The jam goes underground for Elon Musk; More red-light jumping undercover cyclists; lowdown on LTNs; tribute to Devon's Mr Cycling; funding secured for Welsh 'Biking Mecca'; CX champs preview + more on the live blog

The weekend is here pic.twitter.com/hmSf0MiG6X

— adam becket (@adambecket) January 7, 2022

It’s the weekend folks, and I’m away to put on my Jam records (not sure why the thought occurred to me).

Didn’t we have a nice time? Okay, I’ll stop now – before I get on to the b-sides…

Earlier this week Peter Sagan and his brother Juraj announced that they had tested positive for Covid for the second time, after experiencing symptoms related to the virus.

Judging by the publicity shots posted by his new TotalEnergies team (taken before his latest positive test, Sherlock), the Slovakian champion seems to be also suffering from withdrawal symptoms from a certain rainbow jersey he once wore for three years straight.

Sagan went to Sportful and said make me look like the world champ again without breaching copyright pic.twitter.com/Suf4VhXA06

— Dan Deakins (@DanDeakins) January 6, 2022

“See, Peter, if you squint a bit, it’ll be just like you’re world champion again”, I imagine the photographer laughed, nervously.

As for the TotalEnergies jersey itself, it’s a bit of a mess. Which reminds me, I really need to get round to ranking this year’s kits…

Heading south on the long drive to Crawley for the CX Nationals weekend with Xander Graham. Going to be epic! #propercyclingmagazine pic.twitter.com/GUkl2ZqZxt

— Proper Cycling Magazine (@CyclingProper) January 7, 2022

While my preview of this weekend’s British cyclo-cross championships earlier may have focused on the elite races, one of the more recognisable faces heading down to Crawley is 12-year-old Xander Graham.

The young Scot, who shot to fame after briefly outpacing the break at the Tour of Britain last year, won the U14 race at the Scottish cyclo-cross championships in November. 

Last week it was announced that Xander was one of the first riders signed by Jukebox Cycling, a multi-disciplinary team featuring former Garmin rider Phil Gaimon. 

I’m sure more than a few eyes will be on the not-even-teenage prodigy this weekend.

New year. New name. Same drive. Join us in welcoming EasyPost as our new naming rights partner. The team will ride as EF Education-EasyPost in 2022 and beyond. pic.twitter.com/3ZthpiR5xY

— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) January 7, 2022

Jonathan Vaughters’ EF Education team today announced that shipping firm EasyPost has joined the team as a title sponsor.

The change means that JV’s not-so-crazy-gang-anymore will be known as EF Education-EasyPost for 2022. Nippo, which will remain as a co-named sponsor for the EF development team, also stays on as a secondary sponsor for the elite team.

The sponsorship deal appears to represent a renewed period of financial stability for the Slipstream Sports outfit run by Vaughters, four years after they launched a crowdfunding campaign in a bid to keep the team going, and over a decade since the start of a flurry of mergers with other WorldTour teams such as Cervélo and later Cannondale.

Infuriatingly for jersey watchers, the squad’s new kit for 2022 won’t be revealed until the end of January, though I assume the fetching pink of the last few years will stay largely untouched.

Not all Roman attractions are found above ground. Some are subterranean – and in the case of the Great Quarry of Rome, can be traveled by bike tours. https://t.co/uVHSlHfKPJ

— The Christian Science Monitor (@csmonitor) January 6, 2022

 As we saw earlier today, Las Vegas may have the fancy new Jeeves-operated Tesla Tunnels, but perhaps Elon Musk would avoid any congestion problems if he looked to one of the world’s oldest cities for inspiration.

2,000 years ago the Great Quarry of Rome, located just a few miles from the city centre, was created: a 22 mile twisting labyrinth of underground passageways which the Romans used to extract pozzolana, a volcanic rock which, when mixed with lime, created a kind of ancient concrete.

Luckily for you, these ancient tunnels can now be explored by bike. Sotterranei di Roma (Underground Places of Rome) organises bike tours of the subterranean network, which accommodate around 40 cyclists at a time. Mountain bikes are preferred, but the tunnels’ hard-packed floor means visitors can use a city bike if they wish.

It might not make you want to scrap your plans for the Dolomites, but this could well be your next cycling holiday…

This is very exciting! I like the sound of Abergavenny the biking mecca of Wales 🚲🚲🚲 https://t.co/gQNUSuF4fi

— CllrLisaDymock (@CllrLisaDymock) December 23, 2021

Now this is promising – Monmouthshire council has formally approved funding to progress plans for a cycling centre near Abergavenny.

The proposed velo park will include training and racing facilities suitable for road, cyclo-cross and mountain biking, while recreational space will also be made available for families and leisure cyclists.

