“Bizarre behaviour”: Motorist slammed for boasting about passing cyclists “as close as I could”; Mum cycling with child on “tricky” road clip divides opinion; Best race ever? Saddleless Van Aert wins Benidorm epic; Shaun Bike Ryder + more on the live blog

How about a nice, light-hearted social media furore to kick off your week, eh?

But before we get to the latest anti-cycling attention seeker, a bit of context first. On the next episode of the road.cc Podcast – which will be on all good, and some rubbish, streaming platforms from this coming Thursday – I chat to Will Cubbin, the manager of the Safer Essex Roads Partnership, who is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the relationship between cyclists and motorists on the road.

> Study finds drivers who cycle or understand recommended cyclist road positioning are less likely to blame cyclists for close passes

As part of his research, Will has found that many drivers – particularly those with limited or no knowledge of cycling or, worryingly, the Highway Code – view certain actions by cyclists, like taking up primary position in the middle of the lane, not as the result of external factors (such as the sudden narrowing of the road or the upcoming presence of a traffic island) which force them to adopt a safer position, but as a result of “defects” or flaws in the cyclist’s character.

Which is why, then, social media is inundated with angry motorists spewing anti-cycling venom for the simple reason that some people were riding bikes on a road. And which brings me to our new friend Donny.

Posting a photo of two cyclists riding single file on a rural road (a photo which may or may not have been taken from behind the wheel), Donny wrote: “Had a brilliant time passing these w*****s as close as I could, almost clipped one with my wing mirror.

“They definitely knew I was there unless they were hard of hearing #beepbeep. Hopefully upset a few w*****s. #muppets.”

Hmmm. Never has the muppet hashtag been more appropriate. (Warning: Probably best to steer clear of Donny’s other Twitter posts. Frighteningly, this close pass one is probably the tamest of the lot.)

Anyway, Donny’s dangerous driving confession was mostly met with bafflement by Twitter-using cyclists, while some were concerned about the long and steady rise of this kind of irrational hatred towards other road users.

“There seems to be an increase in people incriminating themselves on social media because of their deep hatred of other road users,” wrote CyclingInASkirt. “Bizarre behaviour.”

“It’s truly bizarre,” agreed Chris. “I really hope someone has footage of this close pass and Donny gets an NIP through his door very soon.”

“Assume you’re trying to generate clicks but that’s a really weird thing to say and or do. Imagine they were your friends/parents/kids etc,” said Fingers McGurty (probably not their real name).

You’ve picked a right one there.
He’s a proper one!
He’s not the sharpest tool in the box…..will be telling his mates down the yoof club how he’s triggered the cyclists.

— Rate My Rant 🚴‍♀️ (@rant_rate) January 21, 2024

“What is he annoyed about exactly?” asked Tom.

“Using a mobile phone while driving and being distracted is more likely to cause an accident than those cyclists,” noted Ian, rather helpfully.

“Pretty sure we can add that to list of things that didn’t happen,” added CBikeLondon.

Which, thankfully, is almost certainly the case with this one. Well at least I hope so, anyway.

An Oxford councillor has called for the removal of all “conflict” between vulnerable road users and motorists after yet another cyclist was injured following a collision with a driver on The Plain, the notorious roundabout where Dr Ling Felce was killed by a lorry driver while riding her bike in March 2022.

However, despite a series of safety measures being introduced since Dr Felce’s death – such as the banning of peak-hour deliveries and left turns from Cowley Road onto Iffley Road, as well as the introduction of cameras – in an attempt to rid The Plain of its reputation as the UK’s “most dangerous junction”, cyclists are still being hit by motorists while navigating the junction.

> Camera to fine rule-breaking drivers as safety measure introduced after cyclist's death still being ignored

On 18 January, a cyclist was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after being struck by a driver on the roundabout, the Oxford Mail reports.

“I did not witness the collision itself but saw the aftermath. The collision involved a vehicle and person on a bike and the emergency services were in attendance last night,” Katherine Miles, Liberal Democrat councillor for Summertown Ward, posted on Twitter.

“Another incident at the Plain reaffirms our collective resolve to continue to pursue Oxfordshire’s goal of Vision Zero, to eliminate all road deaths and serious injuries on our city and county’s roads," she continued.

“To achieve this means we need to urgently remove conflicts between vulnerable road users and vehicles where ever possible.

“This will make it safer for people of all ages who can travel by bike to do so, which will reduce congestion and speed up buses.”

Well, that was something special, wasn’t it?

Yesterday’s 13th round of the 2023/24 UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Benidorm had almost everything you could want from a bike race (apart from designated cycle parking, of course, but that’s another story).

