“Is he delivering pizza?”: New Jersey cycle courier taking shortcut across frozen river makes the news; “It’s lighter without grease”: Cyclist who pressure washes bike after every ride divides opinion + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"Is he delivering pizza?": New Jersey cycle courier taking shortcut across frozen river makes the news
Yikes…
This footage has been shared by the New York Post, a New Jersey cyclist, believed to be a courier or food delivery rider, spotted riding across a frozen river. The scene unfolded to the equal parts shock, confusion, amusement and concern of onlooking workers.
There doesn’t appear to be much more information than that, the rider apparently making it off the ice fine. “Employees on break in Red Bank couldn’t believe their eyes when a man pedalled a bike across the frozen Navesink River, sparking disbelief, profanity and jokes about a pizza delivery gone wrong,” the New York Post told its YouTube subscribers.
One of the workers was heard comparing the rider’s set-up to the iceboats on the river at the same time, the wind-powered boats in the background that sail on ice using metal runners.
“The iceboats make sense,” the worker said. “They’re skimming on the top part. He’s on a bicycle, in a river… he does not have a wetsuit on… he’s an idiot…”
Now, there are plenty parts of the world where cycling on ice is a thing, in the depths of Russia for example, but we’re guessing from the reactions it’s less of a thing in New Jersey. Whoever got that pizza better have left a tip.
Meanwhile, in Canada…
Ex-MP’s “bonkers” video denouncing cycle lane proposals criticised by residents and campaigners
Biniam Girmay sprints to victory in first race for NSN Cycling
Dream start! 🔥
Biniam Girmay wins the opening stage of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana — his first victory since 2024 and his first as an NSN rider 👏 pic.twitter.com/qDcVk2A17M
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) February 4, 2026
Not too much to say about the racing action this week, but certainly noteworthy that Biniam Girmay is up and running for NSN Cycling in his first race for the team. Even if it is just the 2.Pro Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana we’re talking about, and a sprint stage with climber Aleksandr Vlasov in 5th, it’s still Girmay’s first win (somewhat unbelievably) since stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France. Imagine hearing that day, his third stage win at that year’s Tour, that it would take 19 months for his next race win full stop.
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Are you the next Jonas Vingegaard? Visma-Lease a Bike invite applications to 'Talent Day' trials
Visma-Lease a Bike reckon youth cycling in Europe limits the opportunities for lightweight climbers to stand out. It’s a hypothesis that makes a lot of sense, especially here in the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, and several other major European cycling nations, where amateur and youth racing is often circuit-based and rarely has any significant climbing, let alone mountains.
So, to give the next generation of climbing specialists a chance, the team organises ‘Talent Days’ in the Belgian Ardennes. These feature standardised uphill tests “to offer talented cyclists the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities in an objective, performance-focused environment”.
> Could Swansea University academics help Ineos Grenadiers spot the next Tadej Pogačar?
Brace yourselves for this next detail… male riders born between 2008 and 2011 and female riders born between 2008 and 2009 can apply… we’re all getting old, aren’t we?
The team has invited riders to apply, with staff to assess each application and invite riders to Talent Days.
“All participants receive a personal performance feedback report,” the team says. “Top-performing male riders may be invited for further monitoring and a U19 training camp. Female riders will receive individual follow-up regarding development opportunities within the team’s talent pathway.”
Any 2008-born readers out there? We suspect not but all the application info is on Visma-Lease a Bike’s site.
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"It's lighter without grease": Cyclist who pressure washes bike after every ride divides opinion — but is it really that bad for your bearings?
To pressure wash or not to pressure wash? That is the question…
It’s up there with disc brakes and socks over or under bib tights in the pantheon of great cycling debates. Naturally, the discussion today was split between the two great pressure-washing camps: the ‘chill out, it’s fine’ crew, versus the ‘won’t someone please think of the bearings’ side. Personally, I’ve got little skin in the game on this one. I’ll occasionally use a garden hose for a quick rinse after a particularly grimy ride (that’s on my bike, I should add, before any of you jokers in the comments get any ideas), but don’t have access to a pressure washer and certainly don’t swear by the hose, it’s just sometimes convenient.
