Chasing wheels

Matt Seaton writes in today's Guardian about his excitement at the coverage of the Tour of Britain (ToB) this week. I'm as excited as anyone by it and will be going down on Sunday armed with my microphone and camera to try and grab what I can. Matt's article mentions the coverage being given by the BBC:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1860698,00.html

Now I'm slightly more cynical about this coverage than Matt. A few months ago I pitched a package on David Millar's return to competitive cycling to Grandstand and had it knocked back, now they're devoting a two hour slot to the Tour of Britain this Sunday.

In my view, the BBC has never engaged properly with cycling as a sport at a level above "out of a duty to do so". So why the sudden flourish for this event when they've been content to do the bare minimum of coverage for the sport previously?

Politics for one thing. Given that the BBC is a seemingly integral part of the London 2012 Olympic project it needs to be seen to be involved with British sport. After all there's a GB Cycling team riding in the ToB so they can flag up a few rising stars. Then there's the issue of co-operating with Transport for London and the Local Authorities as part of the long march towards the Olympics.

As I have already said, I am glad to see the sport getting some decent coverage but part of me wonders if it's only a passing fad until the Olympics pass. There's no evidence of a longer-term commitment to the sport from broadcasters of the level and expertise that Channel 4 used to bring to the sport in the 1980s, nor even the much diminished ITV coverage of the Tour de France.

Yes, the BBC has covered track events in the past but this has almost always been in the context of a major event where Great Britain looks likely to win a medal, a policy which seems to be the norm when it comes to "minority sports".

Posted by Alex on 30 August 2006, 12:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Sunday down at Eastway again, this time for a straightforward novice race. Apparently last week's one was a fast race and so it wasn't me being plain rubbish. By contrast the pace in the novice race was far more manageable and I was sitting in quite comfortably by the halfway mark.

I even took a few pulls on the front and insanely tried to jump the bunch in that slightly comic fashion beloved of novices - head down, pedalling furiously and entirely oblivious to the fact you've been chased down within a couple of hundred metres. Then it all started to go slightly awry, leading to another tale of woe. My first mistake was probably the most costly in terms of the race, the second was definitely most costly to my pocket.

By about the halfway stage one rider had gone away and established a good lead which was proving difficult to chase down. As we came down the start/finish straight I asked another rider if we were going to chase him down or not but forgot to check my line and found myself on the wrong side of the track coming up to the tight first bend. l I overcooked the first hairpin, avoided T'ing another ride, ran wide and then couldn't get back on as I tried to chase back up the rise and into a stiff headwind.

In the end I found myself up slogging round trying to get back on before I got lapped by the bunch just as the five laps board came up. Was happily dragging it along, seeing as it seemed like it might get me back up to another couple of riders ahead of us and by my calculations near enough to a top 10 finish.

As we went up the rise at the beginning of the lap, just after the hairpin and dip I promptly snapped a spoke in my rear wheel, thus ending my race. Yet another blinking DNF to the list, this time a mechanical.

So like any sensible cyclist I went and consoled myself by replacing my shimano 550 wheels with a pair of Mavic Kysrium Equipes from Cycle Surgery in Spitalfields. Well I had to get home somehow and nowhere seemed able to fix the wheel at such short notice at lunchtime on Sunday. To be honest, I've been meaning to buy some new wheels for a while as I've found the Shimano ones a bit flexible and spongey. The Equipes about hit the right price for me - I can't relly justify pimpin' my ride with anything more expensive than them - £:224 is about as much as I'm willing to go on a £:750 bike.

Today I'm not feeling too bad appart from the usual amount of post race stiffness. Looking forward to next week's novice race and the prospect of hopefully finishing at last.

Posted by Alex on 28 August 2006, 09:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I haven't done anything more than ride gently all week simply because I still haven't recovered properly from last Sunday's brutalising. Either I'm still exhausted or my body has given in.

I'm trying to figure out which race I should enter on Sunday - the novice one or the HC/All Cats one. The former would involve getting up earlier but might allow me to finish the race and ride in a race I might be able to handle. The latter will probably involve vomiting in a bin before the hour is up.

Or it might involve me clinging onto the wheels of over-eager teenagers with decent lungs and legs, and not full-time employment to restrict their training and rest. This time I plan on beng a lot more aggressive and not playing "after you" with everyone into the corners. No doubt it'll absolutely shell it down on Sunday as I ride over again.

Rain has been the highlight of my week really. I rode home on Wednesday night with the rain bouncing off the road, my Montane Velolight jacket on my back and the KLF on the iPod, cackling as I whizzed through London getting drenched. Mostly at the feet but not that it bothered me as it wasn't cold enough to chill.

Part of me loves riding in the rain. It's the part that knows I'm not going to have to go more than 30 minutes to get home and plonk myself in the bath or shower and warm up again. I like the sensation of it bouncing off me and forming rivulets as it runs off. I love that moment when I am so saturated that I can see the droplets forming on the peak of my cap and dropping onto the stem and top tube.

My legs are still leaden and stiff tonight and that niggling pain in my hip won't go away. I wonder if I've got that degenerative hip thing like Floyd? I've tried doing my stretches but I think this one is down to lack of rest - Saturday may well be a full "no bike" day.

Posted by Alex on 24 August 2006, 22:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Armed with the accumulated advice from various clunmates I tootled down to the Lea Valley Cycle Circuit, better known as "Eastway", this morning to take my first crack at criterium racing. I took me an hour or so to get there, which is about as long as the racing lasts - one hour and five laps is the standard duration.

