Cycling UK » books http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog Cycling info - advice and tips Tue, 17 Dec 2013 18:15:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8 My Cool Bike – review http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7545/books/my-cool-bike-review/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7545/books/my-cool-bike-review/#comments Fri, 02 Aug 2013 03:38:27 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=7545 my cool-bike

My Cool Bike ‘An inspirational guide to bikes and bike culture‘ is a nice coffee book table with lots of diverse pictures of cyclists and bicycles.

If will appeal to those who like the more ‘trendy’ ‘cool’ aspect of cycling. A celebration of ‘cycle chic’ The pictures and photos are probably the main attraction, and it’s generally very good photography.

It’s not all about the super trendy cycle chic though. There’s some nice sections on unusual cycling events and groups such as l’eroica (an amateur event, where everyone must ride pre 1978 bikes and clothes)

l'eroica

and   ‘The Thursday Club’

- a mixture of ex pro-cyclists and seasoned cyclists all of whom, in the politest term, are senior in years. Our youngest member is 55 and most senior 93.

We keep things informal and only have minimal rules: no woman (not politically correct nowadays) and you can die on Thursday – but don’t have your funeral on a Thursday, as that would spoil a good day’s cycling Macabre, yes, but you have to laugh about these things at our time in life.

It touches on everything from the bicycle library to the ministry of bicycles and how a Royal Mail bicycle managed to make its way from England to South Africa to New York.

bicycle-library

With so many books on cycling coming out, it can be hard to offer something new. But, this book surprised me in finding many interesting chapters about cycling I’d never come across before. To be honest, I had fairly low expectations, expecting just a few Rapha style clothes and cycle chic type bike photos. But, some of the chapters were quite interesting. The text isn’t too long or detailed. But, who wants to read, when you can look at nice pictures of bicycles?

My Cool Bike: An Inspirational Guide to Bikes and Bike Culture – at Amazon

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12 Champions http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7290/cycling/12-champions/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7290/cycling/12-champions/#comments Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:08:02 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=7290 12 Champions by Peter Whitfield offers 12 different chapters on the great British cyclists of the post war period. It focuses on the domestic stars of both time trialling and road racing.

I really enjoyed reading it, and is one of my favourite cycling books.

It captures the best of British cycling during the post war period. You get a feel for the times when huge crowds were drawn to watch a record attempt or even just see the stars of the road. As Roger Bannister noted when he presented the BAR awards in 1970s saying words to the effect – ‘Such enthusiasm I have never seen for any amateur sport’.  Of couse, we can look back on ‘the golden age’ with misty eyes as if everything was perfect. It wasn’t. There were absurd implementation of rules such as amateur vs Professionals; there was still that ridiculous  secrecy about racing. Yet, there were many things which really were great about this period. For example, there is a note that huge crowds turned up to see Eileen Sheridan break a record in the 1950s. The sad thing is the record was disallowed because the huge crowds were a sign that there had been ‘advance publicity’ something against RRA rules. But, it’s great that so many people got excited about the challenge of seeing whether the great champions could break a record. Sadly, traffic conditions have made these records of London-York, London-Edinburgh obsolete. But, in that era, these road race records were very high profile.

Whitfield captures the essence of what made these diverse champions. Each rider is mostly given a sympathetic and lively portrait.  Yes, the champions had their rivalries, their failings, but this is mainly a celebration of what they achieved. It is not hagiography, the results and achievements speak for themselves, and in the case of Beryl Burton – questions about the cost of dominating the sport for so long.

Overall, I got a lot of inspiration from the book. It raises many interesting questions and gives a lot of inspiration for those who like the sport.

It is a glimpse the Olympic spirit. The ideals of sport as they should be. An era not tainted by drugs (even if it did mean the Russians always seemed to put  10 minutes into the British team time trial squad)

 

The 12 great champions include:

eileen-sheridan

Eileen Sheridan during a 12 hour time trial, but still with her trademark smile

Eileen Sheridan. The smiling record breaker. After dominating the domestic scene, Sheridan became a professional and proceeded to beat all the great road record associations. With her great talent and personality she was one of first women to make a good living from the sport.

crmes-arnold

John Arnold and Albert Crimes

John Arnold and Albert Crimes – ‘two men, three wheels and a dozen records’. The record breaking tandem trike duo! What fascinated me about this chapter was the fact for the 1950 Land’s End to John o Groats record there were 500 people involved in the record attempt along the way. All organised using public phone boxes and telegrams. The expensive aluminium bottles even had their addresses on to be returned by post.

raybooty

Ray Booty

Ray Booty. Booty was the first sub 4 hour 100 mile. As Whitfield notes, this is one of the most iconic cycling records – more so than the sub 1 hour 25 and first sub 2 hours 50. Booty was already a legend of the domestic time trialling scene. His ride on the Bath Road 100, smashed the record and it stayed unbeaten from many years. In many ways, Booty’s ride came from the golden era of timetrialling. The days before heavy traffic and the days when the great time triallists really were the stars of the domestic season.

frank-colden

Frank Colden

Frank Colden. ‘The Great Experiment’ Frank Colden’s story is the most inspiration, enigmatic and puzzling of all the 12 champions. Coming from nowhere, Cobden, in secret, rode 400 miles a week during a cold winter. He came out of this winter block with supreme form and smashed national records and in 1962 swept the floor of national championships. His record breaking season was even more enigmatic because it co-coincided with the onset of an illness which meant he disappeared from the scene. Even now, the achievements of Colden in that 1962 season spark debate. Gordon Wright brought it up when recently when speaking at a recent race. If you want some inspiration for a winter training regime, read the chapter on Colden.

