Racing against the Big Ring - Rd 2 North East MTB XC League - Ferryhill

Racing on your home ground is always exciting.  This race was a literal two minute ride to the start line and with the course unaltered from last year was promising to be just as fast and furious as last year.  I remember that hard chases from last year and had kept it in my pocket.  I knew about the sharp off camber bend the long fireroad straight and short but steep climb.  In fact I'd practised it for most of the winter.

This was not a course that suited my Single speed.  Fast courses never are, as you have to spin so hard to keep up and when your following a wheel and they shift up into the big ring there is little you can do to answer such speed. But, it was dry and not really technical which meant I wasn't going to loose time there.

Photo with thanks to Paul @ Clarkson Photography Grass Root Sports UK

46 of us started on the start line and we would be soon channelled into a narrowing track before hitting the single track.  It was bound to get messy as people jostled for position trying to make the holeshot, and I found myself blocked in by two riders not holding a very straight line.  Come an early banked corner and some riders were nearly crashing into each other causing me to have to dismount, loosing a couple of places in the process.  After that the lap was a fairly slow procession with little changing in places as the narrow singletrack kept us in position.  It proved to be the slowest lap.  As soon as we got to the fire road to the finish I pushed hard and took some places and tried to bridge the gap which had formed.



The race as it turns was fun but a hard one for me.  I kept a good pace but found it hard to pick and hold onto peoples wheels.  I'd go through the single track no problem even kept pace with the fast guys on the climb, but come the fireroad and the gaps would form.  A small group of us stayed in contact for a couple of laps until two crashed out just as they'd formed a gap on me.  One guy had got a good minute into me at one point and by the end it was down to ten seconds despite my mad effort to go all out in the last lap.  Still it also appeared I was being chased down but had managed to hold the guy off.  Not that I knew much about that at the time.

In the end I finished 25th, which wasn't quite as good as my last race but I figured that's the way it would be.  I was first place Single speed but then there were only two of us!

Photo with thanks to Paul @ Clarkson Photography Grass Root Sports UK

Overall in the series I'm now in 12th place with the aim of making it into the top ten and 4th in the seniors with the aim of making it in the top five.  Oh and I'm first place in the single speed category.

This video was shot of the junior and senior race from the done and gives a little idea of the action from the day. http://vimeo.com/66053010


Special thanks goes to Paul who was there photographing on the day and for letting me freely use the photos he took of me.  You can see more on is own web page by clicking on the link Clarkson Photogrphy

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North East Single Speeds First Group Ride - Swaledale

Standing on the top of a hill surrounded by some beautiful countryside shrouded in mists a small group of cyclists stand huddled behind a wall to shelter from the howling wind and driving cold wind.  The climb had been steep and boggy and faces show sign of tiredness.  Yet as food and drink are consumed spirits remain high and there are still smiles.  Someone then pipes up "I thought you said it was going to be hot and sunny?"

L to R.  Mark, Dan, Matt and Mike taking shelter from the inhospitable weather

 

Hot and Sunny.  That is what the weather forecast was predicting for the long awaited first group ride for those members of the single speed group almost a week before hand.  People were getting excited about the prospect of finaly having some decent weather after what had seemed like an endless winter.  The Swaledale hills in Yorkshire near Reeth boasts some of the most beautiful natural trails in this country and a week before had been covered in feet of snow.

Three On-Ones lining up ready to go.  The first one has to many gears!

Weather forecasters it would appear are not very good at predicting weather a week in advance and as the days got closer suddenly it looked like strong winds were going to b the order of the day. Still some braved it out of there houses and we met up at the infamous Dales Bike Centre , a cracking little place with a small bike shop, cafe and accomadation run by a very friendly family.  There were only three of us on single speeds.  Matt, Mike and myself.  Dan (who incidentially got me into single speeds) was still making excuses as to not to change back from his gears, and Mark wasn't feeling up to the challenge of riding one gear up some of the demanding climbs.  I'm not sure I blamed them!

We set off on the lower valley riding by the dry stone walls that are found in abundance in this area, breaking up the farms land to form a patch work of rugged squares across the moorlands.  Of course this means lots of gates to negotiate.  The ground was still very wet and there was a good amount of pasty mud mixed in with the rocky ground.  We were heading into the wind but it was fairly flat with only the occasional hill to wake the legs up.  More to the point it wasn't raining. 

