It’s been a little while since we last focused on illegal bikes, although police forces have in fairness seemed focused on them for quite a while, or at least are conscious of the importance of being seen to be focused.

In the last week, Police Scotland have been on something of a media blitz, touting the wonders of Operation Overlap, a mission they say targets “illegal e-bikes and e-scooters”. Without wishing to relitigate past discourse, an emerging quasi-philosophical debate has broken out over where illegal e-bikes can exist, considering if an e-bike isn’t legally compliant (15.5mph, 250W et cetera) then it’s an electric motorbike. Speaking personally, I think the phrase ‘illegal e-bike’ is valid, since motorcyclists talk of their bikes in the same way cyclists do. But I understand this is a broad topic and since there is confusion and misinterpretations on this, we’ve taken to using “illegal bikes” as an umbrella term that everyone understands and fairly few people take issue with.

> BBC criticised for reporting police apprehending “e-bike driver” without mentioning the machine was illegal

So Police Scotland’s reporting of their latest seizure of “illegal e-bikes” is one thing, the BBC headline “Police to destroy electric bikes and scooters seized in crackdown” is another. Misleading and conflating to say the least…

It actually takes until the fourth paragraph for the article to make clear the police are seizing “illegally modified e-bikes” and more than halfway through the story before the distinction is made between legal and illegal e-bikes.

> “Officials who should know better, don’t”: Sadiq Khan criticised for describing electric police motorbikes as “e-bikes” as BBC amends misleading headline

They’re also not the only BBC News division inviting this confusion. BBC Wales have followed police on an early morning raid to seize these illegal bikes and break up the criminal enterprises they enable. As an investigation, the story is pretty good, detailing the arrests of many illegal bike owners for suspected drugs offences and wider links to “organised criminality”. But the language is all over place.

“E-bikes blight communities”, “the link between e-bikes, serious organised crime and child exploitation”, “e-bike related crime, from illegal riding to drug dealing”. There are a couple of distinctions made towards “illegal e-bikes” as well as one mention of “illegal e-bikes and electric motorbikes” but that only reinforces a distinction that does not exist, and confusion that no one benefits from.

At some point you sound like a broken record…

> E-bike confusion harming shops, as owner claims illegal bike owners “aggressive” when refused service

A crime against all that is holy…

The Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) had its General Assembly meeting a couple of weeks ago and, having earlier this year warned of the sport’s increasing medicalisation, they’ve now decided to bring in the doctors.

> Cycling doping cases fall, but anti-doping group warns of “grey areas” and “increased medicalisation”

The MPCC, which comprises 12 men’s and women’s World Tour teams, several ProTour teams along with individual riders, takes a sterner approach to anti-doping protocols than non-affiliated teams, whilst also campaigning for stronger measures to be put in place.

On a rest day of the recent Vuelta a Espana, the organisation held a meeting comprising only team doctors, “so that they could speak freely and discuss their concerns. These concerns were then summarised and shared with the board, in order for them to determine the next steps.

“These doctors’ meetings will be far more frequent in 2027. Their purpose will be to inform the Board’s decisions, and in particular the topics to be discussed with the governing bodies.

“The aim is clear: to find ways to strengthen cycling’s credibility in a context where the grey areas are too numerous and too vast. What is neither banned nor approved fuels suspicion, and the public cannot make sense of these situations, which damage the image of cycling.

“The MPCC intends to remain in its role as an alarm-raiser, a role that has been essential in the past in obtaining major progress in the fight against doping from the governing bodies.”

The organisation also welcomed the participation of the UCI and the ITA (international testing agency) in the meetings as “symbolis[ing] the value of exchange and dialogue. Where the MPCC once waved flags and sounded the alarm, it now also wants to build a two-way contribution.”

> Anti-doping agency apologises to pro cyclist for drug test carried out hours after mother’s death, but says “no concerns or requests to postpone the control were raised at the time”

And it seems as though the group are leaning heavily on the potential outcomes of their doctor’s working group, with four meetings already planned for 2027. They hope the working group will give medical professionals “a stronger voice in discussions around rider health, anti-doping and emerging practices, while ensuring their recommendations reach the relevant governing bodies.”

Best of luck to them.

