Banksy broken bike mural sold for six-figure sum; Man buying bike from strangers assaulted and robbed; Drunk cyclist crashes into mayor; Another painful bike lane; Colnago handlebar porn; Denmark go big on cycling; Strava update + more on the live blog

Here's a nice news story for a grey Wednesday afternoon...South Ribble Police managed to reunite one victim of theft with their stolen bike. The bike was stolen during a spate of burglaries in October and was found when police discovered it in a shed at an unrelated incident. Fortunately, having seized the bike they were able to trace the owner and got it back to them yesterday.

They encouraged other cyclists to register their bikes with the National Cycle Database, Bike Register.

The Banksy artwork of a girl hula-hooping with a bicycle tyre has been sold for a six-figure fee and has been removed. The mural appeared outside a Nottingham beauty salon in October and was claimed by the mysterious artist who said it was taking a pop at the government poster featuring a ballerina named Fatima who should retrain in 'cyber'.

Just a month later the bike chained in front of the mural disappeared, presumed stolen, but was actually removed for safe keeping. The artwork was carefully removed by workmen this morning after gallery owner John Brandler told the BBC he paid a "six-figure sum" for the piece and wanted to preserve it and put it on display. Brandler owns a number of Banksy's pieces, including Seasons Greetings.

The collector added that he believes he saved the piece just in time as the perspex screen over the picture was causing damp damage. A spokesperson for Nottingham City Council confirmed that they had sought Banksy's approval to move the piece to a different location.

Local resident Jasinya Powell expressed her disappointment at the artwork being sold. "It's capitalism at its finest - it's all about the Benjamins [money] at the end of the day," she told the BBC. "It got people talking about Raleigh, about Nottingham, about what the city has produced and done."

A man buying a bike off two strangers in Reading was hit over the head and robbed of his money last Friday. Thames Valley Police say the incident happened in London Road at around 7.30pm on February 12 when a man thought he'd agreed to buy a bicycle off the two offenders. An argument broke out after the men demanded more money before the victim was hit on the back of the head and robbed.

Police say the victim was uninjured in the assault and that they are looking for the two offenders who are described as white men, between 30 and 40 years old. One was 6ft and wearing a green jacket. The other was 5ft 10ins and wearing a black jacket with blue jeans. Both were described as being medium build.

PC Philip Marchant said the incident was distressing for the victim and encouraged two members of the public who saw the incident to come forward. He said: "We would like to speak to anyone who saw what happened or has details about this incident. Specifically, we would like to speak to two members of the public who were passing at the time of the incident and intervened as they may have information that could help with the investigation.

"Further, if you think you know who the men described are, we would like you to get in touch. Please call Thames Valley Police on 101 or make a report online and share any CCTV if you think it picks up this incident. If you would prefer to remain 100 per cent anonymous, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."

The new Strava update is out, as you can see from the location info next to the time at the top of this activity. Useful if you're scrolling your feed and want to see where all your riding pals have gone on holiday...oh, wait a second. We've seen a couple of comments with privacy-related concerns but that seems to be something which comes with the territory when uploading your ride's GPS data. Non-GPS data rides won't use the feature...Thoughts?

On our Facebook page, Kieran Barry was pleased with the new feature saying: "Good update. Also appreciating the activity search feature."

@MetCycleCops - 35mph - Petrol Engine Cycle with a Fuel Tank Under your Body - https://t.co/jsxrJxtdxK

— Freedom-2017 (@Cycle2Freedom) February 16, 2021

Greater Manchester Police seized this mechanically-propelled bike. They say the conversion meant it should be classed as a mechanically-propelled vehicle and needed insurance...

Just buy a motorbike at this point. https://t.co/CgWPuXhkiY

— Capybara Cop (@CapybaraCop) February 16, 2021

A drunk cyclist who rode into a Belgian mayor doing a TV interview has gone viral, eight months after the incident happened. The Brussels Times reports the Hasselt mayor, Steven Vandeput, finds the video's popularity surprising but also quite funny. The clip went viral after being posted on YouTube by Meme Tycoon and has now been viewed almost four million times.

"3.6 million views is a lot," Vandeput laughed. "I have also read the comments under the video, and I must say I find it all quite funny. I was only left with a bruise. The man clearly did not agree with some decisions I made as mayor. The police then took the man away anyway, because he continued to be difficult even after the collision."

A local media report at the time of the incident claimed the cyclist was drunkenly ranting about the "benefits of communism" before the incident with the mayor who represents the Flemish nationalist party N-VA. The mayor confirmed he hadn't launched a complaint and only asked that the man goes home and sleeps off the alcohol...

Manchester has a new contender for its worst cycling infra attempt 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

On the A56 by the new Vox flats, just off the Cornbrook junction pic.twitter.com/Uyq8wEQasa

— Emily⚡️ (@just_barely) February 16, 2021

Emily shared this photo of a bike lane in Manchester saying: "Manchester has a new contender for its worst cycling infra attempt," and it's hard to argue...Squeezing cyclists into one half of a bike lane is a new one, especially next to a busy A-road. After the new development next to the cycle lane was built, the footway and cycleway were resurfaced, but nothing was done to prevent cyclists having to ride head first at each other.

One reply did point out that there may be slight hope in that as part of the Active Travel Fund, the council are due to better link cycling routes to the city centre along the the A56...So perhaps this infrastructure may soon be a thing of the past...

As part of the Active Travel Fund, Manchester Council and Trafford Council have said they will link Sale to the City centre along the A56, as part of Traffords A56 scheme, and MCC's city centre triangle scheme.This is due to be consulted soon, and installed by this time next year pic.twitter.com/ydNtXAaupI

— Sam 🚴🌱🍻Ⓥ (@MCRCycleSam) February 16, 2021