> Don’t take your bike to the cyclocross! World Cup organiser bans fans’ bikes from course “for safety reasons” (but don’t worry, you can park your car nearby)

In a thriller of a women’s race on the fast, technical circuit bang in the centre of the much-maligned Spanish tourist resort, world champion Fem van Empel just about got the better of Puck Pieterse, diving past her eternal rival on one of the last few corners before holding her off in the sprint for the line, after a close-fought, blow-for-blow encounter.

(Zubiko/SWpix.com)

While Van Empel took the win in the rainbow jersey, World Cup leader Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado also earned her fair share of plaudits, recovering from a recent back injury and a difficult opening spell to claw herself back into contention by the final lap, only to be finally dropped by the dominant leading due on the course’s long and decisive road climb.

(Zubiko/SWpix.com)

And then, just when you were thinking you’d already been treated to a feast of ‘cross action, all hell broke loose on the Costa Brava in the men’s race, billed as this season’s unofficial world championships thanks to the presence of the so-called ‘Big Three’.

First off, Mathieu van der Poel – aiming for his 11th consecutive ‘cross victory during what had been an unbeaten winter – was forced off his bike in the opening corners, as a 20 second-plus gap quickly opened to the leaders.

Faced with this unexpected barrier to his normally serene path to victory, the world champion then unleashed the kind of shock and awe we all know he’s capable of, producing one of the images of the winter as he scorched through the field on the climb like a hot Dutch knife through ‘cross butter:

💬 "I didn't have the freshest legs."

- 🇳🇱 Mathieu van der Poel, Benidorm 2024.pic.twitter.com/n5Edq4Ty8D

— Cyclocross24.com (@cyclocross24) January 21, 2024

But then, on the penultimate lap, after a frenetic, constantly evolving race where riders drifted in and out of contention throughout, Van der Poel’s unbeaten season finally came to a thudding end in a crash missed by the TV cameras, the world champion’s shoulder colliding equally as hard with a course-side pole (no easy bouncing off the crash protection while cutting the corner this time, Mathieu).

@mathieuvdpoel unfortunely crash.@AlpecinDCK @Ciclismoafondo_ @UCI_CX @tompidcock #cycling #CXWorldCup #CXBenidorm #MathieuVanderPoel #ThibautNys pic.twitter.com/DCOX4xsfhn

— Pablo Jiménez del Río (@_pabloj51_) January 21, 2024

Now, that looked painful.

And that was that. Or so we thought. After dispatching the brilliant European champion Michael Vanthourenhout, Van Aert – racing his final ‘cross lap of the season – looked to have the win in the bag, and duly opted to take the final barriers a touch more conservatively, neglecting to bunny hop them in favour of a quick dismount.

Then, in a moment that will be played over and over again long after his career is over, the Visma-Lease a Bike star made a right pig’s ear of his remount, crashing to the ground, before – unbeknownst to most viewers at the time – kicking off his saddle as he scrambled back onto his bike.

Quite a way to end the race! Van Aert 🇧🇪 took the win but he did have some last gasp drama! #CXWorldCup #CXBenidorm pic.twitter.com/tyxBCvtdnu

— Tim Bonville-Ginn (@TimBonvilleGinn) January 21, 2024

Fortunately for Van Aert, he had already done enough to secure the victory just ahead of Vanthourenhout – but, judging by the post-race photos of his saddle-less bike, those last few corners couldn’t have been overly comfortable for the Belgian…

Así quedó el (no) sillín de @WoutvanAert tras la caída en la última vuelta en la zona de los tablones del @BenidormCX.

"Fue una cagada. A penas conseguí hacer los últimos 100 metros”, reconocía el belga en los micrófonos de la UCI.

📸 @ZubikoPhoto pic.twitter.com/Cj5Hnt6AWT

— VOLATA (@ccvolata) January 21, 2024

Ouch...

Or maybe he’ll just jot it down as some much-needed practice for the discomfort of Paris-Roubaix? Anyway, they almost certainly explain his very upright, very careful celebration:

Careful, Wout (Zubiko/SWpix.com)

Oh, and what about the other member of cyclocross’s Big Three, Tom Pidcock?

Well, after a plucky ride throughout the race, and some attacks off the front, the bike handling boy wonder of cycling was let down by his, ahem, bike handing, crashing out of the top five after misjudging the kind of bunny hops he eats for breakfast.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Artem Shcherbyna (@artem4ik19)

Carnage, pure carnage. But at least we can all laugh about it now…

Apparently these 3 are the “big 3 of cyclocross” pic.twitter.com/XrhJgXOumn

— Cyclocross Social (@Cyclocrosss) January 21, 2024

Cyclocross. What a sport.

