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National Swimming Network? Council slammed for slow response to cycle tunnel flooding; Red Bull moves into cycling with Bora; Waterlogged bike paths; Carrying two fridges by bike (and on head); Cyclocross police presence boosted + more on the live blog

It’s Wednesday, 2024 is in full swing, and Ryan Mallon is back for another helping of cycling news and views on the live blog
03 January 2024, 09:05
Marston Bike Path flooding (Richard Parnham, Twitter)
“I can’t help but feel that the response would have been much swifter if it had been a road”: Cyclists bemoan flooded bike routes – and delayed response from authorities – as Storm Henk hits UK

It’s certainly been a wet and windy start to 2024, thanks to Storm Henk’s decision to blow in and cause some severe disruption across the country (cheers, climate change), and for UK-based cyclists, that means only one thing – lots of terribly flooded bike routes.

On yesterday’s live blog, we noted the opening of Sustrans’ first-ever National Swimming Network route in Bath – formerly home to the city’s Two Tunnels greenway, where flooding has been reported since Christmas Eve.

Over a week after the flooded bike route was initially flagged to Sustrans and the local council, Bath-based cyclist and sometime road.cc reviewer Jez Ash asked if the tunnel had been cleared – noting that “there were large objects invisible below the water which are a major peril to any cyclists who fancy riding through it” – prompting the following watery video at the Bear Flat entrance to the shorter tunnel, filmed by Alan Yeodal yesterday morning:

When asked if any warnings had been put in place on the cycle route, Alan said: “No signs as of this morning. There were some ‘chalked’ on the tarmac a few days ago. It would be sensible to have some warning signs at the other end.”

Last night, thankfully, it was confirmed that Sustrans and Bath and North East Somerset Council are “aware” of the new swimming route, and are “in the process of taking action as soon as arrangements can be put in hand”.

However, some weren’t impressed by the delayed response.

“Good news”, said Andy Kelly, “But I can’t help but feel that the response would have been much swifter if it had been a road.

“Crazy that Active Travel arteries aren’t treated with the importance they deserve. Can you imagine an A road going for days without any authority doing anything about a major flood?”

Meanwhile, over in Oxford the Marston cycle path – which was reopened in October after two months of maintenance work – has been experiencing its own issues:

And the Trans Pennine Trail – voted the National Cycle Network’s most popular route – is also waterlogged in several places:

Looks like the award for Britain’s Most Flooded Bike Route could be inundated with new entries over the next few days…

03 January 2024, 16:57
And on the more responsive side of things: Oxfordshire County Council on the ball as fallen tree cleared from cycle path

While the local authority in Bath has come in for criticism for its somewhat delayed response to the weeks of flooding problems on the city’s cycle routes, Oxfordshire County Council has earned some praise this afternoon for swiftly clearing a Storm Henk-afflicted bike path that was blocked by a fallen tree earlier today.

“Thanks to a Marston resident who alerted me to this fallen tree blocking Marston Ferry Road cycle path,” Labour Oxford city councillor Mary Clarkson posted on Twitter.

“I have reported it to Oxford Direct Services and hope they can clear it as soon as possible. With Marston Meadows flooded, we need to keep alternatives open.”

Soon after Clarkson’s tweet, she was informed that the tree was already being moved from the path, prompting the councillor to praise the local authority for “such a fast response”.

Take note, Bath…

03 January 2024, 12:33
Jai Hindley, Bora Hansgrohe, wins Stage 5 of the 2023 Tour de France and is congratulated by teammate Emmanuel Buchmann (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Red Bull acquires 51 percent of Bora-Hansgrohe

Energy drinks company Red Bull – the brand behind Tom Pidcock and Wout van Aert’s individualist helmet designs of recent years – is now ramping up its interest in pro cycling even further, by acquiring a controlling 51 percent stake in Primož Roglič’s Bora-Hansgrohe team.

Yesterday, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority announced that it was notified of Red Bull’s purchase of a majority stake in RD pro cycling GmbH & Co KG and RD Beteiligungs GmbH, the owner of the German WorldTour squad.

The deal solidifies the already existing relationship between Red Bull and Bora, who last February joined forces to launch the ‘Red Bull Junior Brothers’ global talent scouting programme, which analyses Zwift and Strava data to discover the next generation of pro riders.

