"I'll smash your f**king head in": bar owner's cycle lane parking threat; Car occupants 'threw coins and spat at' cyclists; Essex cops remove 'cyclists on footpaths' tweet; Indie band's cycle camera tant-strum + more on the live blog

So it's not ok to cycle on the path but it looks like it is fine to drive on it? #cycling pic.twitter.com/T07Ci3TtJ2

— Richard Chambers (@dukeofted) July 13, 2020

The Essex Police in Colchester account has since tweeted a similar message with no images, as it was picked up on that the screenshotted post above appears to show a police car parked up on the footpath in question. 

People only cycle on the path because they don't feel safe on the road. This is what needs addressing @EssexPoliceUK

— Frances Bell (@carfreeinessex) July 13, 2020

Also lol @ the idea that this is an education problem. Most people know they're not supposed to cycle on the pavement, but they do it because the road is insanely dangerous and they don't want to die

— Hannah 🚲 (@theeyecollector) July 13, 2020

Some have accused the force of avoiding the greater issues in 'educating' cyclists against pavement cycling. 

There's another chance to win road.cc socks on Zwift tonight (7pm BST) and get some indoor miles banked in the process. Tonight's ride is a C category, so a bit quicker, and it ends with the Volcano KOM to open up the lungs a bit! Hope to see you in Watopia later.

https://zwift.com/events/view/944588

Imagine how many jobs he’s cost, marriages and livelihoods by being a busy bastard. Don’t condone this at all. https://t.co/CbPnIMlNxU

— The Jackobins (@TheJackobins) July 13, 2020

The Jackobins (me neither) have waded into a minefield by taking issue with YouTuber CycleGaz, who regularly uploads footage of bad/dangerous driving to the police. Recently he announced that over £20,000 in fines have been dished out from his reporting alone. 

Whoever is in charge of the band's account accuses him of being a "busy bastard" by catching drivers with a camera, claiming that he has "a plastic police badge in his pocket." 

How is he going out of his way? If you happen to be passing a driver who's on their phone or have someone overtake you dangerously close that's not "going out of your way" to find them. You really don't get this do you? Maybe if one of these dangerous drivers kills someone you

— Mark Skrzypczyk (@bassjunkieuk) July 13, 2020

Imagine if he saw someone nicking all your gig gear and didn't report it for fear of being called a "busy bastard". Imagine that.

— Tom Jeffs (@tom_a_jeffs) July 13, 2020

This about sums it up.https://t.co/MyQyqt2Ksd

— Green Steve (@Green_Steve) July 13, 2020

"getting a fine in the post for breaking a red light ruined my marriage" - I hear it all the time.

— Oisín O'Connor (@OConnorOisin) July 13, 2020

It appears quite a few people don't agree, including Superintendent Andy Cox who thanked CycleGaz for "his incredible public service" at the weekend. 

The Jackobins Twitter account admin persisted, saying they "don’t condone people taking the law into their own hands to intentionally film drivers"; although some have reminded them that witnessing a crime and reporting it to the police is kind of the opposite...

I am still sitting on my bike, and quickly approach’s me whispering “not today”... which when the following occurred:

4/n pic.twitter.com/KbLAamIoGP

— Thomas O Cornwallis (@UrbanistTOC) July 13, 2020

A cyclist has shared footage of a Glasgow restaurant owner threatening to 'smash his head in' in a dispute over his parking in a cycle lane. 

Thomas Cornwallis said "why is there so much hatred in our society towards the humble bicycle?", along with a Twitter thread and accompanying clips of the exchange, that he claims started off cordially before Bar Vini's owner Adriano Matteoni became aggressive.

Mr Cornwallis continued: "He (Matteoni) pulled in, onto cycleway and decided to have a civil conversation. It was a bit ludicrous as basically he accepted he was doing wrong... I started to film when got closer to me.

"When above video ends, I move off, at this point nothing has seriously happened. I stop quickly to photography all cars there, to use as evidence for requesting support from council. He bounces back in, and starts to get aggressive.

"I am still sitting on my bike, and quickly approach’s me whispering “not today”... which when the following (the incident in the  video above) occurred:

"You can see at end video I prepare to cycle off. I stopped filming as I just wanted to leave. He attempted to grab me and ran down pavement shouting more abuse and threats. The threats where to do with his basement, assault and never showing my face again."

Mr Matteoni has defended his actions and claimed that his business is actually 'cyclist-friendly', telling the Glasgow Times: "Many of our valued customers are cyclists. We have bike racks outside the shop. We welcome any cyclists to come by on their morning or evening commute.

"Any business owner will understand that during deliveries and loading times, we need to cross the footpath and cycle lane to deliver goods to serve our customers. 

"The double lines are new, and we'd love to engage the council to put in a loading zone for all businesses on the strip - rather than to make things for more difficult for business during these times."

One year ago today, @Lotto_Soudal's @DeGendtThomas did what he does best - setting off on a 200km breakaway and hanging on to win stage eight of the 2019 Tour de France. What a ride! 🎥 #TDF pic.twitter.com/0c6gJnjP8q

— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 13, 2020

In a pandemic-free parallel universe we'd be in the thick of Tour de France action right now, and this time last year Thomas de Gendt pulled off a stunning victory after riding out on his own for 200km. In the end Julian Alaphilippe was just 6 seconds behind as he crossed the line in second place to take the yellow jersey. 