A budget of £28,000 has been earmarked to fund consultancy costs for the project, with the council hoping to receive planning permission by June.

Welsh Cycling, which is working with the council to develop the plans, noted that a lack of suitable road cycling facilities represents “one of the main barriers to the development of the sport in Wales”.

A design and access statement says that the new facility “will be of regional and potentially national importance for the growth and development of cycling and other wheeled sports.

“It will further enhance Abergavenny’s reputation as one of the most successful cycling towns and destinations in Wales.”

Maybe we now won’t have to wait too long for the next Geraint Thomas and Zoe Bäckstedt to emerge…

Superb letter from a council officer explaining the rationale for #LTNs in #Oxford. 👇
An example of high-calibre communication for @wandbc to follow, to support & promote #Wandsworth's transport hierarchy. Let's learn from best practice! cc @JohnLocker_UK #CPD #walking #cycling https://t.co/IQNG8WD2Ob

— WandsLS (@WandsLS) January 7, 2022

Next month Oxfordshire County Council will make a decision on whether to permanently install Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Church Cowley, Temple Cowley, and Florence Park, where trial LTNs are currently taking place. Three new LTNs have also been approved by the council to commence in March.

Unsurprisingly, the proposed East Oxford LTN has divided opinion since its first round of consultation, which saw a majority of respondents give a ‘thumbs down’ to the scheme. Tellingly, however, most of the respondents who actually live in the streets where the LTNs are to be implemented supported the proposals.

In December, Oxford City Council asked the county council to defer their decision until better public transport links were put in place.

This week a constituent opposed to the scheme contacted the local Labour MP Anneliese Dodds, who forwarded on the request for more information to John Disley, the Infrastructure Strategy and Policy Manager at Oxfordshire County Council. Disley’s response was roundly praised online as a “straight answer” and a “high-calibre” rationale for LTNs throughout the country:

The LTNs were funded by the Government primarily because they create safe cycle routes away from traffic (Quietways) by removing most traffic from roads which the cycle route follows. The cycle routes will provide an opportunity for people of all ages (from children to the retired) to have a safe cycle route into Oxford city centre, not only from Florence Park and Church Cowley, but also reaching out to Littlemore and Greater Leys, with areas of high deprivation and poor health.

Many residents do not have access to a car. In Oxford as a whole, the 2011 census showed that there were only 340 cars to every 1000 people. In Church Cowley 42%, Cowley 34% and Littlemore 27% of households do not own a car. The underlying aim of the LTN is to reduce car journeys along residential roads, particularly through traffic, making walking and cycling more attractive and the first choice for travel, and to keep these car journeys on the main roads which are designed to take this traffic.

The findings from research into the impacts of the London LTNs are that the health and travel benefits were far in excess of any other measures that they had previously assessed in promoting public health and reducing car pollution. It found a positive impact on a range of factors - better public health, lower road traffic within the LTN area and no increase on peripheral roads, reduced road casualties, lower car ownership, lower street crime (except cycle theft), and better emergency response times.

The constituent was not impressed, however, and claimed Disley’s reply “gives me no hope or trust in our council whatsoever.” Can’t win ‘em all, eh?

In yesterday’s live blog we featured the very first episode of Undercover Cyclist, the new Channel 4 documentary series where mischievous bike riders get behind the wheel of a car, rampaging around the country doing all those things that careful, law-abiding motorists would never think of doing – like jumping a red light.

In today’s episode the undercover cyclist – in an Audi no less – blatantly ignores the temporary traffic lights, flying past the actual bike rider who (you guessed it) was coming to a stop.

I'm sure the roadworkers were relieved that it was only the 1,850kg Audi which steamed past the red light towards them, and not a lawless destructive 85kg cyclist. Think of the carnage! pic.twitter.com/9AkYtz4Xx1

— JimsWheels (@JimsWheels) January 6, 2022

In the replies, Alan was at pains to point out the filmmaker’s blatant disregard for staunchly-held stereotypes, writing “Stopping at a red light? Call yourself a cyclist?”, while Clare pithily summed up the kind of reaction we’ve come to expect from the “cyclists jump red lights brigade”:

Something something cyclists something something red lights something road tax something something....

— Clare McMenemy (@highpoh) January 6, 2022

I for one think that the Undercover Cyclist has potential, with all the footage of these motorists breaking traffic laws, completely out of character. Now where’s the commissioning editor?

Or maybe it’s an episode of Scooby Doo, where the cyclist gets de-masked at the end to reveal he was a motorist all along. “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling cyclists!” (Checks notes… the Audi driver actually did get away with it. Ah well, better luck next time Scooby).