There’s a new SRAM Red-a comin’, and the drip drip of information (and some interesting new images) is beginning to gather pace…

> Our best look yet at the new 2024 top-end SRAM road groupset

The Association of Cycle Traders, a body representing independent cycling retailers in the UK, has called for the extension and restructuring of the Cycle to Work scheme to include self-employed workers and those on low incomes, as part of the group’s ongoing campaign against the recent “flawed” changes made to the initiative.

In December, the ACT released an initial statement calling for reform of how the Cycle to Work employee benefit scheme – the government’s tax-friendly initiative which enables people to buy a bike and accessories through salary sacrifice – is implemented, in order to enable the scheme to “engage all parties in the supply chain” and to grow the initiative “in a manner that allows the cycle trade to make some retained profit”.

The ACT – along with its parent company, the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) – also said it was approached by a “large volume” of cycling retailers throughout the UK calling for change to Cycle to Work, the majority of whom they claim “are unwilling to speak publicly for fear of being excluded from business opportunities” by the scheme’s established providers.

> Cycling retailers demand changes to “flawed” Cycle to Work scheme that puts “business profits well ahead of cycling development”

The call for reform came in the wake of the decision by Cyclescheme, the UK’s largest provider of access to Cycle to Work, to update its retailer partner agreement, which came into effect on 22 December and prevented retailers from charging additional fees on bikes purchased under the scheme – a decision described by traders as “incredibly short-sighted” and “infuriating”, and one that could lead to bike shop owners losing money.

And in an update to their campaign, the ACT has said that 400 retailers have signed up in support of their protest against the changes, and that the first in a series of meetings over the coming weeks between the ACT and Cyclescheme has been scheduled.

The cycling retailers group also confirmed that it will be making representation in Westminster this month to members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking.

> “Would they like the shirt off my back as well?” Bike shop owners fume as Cycle to Work scheme stops retailers charging additional fees

According to the ACT’s update, the group says its campaign calls for the “extension of the scheme rules to apply to the purchase of bicycles and not just for cycling to work”, and that the scheme is “restructured to engage all possible workers (including the self-employed, and those on low incomes)”.

The ACT is also calling for a “significant” reduction in commissions charged to participating retailers, a more equitable split with suppliers sharing in the funding of any essential costs incurred by cycle to work providers, and an improvement of payment times from providers to retailers, along with retail sector involvement in changes to scheme terms and conditions.

You’re twistin’ my melon, man…

So, it turns out that when Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder was imploring us all to ‘step on’ back in 1990, he was actually advising us to step on our bikes.

In an interview with the Guardian yesterday, in which he was asked to describe his typical Sunday, the Madchester legend confirmed that his love affair with cycling – which began as a way to kick his drug habit (funny, usually it happens the other way around…) – is still going strong.

Asked about his Sunday exercise routine, the 61-year-old said: “I’m out on my bike as much as I can be, in the woods and trails around Salford. I’d be out on my bike now if I wasn’t talking to you.”

Excellent stuff.

> Shaun Ryder: Cycling got me off drugs

Back in 2017, Ryder explained in another interview with the Grauniad that “it was cycling that got me off drugs”.

“I’d get on my bike very early in the morning and keep cycling until very late at night, day after day, until it was out of the system. I was pedalling from 8am until 11pm,” he said.

Oh, and before you ask, where’s Bez in all of this?

Well, judging by this 2021 clip, he was busy getting the miles in a few years ago – and ‘pulling a Van Aert’ (as crashing while getting back on your bike will henceforth be known) on occasion too…

The family of a cyclist from London who died having collapsed due to heatstroke and dehydration while competing at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships in France in 2017 have received a six-figure settlement from the event insurers for the sport’s governing body.

Barry Covington passed away in hospital a week after collapsing while taking part in the Gran Fondo based in Albi, Languedoc, in the south of France in August 2017, which went ahead during a heatwave which saw temperatures reach 39°C.

There were complaints from participants about the lack of water and hydration points available on the route, with feed stations reportedly lacking the volunteers to staff them properly. Some riders relied on spectators to keep them hydrated while others allegedly resorted to picking up discarded bottles on the roadside in the hope of finding water.

Read more: > UCI insurer pays six-figure settlement over British cyclist’s heatstroke death at Gran Fondo World Championships

Omg roared laughing 🤣 the send skit 😅 pic.twitter.com/IiBqso22ux

— northern monkey (@stephaniemain2) January 19, 2024

Unfortunately, since it’s 2024, the line between satire and real-life terrible opinions is alarmingly thin and blurry. But most people – even the most vehement anti-cycling aficionados – are bound to know this is a joke. Right? Right…?