WEST-Leslie

Les West – Casual genius. Great all rounder

MartynRoach-tt-1974

Martyn Roach – An outspoken traditionalist, who excelled in both road racing and timetrialling.

phil-griffiths2

Phil Griffiths. ‘Bringing showbiz to cycling’. The great talent who was at ease in both time trialling and road racing.

barras_sid

Sid Barras. A star of 1970s British road racing, he won over 200 races, making himself a well paid star. Even showed signs he could have mixed with the European greats.

alf engers

Alf Engers.  ‘ The King’ Engers name pops up in timetrialling circles with great regularity. The ‘bad boy’ of timetrialling, Engers had frequent run ins with the RTTC officials, but he also lit up the time trialling scene with epic performances at 25 miles. Engers really gave some glamour to the ‘blue ribband’ of domestic time trialling and finally posted the first sub 50 minute 25 mile TT.

Ian Cammish

Ian Cammish. Another legendary star of timetrialling. Cammish took the 100 mile and 50 mile records and put them on the shelf – until the revolution of aerobars e.t.c. Cammish trained 3 or 4 times a day, short intense rides – which gave him tremendous speed at 100 and 50 miles. BBAR
beryl burton

Beryl Burton. What can you say about a female athlete who won 25 consecutive Best British All rounder titles – and was the only female athlete to once hold a record that beat the fastest time of men (her legendary 12 hour ride of 197 where she rode 277 miles)

Some riders I had already heard about, but I was glad to fill in the many gaps. Some I barely knew (Sheridan, Cobden) but I was glad to be acquainted.

The only thing about 12 champions is I would have loved for the book to be bigger. More champions like Webster, Lloyd, and the recent stars like Hutchinson, Dangerfield, Obree, Boardman and Andy Wilkinson.

 

Price £25 including Post & Packing

Order from:

Peter Whitfield, Tachbrook House, Park Street,

Charlbury, Oxfordshire OX7 3PS

Call 01608 810837 Email: peterwychwood@hotmail.co.uk

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Cycling Science – review http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7232/cycling/cycling-science-review/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7232/cycling/cycling-science-review/#comments Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:41:30 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=7232 cycling-science_Cycling Science is a book with lots of data and investigation into the science behind cycling – aerodynamics, power, stability, materials. I was sent a free review copy by Frances Lincoln publishers and quite enjoyed reading it. Firstly, the cycling book market is quite crowded. It’s always hard to come up with something new, Cycling Science has quite a few pages where I learnt some new stuff. Secondly, led by the squirrels and boffins at British Cycling and Team Sky, cycling does seem to be putting more emphasis on the science behind the sport. It’s not enough these days to say ride on feel or just get the miles in – we’ve all become interested in the actual science behind the cycling. Whether this is a good thing or not is another matter. (By strange co-incidence I finally moved into the modern world and ordered a power meter. After years of resisting to part with money in my wallet, I will now be able to bore my readers with average power outputs on my blog. At the very least, I won’t feel lost in the post race power output discussions – but I digress)

Some interesting titbits from Cycling Science.

  • A walker moving a a particular speed could, if they rode a bike, travel three times faster without having to increase their effort at all, because the two-wheeled machine is so efficient. There are two reasons for this.

1. The way the bike is configured to make use of bodies (bike converts 98.6% of energy into spinning wheels)
2. The machine acts as a lever

  • Researchers in Netherlands studied four elements of urban journeys. The greater the distance from the centre of the graph, the worse the score.

urban-travel-advantages

  • The space-use figure was calculated by dividing area of infrastructure by annual distance travelled.
  • The costs were just to person travelling, not cost of infrastructure (or external costs)
  • Cycling is only marginally slower, yet significantly cheaper and more energy thrifty.
  •  Manfred Nuscheler of Switzerland produced  2,378 watts of power for five seconds on a static roller bike
  • A bicycle can stay upright without a rider as long as it is moving at a speed of about 14 km/h (8.7mph)
  • As he was preparing for world hour record bid in Mexico in 1972, Eddy Merckx, decided he wanted helium in his tyres because it would cut weight by approx 14g. But according to his bike builder, Ernesto Colnago he couldn’t get any! Eddy Merckx hour record bike was nearly 2 kgs lighter than later records, such as Miguel Indurain and Chris Boardman’s

The book answers questions, such as:

  • Why do some frames have porky tubes?
  • What sticks my frame together?
  • What’s so special about Carbon bikes?
  • What will make me go faster?
  • What power requirements do you require for different torso angles?
  • How does counter- steering work?

If you’re interested in the science behind these questions, you may like the book. It’s a decent piece of research with good diagrams and pictures. It would make quite a good gift for a keen cyclist. It is more geared towards a racing cyclist, with much of the science geared towards aerodynamics and power.

