Live blog: MP calls for Minister for Cycling in cabinet, “Hygiene” –Sainsbury’s kicks out cyclist who wanted to bring bike in shop, “Get lights, wear bright colours and a helmet" - Skoda's cycle safety message; New Rapha jacket; Pro tip – zip it! +more

Why you would want or need to we're not sure, but you can now buy minty chain lube from Oxford Products. The range contains 75ml and 150ml bottle sizes and there are wet, dry and a general '365' version to choose from. You can search for your nearest stockist at oxfordproducts.com. 

“Get lights, wear bright colours and a helmet and that will keep you safe” – that’s the message to cyclists in a video from Skoda’s We Love Cycling website that has seen the Czech car manufacturer accused of victim-blaming.

The video, called To Hell and Back on a Bike, attempts to point out to cyclists (and motorists) things they should and shouldn’t do to keep safe, and the first thing you’ll notice is that despite it being voiced in English by a certain ‘Paul’ it certainly wasn’t filmed in the UK – it was shot in Rijeka, Croatia.

That means that the video, in which the male cyclist is a professional stuntman, contains some advice that is contrary to the situation in the UK, given that in Croatia, as elsewhere on the continent, driving is on the right.

It’s accompanied by a three-level safety quiz on the website, and was flagged up by road.cc reader James, who said: “ Nice bit of victim blaming from Skoda under the banner of ‘We Love Cycling’.

This morning we are hosting a meeting in conjunction with @WeAreCyclingUK about ‘Funding for Cycling’ pic.twitter.com/KaYWZGNy2R

— APPCG (@allpartycycling) April 30, 2019

At the meeting in London this morning, Hamilton also said that says that Leeds has a population of 800,000 but has never received any significant funding for cycling. Cycling UK's Roger Geffen also spoke earlier, talking about Cycling UK's campaign to encourage people to write to their MP's to ask for more funding for cycling. Also discussed was a confusing graph made by the government that states a driver is worth more to the economy that cyclists, pedestrians and rail passengers. 

Very interesting to hear @allpartycycling discussing the government's view that drivers' time is more valuable than cyclists.

Not many people realise that this isn't just an issue of perception, it's official government recommendation pic.twitter.com/8YuPHSfUY3

— Peter Stuart (@PeterStuart3) April 30, 2019

@sainsburys hi! At Paddington Station with my bike. Nowhere convenient to lock my bike while I wait for my train so took it into your shop whilst I picked something to eat for dinner. Told I couldn't take my bike in. Congrats on losing a sale and a customer!

— Edouard Guidon (@edouardminh) April 29, 2019

Edouard Guidon questioned the supermarket on Twitter about them refusing him entry into their Paddington Station store in London. When asked to elaborate on why it was a hygiene issue, this was their response...

Unfortunately as we are selling fresh produce and other foods you wouldn't be able to bring your bike in. This is because the bike runs the risk of contaminating the food on the shelves and causing potential risk to customers buying the produce. Hope this helps. Thanks. Daniel

— Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) April 29, 2019

This left many folks questioning if such a policy actually existed; plus bikes aren't the only objects with wheels that could end up in a Sainsbury's shop, wheelchairs and their own trolleys being two examples...

It's unclear to me why a bike would be any less hygienic than, say, somebody's luggage or buggy or, hey, bare hands or shoes, but ok. If that's the case, could you speak to Network Rail about making it easier to leave my bike in a secure space near your supermarket?

— Edouard Guidon (@edouardminh) April 29, 2019

So your own trolley wheels are sterilised every day then? I had no problem taking my bike into your Darnley store yesterday morning so someone is telling porkies.

— Martin Porter (@TheCyclingScot) April 29, 2019

One reply questioned the complainant's failure to spot that there are in fact 380 bike racks in Paddington, however, to which he said Sainsbury's could have been a little more helpful in guiding towards the bike parking. 

See, that's a sensible response - I'm still getting to know the station and the options for bike parking. If I'd been told that - either on here or by the security guard, in a courteous manner - it would have been fine. But I wasn't.

— Edouard Guidon (@edouardminh) April 30, 2019

To be fair to Sainsbury's we're not sure if the bike in question was brand spanking new or just back from a CX race, but even so banning anything with wheels from their stores would seem to be pretty unworkable... what do you reckon?