, 2022

While Filippo Ganna’s scorching, superhuman effort in Grenchen earlier this month has reignited the cycling world’s interest in the Hour Record, and effectively tore up the script concerning one of cycling’s most prestigious feats, the most iconic Hour Record moment still belongs to the greatest male cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx.

> Filippo Ganna roars to spectacular new UCI Hour Record of 56.792km

Fifty years ago today, on the morning of 25 October 1972, after two days in which the rain had made the outdoor track in Mexico City unrideable, Merckx set off for his 60 minutes of cycling purgatory with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Firmly established as the most dominant rider of his, or indeed any, generation, the pressure on Merckx was enormous: Fail, and everything he had achieved up to that point – the Tours, the Giri, the classics, the rainbow jerseys – could be eclipsed by one moment of defining, excruciatingly public failure.

Those reputational concerns, exacerbated by Merckx’s last-minute aim to break two intermediate records on the way to the Hour, were clearly palpable trackside.

Sports journalist Marc Jeuniau, who described the record attempt as the most intense experience of his reporting career, wrote: “The men intimately concerned with the champion’s performance were going through atrocious moments that they will never forget. The face of Jean Van Buggenhout was crimson. Old Piero Molteni was crying. Colnago, who was ready to run over if Merckx had a puncture, looked weighed down by the spare bike on his shoulders. Lucien Acou, the least confident of all of them, had trouble hiding his nerves, and, alone in a corner of the track, Doctor Cavalli was following Merckx with haggard eyes.”

Oct 25,1972, Eddy Merckx (Bel) ” The Cannibal” broke the UCI hour record, riding 49.431 kilometers in one hour. Look at the bike ridden by Merckx, an incredible athlete. pic.twitter.com/mdxDGECVuF

— The World of Cycling (@twocGAME) November 22, 2020

They needn’t have worried: Merckx’s start was blisteringly, almost recklessly, fast – especially at altitude. His first kilometre, from a standing start, took only one minute and 10 seconds (a time worthy of a world champs medal in the Kilo back then), while world records for the 10km and 20km distances were set along the way.

A mid-Hour crisis was duly navigated through sheer force of will, before a final crescendo saw Merckx destroy Ole Ritter’s record by 788 metres (the biggest jump the record had seen since 1912) to set an ‘unbeatable’ mark of 49.431 kilometres.

> Cycling’s greatest ever seasons

The Belgian, after a quick warm down, was carried from his bike, his face distorted into a painful, iconic grimace.

Chris Boardman, who in 2000 broke the Cannibal’s 1972 mark, following the UCI’s disastrous decision to ‘reset’ the Hour in the midst of the superbike age, told cycling author William Fotheringham for his Merckx biography, Half Man Half Bike: “I watched footage of Merckx being carried off afterwards and was laughing a bit, I thought it was showmanship. But I couldn’t walk for four days after the 2000 Hour. There is something about that position that does massive damage to you. It’s to do with riding on the drops.”

Merckx, meanwhile, told his DS at Molteni, Giorgio Albani, “never to mention the Hour Record again”.

Fifty years ago today, the Cannibal was finally defeated by the only man capable of the feat: Himself.

Fiido has a snapping-in-half problem with another of its e-bikes #ebikeshttps://t.co/i6EVNoudjk pic.twitter.com/WX1KI2DgnQ

— ebiketips (@ebiketips) October 25, 2022

Of course, if you’re in the market for an e-bike that won’t snap in half on you (aren’t we all?), make sure to check out our guide to the best electric bikes. 

People protecting constant fly-parking in 24-hour cycle lane to schools @ Harold’s Cross @IBIKEDublin @DubCityCouncil pic.twitter.com/IHgGGe11sp

— Petrichor (@Sinabhfuil) October 25, 2022

When is protected infrastructure not protected infrastructure? When you have to form a human barrier to prevent motorists from using it and to allow children to cycle safely to school, that’s when.

This rather startling safety initiative was held this morning on a 24-hour cycle lane in the Dublin inner suburb of Harold’s Cross, close to five local schools, and was supported by local cycling campaign group I Bike Dublin.

thank you @IBIKEDublin, It was fantastic to see some much support!! something needs to be done to improve the cycling infrastructure in Harold’s Cross! there are 5 schools in the area and no safe cycling for the children. Speed limit is at 50km/h with plenty of cars speeding! https://t.co/NwScgMRfQm pic.twitter.com/PaxzofqEHs

— Francesco Pilla (@f_pilla) October 25, 2022

However, despite the efforts of those involved, some drivers still seemed unable or unwilling to heed the message:

As always a van blocks entrance to 24-hour cycle lane pic.twitter.com/Nvw6W4N94S

— Petrichor (@Sinabhfuil) October 25, 2022

And the very second the lane protection line was gone, a car and a van pulled up blocking the entrance. Driver “Mind yer own business” – is it not our business that this 24-hour cycle lane is meant to protect our safety? Not good enough @DubCityCouncil

— Petrichor (@Sinabhfuil) October 25, 2022

The soccerisation of professional cycling continues at pace as, seemingly inspired the increasingly early successes of the likes of Remco Evenepoel and Tadej Pogačar, Tour de France winners Jumbo-Visma have invested in the future this autumn by securing the signature of highly-rated Norwegian prospect Jørgen Nordhagen.

