Dodgy Dave, who wrecked

Get Britain Cycling report, is back in town

For all those who take refuge from the noos by reading Facebook posts by souls enjoying a meal or boasting of their achievements,  look away now.

The news this week does nothing to calm our nerves, as the headlines screamed: David Cameron is back in government.

Cameron! Or Dodgy Dave, as he became popularly known among the downtrodden.

 

This is the man who as prime minister refused to fund the widely acclaimed

Get Britain Cycling report in 2013.  He had raised hopes by praising it but then refused to commit government to implementing it.

Which in my book confirms that cycling issues just don’t grab any British government.

Instead Cameron passed the buck to Local Authorities where there was no danger of anything coming of it. He surely knew the LAs

had neither the £billions needed nor, in most cases, the political will to get on with the greatest cycling initiative ever.

 The former prime minister of course is remembered chiefly for his controversial Austerity measures which led to cuts in many public services and hardship for poor families.

 This is the man who allowed a public referendum which resulted in Brexit, and the UK leaving the European Union, something he hadn’t counted on.

Brexit set the country further back, from which the country today is still struggling to recover.

He disappeared for several years, surfacing in the Lords.

Now Lord Cameron slides back into the fray as Foreign Secretary.

His appointment by Rishi Sunak smacks of a drowning man thrashing around and grabbing any flotsam in a bid to remain afloat, a strange decision considering it was Cameron’s government which left the mess Rishi knows he must fix if he is not to lose the next General Election. 

This mishmash of double talk goes on at all levels, with cycling issues one prime example.

It is 15 years since writing of the remarkable rise of British cycling which first kicked off following the hugely successful 2008 Beijing Olympics.  In the decade following I would occasionally pause to ask myself the following. 

Do I need to reappraise my brutal assessment of how British politics has continually and willfully failed cycling this past half-century?

And the answer each time was no.

So today I am motivated to look back once again at the utter failure of the government to improve cycling conditions, which we felt certain would be addressed as cycling success continued.

I called this, the Marriage of Success to Failure following the 2012 London Olympic Games, when British riders again scooped a multitude of medals, following Bradley Wiggins famous victory in the Tour de France. What a marvelous year, as thousands of new followers took up cycling.

Then we had the brilliant Get Britain Cycling Report – to be sidelined, like many previous excellent recommendations - this time by Dodgy Dave.

Ditto post Rio 2016. Ditto post Tokyo 2020 Games. At each Games British riders  shone, but the success failed to permeate down to cycling transport policy.

Oh, government may say they want to invest in cycling, they do the talk. They’re good at talking, putting up a few £billion before taking it back, slashing funding.

Despite tirelessly lobbying by Cycling UK, the national cyclists’ organisation, funding remains woefully inadequate for the government’s so-called Active Travel Policy to encourage walking and cycling.

Such mismanagement of cycling policy serves as a perfect mirror for the nation’s woes.

How fitting that this devilish blog should coincidentally run to 666 words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What has  Rishi got against cycling? 

PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak’s cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2 fell short of pulling the plug on the whole wasteful multi-billion pound enterprise, critics complained last week.   And while that story from Conservative Party Conference in Manchester grabbed the headlines, we cyclists were more concerned that not a word was said about improving cycling safety in the road upgrades promised.

His speech was all a load of soundbite cobblers anyway, not even discussed with his own cabinet.

His announcement of rail plans for “Network North” in a 40-page prospectus was rustled up a hurry, according to Helen Pidd in The Guardian.  It illustrates, she says, “a significant lack of understanding of the realities of transport in the north of England.”

It also hijacked some schemes already announced, as if they were new.

His plans to do away with 20mph zones will make the roads ever more dangerous and does nothing to encourage cycling, indeed will deter people from cycling.

He has surpassed liar and conman Boris Johnson with inflated claims painting rosy pictures of the future, relaxed measures to cut back on carbon levels which will weaken Net Zero aims, and all in the hope that the electorate will grant him a stay of execution in next year’s General Election which his party is predicted to lose.

But I wouldn’t bet on that, since politics now dances to the outlandish tunes demanded of the  populist masses who gave us the chaos of Brexit in 2016.

And that's enough of this blogging about all of that.

It brings me to this week’s big question.   What is the point of a blog?

