Hiatus. Hello Cycling in Liverpool

Well, it's been a while but I'm now in a position to start banging on about bikes again. We've had le tour pass through the North of England, the Giro in Belfast and all sorts of other bits and bobs that I've missed blogging about.
Being based in Liverpool now means I have different roads to ride on and a wholly different situation to ride in.
Incase you didn't know, the Mayor of this city - chap called Jo Anderson - is currently experimenting with abandoning bus lanes.
The experiment - which has lasted a year I think - comes to an end later this month.
The tarffic seems to move around the city just fine but it obviously makes things more difficult for cyclists. Be interesting to see what happend from August.
Liverpool has recently started a hire bike scheme. According to a piece in the Echo yesterday, 3000 joureneys have taken place. The bikes look good but I have only once seen anybody riding them - two lasses at the Pier Head.

Cycling has got a long long way to go in this city...

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

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.

...and, in the red, Horner

Once again the Vuelta has trumped the other two - more prestigious - world tours for excitement, drama and superb racing.
While this years Tour was excellent and much better than last year's, the Giro was essentially a bit of a very cold and wet damp squib.
The drama played out in the mountains of the Pyrenees eventually saw the 42 year old Chris Horner eventually break Nibali to ride into the leader's red jersey with just two stages remaining. Leading by just three second with two stages to go, the final mountain stage was bike dueling at its very best. 

At 42, it shows there is hope for us all. Right, I have three years to get a ride at a pro team then ride myself into contention for a world tour.

Where art meets cycling

If you have any interest in cycling – and you would if you’re reading this – then you can’t help but have noticed that cycling provides inspiration for a whole range of artists. There are some very fine looking pieces out there if you know where to look. The Cycling Art blog in the list opposite is a good place to start.

Of course this is nothing really new, cycling has long been an inspiration to photographers, painters and sculptors. Think about those iconic shots from le Tour of the peleton riding through endless fields of sunflowers or there’s the Alphonse Mucha Cycles Perfecta image in the top right hand corner of this blog.

Eliza Southwood 

So this post is really just an excuse to look at some nice pictures! Enjoy.

Happy birthday to...

Well, can you believe it? Cycling has kept me in enough material to keep this blog going for a year. There's been thrills, a few spills, no pills, a few punctures and lots of great stories. 
Looking back it's been interesting to watch the status of  cycling in the UK ebb and flow. We've had amazing success at the Olympics, two Tour de France winners and many promises of government cash.
But with that, cycling's popularity has bred a strong reaction from the unwilling.
There's been sabotage, road rage and sadly accidents.
So where do I think cycling will end up in the next 12 months? Well, we should finally see some investment in Manchester into the riding infrastructure and hopefully more people will take to two wheels as a result. 
In the pro sport, we of course have the Yorkshire stages of le tour to look forward to next year. Pat 'Pat' Mcquaid might get the elbow from of of his UCI positions and replaced by Brian Cookson. Finally, the sport might be able to move on from the doping which nearly destroyed the sport.
I'd also expect the demands for a women's tour to keep getting louder too - quite right too. 
Commercially, the sport will continue to thrive and we should continue to support our local bike shops rather than solely relying on on-line outlets - you'll miss them when they're gone, you mark my words.

Any excuse...

Anyway, I'm planning on bringing in a few little innovations to this blog in the next year: some interviews and guest blogs - maybe even a video or two! If you have any suggestions or want to bang out a couple of hundred words on your view of the world on two wheels, then do drop me a note.
Until then, ride safe.

@peakdistrict is made for riding

I spent the last day of summer 2013 (Mon 22 July) out in the Peak District but sadly not on two wheels - it was too hot anyway and the hound can't ride so I was a bit stuck. However, cycling is never very far from you if you know where to look.
Heading through Buxton we decided to go and have a butchers at the Tissington Trail - a bridleway cum cycle track on the bed of a disused railway line.
Parsley Hay is the first landmark on the path from the north and the place where many begin. There's a cheap pay and display car park, one of those cafes which is just a hatch in the wall and, most importantly, a bike hire shop which caters for everyone. You can hire bikes for kids, tandems, those chariot trailer things and wheelchair bike - all in all a jolly good set up. There's also a shop selling a few bike related bits and bobs (picked up some new mits which where on offer) and some standard tourist stuff like fridge magnets and wot not.  
As we were on foot we didn't cover the full 15 mile distance in the searing 25 degree heat, but managed a six mile walk along the flat crushed stone surface.
The path was really good: wide enough to ride and get past couples with their loony dog and well surfaced. 
Its interesting to see the area being reclaimed by nature from its rail days. Sure there are bridges, tunnels and cuttings, but the edges are softened by green stuff. Looks good.
Derbyshire - and the Peak National Park in particular - has really cottoned on to the potential of the region for cycling.
As well as infrastructure like the Tissington Trail, they are, in September, hosting an entire festival of cycling.
The imaginatively named Peak District Cycling Festival runs from September 7th to the 15th and has all manner of events associated with it - I might fancy a pop at the Grindleford Goat. The festival does seem to lack a focal point though. You know, a major event around which the whole festival hangs. Some kind of major launch event or some such. Anyways maybe next time. 
The Peak District is superb for riding and is well worth a visit if you have never been.

