News: Pedal Club Lunch September ‘22

The Pedal Club’s speakers for its September 2022 meeting were Dan Lloyd and Sue Rogers (nee Fenwick) – Chris Lovibond reports

News: Pedal Club Lunch September ‘22

The Pedal Club’s speakers for its September meeting were Dan Lloyd, the former pro and current Global Cycling News commentator and Sue Rogers (nee Fenwick) a former time trial champion and current cycling infrastructure activist.

The discussion section of the meeting was a Q & A session which began with the almost unanswerable question: ‘What changes can we expect in cyclesport over the next decade?’ Dan’s main prediction was that he expected to see more equal coverage of women’s racing. This has certainly been a poor relation in cycling journalism in the past, but he suggested that something more like the coverage of women’s tennis was a strong possibility within the next few years. Sue hoped that the governments ‘Active Travel’ initiative would bring new blood into the sport and pastime; more utility cyclists should generate more sporting cyclists, as was the case in the past.

A further question related to the mixing of disciplines, for example would gravel racing be significant as a feeder to other branches of the sport? Dan felt that gravel was not likely to be a long term phenomenon, but he expressed some concern about the perceived cost of equipment for beginners, particularly in time trialling – possibly more attention to the ‘road bike’ class in this department would be beneficial. Sue pointed out that existing clubs and teams could not be expected to cover an ever widening range of disciplines.

There was also a discussion on e-bikes and the need for legislation on these machines. The abuse of electric bikes, particularly the widespread practice of removing speed restriction devices, was seen as a physical and legal threat to everyone from pedestrians to sporting cyclists; Grant Shapps’ recent proposal of registration plates for cyclists is an example. The e-bike concept might have sounded a good idea, but if they become electric motor bikes, regulation will follow and this could easily become a problem for real cycling.

This meeting was again chaired by Doug Collins in his capacity as Acting President and was attended by 41 members and guests. It was held at the Parcel Yard Pub, Kings Cross.

Chris Lovibond.