Just what are blogs about, other inflated views of the writer. Who cares?

Curious things, Blogs.

Short for log, apparently, as in a diary for the keeping of. Keeps me occupied, it’s a distraction.  .

A blog diary is visible to all, of course, via the internet. Well - available to those who bother to look.

It begs the question, why would anyone want to look at what a blogger is writing, such as this blog?

I write one because after reporting for Cycling Weekly for many years I cannot kick the habit.

I like to record my thoughts, my reaction to the news and goings on. It’s like running the Hoover over my brain. Maybe, in my subconscious, I am writing to meet a deadline, to get a story out there.

I like to hammer out stories on my laptop to the recorded background sound of the rat-a-tat of typewriter keyboards (remember that old technology?) which I play to get me in the newsroom mood. Includes the stressful strains of subs howling in protest at grammatical blunders. And shouting, from time to time…. hyphens, dear boy, hyphens. (Fond memories of Sid Saltmarsh, a really excellent sub, pouring over copy, fag stuck to his bottom lip while listening to a horse race on the radio. I well recall his anguished cry of rage as his fancied horse was overtaken. “Oh for Christ’s sake, piss off Piggott.”

And I like the idea that a few people may follow the blog.

No idea what they make of it. But it’s become obvious to me that readers prefr cheerful celebratory stories and will steer clear of doom laden stuff about, for instance, the shit about the Tory Party Conference, or Climate Change, things like that.

Or the recent blog about how DuPont, sponsors of the Tour of Luxembourg, poisoned the world with a toxic chemical found in many every day products. Very few bothered to read that.

 I’ve replaced all my Teflon pans, by the way, with pans with stickers on them proclaiming them to be PFOA free.

One of the biggest spikes recently was recorded for my observations of one of the biggest and exciting upsets in the sport when a well-liked domestique upstaged the team’s two champions in a Grand Tour.

American Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta d’Espana despite being attacked by his two teammates, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, both of them hot favourites and winners respectively of this year’s Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. But when Kuss took the overall lead in Spain on stage eight with a healthy overall lead that upset the applecart.

That was a great story, and we were so pleased for Kuss who has wowed us all with his powerful riding in the service of those two talented riders helping to set races up for them on countless occasions. And yet they weren’t so big as to want to return the favour. Until pulled into line by team orders.

And so Kuss won. Bravo.

That blog netted over 800 hits in one day, with close on 5000 registered that same month.

Doesn’t compare with those blogs with several thousand followers – blogs about cupcakes, knitting, mending bikes, for instance.

The dive in readers occurred the week after the “Kuss surge” when I posted the truly depressing and horrifying story of how Tour of Luxembourg sponsor DuPont had, over the years, poisoned almost everyone on the planet with a chemical they knew to be toxic but nevertheless used in the manufacture of many products you and I use, from cooking ware to shower-proof clothing.

Very few clicked on the blog to read about that.

 Clearly, people get enough depressing news across the media without being assaulted by a blog of horrors.

This is also reflected in the many posts to Facebook, which invariable are all about happy times.

And why not?

But I'm envious of those posts from people on some swell holiday, or having a great time with family at some post restaurant with photographs of the meal they are about to be stuff into their gobs.

This is the downside of Facebook for many people out there, with no family, or with issues which all but halt social activity of any sort.

I suppose we’ve all been ensnared “social media”, posting stuff and hoping for “Likes” . Has it become a drug? 

I sometimes wish I could kick the habit. But then again, Facebook groups, especially those from people all sharing caring duties can be a blessing, for shared advice and support.

This is the good bit of Facebook.

So too for those in the throes of life threatening illnesses, sharing their concerns online helps when sometimes complete strangers respond.

And there are cycling groups, specialist interest groups, all good fun, sharing information and history and photographs. 

That’s what Facebook is, or pretends to be while storing our data, it's a place to hide from the everyday shit.

But I do wish there could be more comment on current affairs, such as the utter and complete mess this country is in, courtesy of the Conservative Party. Or, if it’s a Tory supporter with his or her head up their own arse, they may like to say how wonderful the Tories are doing, how their share values in the water companies have made them rich never mind the sewage being wantonly poured directly into rivers and the sea.