> Supplier merry-go-round continues as Bora-Hansgrohe confirms new partnership with SRAM

The news also follows Red Bull’s increasing interest in not just sponsoring but owning sporting teams, with the company now in charge of several football clubs around the world, including RB Leipzig, New York Red Bulls, and Red Bull Salzburg, along with their UK-based F1 team.

It also, potentially, demonstrates the team’s desire to match – thanks to what we presume will be increased investment from Red Bull – the Vismas and UAE Team Emirates of the cycling world at the very top of the sport (an ambition noted in Bora’s signing of Roglič, though arguably hindered by Cian Uijtdebroeks’ acrimonious departure to Visma last month).

One thing is for sure, though – the rider identification helmet game will be a whole lot harder over the next few years…

03 January 2024, 15:55
Matthew Walls, Bora-Hansgrohe, stage 8, 2023 Tour of Britain (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Bora-Hansgrohe confirm Red Bull merger and “joint venture”, which will “complement” existing sponsorship deals

After today’s news that Red Bull had acquired a controlling stake in Bora-Hansgrohe, the German WorldTour team has now confirmed the deal, which is currently subject to an ongoing review by the Austrian antitrust authority.

Red Bull is planning to expand its involvement in road cycling and is aiming for a partnership with Bora- Hansgrohe,” the team said in a statement this afternoon.

“By becoming a partner in Team Manager Ralph Denk’s operating company, Red Bull strives to complement the team’s portfolio of existing long-term main sponsors, who will remain on a long-term basis. The planned joint venture has been notified to the relevant antitrust authority.

“We ask for your understanding that we will not comment further on the planned joint venture, as we do not wish to anticipate the ongoing review by the Austrian antitrust authority.”

03 January 2024, 15:25
Landismo 🤝 Flanders

I reckon Soudal Quick-Step’s social media admin is going to enjoy Mikel Landa’s tenure at the team…

03 January 2024, 10:49
Cyclist with fridges and armchair on his head (Bicicleto_ZGZ)
But you can’t carry two fridges, an armchair, and a lamp by bike, can you? Well, according to this video, you can (and on an old Strida, too)

Alright, stop what you’re doing, because this is important.

Over the years, we’ve devoted countless blog stories and opinion pieces to the excellent transportation qualities of bicycles, usually as a retort to the well-worn pro-motoring question: ‘But can you transport X, Y, and Z’ by bike?’ – which, if X equals ornate baths and Y and Z equal all sorts of goods, tools, and services, then you’ll know the answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

> “But tradespeople can’t carry their stuff around by bike” – oh yes they can! How cargo bikes are changing the way people work

But I think we’ve found the definitive ‘Can you carry this by bike?’ video, posted on Twitter last night by a Zaragoza-based cycling account, and featuring a cyclist – purportedly – carrying two fridges, an armchair, and a lamp on his head… while, and this is the maddest part, riding one of those old folding Stridas (I didn’t know they were still around either)…

Now, the veracity of the video has already been called into question – those falling fruit look suspiciously Pixar-esque to me – but still, the clip hasn’t stopped people asking the important questions:

03 January 2024, 14:58
Administrators love it so… Wiggle owes 20 grand to Haribo
03 January 2024, 14:27
Mathieu van der Poel spitting at Hulst World Cup December 2023
Extra police presence expected at cyclocross race in Koksijde following Van der Poel spitting incident – with riders told to report booing spectators during recon

Tomorrow’s X20 Trofee race in Koksijde – which will once again see the ‘Big Three’ of men’s cyclocross, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert, and Tom Pidcock, go head-to-head – will feature an increased police presence and additional measures to combat unruly fans, the event’s organisers have confirmed in the Belgian press.

The beefed-up security protocols come after the unsavoury incident that marred last Saturday’s World Cup round in Hulst and saw world champion Van der Poel fined €250 for spitting at a group of spectators who allegedly threw beer and urine at him during his dominant race-winning ride.

“If riders are confronted during their recons by people who boo or insult them or who throw beer and urine, they can warn us,” Koksijde organiser Jan Deramoudt told Het Nieuwsblad.

“We are in direct contact with the police, who will make extra efforts to prevent so-called supporters from disturbing or hindering the participants.”

> Mathieu van der Poel spits at “booing” spectator on way to 7th straight win

Deramoudt also confirmed that police drones and additional plain clothes officers will likely be used tomorrow, as part of a clampdown on poor behaviour towards the riders, a switch from the usual focus on inter-fan fighting that the organiser says is “a response to the current situation”.

