LADbible readers talk cycling...but only to moan about Highway Code changes; "The strongest message is a good bike trip!": Your thoughts on cycling advocacy; Desert Island Disc wheel; Wout van Aert potatogate; Zwift with Chris Hoy + more on the live blog

Capturing the chaos of the elements, our all-new CANYON//SRAM Racing design charts the energy the team will bring to attack the 2022 campaign.#TakeTheLead

🎥 by @ertzuifilm for our new clothing partner @canyon_bikes pic.twitter.com/y7Em7HnURn

— CANYON//SRAM Racing (@WMNcycling) January 19, 2022

Let's end the day with a colourful new kit...

I'd be lying if I said I fully understood the meaning behind it...but it's a bit different, and definitely catches the eye in the peloton. 

If you're joining Sir Chris's Zwift spin then I hope you're nicely warmed up...we'll be back in the same place tomorrow for another live blog... 

All Points North is a self-supported, ultra-distance, endurance cycling event, organised by Angela Walker from A Different Gear, an independent bike shop in Sheffield.

Riders are able to choose their own route around 10 checkpoints. In 2021, ultra-cyclist and Kinesis Brand Ambassador Rupert Robinson finished 9th in 60 hours and 16 minutes, on less than an hour of sleep. This documentary follows him from start to finish through the magical landscapes of northern England.

Measures to encourage active travel in east Suffolk don't go far enough, according to councillors. The Green Party at East Suffolk Council told the BBC it feels safety concerns are hindering people from cycling, and the Conservative authority's walking and cycling strategy needed to go further.

A consultation on the plan ended last week, with responses now being considered. Suffolk Coastal Green party chairman Julian Cusack said that although many of the measures were welcome, "We are disappointed that the council's plans for rural areas lack ambition.

"The council does not seem to recognise that people are deterred from cycling between villages or into their local town by understandable fears for their safety. The gold standard for cycling is physical separation from motor vehicles and pedestrians."

“There’s 21 stages every Grand Tour, I don’t know why Cofidis like just don’t work harder just to win all of them.” pic.twitter.com/l6DRmjGK1Z

— Quicklink Podcast (@QuicklinkPod) January 19, 2022

Fine, we're a week late to this meme, but it'll be a good reader demographic test...

I didn't have many of our readership down as big Love Island fans, but maybe you now unfortunately know who this is thanks to her heavily criticised comments a couple of weeks back about how people should just work harder...we've all got the same 24 hours in the day, after all.

Anyway, if that's all gone over your head I wouldn't bother wasting your time looking up who she is. It'll only make you wish you hadn't...

Now if only Cofidis just tried harder... 

Less than 1% of Dutch cyclists wear a helmet, because true traffic safety is reached through engineering and infrastructure, not by covering the heads of the most vulnerable road users.

Video @modacitylife pic.twitter.com/kN6CUI3Q4t

— Dirk Janssen🇳🇱🇺🇸 (@NLinSF) January 18, 2022

Selling a car if anyone wants it 🤦🏻‍♂ https://t.co/bgoX1uqr8h

— Callum Mein (@CallumMein) January 18, 2022

LADbible: "A place for the people"...the Facebook page says. Stop laughing at the back. The news site "created for the youth community" dipped into the cycling world to share with its readers the Highway Code changes that come into force next week.

> Public must be told about Highway Code changes, says Cycling UK

As expected, the site's readership was a wealth of healthy debate and constructive feedback...not. I said they moaned about the Highway Code changes...maybe it would be more accurate to say most of the comments were actually just about what they wanted to see changed...e.g. people on bikes on the road.

 It's been too long since I heard the words 'road tax'. I now don't want to hear them ever again...

Neither of them pay Road Tax, it was abolished in 1937. Roads are funded from Council Tax and general taxation, so cyclists pay as much as everyone else towards them. Whilst causing minimal road wear and not causing any pollution.

— Christopher Day (@IndieChris71) January 18, 2022

 Another classic up next...presumably Ben converted his motor to a single file seating arrangement too?