Do not fear. It turns out that Rishi will be moving out of Number 10  now he has won a one-way ticket to Rwanda, the first prize in our competition Vandal of the Year.

“And away….” as comedian Bob Mortimer would say.

That is the title of his autobiography, a laugh from start to finish.  Recommended as the perfect antidote to all this nonsense. Not my blog - the goings on!

Allez.

 

 

 

Cycle race sponsor DuPont manufactured the toxic chemical found in Teflon and other water-resistant products

CYCLE racing has a troubled history of doping, as we know. Riders taking dangerous chemicals to assist them in their work.  Today the sport insists doping is not so nearly as widespread as before.

But given this history of chemical abuse in cycling, how ironic that a sponsor associated with the sport is chemical giant, the American company, DuPont, based in West Virginia.

You may be aware of the dark side to this company. I wasn’t until recently. This astonishing and alarming story was only revealed in all its gory details a few years ago after lengthy litigation spanning two decades. It tells how DuPont manufactured a toxic chemical knowing it to be a health risk, and which has ultimately killed people. The record states it has made its way into the blood stream of every person on the planet.

Non-stick Teflon (left) non toxic (right)

Some might ask if this case is any worse than the health risks from burning oil and there are millions of vehicles, factories out there burning the black gold.

The big difference, though, insofar as oil is concerned, is that it was nearly a century after oil was first used in the automotive industry (1859, in the USA, I believe) before the risks became known. So this was in the 1960s and yes, you guessed it, oil companies kept quiet about it! Shush. Money to be made.

They probably would have kept the lid on it had they known from the beginning!

However, if there is a distinction to be made it is that DuPont knew the health risks when first making PFOA, kept quiet and went ahead anyway. Money to be made.

As bad as each other. We’re all fucked, if the truth be known.

Anyway, back to the DuPont story which really has pissed me off given that they boast to making stuff to make our lives easier and healthier.

There are three aspects to it, the exposure of employees to the chemical PFOA,  the dumping the toxic waste into the water supply and onto the land and  using this chemical in a wide range of water-resistant products used world-wide.

This from The Conversation: By 1989, many DuPont employees were diagnosed with cancer and leukaemia. Yet while these events were detailed in internal corporate documents, the media only reported the toxic spills in 2000. In 2001, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of Parkersburg residents. On February 13 2017, DuPont agreed to pay US$671 million to settle the case.

*The Conversation is a network of not-for-profit media outlets publishing news stories and research reports online, with accompanying expert opinion and analysis.

I became aware of this scandal recently after watching the true life film, Dark Waters.

Dark Waters is a 2019 American legal thriller film directed by Todd Haynes and written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan. The story is a dramatization of lawyer Robert Bilott's case against the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont.

After many years DuPont was eventually forced to settle over 3500 personal injury claims arising from the leak of poisonous waste products into the water supply in West Virginia.

The day after watching this disturbing film, Dark Waters I turned on the television to watch a bike race and caught sight of the finish line banner. It has the name DuPont writ large upon it.

Hell, I thought! 

Clearly, the scandal which is revealed in terrifying detail in the film, has barely touched DuPont, as though the story belonged to a parallel universe. And here they are, few years down the line with a stake in sport, what we might call a “green washing” arrangement.

But it won’t ever wash with the people of West Virgina who took the major hit from this company’s work.

For this is a tragedy in human and also animal terms - one farmer lost his entire herd of cattle poisoned from drinking contaminated water. The farmer, Earl Tennant, discovered his cattle were dying. He was sure they were drinking contaminated water from a creek on his land and he was proved right. 

Tennant wanted answers and so lawyer Rob Bilott took up his case and was shocked at the sheer scale of this scandal which has reached far beyond West Virginia.

He wrote a book about it, “Exposure: Poisoned Water Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s 20-year Battle against DuPont.”

This book was the story behind the thriller I saw recently -  Dark Waters -  and the documentary, The Devil We Know.

The chemical at the centre of this is called perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) – also known as C-8. It is called a “forever chemical” for it will last forever in the environment.

The film gets to the nitty gritty. This chemical is used in the production of Teflon and other stain and water resistant products.

The story revealed how PFOA is linked to serious diseases such as kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Bilott says that a small group of people …. “coordinated the intentional manufacture and release of a lethal poison that had special properties that meant, once released into the world, it would be inevitable that it would make its way into the blood of virtually every person on the planet, even babies in their mother’s womb, and stay there, like a ticking bomb.”

