Cycling account criticised for sexist meme posted on International Women’s Day; Mathieu van der Poel’s stupendous 1,000 watt attack; Before and after cycle lane photos; Brompton mobility hubs; New bike for theft victim, Paris-Nice + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
"Incredibly powerful" before and after video shows cycle lane's potential
Here’s another view of this street. It’s a huge improvement over how it was before. As you can see motor traffic levels are tiny compared to before. And the street is one way now with the cycle lane being a contra flow. pic.twitter.com/PqwOu3orOt
— filter more streets (@iambrianjones) March 7, 2021
Chris Boardman loved this before and after video of Old Bethnal Green Road, calling it an “incredibly powerful before and after look at a street,” and saying that it would be “interesting to count the number of people using it in both. My guess is there’s more in the after version.”
Another angle of the new cycleway shows kids free to walk around the neighbourhood without the streams of motor traffic in the before video…
Old Bethnal Green Road:
where traffic is virtually nil and kids can muck about like this with out risking their lives. pic.twitter.com/xJTINMI6Zu— filter more streets (@iambrianjones) March 6, 2021
Downtime Podcast featuring our very own off-road.cc editor Rachael Wight
off-road.cc is the place to go for your mountain bike fix of reviews and news. It has all the best bits that don’t fall under the road.cc umbrella, including a link to a new episode of the Downtime Podcast which features off-road.cc editor Rachael Wight.The mountain bike focused interview-based podcast has this week been handed over for a celebration of International Women’s Day with a discussion around equality, experiences, challenges, opportunity and the changing face of women’s mountain biking. Rachael is joined by mountain bike guide and coach Emily Horridge and Nukeproof Marketing Executive, Katie Wooster. It’s well worth a listen and can be accessed via all major podcast platforms via this link or at the top of this post…
Great Britain Cycling Team mark international women's day by celebrating step towards gender parity in track cycling
British Cycling and the Great Britain Cycling Team are marking International Women’s Day by celebrating a step towards gender parity in track cycling this season. Most notably, the women’s team sprint, which used to be a two-woman event over two laps, has been extended to match the male event and will now involve three female riders racing over three laps.
The changed event will make its Olympic debut in Paris in 2024 with senior academy sprinters Blaine Ridge-Davis, Lusia Steele and Milly Tanner already eyeing up the opportunity to make history with Great Britain’s first ever Olympic medal in the team sprint.
This is what averaging 1,000w for 20 seconds up a 15% climb looks like
Unseen footage from Van der Poel’s final attack in Strade Bianche: pic.twitter.com/dxrz9C1l15
— Cycling out of context (@OutOfCycling) March 6, 2021
And some wise words from Alex Dowsett…
I guess it’s safe to say MVDP today showed Allaphilipe what it’s like to race against Allaphilipe. 🤯
— Alex Dowsett (@alexdowsett) March 6, 2021
Mathieu van der Poel uploads stupendous 1000 watt Strade Bianche attack to Strava
On Tuesday, after Mathieu van der Poel had led out his teammate Tim Merlier to victory on the tops having snapped off and chucked away his drop, I asked on this live blog — is there anything he can’t do? Just when his brilliance seems to have reached an unbeatable level he raises the bar again. Some mind-boggling numbers at the end of close to five hours of hard racing have been released by his team this morning. The things we’d do to have his legs for a day…
Van der Poel has also uploaded his full ride to Strava, which saw him claim KOMs for the segments covering the final 25km of the race, the final gravel section where he put in his first crazy attack at Le Tolfe and from part way up the final ramp to the finish line.
A slight surprise was to see his time, strictly on the uphill section of the final climb to the finish up Santa Caterina, was only eighth fastest and nine seconds off the time his now teammate Petr Vakoc set in 2016. Although this can probably be explained by Van der Poel’s more conservative start to the climb before that incredible 20 second explosion near the top where he averaged 1,000w…
Lizzy Banks says female cyclists feel undervalued and are "scared" to make a stand
British pro rider Lizzy Banks has told BBC Sport that female cyclists feel undervalued because of the disparity in prize money at events and are scared to speak out. Last week, Flanders Classics, who organise many of the Belgian Classics, came under scrutiny over the difference in prize money at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Men’s winner Davide Ballerini won £13,766, while women’s winner Anna van der Breggen (pictured above) took home just £800 in comparison.