Its funny thing with cyclists.  Most of the guys out today didn't know each other and yet put together they share their love of cycling and chatter never ran short.  We rolled on until our u turn point and where crossing the valley the real climbing was about to begin.  The rain of course had begun.

We were faced with a brute of climb which on a good day would have been hard but with the mud we were finding it hard to get any traction.  All but one of us were forced to walk much of that climb.  Matt, the younger of us, is like a whippet and very strong even on one gear.  He ploughed up the climb with what seemed like little bother putting most of us to shame!  Once near the top we were truly exposed to the elements and felt the rain and wind drive hard at us.

Pushing up but there are still smiles....or grimaces

Yes I was the one who had promised a hot sunny day.

Still at least we were heading back and that involved some downhill with a good wind on our backs.  Mike got blown off as we set off from the top, which shows how strong the wind was.  I was fighting to hold my lines down the damp moor land track.  As we went down the weather had improved and the skies had cleared, but it didn't stop us getting lost and having to negotiating a steep hill side on foot.  The final decent down was a narrow rocky one between the hedges which was doing its best impression of a stream as the water overflowed from the snow capped fells.  There was still the occasional couple foot of snow across the path too!


A puncture is always a good excuse to rest and chat

Getting back to the Dales bike centre we were able to shower the muck off ourselves and bikes before warming ourselves in the cafe with a nice cuppa and some very tasty cake. The worst of the rain then began so in someways we were lucky! It was a good ride out with some awesome people and hopefully the start of more ride outs together and good friendships.

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Let the Racing Begin : Rd 1 North East MTB XC League 2013

Rd 1 North East MTB XC League - Ponteland

It was with a bit of anticipation I entered this round, after all its hard to have high expectations of yourself when training plans have fallen by the wayside and the mileage just hasn't added up.  I was, to say the least,not even riding fit let alone race fit.  Still, on arrival after recognising some familiar faces and chatting to friends, race nerves were put aside and I was able to enjoy the friendly atmosphere which made me enjoy this series so much last year.

The course was newly dug and was said to be about a mile in length with which we would commit to an hour of hard racing.  The ground was dry for the first time in nearly a year and promised to be a fast paced race.  I took the choice not to pre ride the course as time was getting tight and to avoid panicking myself. (I have been known to pre ride a course and not make back in time for the start!).  With the sun beating down on us and mild breeze across the field a large bunch of us lined up.  Mixed abilities were all combined including a few juniors and a large number of veterans. There were only three of us riding single speed.  I'd set myself back as I didn't think my chances in the first part were very good and planned to find a wheel early and pace it.

The course firstly went across a couple of dry packed field with a slight downward direction giving plenty of time to string the field out before hitting the woods and the single track.  The single track was on dry peaty ground which went twisted up and down the side of the hill.  One of the climbs had tight switch backs in them, while the other was a straight steep slog up.  The track had a nice flow to it, with out it being overly technical or slippery.  After coming out of the wood its was back onto the fields heading slightly up and into the headwind before a fast decent leading to a steep climb with a near impossible top part due to some wet mud.  More single track on the field followed before a small piece of wooded single track looping back onto the finishing straight.



From the off I held back for a few seconds and realised I was not the only one being hesitant on the line whilst the more experienced riders shot off fast.  I found myself putting in some speed spinning my gear fast and passing a fair few riders down the field into the single track.  Its always at this point you have little idea where you are, but at this point I was confident I was in the top half of the riders.  Not much changed during the lap I lost a place in the single track but the large group of riders behind me stayed there.  I was racing at full tilt, breathing hard.  Probably too hard as the first few climbs I had no more to give and was dismounting early to make it to the top.



Coming onto the second lap I had six riders close behind me who I'd held off until now.  But with the slight downhill from the start, big rings were being engaged and I was passed by all of them.  I lost a few more places on that lap as I tried to regain a more reasonable pace.  It proved to be my slowest lap and likely the result of such a fast start.

By the end of the lap I was sitting in a no-mans land with no one really close behind me or in front of me, and was now finding a comfortable pace.  My nearest rivals were as follows:

Lap 3
SCHEREZER, F 28:38
DODDS, J          +  :22
ME                     + 1:45
CARR, J            + 2:03

Dodds dangled in front of me for that lap, I could neither gain on him or could he get away.  My pace was remaining fairly even.  Laps 3,4,5 were all set within the a few seconds of each other.  Near the end of Lap 4 Carr had caught me and passed making a few meters on me.  It had seemed It was another place lost but he didn't seem to be making any ground on me.