Here is DuPont’s mission statement. “…to create sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer and healthier life for people everywhere.”

Net sales last year were $16.7bn, up 16 per cent on the previous year.

(The Organic Consumers Association tells the story in lurid detail

'The Devil We Know:' How DuPont Poisoned the World with Teflon - Organic Consumers) 

 

 

ALL HAIL KING SEPP

 

The bare facts will record how American Sepp Kuss won the 2023 Vuelta a Espana leading Jumbo-Visma to a historic triumph in being the first team to win all three Grand Tours in one year.

And that Kuss rode all three!  The team topped it off  by taking the top three positions overall in Spain.

Sepp Kuss, winner of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana

The story gets even better when we take into account the intrigue concerning what appeared to be devious plotting to deny Kuss that victory when both Roglic and Vingegaard, turning their pedals anger, attempted to wrest the red jersey from him.

It was a story which rocked the sport in the final week before it all came good in the end.

For wasn’t that the most magical moment when Jumbo – Visma’s Sepp Kuss, the American super domestique, upset the hierarchy – Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic - to  emerge as the new star of the decade.

His meritorious victory in the Vuelta in Madrid was achieved despite their best efforts to oust him!

What a controversy, as he put their noses out of joint, the two men he has faithfully always served. For he had helped Denmark’s Vingegaard to win of the Tour de France in July, a month after helped Slovenia’s Roglic take the Giro in May.

What an outrage then when this pair attacked Kuss when leading them in Spain, trying in vain to take the red jersey off him in the closing kilometers over two successive days including the toughest of mountain stages in the final week.

Sepp Kuss in the red jersey of race leader.

So what was going on in the private confines of the Jumbo team bus? Where was the show of solidarity to back their new star?

Clearly, the original Jumbo plan was to have either Vingegaard or Roglic go for top overall honours. As proven Grand Tour winners that’s what was expected of them. And Kuss was to be the mainstay, helping pave the way, as he had done so often in the past.

So perhaps when Kuss surprised and took the overall lead on stage 8, they saw him as “caretaker” of the jersey. They expected him, the “lessor” rider, to slip back in due course leaving the gate open for the “top” guys later in the race.

But what if he didn’t fall back. What if he began to look like a winner himself?  Which is exactly what happened.  Had they even considered a change to the script?

We all knew that Kuss had it in him to try. And this year my gut feeling was that he had it in him to win.

 We have watched him pace those two guys for kilometer after kilometer in the past, burning himself out before peeling off as they launched their efforts.

Was there a team discussion about the possibility that one day he might just be better than those two? And if this should happen would the team change strategy and support him.

It doesn’t look like it. More like the team was going to leave the riders to sort it themselves, man on man, as Roglic said.  

Whatever, clearly Vingegaard and Roglic held to the belief that the race was theirs to fight for, even as Kuss looked more and more the champion with a substantial margin over them both and worth defending.

The pair of them clearly had invested a lot of mental energy as well as specific training to carry out the team’s wishes, for one of them to take the race. We must not overlook that.

So focused were they on their quest, they failed to see, or didn’t want to see, that the world had changed around them.

And so they went about their business, failed to recognize that the time was right to repay Kuss for his years of service – including in both the Giro and Le Tour this year, where he worked hard as a pace setter on the steep slopes,  chasing down attacks from others, so that they didn’t wear themselves out, perhaps weaken themselves before they chose the moment to push on themselves.

But that counted for nothing. To hell with all that.

And so they attacked this usurper who had had the temerity to find himself ahead of them on general classification.

They would put him in his rightful place.  He’s their domestique, right. Hang him out to dry, set the GC to rights.

Vingegaard tried first on hilly stage 16 to Bejes, when he attacked with just under 5 kilometers to go, leaving Kuss on steep slopes averaging 9 per cent for the last 4.7 kilometers and he took a comfortable win. It was suggested that Kuss had shown the first signs of weakness that day, but if he did, it soon passed and he finished in 10^th place, four seconds behind Roglic. But Vingegaard had cut Kuss’s advantage to 29 seconds.