The inventor of a folding helmet disagrees with recent research…

> Researchers find collapsible bike helmets provide less protection against serious head injuries than conventional ones – but folding helmet inventor questions “misleading” study

This time we’re actually talking about e-bikes, specifically the hire bikes operating in London that still don’t have city-wide regulation, despite the political and business will of everyone concerned.

> “The ‘Wild West’ approach to dockless e-bikes cannot continue”: Sadiq Khan sets out plan for regulating London bikeshare schemes, urging Department for Transport to act fast to “make these powers a reality”

In the meantime, individual councils are trying to enforce their own standards. We covered a few weeks ago the news that Ealing Council were going to begin impounding e-bikes that were to begin impounding e-bikes that didn’t have a memorandum of understanding to operate in the borough as well as poorly parked e-bikes. Westminster Council have of course been doing this quite a while as well. Now it’s Wandsworth’s turn.

Unveiling a Fair Use Charter, the council say it will “hold operators to account for their hire e-bikes and scooters in Wandsworth, taking action against bad parking and riding dangerously on pavements” whilst enforcing their charter through a new patrol that will monitor e-bikes across the borough.

Under the new Fair Use Charter, e-bike companies will have to:

The Charter also ensures  the Council can:

I suspect that data might be quite interesting in a couple of months’ time. Until then, the council are sounding bullish about the efficacy of their charter.

Cllr Nick Austin, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Residents are rightly frustrated with bikes blocking our pavements and roads.

“Our new Fair Use Charter stands up for residents and their need for safe pavements and public spaces. It is designed to set clear expectations for operators, ensuring they manage their bikes and scooters better, and respond quickly when issues arise. The Charter also gives the Council stronger powers to take enforcement action and make operators pay.”

We’ve known for a few years that the Brit is something of a daredevil with a penchant for going fast, so in many ways this isn’t a surprise…

> Don’t try this at home! Tom Pidcock’s demon descending skills showcased in latest video – but some cyclists accuse British star of setting “bad example” by overtaking car and speeding

The Brit has been racing his own Porsche 911 on the famous German racetrack, and has been praised by former Porsche GT racer Jörg Bergmeister for his adaption to the circuit.

“The advice I could give him is to simply focus on hitting the marks: braking points, turn-in points. But you can see it all comes naturally. I guess there’s a reason why he’s so good on the descents in cycle racing!”

Asked what draws him to driving high-performance cars, Pidcock said “I guess it’s because it’s about ‘high performance’, just like cycling is for me. It’s the same mindset.

“Driving, in general, is a pursuit of improvement, which is constant in what I do daily. But here there’s no pressure – I can also enjoy the fact that I don’t need to push it to the extreme limit. When I’m competing [in my career], there’s always so much pressure, so on track it’s nice that I can simply just compete with myself.”

Fingers crossed that constant pursuit of improvement doesn’t extend to his behaviour when driving on the road…

All politics is local, all stories have an angle. Many Brits, and indeed millions of Americans who fancied an early night, might be waking up in some shock as to the results in the US midterm elections, where Democrats have pulled off their biggest victory since at least the Watergate-wave more than 50 years ago.

There are all sorts of nuggets to take away from these elections, my favourite stat from a late night of number-watching and social media scrolling is that the last time a Democrat won a Senate seat in Kansas, Babe Ruth hit his called shot in the famous Baseball World Series of 1932. That’s a while ago.

> Donald Trump cancels grants for bike lanes because they’re “hostile to motor vehicles”

Anyway, this is road.cc and we do bicycles. And, with Republicans suffering very bad defeats, a number of anti-cycling advocates have been defeated.

Remember Brandon Herrera? The ‘gunfluencer’ who said he’d “thought about ways I could get away with” killing cyclists? He lost his race to enter Congress by around 20,000 votes, despite Donald Trump previously winning in the district (Texas’ 23rd) at a canter.

