Also I foresee a MAGA backlash because it's not "Captain America" enough

I do not like that Rapha kit, I do no like it, I think it's shit. (continues for three more verses, bringing in Chloé Dygert and Quinn Simmons...)

A ticket to attend the finale of the 1966 Tour de France (and the Tour de l'Avenir, which finished the same day). You can't sell tickets to watch bike races, you say?

I like how she blended the words 'hope' and 'tedium' ...

Yes, it’s out now.

How do you find a US aircraft carrier in a big sea using public information? allow us to explain... www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cz... (A good day's work when you get to use "flattop" and describe something as "not a small unit")

The safety concerns of cycling's Transcontinental races - the ability to track participants, especially women, 24-hours a day - only rarely get a public airing. Will this case change that?

My local café, steadfastly refusing to believe that the last two weeks haven't been just a bad dream and insisting it's still Christmas. Which is a belief I think we all can support.

The main parties may well be edging further and further right, but at least they're not moving into the same culture wars crap the British love so much - even the Taoiseach is calling out the drunk-driving judge who dislikes cyclists.

Apricity, coffee, and a good book. Kushty 👌

Sailing Rigs xkcd.com/3193/

Santander want to name 10 of their bikes after women? Can't see nothing going wrong with that. "Today I rode Beryl Burton. I'm going to ride Victoria Pendleton tomorrow..."

Cycling losing its soul is the pre-diabetes of the hoary old annual of the decline in respect in the peloton. Or, to put it another way, cycling's way of telling you it's January.

Everybody loves a bargain, don’t they. Grab yours now, by pre-ordering my new book with a massive discount 👊

HE Thomson's Tour of the Forest sounds like a British book from the 1960s, but it's by a Canadian and was originally published in 1990. It's quite a fun intro to the Tour.

Time to get back into research mode...

"Babycham came to epitomise the brave new world of mid-1950s Britain – British ingenuity still seemed to lead the world, and anything seemed possible."

RIP Béla Tarr.

If you've got Disney+ (and with season two of A Thousand Blows coming up, your really should) Thomas Riedelsheimer's early noughties doc abt Evelyn Glennie, Touch the Sound, is now streaming + well worth watching. Visually spartan - industrial, in places - it's acoustically gorgeous + quite playful.

Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest is a whole lot of fun, a 1960s melodrama brought into the present but still making you feel like Rock Hudson or Steve McQueen are going to put in an appearance. The plot is a bit ropey + the message a bit stale but the whole thing is something to just luxuriate in.

Introduce yourself with what almost killed you? When I was 7 I had a bit of a tickly cough and, well, things got a bit out of hand, the Men in Black were called in + I was given the Last Rites. To this day I believe the doc was BSing when he said it was double pneumonia + it was just a bit of flu.

I really loathe that man from Lidl I loathe him lots, not a little I know these rhymes I said I'd quit But - come on! - the man's a shit For his Olympic dreams I'm all out of fucks That man from Lidl's a dumb-assed schmuck My wish for him in this new year Is that from my timeline he'll disappear

I knew the story behind Brooklands anyway but it’s nice to see it in the programme…

Not one to show off Xmas presents but I am pleased with these!! Original programme from the World Cycling Championship Trial at Brooklands June 17 1933 - showing my great uncle as the business manager. Plus a cycling classic read ‘The Rider’.

Walk?

The Tour de France is all about a yellow jersey. But the winner also receives a trophy. The current trophy awarded at the big buckle - the Coupe Omnisports - looks like something you'd find in John Lewis, to keep the potpourri in.

Which is why it would be nice if critics actually knew something about the books they review and called out errors when they find them...

Money from ski resorts is a vital part of cycling's economy. So what will we do when all the snow is gone?

Did I jump timelines again? When I were a lad we put a basin in the sink to do the washing up in, but suddenly everyone's calling that basin a washing up bowl? WTAF? It's not round! It's not just for the washing up! It's a feckin' basin! And, yes, it is stupid in a sink. But useful elsewhere.

So, Pluribus may have been a disappointment, especially after having saved it for a Christmas binge. Bloody hive mind, hyping the crap of of things. But I also saved Cemetery Road for the festive season and it was well worth waiting for. Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson were fabulous in it.

Hey look what came in the mail! NOW READING: Christopher Sweet, “A History of Bicycling in Illinois: 160 Years of Booms and Busts” from @illinoispress.bsky.social www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p0...

So. Pluribus. Talk about a hive mind. The pacing in the first episode makes Bela Tarr seem positively athletic. Each scene is about seven times longer than it needs to be. Maybe even eight. Every other scene seems to just repeat something from earlier without adding anything.

All I want for Christmas is AI-free media...please Santa, please, I'm beggin' ya!

Seeing American non-boxing fans on socials suddenly discovering Anthony Joshua this week 😂😅 had half my brain going 'omg essay on 1880s lads doing music hall boxing exhibitions for the ladies!!!'. My brain said, no, drink wine and watch Christmas cartoons with the kid. Still. The thought was there!

I do not like that Lidl prat! I do not like him! He's a twat! For him I feel no Christmas cheer! I will not wish him a Happy New Year! My only wish for the new cycling season Is that none us will have a reson To talk about that Lidl man! Let's all agree, that's the plan!

New Ineos sponsor...

I did some work on the Haslett case for this episode. A really awful story and one which must have been a huge shock to their descendants when they discovered it.

Sending some Christmas cheer from 1937 The Bicycle - not that much has changed for club runs has it? #cyclinghistory

2026 sees Andre/Schwandt/Kahn's Dream a Little Dream of Me (1930) enter the public domain. Here's Terry Hall and Salad doing a practically perfect cover of it 30 years ago. If 2026 sees a better version I'll eat my socks.

We're back to this?

Le Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible (MPCC) fait part de son inquiétude quant à "l'usage excessif de médicaments dans le cyclisme". Le MPCC demande à l'UCI d'agir et propose des interdictions préventives pour les produits dans la "zone grise" durant le temps d'investigation.

Amazing how @metoffice.gov.uk gets this wrong. It continues to get darker in the morning until January, and its been getting lighter in the evenings since last week.

There's no stability in cycling, JV is right.

Had a great chat with Floortje Mackaij for @cyclist.co.uk about all different things, including her role at Movistar, speed skating, Dutch drama, and why recovering her period after a number of years without is so important to her ⤵️ www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/flo...

If we can't even talk about eating disorders in cycling when a rider names her struggles as such herself, when are we ever gonna do it? Eating disorders across the spectrum are complex and complicated and frustrating and painful and also frustratingly common, so why treat the word as if it's taboo?

One book written by a woman. One. Out of eight. Go women!

Here's something for the engineering nerds: an extendable crank arm that can add two inches to your stroke? Patented in 1906, due for a comeback in 2026? Engineering / physics are beyond my ken so maybe @doctorhutch.bsky.social might have an opinion on this madness / genius idea...

Meanwhile, in the world of MTB…