Cycling Science at Amazon.co.uk £15.99

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Race against Time – Obree vs Boardman http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7160/books/race-against-time-obree-vs-boardman/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7160/books/race-against-time-obree-vs-boardman/#comments Fri, 17 May 2013 07:21:11 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=7160 race-against-timeA review of The Race against timeObree, Boardman and the quest to be the fastest man on two wheels by Edward Pickering.

This is one of the best cycling books I’ve read for quite a long time. I really enjoyed reading it. It’s pacey, interesting, amusing and based on two giants of British Cycling – the unique characters of Graeme Obree and Chris Boardman.

Firstly, I’m a bit biased, Obree and Boardman were key figures in the British time trial scene and I’ve always been interested in their careers. Boardman was a multiple hill climb champion, and I’ve come across their course records whilst racing myself. If I could have been a professional cyclist, I would have chosen their path. From the outside in. The lone tester going for the ultimate record – the prize of the hour. I would never have had the interest in joining a French amateur team and sweating away as a domestique for years. I would have been wanting to riding time trials and individual pursuits. How cool is it to be an amateur British tester and turn up in Bordeaux, break the hour record and get to share the podium with Miguel Indurain?  But, even better was Obree. It’s astonishing than an unemployed, eccentric Scottish amateur bike rider, could turn the sport upside down, just by experimenting with some tribars, different positions and being able to push yourself to the absolute limits.

I’ve read a few books about Obree, so there weren’t any major revelations, but I found some aspects of the book really funny. I don’t know if it was intended, but Obree would come out with these bizarrely comic situations. Turning up to a track meet and eating from a pot of jam with a spanner. There’s another great moment, when Obree comes down in the morning after been beaten by Boardman and asks ‘did I just dream about being beaten by Boardman by 15 seconds’ ‘O well, I better have some cornflakes’

(Those quotes are not quite right, but for some reason the writing about Obree kept hitting my funny bone.)

A nice thing is we learn that Obree wasn’t just a disorganised space cadet (for example turning up to the World Championship pursuit race, not knowing about the signals coaches give to riders – walking up and down the track, depending if you’re in front or not). In 1996, we also learn that Obree was incredibly smart to win the pursuit title, a year after being unfairly dsq by the UCI overlords, and two years after his first title.

I hadn’t read as much about Boardman, so it was nice to read about his career highlights. It was also good to get more of an insight into the motivation and personality of Boardman.

It makes a great book to have two champions pushing each other. They both achieved remarkable things. In many ways they were very different, and it makes for fascinating comparisons. But, as Pickering notes, they may have been different, but they also shared similarities – a unique desire to push themselves against their limits. Those years of breaking the world hour record and world pursuit titles make for a great story. Once I started, I finished pretty quick.

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The Rules of Cycling – Velominati Review http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7111/articles/the-rules-of-cycling-velominati-review/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/7111/articles/the-rules-of-cycling-velominati-review/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 09:41:50 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=7111 rules of cyclingI haven’t reviewed many  products this year, but I was pleased to receive through the post an advanced copy of ‘The Rules – The way of the cycling disciple‘ by Velominati. It gave me a lot of food for thought. I enjoyed reading it, and I also enjoyed critiquing it.  The problem is that a part of me definitely aspires to join this elite group of cycling cool, but there are too many rules, where I am, alas, an abject failure. It leaves me only good for riding my time trial bike on a lone furlough, shamelessly exposing an ill fitting undergarment because I can’t get any arm warmers long enough to fit my stick like arms. I want to be in the club, but I’m a rebel without a cause.  I do like the aesthetics of a bike, but I can’t quite bring myself to schedule a 500ml water stop at a petrol station, just because 500ml water bottles look cooler than 750ml water bottles. Do they really look better?

Yet, even in my critiques there is a nagging suspicion they are correct, and only if I was a better person, I would aspire to all 91 rules.

Synopsis

Cycling is more than just a sport and means of transport, it can be a way of life, a club with rules of aesthetics, class and elegance. Two people can go out on a bike with different results; how do you approach the bicycle, how do you treat it? Is it a means to an end or is it an end in itself? The rules of cycling remind me, in a curious way of the Japanese tea ceremony. Anyone can drink tea, but to drink tea in the proper way with great awareness, dignity and elegance elevates a mundane experience into an opportunity for the joy of perfection.

The big problem I had with the book is that it immediately got me off on the wrong foot.

Rule # 9. If you’re out cycling in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.

‘Badass. Period’ Those two words alone are more painful than seeing a triathlete break up a chain gang by riding with tribars. My immediate reaction to those two words is to through away the book in Shakespearian disgust. Whatever happened to the rules of the English language?  Cycling terms are cool if they are in a European language. If they had translated ‘badass’ into Flanderian, I could have accepted it. But, if you want to speak American hip hop, take up a sport like Basketball, not cycling. American-Australian-English will never be the language of procycling, that’s my rule. If you have to speak in English, British English is good. Respect Shakespeare and Orwell.