“It is our duty as an organization to take care of both the public and the riders. Everyone should be able to experience cross-country in a fun and safe way: whether you are supporting, working, or cycling,” he said.

The additional measures have been praised by Van der Poel’s father Adrie and Sven Nys, the former world champion and father of up-and-coming star Thibau.

“This is about taking steps against the negative behaviour of what is – thankfully – only a small number of people,” Nys said.

03 January 2024, 13:44
Those pesky cyclists, always driving their vans on the footpath!
03 January 2024, 11:54
It’s not just the UK’s bike paths – Cyclocross course in Belgium also hit by severe flooding

It looks like Britain’s commuters aren’t the only ones having to contend with swimming pool-inspired routes this week – Saturday’s pro Hexia Cyclocross race in Gullegem, Belgium, has also been hit by serious rainfall, making the course more fitting for a triathlon than even the maddest ‘cross race.

Apparently, the race is still set to go ahead, thanks to some necessary tweaks to the route to avoid the riders having to pack their scuba gear.

One ‘cross star who definitely won’t be getting his feet wet in Gullegem, however, is Eli Iserbyt. The off-road specialist – who spoke to road.cc last month about his gruelling cyclocross schedule – spent the night in hospital earlier this week suffering from dehydration caused by a stomach bug.

The World Cup and Superprestige series leader, who posted a DNF in Hulst last week and didn’t start the X2O Badkamers Trofee round in Baal on New Year’s Day, is expected to miss the next few races, before returning to compete in Sunday’s World Cup round in Zonhoven.

03 January 2024, 12:58
Pro cyclists: Great role models for sustainable, green transport – Oh, wait…
03 January 2024, 12:13
Cyclist threatened with legal action for posting video of close pass by driver in company-branded van

When one London-based cyclist caught a close pass on camera and sent the footage to the company whose branding was covering the driver’s vehicle, he expected an apology and perhaps “some form of disciplinary action”. Instead, he was threatened with legal action for using the company’s trademark without permission.

Now, if that isn’t the start of some (admittedly niche) thriller, I don’t know what is…

Close pass video (Chapona Bicyclette/YouTube)

Read more: > Cyclist threatened with legal action for posting video of close pass by driver in company-branded van

03 January 2024, 11:33
The Dave Walker cartoon for every occasion

Might need to add in a massive pool of water in the latest update…

03 January 2024, 10:19
Will we finally see a new Trek Emonda and updated SRAM Red groupset in 2024? Pro riders spotted on potential new climbing bike, plus unidentified SRAM callipers

Ah, all the new UBTs (Unidentified Bike Tech) are starting to come out of the woodwork – or more accurately, the pro teams’ service courses – as the road season looms ever larger…

2024 new Trek Emonda and SRAM Red

> Will we finally see a new Trek Emonda and updated SRAM Red groupset in 2024? Pro riders spotted on potential new climbing bike, plus unidentified SRAM callipers 

Still can’t say I’m a massive fan of Trek’s recent infatuation with massive seat tube holes…

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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25 comments

Avatar
Patrick9-32 | 10 months ago
1 like

"Cyclists bemoan..." 

We do be bemoaning. 

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mitsky | 10 months ago
1 like

Not a recent clip but still another example of why we sometimes don't use "cycle lanes"...
https://youtu.be/0-WYxz0J6Hw

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Miller | 10 months ago
1 like

Maybe Sustrans could adopt that flooded CX course in Belgium? Would be right up their muddy street.

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hutchdaddy | 10 months ago
6 likes

The fridge video is very clever, however it ain't real

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pvc2c40rk-4?feature=share

 

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Matthew Acton-Varian | 10 months ago
0 likes

Red Bull buying out Bora - Expect Bora to sight WVA and Pidcock for 2025.

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Velophaart_95 replied to Matthew Acton-Varian | 10 months ago
0 likes

There are other RB athletes in cycling apart from them two. I'm guessing you don't watch much MTB racing.....

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Matthew Acton-Varian replied to Velophaart_95 | 10 months ago
0 likes

Bora Hansgrohe do not have a MTB team in any discipline or a current rider in the peloton who dabbles in XC. The last rider in their colours to ride MTB was Peter Sagan. Only Alpecin-Deceuninck, Ineos and Visma-Lease-A-Bike had MTB programes among the WT teams in 2023, all exclusively in XCC and XCO. Other bike brands seen at WT level almost all have "Factory" race teams including Giant, Trek, Specialized, Canyon and Scott, the WT teams they sponsor have no affiliation with their MTB teams. I am well aware of RB's affiliation with MTB, with numerous sponsored riders, and their own freeride series (Rampage). RB taking a controlling stake in Bora is the brand's first serious foray into the road world.