“We have so many battles to fight,” Banks said. “I don’t think this [equal prize money] is the most important thing out there in women’s cycling, but I do think that it is important. I just feel like it sends a message that we don’t value the women’s sport as much as we value the men’s.
“We’re all a bit scared to say something. It’s not that there’s a culture of fear – that’s definitely not the case – but our jobs are relatively insecure. Often we are on one-year contracts, you have to be quite careful what you say and also especially if you are the ones at the top of the sport then you are also the ones who are going to be reaping the benefits so you don’t want to seem selfish.
“In female cycling it’s always a balancing act of wanting to promote the right causes but also being careful what you say because I think being outspoken can really inhibit your chances of getting another contract.”
Brompton Bike Hire announces mobility hub trial at Imperial College
Not all things that come in 3 are bad luck.
Our third announcement of the week is a trial mobility hub for Imperial College London staff is, set to launch in April 2021 as the result of a research partnership between Imperial, Enterprise & ourselves.https://t.co/JyqUCTJV7P
— Brompton Bike Hire (@BromptonHire) March 2, 2021
Imperial College staff will be offered exclusive use of a Brompton bike for a two-month trial of a mobility hub based at the London university. The trial will allow researchers to assess the uptake and barriers to shared transport use and inform future mobility schemes at other workplaces and cities. Staff will be asked to leave their cars at home for the two-month period and use only their Brompton or two shared alternative fuel vehicles provided by Enterprise.
Stockport County fan's generosity helps out fellow supporter who had their bike stolen
We hear of fans’ inspiring stories and acts of kindness in the community, and we want to give them the recognition they deserve!
Our first #CountyHero is Phil Robinson, who shows exactly how County fans stick together. Click below for the full story 👇 https://t.co/mKxtZYDuTL
— Stockport County (@StockportCounty) March 3, 2021
Phil Robinson has been named a ‘County Hero’ by Stockport County after he bought a fellow fan a replacement for his stolen bike. Andrew Rowden, affectionately known as Oaf at Edgeley Park, had become well known for cycling to home and away games and had racked up thousands of miles following his team around the country.
Andrew had his bike stolen during a time when he was mourning the death of his father, which also prevented him from getting around as it was his main form of transport. Phil contacted his local bike shop, Woodson’s Cycles, and paid for a replacement with the help of the shop’s owner who offered discounted price.
Oaf’s new bike was delivered to his home where he said: “I can’t believe that Phil has done this for me, I am completely overwhelmed. I’m very lucky to be a part of a Club with such incredibly thoughtful fans.”
Reaction to Van der Poel's thermonuclear power data from his Strade Bianche winning attack
I like how Strava calculates MVdP’s SB win to have been at 92% intensity. https://t.co/ITdOoAMT0y
— nyvelocity (@nyvelocity) March 8, 2021
We’re still trying to get our heads around Van der Poel’s power data. The educated conclusion seems to be it’s bloody impressive… Over on Facebook, Rod Leach suggested it’s all very well winning Strade Bianche with a 1,000 watt attack but he’ll need to up his game if he wants to win any Zwift races…
Best not put my Sunday ride up, don’t want to embarrass the lad😳😂
— vic bates (@victorbates) March 8, 2021
— AJ (@AJ48775486) March 8, 2021
Cees Bol wins stage two of Paris-Nice
🏁 🇳🇱@ceesbol1995 l’emporte au sprint à Amilly et 🇦🇺@blingmatthews s’empare du @MaillotJauneLCL.
⏪ Revivez le dernier kilomètre.🏁 🇳🇱@ceesbol1995 claims the win in Amilly and 🇦🇺@blingmatthews takes the @MaillotJauneLCL.