Anyway, as I’m sure you’re aware, others are more opinionated on the pros and cons of cleaning your bike. We suspect the person who shared the post knew exactly what they were doing when they posted the pic and caption, and boy did it get a response on this Reddit thread…
“It’s lighter without grease”
“The option to shorten the life of all the bearings”
“definitely gonna get someone T R I G G E R E D”
“Doesn’t this blast the grease out of bearings?”
For some comedic relief, I’ll drop in the comment from someone who reported their wife gets mad when they do this too… but maybe “because the bike is on a trainer now. In the living room”.
Back to the serious stuff, someone who said they are a UCI-licensed mechanic got involved and reckons there is “no problem” with pressure washing your bike: “Washing a bike is a normal part of routine maintenance. There is no problem here and I can tell that you take care of your equipment.”
One reply came: “Yes, washing a bike can be ok if you regularly maintain everything and have a good maintenance routine. It definitely can also decrease service intervals on some parts unless you are careful. Seen this first hand over the last couple decades of wrenching. If you are wrenching for UCI racers then the bikes you are working on see far more regular maintenance than 99.9% of non-professionals.”
Likewise, someone else suggested that “you wouldn’t ask a NASCAR or F1 mechanic for longevity advice for your Honda Accord, you probably shouldn’t look to a pro tour mechanic on how to make a bike last either”.
I told you things kick off when it comes to bearing longevity discussions…
Brands such as Shimano, Trek and Ribble have told us previously that they don’t recommend using pressure washers on their bikes and components. Those views were largely down to damage concerns, although Hunt told us while jet washing “can be extremely useful for cleaning” it “generally is not recommended as best practice for bike maintenance”.
“We find the issue often isn’t the process of jet washing itself, but in the aftercare,” a spokesperson told us. “It’s crucial to ensure that components are adequately dried off and re-lubricated after jet washing before storing the bike. Simply putting the bike away without proper cleaning and drying can lead to issues down the line.”
CeramicSpeed also couldn’t recommend the practice: “Just as when riding for an extended period in heavy rain or extreme riding conditions, the bearing seals and grease protection can be overwhelmed by the volume and pressure of water exerted against them.
“While our SLT-equipped bearings (headset and pivots) contain solid lubrication [SLT stands for Solid Lubrication Technology] that cannot be washed out by force, our traditional hand-built hybrid ceramic bearings would just need to be serviced and refilled with the appropriate grease following moisture ingress typical of pressure washing.
“All of our bottom bracket, hub, and pulley bearings can be serviced and cleaned by accessing the face of the bearing and removing the seal. We recommend properly cleaning the bearing to ensure fine contaminants are not forced in during the pressure washing, and then applying the clean UFO grease of choice and reinstalling or replacing the seal. All in, it would be more time-efficient to avoid pressure washing around the bearings when cleaning the bike, but with the appropriate service and aftercare, we do not need to worry about pressure washing around our bearings.”
What I’m taking from all this is it can be fine, but equally it can cause problems if done incorrectly? Do you pressure wash your bike?
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Latest Comments
Is there enough in the budget for a petard?
> "...gather properly the feedback that was expressed through social media" > “I personally met with shop owners and residents in both Sandgate and Alloway Street, where they conveyed to me jointly that they weren’t happy with this and they were representative of the people that were there.” As usual with cycling schemes, councillors prefer to listen only to the loudest anti voices. Maybe I should set up some social media bots to post loads of pro-cycle lane comments, given this is apparently how things work there? Or turn up and claim I'm a resident (and hence somehow become representative of what the whole town needs/wants)? I really hope Transport Scotland pulls the funding if the cycle lanes are removed from the plans. These local "representatives" will then have to be happy in their car-first status quo.
Typical big(?) business speak , full of meaningless w-word bingo
@Rendel Harris that's more or less exactly why I think that, in the context of presenting research like this, it is vital to reference other relevant research. And to make your recommendations in clear context that just regular cycling without any mask is already going to improve your health over not cycling. Scuba example isn't really a great comparison because taking up scuba diving, as far as I'm aware, doesn't have potential to be a population wide accessible activity from toddler age up, or to confer immediate health benefits for participants vs non-participants. Case in point here, regardless of who's "promoting" it or not, the Scotsman has picked it up and run it as an article on why cyclists should wear face masks. Which absolutely will contribute to deterring cycling. A bit of context with the findings might have helped that message get picked up ina far more positive way.
