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Friday 22 November 2013

The best cycling film ever is...

Ive just watched A Sunday in Hell again and it is superb.
The full film used to be on youtube but it's now been removed - there are a few tantalising bits there though like the opening credits.


As well as being a great insight into the world of Merckx at the top of his powers, it reveals the pain and commitment required to take on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
I first saw this film about 30 years ago as a young whipper-snapper and certain images have stayed with me for all these years: Merckx, the cobbles and - as a premonition of my future riding capability - the broom wagon.
If you've never had a look at this then do so - it's well worth it.

Thursday 21 November 2013

Which are the best cycling books?

As is often my want, I'm starting with a caveat: I haven't read every single book on cycling so you can read this guide with a pinch of salt.
I have however, knocked off a good few of the books on cycling and have a hit list of others.

I'm not really a fan of the 'authorised biography' genre documenting the highs and dramatic lows of [insert name]'s career.

I always feel they're a bit self-serving and I just shy away from them. That said, I do have the Obree Flying Scotsman on my 'to read' list and thought Tyler Hamilton's The Secret Race was insightful enough to elevate it over the usual standards.

If you can find a copy of Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride, it provides an excellent warts and all view from inside the Peleton in the 80s and 90s which, coincided when I first took an interest in the sport so is especially vivid.

Perhaps less well known is the rather bitter polemic from the likeable former Festina soigneur, Willy Voet Breaking the Chain. Although short - you can knock this off in an afternoon - it shares the first hand realism of Rough Ride and is stark and uncomfortable as a result.

Of course, three of these books are essentially about the recent doping era a category which is not complete without reading David Walsh's From Lance to Landis

As I understand it this is pretty much the USADA case against Lance minus the testimony of peers. It all the stuff you've read about in the media: the back-dated scripts, make up over needle marks, shady meetings in car parks - all that stuff. If you've read this one don't bother with Walsh's Seven Deadly Sins as it's the same material.

A Dog in a Hat by former US pro Joe Parkin shares much of the same feelings as Kimmage's Rough Ride but has a much better title. Parkin comes across as a wholesome American kid struggling on in a blue collar Springsteen way. But its more than the cliche suggests. What really comes through is that the excitement and hope drawn from being part of a pro cycling team quickly evaporates into the drudgery of doing a job. A job which happens to involve riding a bike for much of the time.

Rather than the doping culture, this is the really sad theme that comes through for my as my romantic notions are cut off at the knees. Well worth a read.
At the opposite end of the scale is the Death of Marco Pantani by Matt Rendell. I whet my lips when i first picked a copy up in a second hand book shop in town for about 50p. However, trying to read it is as difficult as it would be for me to hold Pantani's wheel up Alpe d'Huez in his pomp. I just found it to be impenetrable and gave up after about four goes and 50 pages. I will try again one day.

William Fotheringham's biog of Merckx Half Man Half Bike is a very nice holiday type book with loads of great stories.  

Other than assorted histories of Le Tour and a few other bits and bobs, that's pretty much my library covered - I know there are many gaps - but as i said earlier, much of the output doesn't really interest me.

But anyway, here's my 'to read' list:

Tomorrow we ride - Louison Bobet
European Cycling - the 20 greatest races
Fallen Angel - Coppi (Fotheringham)
The Hour - Michael Hutchinson
Flying Scotsman - Obree
Escape Artist - Matt Seaton

Saturday 16 November 2013

Stolen bike alert

Given everything that's happened in London over the last two weeks, it seems  in rather poor taste that I say the worst thing that can happen to a cyclist is to have your bike nicked.
But when it happens, it's grim. Scrotes! In the words of Alan Partridge: scum, sub-human scum. 
So, keep your eyes peeled for this machine stolen yesterday from a Chorlton Velo member - it's only a week old too...

Wednesday 13 November 2013

How to build bike wheels

Wheel building has always been a mystery to me. In fact, one of the most dangerous sights for any bike wheel is me with a spoke key in my hand.
However, I've recently become obsessed with the art of building wheels to the extent where I think i'm going to buy myself a jig, some lovely Hope hubs, Mavic rims and some spokes; put the kettle on and see what happens.

There's something quite cathartic about building and truing wheels - at least watching other people do it - something calming about the fact that putting the spokes in is called lacing and making it straight is called truing - it's just nice!

Of course, there is only one place to start with this challenge - youtube. The series of films from this chap from the US of A is really good and makes it look dead easy.


There are loads of others out there too, so spoke key in hand, I'm going to give it a whirl. It can't be that difficult can it?

Tuesday 5 November 2013

How to ruin a lithium ion battery

My trusty Moon 500 XP lamp has given up the ghost following three years of faultless service and the worst thing is, I'm entirely to blame for its demise - allow me to explain and it may save you suffering the same fate.
The Moon lamp relies on a lithium ion battery to kick out its 500 lumens and these batteries require a few specific handling techniques to keep them in top order.
Lithium Ion batteries apparently begin degrading from the moment they are manufactured. They are good for a few thousand charges but they, like us all, have the terrible certainty of terminal demise looming on the horizon.
Unlike Nikel Cadmium (NiCad) batteries, lithum ion batteries don't suffer from the phenomenon of battery memory where if a battery is continually recharged when it's at 50% power, the battery will end up with only 50% of its run time. To combat this, it's wise to run the battery flat and then fully recharge it to maintain it's 100% capacity. Easy.
So, when I thought: 'I think I'll run the battery completely flat and give it a full charge' little did I know that it was an unnecessary exercise.
Not only was it unnecessary, running a lithium ion battery completely flat can result in the cells being damaged rendering the battery un-chargeable. And that's the situation I'm now in.
So, with new battery on order and £20 lighter, heed the warning!