Two year’s jail for bike thieves who stole from NHS workers; ’Must Get In Front’ of cyclist video shocker!; Richmond Park cycling ban “infuriating”; 1,008km in 24hrs: Canadian claims Zwift world record; Gaviria’s virus battle + more on the live blog

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That’s some way to spend your time in lockdown… impressive!

Liverpool-based K-Safe – the company behind the Busby app – secured the funds to further develop their app, which monitor’s a smartphone’s movements to detect when a cyclist may have fallen from their bike. If it detects an incident, it gives the cyclist 30 seconds to move or respond and if nothing happens, it sends the exact location to an emergency contact via What3Words – an app that is now widely used by rescue services for its accuracy by gridding every sqaure metre of the earth with unique three word codes. 

Busby was launched in October 2019, with the creators saying they developed it after a friend was hit by a van driver whilst training on the roads. They are also working on cyclist detection notifications for haulage firms, and a warning system for alerting when a rider is dropped from a group. Cmmercial director James Duffy told Forbes:

“We’re not trying to say to cyclists they should only rely on Busby. We started with cyclist detection hardware four years ago.

“But with those types of products, there’s a high barrier to market entry. People have to pay upfront—what we’re trying to do is lower the barrier to entry by offering a free app.

“With Covid-19 there aren’t any group rides at the moment, but once lockdown is over we’d like to introduce GroupRide—this can set a radius around everyone on a ride and if anybody drops outside of that set radius everyone in the group gets a notification so they can either slow down and group back up, or they can stop and turn back and help.”

You can download the Busby app for free on iOS or Android here.

Holy moly! Canadian cyclist @Tsams94 just broke the world record, riding 1008km in 24 hours on @GoZwift 😱 pic.twitter.com/txp1xtjNGo

— Santos Tour Down Under 🚴🚴‍♀️ (@tourdownunder) April 29, 2020

As part of a team charity event dubbed ‘#CrushCOVID‘, 25-year-old H&R Block Pro Cycling rider Travis Samuel claims to have broken the Guinness World Record for the biggest Zwift ride in 24 hours. His average pace was an astonishing 42km/h over the 1,008km (626 mile) ride, and with other team members who joined in for parts of the chalenge, CrushCOVID has raised almost $220,000 at the time of writing. 

Samuel – who is also a student at Trent University in Ontario – wrote on Instagram: “It’s hard to believe and put into words not only what happen yesterday but really what has happened over the last two weeks! I am really quite speechless! 

“Still hasn’t set in being able to say I set a new world record at 1,008km over 24 hours (probably because I’ve never been in so much pain before!) It’s impossible to pick out certain people that helped because everyone had just as much of a helping hand! It was truly amazing seeing so many friends, professionals and thousands of people out supporting the ride for an hour, others for 6-8 hours and those who rode with me at the extremely early hours of the morning. 

“This record belongs to everyone in the #crushcovid Team. All I can say is I’m beyond grateful and THANK YOU to everyone!”

According to Toronto Hustle the previous record stood at 988km, meaning Samuel surpassed it by 20km. He told Trent University’s online news site: “I think cracking above 1,000km in 24 hours for the first time in history is very similar to the sub four minute mile or sub two hour marathon, it’s been one of those barriers people have tried to break for a while but haven’t been able to.”

We are still getting cyclists using #RichmondPark for their exercise, often telling us they didn’t see the sign or thought it meant “no cycling through the gate”. Hopefully these new signs should do the trick. Key workers & children 12 or under are still authorised pic.twitter.com/Ucmvd2XfhG

— Royal Parks Police (@MPSRoyal_Parks) April 28, 2020

After the Royal Parks temporarily banned cycling in Richmond Park in late Marh due to the pandemic, updated information on their website says: 

“Unfortunately, in Richmond Park we have had to suspend cycling to support social distancing guidelines, for public safety on the roads and to prevent crowds at park gates. However, children under 12 can still cycle in the park and you can still ride your bike to the park, just not through it. More info on the decision can be found here.

“We understand this will be disappointing and even infuriating for some people, but currently parks are under huge scrutiny and we need to do everything in our power to discourage large groups of people. Please remember this decision is temporary and cycling is allowed in all our other parks.”

