Reproduced permission: Cycling Weekly

I am a vegetarian or as Rob Hayles says in his tweet (top right) a poor person!

Also, I recently did an interview with fellow blogger – Doug. You can see interview here

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John Woodburn was national 25 mile champion in 1961. In 1982, at 45 years of age he also set the cycling record for the 847 miles journey from Lands End to John O Groats. His time was one day, 21 hours, 3 minutes and 16 seconds. (average speed 18.828mph) Cycling Weekly reports after arriving in John o’ Groats hotel, his ankles had swollen up. He was taken for a bath and then hobbled into the lounge of the hotel announcing ‘The old man’s back’.

His first attempt in 1981 failed because he was carrying a virus. But, in his next year he was successful.

In many respects the 1950s were the golden years of cycling in UK. Very low traffic volumes. The days when you could have courses which had a u-turn in the middle of the road, and you didn’t have to worry about traffic lights.

In those days the HQ was often getting changed under a railway bridge. It’s easy to be nostalgic for the old days, though as John says the glow of nostalgia can easily forget the experience of riding to events in rain and having nowhere good to change.

As John says it is difficult to cycle with today’s traffic volumes. But, cycling is still essentially turning the pedals and if you have a real love for cycling these other issues become secondary.

Saturday was my first flat time trial of the year. A 10 mile TT on Bentley course. My time was 21.15, which is fine for first 10 of year. By the way, John Woodburn finished in a time of 24.00 (av. 25mph) not bad for 76 years old.

• More classic time trial photos including John Woodburn
• Cycling into old age

David Lloyd racing in British Time Trial

David Lloyd began racing at the end of 1969 after taking up the bike to stop a 40 cigarettes a day habit he had at that time Three years later in 1972, David had finished 7th in the Milk Race – one of the top amateur races of the time! Since retiring from his long and distinguished racing career, David has used his expertise and passion for cycling to start his own personal coaching services. – David Lloyd Coaching

> 1. What were your highlights in your long cycling career?

Really much too numerous to mention.. Probably being the “Best Pro of the Year” in 1974, winning the “William Tell” as an amateur which was the warm up stage race before the Olympics in Munich 1972 and all the Nations were there. Some of the Time Trials I did on my “come back” were very special too, but too many to list here..Probably putting 7 minutes into Laurent Fignon in the Isle of Man Mountain TT was a highlight!!. See: Palmeres here

> 2. Did you enjoy life as a young cyclist riding on the Continent – Or was it less glamorous than we may imagine?

A lot less glamorous than anyone would imagine.. Just gut wrenching hard work most of the time… Also the fact that the drug scene was something I really hated and was rife and lots of pressure for me to partake , which I adamantly refused to do, which didn’t go down well…. 5 of my teamates are dead now though.. All before reaching 50 years of age…Draw your own conclusions on that one.. But, glamorous… NO !
Having said that, I loved the racing , and wouldn’t have done anything differently…

> 3. As an amateur and a pro, you raced in many different disciples from track to stage racing and time trials. Was there any particular discipline you preferred?

Definitely Stage Racing… I loved it and could actually do it really well.. I don’t think I ever did a bad stage race…

> 4. Which Cyclist or cyclists do you admire Most?

Fabian Cancellara…… Just the best bike rider I have ever seen !!! (That includes Eddy Merckx .. That may seem perverse as Merckx was everyones rider of all time.. BUT, was he clean… ????? ( I RODE WITH HIM !!)

> 5. Do you ever look at the current set up and success of British Cycling and think – if only we had a National Lottery back in the 1970s?

Indeed I do. We worked an a shoe string. When I won the William Tell we were really strapped for cash. We used to raid the food wagon before the start of each stage to supplement the meagre breakfasts. We had no money at all…

> 6. Since retiring from racing, you have become a well respected coach. What do you think are the most important principles with regard to cycle training?

MENTORING YOUR ATHLETES…. Anyone can prescribe training, very few can be good “mentors!”

> 7. Is winter training simply a matter of getting the miles in?

NO!! Very far from it… The winter is the most important time of the year.. Ask my athletes!

Thanks to David for taking the time to answer our questions.

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• David Lloyd Challenge – cyclo sportive
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• Classic Time Trial Photos

Single Speed bike – often favoured by bike Couriers.

A friend of mine from Dublin, recently became a cycle courier so I was interested to hear of his experiences.

As somebody who rides a bike for fun, I’ve often wondered what it would be like to cycle full time.

How Much Do You get Paid?

