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Van driver covers number plate to avoid LTN cameras; Cycling in -50c; Pros react to UCI rule changes; Charity cyclist bins 'Scrap the Mask' slogan due to Covid; Bull charges through race; How Pedal Me deliver faster when it snows + more on the live blog

It's Tuesday and Dan Alexander is here for all your live blog needs...
09 February 2021, 17:17
How to cycle when it's -50°C...

You may have seen our winter cycling survival guide earlier today offering you tips on how to keep riding during our one week of snowy conditions each year. But what about when it's -50°C outside? YouTuber Lorenzo Barone has got you covered. Excluding what look like industrial oven gloves, stuffed with fur and mounted onto the handlebars, Lorenzo's set up isn't too different to what you might expect. Follow Lorenzo's tips and you've got no excuse (other than you're soft like me) to hide inside on the turbo this week...

09 February 2021, 16:55
Another camera dodging van driver

In response to the earlier story about the van driver in north London caught covering his number plate to avoid getting picked up by an LTN camera, we've been sent this...Looks like there are more motorists at it than just the earlier driver. This one was spotted at railton LTN in Brixton. In the plans for one Crystal Palace LTN, which is to have its planters replaced by cameras, resident permits could be extended to staff at a school in the area, carers and taxi drivers.

09 February 2021, 16:30
Treeathlon: Planting trees by riding your bike

Environmental psychologist Ian Walker has challenged you to cycle, swim, run or wheel further than you've done before to get a tree planted. Just send him a tweet or an email with proof of your efforts and he'll use a £1,000 pot set aside from his last book's sales to fund Tees not Trees to plant a new bit of greenery on your behalf. The challenge started on February 1 and you've got until the pot runs out. Get on your bike, complete a big ride and get a tree planted. Tree-mendous.  

09 February 2021, 16:14
130km superhighway cycle network to be built in Helsinki

 

09 February 2021, 15:03
Van driver covers number plate to avoid LTN cameras

At the end of January we shared the news that low traffic neighbourhood (LTNs) planters in Sutton and Croydon could be replaced by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras. The experimental scheme was touted to replace the current planters at various locations in the two London boroughs. However, Warwick Road Action Group posted this photo to suggest it may not be a good idea. In the photos, a van driver can be seen covering his number plate to avoid getting caught by cameras at an LTN in north London.

Many replies pointed out that in the time taken to cover his number plate he probably could have just driven  the new route...

09 February 2021, 14:26
"It’s a big adventure for all of us": Alpecin-Fenix will target first week of the Tour de France with Mathieu van der Poel
Mathieu van der Poel on way to winning 2021 CX Worlds (picture credit Alex Whitehead, SWPix.com).JPG

Alpecin-Fenix will target the opening week with Mathieu van der Poel at the Tour de France this summer. The team say they aren't looking beyond the opening stages which look very well suited to their star rider. Van der Poel has previously suggested he may consider leaving the Tour on the second rest day to prepare for the Olympics. The Dutchman fresh off his fourth world cyclo-cross title is due to return to racing at the opening WorldTour race of the year, the UAE Tour, in a couple of weeks.

Team manager Christoph Roodhooft told Cyclingnews that Van der Poel's ambitions will be the team's primary aim during their first appearance at the Tour. "We’ll see how it goes in the first week. It’s a big adventure for all of us," he said. "We’ll go into the race focused just on the first week, and then we’ll see what happens after that. We don’t have the same level of team as Jumbo-Visma so for us it will be a completely different approach. We’ll pick the days that we think will particularly suit us before the Tour, but we won’t go there with any ambitions for the general classification."

The opening week of the Tour includes a couple of days with rolling hills, including a hilltop finish at Mûr-de-Bretagne, as well as the potential for crosswinds on the sprint stages.

09 February 2021, 13:10
Burglar finds himself in hot water after armed police spot men riding a bike carrying a boiler
The Greenway Thorntree (Google Street View)

Armed police on Teesside made an arrest after they spotted two men carrying a boiler while riding bikes. Teesside Live says the cops were responding to a report of an ongoing burglary when they spotted the strange sight. A member of the public reported the crime after hearing noises coming from an empty property at 4.25am on Sunday. Officers arrested one of the men who attempted to make off with the boiler a short distance away. He has since been released under investigation, pending further enquiries. 