In the tweet above, Royal Parks Police say that key workers are also exempt from the cycling ban as well as under 12’s; although the policy is still generating plenty of negative comments:

Ok but why cyclists? We naturally keep our distance because we have to.

If its the racing circuit (which i dislike myself) then simply block off so that the majority can cycle in their usual way

Is it right that two pensioners are banished to the roads for a gentle cycle?

— Cpcm (@Cpcm66) April 28, 2020

In reply to this, Royal Parks ensured that it is a temporary measure, commenting: 

“We’re really sorry you can’t cycle in the park as usual, it’s not right but this is an unprecedented situation and we’re all having to change the way we live for a little while.

It’s a temporary situation and we’re constantly monitoring it, sorry there aren’t any further updates. If and when anything changes we will be announcing it on social media.

…”We’re missing the parks as much as you are so we know what everyone is going through.”

The Colombian contracted the virus in the United Arab Emirates after the UAE Tour was cancelled in late February, and was finally sent home after more than a month in quarantine on 8th April. 

According to Marca, Gaviria said in a live video on social media: “We thought the coronavirus was a game, but no. It gave me the disease and I spent some days in anguish. But well, I was able to return home. I am calm, relieved, and have started training from home.”  

Im his most recent Instagram post Gaviria says: “The virus is turning out to be more serious than we could have imagined. For me it has caused a few distressing days, but I’m home, feeling good and getting back into training. 

“I’m training from home because there are vulnerable people who we need to protect in these times. I’m sending my support to them and to everyone and hope that this all ends soon.”

I’m on @BBCWorldatOne in just under an hour, talking about the future of transport and working patterns … stay tuned 🚴🏽‍♂️🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️🏃‍♂️

— Laura Laker (@laura_laker) April 29, 2020

Transport and Environment expert and road.cc contributor Laura will be talking about the future of transport and working patterns post-pandemic on the BBC Radio 4 show, starting from approximately 1.30pm – the link to listen is here. 

We were sent this video via a Barcelona-based cycling group; so if you see an avatar blast past you at 800 watts and the profile says they’re from the city, just remember it’s most likely this guy and he’s only cheating himself… 

Must pass the cyclist at all costs…..

There may be less cars on the road but the people driving them are still in a rush and driving like idiots. pic.twitter.com/X1VwskJiOW

— HullCamGuy (@HullCamGuy) April 28, 2020

This case of ‘Must Get In Front’ almost beggars belief, as the driver responsible overtakes on the wrong side of a refuge island and avoids the oncoming car with inches to spare. HullCamGuy told road.cc that the incident happened on Beverly Road in the village of Anlaby, East Yorkshire, and has been reported to the police. He commented: “There may be less cars on the road but the people driving them are still in a rush and driving like idiots.”

As a small consolation, at least the cyclist was given a wide berth… 

*Ah !* https://t.co/klCqf3YIpA

— Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix (@A_ParisRoubaix) April 29, 2020

Footage of what seems to be a machine that instantly installs cobbles has been retweeted by none other than the team who tirelessly maintain the famous Paris-Roubaix pavé every winter. We reckon their jobs are safe for a good while yet… 

Foodora to shut down in Canada on May 11 amid profitability challenges https://t.co/aVlhSabRFp pic.twitter.com/XAXfw4qVED

— CP24 (@CP24) April 27, 2020

Foodora – owned by German multinational Delivery Hero SE – say they will cease operations in Canada on 11th May after finding that it “has not been able to reach a level of profitability in Canada that’s sustainable enough to continue operations.”

This happens to come less than a year after Foodora bike couriers in Canada had won the right to unionise earlier this year, giving them rights as employees rather than individual contractors including the right to a minimum wage. 

Foodora has decided to leave Canada rather than recognize its employees’ right to unionize.

Good riddance. https://t.co/l6Kog2c8y8

— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) April 27, 2020

I hate this framing. It is not the fault of workers’ unionizing efforts when a company goes under.