 

Then on stage 17 – Kuss’s 29^th birthday - both Vingegaard and Roglic attacked one after the other and distanced Kuss once again.

 

They cut loose in the final kilometers of the monstrous climb of the Angliru to finish at the top where Roglic outsprinted Vingegaard to win.  It’s described as 13 kilometers of hell, with an average gradient of 14 per cent, but with slopes of 20 per cent for good measure!

Vingegaard closed the gap to Kuss to only eight seconds and leapfrogged to second overall ahead of Roglic now third overall, who cut his deficit on Kuss to 1 minutes 8 seconds.

But Kuss wasn’t finished, taking third place on the stage – a Jumbo-Visma 1, 2,3.  And he kept the red jersey.

However, the attacks by his two teammates caused howls of

outrage across social media platforms and the press took  Vingegaard and Roglic apart.

It seemed to us that so inflated were their egos they couldn’t bring themselves to return the favour. So wired were they in their desire to win again they simply jumped ship, scarpered up the road, left him behind. I wonder what Kuss thought at the moment?

As it was they couldn’t take back enough time to dislodge him.

And they reckoned without the reaction of cycling fans across the world and the press who turned on them with a vengeance to lambast their acts of selfishness.

We can only wonder what words the management had for them that night. Whatever they said, clearly they told the pair of them that Kuss was now the protected rider that they must fall in line behind him.

It appeared to do the trick and the two rogues did as told, made sure Kuss reached Madrid in Red.

And they did that, although Roglic’s frozen smiles told you all you needed to know about how he felt about it. Vingegaard did genuinely look more relaxed.

History will recall when the new star first rose to the top. It was on stage eight won by Roglic that Kuss, the team's best placed rider overall, took  7^th place at 2sec, and rose to the top of the overall classification. He took the famous red jersey which would be his for the rest of race.

At that point,  Kuss led the race by 43 seconds from Soler and by one minute from Martinez in third. Roglic was 7^th overall at 2-38 and  Vingegaard 8th at 2-42.

There you have the new pecking order for Jumbo-Visma – or not!

The American had finally spread his wings as we all knew he could, and he would hold the lead for the rest of the Spanish race even as Vingegaard and Roglic closed up, moved up to second and third overall respectively.

Kuss had stood firm under attack from his very own teammates and clearly showed he had the class to win a Grand Tour.

So it was that the 29-year-old took the top step of the podium in Madrid on Sunday evening, flanked by Vingegaard in second place and Roglic in third.

It was, in the end, a truly magnificent victory for Kuss and the Jumbo Visma team. Hail King Sepp.

 

Ex-government minister encourages vandals to 'commit criminal damage' against traffic cameras

 

Science tells us that pollution is causing climate change and that transport is a major contributory factor warming the planet. And that this  will lead to sea level rise. 

 Lancashire will become particular vulnerable and large tracts of land will become submerged  within the next seven years. (Check out the Lancashire Telegraph and Lancs Alive.)

Yet the recent transport news leaves me reeling at the growing opposition to what the government is calling the "ruinous" race to net zero - to cut pollution. 

The struggle to limit pollution is failing as the Conservatives turn  important issues into political football in the hope of boosting flagging support for their failed policies.

Worse, one former minister and the right-wing press are encouraging vandals to commit criminal damage to traffic cameras, as reported by The Guardian.

 Not only that but gains made in road safety are beginning to unravel which will only deter people from cycling which, as we know, is the recommended mode of transport for many short journeys currently made by car. 

The government on the one hand reluctantly acknowledges the need to cut pollution but on the other cynically, devises policies which will only increase it, such as opposing schemes aimed at restricting the worst polluting vehicles in towns by charging to enter Ultra Low Emission Zones (ULEZ).

There is another government action which will also increase traffic. This is the proposal to remove Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes, which have these past 30 years, improved the quality of life for many residents, and also made local roads safer for cycling. 

First off, though, ULEZ.  To drive into these low emision zones will cost you if driving a vehicle not classed as low emission.

This scheme has caused an outcry among drivers and the Conservatives have seized upon this to win votes by championing "poor" people who say they cannot afford to pay.

ULEZ was introduced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan who wants to extend it to every London borough.

