Corbyn v Johnson – the L-shaped cranks issue; ‘Safety first’ Xmas tree; Peloton shares drop further; #bikesatpollingstations (and #dogs); Christ(mas) on a bike; Israel Cycling Academy becomes Israel Start-Up Nation + more on live blog
SUMMARY
Morning
Think we’re going to have to pace ourselves a bit today. It’s already feeling like a gruelling day and it’s barely past nine.
A logical place to start for a cycling live blog on the day of a general election is with a round-up of where each of the main parties stands on cycling.
My colleague Simon MacMichael has done a nice rundown of the various policies and promises.
We know there are plenty of other issues, but it’s interesting to think about how cycling policy reflects the broader attitudes of each of the main parties.
#bikesatpollingstations
#bikesatpollingstations pic.twitter.com/93R331kyCm
— David Knight (@furnivalknight) December 12, 2019
Voted. #BikesAtPollingStations #BromptonsAtPollingStations #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/sdqIznnHwV
— Graham Boulton (@gboulton66) December 12, 2019
#BikesAtPollingStations pic.twitter.com/EEwqMSDBLy
— Cycle Sam (@MCRCycleSam) December 12, 2019
London's cycling commissioner's been down already
Voted! #bikesatpollingstations pic.twitter.com/wVwYzEH4zF
— Will Norman (@willnorman) December 12, 2019
#cargobikesatpollingstations
#bikesatpollingstations #cargobikesatpollingstations #GE2109 pic.twitter.com/fE90WSZh5d
— Rob Wilson (@mrrobwilson) December 12, 2019
voting for a brighter day #BikesAtPollingStations #cargobikesatpollingstations #GE2019 pic.twitter.com/rGNyxhKcbo
— Jack Thurston (@jackthurston) December 12, 2019
Very important election day sociological analysis
Early days, but I’ve noticed something while embedding #bikesatpollingstations on a website that throws a whopping great tantrum whenever it encounters non-alphanumeric characters.
People who cycle to vote are far less likely to deploy emojis than the average social media user.
#bikesatpollingstations fail
I was going to do a #BikesAtPollingStations photo, but I went at 07:00 and it was still dark. When the flash went off and my tyre sidewalls reflected back, I jumped and took a picture of my feet instead.
— Goth on a Brompton (@GothOnABrompton) December 12, 2019
Beryl offering free rides to polling stations
A reminder that British bike share company Beryl are offering users free rides to their polling stations.
Beryl operates in the City of London, Hereford, Bournemoth and Poole, and say they’re running the complimentary rides to “encourage riders to choose sustainable transport to and from their local polling stations.”
The promotion will be automatically applied to everyone with a Beryl account. Voters can make use of two rides with a free unlock and ride of up to 30 minutes each.
Doing the double
Maybe this can help us segue into another topic for a bit…
#BikesAtPollingStations
followed by #treebybike pic.twitter.com/NS0v9X0ERk— Nick Flynn (@nickflynnUK) December 12, 2019
A lunchtime reminder of where the parties stand on cycling
As the UK heads to the polls again, we’ve highlighted the key active travel pledges as politicians chase your vote.
Israel Cycling Academy becomes Israel Start-Up Nation
The new sponsor for Israel Cycling Academy is Start-Up Nation Central, “a Tel Aviv-based non-profit organisation that connects companies around the world to Israeli innovation.”
The team will therefore be known as Israel Start-Up Nation for the 2020 season.
Our new name for season 2020. WorldTour, here we come! #yallaacademy pic.twitter.com/K8eZCtm0Hm
— IsraelCyclingAcademy (@yallaACADEMY) December 11, 2019
Here’s the kit.
Israel- Start Up Nation will be racing in a new kit: #yallaacademy pic.twitter.com/Wa9zkQQg4R
— IsraelCyclingAcademy (@yallaACADEMY) December 11, 2019
It's not just Beryl Bikes offering free rides to polling stations
Uber offering free Jump e-bike rides on election day: if you’re London-based and yet to cast your ballot, you can take advantage of two free rides of up to 12 minutes each to the polling station and back… https://t.co/tWmY0jjATV #cycling #GeneralElection2019 pic.twitter.com/kpoYgQtDyc
— ebiketips (@ebiketips) December 12, 2019
Or get a lift off Pedal Me
People already jumping on our free rides for Election Day promo – look up feed for code! pic.twitter.com/8YWxRaFmjR
— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) December 12, 2019
REE RIDE CODE FOR LIFTS TO/FROM VOTING: 7DEWQA
Please pre-book to avoid disappointment – we’re likely to be extremely busy.
Only applies to passenger jobs within our operating hours (8-8 tomorrow).
— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) December 11, 2019
We don’t endorse any one party – though this is the only party leader who’s committed to using us for their ride to Buckingham Palace to start their government, should they be invited to do so, so far…
Not too late to get in there @BorisJohnson ! pic.twitter.com/KDS3xtMvNo
— Pedal Me (@pedalmeapp) December 12, 2019
The infrastructure buzz
The Deputy Mayor of London for Transport, Heidi Alexander, has a confession to make.