(As a tangent – Despite inventing the Dunlop tyre and many of the other key cycling inventions, Britain lost the way with cycling, when we banned mass-start races (apparently motorists complained at the furious cycle racing). It left us with a curious set of rules about dressing up in black,  turning up to races early in the morning and setting off at one minute intervals (so riders could claim they were not racing). This created the whole sub-culture of UK time trials, with it’s own set of curious rules. But, as much as I love the sport of time trials, I have to admit that British time trialling on dual carriageways is not the spiritual essence of cycling. No matter how many Tours Wiggins and Frome win, Pro-cycling will always be European. The classics of Belgium and Italy are the heart of cycling. Velominati get it right in promoting this European approach, but, it would be better without the American-English.

Rule # 5. Harden the F*** up.

You know you’re middle aged when you do all your clothes shopping at Marks & Spencers, so you can’t expect me to have much awareness or sympathy for the language of young and cool folk. I even have a sneaking admiration for the stiff upper lip of the Victorians. The good old Victorians would have ridden 200km on a Penny Farthing with nothing more than a ‘Well, I say old chap, that was a jolly caper.

As a disclaimer, I should add at my tutorial college, I was the only tutor who would fine students 10p every time they swore. I once raised £20 from the son of  a rich Russian Oligarch in the matter of one week, which all made it worthwhile. Rather than swearing, you could always Try a better class of insult.

A random look at some other rules

Rule # 12 The correct number of bikes is n+1. Very good, but it might be a bit more complicated – my formula for optimum number of bikes

Rule # 13. If you draw race number 13, turn it upside down. If I could choose a number, I would always ask for 13, and I would never turn it upside down. You can call it my lucky number.

Rule #24 Speeds and distances shall be measure in km not miles. I definitely support this. But, again, here I’m a sad failure. The chance of the UK Cycling Time Trials replacing the 10 mile time trial with 16.05 km time trial is close to non-existence. We like our standard distances here in the UK. It leaves us in limbo, my speedometers and cycling logs are an unwelcome mismash of km and miles. I’ve never been able to satisfactorily settle on one or the other.

Rule  #65 maintain and respect your machine. The more I cycle, the more I try to follow this rule. It does make a difference going out with a bike in clean and working order. I even like the little attention to details like the rules on tyres and wheel levers. This is something to aspire to. It also pains me when beautiful bikes are besmirched with mud, stickers and lack of attention. Though if you do maintain an immaculate bike, don’t forget to ride it.

Rule #58 Support your local bike shop. Definitely good. Meeting real people who care about cycling and not the soulless internet. This is the cycling culture to encourage.

 

If I may summarise the gist of other rules. Cycle training involves four hours plus, no food, one water bottle, Never get out of the big ring, It’s good to be cold, take the minimum of equipment, saddles bags definitely out. Long Slow hard miles. Old school rules!

Unmentioned rules

Rule #101 Don’t mention the drugs! Omerta rules! Riders who took drugs are cool, so long as they didn’t try to get everyone to wear a silly armband for their cancer charity.

Conclusion

I’m all rather biased. I’ve spent the last 20 years tyring to find armwarmers which fit properly. Yet, no matter which brand I buy, my arms are too thin and the armwarmers fall down, leaving that exposed skin between jersey and armwarmer, thus breaking some cardinal rule. On the plus side, being built like a stick insect makes you a good climber, on the bad side, you can’t quite fit into those who deeply care about aesthetics. At the end of the day, I suppose I’d rather be a good climber.

I would recommend buying the book. It’s a good read.

There are times, when you wonder whether they are actually being serious or it’s all some strange sense of humour. On the one hand, I’m being more careful about how I tighten up my wheels, I do want it to be correct. Also, I hope many people will read this book and improve their cycling aesthetics. It is nice to see a rider really taking care of his bike, clothes and machine. It faintly annoys me when amateurs simultaneously wear World Champion jerseys, yellow wristbands, and the number from their past 50km cyclo sportive.

But, on the other hand, I’d love to tag along the back of their Velominati group ride then try to drop them on a headwind climb helped with a set of tribars.

I just can’t decide whether to be a disciple of the rules or make up my own. One thing I would say is that it’s very good if other people follow all these rules (not least because I’d have a better chance of winning cycle races if my competitors training involves  4 slow hours without any food). But, I fail on over 50% of the rules. It’s just one club I can’t be in.

Finally, I love the magic and allure of European pro-cycling, but, at the same time I hate the perverted morality of the peleton which created and maintained the omerta. It makes you want to break a few rules just to annoy them.  Wear number 13 the right way up, that’s a start.