Lap 4
SCHEREZER, F  39:04
DODDS, J           +  :21
CARR, J              +  :57
ME                      +1:00

During the penultimate lap I hung onto Carrs wheel, neither making any attempt to over take or loose him.  He became my focal point to keep going.  To be honest I had nothing to give that time to get ahead of him and was worried going in front I'd over cook it and fade.  The guy was similar to me technically and in the climbs so he was easy to stay with.  By the end of lap five we had pulled in a tiring Dodds.

Lap 5
SCHEREZER, F  49:07
DODDS, J          + 1:06
CARR, J            + 1:07
ME                     +1:09

With the bell ringing for a last lap I felt I could stick with this pace and perhaps take it to the line, but on the field decent before the single track, Carr slowed a bit and I made not just a pass but an attack.  I've never done this before.  I went hard with the aim of dropping him but also catching and passing Dodds.  I succeeded in dropping Carr but Dodds fought back and pulled back in front just before the single track.  Damn it.  I was now breathing out of my arse and a silly mistake on one of the climbs meant Dodds was pulling away.  I was burying myself to stay with him but the gap wouldn't shift.  The last climb I'd gained a little and as we dismounted to climb the top Dodds got off and walked while I ran.  I got passed him and pedalled for all I had to hold him off.

Finally I finished my lap time proving only a bit slower than my first lap and it took a while for me to catch my breath back.  I'd finished mid pack.  22 out of 44 proving my best result to date.  On the final lap the times were

Lap 6
SCHEREZER , F   59:28
ME                        +  :19
DODDS, J             + :28
CARR, J               + 1:06

So that's my first race in the bag, and a very enjoyable one.  My new bike was brilliant and well suited to the course, now I'm looking forward to racing on home turf and seeing if I can better myself on trails I know well.  I might even put some training in........

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Looking Back at the UCI MTB XCO World Cup 2012

Come May 8th 2013 the World XC action will be back with us again.  Its a race race series that I've found hard in the past to watch but the Internet has become better for me to view it and now I can see it through Extreme channel.  It was a good year with the Swiss rider Nino Schurter being a formidable force to contend with.  It is of course the last year in which we got to see Burry Stander race and even win one of the world cup rounds before his untimely and sad death.  I was going to write a report on each of the races but never got around to it.  Instead I thought I'd let you see for yourself. 

So for your pleasure I've compiled as many of the Mens races from last year as I could find into one area to save you the search. All the races are in full length. Sadly, I cant get access to the Olympic race or the final seventh round at Val d' Isere yet.  Enjoy!

Elite Men - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa - 17.03.2012

Elite Men - Houffalize, Belgium - 15.04.2012

Elite Men - Nov Mesto, Czech Republic - 13.05.2012

Elite Men - La Bresse, France - 20.05.2012

Elite Men - Mont Sainte Anne, Canada - 23.06.2012

Elite Men - Windham, U.S.A - 30.06.2012

Elite Men - World Championships -  Saalfelden Leogang, Austria - 08.09.2012

 

 

 

Overall Winner of World Cup

 

1. SCHURTER Nino
2. STANDER Burry
3. KULHAVY Jaroslav
4. FONTANA Marco Aurelio
5. HERMIDA RAMOS Jose Antonio
6. VOGEL Florian
7. FUMIC Manuel
8. MANTECON GUTIERREZ Sergio
9. GIGER Fabien
10. FLUCKIGER Lukas
 
 
 



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Where are they now? Missy Giove

As a new piece to my blog I'd thought about delving into our past and finding out what has happened to bike stars from yester-year.  The years when Mountain Biking started coming of age and the good old Grundig World Cups. There have been many champions to the sport of both downhill and XC but there have been some that stood out more than others and so I'll be delving as deep as I dare and finding out what really happened to them after racing.


Missy Giove

Melissa "Missy" Giove (born 1972) is a former professional downhill mountain biker. Also know as the Missile , Giove was one of mountain-bike racing's first mainstream female superstars with an impressive reseme of achievements as well as her in your face, full on attitude that lit up the womens downhill scene.