Stop cyclists riding next to eachother on roads. Drives me mad. Single file rule

— Ben Mullard (@mullet_90) January 18, 2022

Insurance is risk based, cyclists are very low risk. When cyclists do this, they’ll have compulsory insurance pic.twitter.com/ZpWgfHHju2

— Take That, Cyclists! (@TakeThatCycIist) January 18, 2022

And, one we haven't heard before (rare for anti-cycling bingo, I know)...

make it a law so that cyclist’s can’t go down country lanes that are either 50mph or 60..

— 👽 (@EvOLLzz) January 18, 2022

One we definitely have heard before...

The new Highway Code rules make it very clear that there is no obligation for them to use cycle lanes, and that usage of cycle lanes is a free choice to be made by a rider depending on their experience and skills and the situation at the time. You should read it.

— #99 (@HateToHate) January 18, 2022

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Domo Elektro (@domo_elektro_)

Wout van Aert has gone all big time on us. Cristiano Ronaldo represented Armani, Lionel Messi with Adidas, Roger Federer and Rolex. All the best athletes get monster sponsorship deals with high-profile luxurious brands. 

That's why Van Aert is popping up in *checks notes* Belgian household electrics brand Domo Elektro's social media ads...pro cycling has a long way to go before it's at the top table...

Some were more concerned with how Wout peels his potatoes...

So... Wout is doing something to a sweet potato... but what on Earth is that thing in his hand? Do Belgians use different peeling devices to the rest of us? Am I living a sheltered life?! 😅 pic.twitter.com/54wnqvtW4Y

— Katy M (counting down to road season) (@writebikerepeat) January 18, 2022

Cue aero jokes...

So quick even his peeler is aero. Something like this maybe? pic.twitter.com/2HeKYGUSCU

— blueskies820 (@craigw8844) January 18, 2022

Right, let's round-up that morning musing about cycling advocacy with some of your comments...

Chrisonatrike reckons we should be celebrating the joy of the ride: "The strongest pro-cycling-as-transport message is a good bike trip! I got to exactly where I wanted, with less stress, got some pleasant exercise, could enjoy being outside, noticed some things along the way I probably don't in a car and might even have got there faster."

Steve K commented on the original 'cyclists don’t deserve to die riding their bikes' thought..."It's very strong message, but I think where it falls down is the response becomes 'that's why I don't ride a bike, it's too dangerous' and 'I do worry about you riding on busy roads - I wish you'd just get the bus/train/drive'. I.e - rather than let's make it safer, it's 'you're right, it's dangerous - people shouldn't do it'."

SimoninSpalding channeled his inner sub-editor: "To avoid the possibility of this being divisive I would amend the message to 'NOBODY deserves to die on the road through the actions of another.' I am sure I am not the only one that has been told to my face by a motorist that I deserve to die, and there have been the rare but high-profile incidents where pedestrians have died as a result of the actions of a cyclist."

Being a cyclist is different to most hobbies/transport/sports...you rarely have to justify your existence as a Sunday league footballer or someone who commutes by train.

Yet, getting about by two wheels can land you in coffee break chats with colleagues, pub discussions with mates and Christmas dinner drudgery having to explain yourself...

Whether it's helmet use, cycle lanes, stopping at red lights, doping in pro cycling, you've all probably had it explained to you at some point or other...and, if you really want to put yourself through it, hopping on social media is a quick way to hear just how many people have something to say about you riding a bike.

So what do you say back? This Twitter thread outlines why one rider thinks the strongest cycling advocacy message is the simplest — "cyclists don’t deserve to die riding their bikes".

A hot take I have is that cycling advocacy is strongest when the message is at its simplest: cyclists don’t deserve to die riding their bikes. Period. That is the core, visceral truth of it. It is the message that speaks clearest and with the utmost humanity.

— rebecca midwest (@mcmansionhell) January 18, 2022

What about the other stuff?

Anecdotal but my parents started seeing cyclists on the road differently when I became one, when there was a human face on the issue. They live in the middle of nowhere and don’t care about mobility that doesn’t exist there. Still to them the cyclists should be safe

— rebecca midwest (@mcmansionhell) January 18, 2022

What do we reckon?