⏪Relive the last kilometre.#ParisNice pic.twitter.com/WIoPepYA1l— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 8, 2021
Cees Bol earned Team DSM a first win under their new sponsorship on stage two’s uphill sprint in Amilly. Mads Pedersen was second, while Bol’s former teammate Michael Matthews took third. With Sam Bennett fifth and outside the bonus seconds, it will be Matthews who pulls on the yellow leader’s jersey for stage three tomorrow. The stage in question is a 14km individual time trial which will be crucial to deciding the overall victory come Sunday.
#ParisNice – Stage 2 – Top 10 pic.twitter.com/OSgamUagIb
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) March 8, 2021
Cycling Twitter account criticised for sexist meme posted on International Women's Day
Clearly there isn’t any time that sharing this would be acceptable, but posting this meme that has been criticised as creepy and sexist to your 9,000 Twitter followers on International Women’s Day seems tone deaf at best. Awesome Cycling posted a video asking ‘Which one are you?’ showing the supposed different types of cyclists you pass on a ride. The ones who give you a nod, the ones who wave coolly, the ones who wave enthusiastically and apparently the ones who ogle female riders and take photos of them…
One reply from Chris Gerhard summed up the mood in the comments Awesome Cycling got for their post: “The creepy sexism here is really not acceptable. It’s not funny, it’s disturbing. Take it down.”
David T.Isaac added: “Don’t be the pervert. And @AwesomeCycling it’s really weird that you included “sexual harasser” as like a fun little type of cyclist that we can all joke about. It’s not funny. Be better.”
You take a lighthearted look at cyclists greeting each other then add in a ‘creepy as F’ behaviour that is totally unacceptable.
I hope you take this down and educate yourself 🤬
This is NOT cool 🤨
— Kris Wright (@climb8b) March 7, 2021
Holy crap. Let’s celebrate the kind of male creepiness that limits women’s freedom to do stuff outdoors that men take for granted.
— Jon (@ormondroyd) March 7, 2021
Some positive International Women's Day news to follow the last post
In all Dutch interviews I was referred to the “female cycling commentator” or “first female cycling commentator.”
In the hundreds of 🇺🇸🇳🇿🇬🇧🇨🇦🇦🇺reactions after my @gcntweet debut only a handful were about me being a woman.
That is progress to me 👏🏻#InternationalWomensDay
— José Been (@TourDeJose) March 8, 2021
Here are some of the best International Women’s Day posts from the cycling world we’ve seen today to make up for the last blog post…Elisa Longo Borghini and her Trek-Segafredo teammates have decided to put their prize money for her second place at Strade Bianche back in to the sport to help women’s cycling grow. Fans raised more than €25,000 in extra prize money for the women’s race…
On this special day we – my @TrekSegafredo teammates and I- have decided to make a new step in the long road for women’s empowerment in sport.
Happy international women’s day to all of us! pic.twitter.com/euTxSVq1wH
— Elisa Longo Borghini (@ElisaLongoB) March 8, 2021
8 March 2021, 08:57
8 March 2021, 08:57
8 March 2021, 08:57
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Laudable effort. Will a full review of the bike be following?
By their very nature the dockless bike schemes will result in bikes being parked in stupid places. The user has little incentive to find the correct place to park it. More so if they are tourists with a cruise liner to catch and only 3 hours to explore. So, if the operation can't be made to fit within the councils required operating method, then it should be removed. I'm pretty sure another operator will come in and propose a system acceptable to the council if they believe they can make money. I strongly suspect that the current operators can only make money by tacitly allowing bikes to be left where the tourist money wants to leave them, so time to rethink the financial model me thinks!
@bikercub "If they are good enough to be supporting the Groupama-FDJ United World TourCycling team, we should be looking at them as a contender." No, that only means that they paid enough to become a sponsor. Let's put the "pros use better stuff" myth to sleep, finally. And by the way, the trickiest part of a GPS computer is not data collection - that can be done by absolutely all of them. The hard part is the general user interface and turn-by-turn navigation, none of which really matters for a pro cyclist - and that brings us back to why any GPS computer could be good enough for just about any pro cyclist.