Career

She is the American all-time leader in NORBA downhill wins with 14, and is second on the World Cup list with 11. Giove's other accomplishments include three overall NORBA downhill crowns, two World Cup overalls, and the 1994 world championship title. Prior to cycling, Missy was also a nationally ranked downhill skier.

Early in her career, Missy raced for the highly respected boutique Yeti Racing team along with other top downhill racing stars such as Myles Rockwell, Jimmy Deaton, John Tomac, and Johnny O under the management of industry veteran and former owner of Yeti Cycles, John Parker. After establishing herself as the top US women's downhill talent, Missy moved to the larger corporate financed team of Volvo-Cannondale USA cycling team. Together Missy Giove and Myles Rockwell dominated many of the US downhill races under the Cannondale badge in the early 90's. Missy was always known for being colorful and fast talking, and noted for wearing the desiccated body of her deceased pet piranha Gonzo on a necklace when racing, and her dead dogs ashes in her bra.

During her career she raced hard and full on taking on the ethos of riding: "I went fast for maybe 50 yards and then crashed. Then I went 100 yards and crashed. Finally one day I made it across the finish line without crashing. I never got faster, I just made it down farther." This riding was to lead to many hard crashes.  One shattered her Pelvis in six places.  An injury that Doctors had told her she would not fully recover from.  Later while racing she also broke both her legs as well as getting a brain haemorage.

*World Cup Results At Bottom of Page*


What Happened After Racing

She announced her retirement from full-time racing in August 2003, and in March 2004, she appeared in an episode of the cartoon Rocket Power titled "Missile Crisis" (the title referring to her nickname), giving one of the characters a compliment. After retirement she helped finance the travel and fees for several up and coming downhill cyclists.

She retired in 2003. That same year she landed on the cover of Girlfriends magazine for a story promoting the publication’s lesbian athlete hall of fame. On April 25th she will celebrate her 4th wedding anniversary to Kristen Hofheimer Giove.

In June 2009 Giove was arrested in upstate Wilton, New York on charges of conspiring to possess and distribute over 400 pounds of marijuana. Giove has pleaded guilty to the charges and was facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $2 million.

On November 23rd, 2011 she was sentenced to the time served, six months of home detention and five years of supervised release. She was reported saying:

"I am extremely sorry and remorseful," Giove said. "I realize I was a role model to certain people. I'm really sorry for making the wrong decisions. I just want to move forward." Giove's attorney, Tim Austin, said head injures both forced his client to retire and sapped her financially, contributing to her decision to traffic marijuana. "Missy's involvement in this does not define who she is," Austin said. "She does not need prison to be rehabilitated."

Back in 2004, Giove was interviewed by competitive cycling journal VeloNews. She was asked what she thought would be her legacy:

“I just always wanted to inspire people not to live their life in fear,” Giove said. “You know what, you’re only here once and that’s it. You better live it up.”



World Cup & World Championships Results


Date             Race                                Venue                   Cat  Sponser                Place  Entr %   Best    