> “I had f**king fantasies of running them all over – and maybe one of these days I will”: Clip resurfaces of Republican candidate’s horrifying anti-cyclist rant

There’s also Joe Mitchell, candidate for a similarly conservative district in Iowa, who had some strong words about bike lanes and the people who use them when he campaigned with the President a few weeks ago…

You wonder if Mitchell was maybe entirely aware of his electorate, considering Iowa is the home of one of the biggest, most popular bike-touring events in the world – the Register‘s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa –or RAGBRAI for short. I doubt they take too kindly to Harley’s on that route. It’s so big it’s even an event we covered back in 2013 when a certain Texan took part – in a strictly non-competitive sense…

> Lance Armstrong to join 10,000 other cyclists in mass participation event in Iowa

Speaking of Iowa, one keen cyclist did lose their election. Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn was known to frequently go on bike rides around his home, only deleting his Strava once media cottoned on to the fact he didn’t live in the state he was seeking to represent.

The app’s geo-tracking showing him living in Kansas consistently right until he announced his run for office. At least he’ll now have time on his hands to get back out on the open road…

> US political candidate’s bike rides on Strava show he doesn’t live in state he’s running to lead

And finally, thanks to the wonders of timezones, we won’t know the results in the Los Angeles mayoral race for a little while, but incumbent Karen Bass, a Democrat, has found herself in something of a dogfight with her opponent after having the nerve in a debate to accuse Nithya Ramen’s supporters of wanting cycle lanes. We’re not sure that’s the withering putdown she thought it was…

One of these days, we hope cycling will not be seen as a political hot-button issue for candidates to seek grievances over. Until then, we’ll be here ready and waiting to report on the demise of their political aspirations…

> BLOG: Donald Trump’s senseless war could be an inflection point for cycling infrastructure across the world

Yeah yeah, I know you had your fun yesterday with the Zwift map and the relief and consternation that followed. Also, as much as I write about Tom Dumoulin’s running achievements, Ryan just can’t help himself from reminding us of the Dutchman’s upset stomach from nearly a decade ago. Poor Tom…

> Horrified Zwift rider spots “guy taking a dump by the side of the road” in new real-world video: “Is that Dumoulin?”

> From Deux Moulins to Dumoulin: Pro cycling’s most iconic toilet stops

I’m normally a little sceptical of corporations’ efforts to join a joke. I’ll make an exception for Specsavers, but Ryanair, Domino’s et al can get in the bin. Saying that, it seems like Zwift have found a very good solution.

“After yesterday’s amazing thread on the Colorado River pooper, Zwift added a new sprint segment, complete with privacy barriers, called “When You Gotta Go!” Amazing.” Zwift user Eric noticed.

Well played Zwift engineers, leaning into their mapped mess whilst also appeasing the sensibilities of Mary Whitehouse’s ghost. Lovely stuff. Although a more cynical user commented on Eric’s post: “That’s the quickest Zwift has ever fixed anything”

As someone with a soft spot for Gwynedd, this was a nice read from our Dave…

> The Dragon’s Spine: Conquering Ride Cymru, a 3-day epic taking in mountains, valleys, and the magnificent Welsh coastline

Remember when the Vuelta a Espana started a stage in a supermarket? It’s not quite a Monte Carlo casino yet also feels quintessentially cycling, a sport reliant on overt commercialism and marketing in a way we don’t associate with many other sports. It’s just not cricket, for example.

Well, the bad news is that ASO have announced Carrefour will no longer sponsor the Vuelta red leader’s jersey. The good news is another supermarket have stepped up to fill the void!

Not content with the Deustchland Tour or their own team, into which they’re pouring as many euros in as they are potential leaders, Lidl have taken up the mantle, meaning hopefully fun photos like this aren’t consigned to the past just yet.

We’ll be able to find out if either the men’s or women’s race decides to utilise the German discount supermarkets wide aisles and generous bakery section when the routes are unveiled next month, although the likelihood of the route impacting which major favourites line up for the race is rather slim due to the world championships taking place beforehand.

Kiko Galvan’s career as an influencer has shown no signs of slowing down since he “paused” his pro career in light of some outright dangerous behaviour whilst training.

> “A mistake has consequences, and I’m paying for them”: Pro cyclist “kicked off team” and pauses cycling career over dangerous bunny-hopping video

Instead, he now spends his days riding his bike for fun, occasionally falling in a river for our amusement…

> $1 million in pre-orders in just over a day: Lemmo 3 e-bike obliterates funding target