09 February 2021, 12:24
"What’s next? Everyone has to ride flat MTB bars?": The view from the peloton as the UCI announces widespread rule changes for 2021

The UCI's new rules, notably banning the super tuck and TT position, haven't gone down too well with the pro riders we saw on Twitter this morning...

However, there was some support for the changes. Dan Martin pointed out it's probably better to be proactive about risk rather than waiting for an accident to happen to change the rules...

09 February 2021, 11:43
Charity cyclist bins 'Scrap the Mask' slogan due to Covid

Sam Clarke, an adventurer and charity cyclist, changed his 'Scrap the Mask' slogan following criticism from strangers who wrongly assumed he opposed use of face coverings. The 'Scrap the Mask' slogan was meant to encourage people to share their struggles and not hide behind a mask. Sam has adopted Adventure Man Sam as the new name for his YouTube channel, where he documents his cycling adventures.

"There was no harm in it then and it was a completely apolitical metaphor but in the current climate it has become very political," Sam told the Henley Standard. "Adventure Man Sam was the name I planned to use when I launched my blog in 2013 but I’ve had to rebrand because most people will always associate ‘Scrap the Mask’ with Covid. Unfortunately, I’m still wearing a T-shirt that says ‘Scrap the Mask’ in most of my footage but I can add a note on screen so people know what it’s really about."

Sam was diagnosed with Alport syndrome when he was two and will have to undergo dialysis later in life but doesn't let his situation affect his charity work. In 2019, he spent 10 months cycling across Europe while completing 25 skydives on the way. Sam planned to ride to Albania and only ended the trip to avoid being stranded during the pandemic. Last summer he completed Land's End to John O'Groats instead, taking his fundraising above £20,000.

09 February 2021, 10:33
Jeremy Vine's plan to restore Kensington High Street cycle lane

 

09 February 2021, 09:52
Bull on the loose charges through bike race (Video)

The riders at the Tour por la Paz (Tour for Peace) in Guatemala got a fright at the start line of stage five. A bull somehow found itself on the road and charged through the race. As spectators jumped into race vehicles, the riders and motorcyclists following the race scattered in all directions. According to local news nobody was hurt in the incident and the bull was eventually moved on...

In 2019, Mathieu van der Poel was chased over the finish line by a dog during a cyclo-cross race in Belgium. 

09 February 2021, 08:49
How Pedal Me deliver goods more quickly when it snows

You might think the freezing conditions and falling snow would be a problem for bike courier services like Pedal Me. But the company has said they can actually deliver faster when it snows...because there's less motor traffic on the roads. They've even been helping out other logistics services which are less resilient to the weather. Today they've already got 900 deliveries booked in across the capital.

Pedal Me explained how they've been able to pick up jobs in a tweet: "Ok here we go, another 50 drops from one of our regular customers who've had a van unable to work (reason unknown). Because all of our senior staff are trained to ride - we can just pick this up and put non-time critical strategic projects on hold, for now."

Dan joined road.cc in 2020, and spent most of his first year (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. At the start of 2022 he took on the role of news editor. Before joining road.cc, Dan wrote about various sports, including football and boxing for the Daily Express, and covered the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Part of the generation inspired by the 2012 Olympics, Dan has been 'enjoying' life on two wheels ever since and spends his weekends making bonk-induced trips to the petrol stations of the south of England.

Add new comment

18 comments

Avatar
mpdouglas | 3 years ago
15 likes

"Van driver covers number plate to avoid LTN cameras" - no doubt a driver that insists cyclists should have registration plates, obey the law/highway code, blah, blah, blah!

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brooksby replied to mpdouglas | 3 years ago
13 likes

Isn't it illegal to cover your registration plate?  That is, more illegal than driving into an LTN?

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mpdouglas replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

As I understand it, police can issue a fine of up to £1,000 for a missing/obscured number plate. There are current government proposals to change this such that it will become a 3 points + £100 penalty offence. I think that ignoring a LTN/ No Entry sign falls to local councils and tends to be fixed penalty notices akin to parking/yellow box type offences e.g. £120, halved if you pay within 2 weeks.