13th Jul 2003	2003 Tissot World Cup #4	Grouse Mountain	Elite		5th	23	82%	2:20.55
8th Sep 2002	2002 Tissot World Cup #6	Les Gets	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	-	40	0%
1st Sep 2002	UCI - World Champs '02	Kaprun	Elite		3rd	39	95%	5:56.14
14th Jul 2002	2002 Tissot World Cup #5	Telluride, CO	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	4th	27	88%	2:22.80
30th Jun '02	2002 Tissot World Cup #3	Mont-Sainte-Anne	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	12th	27	58%	6:31.93
9th Jun 2002	2002 Tissot World Cup #2	Maribor	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	26th	37	31%	4:07.41
2nd Jun 2002	2002 Tissot World Cup #1	Fort William	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	5th	35	88%	6:00.17
16th Sep '01	UCI - World Champs '01	Vail	Elite		-	29	0%
26th Aug '01	2001 Tissot World Cup #8	Mont-Sainte-Anne	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	4th	34	91%	5:47.85
12th Aug '01	2001 Tissot World Cup #7	Kaprun	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	5th	45	91%	7:20.20
5th Aug 2001	2001 Tissot World Cup #6	Leysin	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	6th	35	85%	6:54.18
29th Jul 2001	2001 Tissot World Cup #5	Arai Mountain	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	2nd	19	94%	4:54.34
15th Jul 2001	2001 Tissot World Cup #4	Durango	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	3rd	25	92%	4:07.55
8th Jul 2001	2001 Tissot World Cup #3	Grouse Mountain	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	2nd	37	97%	2:09.75
17th Jun '01	2001 Tissot World Cup #2	Vars	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	3rd	38	95%	3:51.95
10th Jun '01	2001 Tissot World Cup #1	Maribor	Elite	GLOBAL RACING	3rd	42	95%	3:23.55
27th Aug '00	2000 Tissot World Cup #8	Leysin	Elite	Azonic / Foes	4th	33	91%	8:12.41
13th Aug '00	2000 Tissot World Cup #7	Kaprun	Elite	Azonic / Foes	2nd	38	97%	6:23.47
23rd Jul 2000	2000 Tissot World Cup #6	Arai Mountain	Elite	Azonic / Foes	2nd	16	93%	5:45.42
16th Jul 2000	2000 Tissot World Cup #5	Vail	Elite	Azonic / Foes	2nd	26	96%	5:00.48
2nd Jul 2000	2000 Tissot World Cup #4	Mont-Sainte-Anne	Elite	Azonic / Foes	1st	30	100%	5:27.99
11th Jun '00	UCI - World Champs '00	Sierra Nevada	Elite		9th	35	76%	4:31.84
3rd Jun 2000	2000 Tissot World Cup #3	Maribor	Elite	Azonic / FOCUS	3rd	36	94%	4:34.62
28th May '00	2000 Tissot World Cup #2	Cortina d'Ampezzo	Elite	Azonic / FOCUS	2nd	42	98%	3:41.57
21st May '00	2000 Tissot World Cup #1	Les Gets	Elite	Azonic / FOCUS	3rd	30	93%	3:16.19
18th Sep '99	UCI - World Champs '99	Åre	Elite		23rd	38	41%	7:06.54
15th Aug '99	1999 Diesel World Cup #8	Kaprun	Elite	Azonic / Foes	9th	29	71%	7:55.10
8th Aug 1999	1999 Diesel World Cup #7	Bromont	Elite		4th	24	87%	5:46.08
1st Aug 1999	1999 Diesel World Cup #6	Mont-Sainte-Anne	Elite		2nd	30	97%	5:20.55
11th Jul 1999	1999 Diesel World Cup #5	Squaw Valley, CA	Elite		6th	27	81%	5:18.21
27th Jun '99	1999 Diesel World Cup #4	Big Bear Lake, CA	Elite		1st	29	100%	4:10.49
6th Jun 1999	1999 Diesel World Cup #3	Nevegal	Elite	Azonic / Foes	2nd	30	97%	5:00.35
30th May '99	1999 Diesel World Cup #2	Maribor	Elite	Azonic / Foes	10th	30	69%	5:22.09
23rd May '99	1999 Diesel World Cup #1	Les Gets	Elite	Azonic / Foes	2nd	30	97%	8:17.97
20th Sep '98	UCI - World Champs '98	Mont-Sainte-Anne	Elite		28th	45	39%	6:25.23
30th Aug '98	1998 Grundig World Cup #8	Arai Mountain	Elite		7th	17	63%	8:13.12
16th Aug '98	1998 Grundig World Cup #7	Kaprun	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	3rd	25	92%	5:26.70
9th Aug '98	1998 Grundig World Cup #6	Sierra Nevada	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	16th	25	38%	5:30.66
28th Jul 1998	1998 Grundig World Cup #5	Snoqualmie Pass	Elite		3rd	25	92%	4:52.05
21st Jun 1998	1998 Grundig World Cup #4	Big Bear Lake	Elite		2nd	25	96%	4:53.35
31st May '98	1998 Grundig World Cup #3	Les Gets	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	3rd	25	92%	6:50.25
24th May '98	1998 Grundig World Cup #2	Nevegal	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	3rd	25	92%	6:42.47
5th Apr 1998	1998 Grundig World Cup #1	Stellenbosch	Elite		4th	25	88%	4:54.71
21st Sep 1997	UCI - World Champs '97	Château d'Oex	Elite	Cannondale/VOLVO	43rd	49	13%	9:38.87
15th Aug '97	1997 Grundig World Cup #6	Kaprun	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	1st	25	100%	4:37.22
6th Jul 1997	1997 Grundig World Cup #5	Massanutten, VA	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	3rd	25	92%	5:07.20
29th Jun 1997	1997 Grundig World Cup #4	Mont-Sainte-Anne	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	1st	25	100%	6:09.20
1st Jun 1997	1997 Grundig World Cup #3	Sierra Nevada	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	2nd	25	96%	4:51.42
25th May 1997	1997 Grundig World Cup #2	Nevegal	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	3rd	25	92%	6:29.52
18th May 1997	1997 Grundig World Cup #1	Stellenbosch, RSA	Elite	Cannondale / VOLVO	2nd	18	94%	5:30.37
22nd Sep 1996	UCI - World Championships '96	Cairns	Elite	Volvo-Cannondale	3rd	20	89%	5:31.37
23rd Sep 1995	UCI - World Championships '95	Kirchzarten	Elite		4th	20	84%	6:54.00