The Rules – The way of the cycling disciple at Amazon published June 2013

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Seven Deadly Sins – David Walsh Review http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/6913/books/seven-deadly-sins-david-walsh-review/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/6913/books/seven-deadly-sins-david-walsh-review/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:38:29 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=6913 One undeniable fact about watching the Tour de France, in the Lance Armstrong years of 1999-2005 was that it was all pretty dull. There was never really any effective challenge to the blue train of the USPs. The only two attacks I can remember were Jan Ullrich temporarily gaining a   minute on a climb (he still lost the tour nine minutes back) and good old Filipo Simeoni attacking on the Champs Elysees. That was pretty cool. But, away from the procession in the Tour, the real action was away from the bike race in the world of journalism and the pursuit of what was really going on behind closed doors.. Hollywood couldn’t make the script up. Heroes, underdogs, and plenty of lawyers and bad guys.

seven-deadly-sins-book

Seven Deadly Sins is a riveting read. It’s almost like a novel, a real page turner. It recounts the long journey of David Walsh in seeking to investigate the doping practises of Lance Armstrong. It is written from his point of view, and he readily admits, he developed an almost unhealthy obsession with his subject. But, it was this passion which encouraged him to keep going, when any more rational person, may have surrendered to the Armstrong legal team.

You think the story is going to come to an end and then there’s another twist. It just gets deeper and more incredible. I enjoyed the book a lot more than Tyler Hamilton’s The Secret Race because this book had a few inspiring characters – people willing to stick to their pursuit of truth – even if it was at a great personal cost. Hamilton’s book was depressing because it was pretty much full of cheats and bullies. Seven Deadly Sins has the full range of humanity. At times, the sense of injustice is uncomfortably strong. But, what makes it tolerable, is at least you know there’s going to be a ‘happy ending’ so to speak – or at least some kind of vindication for those who put their necks on the blocks.

I never read L.A. Confidential when it came out in 2004, I never really knew about Betsy Andeu, Stephen Swart and Emma O Reilly. But, I always resonated with what Greg Lemond said about Lance Armstrong working with Dr Ferrari. I never for a moment bought the idea a clean cyclist would go to a doping doctor. But, it’s still nice that closure has finally come.

You have to be grateful for those who were willing to help bring the truth to light. It would be nice if some of today’s modern day generation of cyclists – who tell us everything is clean now – at least recognised the good work done by some of these unpopular characters to create a cleaner sport.

The only bit of the book, I didn’t like is the long passage of Armstrong’s transcript from the 2005 SCA case. I couldn’t be bothered to read his testimony so I just skimmed over it.

It is obviously rushed out to capitalise on the unique interest in the USADA report and Lance Armstrong’s confession. But, if you want to understand the full story, this is a good place to start.

My favourite quote from the book is David Walsh. Asked in 2005, who he wanted to win the tour, Walsh replied ‘I really don’t care who wins. I only want to see the sport clean.’

 

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Bradley Wiggins – The Story of Britain’s Greatest Cyclist http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/6280/books/bradley-wiggins/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/6280/books/bradley-wiggins/#comments Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:13:39 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=6280 Recently, I got a free publicity copy of this book: Bradley Wiggins – The story of Britain’s greatest-ever cyclist - through the post.

Do you remember those halycon days of late August, when cycling was the coolest sport, Jimmy Saville was a great charity worker, British cycling was basking in its greatest glory days since John Dunlop invented the pneumatic tyre, and Bradley Wiggins had just won the Tour de France and Olympic gold? The joy of the 2012 Olympics was a tantalising glimpse of how sport could be a real force to lift everyone’s spirits. In retrospect, it was almost going to be too much.

Wiggins

 

What’s happened since then? Well, not quite as much as changed as we may fear. Bradley Wiggins is still Bradley Wiggins, and doping in cycling is not entirely as new and unexpected as some would have us believe.

Anyway, the book is a nice short summary of Bradley’s career from his beginnings on the track to winning the Tour de France and Olympic gold this summer. Pictures are very good quality and if you want a memento of Bradley Wiggins’ finest hour this book is good. The text is a bit on the short side, but it captures the main events in Wiggins’ career from the highs of winning Olympic gold to the shame of a Cofidis team-mate testing positive for dope. It has an introduction from Chris Boardman, who acted as an inspiration to a young Bradley.

Bradley Wiggins 2010

Photo by: bestkevine

It’s kind of ironic that Bradley Wiggins has found himself as the new cycling superstar – just as the world slowly wakes up to the true nature of Father Christmas (aka L.A.)  (It was Wiggins who quoted as saying: ‘Lance the cyclist is like Father Christmas..they don’t exist’)

wiggins olympics

 

Given how much hero-worship there was of ‘ Lance Armstrong, it’s left quite a few cycling fans a bit jaded. But, if anyone can be an antidote to what has gone on before, Bradley is probably as good as it gets. His unique sense of humour and ‘mod father’ looks (whatever that is, I don’t really know what a mod is) make him a real sporting personality.

Perhaps we would like our cyclists to be more outspoken on dope, but in the centre of professional cycling it’s probably a bit more difficult than sitting on the edge of the t’internet. At least Bradley Wiggins has seen the USADA report for what it is and has made fair comments (unlike some nameless Spanish cyclists who give you as much confidence as getting some random bag of blood from a dodgy Madrid medical practise).

We know cycling has its mixture of characters  the good, the bad and the ugly. But, Bradley is one of the good one’s and why not enjoy the inspiration of his cycling success. Given the difficulties of the sport, it makes it even more remarkable.