& on the third day, we got shouted at, then spat at, had coins thrown at us, then the passenger pushed theo off his bike from the car window. on a *30 minute* ride https://t.co/hNB39EMUmU pic.twitter.com/uHCXOu10lx

— honor elliott (@honorelliott_) July 12, 2020

Tekkerz CC club cyclist Honor Elliott claims the assault took place just 30 minutes into a ride with her partner Theo, with his injuries show in the photo above after a car passenger pushed him off his bike. Ms Elliott continued: 

"We hadn’t said a word the entire time. they initially shouted something at us while overtaking (presumably for being 2 abreast). Theo did a polite wave. They stopped ahead on a jct waiting for us to come past but we turned off before their car to ignore. they turned & followed,

"...started throwing coins & spitting. When they continued to get no response from us whatsoever, passenger leaned out & pushed Theo, who thankfully has enough bike tekkerz to unclip & not end up under the car, went into the wall instead. Then they got out the car & threatened to take theo aside for a fight lol, but thankfully an oncoming car appeared, they started filming & said they’d be witnesses. The two guys then abruptly changed tune and decided to leave it at that, hah. Absolute man babies.

"I’ve always firmly believed a cyclist’s retaliation to hostility/violence from motorists is completely irrelevant anyway (stop expecting people to react rationally to potential threats to life), but shit like this really proves my point. these people are crazy regardless."

Ms Elliott has said she will report the assault. 

UK Sport have released a statement defending the use of a ketone energy drink at the London 2012 Olympics, after a Daily Mail investigation accused them of using athletes as "guinea pigs" to test the substance for the US Special Forces. 

It was given to a reported 91 athletes - including British Cycling team members - in the form of an energy drink called DeltaG, and included a synthetic version of ketones, which is a naturally occurring body acid. Similar products have since been made available commercially (including HVMN Ketone as reviewed by road.cc) but the Daily Mail's report found that UK Sport made athletes sign a non-disclosure agreement banning them from talking about the trial, and there were a number of adverse side effects. The report also claims that there were "no guarantees" the experiment wouldn't breach anti-doping laws; although ketone products are not on WADA's banned list. 

Full UK Sport statement on Ketone Ester research and innovation project.

Read here ⤵️

— UK Sport (@uk_sport) July 13, 2020

UK Sport's statement denies that athletes were used as "guinea pigs" or that the Ketone Ester was anything to do with testing for Special Forces, claiming it "received independent ethical approval from the Research Advisory Group in January 2012". They also got confirmation from UK Anti-Doping, following clarification from the World Anti-Doping Agency, that the substance athletes ingested wasn't banned. 

The statement continues: "Decisions which lie at the heart of the high performance system need to be made with absolute transparency, are respectful and the impact of these decisions understood and carefully managed. UK Sport is fully committed to developing a high performance culture that is truly inspirational and one that will set us apart from our global competitors – but UK Sport will never seek to win medals at any cost. 

"UK Sport resolutely refutes any accusation that Olympians were used as ‘guinea pigs’, and finds this allegation both misleading and offensive. For the purposes of clarification and transparency, we are publishing greater detail on this project, provided by Professor Kieran Clarke, Professor of Physiological Biochemistry, University of Oxford:

"The ketone ester was being researched to see if, and how, it could improve exercise performance and recovery in athletes, by helping prevent muscle breakdown and supporting recovery of muscle glycogen. 

"Many human studies, including safety studies, had been run before the 2012 Olympics in a $10 million project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which started in 2003. The DARPA project had nothing to do with US Special Forces.

"By 2010, the ketone ester had been through all the safety studies required to sell it as a food in the US and it had been registered with the US FDA as Generally Recognised as Safe (GRAS). The ketone ester was 100% pure and, therefore, contained no banned substances and is exactly the same as the ketones produced in the body from fat and used for energy during exercise. For clarity, the ketone ester is not a “drug”, but a food, containing as many calories as glucose and has been verified by the US FDA, the UK MHRA and WADA. Professor Kieran Clarke states any experienced “side effects” of ketone ester have been mild and short-lived (i.e. lasting minutes).

"The studies themselves, all of which had ethical approvals, had nothing to do with seeking to break or push the boundaries of anti-doping laws. WADA could see no reason why ketones, normally found in the body, could not be used in competition. The athletes were given information on the biochemistry of ketones to aid understanding and provided informed consent when taking part.Professor Clarke was aware of this research with high performance athletes without knowing their specific identities.

"We will continue to report the facts of this research."

The #A56 this morning. These are the people who want to cycle. When they feel safe they get on their bikes. For so many people I spoke to this was their first go cycling on a main road. That means that normally they would drive! #BuildBackBetter @Chris_Boardman pic.twitter.com/zEpoqw62Nx

— Cheryl Law (@LawCheryl) July 11, 2020

It would have been unthinkable to see so many cyclists safely pedalling along one of the busiest roads in Manchester just a few months ago... but this pop-up has made the scene above possible. 

Spent all weekend in a bunker avoiding those pesky flying ants? Here's what you missed...

Cambridgeshire police appeal for witnesses after beeping motorist says his car was damaged by cyclist

Gail Porter, Laura Kenny and Nicole Cooke among Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling

New Zwift route to ride as Virtual Tour de France brings users the Casse-Pattes circuit

Final round of London Streetspace funding announced

Drug driver who killed Essex cyclist jailed for 28 months

CPS declines to prosecute speeding motorcyclist who killed 13-year-old cyclist

Near Miss of the Day 440: Skip lorry driver undertakes cyclist