     

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Want It Wednesday: GoPro Hero 3, Outride and QMountz

I probably spend too much time looking at bike videos on YouTube.  I like watching what people ride and like to see previews of places where I will ride or race next.  So of course its not long before ideas come into my head that I could do that too.  Actually my imagination runs wild with a lavish imagination of entire bike movies and super cool music.  Although realistically a video of my runs down the local trails will no doubt show off how slow I actually am and probably won't prove that interesting to watch it still is something I'd like to do.  So what should I be looking at to make me the next biking Ridley Scott?

There is one real big option out there and lots of people will have heard of them and that is GoPro.  These are loved because of their small size and versatility.  They can be mounted on a riders helmet, handle bar or even by using a harness, strapped to your chest. They can be used under water too so while not a use for cycling has its uses for diving, surf boarding and many other water sports.  In fact with its 1080p quality it can be used for all manner of sports.

There are three main cameras within its range.  White, Silver and Black editions.  The white edition is its cheapest model at £199 and has the lowest image quality with 1080p at 30fps. As a standard camera it has 5mp with an 3fps burst time.  For the more expensive Black edition the camera boasts a 12mp camera and films at 60fps.  It costs a more robust £359, although does come with a natty little wifi remote.

The quality of film is outstanding and has truly revolutionised home video quality but what do you do if this is out of your price range and you can not really justify this lavish toy?  Well the are a few alternatives.  Well there are if you own an Iphone anyway.

Outride and Qmountz are a couple of different companies who are using the phones ability to shoot 1080p quality film and have created a safe secure cases for the phone that can be mounted in much the same way a GoPro can.  The cases are waterproof too and can be used to a few meters under water, as well as been shock proof and shatter proof.  Which is just as well as the Iphones are a bit fragile.  The camera cases change the cameras focal length into a more wide angle view giving a broader range of shot but just as importantly a more stable image.







Having viewed the images compared to the GoPro they are not as good but that's not to say they are bad.  The iphones doesn't cope as well in light to dark situations as fast as the GoPros nor is the image as stable but the image quality is still really high and not pixelated like older style cameras.  They have the advantage of being to upload you film shot to the Internet faster too or even put on twitter or facebook.  For £65 to £85 they are more than half the price of the basic GoPro so are a sound option for those on more of a budget.

Film below shows the quality of the GoPro Black

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Iphone Covers by The Beautiful Ride

The Beautiful Ride appeared in a recent Want It Wednesday of mine for there cycle specific and beautifully designed notebooks.  What I didn't touch upon was the other products in their line. 

Recently I purchased an iphone 5 and as this was perhaps a lavish item for me to own I set about looking for someway to protect it.  I would say that I looked quite hard to find a suitable product that was cycle related but never really found anything that either suited me as a rider or my sense of aesthetics.  I had remembered seeing an iphone cover on The Beautiful rides website and decided that would be perfect.  They only do one design at the moment and as a young company this may remain the case until more demand is made.

The choice of a Polka Dot design reflects the Polka Dot jeresy worn during the Tour de France for those with the most climbing points or better named 'King of the Mountains'.  As a strong climber myself this would I imagine seem very apt for me.

The case itself arrived the day after ordering which is great service and the usual and professional correspondence was in place to let me know that the order was received and put in the post.