@Sniffer He's best ignored. Every time someone responds to his daft comments he soils his underwear. It's not fair on his mum.
@FionaJJ I'd add construction costs in themselves. That might sound obvious, but costs have risen significantly in recent years. I won't disturb anyone sleeping under a bridge, but a number of political decisions have factored into this state of affairs. Needless to say, everything is much more expensive than it was.
@Rendel Harris au contraire, disabled people want to stand on their own two feet (well, the ones without prosthetic legs at least) and contribute to society, just like everyone else does. You, on the other hand, have some kind of saviour complex where disabled people need you to dole out extra benefits to them, much like one might give a dog a bone or a child a bag of sweets. This isn't how people want to be treated. Rise above your prejudices and understand that disabled people are more than capable of making a full contribution to society and don't need silly tax breaks to be successful. As I understand it, if a tandem bike is adapted, it will (or should) already be tax-exempt according to current law. If it isn't adapted, well then it should be subject to normal tax rules, rather than an expensive and easily abused scheme (i.e. non-disabled people escaping tax) taking its place.
It's not the exact same shoe as in this list, but after years of FiveTen, I am currently wearing the Crank Brothers Flat MTB shoes, which I've owned for about a month and a half. I don't normally have an issue with smelly shoes, but these stink. Embarrassingly so. I wear wool socks. I've tried special a special spray, I've tried drying them out. I think I'll have to try washing them. I suspect they just don't breathe at all.
@SVXY If you choose to cycle on a busy 60mph main road it is not sensible to cycle in sandals, for starters as it would reduce your grip and reaction time compared to some other types of footwear. You can have some sympathy with the victim while still making that point. As he was only convicted of careless driving clearly he did not commit that with intent either
I'm out in Montreal for the Worlds. It has been great so far - can't wait for the road races to start tomorrow. Going to be some long days. Got some great photos of the time trials.
19 thoughts on ““Is he delivering pizza?”: New Jersey cycle courier taking shortcut across frozen river makes the news; “It’s lighter without grease”: Cyclist who pressure washes bike after every ride divides opinion + more on the live blog”
So whose to blame for that borked wordpress update in the middle of the night? Did you have to roll back the database? I noticed some of the latest articles are missing from the homepage.
Someone pressure-washed the site at the end of the day.
That makes sense: I’ve lost my bearings.
Oh wow. Properly threaded replies in comments?
I preferred them when they were press fit?
Everything should be there, some bits are missing from the homepage though. Steadily working through the issues, apologies.
The rest I can live with, but “2 like” is egregious.
Even worse, when I click the ♥, it changes to 3like, not 3 like.
I can see and comment on some threads but on others (like todays Blog) I can’t see any comments!
Hopefully they’ve fixed it I’m seeing and commenting in here now!
that’s odd
Hmmm – An automated WordPress update has failed to complete! Please notify the site administrator.
Oops – can’t edit that message to add that you can get that if you click on the “Edit your profile” link at the bottom of the comments.
i.e. https://road.cc/wp-admin/profile.php
Just to see if things are working, I’ll say that I’ve never washed my gravel bike since it arrived in October 2019. I leave that job to the rain.
Shame on you!
Ah but… I’ve just had to replace my El Cheapo rear wheel. The hub came with the bike, but the rim was replaced nearly 3 years ago. The ratchet ring was worn so the pawls couldn’t engage. There was only a single bearing in the freehub, at the outer end, and it was horribly knackered and crunchy. A new freehub wasn’t available anyway, but the ratchet ring was what finished it off. The punchline is: but the 2 sealed bearings which transmit the load to the through-axle were perfect and smooth, and there was no mess in there to indicate water ingress. I attribute this to an absence of washing, power washing in particular.
It’s 2005 all over again with this site ‘redesign’
He’s pedalling, so it can’t be food delivery.
Can someone explain why a man cycling across a frozen river – one so frozen many others are using it for recreation, as a perfectly normal thing to do in regions with deep winter freezes – is “Yikes!”?
This seems to be just another case of “Oh no… a cyclist doing something normal! Cyclists are so stupid!” general anti-cyclist nonsense.