Matthew said he got paid about 300 Euros a week (about £241) This was for a 5 day week of 9-5pm. But, most other people in the firm were earning 400 Euros. JHe said his lower wage was because he has a slow bike, but at the moment can’t afford to buy a new bike. The payment is all piecemeal, which means you get paid per delivery. Some deliveries were ‘specials’ and worth 6 Euros as oppposed to 4 Euros. Matthew said he often had to leave his lunch break to take these better paid jobs.

What are the disadvantages of Being A Cycle Courier?

Matthew said his company was small so sometimes he didn’t have much work. On these days there was a lot of sitting around doing nothing; and this also means not getting paid. However he said in the bigger cycle courier companies there was constant work. The other big disadvantages for cycle couriers include:

• Working whatever the weather – and being in Ireland means rain is a constant companion.
• Fighting through traffic jams.

What are the advantages of Being a Cycle Courier?

• Keeps you fit.
• I Enjoy cycling
• Quite interesting work

Matthew said his boss was good, but, also didn’t hide how difficult the job was. Matthew said his boss was quite blunt saying to him “I know it’s a difficult job, but, you’re quite welcome to quit anytime”. A polite way of saying – like it but lump it. I get the impression staff turnover is quite high, but presumably they are always able to fill the vacancies.

Do You stop at Red Lights?

Matthew smiled and said he goes with his ‘inner feeling’. He said what this means is that in practise, he rides through many red lights. He said if you stopped at all the red lights, you wouldn’t be able to earn anything. When you’re earning 300 Euros a week a 25% cut in wages would really hurt. As a commuter, I’m quite happy to stop at red lights. But, if I was just earning 300 Euros a week, a don’t know whether my principles would stand up to having a 25% wage cut.

Nevertheless, it highlights a difficult dilemma. Whether we like it or not, cycle couriers have contributed towards a negative impression towards cyclists – especially in London, where cycle couriers have became a byword for aggressive cycling.

Cycle Courier Bikes

Matthew is a pretty strong runner (2 mile time of under 12 minutes), but I get the impression his mountain bike is really slowing him down. I gave him some advice for A Cycle Courier Bikes.

• Get a Road Bike
• Choose Thin Tyres
• Buy second hand – you don’t need or don’t want fancy carbon fibre lightweight. Even with a good lock there is always the danger of bike theft. It is more important to just get a road worthy bike which is relatively fast.
• Single speed or gears? – Single speed bikes would work well for cities like London and Dublin where it is mostly flat. I would choose single speed over fixed though. However, single speed bikes are often more expensive than geared bikes, so in that case I said don’t spend more just to get a single speed.

Flavio Zappi – former Pro Cyclist

A few days ago, I was doing some interval training around Boars Hill when I bumped into Flavio Zappi, Flavio happens to be a former wearer of Green Jersey in the Giro D’Italia and top 12 finisher of Milan San Remo. We rode up and down Boars hill a few times and then Flavio kindly invited me to his sandwich bar (Harveys) in Gloucester Green, Oxford.

As I arrive Flavio is just helping to formulate a training plan for a young rider. For next year, Flavio has organised sponsorship of some top of the range Milani bikes for the local Oxford University cycling club. You can tell the genuine enthusiasm Flavio has for cycling and encouraging young road racers in particular.

It was a fascinating 30 minutes, and there’s enough material for quite a few posts. In the first section, I will mention Flavio’s experience has a former professional cyclist. Tomorrow, I will post about coming back to cycling after a 25 year lay off.

Q. “What was life as pro-cyclist like?”

“It was very exciting at the beginning, then it got between boredom and frustration later. The excitement was the crowd, the caravan, the attention. The fact you feel like you are somebody. Gradually you see the downside, which is you are a product, you can be left without a job any moment, then the drugs. Boredom because it is becoming such a routine. You are becoming part of a job rather than a competition to win.

Q. “Were you a domestique when you started?”

“In the beginning I wasn’t. I had the freedom to do what I wanted.”

Asking about his team, Flavio mentioned “My manager, was someone who had a bottle of wine by his car door. He was very popular but was not a coach. He was good at getting sponsors and paying people. Training was very basic. There was no intervals. We would get together at 9am and all the professionals in the area would meet and we would ride for 4,5,6 hours.

A Young Flavio Zappi riding for Hoonved Bottecchia (81-83)

Q. What were your highlights as a procyclist?

In the Giro del Trentino I was leader for 2 days but lost in the last day – A time trial. I was a professional, but, nobody told me how to ride a time trial. I had never done a time trial in my life. The only advice in the time trial was “You start hard, you go harder, and you finish hardest. So you can imagine. I was 18.

