Edward Pickering

Another slow handclap for Exeter Labour, who continue their work of undoing active travel improvements in the city, by voting to spend £500,000 on making a strategic cycle route more dangerous for cyclists, in order for drivers to avoid a diversion of about 800m, (90 seconds at 20mph).

cc @labourwalkscycles.bsky.social

Vote alignment: Greens voted against putting ~4,000 cars/day back on to a strategic bike route. Labour aligned themselves (again) with the Reform, Reform-adjacent and Tory councillors to vote for it.

Fair cop, though.

Dexerto@dexerto.bsky.social

Amazon users are discovering a bizarre "About You" page that reveals what the company thinks it knows about them One woman found Amazon had determined she "has flat buttocks"

blackheathhalls.comTaiko Meantime: 25th Anniversary - Blackheath Halls

Tonight, in east London! Us whacking massive drums with big sticks! www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/tai...

So good.

Anon Opin@anonopin.bsky.social

The world would be a lot better with less grammar nazis.

blackheathhalls.comTaiko Meantime: 25th Anniversary - Blackheath Halls

Any Londoners at a loose end on Saturday evening, feel free to come and join me and my taiko group, Taiko Meantime, at Blackheath Halls for an evening of big beats, tight rhythms, thunderous resonance and big energy! www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/tai...

15 Sept

My Japanese drumming group, Taiko Meantime are performing a series of concerts this autumn to celebrate 25 years of bashing big drums with big sticks.

15 Sept

We're performing in Abingdon, Cleethorpes (with absolute taiko legend Leonard Eto), London and Farnham. If you're near any of these places, please buy a ticket and enjoy an evening of percussive entertainment, thunderous repertoire and tight rhythms.

blackheathhalls.comTaiko Meantime: 25th Anniversary - Blackheath Halls

15 Sept

Tickets here: London: www.blackheathhalls.com/.../taiko-me... Cleethorpes: cleethorpes.parkwaycinemas.co.uk/kemono-michi Farnham: farnhammaltings.com/.../taiko-me...

10 Sept

This could ginger up the final kilometres in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Vincenzo DM@vincenzodm.bsky.social

Remarkable: due to the fires in the High Fens in Belgium, a road, probably built between the late 6th c. and early 8th c., that connected Liège with Aachen has resurfaced. Photo: HBVL

9 Sept

Looks like Visma will fill the top two places in the points classification at the Vuelta. This is rare – last time this happened in a Grand Tour was in the 1980 Vuelta. Last time in the Giro was 1966. And it doesn't seem to have ever happened in the Tour. Feel free to check my maths.

5 Sept

Or: how cycling works.

This post is unavailable.

Edward Pickering reposted

Will Norman

@willnorman.co.uk

4 Sept

Croydon unlawfully removed a safety scheme paid for with public money. Rightly, TfL have required the money to be repaid & paused future funding - subject to the council submitting a revised plan that meets the requirements. mylondon.news/news/transpo...

defector.comThere Is Only One Lesson Of Red Vienna | DefectorTwo things are true about me: I hate rich people and I love architecture. These days that presents a terrible contradiction, because only the extremely rich are able to finance the perpetuation of arc...

29 Aug

So good. defector.com/there-is-onl...

25 Aug

Devon County Council are looking to make a strategic cycle route in Exeter more dangerous, and using funds allocated to active travel to pay for it. Please consider donating to our crowdfunder, which will help us with legal action against this outrageous plan.

Exeter Cycling Campaign @exetercycling.bsky.social

Could you chip in £5? #Exeter #roadsafety #cycling #activetravel #climatechange #pollution #publichealth #devon

ft.comReform UK’s deputy leader tells Britons to ‘enjoy’ heat amid record droughtRichard Tice’s call for people to ‘celebrate’ hotter weather comes as farmers warn of one of the worst harvests on record

17 Aug

My local park in Exeter last week.

Jim Pickard@pickardje.bsky.social

British people should “enjoy” multiple heatwaves and shrug off warnings of dangerous climate change while enjoying more English fizzy wine, the deputy leader of Reform UK has said. www.ft.com/content/49ea...

Edward Pickering reposted

crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe

16 Aug

🚲 Campaign Update Thanks to your support we've raised £3,605 so far! It's helping us secure the professional legal advice needed to challenge the proposal. Please consider helping us reach our target. Every little helps and will make a positive difference. 🔗 crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dryden-roa...

Edward Pickering reposted

crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe

15 Aug

❤️❤️❤️We broke through the £3,500 barrier this morning, so thank you to everybody for the support. Every little helps, even £5 will help us to keep Dryden Road safe for active travel. ❤️❤️❤️ 🔗 crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dryden-roa...

bbc.co.ukBurnham says UK is like a 'tinderbox' as West Midlands crews tackle multiple fires for second dayNineteen people were taken to hospital, according to the ambulance service, with 54 treated at the scene of eight different fires across the region.

14 Aug

The Labour Party are mainly really bad when it comes to environmental issues. Including our local party in Exeter, who consistently vote against active travel measures in the city.

Prof Bill McGuire@profbillmcguire.bsky.social

As far as I can tell, Andy Burnham has STILL not uttered the word 'climate' Quite extraordinary www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...