@mdavidford Absolutely, I am assuming that the OP means those lanes where it's so tight it's actually impossible for a cyclist to get through if there is a large vehicle, obviously if they can squeeze by each other nobody needs to go back.
You are quite correct about uniform signage. However this seems to be a fairly atypical set up. Having experience and knowledge of it would in theory make mistakes less likely. Part of my job involved writing operating and maintenance procedures for food manufacturing machinery. I quickly learnt that people need to be given direct, simple, non-conflicting, non-ambiguous instructions. If it is possible to make mistakes, then they will be made. The best of of avoiding a mistake is to design flaws out of the system.
I do not in anyway support the Daily Telegraph's continually mad anti-cycling journalism but, it must be said, that this particular section of cycle lane on King Street in Hammersmith has been an absolute disaster ever since it re-opened. It certainly wasn't perfect for cyclists before but ever since they remodelled the cycle lane to run as a two way lane on one side of the road it has become much much more dangerous and confusing for pedestrians, drivers, motorcyclists and cyclists alike. I'm not saying that all cycling infrastructure is badly designed but, on my 12 mile commute from home in South London to work at the West end of King Street, this cycleway is where I feel most unsafe. It's not an inditement on active travel but it should be a lesson in planning because it's been closed on 5 or 6 occasions since to be remodelled to correct issues that should've been obvious before it opened. I have been using this road to get to work since long before the re-modelling and it has definitely, in my opinion, worsened not just the safety of cyclists but also the relationship between drivers and cyclists in this area.
In principle, it shouldn't matter if you're familiar with a particular junction - that's precisely why we have (relatively) uniform signage across the country (I had this from a driver recently - Him: sorry, I don't know the area. Me: but a no entry sign is the same everywhere...). But in practice in a busy environment like this, simply adding another sign saying look out for cyclists is limited help. I don't love cycling on contraflows / a two way cyclelane on a one way street for that reason. In fact there's a crossing I don't love as a pedestrian which is look right (bikes) look left (bikes) look right (cars), island, catch breath, look left (cars), look left (bikes). (Yes, you could wait for a green man, but then it's still look everywhere (Deliveroo)).
I'm not familiar with Jeremy Vine's favourite cycle lane. However I do have sympathy with drivers if they have to deal with "Look both ways for cyclists" as well as "One Way" and "No Entry" signs. Especially if the driver is not familiar with the junction.
@mitsky Alas for a second there I was awarding the motorist in the window there points for wearing hi-vis in their car, then I realised they were also wearing a motoring helmet...
While I understand it in context, I quite liked this to conclude a bike light review: "it’s a reliable set for the price, so long as you aren’t looking to ride in the dark"
4 thoughts on “Cycling account criticised for sexist meme posted on International Women’s Day; Mathieu van der Poel’s stupendous 1,000 watt attack; Before and after cycle lane photos; Brompton mobility hubs; New bike for theft victim, Paris-Nice + more on the live blog”
VDP acceleration into Sienna
VDP acceleration into Sienna was jaw dropping.
Bethnal Green- fantastic transformation
MvdP doing MvdP things…
MvdP doing MvdP things….even more jaw dropping than his accelerations to drop Schurter at Nove Mesto & Lenzerheide in 2019…..
We know he’s world class on a CX, MTB & Road bike – What’s he like on a Downhill bike??
The Old Bethnal Green video
The Old Bethnal Green video is fantastic and shows what is possible and how it improves lives. How do we get an connection to persuade those who would remain blinkered and wish to sit in a car and not care about the harm, purpose or need. Very sadly and I try to be polite the same can be said on the people who feel it OK to place or agree on a twitter feed from the aw(ful) not (some) cycling brigade who cannot make the connection that women, especially young women will not feel comfortable or safe to enjoy and explore an area by bicycle whilst pathetic voyerism, intimidation and perversion is marketed as exceptable, one unacceptable danger, road traffic, should not be changed for another.
Old Bethnal Green Road – I
Old Bethnal Green Road – I got distracted by the pigeons in the ‘after’ shot – they’re definitely preferring the new lay out.