The 17-year-old (yes, 17) is so young that he will have to wait until 2024, when he graduates from the junior ranks, to start racing for Jumbo-Visma’s development squad. He’ll then spend a year at Conti level before moving up to the big leagues alongside Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert.

Looking forward to have you in our team @j_nordhagen😃

‘2⃣4⃣ Jumbo-Visma Development Team
‘2⃣5⃣-‘2⃣7⃣ World Tour team

🗣️ “Here, I get the time and room to grow as a person and become a pro rider.”

— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) October 24, 2022

“Here, I get the time and room to grow as a person and become a pro rider. That has always been my dream, and it will come true in a few years. I’m really looking forward to it,” Nordhagen, whose contract with the Dutch squad runs until 2027, said in a statement.

“Because I have already decided to transfer to Team Jumbo-Visma after my junior season, I can continue to develop in peace and quiet and focus on my sporting goals. I think the team and I make a strong match because, based on my first impressions, the team and I have the same mindset. It’s also good to meet my fellow countrymen Tobias Foss, Per Strand Hagenes, and Johannes Staune-Mittet. I’ve heard positive things about the team from them.”

Jumbo-Visma’s deal with Nordhagen is similar to the one struck by UAE Team Emirates for Juan Ayuso, who rode as a junior and in a development squad before joining the World Tour this year, where he hit the ground running with a third place overall at the Vuelta a España.

No pressure then, Jørgen.

To mark pro cycling’s continued investment in youth, here’s a short list of things that happened before young Nordhagen was born (in January 2005):

• Lance Armstrong wins his sixth straight Tour de France title, and tells Floyd Landis to ‘ride like you stole it’ (July 2004)
• L.A. Confidentiel: Les secrets de Lance Armstrong, David Walsh and Pierre Ballester’s exposé into Armstrong’s use of performance-enhancing drugs, is published in France (June 2004)
• José Mourinho becomes Chelsea manager (June 2004)
• Wayne Rooney signs for Manchester United (August 2004)
• Mark Zuckerberg launches Facebook (February 2004)
• George Bush wins a second term as US President, defeating John Kerry (November 2004)

We all love a bit of celebrity cycling gossip on the live blog – well, at least Dan does.

And while we wait patiently for Simon Cowell to venture out on his e-bike again, popstar Katy Perry has been kind enough to share some two-wheeled showbiz titbits to tide us over in the meantime (yep, it’s well and truly the off-season now).

Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, an Australian morning radio programme, the Teenage Dream singer (now that’s a tune), said she keeps getting recognised by people who think she “looks like Katy Perry” while she’s at mother and baby groups with her two-year-old daughter – and when she’s out on her bike.

She said: “I like to grab a coffee and an empanada and just drink my coffee and eat my empanada while I’m on my bike.

“People do recognise me, but by the time they’re like, ‘Is that …? Was that …?’ I’m already gone.”

And here’s the proof – not that you needed it – of the American Idol judge’s cycling credentials:

Katy Perry riding a bike best thing you’re gonna see tonight 🥺 pic.twitter.com/w5Whz4FyGW

— 🆅 (@loveperrysk) February 15, 2021

Drinking coffee, eating pastry and riding no handed? Hopefully, the Alliance of British Drivers never hears about this.

Anyway, do you reckon Perry heads out on her bike when it’s both Hot N Cold?

I’ll get my coat…

Use of Belfast’s bike-share scheme has fallen by over 50 percent to pre-Covid levels, a new reports says, as fifteen new docking stations are set to be installed over the next two years.

According to a Belfast City Council report presented at the authority’s recent City Growth and Regeneration Committee, since its launch in 2015 Belfast Bikes has witnessed over 1,236,000 journeys.

However, between April and June 2022, only 38,907 journeys were made on the bikes, a fall of 50.3 percent from the admittedly extremely healthy same period last year, and a 25.5 percent decrease compared to the scheme’s average since 2015, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

The council report says: “This indicates that demand for bike rental has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The current cost-of-living crisis, reduced city centre footfall, remote working and competition from other means of travel are all likely factors in the reduction in usage evidenced in quarter one.