There is only one other road rider who is an individual Red Bull sponsored athlete and that is Anton Palzer, who already rides for Bora-Hansgrohe. My comment was specifically aimed at the road discipline - poking fun at Red Bull's impending attempt to dominate road cycling - and had nothing to do with the Red Bull MTB programme.

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Left_is_for_Losers replied to Matthew Acton-Varian | 10 months ago
0 likes

Matthew Acton-Varian wrote:

Red Bull buying out Bora - Expect Bora to sight WVA and Pidcock for 2025.

Not sure they'll get hold of either for '25 but it's nice to see a new(ish) big-money sponsor in cycling, processing from just sponsoring a couple of riders. 

Maybe they'll become a full RB outfit in a couple of seasons I'd expect?

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Matthew Acton-Varian replied to Left_is_for_Losers | 10 months ago
0 likes

As much as the quip was in jest I would not be surprised if it turns out that way. Considering the sport is financially precarious a big money injection should be a good thing. I much prefer RB to say, the Saudi PIF, or a crypto-based sponsor.

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chrisonabike | 10 months ago
5 likes

RE: Two Tunnels greenway - come on whingers, surely it's called "Bath" for a reason!

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spen | 10 months ago
3 likes

Call that flooded?  This is flooded (NR1 barnes subway Sunderland 2012)  Fortunatley the adjacent culvert is now cleared at regualr intervals 

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Simon E replied to spen | 10 months ago
1 like

spen wrote:

Call that flooded?  This is flooded (NR1 barnes subway Sunderland 2012)  Fortunatley the adjacent culvert is now cleared at regualr intervals 

Call that flooded?!?

NCR 81 in the Quarry and down past the weir in Shrewsbury is under 5-10 feet of water.

https://twitter.com/saloplarus/status/1742602398760112526/

The photo below shows a sign on a pole beside the route as it goes underneath English Bridge - the base of the sign (below the ! warns of " Oncoming cyclists & pedestrians") is about 7 ft above the path & cycle route. I doubt it is even visible now. And when the floods recede the path will be very muddy and slippery. I used to ride to work that way when conditions allowed. Here is a photo of the path showing the river at a normal level:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-marine-terrace-and-river-severn-from-e...

Further upstream the same route near the Severn-Vyrnwy confluence near Melverley is also under several feet of water stretching across much of the floodplain. Tuesday's deluge hit saturated ground and ran off straight into the watercourses, quite a few gauges show a rapid peak that is is not far off the record levels seen in 2000.

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Hirsute | 10 months ago
4 likes

Stafford

//i2-prod.stokesentinel.co.uk/incoming/article9010595.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/0_dsc09613-11_53439716828_o.jpg)

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fwhite181 | 10 months ago
7 likes

Managing to flood a tunnel that is at the top of a hill is pretty impressive. I'm assuming the Victorians who built it had installed drainage, so at some point Sustrans/some contracter has fubared it. The response (or lack of it) is just another symptom of the attitude that 'cycling is for fun, not for function'. Until we treat cycle routes like actual travel routes rather than leisure facilities, we're never going to get decent uptake. 

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BalladOfStruth replied to fwhite181 | 10 months ago
10 likes

To be fair, this year has been absolutely insane for rainfall – I haven’t had a consecutive 48-hour period without rain since August, we’re on something like the fourth or fifth named storm/weather warning in two weeks. The nearest population centre to me is a small village called Blaenwaun, which is (at 220m above sea level) one of the highest villages in West Wales. Yesterday, it was impassible because of flooding.

I drove to Aberglasney a few days ago, which means driving through Sanclar and past Carmarthen (both basically underwater at this point), and then getting on the A40 which runs parallel to the river Towey. The river has long since burst its banks and has flooded the surrounding farmland. Looking out from the A40 across the valley was like looking out at the sea. It’s crazy.

