Oxfordshire Council promote cycling with painted bike lane pic; New Peter James novel is ‘inspired by Strava’; Thomas De Gendt ‘sock doping’; G hints at Ineos’ new TdF Jersey; Jennifer Aniston gifted $12K Chanel bike + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Can you tell what it is yet?
Oooh la la 🧐 pic.twitter.com/jGZjiiZrKh
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) August 4, 2020
We’re guessing that Ineos has gone for the menacing look with their new TdF kit to replicate the Grenadier 4×4 that gives them their name change.
Geraint Thomas gave us a peek at the new kit yesterday. I’m getting tasting notes of Aqua Blue Sports, Sky 2010 and a faint aftertaste of Alpecin Fenix. It’s certainly a return to the mostly black design that the Sky/Ineos team has favoured over the years.
You can’t go wrong with a little black number, after all.
Geraint also has a new espresso range
One coffee company to spot the addiction that cyclists have to their products is Pact Coffee, an ethical producer of speciality coffee. They’ve signed up the Tour de France winner as an ambassador and he’s put his name against a dark roast profile coffee, presumably being a fan of a strong cuppa.
The limited-edition Geraint Thomas ‘Gran Fondo Espresso’ blend is now available in select UK coffee shops and cycle cafes. Pact customers will be able to buy Gran Fondo Espresso direct from pactcoffee.com from 17th August. A 250g bag of Gran Fondo Espresso costs £11.95.
Pact says that the “Gran Fondo Espresso has a zesty profile, which is balanced with a dark chocolate flavour that gives it a stronger roast. The beans for the blend are grown at the Buenos Aires farm in Colombia, and the Remera Washing Station farm in Rwanda and the blend is best served as a classic Italian 5oz cappuccino.”
Geraint Thomas commented: “Coffee and caffeine play such a pivotal role in how I train for events, on race days, and how I like to kick back and recover, so becoming a brand ambassador for Pact is a natural fit. Pact isn’t just a leading speciality coffee provider, the work it does with farmers and growers really resonated with me and being able to create my own coffee blend with the company’s experts gave me great insight into just how impactful a single cup of coffee can be.”
Thanks, Geraint, I’ll take one now and keep them coming, please!
Donald Trump has *checks notes* done something good
Trump has signed the Great American Outdoors act into law, meaning that $900million will go to the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually. American cyclists are set to benefit from more trail maintenance along with the creation of new trails.
Despite pulling out of the Paris Agreement and vocally denouncing climate change evidence, Trump said that “from an environmental standpoint and from just the beauty of our country standpoint, there hasn’t been anything like this since Teddy Roosevelt, I suspect.”
So at least he was humble about it.
Jenifer Aniston prefers the Chanel bike to the S-Works SL7
Apparently, the Friends actress was given the $12,000 Chanel town bike like the one above, by a co-star. The bike features a suspension saddle, a frame-mounted pump, mudguards and a pannier rack too.
On that pannier rack, you’ll find a collection of Channel bags which we’re guessing is where most of the $12,000 is going. For that, you could have the new S-Works SL7, the new Trek Emonda, or even a properly good eBike.
Craig Nilsson breaks three World Ultracycling Association records in one ride
The records (pending ratification) fell last weekend when Craig rode from the Western border of England, over to the East coast and then back again, all in one day, four hours and ten seconds.
The effort was enough to break the West to East, East to West and West-East-West World Ultracycling Association Cross England records with Craig smashing the there and back record by over 24 hours.
Craig says that “setting off at 10am Saturday just outside Kington in Hereford I rode to Lowestoft in 12:47 where the previous record was 15:44.” A quick 30-minute break was all that was needed before Craig was on his way back, riding the return leg in 14:50. Craig says that his slower time on the return leg wasn’t due to fatigue, but caused by “headwinds and a lot more climbing than on the way out.” The previous record was 1d:18h:22.
You can see Craig’s ride here. The key question, though; Is it on Strava?
We might have to find you some road.cc socks, Craig!
"Is the sock rule still valid?"
