Yet another assault on a cyclist; Gumtree ‘entrapment’ bike seller jailed; Strava artist’s 3-headed sketch; Pedal Me discounts to “help fight off flood of motor vehicles”; Video: cows attack cyclist; CCC still searching for new sponsor + more on live blog

Here’s what you missed on road.cc if you were otherwise engaged this weekend…

British woman breaks Everesting world record – and gets mansplained over saddle height

Manchester City Council rejects pop-up cycle lanes saying it doesn’t foresee sufficient demand from commuters

Fuji suspends sales of bikes to US police forces after seeing them used against protestors

The Tour de Dom is a 610-mile virtual challenge equivalent to London to Durham to Barnard Castle to Durham to London

Virtual Tour de France on custom Zwift routes planned for July

Cyclist has nose, cheek and thumb broken in road rage attack

Two-year-old riding 45 miles (in 12 days) for charity – a mile for every minute her sister lived

Hens teeth attract a premium.

(pic from local MTB FB group) pic.twitter.com/tN8ZCsTJyT

— LukeB_MTB (@LukeB_MTB) June 8, 2020

While it’s not at all fair to compare LBS inner tube prices to large online retailers – who have been known to sell them at tiny profits margins or even a loss to entice you in – on the scale of 1 to taking the pee this is probably towards the higher end of the scale. How about going tubeless instead?

Video evidence that even cows hate cyclists🚴‍♀️ 🚴‍♂️ 🚴‍♀️

pic.twitter.com/qQ2EExNH6w

— Vusi Sambo (@VusiSambo) June 7, 2020

We’re not sure where this (fortunately very rare) incident took place, but the caption on this clip and some of the gleeful comments underneath are also pretty distasteful – luckily, it looks like the cyclist was ok.

We reported on a more positive cow-related incident back in 2017, when a cyclist on a bike ride with friends in northwest Spain stopped to deliver a calf after spotting a pregnant cow in distress. Moo-ving stuff indeed…

As we previously reported, Halfords Group PLC have now shut down Cycle Republic’s online store, and are in the process of handing over a number of their high street shops to electric scooter specialists Pure Electric. Cycle Republic’s website has ceased operations today, with the page now directing to Tredz, which is also under the Halfords umbrella. 

Cycle Republic customers with outstanding orders have now been informed that everything will be taken care of via this web link, which says:

“We will fulfil all orders placed on cyclerepublic.com.

“Information for orders placed by account holders will remain viewable here. For any orders placed on a guest account please refer to your order confirmation email.

“Any existing warranties or cycle care plans will be honoured by Halfords.”

The bike was originally gifted to Pope Francis in 2018 when Sagan made a visit to the Vatican with his mother – a practising Catholic – and now the one-off Specialized Venge is set to be auctioned off in aid of the Vatican’s We Run Together charity. 

Funds raised from the special weekly auctions between 8th June and 8th August will go towards providing support for medical personnel in hospitals in the northern cities of Brescia and Bergamo, particularly hard-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

ICYMI – Cycle Logistics companies across the country have slashed their prices to help fight off the flood of motor vehicles hitting our towns and cities.

We’re leading the way with 1/3 off all jobs for at least the next month. https://t.co/3X72gCNKZA

— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) June 8, 2020

The London-based e-cargo delivery firm have extended their offer – which was initially a third off for their taxi service – to deliveries, with riders able to carry a 150kg load on-bike or up to 200kg towing a trailer.

They claim this is to fend off the increasing numbers of motor vehicles returning to the streets as the lockdown begins to lift, saying: “After implementing the 1/3 off discount for passenger jobs yesterday, we started to think that we could do more to help London to bridge the gap to become a truly cycling friendly city.

“To help to keep the city moving more efficiently we need to think about logistics and how cargo is moved. It’s vital that we maintain the momentum of the shift from vans to more environmentally friendly delivery methods. Pedal Me is perfect for this so we have reduced cargo jobs by 1/3 as well.

“We have to reduce the numbers of motor vehicles on London’s streets. Pedal Me is cheap, efficient, fast and environmentally friendly. We have highly trained riders who can carry 150kg of load on a single bike, as well as the possibility of towing 200kg on a trailer as well. We can take advantage of the manoeuvrability of bikes and the access to faster routes that bikes can take.”

Plenty of bikes and onlookers on foot, distinct lack of monuments to 17th century slave traders…

Mr Hoyte’s previous work has included a giant snowman sketched from an 87 mile ride around London, a group of birds that took him 7 hours and 51 miles to complete and a face that required 78 miles of riding around Cardiff… and now he’s struck again with what he describes as his most ambitious ride yet.

The 52-year-old spent almost five hours riding around his hometown of Cheltenham creating the three-headed Strava masterpiece, and told Gloucestershire Live that for obvious reasons, he had plenty of time to put into this project: “Because of lockdown, I couldn’t go anywhere so I thought this would concentrate the mind.

“I stared at the maps a bit more along Cheltenham and I actually ended up using one of the faces from my previous drawing and I added the two figures from either side.”

Some have theorised that the face on the left is Worzel Gummidge and the one in the middle is Boris Johnson; although Mr Hoyte claims they don’t represent anyone in particular. He plans to strike in Manchester and Milan next, as well as returning to ride out some more sketches in London.

In the latest edition of events that will obviously be cancelled or postponed but have only just announced that they will be cancelled or postponed, we have Bristol’s Bespoked show and NAHBS in the US. 