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ktache replied to BalladOfStruth | 10 months ago
9 likes

Henk was a storm that got heavier than expected. Played havoc with my bike-train-bike commute home. Stayed late with the possibility of a working train, but when that failed, found one route that might be running, of two alternates. Filthy off roaded to the nearest station, but nothing, and nothing had run through for many hours, and nothing for many hours, couple of engineering trains did go through as I was chatting to the station bloke, off to clear fallen trees. The canal had many tree falls, all passable, they'd already started on a big one that would have blocked it.
Popped into three more stations as I continued home, nothing, and nothing.
A route I had done many times, but not for over a decade. And not on a big heavy bike set up for deep mud. Or on my first day back after not riding for a week and a half. And, of course, headwind
The first time doing the full ride back in the five and a half years of this job. Train always eventually came through.
Lots of changes, interesting new junctions and new bits of road. Fantastic bridge on one. Lots of black cabs where you'd never normally see them.
Appreciated the new grips, glad because they were a nightmare to fit. And the new jacket the better half got me for Xmas. But the front brake sounds and feels like it needs new pads, annoying. But as it was very late when I did get in and I was pooped, I'm doing them today. And servicing. Going sintered, seeing if that improves the noise in the filth.

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mitsky | 10 months ago
5 likes

I assume this will be reviewed.
"Holborn cycle death: Woman was dragged under lorry, court hears"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67865824

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Capt Sisko | 10 months ago
4 likes

What a bunch of whingers. It's winter, it's been raining a lot, half the fields in my corner of Shropshire are underwater, one of the three road in & out of our village is already close by flood water and the second will probably close later this morning. Deal with it or buy some waterproof socks!

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leipreachan replied to Capt Sisko | 10 months ago
5 likes

on the other hand, how many people commute through fields in Shropshire?

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ROOTminus1 replied to leipreachan | 10 months ago
4 likes
leipreachan wrote:

on the other hand, how many people commute through fields in Shropshire?

"Farmers!"
"...and?"
"Farmers' mums"

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stonojnr replied to Capt Sisko | 10 months ago
1 like

theres been a road flooded near Leiston since Storm Babet

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-67683190

and theres a road I cycle on alot, got used on the Tour of Britain last year, thats usually impassable, unless you want to get your feet wet and ruin your bottom bracket, for 4 months of the year due to persistent flooding.

it took about 5 years of continually reporting it before the council pumped out the blocked drain and only temporarily fixed it.

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ROOTminus1 | 10 months ago
4 likes

The Romans were quite adept at making raised active travel routes, is it really a skill that's been lost over the centuries? Or is it that much cheaper to dig a trench and half fill it with tarmac so pathways become the impervious drainage ditches?

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chrisonabike replied to ROOTminus1 | 10 months ago
6 likes

ROOTminus1 wrote:

The Romans were quite adept at making raised active travel routes...

"Apart from a nationwide network of all-weather active travel routes, what have the Romans ever done for cycling?"

Never mind the Romans, I reckon we should ask some people who are used to living closer to (or below) the water and still using low-lying infra:

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/tag/underpass/

Even deliberately:

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/submerged-bicycle-bridge-i...

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2023/02/01/amsterdam-opened-a-new-bic...

ROOTminus1 wrote:

...is it that much cheaper to dig a trench and half fill it with tarmac so pathways become the impervious drainage ditches?

Perhaps people saw this recreational attraction in Belgium and copied it, but without the drainage.

The UK is continuing to increase its impermeable surface coverage at the same time as we need to adapt to more concentrated or just increased rainfail.  (As usual it's politics and money, not because we lack the tools e.g. rain gardens).

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IanGlasgow replied to chrisonabike | 10 months ago
0 likes

I moved to Glasgow - a city used to rain - 25 years ago and I'm utterly convinced that the council has a specialist department installing huge puddles at every bus stop and pedestrian crossing in the city. They're recently had their budget increased and are now installing them in bike lanes too.

The team have recently discovered rain gardens and installed a few small, token examples. However, The University of Glasgow decided to show how it's done and installed a large rain garden in the SW corner of their new plaza - you can see it in the bottom right of the attached image. Unfortunately the entire site slopes down to the SE corner and nobody at the University of Glasgow has explained to the water that it needs to flow uphill to their rain garden.

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hawkinspeter replied to IanGlasgow | 10 months ago
0 likes

IanGlasgow wrote:

I moved to Glasgow - a city used to rain - 25 years ago and I'm utterly convinced that the council has a specialist department installing huge puddles at every bus stop and pedestrian crossing in the city. They're recently had their budget increased and are now installing them in bike lanes too.

The bus stops and pedestrians crossings are both place where heavy vehicles stop and start from, so it's probably just damage to the road from that. The bike lanes are more likely to be done deliberately out of spite.

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