I missed the uci news the last 4 months. Is the sockrule still valid or not? pic.twitter.com/VBJtH4Wdi8
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) August 5, 2020
Thomas de Gendt claims to have been away for so long that he’s unsure of the rules nowadays. We’re pretty confident that when it comes to over-zealous policing of sock heights, the UCI are unlikely to have changed their tune…
"Is this a wind-up?" Oxforshire Council slammed for using inadequate cycle lane to invite cyclists to use county's "amazing cycling infrastructure"
Is this a wind up?
— Linda Smith (@LabLinda75) August 4, 2020
That’s not “amazing cycling infrastructure”.
That’s white paint.
A white line on a narrow bike lane shown is actually WORSE than nothing as some drivers focus on the line and don’t give enough room when passing.pic.twitter.com/upYFBQpYcm
— shamrocksoup🇪🇺🦔 (@ShamrockSoup) August 5, 2020
Is that paint supposed to be cycling ‘infrastructure’?
Save your money next time and go on a fact-finding trip to Amsterdam.— Col du Boremalet (@2wheels2dex) August 5, 2020
Oxon Travel – the Twitter account for Oxfordshire Council’s travel centre team – is encouraging people to get on their bikes ahead of Cycle to Work Day tomorrow… and that’s about where the good stuff ends, as many people have pointed out that the photo they’ve used appears to show a cycle lane that is far from adequate.
In the government’s recent Gear Shift document protected cycling infrastructure is recommended as the gold standard, and councils bidding for funding who aren’t planning to meet these designed standards will invariably be turned down; painted lanes like the one in the photo will almost certainly fall into the ‘try harder’ category.
We certainly do!
— Oxfordshire County (@OxfordshireCC) August 4, 2020
Oxfordshire County Council appear unrepentant, replying that they “certainly do” have amazing cycling infrastructure in answer to the above question. Oxon Travel also report that new cycle racks will be fitted across the county plus upgrades to the cycle network – hopefully some “world-class cycling infrastructure” will indeed follow.
We are fitting a series of new #cycle racks all across the county in places we know you want them. This comes as part of our commitment to our world-class #cycling infrastructure in #Oxfordshire. pic.twitter.com/4zi7i2etXv
— OxonTravel (@OxonTravel) August 4, 2020
The Giro in October? No problem...
I don’t foresee any problems with the Giro going over this in October. None. https://t.co/mCNUJDDAnJ
— Anthony Pope (@Plastic_Peloton) August 4, 2020
Translation: it might well be a massive problem, as this is the current scene on the Stelvio in the middle of summer. Italy’s Grand Tour has been blighted by snow and storms in the past, but an October Giro could bring with it a whole new level of disruption to proceedings.
Cycling UK celebrate 142 years, and welcome a new Chief Executive
Happy 142nd Birthday to Cycling UK! 🥳
This year we’re delighted to have seen more people on bikes than ever and are looking forward to what the future holds – here’s to many more years of cycling advocacy for a better world!
👉 https://t.co/ybcYXdCGDB pic.twitter.com/kYe6RrcyvY
— Cycling UK (@WeAreCyclingUK) August 5, 2020
Britain’s foremost cycling charity was founded on this day in 1878 as The Bicycle Touring Club, and on their birthday they’ve also announced a new chief executive in Sarah Mitchell.
Mitchell, a keen cyclist who is the former chief executive of Carers Network and head of housing at Crisis, will take over from interim chief executive Pete Fitzboydon, commenting: “‘I am thrilled to be joining the Cycling UK team at this really important time for cycling. We have a massive opportunity to support more people from communities all over the UK to get out on their bikes and I look forward to being part of the movement to make that happen.”
New Peter James thriller was inspired by Strava (and its privacy settings)
Once again highlighting the need to be careful with telling the world where you’re running or riding, author Peter James has revealed that his new crime novel ‘I Follow You’ was inspired by his wife’s use of Strava.
Mrs James told the Sunday Times that a man she waved at briefly on a run in Brighton had started running the same route as her; and then again following a brief chat with another male runner in Jersey a year later, that runner then found her profile and followed her on the app.
