Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Your colleagues in Exeter Labour watered down bus lane improvements, kiboshed an LTN, voted against better pedestrian and bike infra on a key route into Exeter and are in the process of unfiltering a strategic bike route. They have done nothing but resist active travel improvements here for years. 000
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Tonight, in east London! Us whacking massive drums with big sticks! www.blackheathhalls.com/whats-on/tai...blackheathhalls.comTaiko Meantime: 25th Anniversary - Blackheath Halls 000
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Any 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...blackheathhalls.comTaiko Meantime: 25th Anniversary - Blackheath Halls 001
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Tickets here: London: www.blackheathhalls.com/.../taiko-me... Cleethorpes: cleethorpes.parkwaycinemas.co.uk/kemono-michi Farnham: farnhammaltings.com/.../taiko-me...blackheathhalls.comTaiko Meantime: 25th Anniversary - Blackheath Halls 010
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 15/09/2026We'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. 100
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 15/09/2026My Japanese drumming group, Taiko Meantime are performing a series of concerts this autumn to celebrate 25 years of bashing big drums with big sticks. 120
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 10/09/2026This could ginger up the final kilometres in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 0120
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Looks 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. 1331
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 04/09/202654) Quick Step Via Felix Lowe. On insta at @blazinsaddles. 140
Reposted by Edward PickeringWill Norman @willnorman.co.uk · 04/09/2026Croydon 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... 210829
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 29/08/2026So good. defector.com/there-is-onl...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... 010
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Devon 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. 067
Reposted by Edward PickeringExeter Cycling Campaign @exetercycling.bsky.social · 16/08/2026🚲 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...crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe 053
Reposted by Edward PickeringExeter Cycling Campaign @exetercycling.bsky.social · 15/08/2026❤️❤️❤️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...crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe 271
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 14/08/2026The 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. 040
Reposted by Edward PickeringExeter Cycling Campaign @exetercycling.bsky.social · 13/08/2026🎉🎉🎉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...crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe 151
Reposted by Edward PickeringExeter Cycling Campaign @exetercycling.bsky.social · 12/08/2026🚲 For the first time in 10 years, we're asking for your financial support. 🔗 crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dryden-roa... 🧵crowdfunder.co.ukDryden Road- Safe for EverybodyFund specialist legal advice to keep Dryden Road safe 136
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Prudhomme said that thing about a Tour with only middle mountains to Al Fotheringham in an interview for Cycle Sport's 2010 Tour preview. Wasn't presented as a direct quote, but Al and I chatted about it at the time and it's always stuck in my head. 140
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 27/07/2026For 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.comedwardpickering.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... 010
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 27/07/2026I 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...edwardpickering.substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 21: We'll always have ParisReflections on the scintillating final stage of the 2026 Tour de France 040
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 27/07/2026This 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. 120
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 27/07/2026Montmartre 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. 180
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 26/07/2026My 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-...substack.comTour de France 2026 stage 21: We'll always have ParisReflections on the scintillating final stage of the 2026 Tour de France 030
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Here’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 050
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 26/07/2026I 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. 1160
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 25/07/2026My 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-...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 020
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Pedersen, dropping Bernal on the Croix de Fer, there. 090
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 25/07/2026Pogačar’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-...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 081
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 25/07/2026I 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. 140
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 25/07/2026I’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. 160
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 24/07/2026And 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 010
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 24/07/2026It 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. 380
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 24/07/2026I 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. 120
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Today’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-...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 010
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Still 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. 2140
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 23/07/2026The 70s were also an era of lavish excess. 110
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 23/07/2026In 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...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 170
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 23/07/2026I 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. 140
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 23/07/2026I 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. 120
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Today’s stage piece, in which I try to distil the important facts of today’s chaotic race on the edge of the Chartreuse with the care that the Carthusian monks at the nearby monastery put into distilling Green Chartreuse liqueur. substack.com/home/post/p-...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 130
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Stage 16 piece is on my Substack feed – I managed to squeeze a bit of hydrogeology in there, as well as some cycling. edwardpickering.substack.com/p/tour-de-fr...edwardpickering.substack.comTour de France stage 16: Still WatersThe Tour's time trial skirted the southern shore of Lac Léman, a beautiful place which has attracted writers and poets... and racing cyclists 020
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 22/07/2026(Stubbleman is the alter ego of Belgian-Anglo musician Pascal Gabriel, and fellow 1980s kids will recognise his number-1 hit 'Theme from S’Express'.) Ventoux Trilogy is a beautiful album and I wrote about it for Rouleur. 120
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 22/07/2026The first lines are: The everlasting universe of things / Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves I immediately recognised where I’d seen this before. It’s the title of the final track on the ambient musician Stubbleman’s album '1:46:43 Ventoux Trilogy'. stubblemanmusic.comstubblemanmusic.comStubbleman1:46:43 The Ventoux Trilogy 100
Edward Pickering @edwardpickering.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Serendipitous discovery of the day yesterday came when I was looking at art inspired by Lac Léman, and covered in my stage piece. The poet Percy Shelley spent time there, and wrote his great Romantic poem Mont Blanc, which I’d heard of, but never read www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45130/...poetryfoundation.orgMont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of ChamouniI The everlasting universe of things Flows through the mind, and rolls its rapid waves, Now dark—now glittering—now reflecting gloom— Now lending… 110