The coolest paint job ever?; Cyclist's prickly situation after crashing into cactus; Quinn Simmons' suspension lifted; Council introduces default 20mph speed limit; Reindeer traffic jam; 400 schools benefiting from 'School Streets' + more on the live blog

Cyclist ended up in the cactus 🌵 pic.twitter.com/PVo1Ks6rQs

— World Of Sport (@funsportsgifs) October 31, 2020

There's got to be few worse things to crash into than a cactus... Diego Moreno needed thousands of thorns removed after he crashed into a cactus bush in the City Park area of Buenos Aires. Moreno told local press: "We were going with three more cyclists, I was last in line. I didn't see a small crater in the asphalt and I hit the pothole. Thank god I was wearing glasses and a helmet and I didn't injure my face or head.Because the way the spines got embedded in me, it could have blinded me."

Ouch...

American rider Chloe Dygert will race in the women's WorldTour on her return from injury having signed a four-year deal with Canyon-Sram. The 23-year-old is currently recovering from a serious laceration to her leg sustained in a crash at the World Championship Time Trial in Imola.

On the move Dygert said: "Honestly, it’s the best team for me – willing to work with my track schedule and giving me the freedom to still be the athlete I strive to be.

"I’m excited to see myself in the Canyon-Sram colours. It will be my first time racing on the road in Europe but my coach and I agree that the time for that has now come in my career.

"I’m confident that Canyon-Sram will provide the best environment for me to achieve my future goals over the next four years. Also, there’s lots of pink."

American rider Quinn Simmons will face no further action from Trek-Segafredo following social media posts in September which were labelled as "divisive, incendiary and detrimental" by the team. Simmons tweeted using an emoji with black skin tone and was suspended until further notice. 

Cycling News report that the 19-year-old has begun training for next season as team general manager Luca Guercilena emphasised Simmons is in Trek-Segafredo's plans for 2021. It is believedTrek-Segafredo will give the 2019 junior road race world champion further media training at the team's December training camp.

"The situation is solved," Guercilena told Cycling News. 

"Quinn will attend the team camps and start the season as normal. We are looking into next season and have Quinn as one of our top talented riders to perform at a higher level in 2021, focusing on races."

What a pr!ck ....

.....🥴😂😂😂🥂

— G_Bee_UK (@G_Bee_UK) November 12, 2020

Unsurprisingly our Twitter followers had a field day with the video of amateur cyclist picking thorns out of himself after crashing into a cactus...

ohhh he pricked the wrong day to have a crash!! 😂😂

— Mr Popp Drama 💙💛 (@mr_PoppL) November 12, 2020

Steve Ody suggested it could be a strange new form of accupuncture, while Ronan McDonnell repeated that famous old adage...

Showing the sense in what I've always said, don't crash in a cactus.

— Ronan McDonnell🇮🇪 (@inquisitioneu) November 12, 2020

We all remember the joy of empty roads during the first lockdown when traffic seemingly disappeared overnight...but how much quieter are the roads this time round? From personal experience they don't seem much quieter now than last week and there's certainly more traffic than during the first lockdown earlier this year.

GPS navigation app Waze have seen a 51% reduction in driven kilometres since the start of the second lockdown. Have you noticed less traffic on the roads where you live this week?

If you're suffering from Vuelta blues then Team Jumbo-Visma have got you covered. With no more road racing to watch until 2021 this three-part behind the scenes documentary following Primoz Roglic's second Grand Tour win is the best we've got at the moment. Follow the team at the Vuelta from hotel to finish line and just about everything in between as Roglic wins four stages and the race overall.

The Times report that children at almost 400 schools in London are now benefiting from the 'School Streets' initiative which protects children from air pollution by implementing temporary traffic bans at drop-off and pick-up times. The number of School Streets has increased from 81 in April to 383 in October and there are firm plans for a further 68. This will extend the scheme to 15% of all schools in London.

Merton, Islington and Hackney have the highest proportion of schools benefiting from School Streets with 35-40% of schools in these boroughs involved in the scheme. Barnet, Bexley and the City of London are the only parts of the capital yet to introduce any School Streets.

On Tuesday we reported that children cycling to school in areas with School Streets had increased by 51%.