“Soundbite silliness” – London Cycling Campaign on taxi boss bike lane jibe; Top XR Chiswick church trolling on pop-up bike lane; Mo Salah tweets bike pic, helmet row ensues; Cyclist vs driver road rage; GB Olympic champs launch coffee brand + more

As we reported earlier today, campaigners from Extinction Rebellion were out in towns and cities across the UK to create their own pop-up bike lanes.

We're not sure whether this one that we stumbled across in Chiswick, West London, was deliberately sited because of the building it's located next to, but if so, chapeau!

The red brick building on the left is the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Grace & St Edward, and you may recall that the parish priest initially opposed plans for Cycleway 9, which will run along Chiswick High Road (the road at the T-junction in the photo).

It looks like those of us in West London are going to get a pop-up bike lane along there sometime soon pending construction of the full route, but we like the Extinction Rebellion route on the side road, too.

this is obvs trolling but it's interesting to see the tropes used to push back against car-free streets - cyclists portrayed as the elite gentrifiers of cities from which poor people who live (and drive) in the suburbs are excluded https://t.co/rJI3H0hHgW

— Niamh McIntyre (@niamh_mcintyre) May 18, 2020

Steve McNamara - the General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association - made the comments on Talk Radio over the weekend, saying that increased cycling infrastructure is a "class war". Amongst other things McNamara said: 

They (cyclists) can afford to live very central and they want to cycle half a mile to work in the morning because it suits them.

What they’re doing is redesigning these cities in their own image to work for them. They want to be able to sit in the middle of Manchester Piccadilly, in the middle of Oxford Circus, drinking their drinking their eco-caramel coconut lattes or whatever the trendy drink of choice is, without giving any thought to how the constituent parts get there.”

This is at odds with comments MacNamara made in 2016, when he met representatives from the London Cycling Campaign to support Greenpeace's Clean Air proposal for London. At the time MacNamara said: "Black cabs are committed to cleaning up London’s air and will be emissions free in new vehicles from 2018. We stand together with the London Cycling Campaign and Greenpeace in calling on the next Mayor to implement a Clear Air Zone to ensure that other vehicles operating in the capital clean up their act.”

Why the backpedalling from Mr MacNamara? We've asked London Cycling Campaign if they support his latest comments. 

We're now 99.9% sure that the bike (that you'll see was caught up in a good old 'helmet row' over on Twitter) is a stock £799.99 Vitus Razor VR Disc Road model. The tan wall tyres and shape of the fork give it away, although the brake levers on the pic above are set up quite a bit nicer than Mo's.

If you're liking Salah's cycle of choice and fancy it for yourself, you better be quick because there are only a limited number of size small frames left on both Wiggle and Chain Reaction Cycles. 

With higher levels of traffic reported since England's lockdown rule changes last week, drivers are being warned to slow down and watch out for cyclists and pedestrians, as many key workers have turned to active travel while Britain has seen an increase in recreational cycling during the pandemic. 

Inspector Kirsty Clough of Warwickshire Police said: “This is particularly important at the moment as vehicles are now sharing the roads with more people who have turned to cycling, running or walking for their exercise during the current pandemic.  As more people return to work, our roads will become busier not only with traffic but with some people also choosing to walk, run or cycle to work.

“Driving safely within speed limits helps to keep all road users safe and to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads.  We also want to support new road users, in particular pedal cyclists to keep them safe on the roads.”

pic.twitter.com/OmVrvSQTzh

— tower of power (@michaepaddon) May 18, 2020

We could just replace all the words with this photo really. 

 

 

 

 

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Groundhog Day #lockdown

A post shared by Sir Wiggo (@bradwiggins) on May 14, 2020 at 8:38am PDT

Sir Bradders delighted Rangers supporters while revealing his new bearded, shaven-headed look over the weekend. His followers were almost unanimous in their appreciation of the new look while, understandably, they were split over his choice of vintage football shirt. Yesterday he followed up with a slightly more neutral piece of 90's sportswear... 

 

 

 

 

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No eyes on me 👀 #evening #lockdown

A post shared by Sir Wiggo (@bradwiggins) on May 16, 2020 at 12:15pm PDT

A UK tabloid claimed last month that Ramsay was "risking further wrath" from neighbours by riding outside during the lockdown (perfectly acceptable of course), and now the TV chef has took a potshot back in an Instagram Story. 

Sharing a video of his Zwift set-up while competing in a virtual race, Ramsay told his neighbours "not to get their knickers in a twist" just in case they thought it was real... and if you thought there's no way that could happen, well Chris Hoy was accused of "making an unnecessary journey" three weeks ago when he told Twitter that he had just been passed by Geraint Thomas; of course Sir Chris was talking about G's avatar, and responded to the accusation: "I’m pretty sure you can’t catch the Coronavirus on Zwift". 

5 Rings Coffee is described as "a sustainable and ethical 'third wave' coffee brand", and is the brainchild of Rio 2016 gold medallists Callum Skinner, Owain Doull and Philip Hindes. Here they are with their medals just so ya know... 

Hindes comments: "The journey for 5 Rings began way back in 2012 when, as we developed a lasting friendship through our international travels in professional cycling, we would, without fail, go on the hunt for great coffee. In our cycling careers, we were fortunate to have reached the pinnacle of any athlete's profession by becoming Olympic champions. We've also been fortunate to share many memories and stories which, we believe, coffee is all about. Coffee is so much more than a drink - it brings people together to socialise and discuss the good, the bad and the ugly of life.
 
"By launching our company today, we are aiming to contribute to the greater good of the coffee community, bringing world class and sustainably-sourced coffee to the UK and international market. We are looking forward to starting this journey."

5 Rings say that due to coronavirus they are currently unable to sell ground coffee, so launch with two whole bean varieties priced at £7.99 and £8.49 - the website is here. 

Skinner appears to be a particularly busy chap at the moment, having launched the Rear View cycling glasses on Kickstarter last week and continuing in his position as a BOA athlete rep for Global Athlete. Hopefully a few Skinner Lattes will help him to stay alert through his busy working days... 

In the clip, a woman can be heard shouting "don't do it guys", as the cyclist in the black corner -  wearing cycling shoes and what looks to be a TT helmet - trades blows with with a heavily-built man in the white corner. She then can be heard saying "I'm not strong enough to intervene, don't intervene", before another man can be heard telling the pair to calm down.

According to the admin who uploaded the footage, the owner of the pickup we see three seconds into the clip was not involved. 

It was brought to our attention by a road.cc reader who used to live in Crediton, and still follows the 'Spotted: Crediton and surrounding areas' group on Facebook. He told us: "It’s worth noting that cycling shoes should always be removed before getting into it with a car driver."

It's unclear who shot the footage or what caused the furious punch-up, and as far as we know nothing has been reported to the authorities.

Spent the weekend meeting family and friends at local parks one-at-a-time? Here's what you missed on road.cc... 

Bournemouth seafront cyclists given "one more weekend" to ride responsibly

14 million people ready to get on their bikes says British Cycling

UK at a crossroads to choose cycling and active travel for the future, says Chris Boardman

Near Miss of the Day 410: Driver overtakes cyclist into path of approaching car, forcing motorist to swerve

Geraint Thomas predicts riders will “blow up” in final week of Tour de France

Near Miss of the Day 409: Motorist incensed by cyclist filtering at traffic lights intimidates him with his car and calls him an ‘imbecile’ (and more besides)

Campaigners welcome car-free zone in central London