Bespoked had already postponed until October, but the organisers have now announced that with “a heavy heart” they are postponing once more until spring 2021 due to the “continuing uncertainty regarding COVID-19.” An exact date is yet to be confirmed.

 

 

 

 

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NAHBS 2020 Cancelled – Gearing Up for 2021 As you’re prob aware, we originally rescheduled NAHBS 2020 from March 15-17 to August 21-23, a change we felt optimistic about. During the past months, we’ve been watching intently how the COVID-19 pandemic is playing out. And we’ve continued to be in close contact with a sampling of exhibitors, sponsors, trade show consultants, show staff, and our contacts at the Convention Center in Dallas. While Texas is currently in Phase 3 of its “reopening” plan, COVID-19 cases in Dallas are still on the rise. And unfortunately, the Governor hasn’t made any plan to allow large groups and events to take place. With NAHBS scheduled to take place in less than three months – and based on what we currently know and predictions for the summer — we’re making the difficult decision to cancel NAHBS 2020 and focus our efforts on 2021. Based on the many exhibitors and partners we’ve spoken to, no one wants to be in a large crowd, primarily indoors, this summer. We’re certain that even if we held the show this August, attendance would be extremely low — which none of us want. Throw in the current difficulties of international travel and limited domestic travel, and the challenges of putting on a successful show this summer are insurmountable. After much consideration and in talking closely with many exhibitors and partners about potential venues and dates for next year’s show, we took note. NAHBS 2021 will be held in the third quarter – we’re shooting for some time in September — and we’re considering other cities for the show. Dallas, TX is still in the running, but we are also considering Chicago, IL; Hartford, CT; and Indianapolis, IN. If you’ve already purchased a ticket for NAHBS 2020, please fill out the Contact form (link@in bio) and we’ll issue you a refund. Thank you for your support of NAHBS. We’ll be posting news and updates on 2021 soon. Stay safe and healthy -Team NAHBS

A post shared by NAHBS (@nahbspics) on Jun 5, 2020 at 12:17pm PDT

Similarly NAHBS have also now cancelled their 2020 plans after initially postponing the March show until August. They said in the statement above: “With NAHBS scheduled to take place in less than three months – and based on what we currently know and predictions for the summer — we’re making the difficult decision to cancel NAHBS 2020 and focus our efforts on 2021.”

CCC Team will no longer actually be sponsored by CCC themselves in 2021, and their President Jim Ochowicz has released a statement saying that they are “busy finalising the revised race calendar and preparing for the four-month racing block” in a bid to attract new sponsors.

Ochowicz said: “Looking ahead to the 2021 season, CCC will no longer be the title sponsor so we are now actively looking for a new title sponsor. We are in an unprecedented time but we are confident there are companies that want to invest in cycling, especially given the global rise in popularity of bike riding in recent months.

“Under the Continuum Sports ownership and license, we have grown from a US Continental Team in 2007 to one of the biggest WorldTour teams in the peloton in recent years and we have every intention of continuing under new title sponsorship.

“Every race day is an opportunity for our riders and it is clear that strong performances in the early races are going to be instrumental in securing the team’s long term future.”

Since this morning, the Tredz website now says: “After more than five successful years, our sister company Cycle Republic has ceased trading and has closed down its website. Tredz is part of the same ‘Performance Cycling’ family as Cycle Republic, offering an even greater choice of the very best in bikes and cycling accessories, so we’re sure to have what you need.”

Halfords have also got in touch to reiterate that Cycle Republic orders will be fulfilled by “the remaining Cycle Republic team.”

**New Update**
Suspect has been convicted after pleading guilty. His sentence is as follows:-

➖32 weeks custodial (includes previous suspended sentence imposed).
➖Compensastion payment of £200 https://t.co/NhqwX35qxJ

— Andy Cox (@SuptAndyCox) June 8, 2020

Well, what a difference a celebrity neighbour makes… and the intervention of Superintendent Andy Cox of course, as the thief who stole a nurse’s bike and advertised it on Gumtree has now been jailed for 32 weeks and fined £200.

Initially, officers bizarrely told the victim – a mental health nurse named Joey – that they were unable to investigate because her prior detective work on tracking down her bike on Gumtree would have amounted to entrapment… this is a load of cobblers of course, and Superintendent Cox intervened to arrest the man responsible when he spotted that Mr Vine had posted the above video to his Twitter account. The thief received a 32 week prison sentence after a previous suspended sentence for another crime was activated, and had to pay £200 compensation. 

Who’s learned something from all of this? Probably not the culprit (hopefully he eventually gets the help he needs to stop offending), but with any luck the police officers who made the initial very questionable judgement have. We’ll have more on this in the form of a full story later…

Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following an assault near Datchet.

At 2.35pm on Sunday 31 May, two cyclists were travelling south bound on the B3021 Southlea Road from Datchet to Windsor.

A person in a white pick-up truck, travelling in the opposite direction towards Datchet, threw a drinks bottle which hit the first cyclist in the chest.

The victim received bruising and inflammation to his chest, he did not require hospital treatment.

Investigating officer PC Alexander Massey from the Windsor and Maidenhead Smarter Resolution Team, said: “This was a frightening experience for the two cyclists, and I am appealing to anyone who has any information about this incident to come forward.

“If you were driving or cycling in the area at the time and saw anything, please get in touch.

“You can contact us using the online reporting form, quoting reference number 43200160762. If you cannot report online, call the 24 hour non-emergency number 101.

“Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111.”