The book is published by Carlton, has an RRP of £14.99, is out now and available from their website , Amazon and all good bookstores.
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Book Cover

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You’ve gone too far this time, Sir! http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/5820/cycling/youve-gone-too-far-this-time-sir/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/5820/cycling/youve-gone-too-far-this-time-sir/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:48:11 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=5820 You’ve gone too far this time, Sir! – A cycle ride to the heart of India by Danny Bent

too far this time

As well as a love of cycling, I’ve always had a love of India. But, those two never seem to be natural partners. I have many goals, achievements and targets in the world of cycling, but none of them involve cycling to the cultural melting pot of India. I have a weak constitution as it is. I think a few weeks of Delhi belly would leave me worse for ware. Anyway…

You’ve gone too far this time, Sir is an entertaining travelogue about one guy’s cycle ride from England to India. It is a potpourri of stories and anecdotes along the way, mixed in with a good sense of humour.

In recent years, it’s become almost popular for people to attempt record breaking cycles around the world. But, despite the record for cycling around the world has been broken several times, it doesn’t alter the fact that it’s a huge achievement to make it round in one piece. The effort of cycling up dusty Himalayan passes – nearly as tough as the difficulties of negotiating tense border controls, flea invested hostels and a lack of clean water.

..I’d made it so far. I’d endured the wild dogs in Poland, the sand storms in Kazakhstan, the vodka drinking in Russia and the guns pointed at my head in the Ukraine. Surely I hadn’t gone through this for nothing – to be thwarted by lack of organisation…” (lack of Visa in Uzbekistan)

The book isn’t just about India, but the whole gamut of countries along the way – Germany, Czech, Ukraine, Russia, China, Pakistan. India. The journey gets increasingly difficult and the characters more bizarre and unexpected as you travel East. If you think folk are strange up north, I don’t advise stepping in David’s footsteps…

It’s the kind of story, which leaves you thinking – It’s really quite fun to read about this journey, but I’m glad it’s not me being been cut up by combine harvesters, and being asked by drunk Russians – why haven’t I got a wife?

As well as cycling through the slums of the Indian sub-continent Danny’s ride is also about raising money for the Charity action aid. Dan clearly has an empathy with those he meets – from Albino’s ostracised by society to young people driven to desperate circumstances. It’s not just about the bike and cycling. In fact, as a cycling aficionado, it would be nice to have more details on the essential cycling aspects – like did you use Shimano or Campag?, what is the optimal cadence for combating pot hole roads in India? What was your average power output and Vertical Assent per Metre on the Himalayan climbs?

 

There is a certain stream of consciousness to the writing. One minute a gun pointed at his head, the next minute sitting around a table drinking vodka with most of the village; then a sentence about guilt over Britain holding onto the Falklands islands or something like that.  But on the flip side you get a warts and all insight into the journey – you feel like you’re having a real insiders view of the cycle journey – someone willing to offer their heart and soul. Most of all you pick up on the author’s self-depreciation and humorous description of rather bizarre situations.

I read it on the plane to New York, and enjoyed the read. Fairly light and enjoyable. I would recommend it.

You will admire his courage, pluck and ability to tell a good yarn. But, most of all you realise sticking to 100 mile sportives is more than enough challenge for you and your bicycle.

Links

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Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder – Review http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/5037/articles/obsessive-compulsive-cycling-disorder-review/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/5037/articles/obsessive-compulsive-cycling-disorder-review/#comments Tue, 19 Jun 2012 09:40:23 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=5037 misty-rain

I was writing a piece on cycling – ‘obsession, passion and enjoyment’. (This will be published soon), when I came across ‘Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder‘ by Dave Barter. I initially bought the book for 99p in e-book form, but could never be bothered to download it to iPhone so I ended up buying hardcopy for £6.99.

It’s an eclectic mixture of articles by an averagely good club cyclist, willing to dabble in a range of different cycling disciplines.

It’s not the usual cycling book of base miles, intervals and sensible nutritional practices. It is a humorous look at the motivations, passions and experiences of an averagely good, but very keen cyclist.

My first impressions of reading the book where – well, it’s pretty good, but he doesn’t even sound like a proper cyclist – I mean riding a mountain bike over some mud track and a couple of semi race, cycle sportives hardly makes you a real cyclist. So much for real cycling obsession! But, this thought was quickly checked with the realisation that this was stemming from my own obsessive tendency to pigeonhole cyclists into different disciplines (and subconsciously devaluing achievements of those outside our own discipline).

By the end of the book, I realised that:

a) Dave Barter has a pretty impressive cycling palmeres, (Three peaks cycle cross race, European Sportives as difficult as a stage in the Tour de France, the hilly 113 Fred Whitton Challenge, Lands End – John o Groats, the Dunwich dynamo challenge (an archaic 113 mile ride from London in middle of night, and last but not least Swindon R.C. hill climb champion – 1st out of 13 riders). Personally, I would have made more about being a hill climb champion, but that’s just me.

b) Inspired by this eclectic potpourri of cycle rides and stories, maybe it would be good for me to stretch my horizons beyond fast dual carriageways. I’m seriously hooked by the idea of the Fred Whitton challenge – A 113 mile ride to cover all the major passes of the Lake District in a day. I’m already obsessively pouring over maps in the Lake District and plotting how I can take the course record (I doubt there is even a course record, but I’ll break it anyway.)

