10 mins with... @BritishCycling

It can be difficult to develop new content on a daily basis for a blog. Especially when its of such high quality and chock full of devastating insight. Frankly, I don't know how some of those blogger do it! 
I, on the other hand, write any old rubbish which springs to mind: the rain, falling off, puncturing, the rain etc.
So, in a bid to bring some new dynamism to these virtual pages, I offer to you the first Outstanding Natural Cycling interview.
I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Scott Dougal who is the Grande Fromage at British Cycling's communications department. He kindly agreed to answer a few questions.
I know this isn't critical interviewing but this blog is supposed to be a celebration of being on two wheels rather than a misery fest. Enjoy.

What was your first and what is your current bike(s)?

First bike was a Grifter, although I think I’d have rather had a Chopper. I've got a Trek mountain bike which is perfect for trails near where I live.

What’s the biggest challenge facing cycling in the UK?

Sustainability. Cycling has come a very long way in the last 10 years – a good indicator of which is the membership of British Cycling. Having rattled around 15-20,000 for much of our history, we shot past the 80,000 mark recently and we've seen 50% year on year growth since Brad won the Tour  last year. But the challenge is to make the gains sustainable – both in terms of popular interest in cycling as a sport as well as people using their bikes for fun or to get around.

Will cycling ever become as mainstream here in Britain as it is in the Netherlands or Denmark?

It’s certainly possible. I've been professionally involved in the sport for just over 10 years and where we are now is extraordinary compared to where we were then. And at British Cycling we remain very ambitious and I think the key thing will be to create a better environment for people on bikes out there on the roads.

We've been consistently successful in meeting our targets for elite success and increasing participation – what will make both of those sustainable is that once we've done our job of getting people on bikes, the habit sticks because using a bike is as easy as possible. British Cycling has significantly stepped up its campaigning work in the last two years and we’re seeing real dividends already, particularly because the growth in our membership means we have real clout.

Should we expect Britain to produce more star Olympic and pro cyclists in the coming years or are we living through a golden age?

The talent pathways are there and just this year we've seen significant success for Becky James, Simon Yates and Liam Phillips among others. But, again, key to sustainability of elite success is having as many people on bikes as possible, whatever their ability.

2014 should be spectacular for UK cycling with le Tour and Giro both visiting our shores. How much of an opportunity for the sport is this in your view?

Next year will be huge but this year, which you might have expected to be quiet compared to 2012 and 2014, has been pretty lively too. In 2014, we've got an international stage race for women, the Tour de France in England, Glasgow 2014 and the Tour of Britain. In amongst that, there is the national road race championships which broke new ground this year in terms of the spectators it attracted. So taken as a whole, there is a four-month period when cycling will really capture mainstream attention again. Can’t wait.

How many parts to your bike?

Check out this fascinating image from today's Grauniad G2 supplement. It's a photo of a 1980s Raleigh racer stripped down to all of its constituent parts - not gone to the trouble of removing the inner tube patches though.

...427, 428, 429... shit! 1, 2, 3, 4...

Its part of a series called 'Things Come Apart by Canadian photographer Todd McLellan - sounds more Australian to me like.
So there are 893 pieces to this bike including pedal reflectors but only one single front and rear wheel reflector which is some kind of oversight. 
If you look carefully you can spot the red Raleigh branded seat post nut which has just taken me back to the 80s and my Grifter.
I bet it was a bugger to break that chain apart...you can buy a copy of this on the Guardian website.

BMX boys (and girls) have a lot to have fun on these days

Had a bit of a mooch about the 'new' Bicycle motocross (BMX) track at the National Cycling Centre yesterday.  You have to say that the whole set up there is superb.  Back in the day when the Velodrome sat there in splendid isolation, it looked, well, pretty bleak.
The Manchester Velodrome is by no means the most beautiful building in the world but the addition of the new bit really adds some critical mass to the whole area - you feel as if you are actually somewhere rather than have just stumbled upon the disused husk of a giant something or other.

Starting ramp

Anyway, the BMX centre looks like great fun. In keeping with the tradition of describing places in relation to familiar things - like football pitches, london buses and Nelson's Column - the whole area is about the same size as a football pitch and about as high as Nelson's Column.  You should now have it's dimensions indelibly fixed into your mind.

First and final turns

I never owned a BMX as a kid, I stuck with the Raleigh Grifter until I got my first road bike.  A few mates had them though with one coming a horrendous cropper in an incident with a teddy bear and a mag wheel - I can hear the cries of anguish to this day.

Sturmey-Archer gallery

Another evocative British cycling brand of yesteryear is Sturmey Archer.  Those of you who had a Raleigh Grifter or Chopper  will be used to the wonders of their 3-speed hub gear systems.
In a similar vein to the Reynolds post of yesterday, Sturmey-Archer has a wonderful gallery of old marketing materials to feast your eyes on.  You can read all about it here.

The Sturmey Archer brand survives to this day even though it has been owned by Taiwanese company Sunrace since the year 2000.
The new hub gears are really good stuff too and they've retained the wonderful thumb-shift selector design which I had on my Grifter - my better half now has one on her beautiful Pashley Princess.

Undercover

I count myself a as rather fortunate when it comes to parking my bike at work.  For years I had to leave my bike locked on the streets of Manchester City Centre, open to the elements and in the eyes of ne'er-do-wells.
A couple of years ago the inevitable happened and I had my bike nicked.
It was a really nice Cannondale and was, at the time, the first brand new bike I'd ever owned.
Even back to my royal blue Raleigh Grifter, I've always had second hand [pre-loved in current parlance] bikes.
So I was gutted to find my lock attached to a Sheffield stand with no corresponding bike.  The thing is, whoever took it must have cut through the rear triangle to get it free - buggerists.
So, following that episode, I made it my mission to seek out alternative accommodation and I found some under my feet.
My pride and joy now resides, safely I hope, in the basement car park of my work building.  I even have a rag and some GT85 next to it to give it a bit of a once over when it rains - which is every day.
I recently spotted some very enlightened staff bike parking which consisted of a perspex dome with coded entry and everything.
It so important to keep you bike out of the elements for extended periods, particularly when the roads have been gritted [September - May  in some parts of Greater Manchester].
Have a look at some of the bikes which are kept outside the next time you're walking around and check out the spectrum of chain colours - silver, black through to the full rust orange experience.

Ride safe