Perfectly innocent as that may seem, Mrs James said: “I thought this could be really dangerous if that guy was awful or a stalker”… and Mr James’ imagination did the rest for the novel, which tells the story of a doctor who becomes infatuated with a female runner he almost knocks down while driving in Jersey, using a fictional running app called Run Master to track her.
It should be noted that it’s possible to enable the ‘privacy zone’ feature on Strava to stop anyone finding out exactly where you live. Thieves have been known to take advantage of location data in the past, allegedly searching for ‘fast times’ on the app to lead them to potentially expensive bikes. Back in 2018 a cyclist said he had £12,500 worth of bikes stolen, and he claims the thieve(s) job was made easier due to information he shared online. Our article regarding the theft includes our top online security tips, to help prevent incidents such as this one or unwanted stalking…
5 August 2020, 08:31
5 August 2020, 08:31
5 August 2020, 08:31
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Latest Comments
"wider pavements" Motorists never complain about wider pavements, do they? smh
trying to sell an expensive product to do an unnecessary thing......cleaning a chain of factory lubricant, fine.....between waxing completely unnecessary...misleading product name, jumping on waxing now its gone more mainstream
Twenty-two quid? Thank heavens it also cleans based lubricants!
@froze "Really better wheels are only really necessary if you’re doing some sort of competition riding, otherwise who cares if you save a few watts?" It's also helped me re-kindle a bit of joy and expectation in outdoor riding - my local rides were getting stale, and I was Zwifting more often than going out; new wheels has given me a new reason to go out and ride my loops... a new bike would do the same, but cost a lot more! "The more important thing for just daily riding is whether the wheels can hold up to pounding on the streets, hitting potholes, cracked streets, surviving long rides on chip and seal etc, which is why I don’t have any race type of wheels." I chose the "all-road" variety for just this reason; along with no maximum weight limit - I'm a little over 100kg plus cheap (ie, relatively heavy) bike. Race wheels they are not. Noticeably better than the alloy ones that came on my bike? Yes. "People who don’t race need to use some common sense and not try to impress some wealthy lawyer or engineer riding buddy, save your money and pay off debts instead…I know, that’s not fun, but it is wise." No mortgage, no credit card balance, savings growing, pension up-to-date, car bought/owned outright, phone bought/owned outright, etc etc And I pretty much always ride on my own - the only person who sees my bike regularly is my wife and she cares less than zero about it! A good idea to find out about your audience before dispensing advice ;) I do try to avoid buying unnamed Chinese stuff though, for absolutely all the reasons you've listed, plus environmental concerns and worker H&S/rights/etc concerns, too.
You get seal where you are? You don't know you're born!
The Right to Roam campaign aims to secure rights in England and Wales that Scotland has taken for granted for decades (and most of Scandinavia for millennia). The campaign is focused on access by foot rather than bike, but the Enclosure Acts are indeed villains of history.
I have problems with buying Chinese made products, one is they have no recourse if you have a warranty issue, or the wheel fails and you get seriously injured due to product failure you have no rights to sue for personal injury or property damage. A lot of stuff they make are Western brand wheels that they make after hours and slap on a generic name, so they are a stolen product and stolen engineering, call it stolen intellectual property and patents, but while Western companies know this is happening, they are powerless to stop it. Then there are political concerns which I won't go into but if people stop and think they should know what I'm talking about. As far as buying expensive wheels for a cheap bike will depend on if in the near future there are plans to buy a better bike, if not, then don't buy better wheels. Really better wheels are only really necessary if you're doing some sort of competition riding, otherwise who cares if you save a few watts? The more important thing for just daily riding is whether the wheels can hold up to pounding on the streets, hitting potholes, cracked streets, surviving long rides on chip and seal etc, which is why I don't have any race type of wheels. Even professionals don't use their high-end racing wheels, or bikes for their training rides! For the common person most bikes come with wheels that are designed to hold up to street riding for a long time. People who don't race need to use some common sense and not try to impress some wealthy lawyer or engineer riding buddy, save your money and pay off debts instead...I know, that's not fun, but it is wise.