So desperate are the Conservatives to discredit the ULEZ scheme, MPs have – unbelievably - resorted to encouraging vandals to attack cameras at the zone entry points. Some 600 cameras of the 3000 needed to enforce the new London zone have so far been destroyed!

So much for the self-styled “party of law and order”!  says The Guardian who ran the story on Friday last - written by Polly Toynbee. She reminds us that “Stop Oil” protesters have been jailed for criminal damage. Now we have MPs encouraging breaking the law to suit their political agenda.

According to Toynbee, Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Leader, is “openly calling for protestors to commit criminal damage” by attacking ULEZ cameras!

This is the law and order tough guy, says Toynbee, who points out that Smith

helped push through new anti-protester laws which have resulted in two climate protesters being jailed for climbing onto a bridge and disrupting traffic!

Ah, Smith – such integrity. A man of the people.

ULEZ was created in response to serious health concerns over the worsening air quality which is estimated to have caused 4000 premature deaths in one year in London.

So as well as contributing to climate change, traffic pollution is also killing people. Not that the Conservative Party appear to be showing concern.

The introduction of low emission zones is an attempt to keep out the worst polluting vehicles by charging drivers £12.50 a day to enter the zones. Many people and businesses operating on a shoe-string plead they cannot afford to pay this and yet they cannot do without their vehicles.

So that’s an issue which needs to be resolved.

But if you can afford to pay you may still pollute! Doh.

What’s the point of that?  Its saying if you can pay you may continue to pollute. Bollocks.

One good idea is the suggestion that drivers are paid £2000 “scrappage” which would help towards buying a cleaner vehicle. 

It should be noted that France has banned vehicles which do not meet the new limits.

Britain’s way, however, is to turn this crisis into a game of politics while people meet premature deaths caused by polluted air and, in seven years’ time, by drowning as the sea floods their own homes.

Khan is Labour, so the Conservative government are opposing expansion of the zones in the hope of gaining brownie points over Labour to curry favour with voters they perceive are turning against green policies.

It’s all about the ballot box and the cynical “need” to secure the drivers vote in the next general election -  a few years before the seas start to roll in! 

The government knows there is public support calling for action to cut pollution to stave off the worst of climate change but they also fear a backlash from people who do not want to face up to the reality of what this might cost them – in the short term, that is; not using the car, for instance. And vote them out of office at the next general election.

The other traffic issue concerns the Prime Minister’s threat to take out low traffic neighbourhood schemes so he can say to drivers, look, I'm looking after you by finding more roads for you to use!

By doing so, this will allow through-traffic to once more use residential roads as rat runs.  Apart from benefitting residents these past 30 years since their introduction, LTNs have also contributed to making cycling safer.

Cycling UK, who urges us to write to the PM about this, said last week:

“Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) are widely supported by communities, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is listening to a vocal minority and has announced a review that could put our quiet residential streets and safe cycle routes at risk.”

The government cannot be allowed to succeed in taking out LTNs, say Cycling UK.

The government has already stood idly by as local authorities removed pop-up cycle lanes installed during the pandemic. And this year they have cut £millions from their own Active Travel Policy intended to encourage cycling and walking because, in my view, they fear a real increase in cycling will antagonise, yes - you are spot on – will antagonise motorists and certainly the right wing press.

And finally…

Here’s the  thing - the connection between pollution and those heavy torrential downpours.

The science says that the billions of tiny particles resulting from burning carbon (from traffic, homes, factories etc.)  are circulating in the sky above where they attract condensation.  This in turn increases cloud water vapour by 40 per cent. Which is then dropped in those sudden downpours which can cause flash floods.

 

 

 

WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

 

What should we make of the first edition of the UCI’s marathon Super World’s in Scotland held over 10 days earlier this month?

~Tadej Pogacar on his way to the bronze medal in the
2023 Elite Men's World Road Race Championship in Glasgow.

This new format is to be held every four years, like the Olympics.

Over 200 rainbow jerseys were awarded – that iconic and most beautiful of them all worn by the king or queen of a particular discipline. In Scotland titles were decided on the road, track and in the para events, cross country, plus artistic cycling and cycle ball and I can't recall how many other events!  Only  cyclo-cross and gravel road were not represented.

My interest has always centred on endurance and sprint events, the rest don't hold my interest.

Each to their own.

