Clocks Go Back, Cycling Continues.

The clocks might have gone back and an early winter cold made it feel more like February than October but there was still plenty of bike news going on this weekend.

With the cold weather and as news organisations rolled out “how to ride in the winter” articles (FMFT’s advice is to just man up and get out there – usually) there was much excitement about a proposed Dutch scheme that would lead to heated bike lanes. The proposal to collect heat in the summer and then release it in the winter to keep the tarmac cooler in the heat (who really has a problem with roads being too warm?) and then warm and ice-free as the temperature drops is likely to be prohibitively expensive but the idea is certainly appealing.

In London the Police took action and made a number of arrests in association with bike theft, another thing I’d like to see more of. On the subject of breaking rules Lance Armstrong has been asked to pay back prize money he won for his Tour de France wins, and there will be no winners shown in the history books for the years in which he won. Professional road cycling is on the way back form a dark period but the governing body is being seen to make the right decisions.

At the other end of the scale the British Cycling gala dinner sounds to have been a rowdy affair, as pro-BMXer Liam Phillips mentions:

British Cycling Gala Dinner went off last night. Too many people to blame for my sorry state today though, ouch.

— Liam Phillips (@liamPHILLIPS65) October 27, 2012

Come to think of it, it was namely the G's...@gee_atherton & @geraintthomas86 are a bad influence.

— Liam Phillips (@liamPHILLIPS65) October 27, 2012

While Gee Atherton was apparently demonstrating the fast-living attitude that makes him a downhill legend his brother Dan was reflecting on his Super Enduro win. (To be clear I have no idea whether Gee was living particularly fast or not, nor if Dan was reflecting particularly, but I wanted to link to this video.)



In Downhill terms, Urban’s where it’s at for the next few weeks as Filip Polc won the Descenso-del-Condor and will then head to Sofia’s National Palace of Culture for an indoor Bulgarian event next weekend. Keeping it kind-of Eastern European, Kiev will also see some Urban Downhilling on the same weekend.

Finally have a look at a younger Danny MacAskill and friends in Newcastle back in what some people like to call “the day”.



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