That year we went to the Giro D’Italia where our team won the team trial. It was like going in a breakaway.  We beat Moser’s team – He wasn’t very happy. Almost got white jersey. But, another rider on our team had it so I didn’t compete for it.

Couple of years later, highlight I got green jersey in the Giro D’Italia for 2 weeks, but lost it on last day to a Mr Laurent Fignon (1984) (result). He passed all the peleton and got 50 points.  Also that year I was Top 12 Milan San Remo in 1984 (result)

Q. Could you tell me About Riding Paris Roubaix?

“Paris Roubaix is an amazing race. A combination of skills, luck, endurance, speed. You name it – It’s beautiful.”

“For 100km you do nothing, just go along with the pack at under 50kmph. But, then all of a sudden, you are 10km to first major piece of cobbles. Then it becomes like last 10km of a race. I was lucky enough to enter into 5th position. I used my sprinting skills to get to the front. I sprinted for the corner of the road. – Madness, but, I knew how important it was. I came out in the top 5 and ended up in a break with Greg Lemond, Frank Vanderaerden, Eddy Planckaert and 6 of us had a minute and a half over the peloton. – or what was left of the peloton. I remember that day there were so many crashes. I remember a backwheel coming up before me and then pushing it out of my way. You got to imagine the road is like a bridge, to go fastest you have to be on the top. But, your wheel can go anytime. I crashed 3 times. I got took down by Sean Kelly’s team car. I wouldn’t have done much anyway I was too tired. That year I finished with Steven Roche. I beat him in the sprint. He wasn’t very happy because for the last 20km I was on his wheel.”

Beautiful, Beautiful. The cheer when you get into the velodrome. I would compare it to a cheer at the top of a mountain passes. The loudness of these people is amazing and the volume, they enter your veins so badly, you don’t feel anything. you don’t feel the tiredness, you don’t feel the fatigue. It’s amazing. Of course, between the bits of cobbles you’ve got the normal road with sidewind, and here you die as well. You got no option. It’s really hard.”

The day before, we rode a quarter of the race. We told by some of teammates you must never hold the underneath of your handlebars, no rings; otherwise you get problems with your knuckles.
Of course we forgot. I remember one team mate who ended up with blisters, even just riding a quarter of the race the day before.”

Q. Why Did you Retire from cycling?

“some private situation with family. and the same reason is the drug scheme.

One of my friend used to ride with me, part of a very famous team. We were riding together because we live in the same area. He was told to take steroids as part of the training scheme. So, you can imagine what the team leader was taking. I stopped because of the frustration.

One incident I never forget. After a race I went for drugs test. I went to the dope control and I had a doctor watch me give a sample, while another guy, who was leading the race, went to toilet on his own. I never forget that. This kind of things kill the morale of a young cyclist. especially someone who is 20

Q. Do you think it is better now?

I thought so, until I got disappointed badly by Riccardo Ricco. I really, really, swear, I really didn’t talk to anyone for a day when Ricco tested positive. It was so awful for me.

Q. Does it give you any hope they are catching people?

It’s nice to know that this is better now. But, it seems like to me anytime you find a way to catch them, they find a way to stay ahead. So it was a very bad culture. It was in the blood even when I was an amateur, seeing all these things going on. It was missing that kind of purity. I found that purity when I was in the states racing for a few months. I also found that purity racing here. I’ve been told there is no real problem here. Though there should be more testing.”

As the interview was coming to an end, another young cyclist, enters the bar. Hetti tells of breaking her chain on a freshers ride 10 miles from Oxford. She was thinking of hitch hiking back, but, Flavio insisted on pushing her all the way back to Oxford!

It feels like Harveys in Oxford is becoming a great place for Oxford cyclists to meet. I certainly left with lots of enthusiasm for the sport of cycling. Did I even make promises to do some road races and not just time trials next year ?

Notes:

• Will be publishing another section from this interview tomorrow on – Coming back to cycling after a 25 year lay off.
• I recorded our interview with a mic and tried to write down the words. But, sometimes it was a little difficult to catch all the words, especially names in Italian. In some places it may not be Flavio’s exact words but I tried to convey the meaning.
• Flavio Zappi.com

Flavio Zappi’s Teams

• 1981 – 1983 :Hoonved – Bottecchia (Italy)
• 1983 – 84 Metauro Mobili – Pinarello (Italy)
• 1985: Murella – Rossin (Italy)
• 1986: Veloforma (Italy)

Other Posts

• Part 2 coming Back after 25 years off bike
• Perspectives on Interval Training