Edward Pickering reposted

crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe

13 Aug

🎉🎉🎉A huge, huge thank you to everybody who has donated! We made our target in a single day, and we're blown away by the support! 🎉🎉🎉 www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dryden-roa...

Edward Pickering reposted

crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe

12 Aug

🚲 For the first time in 10 years, we're asking for your financial support. 🔗 crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dryden-roa... 🧵

edwardpickering.substack.comCycling, the Universe and Everything | Edward Pickering | SubstackEssays, longreads and nerd stuff about cycling and other interesting things. Click to read Cycling, the Universe and Everything, by Edward Pickering, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscriber...

For all my Tour de France writing this year, please visit my Substack, and if possible subscribe and recommend to others. More to come! edwardpickering.substack.com

Montmartre may have been a tourist trap for years, but it’s got about as rich a cultural heritage as any square kilometre in the world. During the Belle Époque, it was home to Van Gogh and Picasso, and artists like Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec and Utrillo painted lively scenes from the district.

This is Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette by Renoir. The Moulin de la Galette is still going, and is on the Rue Lepic, the climb which now defines the final stage of the Tour.

edwardpickering.substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 21: We'll always have ParisReflections on the scintillating final stage of the 2026 Tour de France

I didn’t love the GC times being taken 40km from the finish line, but I did love the knife-edge balance between Van der Poel and the sprinters in that final 10km pursuit match. My stage 21 piece: edwardpickering.substack.com/p/tour-de-fr...

substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 21: We'll always have ParisReflections on the scintillating final stage of the 2026 Tour de France

26 July

My reflections on stage 21 of the 2026 Tour de France, featuring Stendhal, Picasso, Van Gogh and a bit of bike racing. substack.com/home/post/p-...

26 July

I loved the contrast between the crazy, chaotic Friday stage on the Alpe and yesterday’s understated, quiet ascent of the Sarenne. I also found the battle between Sepp Kuss, a smooth, classy climber, and Richard Carapaz, a tenacious, punchy fighter, very compelling.

substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 20: Déjà-vu, all over againReflections on the final mountain stage of the 2026 Tour, which was epic in its scale and in the way it unfolded

26 July

Here’s my piece about a day of contrasts and epic scenery, which was the 2026 Tour in a microcosm. substack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 20: Déjà-vu, all over againReflections on the final mountain stage of the 2026 Tour, which was epic in its scale and in the way it unfolded

My stage 20 piece, on a race of epic proportions and a battle of extraordinary intensity for the stage win. In which not much actually changed overall. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Pedersen, dropping Bernal on the Croix de Fer, there.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the climb to L’Alpe d’Huez – it was an annual fixture in the Tours of my teenage years, to the extent that when it was omitted from the route in 1993 for the first time since 1985, I was shocked that an Alpe-less route was possible.

I loved seeing the Alpe back on the race and it looked mad on the climb – sometimes too mad, but the Tour is at its most compelling when it walks the very fine line between chaos and control.

substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 19: The Eighth WonderReflections on what Tadej Pogačar's Alpe d'Huez stage win means for the rider and the Tour

Pogačar’s ride, for me, was a distillation of what he has meant for cycling. Yesterday finally saw the greatest cyclist ever on the sport’s greatest climb. substack.com/home/post/p-...

24 July

I enjoyed stage 18 to Orcières-Merlette, which was far more bar brawl than Queensberry Rules in terms of strategy. These hilly stages have become incredibly complex, with break after break after break.

24 July

It also had personal resonance for me. The first time I ever saw the Tour in person was the mountain time trial, also to Orcières-Merlette, in the 1989 race, which as we all know, is the greatest Tour there has ever been. Here's the pic I took of Greg LeMond that day.

substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 18: On the Route NapoléonAnother crazy day of non-stop attacking saw many in the peloton trying to take their last chance for a stage win

24 July

And here’s my stage 18 piece, featuring two great institutions taking to the hills en route to a great prize in Paris. substack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 18: On the Route NapoléonAnother crazy day of non-stop attacking saw many in the peloton trying to take their last chance for a stage win

Today’s stage spent a little time heading south on the N85, better known as the Route Napoléon. So the riders of the Tour were not the first to travel this road en route to Paris, with some big ambitions. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Still not convinced that only playing the very least interesting radio communications, about 10 or 15 minutes after they happen, is a great addition to the Tour's television coverage.

I had some Green Chartreuse poured down my throat when I was living in France as a student, and I think my 22-year-old palate wasn’t quite ready for the medicinal herbiness or notes of grated bark.

I haven’t gone back to it yet, but reading about Voiron for yesterday’s stage, and learning that Green Chartreuse is distilled in the hills behind the town, and that only 2 (or maybe 3) monks actually know the recipe, which involves 130 different plants, made me think I’ll give it another go.

edwardpickering.substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 17: It's not that easy being greenA chaotic, unpredictable stage took the riders of the Tour to Voiron, on the edge of the Chartreuse

In The Great Gatsby, one of my favourite novels, Jay Gatsby drinks Green Chartreuse, which is used to represent the lavish excesses of the Jazz Age. It was apt that stage 17 was a day of lavishly excessive attacking, with a twist in the race for green. edwardpickering.substack.com/p/tour-de-fr...