You might imagine that combining so many events was a recipe for chaos yet it appears to have been very well organised and  entertaining. 

Certainly there was controversy, particularly concerning the extensive road closures leading to imprisoned residents complaining they were unable to leave their own homes on their own wheels.

But did this super cycling show cram in too many events? At the time it seemed there was too much going on at once. Barely had one event finished before TV viewers were whisked away to the next - be it track, mtb, time trial, plus artistic cycling! Something for everyone. Not me, though. That last one's for the circus.

There was hardly any time to savour the outcome of some events. TV missed showing the podium presentations for the Elite men's road race because it finished so late thanks to the climate change activists holding up the race earlier.  

For me, I have always rated the elite road races for men and women as the toughest of the championships, because of their sheer length and the pain that must be endured to be in with a chance.

They have always climaxed the World's road race series, being held  over  consecutive days at the end of the program. But in Scotland they were split up, the Elite men kicking off the proceedings on the first weekend, with the women's title race held a week later. 

Clearly, this suited the complex logistics of putting on so many disciplines.

I understand that there was such a crowded track program  medal ceremonies were held in back rooms unseen by the audience – so tight was the schedule.  Shame, for this robbed the riders of their moment of crowning glory and also the crowd of the big occasion. 

The greatest controversy and excitement was probably over the course for the new look Elite Men’s road race which started from Edinburgh and finished in Glasgow.  Some way down the course that morning we watched the race being held up  for nearly an hour by "stop oil" climate change campaigners. But the big story was to come.  When the race finally hit Glasgow after 120 kilometres,  it was transformed into a 10-lap "criterium"  which many  riders said was too technical. 

This sent the field orbiting the city on a dizzying tight circuit which included as many as 48 “turns” per lap. It was bit like long track speed skating switching to short track for the finish!  Required two entirely different skill sets.

It was unlike any previous World’s road race, where the endurance needed to go the extra distance intended to kill all but the best, now also demanded skills of a crit  or ‘cross rider  with the ability to accelerate again and again as they rushed into and out of the many  corners one after the other.

And of course, two of the best in the world at ‘cross were right in the thick of it Matthieu van der Poel and  Wout van Aert, together with Tour de France marvel Tadej Pogacar.

And they turned it into the probably the most thrilling title race we have ever seen.

Whether it was right or wrong to turn it into a criterium, many of the riders who were at first critical approved of it after riding it. It made a dramatic and exciting change.

And it was pointed out to me, rather pointedly,   that the three best men in the world dominated it anyway, as they most certainly would also have done on a conventional course.  

Van der Poel stunned us with his lone break to take his first road rainbow jersey risking everything with an effort that put him on the ground on one corner. He was back up in a second, hurt it was later revealed, but with adrenalin coursing through his veins nothing could stop him from finishing the job.

That other stunning piece of work, Van Aert took the silver while Pogacar took bronze. All three of them have delighted us with their brutal attacking riding in the classics and the Tours. And there they were, all together,  doing the business in Scotland, tearing each other up, and distancing the rest. 

These three  are worlds apart, as they demonstrated in Glasgow. Perhaps they are from another planet. 

You can read a full review of the ups and downs of the 2023  super world’s on Cyclingnews.com.

 

 

 

BLAME JOHNSON FOR THE CLOSURE OF HOSTELS

 

LATEST BREXIT DISASTER – 20 YOUTH HOSTELS TO CLOSE

BREXIT and the pandemic – but mostly Brexit - has led to the sale of 20 Youth Hostels in England and Wales, it was reported last month.

This is the latest own-goal for those 17 million Leavers who voted for the UK to abandon the European Union in 2016, the consequences of which are still unfolding.

There are many reports charting Britain’s fall to impoverishment since then, which the Pandemic, the Russian war on the Ukraine and inflation have added to.

The opposite view – that everything is now rosy since turning our backs on Europe – is laid out in a wooly  government report which has the hand of the liar and architect of Brexit  ex-MP Boris Johnson all over it and seemed to me about as real as castles in the air.

So, fair to say the closure of hostels is Johnson’s fault. By the way,  it is reported that this silver spooned professional bull shitter has earned £1million from three dinner speaking engagements since leaving office this year.

Meanwhile, leaving the EU has cost the UK £40 billion in lost tax revenue and the benefits of trading as a member of the EU.