Which is well over twice as long as I lasted. My computer says I lasted 26 minutes and a touch over 15km before I had to pull off the circuit, sit down and vomit. It felt much longer and certainly more painful. By that point I had been lapped once and was lying way off the back, possibly in last place.

I'm pretty narked that I didn't manage to get round and at least finish but when I pulled off I was beyond my safe point and drifing all over the track through inability to concentrate. If you hunt about the internet you'll find this isn't an uncommon experience for first time racers - DNF is marked down early in many club riders racing career and nothing to be particularly ashamed of.

Where did it go wrong? Apart from not being quick enough there's several areas where I didn't make it any easier for myself:

• Far too timid and polite. This resulted in me drifting far too quickly through the pack and dangling on the back before the first lap was out. British reticence has no place in this sort of race.
• Not sitting tight enough to wheels. This meant I ended up sitting in wind I didn't need to be taking. Admittedly, it was a bit blowy today but if had been tighter there would have been less.
• Over-fuelling. Necking an energy gel about 10 minutes before the off and then trying to drink PSP 22 possibly contributed to the vomiting incident when I pulled off. Water would have probably done me fine.
• Not knowing the course. This meant I was nervous into the corners and wasn't able to concentrate on when to brake and when to accelerate.
• Not enough rest. My legs and body felt heavy and hot as I rode across town which suggests i need to not ride so hard all week.

What can I do to improve next week? In general I need to follow advice that makes sense and which any new racer should pay heed to here:

http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/news/article/mps/UAN/204/V/4/SP/

As a pretty good rider himself Guy knows what he's talking about and his advice is readily followed by my more successful London Dynamo clubmates.

As it is I'm in a world of hurt and my lungs are grumbling malcontentedly about the pain I put them through this morning. My legs are also not making happy noises. Plenty of rest and recovery this week for me then I reckon. Hopefully next week I might actually get all the way round the race.

Posted by Alex on 20 August 2006, 19:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

No I didn't compete in my first criterium on Sunday because when I woke up it was absolutely shelling it down. Cowardice or common sense? I'd opt for the latter.

I haven't done one before but from what I've read Cat 3/4/Novice races can get a little messy in good conditions so I really didn't fancy planting my arse on damp asphalt and then having to drag it back across town cold and bruised. I don't mind the wet as a rule but racing in it is a fearful enough prospect for me to draw the line.

Typically about five minutes before the race would have started there was bright sunshine and drying roads in my part of town. So I'll gear myself again for next Sunday to go and discover the joys of racing properly.

Posted by Alex on 14 August 2006, 22:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Sometimes it seems that injuries heal quicker if you don't stop riding. Or at least that has been the case this week with my a minor quad injury.

I tweaked something in the left side on last Sunday's training ride pushing a bit hard up a hill out of frustration - I was having a rubbish day and struggling to keep up - and thought I might have to resort to time off the bike. But, as it turned out, the injury was one of those that was more painful if I tried walking places than if I shifted down a couple of gears on the commute and tried to spin with minimal pressure on the muscle.

By the middle of the week it had almost cleared up so I have been able to start pushing my effort a bit again. Not too much but just enough to feel like I am making an effort.

Hopefully, if the weather is suitable, I'll be making my first effort at criterium racing tomorrow at Eastway. I'm fully prepared for being shelled out the back and suffering repeatedly for an hour and five laps. I've been told the pace should be fairly brisk and that I should concentrate hard on avoiding finding myself on the front.

At the same time I'm also really looking forward to it as it's a new challenge to fill the space left in my season after the Etape. I need something to keep me motivated as otherwise I tihnk I'd be slacking off and getting fat for winter. Not that I haven't got fat as it is - I've already put on a few kilos since the Etape and last time I weighed myself I was pushing 75kg, which is possibly on the heavy side for my height of 167cm.

Posted by Alex on 12 August 2006, 14:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Finally I get round to launching this site on the day that Floyd Landis' "B" sample comes back positive for an elevated testosterone:epitestosterone ratio. Not the best of days to set forth into the world of online cycling journalism.

Yes, it is sad that he has failed a control but the way in which the UCI has conducted itself with regard to announcing the "A" sample failure amidst panic over it being leaked to L'Equipe has debased the sport. By comparison, look at the way in which the IOC has reacted to the Gatlin positive and the rection to it.

While Dick Pound has once against continued to publicly denigrate cycling's efforts to deal with doping, the media view has been that athletics is doing something to get rid of the "cheats" while this is just another sad mark on the already tarnished name of cycling. This is grossly unfair and totally ignores the seemingly endless flow of top athletes who are still testing positive, just as in cycling.

I have always found this purtianical drive to "clean up sport" slightly ludicrous simply because throughout the history of just about everything there have been those who have sought to gain advantage by means that could be considered "not strictly gentlemanly".

Eventually they get found out and hounded out in disgrace in time honoured ritual. Simply saying you can't and threatening to ban people is hardly going to stop the deperate and desirous. That's not to say I'm in favour of it being allowed, it's just that it will happen whatever you do because fundamentally everyone who does it believes they'll be the one who doesn't get caught.

It's not going to change that millions of people ride bikes for commuting, for fun, for health and not just for racing. And that's what this is blog about - cycling in all its glory and all the bits I partake of and enjoy. So welcome to it and I hope i can build something for our mutual enjoyment.

Posted by Alex on 5 August 2006, 16:08 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()