That's Winnats Pass in the background

Many will be there next year for the 'Yorkshire' stages of le Tour but how will Derbyshire let them know they've left Yorkshire? One to ponder. 

Doping continues to cast a long shadow over le tour

With the tour entering its penultimate stage today, we can almost reflect on a second win for a Brit. 

While watching the climb of the Glandon yesterday on Eurosport, it was possible to pick out a couple of things which were sad to witness.

First up was booing of team Sky (aka UK Postal - due to their 'dominance' of the race) and secondly was a guy running alongside Chris Froome slapping his forearm in a mocking jesture suggesting Froome was hardly riding pan y aqua. 

Much has been made of the acquisitions against Froome but they are based on a particular - and incorrect in my view - reading of this year's event.

First off, there's no evidence that Froome gas ever doped. Second, Sky and Froome have not been the super dominant team we've seen in previous tours. Sky have struggled - really struggled at times - in this race.

The recent article in L'Equipe which studied Froome's numbers, gave him the nod and Armstrong's nemesis David Walsh is, I gather from Twitter, writing a piece in this Sunday's Times on Froome and doping: Walsh has been 'embedded' with Sky for a couple of months apparently.

Smile :)

So, what does this mean? Well, it shows how much damage Lance's ego has done to the sport - and all the other dopers of course but it also demonstrates that Monsieur Jean Public, really does give a merde about the race and its legitimacy. 

Innocent until proven guilty for me with Froome. Hope it stays that way! 

Lucky break @letour ?

Yesterday's stage of le Tour was a superb spectacle again. Watching Froomdog (there, I've said it) extend his lead means there is only one option for Contador and co: attack! Today's stage to Alpe d'Huez should be a genuine epic.

But the battle at the top is not going to be the only story remembered for yesterday's stage. Enter Jean-Cristophe Peraud who has just written himself into tour history. For those who may have missed it, Jean managed to fracture his collar bone while out practicing on the course.
In massive discomfort, he made it to the start line - superbly observing rule 5 in the process - and proceeded to race.
He was in the process of posting a very good time too, right up until he hit the deck again with 3km to go. Landing on the same, already broken, collar bone and in front of his family who'd selected that very place to cheer him on, Jean's tour was now over. Bugger.

Oui, it hurts there to

But in the process Jean has now become a household name and will forever be remembered as the guy who rode on only to crash again.
Rather like Johnny Hoogerland's appointment with a barbed wire fence a couple of years ago, Jean has embodied the spirit of le tour, demonstrated what a hard sport it is and secured himself a good few after dinner speaking slots in the process.

Grim...

So, is it actually a lucky break for Jean? Well, I bet he doesn't feel like it is at the moment but I'm sure he'll eventually see the benefit. Chapeau.

Cav causes crash chaos

I've never been Mark 'erm, well, y'know' Cavendish's greatest fan so I don't really need an excuse to have a pop at him. When he presents an open goal however, I find it irresistible. 
And so, enter stage right, the flying vortex of negativity that is Mark Cavendish and the final 100m of yesterday's stage of le tour.

"Just seen the sprint. I believe I didn't move line.

"I'm actually coming past Veelers and we touch elbows when he moves. Anyway, hope he's OK." Said 'Cav' on his twitter

Have a look at the pictures and make your own mind up. Tom Veelers has made his feelings known.

Cav - not moving

Yes, I know: 'what do I know' and all that. Yes, but his post race interview just made me bristle. I doubt you'd have him as a mate - if you knew him I mean.

@letour hots up

Its taken a few days but I can hold it no longer, I must type something about the tour!
It has already been a fascinating and incident packed race and we're only just into the second week.
As untouchable as Sky were on Saturday, they paid heavily for it on Sunday. For one thing this shows that the race is cleaner than it has been for a long time.
The days when team X would dominate day after monotonous day seem to be behind us.
With Sky losing Kiryienka after he missed the cut off time in yesterday's stage, Froome perhaps looks a little more vulnerable than before - we'll see.

Top marks must go to Chris Froome for perfectly adhering to Rule 15 of the velominati code. There's the Ventoux and the Alpe d'Huez twice to look forward to - can't wait!

@letour cometh

I probably am a bit sad for spending a tenner on the 2013 official Tour souvenir guide - limited edition to just 8 million copies! But I won a tenner on a scratch card so I thought, why not?

There's a wall chart in it and everything! I wonder how long it'll be until I fill my own name into one of the stage winner slots? 

June: Manchester bike month

Quite what happened to the month of May, I don't know. Had some lovely days riding and got a good few miles in. 

All the grim weather was in Italy for the Giro where Wiggo bailed out ill.

Some UCI tool denied any wrong doing relating to Lance's doping - that's despite them having the hematocrit levels of all riders...

But, anyway, that was May. It's June now and there's loads to look forward to: the tour starts this month, it's national bike week (15th - 23rd) and its also Manchester bike month - yes, a whole month of cycling related events and wot not.

Check out the web site for more info and, of course, ride safe. 

