New app pays you for cycling; $35,000 hand-painted superbike with 24 carat gold details, anyone?; CX rider downed by course tape; Irish border divide in Lidl bike parking; Barney the Dinosaur turns pro +more on the live blog

Time for some pure unadulterated afternoon bike porn (for actual porn see the O-Seat)... this is a Festka Spectre - already with a top-of-the-range spec featuring Lightweight carbon wheels and SRAM Red AXS groupset - with the addition of an incredibly detailed porcelain-style paintjob from artist Michal Bačák. 

Most of the fine brush strokes are in a light blue paint, but there are also 24 carat gold details throughout the frameset. It took a whole 13 months to complete, with "every single detail carefully thought out and consulted with the client" according to Festka. 

Despite its delicate appearance the bike is still ready to race and rides every inch the same as another Festka Spectre with a less audacious paintjob... and with the bike valued at $35,000, you'd hope it would. We're not quite sure how one would go about actually buying it, but you can find out more on the Feskta website here and watch a video of it getting painted up here. 

Ex-GB sprint cyclist Jess Varnish wins right to appeal against her landmark employment tribunal defeat to British Cycling in latest twist in her 3-year legal fight https://t.co/6B4iCD5X82

— Dan Roan (@danroan) December 17, 2019

Varnish lost her employment case where she had argued that she was in effect an employee of British Cycling and UK Sport back in January, and has been given right to appeal. Full story on road.cc to follow... 

Get paid for cycling! Prototype app records your mileage and rewards you with vouchers to spend in shops. It's designed to tempt people out of cars and onto bikes and it'll be in #Exeter UK in April. See https://t.co/2FiVY8QK9o and https://t.co/AzqbuNJ8Ji #cycling @ExeterCycling pic.twitter.com/wXbWksHyFB

— Cycling Science (@CyclingScience1) December 17, 2019

Biklio say they "recognise bicycle users for making their city a better place", and in return for clocking up mileage users can add up points to get vouchers to spend in local shops. The rewards can be in the form of discounts or free items, and Biklo say their partner businesses who sign up will benefit by getting increased footfall; plus the incentives for the public should equal less pollution in the atmosphere if they decide it's worth ditching the car for. 

Cities partnered with Biklio can create challenges for app users, and the data can be used intelligently to create better infrastructure. It all sounds intriguing and although it's still at prototype stage, Biklio should be coming to Exeter and Southend-on-Sea in April 2020. Head over to their website for more info. 

Dutch Prime Minister Ekrem Imamoğlu went to his workplace by cycling today. How LOVELY. He looks like very modern and European. I am planning to the same. pic.twitter.com/z0HrsaokIH

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldtrodi) December 17, 2019

Would be great if true... but unfortunately this is a parody account!

Just spotted this indoor bike parking at the Lidl in Smithfield. Nice! Never seen this before.

pic.twitter.com/Ib6LO7kajn

— Michael Pidgeon (@Pidge) December 12, 2019

Lidl came in for some criticism on Twitter for the butterfly-style bike racks at their new West Norwood store, as reported on Monday's live blog; however some leapt to the supermarket's defence, saying there is perfectly adequate cycle parking at some of their stores up and down the country and abroad. 

In the case of their Smithfield store in Ireland it appears the cycle parking provisions are indeed perfectly adequate, with sturdy Sheffield stands located indoors to protect bikes from the weather as shown in these photos from last week... sp why the inconsistency? We've asked Lidl's press office for a comment but are yet to hear back.

The world's most extensive bikeshare firm, which now operates in numerous parts of the country, toasted its two millionth UK trip that was recorded in Glasgow recently. It's a rapid trajectory with over 816,000 rentals in total in 2019; nextbike took over three-and-a-half years to hit their one millionth trip in the UK since launching in 2014, with the second million taking just 13 months.  

Krysia Solheim, managing director of nextbike UK, said it was an important milestone and proved that bike share was gaining popularity as an everyday part of people’s lives: “To have hit two million rentals is great. We are delighted with how well our schemes have been received generally in the UK and that they’re used not just by tourists as a novel way of seeing a new city, but by residents and commuters from all walks of life." 

Bardiani-CSF? More like Barneyiani-CSF, am I right?! pic.twitter.com/AUjIUL9ZG4

— Joseph Robinson (@joeprobinson) December 17, 2019

Further down the page we likened the new kit being rocked by Italian continental team Bardiani-CSF to friendly TV dinosaur Barney... and before we could even task our graphic designer with mocking something up, Twitter has already made the comparison for us...

Beech Street in @cityoflondon is set to become UK’s first 24/7 zero emission street. Read more about this groundbreaking scheme that aims to bring substantial health benefits to those who live and work in the #Barbican area https://t.co/0VwMQbNvnT

— City of London (@cityoflondon) December 16, 2019

The City of London Corporation has announced that pending final approval from Transport for London, Beech Street underneath London's Barbican Estate will be restricted to zero emission vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians by spring 2020 in a bid to improve air quality. 

Of course any pedestrianised street is technically emission-free; however we've been told the difference is that this one is the first that will allow vehicular access, just not from anything that produces emissions. 

Technically technically it still won't be totally emission-free, becauase (and perhaps understandably so) exceptions will be provided for emergency vehicles, access to the car parks off Beech Street and for refuse collection and deliveries. There is a bus route along Beech Street, but as it's full electric this won't be affected. 

The experiment will run for 18 months, during which time the impact on air quality and traffic will be monitored, with the aim to bring the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels within air quality guidelines set out by the European Union and World Health Organisation. The City Corporation say if it's successful, the trial "may be made permanent."

City Corporation's wider plans to lower emissions include a proposal to turn parts of the Square Mile into zero-emissions zones by 2022, and cut the speed limit to 15mph as part of its new Transport Strategy... do you commute through Beech Street, and if so are you looking forward to the changes? Let us know in the comments as always. 

Oh wow! I have no words pic.twitter.com/trHmYevteF

— José Been (@TourDeJose) December 16, 2019

We couldn't help but notice that Bardiani–CSF's kit shares the same colours as the beloved 90's TV dinosaur... would you wear it?