There are few aspects of cycling that haven’t peaked the authors interest. When I read the article on Dave’s participation in the Cyclo Cross Three peaks challenge on a single speed bike, I made a mental note to pay less attention to the average speed at the end of rides. I could feel the real achievement of trying a discipline you had little experience with and doing well, despite lack of proper preparation.

I think every cyclist will relate to some parts of this book. – Being mortified one Christmas holiday at Looking at your pot belly and going out for a few hours in horrendous weather conditions to ride off the excess calories off a few Christmas pies, is not something I can say has happened exactly, but still that obsessive ticking off training plans and mileage totals, is something we’ve all done at different stages.

The irony of the book is that although celebrating obsessive cycling behaviour, it also inspires a wider and more wide-ranging enjoyment of cycling. For me it is a reminder of the joys and challenges cycling can give – and there’s more to cycling than getting a 30mph average speed.

Dunwich Dynamo cycle ride, July 2011. Hackney E5

I was actually quite moved by the article on the Dunwich Dynamo – It is a 112 mile ride from the centre of London to the coast; starting just before sunset and finishing just before sunrise. There is no real organisation, no feed stops, no timing chips, just an eclectic mix of cyclists who meet at a pub in London and pedal off to a cafe by the sea through the night. And all for no other reason than why not? – It is a celebration of the essential enjoyment of cycling.
Dunwich Dynamo cycle ride, July 2011. Hackney E5

Riding for fun. Something those of us with an obsessive streak need a reminder from time to time.

Each article has an introduction, which is as much fun as the main article. It’s like the article is written for a magazine, but the introduction is a quick spontaneous collection of thoughts. It is a good combination. My mother might say, he writes nearly as well as me. I would say it is an excellent book, which had me smiling either at myself or at the experiences of Dave. As he says in his introduction:

“If you are curious to the psyche of a mediocre British cyclist driven by a strange obsession then have a dip in and see if there is something that you can identify with.”

If you want an article ‘Top 10 tips for riding a cyclo-sportive’ this is not the book. But, if you want an article – ‘what actually happens when you ride a cyclo-sportive’ this book will definitely appeal.

Just a thought on e-books – 99p is too cheap. It should cost more.

Book Cover

Symptoms of obsessive Cycling

These are some of the crazy things we cyclists can do:

Drill holes in equipment
. Apparently, it is used to be all the rage to drill holes in equipment like brakes and even cranks. The theory was that drilling a hole would save weight and thus improve performance. 50 grams of weight barely make any difference to how fast you go. Maybe on a mountainous stage it is of importance, but for flatish races it is completely insignificant. You could also argue that holes disrupt the airflow and reduce aerodynamic performance.

Hours Looking at Equipment. Cyclists can easily spend hours pouring over Bike Catalogues weighing up the pros and cons of different groupsets.

3 Chain Ring Bolts instead of 5. This is an example of obsessive behaviour. In an effort to save weight, I know of cyclists who have taken out 1- 2 chain ring bolts to ride with 3 (done up very tightly) rather than the standard 5. If you weigh up the risks of the chainring becoming loose and the completely insignificant weight saving, it seems to lack reason.

Glueing on a race number. Race numbers come with safety pins. Most people are happy to pin them on. But, I know of time trialists who have spent hours glueing the number to the skin suit; this is to make the skin suit more aerodynamic, reducing airflow (and presumably saving weight). It’s not just the hours to glue it on, but, the hours to take it off.

Constant Tinkering with the Bike
. Eddy Merckx was said to be a fanatic about his bike. He wanted to always be checking and rechecking it; sometimes even in the middle of the night. Some riders will barely clean the bike, others can become fanatic about making minor adjustments.

Going Training on Christmas Day (when it’s raining and -2 degrees)

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Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/4848/books/another-100-greatest-cycling-climbs/ http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/4848/books/another-100-greatest-cycling-climbs/#comments Sat, 26 May 2012 08:53:31 +0000 http://cyclinginfo.co.uk/blog/?p=4848 After the surprising popularity of the first book – 100 Greatest Cycling climbs, the author Simon Warren has brought out a second edition. It is in the same format with another 100 climbs from around Great Britain.

Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs at Amazon

There are some new hills which look pretty inviting to the hill climb enthusiast.

quairiang

Quairang Pass  – Isle of Sky

As a hill climb specialist I appreciate the author’s undoubted enthusiasm for cycling up steep hills. It’s kind of reassuring to know I’m not the only one to secretly enjoy finding a new super steep, long twisty climb. The short descriptions are fairly useful and give the basic information about what you might find on the climb.

 

Book CoverAs with any selection, you can always think of more climbs that could have been included. I have only ridden a few of the climbs in this book, though the author did include two I mentioned in review of last book (The Struggle from Ambleside and climb out of Lofthouse, Nidderdale) Climbs are taken from all the different regions in the UK. Since the book has come out, I’ve been inspired to go and track down some climbs I would never have thought of doing.

In particular, the two cobbled climbs out of Keighley (Thwaites Brow, and Hainworth Lane) were great fun.