“It should also be noted that there was an exceptionally high level of usage in 2021 that could have been due to a number of factors, not least Covid-19 restrictions. Officers are working with colleagues across council and the city to promote the bikes and drive usage.”

The reports also noted that vandalism and theft remain a problem, with costs due to damage amounting to £6,980 from April to June (though this has also fallen from last year’s figures).

“Members will be aware that vandalism is an ongoing problem,” the report continues. “Upgrades to the forks to help prevent the unauthorised removal of bikes has been successful however, damage is now being caused to the rear wheels while bikes are being forced from docking stations.

“There is of course a correlation between bike usage and vandalism. The PSNI and the council continue to deliver community engagement initiatives to help decrease vandalism incidents.”

While subscription and usage charges have dropped from last year’s highs, membership of the scheme remains healthy, with 21,756 active Belfast Bike members at the end of this year’s first quarter amounting to an increase of 67 percent compared to the same period last year.

The council hopes to build on this success by establishing fifteen new docking stations – in addition to the five already set up this year – by the end of 2023. In the summer the council also outlined a plan to deliver a number of new covered cycle stands, cycle repair kits and secured cycle parking provision throughout the city.

Dan will be taking over live blog duties for the rest of the week, so I’ll catch you all on Monday. Anyway, as the nights close in, I’m off for a date with the much-neglected turbo trainer…

Cette illustration de 1897 est incroyable ! Home-trainer, soufflerie, vidéo…

Source : “The Wheel and Cycling Trade Review” pic.twitter.com/zp8JU8OGwd

— David Guénel (@davidguenel) October 24, 2022

Yesterday’s announcement, reported on the live blog, that Movistar has signed an agreement with the Saudi Cycling Federation – designed, apparently, to “develop technical staff, enhance cooperation on training programmes, exchange experiences, hold regular workshops and support events, races and activities” in Saudi Arabia – has been met with widespread bemusement and accusations of ‘sportswashing’ from cycling fans on social media.

> Nothing to see here, folks: Movistar announces agreement with Saudi Cycling Federation

Of course, Saudi Arabia isn’t the first oil rich state with a questionable human rights record to attach itself to a World Tour pro cycling team (Hi, UAE and Bahrain).

Nor is the Saudi Cycling Federation’s newly minted deal with everyone’s favourite chaotic Spanish squad the Kingdom’s first foray into the world of two wheels.

#SaudiTour 🇸🇦

Ready to race 💪 pic.twitter.com/3THvF5aKiF

— Team BikeExchange-Jayco (@GreenEDGEteam) January 31, 2022

In June last year, Team BikeExchange revealed that the Royal Commission of AlUla had joined the Australian squad as an official partner.

The commission was established in 2017 to preserve and promote as a tourist destination the historical AlUla site in north-western Saudi Arabia. Its chairman is Mohammed bin Salman, the authoritarian Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia and the man behind last year’s takeover of Newcastle United Football Club (as well as being personally linked to the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018).

BikeExchange’s partnership with AlUla has worked a treat so far: in February this year, the team’s Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen won both of the Saudi Tour’s two stages which finished in AlUla’s old town.

#SaudiTour🇸🇦🚴‍♂️#EscarabajosXElMundo🇨🇴🚴‍♂️🥇

Quinta etapa @thesauditour, AlUla Old Town-AlUla Old Town 138.9 km

🥇🇳🇱Dylan Groenewegen Bike Exchange 2:56:10

🥈🇬🇧 Daniel Mclay Arkea Samsic mt

🥉🇮🇹 Davide Ballerine Quick Step Alpha Vinyl Team mt pic.twitter.com/ZEqGUIQ1q2

— LA RUEDA COLOMBIA 🚴🇨🇴🚴 (@LaRuedaColombia) February 5, 2022

While Groenewegen and BikeExchange dominated in AlUla, Lotto Soudal’s young hope Maxim Van Gils ended up taking the overall victory at the second edition of the revamped Saudi Tour, a race which attracted eight UCI World Tour teams and five ProTour teams, and which is promoted by ASO, the organisers of the Tour de France.

> Cycling’s most controversial sponsors

Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia’s latest attempt to launder its image, indulge in some greenwashing, and bolster its power on the international stage has gone down as poorly as a woman attempting to ride a bike on her own in the Kingdom:

You know what this sport needs? More sport-washing. Said no-one ever 🙄 https://t.co/a5PcVgSZR7

— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) October 24, 2022

OH COME ON CYCLING TEAMS ENOUGH WITH THE SHADY SPONSORS 😡

— Cycling What Ifs ❓ (@cyclingwhatifs) October 24, 2022

Serious question for the Movistar Team: how do you reconcile Saudi sponsorship $$$$ with your leading position in Women’s cycling?