Time gentlemen please

May has been a great month for riding so far: dry and spring like. Of course, it's supposed to lash down later on for what seems like the first time in ages - what a difference a year makes.
This year's Giro is warming up nicely too - apart form the weather which has been pants - with a few early skirmishes from last year's winner Ryder Hesjedal and Nibali. 

Long way to go though and its a cert that Wiggo will nail the time trial. The use of time bonuses adds an extra dimension to the racing too - they were removed from le tour a couple of year back. There's no time bonus in le tour again this year but stage winners can console themselves with 4,000 euros and a place in history!

What has cycling ever done for @welcome2yorks ?

You'd have to be living in a ditch, or not interested in cycling to not know that Le Tour is coming to Yorkshire - and very briefly Derbyshire - next year for the Grand Depart.
At an event yesterday, the Yorkshire Tourist Board - now called Welcome to Yorkshire for our touchy-feely age - set out the value of the event to the region in a bid to enlist support from business.

The facts are impressive and do demonstrate the value le Tour brings with it: 5000 hotel rooms each night, 2,000 journalists and a TV audience of 3 billion - 3 billion! You can't buy that sort of publicity - well, you can actually but you know what I mean.
So, if anyone ever asks you why we should have le Tour on these shores, apart from it being a brilliant spectacle, there are cold economic reasons behind it too.

Le tour 2013

Le trailer cinematique pour le tour de France 2013

Click Greg's face

Fin

Le Tour visits Oldham (nearly)

Even though the Tour isn't actually coming to Saddleworth, it hasn't stopped The Oldham Chronicle getting into a big fizz about yesterday's route announcement.

Something is happening close by, next summer

With the climb of Holme Moss confirmed and the route taking the peleton back to Sheffield along the Woodhead Pass, the ride will actually pop into Derbyshire very briefly and this is enough for the Chron to seek out the views and opinions of the town's great and good.
For example, Natalie Goas from The Old Bell in Delph is hoping to put up the entire entourage of the tour in the 18 rooms she has available, while Tim Mitchell from Saddleworth Clarion is excited because '...it's like having the World Cup of cycling virtually on our doorstep.' and finally Larry Wells thinks its great as the race will be '...more or less on our doorstep.'
Can't blame them for getting excited, I am too, even if East Yorkshire has been sadly overlooked.  Oh well, there's always next year, oh, wait...

TdF for Holme Moss?

So with all the fuss about what, why and where he should have said to Oprah becoming rather tiresome, I'm now boycotting any mention of him until we found out how he tried to fudge saying 'I did it'. 
Of much more interest is the announcement tomorrow on what the opening stages of Yorkshire t'our in 2014 will be.
There's loads of possibles and no doubt there will be a bit of a bun fight going on between the various towns and cities as to which places get a bit of tour action next year.
We know Leeds are getting a bit and some of the famous 'mountains' should get a look in. Rumours are circulating that Holme Moss might get a look in.

Perhaps not the high point of the entire Tour

Personally, I'm hoping for a bit of East Coast action so as I can pitch up at the in-laws and undertake some splendid Yorkshire hospitality.
We find out tomorrow at 6pm.

2013, Froome's year?

Chris Froome has been talking up Team Sky's chances for next season and he thinks it could be a magnificent year for the team.
By his reckoning, Sky could nail the Giro and Tour with Wiggins and himself respectively.
Much has been said about the Giro route being suited to Wiggo - time trials etc, but does the 100th Tour route suite Froome?

France, in yellow

Well, it's hilly and we all saw his superb form in the Tour's mountains last year.
If it pans out this way - Froome being given a shot at Le Tour - then next year's event will provide mouthwatering dual between Froome and Bertie on some memorable stages.
There are hills, hills and more hills on next year's parcours right up until the penultimate day.  The double ascent of Alpe d'Huez on the same day should be spectacular too.
I'm already looking forward to it. A bit sad? Possibly but we need something to keep us going throughout the winter!

Hill climb blues

Greg LeMond once said about cycling that "It never gets easier; you just go faster." For me that quote encapsulates much of what cycling is about for everyone from Tour de France winners to the semi-serious club rider.
You do not have to be a cyclist to understand that cycling for more than say, 30-40 miles, is about endurance, effort and, occasionally, pain.
As you strain every sinew to grind your way to the top of a steep incline, you can be forgiven for thinking that you never want to see your bike again.  Wishing you could be spirited away to the top of the climb or placed in some nearby tea shop in the company of a steaming brew and a cherry scone.

Granny ring ahead

Of course, this doesn't happen as you select your lowest gear and try to maintain forward momentum.
But gradually, you get stronger and fitter.  Hills which you used to suffer on now roll beneath you and go unnoticed.  It's still hard, you still have to apply pressure to your pedals to get there, but you are going and, more importantly, going faster.
Soon you begin to understand that everyone else you are riding with is in the same boat: everyone is suffering on the climbs it's just that some suffer at a higher pace.
That everyone suffers provides excellent encouragement to the club rider: not in any schadenfreude way but knowing you are not alone can be a welcome tonic.
There's a good article on riding hills on this blog if you're interested.