Woah. Deja deja vu.
Woah! Deja vu.
Just imagine how much great hiking and mountain-biking there would be if we hadn't had the Enclosure Acts! (Not to mention grazing, coppicing etc.)
30 thoughts on “Oxfordshire Council promote cycling with painted bike lane pic; New Peter James novel is ‘inspired by Strava’; Thomas De Gendt ‘sock doping’; G hints at Ineos’ new TdF Jersey; Jennifer Aniston gifted $12K Chanel bike + more on the live blog”
Big fan of Pact Coffee here –
Big fan of Pact Coffee here – have been a subscriber for several years. It would obviously be inappropriate for me to post my referral link here, but I hope Road are getting a kickback for it 🙂
We’re not (I don’t think).
We’re not (I don’t think). Might have to ask nicely for a bag for the office. You know, for review…
Quick, sign up and switch the
Quick, sign up and switch the link to your referral 😉
Although SkimResources is the
Although SkimResources is the corporate equivalent of that referral.
Ah fair enough. If they’re
Ah fair enough. If they’re linked to Skimlinks then we will. Hopefully, hundreds of you go buy their coffee. It’ll make us enough for a whole cappuccino!
Liam Cahill wrote:
£12 a fecking bag! And I thought the 5 Rings coffee was extravagant (although the Cali Crash is worth it – bloody lovely stuff!)
Mrs K is in charge of
Mrs K is in charge of provisions, so I asked her whether we could try a pack of Geraint’s coffee.
She informed me that we currently drink Fair Trade Peruvian coffee at £3.00 per 250g, so the answer is no.
I know this will be an
I know this will be an unpopular opinion, but I’m totally sick of hearing about Geraint Thomas.
1) You’ve got enough money already to last you several lifetimes – you don’t need to be a celebrity brand ambassador for coffee you big wally.
2) If you’re interested in ‘ethical’, don’t ride for a company that wants to wreck the climate with fracking and ever-increasing fossil fuel and plastic production.
Thank you. Rant over. You can start on me now.
I’m not quite sick of GT, I
I’m not quite sick of GT, I like his public persona, but that is a hefty price for a bag of blended coffee by most standards.
Each time I see the Zwift adverts featuring him I wonder how much they paid him and whether it was more than the £375k donated to NHS charities (mostly by UK taxpayers, I expect) after his 12-hour turbo rides. And how much did he himself donate out of his huge salary+bonuses+endorsement deals?
Simon E wrote:
He did something he didn’t have to do and that raised a huge sum for the NHS. That’s good enough for me. Footballers get ten times what cyclists get, have you demanded what Marcus Rashford has personally contributed to free school dinners? Or what Ian Botham has personally contributed to childhood leukemia research? Lord knows there are enough people doing wrong in the world, perhaps when people do something good we can just say nice one rather than try to pick it apart?
roubaixcobbles wrote:
This is a cycling website. I don’t follow football or Ian Botham so wouldn’t really know about their efforts.
But hypocrisy and tokenism don’t sit well with me, regardless of who they are and what they do. It’s not that Geraint’s effort itself isn’t laudable but I’m tired of sportspeople, celebs and so on inviting the public to fund public services through charitable donations while those same people don’t appear to do the same themselves (and in his case lives in tax-dodging Monaco). The same goes for when they get paid huge sums to promote junk food.
I’m not suggesting that it’s the worst thing in the world but that still doesn’t make it right. I’d be more impressed if he’d said he would match each pound donated but he didn’t.
£11.95 for 250g seems a bit
£11.95 for 250g seems a bit steep when compared to the likes of Horsham Coffee or Pharmacie.
Chapeau to Craig Nilsson,
Chapeau to Craig Nilsson, that’s some Herculean ride!
Ineos “reveal” reminded me
Ineos “reveal” reminded me mostly of …
Word Up!
Word Up!
