The Death by Dangerous Cycling law is a perfect example of how pitiful this Labour gov’t is. Under their mantle of “change“ they choose to spend significant parliamentary time on a law that may cover 1/2 cases per decade. Time diverted from the deep rooted issues and ongoing cost of living crisis.

So my last day here in the wonderful Andalusia. 45km ride with 700 elevation metres. As tough as it was, the views were beyond spectacular and rewarded with a 9km descent into Castillo de Locubin. I’m really gonna miss this place but hopefully i’ll be back before the year’s out.

The climb up to Puerto de Locubin from Valdepenas de Jaen today. The descent afterwards is seriously sketchy but a lot of fun too.

So true. Inside a car you’re cut off from the outside, whereas on a bike you’re acutely aware of your surroundings by necessity. A bad close pass resonates and lingers for the rest of your ride, sometimes even well beyond.

More impeccable driving behaviour on my ride today (basically the standard here 🇪🇸) , there’s a danger of me getting used to this and getting a rude awakening on my UK return. Get over here Heidi Alexander, you might learn a thing or two.

So, almost a week in Andalusia, not one single close pass or any instance of careless/dangerous driving and I’ve ridden all but 1 day so far. In the UK, I average 3 (prosecutable) close passes every 20km. That’s before you add on the rest I.e. Left/right hooks, overtakes on a bend, etc.

Bloody hell, got out for a morning ride doing the Ventas loop and totally didn’t realise there was a bike race going through - Clasica Torredonjimeno. Just got back with about 15/20 mins to spare before the race went past. Brutal route profile. clasicaciudaddetorredonjimeno.com/assets/rutro...

Professional footballers feign injury. Professional cyclists feign good health. Keir Starmer feigns anger, after yet another completely self inflicted disasterclass.

“A missed opportunity” or even more aptly - a series of missed opportunities. The wide consensus on the gov’s weak, watered down and ultimately looking the other way Road Safety Strategy. The focus on BBC breakfast today being young drivers and not implementing graduated driving licences.

It begins 🇪🇸 🏔️ (yes it’s a hand crafted wooden wheel stand also designed for wheel truing). Humbling first ride as I’d forgotten how brutal the surrounding terrain is. Couldn’t ask for a better bike to help make the gradients bearable.

An absolute must watch finale at Tour of the Basque Country and the race specialist himself - Alex Aranburu hitting the afterburners on a gruelling punchy climb. Enjoyed every second of that.

Brilliant bike racing at Tour of the Basque Country. Various riders in the super break having their bid for glory. Lots of potential scenarios still in play.

Hyper vigilance when cycling on UK roads is a pre-requisite. It both takes it’s toll on those who persist, whilst being an insurmountable barrier to those who would like to cycle but feel it’s too dangerous. It shouldn’t be like this, but for too long we’ve had politicians who pander to motorists.

Think I’m gonna have to bring back the Velogames DNS/DNS tracker, already 2 riders down in Itzulia Basque (Voisard and Del Toro). Hasn’t been too bad (aside from 3 abandons in Paris Nice). Always overcompensate with potential GC guys with the paranoia of a few selected riders abandoning.

On a positive note, lots of cyclists out today and acknowledgement waves shared throughout the journeys. Bad drivers, you can GFY 🖕 Cyclists enjoying the nice weather in the best way possible, I 🫡 you.

Andalusia can’t come soon enough. Sick to the teeth of sh!t UK drivers. Several close passes and then endangered by a moron bus driver choosing overtake a parked car (in their lane), fully driving straight towards me, causing me to slam the brakes and veer to the lane edge to avoid being wiped out.

Eagles Mock draft on Consensus board (no trades). Got so used to trading back to pick up a bit of extra draft capital and selecting Blake Miller in late 1st round. Ioane fell (almost zero chance of that happening in a few weeks) so that made the decision for me.

Good ride out with an ex-colleague, who’s at a very different level with all the work he does on the turbo. Wouldn’t be a ride without at least one middle aged man baby in an SUV, blaring the horn. Well done, you saved 20 seconds so you can walk your unleashed dog that bit earlier.

Tour of the Basque Country starts tomorrow, so the next round of the Stage Race Championship with Velogames Itzulia. A course which guarantees attacks and explosive racing, complimented by a super strong startlist. Lots of deliberation but decided to settle on this team.

According to BBC News, not only are cars crashing into people and infrastructure of their own accord, there’s some that do it deliberately. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Easter eggs, £5, £7, £11, etc. I mean WTAF?! No thanks I’ll take the pack of Penguin biscuits for £1. You’ll not take Yorkshire folk for fools with spending money. We’ll revert to the most cost effective option available. It’s a cost of living crisis after all. Gouge this 🖕 you profiteering tw4ts.

Hannah Spencer Greens new MP first weeks in parliament It’s easy to see why a lot of MPs don’t understand how hard things in the country are right now. This place is a bubble & there just aren’t enough of us here who get it; who come from working-class backgrounds, who’ve had ordinary jobs like me

Mandatory spatial awareness test (gov’t approved) before purchase of an SUV/4x4 can be completed by any member of the public. Antisocial vehicle tax legislation to be introduced in due course for these monstrosities.