When it arrived the case was wrapped in a lovely printed tissue paper which added to the feel of unwrapping something special.  The case itself is  polycarbon with the image thermally embedded so it won't scratch peel or peel of.  It is very slim in design so adds very little bulk to your phone which is always a bonus. As for price I would mark it at the higher end of the price spectrum.  £22.50 is however, not as expensive as many of the cycle designed covers I've seen from the likes Zazzle which can be up to ten pounds more, and that's not buying you anything better in quality.

Overall, I'm very impressed with it and would happily recommend using the Beautiful Ride again if you want something that bit different.  It would make a great gift for the cyclist in your life or just as a little special something to treat yourself.  Hopefully in the future the range can be extended using the same great images as used for their notebooks.

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Book Review - My Time by Bradley Wiggins

 

 

Bradley Wiggins latest book concentrates on his successful 2012 season. The book is co written with Guardian sports writer William Fotheringham, and takes you through a brief background of his past but mainly concentrates on his successful races at the Tour of Romandie, Paris-Nice, the Tour de France and Olympics.

Bradley Wiggins is now by far the most famous and successful British cyclist of our time moving out of Mark Cavendish's shadow and become a icon in his right.  This book is real thoughts to pages stuff.  He lays down exactly what he thinks giving you very detailed accounts of his emotions, his relationships with staff and team members.

From this book, you learn what it takes to make a great champion and he takes you back a few years from his earlier days on the track to his rise in road racing, where even in his own submission he lacked the right attitude as a team leader.  The death of his grandfather and his only male role model, and the tough love from the team senior management bring forward a change in Wiggins that allowed him to reach his true potential.  Certainly his relationships with members of the team are interesting and how he views them particularly with David Brailsford and Mark Cavendish, but its what you learn about the teams approach to training and why team Sky has become so dominant that interested me the most.

The book isn't overly scientific or even aimed at just cyclists which should help with a broad range of readers wanting to know a little more about the recent Sports Personality of the Year.  It covers all areas too from doping and Wiggins and the teams stance on it as well as the relationship between himself and Chris Froome during the tough stages in the mountains of the Tour de France.  The book also gives a glimpse into what he plans for his future in the sport, and the reasons for not contesting for another Tour title.

Sometimes the book lacks solid structure flipping backwards and forwards at time.  It reads like Wiggins speaking his mind whilst the writer takes notes, but doesn't really edit it.  This is the only criticism I could find from the book in what is overall a good read and a worthy buy. 

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Strava and Races to Come

I could very easily get addicted to Strava.  I particularly like it when I get my KOM stats and find I'm at the top!  Strava has allowed me to show off my KOM but sadly not my ride which despite the cold and the mud was enjoyable.  Now I find myself analysing all of my efforts along the route, which I'm not sure if it's encouraging to my ride or in the long run detrimental.  Will I ever just casually go up a hill again?  Still, whilst my motivation in training has been lacking maybe this is what I need to keep me going and a little part of me is already finding other hills I can try and win a crown.....even if its only a minor victory that I can share with myself.

Talking of training, I have had a crisis meeting with myself and have come to the conclusion that this year could be asking too much for me to do a 100 mile MTB race.  I know I've still got months to go but I'm not sure a) I could do that distance on a rigid fork for and b) do that kind of distance averaging 8mph or more.

At the moment I'm going to concentrate on short xc racing.  The North East XC series is back this year and starts earlier with eight full round.  I finished 8th overall last year and would like to better improve on this, so I've now set an ambitious target of placing on the podium for the series.  Basically I need to finish top three.  A tall order for someone racing on one gear and in no fit condition.  I've got until the 20th April before my first round.  I need to loose 7lbs by then and be able to maintain race pace for an hour.  Sounds doable, and if it's not well hopefully someone will cheer me on as I puff and pant my way slowly around the course.  I'll still at least be the one smiling the most. 

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Book Review - Riis Stages of Light and Dark by Bjarne Riis

 

 

The rider Bjarne Riis was a rider who featured in my early interest in road cycling and the Tour de France.  He wasn't a rider that I ever learned much about at the time, he was infamous for his private nature and like many riders from his era questioned about how clean a rider he was.

 

Riis is perhaps famed as much for his win of the 1996 Tour de France as his eventual and more recent admission to EPO usage during his career.  The book which is ghost written by journalist Lars Steen Pedersen, is a look back over those years in an attempt to reveal his dark secrets and bring light to on his questionable past.

