Fred Wright returns to the track – with weird tilted stem; Drivers blast new cycle lane crossing; Parlee in trouble; Cycling podcaster’s ‘interesting’ road safety advice; Ferry company's “disgraceful” bike fares; Bigham’s pink bike + more on the live blog

Special power: Apparently never falling to the back of the bunch in a Devil Takes the Hindmost.

But don’t worry Fred, your name’s great too. I’ve been able to use the same pun with it about twenty times, for starters…

Last month – though it feels like a lifetime ago – we reported on the live blog that former pro mountain biker and Active Nation commissioner for Scotland Lee Craigie questioned Brittany Ferries’ decision to charge her £75 to take her bike from Portsmouth to Santander.

> “Can we expect a valet service?” Former pro mountain biker charged £75 to bring bike on ferry 

After the company got back to her with, frankly, a load of old rubbish about increased demand and the acres upon acres of space apparently taken up by bikes on ferries (Won’t someone please think of the motorists?), Craigie and her mountain biking chums decided to sidestep the hefty charge with a bike bag each and some quick assembly upon arrival:

This was our workaround @BrittanyFerries wanting to charge us £230 to wheel our bikes on board! Our thanks to all the wonderful staff who thought we were funny and weird rather than annoying. Next stop Ainsa… #NoFlyWinterMigration pic.twitter.com/XhnI6hjlrI

— lee craigie (@leecraigie_) February 8, 2023

“They wanted to charge us £80 per bike to ride on to the ferry, so we carried bike bags with us and dismantled them, packed them up, and carried them on as foot passengers,” she said.

“Not easy but worth it.”

According to Brittany Ferries, “prices vary depending on the route/date/departure time and how far in advance the booking is made”, with fees for cyclists starting from £5 (and all the way up to £80, apparently).

There are separate fares for foot passengers and bicyclists, the bicycle is not an add-on fee to a foot passenger fare. If the foot passenger fare is lower and you'd prefer to dismantle and carry the bike in a bag as luggage then you can do this ^JE

— Brittany Ferries (@BrittanyFerries) February 9, 2023

Needless to say, many ferry-using cyclists weren’t happy with the company’s tepid response.

“Imagine doing this with a family of six of us, including an infant, five bikes, a trailer bike, a trailer, eighteen panniers and five handlebar bags,” wrote one Twitter user. “Brittany Ferries have lost our repeat business with this pathetic policy.”

“So they’re happy to rip off those who cycle, no care for those with disabilities or mobility issues who just can’t do this to avoid the extortionate fare for taking a cycle,” said another.

“Well this is properly bonkers,” noted Gaz. “Never heard of a ferry company charging for assembled bikes when wheeled on, but not if chucked in a bag and carried on. Most strange.”

In another worrying sign for the current state of the bike industry, high-end US brand Parlee Cycles filed for voluntary bankruptcy this month, according to public court documents seen by Cycling Weekly.

Parlee was founded in 2000 by Massachusetts-based high-performance boat builder Bob Parlee, and quickly became known for its specialist, custom, and often stunning carbon fibre frames which aimed to provide speed without compromising ride quality. The company filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 6 February.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road for Parlee. Under the United States Bankruptcy Code, a Chapter 11 allows the company in debt to propose a reorganisation plan, usually involving bringing in external partners, designed to pay creditors and keep the business afloat.

If you thought reporting your stolen bike to the cops was a waste of time – and, it’s safe to say, the statistics would support your stance – a certain Deliveroo rider from Nottingham would like to disagree with you.

When the anonymous Deliveroo worker had his £3,000 e-bike stolen outside a McDonald’s (probably best not to leave your bike outside a Maccies, if we’re honest) in Exchange Way, Nottingham, police in the city centre managed to successfully locate it within an hour – with a little help from the cyclist himself.

The officers invited the rider to accompany them in their van as they scoured the streets in search of the stolen bike. Within minutes, they spotted the evidently not very fast-moving suspect, who managed to evade his pursuers by ducking down an alley.

> Almost 90% of bike thefts reported to police closed without suspect identified

However, in less than the time it takes for Mathieu van der Poel to win a cyclocross race, the police then ordered a search of a property in the area linked with criminal activity in the past – and duly found the bike casually propped up in the hallway.

Sergeant Richard Tiernan, of the city centre neighbourhood policing team, said the victim was extremely relieved to be reunited with his bike.

“By doing all we could to find the e-bike, a very grateful victim was reunited with it 45 minutes after it was stolen,” he said.

“He had no insurance so would have been £3,000 out of pocket if we hadn’t found it for him.”

Move over Pro Cycling Manager, there’s a new bike-themed game in town…

Yep, according to Cycling Industry News, Bike Mechanic Simulator 2023 – which, if you haven’t guessed it already, is a virtual dive into the world of repairing bikes and running a cycling shop – has gone live as a demo on the Steam platform, and will be released on PC later this year.

Punch Punk S.A., the studio behind the game, say the simulator will also later be released on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

The current demo limits you to carrying out some repairs on three different bikes, but in the full version the gameplay will apparently involving servicing, repairing, and assembling a wide range of bikes, from city bikes to fully fledged racing machines, while making sure you keep on top of the daily admin.

A career mode will see you progress, if you have the skills, from a tiny workshop to a multi-room shop, while the game’s storyline will revolve around the renovation of antique bikes.

Unfortunately, there’s no chance in the game to progress to the WorldTour – the ‘dealing with angry pros’ level would be great fun – but I’m sure that will come in the 2024 edition.

For the meantime, I know a six-year-old who would love this for Christmas (and no, I don’t mean me…).

Nobody likes cold feet! We've put together the best tips to keep the toes toasty 🔥https://t.co/IZDiph1V8f

— road.cc (@roadcc) February 9, 2023

On this morning’s edition of ‘Transparently Controversial Twitter Threads’:

Avid cyclist has some dumb ideas he desperately wants you to validate. https://t.co/BU6Dr7uf6a

— Peter Flax (@Pflax1) February 8, 2023

Nothing says "I love cycling and I'll always advocate for cyclists and cycling rights" quite like posting a thread calling cyclists out for their behavior. https://t.co/qnfvFMaETd

— Entitled Cyclist🚲 (@EntitledCycling) February 8, 2023

I suppose getting roasted on Twitter and alienating almost every cyclist on the planet is one way of drumming up business for your podcast… 

While Fred Wright’s pointy stem set-up may not be to everyone’s tastes, his British teammate Dan Bigham’s team pursuit bike is… actually, I’m sure it’ll divide opinion too, if I’m honest.

Bigham, who helped propel Team GB – the current team pursuit world champions – to the second-fastest time in qualifying at the Velodrome Suisse yesterday, opted for a rather modest, refined split pink and black Pinarello for this week’s European Championships:

🥰 pic.twitter.com/7AHbXMcjB9

— Dan Bigham (@DanBiggles22) February 8, 2023

Unfortunately for aero guru Bigham and teammates Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon, and Ollie Wood, it might take more than pink to make the Italians sink, as the Filippo Ganna-powered Azzurri secured top spot in qualifying with a strong 3:49.582.

[Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com]

Meanwhile, Katy Marchant enjoyed a successful return to international competition since giving birth to son Arthur last June, helping Team GB to the team sprint silver – alongside the astute squad rotation of Lauren Bell, Emma Finucane, and Sophie Capewell – behind a strong German team.

GB’s men team sprinters were also forced to settle for silver, as Ali Fielding, Jack Carlin, and Joe Truman succumbed to a dominant Dutch outfit.