Is this one of those blue
Is this one of those blue/black or gold/white dress things again as it looks navy blue to me,which matches the logo on the website, not black or even slate grey
Anyone seen this one on the
Anyone seen this one on the BBC?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53666222
Too many cars have touch
Too many cars have touch screen or other screen controls for media playing so if they apply that for tesla, they would have to do the same for most of the German brands.
Crazy isn’t it, I once had a
Crazy isn’t it, I once had a 1969 Fiat with rain sensing variable speed wipers. The sensor was my eyes, the adjustment was turning a knob on the dash. There was no touch screen, my arms weren’t long enough to touch the windscreen…
One of the videos in the
One of the videos in the Twitter feed perfectly demonstrates why painted white line cycle lanes should be banned. The lorry driver thought he could safely drive right up to the edge of the one foot wide unprotected lane.
I thought it was just an edge of the road line until I saw the cyclist was riding in it!
Unfortunately if the cyclist had been riding out of the lane, which would have been safer, I suspect he would have got beeped.
Google image below is
Google image below is Wallingford in Oxfordshire. I think the white lines at the side of the road are meant to be cycle lanes even though they’re less than a metre wide. I got extremely close passed there once by some fckign twat who thought I should remain inside the white line. That incident has given me a dim view of Wallingford ever since.
https://goo.gl/maps/Ke7QdtoCbMSGFXUR6
While I agree that many (if
While I agree that many (if not most) painted cycle lanes as they currently exist in the UK are terrible, they could be part of the solution, if the will was there.
The problem with many cycle lanes is that they give two clear messages: firstly, that cyclists belong in the cycle lane, and secondly that as long as a driver doesn’t encroach the cycle lane when overtaking, they have done nothing wrong. Clearly, these are dangerous messages when the cycle lane in question is narrow, obstructed with parked cars, filled with potholes and litter, etc. Any cyclist who dares stray outside (for example to avoid being doored) is subject to abuse and punishment passes, while staying within the cycle lane and you will experience passes like the one in the video.
However, imagine if every painted cycle lane was 2m wide and free from obstructions/parked cars. Suddenly those exact same messages actually become helpful. It would send a clear signal that cyclists do belong on the road – not just in the gutter – and if drivers made sure they were entirely outwith the cycle lane when overtaking, then that would be great. It could even be enforced that drivers MUST entirely exit the cycle lane to overtake – it’s hard to estimate distance from headcams etc, but it would often be pretty clear whether or not a car was inside or outside of the line of paint when overtaking.
OnYerBike wrote:
I’d like to call the jury’s attention to the wands which have just been put up in central Bristol to protect the 40cm wide painted cycle lanes…
Well, I knew Vale St is steep
Well, I knew Vale St is steep but that one is ridiculous !
Sorry, hadn’t intended to
Sorry, hadn’t intended to imply that Perry Road was quite that steep…!
You thought right. It’s a
You thought right. It’s a carriageway boundary. The council has rather lazily thrown down stencils of bikes down rather than invest in converting the verge into a safe cycle path. This would have made better sense especially if wanting to link to the NCR signposted in the clip as a cyclist would be able to stop, dismount and cross rather than try and negotiate a stop on a busy road. Motorists for some bizarre reason think they are cycle lanes even when there is only 6 inches of tarmac at times!
Here’s an example of some
Here’s an example of some freshly installed ‘amazing cycling infrastructure’ from my part of Oxfordshire: https://abingdonblog.co.uk/?p=24657
And another (albeit slightly older) example: https://abingdonblog.co.uk/?p=25570
“can you tell what it is yet?
“can you tell what it is yet?” 07:54
I thought we did the Audi advert yesterday.
“Thieves have been known to..
“Thieves have been known to…”
FTFY “Thieves are believed to…”
and no I wont be bothering to add that book to my book collection
Presumably Oxfordshire County
Presumably Oxfordshire County Council couldn’t justify a non-essential journey to send a PR flack all the way to Cambridge to photograph some half-decent cycling infrastructure, to pass off as their own. So they had to be honest and use a shot of their own crappy, narrow, painted-on bike lanes.