— Betteronthebike (@DNR1970) October 24, 2022

Is Movistar becoming the Newcastle United of Cycling?

— Lukas Knöfler 💙💛 (@lukascph) October 24, 2022

Can’t wait for the North Korea People’s Cycling Team pic.twitter.com/SCQsDuSilr

— Cactus sur un vélo (@CactusSurUnVelo) October 24, 2022

Back at the start of September, we reported that Hackney Council had come in for criticism after one of its officers slapped an enforcement notice on a family-owned cargo bike parked on a pavement, demanding its removal within seven days.

Just under seven weeks later (so, Liz Truss’s entire stint in No. 10 then), the council has once again been blasted for issuing the so-called ‘nuisance’ notices, this time to two bikes locked outside their owners’ home on the footpath.

@hackneycouncil what on earth is going on? Not just cargobikes, you are now ticketing ‘standard’ cycles locked outside people’s houses (with PLENTY of space left on the pavement). We have two cycle hangers for over 100 houses/flats! @metecoban92 can you please stop this nonsense? pic.twitter.com/WKmhoypxUg

— Ruth-Anna (@bikesandbabies) October 22, 2022

Posting images of the parked bikes on Twitter, along with the seven-day notice to remove them from the street, local cyclist Ruth-Anna wrote: “Hackney Council, what on earth is going on? Not just cargo bikes, you are now ticketing ‘standard’ cycles locked outside people’s houses (with PLENTY of space left on the pavement). We have two cycle hangars for over 100 houses/flats!”

She also called on Hackney councillor Mete Coban, who has expressed sympathy in the past for the plight of cyclists forced to store their bikes outside, to “stop this nonsense”.

> Council slaps nuisance notice on family cargo bike parked on pavement

In September, Will Prochaska’s cargo bike, which he uses to transport his three toddlers around the area and which is parked on the pavement due to a lack of private storage space, was issued with a seven-day ‘nuisance’ notice from the council.

According to Section 149 of the Highways Act 1980, “if anything is so deposited on a highway as to constitute a nuisance, the highway authority for the highway may by notice require the person who deposited it there to remove it forthwith.”

If the perceived nuisance isn’t removed by the owner within a week, the local authority may lodge a complaint with a magistrates’ court or remove the offending item themselves immediately.

We were shocked to find a council notice on our bike today saying it’s a nuisance that will be removed in 7 days.☹ We think it’s a fantastic example of healthy travel. It’s parked in a way that doesn’t block the pavement. Where can we move it? @metecoban92 @hackneycouncil pic.twitter.com/bIHYcVu86d

— Will Prochaska (@WillProchaska) September 6, 2022

After Will posted on Twitter about the unexpected notice (the result, it later transpired, of a complaint from another resident), arguing, like Ruth-Anna, that the bike doesn’t block the footpath and represents a “fantastic example” of healthy travel, Hackney Council was roundly condemned for what many viewed as its rather flippant response to the issue.

Responding to the post on social media, the council argued that Will’s bike “is causing an obstruction on the pavement so it would need to be removed and parked somewhere safe. This can be on your own private property or somewhere designated for bicycles.”

“I think the case shows the desperate need for cargo bike parking solutions in Hackney,” Will told road.cc at the time. “As it is, the way we park our bike never blocks the pavement, so the argument that it’s an obstruction is false.

“Hackney Council have led the way in the UK to support active travel, so this nuisance notice was a surprise. I suspect it’s indicative of an over-zealous council officer who may have a chip on their shoulder about cyclists.”

Credit: Twitter, bikesandbabies

Responding to road.cc’s request for comment, a spokesperson for Hackney Council said in September: “We’re London’s top borough for cycling, with nearly one in four of our residents cycling once a week and the most residential cycle parking of any London borough.

“We’ve just announced the introduction of 675 new cycle hangars, doubling what we already have, and it’s really important that we continue to encourage people to travel healthily, including by cargo bike.

“The aim of enforcement notices like this is to keep our pavements clear of obstructions for prams and people who use wheelchairs… However, we do recognise that it can be hard for people to park cargo bikes if they don’t have private space for it.”

Unsurprisingly, Hackney Council’s latest example of “encouraging people to travel healthily” – by making them remove their bikes from the footpath – hasn’t gone down too well on Twitter:

But this is fine. Spoiler they’re all illegally parked https://t.co/CNEJVzskXU

— Bob From Accounts 🚲 (@BobFromAccounts) October 22, 2022

Councils need to introduce some new guidelines which allow people to put their own bike parking sheds in the street. If a box with wheels outside is allowed, a box with wheels inside should be as well

— Talia Hussain (@Talia_inReality) October 23, 2022

There needs to be Sheffield stands in parking spaces on every road

— Tom Massey (@tomass78) October 22, 2022