If Foodora can’t survive here without treating their workers fairly, good riddance. https://t.co/Q7lDv76DtY

— Hilary Agro 🍄 #IBelieveTara (@hilaryagro) April 27, 2020

Foodora has been accused of closing rather than recognise the rights of their employees – they are yet to comment beyond their initial statement. 

Regarding the state of the racing calendar after the latest lockdown announcements – particularly the news from France that mass sporting events cant resume until September – the UCI said in a (pre) statement: 

“It was decided that the publication of the revised calendars for the 2020 UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour, initially planned today in the interests of stakeholders, would be postponed to the beginning of next week. Indeed, the UCI and its partners need to pursue their work as certain points remain unclear due to the world health situation. The measures recently taken by some European governments concerning the restriction of mass sporting events must, as our Federation once again recently underlined, be taken into consideration when establishing the UCI International Calendar for the recommencement of cycling competitions.

“The UCI and cycling’s families aim to publish these calendars on Tuesday 5 May, after the meeting of the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), responsible for the UCI WorldTour calendar. The UCI clarifies that the PCC meeting scheduled for today was postponed due to the latest developments.”

Another tale of a thief who got their comeuppance, as a 27-year-old in the Dutch city of Roosendaal was chased down by a man 52 years his senior. 

NL Times report that the elderly cyclist and a passenger who wanted to help gave chase after their friend’s bike was stolen. A police officer was alerted while they were giving chase and all took off after the suspect, who was eventually caught – he was found to have previous convictions and reportedly jailed. 

🇪🇸 #LaVuelta20 tendrá 18 etapas y arrancará en el País Vasco

🇬🇧 #LaVuelta20 will consist of 18 stages and will take off from the Basque Country

— La Vuelta (en casa 🏠) (@lavuelta) April 29, 2020

The organisers today posted a statement saying that the race will now consist of 18 stages and begin in the Basque Country, rather than the Netherlands as originally planned – this means all three stages that were set to take place on Dutch soil will not be replaced – new dates are yet to be confirmed, but it is still set to take place in Autumn

Race director Javier Guillén said: “It is obvious that when you design the race, you do not expect not to have to make changes of this magnitude, but we have to be sensitive with the current situation and we have to assume that it is very difficult to substitute an official exit at this point for all the institutional planning and logistics that implies.”

Primary school teacher Alec Leslie – a former Cat 1 racer and keen duathlete according to his friend who alerted us to his YouTube channel – has been creating online lessons for his pupils in lockdown while wearing the cream of his outlandish retro pro cycling kit collection collection. His most recent classes today were on hours of the day, and last week he gave a lesson on relaxation techniques wearing the legendary Z Tomasso kit, a quarter finallist in our Full Kit Ranker best jersey competiton…  

Chapeau Mr Leslie! 

As we reported back in March, 35-year-old David Moran, and 29-year-old Aaron Lancaster were arrested following a bike stealing spree outside Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham between 16th-18th March. At the time, both were charged with five counts of burglary, theft, and assault on an emergency worker, while Lancaster is also charged with a further count of theft and obstructing an officer in the execution of their duty.

Nottinghamshire Police have today revealed that Moran and Lancaster were both jailed for two years and 10 months. They also added that Moran threaten to “knock out” an officer who moved to arrest him after assaulting an emergency worker, and he also threatened to spit at an office once detained. 

UPDATE Thank you to @nottspolice who have also kindly offered to lend a bicycle from their stores until a replacement can be found!

— David Hicks (@DavidTheScintst) March 26, 2020

Stories of kindness emerged after the theft, with workers who had their bikes stolen offered replacements while theirs were recovered and repaired. Judge Timothy Spencer QC described the men as “quite rightly ashamed” of their actions, saying:

“At the forefront of the battle against the epidemic is the work of those in the NHS.

“Hour by hour, even minute by minute, those workers put themselves at risk of contracting Covid-19 in order to save the lives of others.

“It would have been very clear to you two that these bike compounds were not access to the general public and were therefore used by employees on the site.”

The BBC quote a statement from a victim, who said in court: 

“We are all working so hard to keep the NHS afloat – I am devastated that someone can steal from those trying to save lives.

“These people must not have an emotional strand in their bodies.”