Is 38-hour ride reasonable in lockdown?; Mavic in receivership; Vine goads 'road tax' crowd; Keen cyclist, Kraftwerk founder Schneider dies; Pop-up bike lanes; Video: PCSO has bike taken; BW Cycling gives 100 bikes to hospital staff + more

Mavic, one of the most famous brands in cycling and maker of wheels ridden by everyone from novice cyclists buying their first road bike to world and Olympic champions and Tour de France winners, has gone into receivership.

Sold last year to a US-based private equity firm by former parent company Amer Sports, the wheels and components firm, which employs around 200 people, reportedly made a net loss of €12.8 million last year on turnover of €70 million.

We'll have more on this story on road.cc in the morning.

Brighton-based tech start-up Body Rocket has raised £255,424 on Crowdcube. They were looking to raise a minimum of £80,000, but went past that inside a day.

The firm has developed an on-bike device that provides real-time aerodynamic feedback to the rider.

. from Body Rocket CrowdCube on Vimeo.

The changes should make riding with friends easier

If you’ve ever tried to organise a ride with friends in Zwift, then you’ll know that actually riding together can sometimes be tricky.

Zwift has made some changes to their meet-up feature, giving you more options of where to host your meet-up, allowing you to see only the other Zwifters in your meet-up and increasing the number of people that you can invite from 50 to 100.

How to get started on Zwift

The increase in locations now means that you can host meet-ups in Innsbruck, London, and New York to Richmond, Yorkshire, and Watopia.

Seeing only the other rider in your meet-up will make it a lot easier to stick together, though it’s only the in-game view that has changed. You’ll still be able to receive and give a ride-on to the wider Zwift community.

Have you already tried it out? Let us know in the comments below.

Not on purpose - but in closing Cheddar Gorge to motor traffic and not cyclists over the Bank Holiday weekend, they might find they have one on their hands.

(That's a joke. Don't head over there on your special climbing bike you've drilled a bunch of holes in.)

Cllr John Woodman, Cabinet member for highways and transport at Somerset County Council, told burnham-on-sea.com: “With fine weather forecast for the Bank Holiday there are concerns that some irresponsible drivers may decide to head to Cheddar Gorge.

“Public safety is our priority. With our police partners we reviewed last weekend’s closure and know it was welcomed by local residents.”

“The great majority of people understand the need to stay at home and save lives during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Superintendent Mike Prior added: “We’re quite clear though this restriction is for motorised vehicles and to stop non-essential travel as the Government has set out.

"This doesn’t prevent people exercising but we are advising people to be reasonable and to do this as close to home as possible.

"However, the closure does seek to prevent people travelling unreasonable distances and in doing so putting both themselves and other members of the public at a heightened risk.”

We're not really sure what to say about this one. We've no desire to unleash the digital lynch mob, but it obviously rankled with the person who sent it to us - and we can understand why.

Strava indicates that earlier this week, this cyclist – who we won’t name – went out for a 21-hour ride with a 12-hour stop in the woods in the middle of it. (As you'd imagine, there were a few other stops too.)

The general vibe on Audax forums at the minute seems to be that people are reminiscing about when they could do long rides, or are doing them virtually.

In contrast, the ride’s attracted kudos and positive comments aplenty on Strava.

The 22nd Annual Blessing of the Bicycles ceremony will take place online this year, with a special focus on bicycle messengers and delivery people and the essential role they play.

Cyclists are encouraged to send photos and messages to the cathedral if they’d like them to be included in the online blessing.

The event is for "all faiths or lack thereof".

More details here.

Big thanks to all the @tfl and borough teams putting in #StreetspaceLDN pic.twitter.com/VY4bLcbu61

— Will Norman (@willnorman) May 7, 2020

As part of their campaign for more pop up lanes, Cycling UK have created an interactive map showing where temporary infrastructure is, and where some is proposed to be.

You can find it here.

They’ve also got a form so that you can contact your local councillors and ask for something in your area.

That one’s here.

Bristol-based BW Cycling has donated 100 bikes, locks and helmets for staff working at Royal United Hospitals Bath and Southmead Hospital Bristol.

“We are a small privately owned bike shop which can’t make ventilators or PPE but we have bikes to make transport easier,” explained co-owner Andy Wadsworth.

“When we heard stories of frontline NHS staff working long shifts with some walking for over an hour to get to work and back because of reduced public transport and being unable to get a lift share, we thought we could help.

“We are very fortunate to have strong client relationships with local companies and Creo Medical has been very supportive in helping fund 100 bikes for NHS staff. 

“We’ve donated 50 bikes to RUH staff – the remaining 20 will be delivered next week – and donated another 50 to staff at Southmead.

“It’s been a bit challenging with the logistics and social distancing but we’ve done it – much easier in comparison to what many NHS staff are having to deal with on a daily basis.”

Recipients have been decided by a draw.

One winner, Ben Ellis, was entered by colleagues in the Emergency Department.

“Winning a bike was a big surprise as I did not know about the offer,” he said. “I feel very privileged and look forward to being able to ride to work.”

Another winner, Jo Smith, a clinical dietitian who lives in Southstoke said: “This will certainly help my journey to work – it’s either over an hour’s walk or try and catch two buses.”

With London being urgently retooled for mass cycling, I'd like to make it clear — although this may annoy my cycling friends — that I would be happy to pay road tax to cycle.
As with cars, the level of the tax I pay for my bike would be based on its emissions.

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 7, 2020

Florian Schneider, co-founder of Kraftwerk, has died at the age of 73.

Kraftwerk’s love for cycling is not hard to identify. Their 2003 album is called Tour de France Soundtracks and was recorded for the 100th anniversary of the race.

Schneider and co-founder Ralph Hütter took to cycling in the 1970s and would ask to be let off the tour bus 100-miles early so they could finish the journey by bike.

Then there are the circumstances of Schneider's departure from the group in 2008.

Jeremy Vine has just discovered one of the longstanding fan rumours about that.

It now emerges #FlorianSchneider "left Kraftwerk after a dispute over a bicycle pump," which, if true, adds enormously to the mystique pic.twitter.com/v3wbCOlD70

— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) May 6, 2020

• Kraftwerk break enigmatic silence to talk about cycling
• Canyon and Kraftwerk celebrate Tour de France with a VERY special bike
• The time Ed Clancy, Jason Kenny, Jamie Staff and Geraint Thomas rode round Manchester Velodrome in a wave formation as the band played ‘Tour De France’
• Kraftwerk reworked - Tour de France in Cockney piano style