If you liked the first edition of 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs, you will enjoy the second edition, which gives more ideas for cycle tours and great hills to seek out. It is small compact, and makes a good reference book for any road cyclist. It has made me want to tackle some new hills, in particular Great Dun Fell – at 638 metres of ascent it has to be done sometime!

 

Some highlights:

Longest Hill Climb

Cragg Vale – Longest continuous ascent in England – 9.1Km. Height gain 286m

Steepest Hill Climb

Vale Street in Bristol. Short residential street.

Hardest Hill Climb

Great Dun Fell – A radar station in Knock Cumbria. Height gain 638 Metres. Length 7.4Km

Other Highlights

  • Isle of Sky – Quirang (pictured top)
  • Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset – or better known as  the cobbled hill in the Hovis ad

Is there room for another 100 hill climbs? Yes! It would be nice to do all the open hill climb courses too.

Book Cover

Another 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs at Amazon

Related

List of Hills

Climb Location Height Gain Length Average gradient Max Gradient
101. Gold Hill Shaftesbury, Dorset 24m 0.15 km
102. Zig Zag Hill Shafesbury, Dorset 93m 2.0 km
103 Park Hill Wiltshire
104. Frocester Hill Gloucestershire 203m  2.1km  9%  11%
105. Bushcombe Lane Gloucestershire 167m
106. Haresfield Beacon Gloucestershire 200m
107. Symonds Yat Herefordshire 116m
108. Shaft Road Bath 106m
109. Vale Street Bristol 17m
110 Countisbury Hill Devon 284m
111 Millock Cornwall 100m 30%
112 Clovelly Devon
113 Bishop’s Wood Cornwall
114 Talland Hill Cornwall 99m
115 Ashdown Forest East Sussex
116 Combe Lane Surrey 108m
117 Chalkpit Lane Surrey 140m
118 Coldharbour Lane Dorking, Surrey 145m
119 Quell Lane Haslemere, Surrey 88m
120 Barhatch Lane Cranleigh Surrey 156m
121 Dragon Hill Road Vale of White Horse 95m
122 Kingston Hill Kingston Blount 99m
123 Down Lane Isle of Wight 98m
124 Watson’s Hill Suffolk 32m
125 Beacon Hill Norfolk 68m
126 Mam Tor Derbyshire 205m
127 Beeley Moor Derbyshire 225m
128 Burbage Moor Derbyshire
129 Slack Hill Derbyshire
130 Axe Edge Derbyshire
131 Larkstone Lane Staffodshire
132 Gun Hill Stafforshire
133 The Wrekin Shropshire
134 Asterton Bank Shropshire
135 Clee Hill Shropshire
136 Edge Hill Warwickshire
137 Edwin Bank Stocksbridge
138 Cragg Vale West Yorks
139 Mytholm Steeps Hebden Bridge
140 Thwaites Brow Keighley 125m 1.2km 10% 20%
141 Hainworth Lane Keighley 147m 1.5km 10% 20%
142 Turf Moor Swaledale
143 Bowland Knotts North Yorks
144 Greets Moss North Yorks
145 Trapping Hill Lofthouse
146 Nought Bank Road Pateley Bridge
147 Sleights Moor
148 Blakey Bank North York Moors 232m 1.8 km 20%
149 Caper Hill North York Moors 188m 1.4 km 25%
150 Egton High Moor North York Moors 279m 6.7 km
151 Hanging Grimston East Yorkshire 150m
152 Yad Moss Durham 312m 15.7km
153 Cuthbert’s Hill Durham
154 Peat Hill Durham
155 Unthank Bank Durham
156 High Knowes Northumberland
157 Cragpit hill Northumberland
158 Ryal’s Hill Tyne and Wear
159 Silverhills Tyne and Wear
160 Devil’s Beef Tub Moffat, Dumfries
161 Crow Road Scotland
162 Duke’s Pass Scotland
163 Bealach Main Scotland
164 Glen Finart Scotland
165 Glen Quaich Scotland
166 Bealach Feith Nan Laogh Scotland
167 Ben Lawers
168 Glen Coe
169 Bealach Ratagan
170 Quiraing
171 Pym Chiar Cheshire
172 Knott Hill Lane Oldham
173 Chew Road Oldham
174 Crown Point Oldham
175 Whalley Nab Whalley
176 Newton Fell Lancashire
177 White Shaw Moss Dent
178 Bank House Moor Cumbria
179 Kiln Bank Cross Cumbria
180 Burn Edge Ennerdale Bridge
181 The Struggle Ambleside
182 Blea Tarn Great Langdale
183 Shot Moss Brough
184 Dowgang Hush Cumbria
185 Killhope Cross Cumbria
186 Great Dun Fell Knock
187 Long Mountain Wales
188 Melin Y Wig Wales
189 Llanberis Pass Wales
190 Prenteg Wales
191 Hirnant Pass Wales
192 Dyfi Forest Wales
193 Heol Senni Wales
194 Gospel Pass Wales
195 Gamallt Wales
196 Caerphilly Mountain Wales
197 Rhiwr Road Wales
198 Bungalow Isle of Man
199 Injerbreck Hill Isle of Man
200 Snaefell Mountain Isle of Man
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