 

The book takes you back to his past and to the the cycling world he grew up in, talking about how as a shy youth he found cycling an outlet where he could express himself.  Actually his early years is somewhat skipped over in my opinion but forms some of the most interesting aspects of the book or at least the most honest.  He talks with some fondness of riding and learning from Laurent Fignon, which makes for interesting reading and you learn of his desire to make his break with the bigger teams, trying to get himself more noticed to earn the bigger pay check. The book follows an almost similar pattern to many other cycling books of a young clean rider, naive to the real world of cycling and doping, and his eventual demise to user followed by guilt.  However, if you are seeking an open account and insight into the dirty world of the peleton then you will be left disappointed.

 

 

His admission to taking EPO is mentioned but Riis blows over the subject as though he is doing what every other rider his doing. It certainly central to the narrative. There is no name dropping and you can't but help that he holds back detail.  In his admission to using EPO there is no mention in how he got it, how he used it just emotional reaction to having to use it.  This has probably got a lot to with him still working within cycling and 'spitting in the soup' is something he is not still willing to do.  This is you feel quite a theme in the book.  It's not what he telling you but what he is missing out.  His accounts of the Festina affair in 1998 from his point of view labours on the side of hypocritical as he complains of them 'riding like animals'  and the press lumping them all together with the same label as dopers.  It just strikes that he is still unhappy that he was out doped rather than real remorse for the damage being done in the sport.

 

What is apparent in his admission is the lack of actual belief that doping had anything to do with his success of the tour and he attributes much more of it to his scientific approach to cycling compared to other riders who still just churned out the miles.  He talks in length about some of the stages of the tour in which he wins and his rise as a team leader and getting the riders to respect him.  His overcoming of his natural shyness to champion is an interesting tale but it is more in the latter parts of the book I found more interesting and that is his time as team owner and directeur sportif for the CSC team.  It does give good insight into the personalities of the riders he has worked with including Tyler Hamilton, Carlos Sastre and Alberto Contador.

 

 

The book doesn't make him out to be the most likable of people and this probably his why he struggled with riders on his team as both rider and team leader, and his inevitable admission to doping feels like it comes not from real guilt but pressure from the press after members of his previous Telekom team speak out.  It has rings of the same scenario we now see with Lance Armstrong.

 

 

Overall,  the book has some good aspects to it but it also feels self serving, a confession of some sorts while deeper details have been left out, and think it is this that makes it hard for the reader to have any really empathy for him  Maybe when he fully retires will a broader picture be painted.
 

 

 

 



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Want It Wednesday - The Beautiful Ride Notebooks

I was recently explaining my lack of love for training diaries.  I'm never good at keeping them up to date and even my best laid out plans fall apart leaving an unwanted book that serves little purpose for the future.  I'm no longer transfixed with recording every given hour on the bike, recording it down and making some anal chart that proves just how little I'm really doing

What works better for me is to keep a more loose style journal of my rides and races.  More importantly I like to write down goals, Time targets, mile targets, weights, average heart rates.  Everything but how long I've done on a bike or how many hours I've spent spinning my legs on a turbo.  Information like that is no use.  To know you're improving its much better to have something instantly measurable and something you can then go back year after year to see changes.

This leads me onto my 'Want'.   I recently wanted a notebook to enter my data for this year, the trouble is nothing really stands out to me as a cyclist.  I love fancy stationary stuff, and am a sucker for nice address books and diaries, birthday books etc.  Sadly, in a rush I lumped for a rather plain notebook that just isn't.....well....me.  It had to do as I wasn't near a decent shop at the time.

However, I came across this company Beautifulride

These are just the thing I am looking for

 

 These were brought to my attention by Tim at his blog Life in the Saddle where he has written a review on them so it worth checking it out by clicking on the link.  Another review to look at as is by The Discerning Cyclist.

The price is only its slight draw back for me but I'd be buying into something that I would more than likely keep for years and can imagine it to evolve to be full of notes doodles tatty folded up bits of paper etc.  They are British, look and sound lovely only now I have to decide which one I'd have!

If you'd like to write a Want it Wednesday and have it in a place for all to see then please go to my Want It Wednesday page and follow the instructions.

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