Something strange has happened to me in the last 18 months. I now have emotional reactions to pictures of kerbs and concrete – this one gives me a particularly warm feeling inside 🙂 https://t.co/EJMqC69OrC
— Heidi Alexander (@Heidi_LDN) December 12, 2019
"The wild"
The wild? If you did all your riding in an airbed showroom, you probably wouldn’t be all that concerned about possible blows to the head.
This is how the Hovding system would perform in the wild! pic.twitter.com/TOgGgTZtRu
— Fully Charged (@FullyChargedUK) December 12, 2019
Last year's Portuguese national champion provisionally suspended for anti-doping rule violation
UCI Statement on Domingos Goncalves and UCI Professional Continental Team Caja Rural – Seguros RGA https://t.co/VADwB0aso0 pic.twitter.com/D5jFMd4QPy
— UCI_media (@UCI_media) December 12, 2019
The tree clearly feels it's necessary to wear a cycle helmet
It’s attire is pretty hi-vis too, you’d have to say.
Rode in the local Festival of Lights, look how much my son loved it! from r/bicycling
Merida’s 2020 time trial bike “ready to slice the air”
[Adopts Jim Bowen voice] “So, Rohan, let’s take a look at what you could have won…”
You’ve already seen @MeridaBikes‘ lightweight #SCULTURA and aero #REACTOEVO in the new colours for 2020. Here comes the #TIMEWARPTT, ready to slice the air. pic.twitter.com/WHfOwNbuxE
— MeridaProRoadRacing (@MeridaProRoad) December 12, 2019
Heading to the polling station on your way home?
If it’s of any help at all, here’s our thing highlighting the various parties’ key active travel pledges.
Where do you stand on our L-shaped cranks article?
What do you mean you’ve never read it?
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
10 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
People do ridicule cyclists for wearing helmets though, go on any helmet discussion on Facebook or Twitter and it won't be long before somebody starts in about "sheeple wearing their precious little polystyrene hats". Many people also ridicule helmet wearers on the assumption that wearing a helmet automatically makes them in favour of mandatory helmets; I do, and I'm not, and many people I know hold the same position but still get shot down as presumed advocates of mandatory helmets if they try to say anything positive about them.
...it goes without saying that it's very sad news for the employees, the business, and indeed those of us who are looking for bikes that aren't lumps of pig-iron for our kids (it's not that obvious in my original post)
“Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t had it on, maybe I wouldn’t be here today," Can't argue with that tbf. And a quote for our sponsors? “One thing I know for sure, my helmet saved my life. Thank you Giro Cycling."
Ours were exactly the same. I was discussing this with somebody a couple of weeks ago when the news first broke and he made the interesting point that they're somewhat a victim of their own success. Your 3 and my 3 have rather than having a bike each have both shared 2 bikes which have been passed on to somebody else (well mine not yet, but they will as they're spotless). Islabike I'd see as similar - both companies having made high quality, durable products rather than following the usual planned obsolescence route thus cannibalising sales
I read a few issues of tyres blowing apart rims but they were due to non compatible tyres being installed so user error IMO.
If it was, she had the helmet on back to front.
That crack in the helmet is where it would have been protecting the base or her skull where it meets the spine. The back of the head and especially this area is a very dangerous place to have any hard impact. unprotected rear of the head injuries are more likely to be fatal than frontal or side impacts.
But, but, but... hookless were supposed to be easier to manufacture and thus would be cheaper. Isn't that what we were all told when they first came on the scene for road bikes?
People don't ridicule cyclists for wearing helmets, they ridicule them for making unsubstantiated claims about helmets because if they don't then the government will start to seriously think about mandating them.
That picture says a lot about them. Have Police Scotland handed out a single penalty for a close pass? Do either of the guys in the pic even ride a bike?
10 thoughts on “Corbyn v Johnson – the L-shaped cranks issue; ‘Safety first’ Xmas tree; Peloton shares drop further; #bikesatpollingstations (and #dogs); Christ(mas) on a bike; Israel Cycling Academy becomes Israel Start-Up Nation + more on live blog”
Loving that Peugeot. I had
Loving that Peugeot. I had one in a similar paintjob, though mine probably never looked that good.
Oh, and whatever the weather, get out and vote.
I always walk, the polling station has never been far away enough to ride.
Oh, is there an election on?
Oh, is there an election on?
Kendalred wrote:
I’m surprised they allow people to park their bikes that close to polling stations.
Every remembrance sunday, they prohibit bike parking anywhere near the cenotaph here in the centre of Bristol, citing the risk of terrorism…
Quote:
Here’s a hmmm review about a
Here’s a hmmm review about a bicycle touring movie-
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/dec/12/the-bikes-of-wrath-review-cameron-ford-charlie-turnbull-cycling-documentary
ktache wrote:
I’m not sure they’re very impressed with it:
I’ve just been to vote for a
I’ve just been to vote for a party that won’t win a majority tonight, but does have a clear policy on the biggest issue of the day; which sadly isn’t active travel. We shouldn’t leave that up to party policy, it should be agreed between all parties and run by commity. Was I wasting my time; probably. Will I be able to complain later? Inevitably.
I am definitely a fan of the
I am definitely a fan of the ‘banking my right to complain’ approach!
Compact Corned Beef wrote:
I voted Green, so I’m pretty sure I can complain about the result tonight.
Compact Corned Beef wrote:
Good on you for doing your democratic doody!