Despite the claim that the UK would no longer rely on the EU for trade, the  EU remains our main trading partner. However, the cost of importing and exporting goods has soared because we no longer enjoy the trading benefits that came with membership.

Complex bureaucracy to move goods across borders  has replaced frictionless trade and resulted in a number of UK businesses folding.

Our economy is now 5.5 per cent smaller than it would have been has we remained with in the EU.

Now Brexit is impacting on one of the jewels of the British tourist industry, the Youth Hostels Association (YHA), founded in England in 1930.

The YHA story broke a month or two ago in The Guardian with a story by John Harris, and in the Telegraph and across social media.

The Guardian learned from insiders how Brexit has hugely reduced the numbers of school trips from abroad, so hitting a crucial part of the Association’s revenue.

Since Brexit many foreign schools have found it too difficult to negotiate the complex bureaucracy now in place to visit the UK since the ending of free movement - a key proponent of the Leave campaign which wanted to keep foreign workers out.   

As a result the YHA may have to shut a third of its 150 hostels. There are 20 up for sale and 30 more listed as likely to go the same way.

It is hoped that buyers will want to keep running the facilities as independent hostels, but it is feared many will be turned into luxury homes. And that will be truly ironic,   disgraceful, given that the movement was originally formed to enable youngsters of limited means to escape the towns and cities and discover the countryside.

“Youth” hostels? Its misnomer these days for the Association has for years welcomed all ages and all nationalities through its doors. At one time the rule was you had to arrive under your own steam - on foot, cycling or canoe!

Falling attendances saw the Association relax this rule long ago in a bid to boost visitor numbers and now hostellers no longer have to get a sweat on and can arrive in cars and coaches.

This altered the dynamics of the hostel somewhat, as those of us arriving tired but fulfilled from our exertions and requiring nothing more than a good meal and the plain comforts of an armchair in the common room, came face to face with “others”, who arrived cold and looking for entertainment.

Yet the original spirit of the organisation still holds good, “to encourage young people (of all ages) to a greater knowledge, use and love of the countryside.”

The list of hostels to go on the market include: Patterdale in the Lake District, the Peak District village of Eyam, Poppit Sands in West Wales, the Somerset town of Minehead, Cheddar in the Mendip Hills, Kington in Herefordshire, and at Haworth, West Yorkshire.

Like many, I have enjoyed staying in hostels, mostly on cycling tours over the years, enjoying the simple pleasures. 

Castleton  Losehill Hall Youth Hostel
in the Peak District National Park.

I stayed with club mates at Capel Curig in the heart of beautiful Snowdonia in North Wales one December. That evening a thunderstorm knocked out the power, and we sat up by candlelight telling each other ghost stories.

We rode away the next morning on a light dusting of snow, forked lightning streaking across the sky and thunder echoing off the mountains.

I spent a night at Slaidburn on the Lancashire Fells, where I was the only guest and invited to share dinner with the warden and his wife. They waived the usual requirement of overnighters, to complete a task before leaving, sweeping the dormitory for instance.
Or, as was the case in Castleton hostel, Derbyshire, where club mate Dave Davis and myself were landed with the washing up to spare youngsters in a school party. The warden thought it unfair to expect kids, mostly aged about 10 and 11, to wash  up heavy pots and pans of porridge oats and dozens of plates and dishes.

At Abergavenny I was again the sole occupant and after a hard days ride was perfectly content to take my rest alone in the common room that evening, listening to the solitary and solid tick of the grandfather clock towering in the corner.

And two and half miles from home is Tanners Hatch, a delightful old cottage on the edge of the woods reached by bridleways over the Surrey North Downs. Tanners was graded simple with one dormitory for men one for women at the time, although it looks to have been tarted up since then and is now classed as a “one star hotel” with apartments. There is also camping.  Back in the day you did your own cooking. The toilet block was outside and there was only ice cold water to wash in.

My family once spent an enjoyable night there with other parents and their children on a primary school nature outing. We listened to wild life expert tell us about the creatures of the night, owls, bats and badgers. We visited a badgers’ sett in the woods.

Our genial host was the warden, the late Graham Peddie MBE, a remarkable and generous character who also ran Pit Stop for the homeless in nearby Leatherhead.

Good times.