- News

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
Of course you don't *need* a tree
Peloton shares continue to slide
The Peloton Christmas advert backfired quite spectacularly. Faced with the loss of $1bn of its value as a consequence, the home exercise bike firm… defended it.
Over the weekend Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds had a pop, hiring the actress who plays ‘Peloton Wife’ to appear in a promo for his gin that very clearly references the ad. The actress – seemingly playing the same character – drinks solemnly with friends and toasts ‘new beginnings,’ clearly scarred by a recent experience.
Short-seller Citron Research this week produced a report claiming that Peloton shares are only worth $5.
CNN reports that Peloton shares dropped 6% on Tuesday and another 6% on Wednesday to just under $31.
This is still above the company’s initial public offering price (IPO) of $29 in September, but Citron reckons that the competition is “not only making virtually identical exercise bikes but ones that are both more affordable and functional,” which means there is little reason to spend $2,300 on a Peloton bike.
The report says that Peloton CEO John Foley, “has a reputation for ‘loose lips’ and ‘shooting from the hip,’ ” and has a “hard time with the truth.”
Peloton was valued at about $8 billion at its IPO. Citron says it’s worth $1bn.
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?


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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.
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The problem with testing is it would be trivial to have someone, perhaps an ex-Volkswagen engineer, create a "test mode" which could be easily engaged, and stealthy.
@MaxiMinimalist Be who you are. Absolutely. Provided you don’t annoy the rest of mankind by blathering on a load of bigoted old shite regarding what people choose to call themselves and how they choose to identify when it doesn't affect you in the slightest.
If you stab someone and they die that's murder, if you stab someone and a doctor saves them that's attempted murder. If you create a hazard and kill someone that's manslaughter, if you create a hazard and a doctor saves them that's fly tipping.
Courts have the power to impose a driving ban for a non-driving offence, although I don't think it's used very often. Sentencing Act 2020 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/17/group/THIRD/part/8/chapter/1/enacted
@momove You beat me to it.
Haven't you just contradicted yourself? As I understand it (not greatly...) the problem is exactly that some (few) want to be themselves absolutely (including pronouns etc.) and "mankind" (including yourself it seems) won't have it because it's "annoying"? Actually I think a number of those people wouldn't mind being left to be themselves quietly and eg. just not be harassed or worst... because some of *man*kind (much of the abuse and almost all the violence... ) sees this as far more than "annoying". (Though not all want tacit toleration - and there does seem to be irreconcilable conflict on eg. "who is a woman") Anyway - the law's in now. There shall generally be male spaces for males, female spaces for females, and those who choose (or were given?) a gender divergent from sex "should be accommodated".
I wish we had a duty to be a "fit and proper person" to have a valid driving license in the UK. If you're specifically using a vehicle to commit a crime you couldn't carry out otherwise it should be an instant ban and you should have to prove you've turned your life around before you get your license back.
Be who you are. Absolutely. Provided you don't annoy the rest of mankind with pronouns and gender ideology. As a side note. Last year we saw the Palestinian flag. This year, the trans rights colours. But no support for the brave Iranian people.
And a transponder
When celebrating too early puts the winner himslf in danger... Was the rider fined for dangerous behaviour and taking his hands off the handlebars? Are the UCI bureaucrats going to issue a new regulation that will forbid any form of celebration before and after the finish line?
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!