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wtjs replied to mpdouglas | 3 years ago
1 like

As I understand it, police can issue a fine of up to £1,000 for a missing/obscured number

They can, but they don't. Lancashire is a paradise for illegal personalised number plates like ADI  7ONE, ADI  5  LED and ADI  6  LED, because the police refuse to take action

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Sriracha replied to wtjs | 3 years ago
0 likes
wtjs wrote:

As I understand it, police can issue a fine of up to £1,000 for a missing/obscured number

They can, but they don't. Lancashire is a paradise for illegal personalised number plates like ADI  7ONE, ADI  5  LED and ADI  6  LED, because the police refuse to take action

All the police need to do is click to send a report to DVLA who can rescind the rights to the plate, copy to insurance company.

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wtjs replied to Sriracha | 3 years ago
0 likes

All the police need to do is click to send a report to DVLA

They can, but they don't. Maybe the TacOps officers receive payment from ADI Lighting to look the other way while they're on the road, but they also adopt Nelsonian vision while binning my report of almost 2 months ago. I saw ADI 7ONE a week ago. They think it's all over!

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Sriracha replied to mpdouglas | 3 years ago
0 likes
mpdouglas wrote:

As I understand it, police can issue a fine of up to £1,000 for a missing/obscured number plate.

Not in the Black Country they don't. There are loads of cars with obscured number plates roaming free and unhindered. They vary from the slightly smoked through completely illegible to now, the latest wheeze, completely missing. These are not old charabangs whose plate must have fallen off unnoticed in last week's parking fracas, oh no, they are fully valeted performance cars sporting a smoothed over stealth look where the too-ugly plate is supposed to be.

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jerv replied to mpdouglas | 3 years ago
4 likes

Whenever I'm about and I see a number plate with excess dirt on it, I give it a quick clean. Even keep some soapy spray and cloths in my boot just for the occasion. 

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Dicklexic replied to jerv | 3 years ago
1 like

There was a fella I used to see quite often on my regular commute that drove around in a nice clean car, except the rear number plate (and ONLY the number plate) was always absolutely filthy. Must've been really unlucky that the car wash always missed his plate eh?

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grOg replied to Dicklexic | 3 years ago
1 like

UK must be different to Australia.. drive around there with a dirty rego plate and you will definitely get pulled and issued with a very hefty fine..

https://www.criminaldefencelawyers.com.au/blog/what-are-the-penalties-fo...

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Awavey replied to grOg | 3 years ago
0 likes

its stuff the UK police usually ignore, like blown headlights, until the point they dont, if you follow what I mean, its like youd never be stopped solely for it, even though they could, but if you were caught speeding or they were doing one of their stop everything for 1 day a year multi agency things, it might get picked up. Supposed to be an MoT fail but most just carry spare legal plates in the boot, which magically fixes the problem.

funnily what noones said so far, Im amazed given the time of year they need to cover their plates up at all, most peoples cars, let alone vans, are covered in thick films of mud & rock salt (everyones seen van art yes ?) which completely obscures number plates. I think Ive had 3 close passes this winter already I couldnt submit because of that, and the roads sure arent going to be getting any cleaner for a while yet.

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kraut | 3 years ago
2 likes

I met Sam on the train back from John O'Groats to Inverness last autumn. Thoroughly nice bloke!

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mdavidford | 3 years ago
2 likes

Quote:

UCI announces widespread rule changes

No.

Quote:

The UCI's new rules, notably banning the super tuck and TT position

Nope.

Bit worrying that so many supposedly 'professional' riders seem not to realise that the rules already existed. Makes you wonder if the history of drugs cheating in cycling is just because people didn't realise it wasn't allowed...

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GMBasix | 3 years ago
0 likes

"UCI announces widespread rule changes for 2021"
This would be more useful and interesting if there was a linked article detailing the rule changes, rather than just a few embedded Tweets.

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Steve K | 3 years ago
5 likes

"Cycling isn't the answer: you can't carry a boiler on a bike"...

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eburtthebike | 3 years ago
2 likes

I'll bet some of those riders in the Tour por la Paz broke a few records!yes

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GMBasix replied to eburtthebike | 3 years ago
7 likes

Was one of the riders Jeremy Vine's brother, Bo?

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Organon replied to GMBasix | 3 years ago
2 likes

GMBasix wrote:

Was one of the riders Jeremy Vine's brother, Bo?

His actual brother Tim Vine would be proud of that pun.

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