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Eric Martlew, the Labour MP for Carlisle, said earlier today he will reintroduce his plans to get the government to force children to wear helmets when cycling. Details are scant at the moment but it's probable that Martlew will table an amendment to the Road Safety Bill. He will use the BMA's volte face on helmets as a supportive argument. BikeBiz.com has a petition online, urging the BMA to go back to being pro-helmet, anti-compulsion.

And equally true to form, there are claims some cycle websites organised an "orchestrated campaign", urging folks to 'vote bike'. Surely not? Nevertheless, there's a good headline for cycling in The Times: "So is it the computer? Electricity? No, pedal power makes the bicycle our favourite invention... Britain is a nation built on two wheels: Times readers have pushed aside the claims of electricity and vaccination to choose the bicycle as the country’s greatest invention of the past 250 years."

If cyclists are forced to wear helmets, how long will it be before 'on me 'ead, son' isn't a footballer's request for a pass, it's a stipulation that footie players must also wear hard hats? A ludicrous suggestion? Not so. In America, 'soccer helmets', similar to those used in Aussie rules football, are becoming more and more popular, much to the chagrin of footballing organisations who say soccer is "safe", even though nine children have died in recent years from head-meets-goalpost injuries...

Team Shimano-Van Keulen-Imabo Van Buren - rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? - is made up of Dutch and Japanese riders. The team will be equipped with Colnago frames.

Father Christmas is down one bike, his own.