Total WVA pain face. Really hope he does it 🤞

Some absolute voids out there today, causing havoc. Worst was the idiot who right hooked me, realised mid manoeuvre they shouldn’t have, then stopped blocking the entire lane. Special mention to the muppet blocking the segregated bike lane with head in his van vaping “I’m werkin mate“. 🤦‍♂️

If I had a cycle lane installed running past my driveway it would be no concern and in fact it would actually be another well serving prompt to be alert from the moment you start the ignition. As always, the complaints are more self-owns from bad drivers.

Spent a bit of time trying the front wheel on one of the bikes. Any deviation visible to the naked eye and it’s not good enough. One of the dark arts of bike maintenance, but one that I find very therapeutic and rewarding.

Today’s Carbrained Fool Award goes to the moron parked in a cycle lane (solid white lines) against the flow of traffic, whilst illegally using their mobile phone behind the wheel with the engine idling. He seemed genuinely mystified when I gave him a sarcastic thumbs up on the way past.

Pretty much decided on my Velogames Catalunya team. So many great options to choose from. 3 punchy/reduced sprint stages, 3 mountain summit finishes and the spectacle of the final stage round Barcelona which always delivers. As always subject to late changes with injuries/illness.

Velogames season is in full swing with the classics & next on the Stage Race Champs calendar - Catalunya. Catalunya stacked which makes team selection very difficult. For guidance I use the following for previews: - cyclinguptodate - idlprocycling - velofute - falsoplano - owdocycling (YouTube)

Quite interesting that Visma are working to bring the gap down to the break, obvs trying for the stage with Jonas. I thought breakaway win was pretty nailed on with the GC situation, but I suppose why not?! If the stage is there for the taking, then take it. #ParisNice

Calling a breakaway win tomorrow in Paris-Nice. Vast majority of the peloton are so far down on GC, with plenty of lumps for a strong break to form and Visma with no pressure to chase (esp. after a brutal stage today). Maybe Leknessund, Tejada, Vlasov, Romeo could be good candidates for the win.

That’s as good as can be hoped, wishing Juan a speedy recovery.

Crazy top 10 GC at Paris Nice.

Watching all the horrors that have occurred during this Paris-Nice stage and it’s Jonas Vingegaard’s bib tights with flappy sides that have me most perplexed.

Horrific crash in the lead group and Ayuso looking like he’s seriously injured. Will be leaving the race and can only hope his injuries are not as serious as they look. #ParisNice

Hello Ineos, one hell of a TTT, big Kev spinning like a mad man up the drag to the line, but looks like Ayuso taking the yellow jersey. Really like how this is gonna be poised going into the lumpy stages. #ParisNice

Absolute luxury having Söderqvist and Vacek pulling you into the finale, Trek surely taking the lead shortly? #ParisNice

Epic stage at Tirreno Adriatico. Feel really sorry for Thymen Arensman who was the plan for Ineos to try and stay up in GC but hit the deck on the gravel. No surprise with the winner, but really close trio sprint.

Got a Reform leaflet through the post earlier. Picked it up, laughed and chucked it without hesitation in it’s rightful place, the f**king bin.

Round 2 of the Velogames Stage Race Championship begins tomorrow with Tirreno Adriatico. Very interesting parcours, opens the GC up to a much wider pool of riders.

Really feel for the people who write previews for pro cycling races with teams leaving it so late before announcing their squad. Mid afternoon with Tirreno Adriatico starting tomorrow and still 10 teams still to complete their roster for the race.

The Velogames Stage Race Championship begins today with Paris-Nice. Lots of good interesting value picks at 6cr, which helps get Ayuso and Vingegaard on the team. Certainly a few stages with breakaway potential in the route, Costiou, Leknessund good candidates to get up the road.

Busy, busy week, almost there with one last task and then it’s the weekend, with one of my favourite races of the year - Strade Bianche. Weather also looks viable (i.e. not raining) to get out for a couple of weekend rides. 👍

2 years ago I had 2 kids on bikes fly out of a side road right in front on me when driving. The road is a 20mph limit and I was able to stop in time because I was adhering to the speed limit. The vast majority of drivers break 20mph limits and would have not been able to stop in time.

This week’s Question Time summary: George Monbiot was on 🔥 and Denham was dire (but then she is a Telegraph columnist, so what do you expect?!)

@kimwillsher.bsky.social This is the typical outcome of such motorists being emboldened by that criminally irresponsible Times article you were defending.  I like the majority of cyclists follow rules and laws religiously and it still doesn’t stop us from being callously endangered.

2 abysmal close passes today (<50cm), 1 clearly a punishment pass after I pointed out the less worse one the same motorist did earlier. Always middle to later aged men. You may feel temporarily better about yourself, but it won’t change the fact you’re a micro-penis coward with fragile masculinity.

@coureur.app Thoughts on using Millionaire today? Prob a slightly easier race to call than Strade (for riders to get in top 15), but only pro-race points (and likely fielding barely any riders in the bigger race this weekend).

@coureur.app I took my shot, only one I had in the barrel and somehow hit the bullseye. Lucky shot though, it was Wellens injury that prompted me to look for an equivalent value replacement. Go Meeus!🚴🥇